Quilt Top Finished

Yesterday was a sewing day! ..... and with a little supervision......

my Nature's Journey quilt top was finally finished.......

 

now to make a decision about the quilting.... to machine quilt or to hand quilt.... maybe a bit of both? 

Sunday, and a very neglected corner of the garden needed some urgent attention! .....

.... yes it was in rather a bad state! Even Dora (the explorer) had trouble navigating the jungle!

A couple of (hot) hours later .....

......am deciding now what to do with this little corner - maybe scrape up all the little crushed stones, lay a weed mat down and replace with some new stones?

The afternoon was enjoyed catching up with a friend over coffee and cake at a local cafe (no photo though) 

And while all this was happening Megan (daughter no 2), after travelling through parts of Europe and Eastern block countries since April, was settling down in a little village in the French Alps......

getting ready to start work for the Winter months as a sous-chef at a ski chalet. What a life!

Well, time to find another project to start.... or maybe one to finish! 

Happy Stitching
Asta

Well, the long weekend is now at an end.... time to catch up with what I have been up to....

During the past week I actually had a project finished for OPAM (One Project a Month)! I've been so busy with the Nature's Journey quilt that I don't seem to have the time to actually finish any other project - Nature's Journey can't be included till it's finished :( ..... but here is my finish for September.....a start for Xmas

Pattern: Gail Pan

Then it was the first Friday of the month and time for FNWF ...... no stitching but time for cutting out another 200 x 2" squares for the Nature's Journey Quilt so.... with Miss Dora keeping an eye on things.....

...this teetering pile of fabrics......

became stacks of little squares a couple of hours later......

 Saturday dawned  - we were already into the second month of Spring and it was time to spring clean the house! ...An accumulation of magazines, a trail of fabrics from Nature's Journey quilt that seemed to have taken over the house (!) , various other on-going projects were all sorted and put away, furniture moved, the duster was out, even as the day was warming up I kept "hoovering" away! The house was well and truly "breathing" again!! 

Sunday - and a very hot day forecast! So.... together with a good friend we headed off to the Regional Orchid Show being held at one of the local clubs.... and air-conditioned! 
Who would have thought that there are so many varieties of orchids! ......from your traditional....

...to the exotics

....some with "attitude"....

...others you wouldn't even think were orchids.....

...... ones that looked more like a daffodil!

...other delicate ones.....

....and ones that were provided with a magnifying glass!! 

And this little orchid came home with me!....

Will it be the first of many? Ummm we'll see..... 

Then it was Monday - the last day of our long weekend :( .... gardening had been on the agenda for the weekend but it was too hot (don't enjoy being in the heat) so the day was spent pottering around in my sewing room - it is in quite a state and there will only be photos when there is an "after" as well as a "before"! ...... I finished reading my latest book....

 ....and enjoyed late afternoon with a glass of wine, nibbles and a few "old" magazines to browse through.

No stitching was done over this weekend but it's the start of a new week now so must get back into my Nature's Journey quilt - only machine sewing left now.

Hope all my readers had an enjoyable weekend too.
Happy Stitching
Asta

A Sunny Sunday!

Well, after a week of very cold - return to Winter - sort of weather the sun showed itself today so whatever housework hadn't been done was shelved and it was time to sit on the back deck with some stitching....

.... a bit of Xmas stitching - getting organised this year!
Took a wander around my garden as well ..... a white lavender that seems to like it's shady spot....

and one of the clivias showing off it's beautiful orange colour....

....and while Dora had a  nap after all the activities of a sunny day.....

 I made a start on cutting out all those 400 x 2" squares for the Nature's Journey quilt!

Hope everyone also had a productive weekend with some relaxation thrown in!

Happy Stitching

Asta

Warm sunny weather was very welcome on Saturday and I made the most of it spending time in the garden reading with a "cuppa".....

....a close-up of these lovely flowers.....

