A Finish and More

This last weekend was a quiet one - apart from the huge storm we had go through late Sunday afternoon and into the evening - thunder rumbled around for nearly 3 hours... with heavy rain at times!.... so unexpected for this time of the year.... but back to what was accomplished...
On Saturday morning it was rather bleak but surprisingly not too cold so with a hot lemon tea I ventured outside to my favourite corner of the the garden to finish this book...... 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book... set in a small English village at the start of WW1 - as the author says in her acknowledgements "the novel has a lot of historical significance" and then mentions all the research she did in preparation for writing this novel. I found it especially moving to read during this past week as we celebrated ANZAC day... it was interesting to read the impact such a war would have had on a small English village!

Later during the weekend this little dilly bag was finished.....

Pattern by Broderie (on Etsy)

It could be made with any size hexagons - I used 1 1/2 '' ... all hand sewn no machine sewing required including the casing for the drawstring to go through! I must admit it did get a bit fiddly - a "labour of love" for a friend's birthday. 

Then...... with this embroidery finished it was time to select and cut out the fabric ready for some machine sewing .... I do love doing the embroidery but as it is a gift I can't just put it aside - project has to be finished!  I must have measured the embroidered piece half a dozen times or more before cutting! 

Over the weekend I was inspired to buy the latest copy of the lovely embroidery magazine "Inspirations" and what did I find.... an advertisement for a new embroidery shop not more than 5-10 mins drive from my parents place in Sydney! How could I have not known??!! Address has been noted & definitely on the agenda for my next trip! 

And that's about it for now.... off to do a bit of machine sewing..... 

Happy stitching

Asta