...,,, Sunday was a rather bleak day :( so it was time spent indoors ..... deciding on the next colours for my on-going crochet project...

.......and working on my Nature's Journey quilt......

....... no photo - but some indoor time was taken up de-cluttering / sorting an area of my very full garage!.... and at the front door are a number of boxes heading to the local op-shop - could have been more but you don't seem to get a lot done when you browse and reminisce on the finds you make! (The garage is one of my works in progress!) 

Happy Stitching
Asta

A Hint of Spring!

A hint of Spring in the air this weekend! ... and I was out gardening very early on Saturday morning so this (from my previous post).....

became this .......

where later in the day I enjoyed afternoon tea while reading.....

......time was also spent deciding on some of the colours for the Nature's Journey quilt...

....a walk down at one of my local beaches.... 

...and the weekend finished off with afternoon tea in the company of a good friend at our local Botanical Gardens.....

A weekend making the most of the warmer weather while it was here.... 

Happy Stitching
Asta

Weekend At Home

After the week of terrible weather and having to get myself to work each chilly morning - though luckily we don't get snow here on the coast - I decided that this weekend just gone I was going to stay at home! ..... and that's just what I did! 

So what did I do with myself? .....
..... sorting through cottons for a new project (not started yet but will update when I have)

......further crocheting on my cosy blanket...

......making a start on the applique part of my July "homework" for Nature's Journey...

.....finished reading this book which I preferred to read during daylight hours!....

..... I did look out at part of my poor forlorn garden and had a fleeting thought that maybe I should go out and do something about it

but.... I did say it was only "fleeting".... possibly next weekend?
... and a friend called in on Saturday afternoon and brought a couple of yummy cakes for afternoon tea - sorry no photo though - the cakes didn't last that long! 

So that was my weekend - hope you all had a creative weekend as well and stayed warm!!

Till next time
Happy Stitching
Asta

Forgot to do a post yesterday with what I stitched on Friday (FNWF)... oops! 
What else would I have doing except another (April!) block for the Nature's Journey quilt.... here I am about to cut out the fabric ready for the applique....

.... and a few hours later the block is finished....

Still have one more block to finish - which I thought would have been finished over the weekend but here it is Sunday night and it hasn't even been started yet!
Saturday was spent at our local theatre where I'm about to start stage managing our mid-year production.....
and today.... a friend (who know about gardening) came by to cut back my lovely tibouchina (not sure of the spelling) which split in half while we were having all that rain! (though the South Coast had not had nearly as much as further north).... as it was...

... and as it is now....:(

and the rest of the day.... well I returned to my garden and tidied other areas where nature is taking a journey of it's own! ... then some lunch on the back deck with my book.... followed by a visit from a dear friend .... and here it is Sunday evening - perhaps I'll get some stitching done before I retire?

Will be back soon....till then,
Happy Stitching
Asta 

What a Holiday!

Enjoying a relaxing, lovely holiday in Hawaii with one of my daughters is where I have been for the last few weeks....
We spent most of our time at a resort on the island of Maui.... walking along the beach, swimming...

The occasional cocktail... or 2 

Then off to Waikiki for a few days.... Hurricane Ana heading for the islands luckily was down graded to a tropical storm so we decided that would be a good day to hit the shops - note the sandbags at the entrance to one of the shopping centres....

The sun came out and more swimming....

And more cocktails..... not that we needed the sun for those!

 The day after we arrived back in Sydney we headed off to the annual Garden Ramble in Bundanoon (Southern Highlands NSW) where each year the family get together for the weekend and "ramble" through private gardens open to the public..... just a  few of the many photos taken of the 8 gardens open this year....

 Unfortunately it was back to work last Wednesday so only a short week for the first week back ....everyone said I looked relaxed - I certainly felt that way!

Sad to say though I had no OPAM for the month of October but keep an eye out for next month.... Xmas is getting closer and I had better get stitching!

Happy Stitching
Asta