Quilt in the Making

Only 1 more month of Winter!! Days may not get warmer too soon but it is nice to know Spring is around the corner....and with the warmer days comes more motivation - at least for me it does!
Meanwhile..... a quick trip to my local patchwork shop last Saturday to buy some batting & backing fabric for a quilt about to be finished soon.....here busy being sewn together....

.....and after lots of sewing last weekend and a couple of late nights sewing after work this week here it it ready to be taken to my "quilting" lady......

Back to last Saturday at the patchwork shop..... Steph's Fabrics also has a coffee bar - right at the front of the shop..... from where you get a lovely view of the whole shop!

.... and of course while sipping on a coffee one can "spy" some other things that just have to come home with you.....such as more wool! And another pattern to add to the "to do" list!

Time has also been spent reading this book ( a new copy).....

which I enjoyed just as much as the first time I read it..... a good number of years ago!! 

Off to tidy up the "sewing area" ready for another project.......

Happy Stitching

Asta

Sydney Weekend

A family celebration last weekend in Sydney when the family gathered for Mum's birthday......

"Happy Birthday" was sung to the accompaniment of my sister playing her Ukele!

And....just to keep my "blog diary" up to date..... these cottons and fabric......

were finished a few weeks ago to become.......

.....this embroidered "Mandala".... a birthday gift for Megan in England and,  following on from her holiday in Morocco and Portugal just prior to her birthday, I decided to use "Moroccan" colours! 

A book has been read........this was the 3rd in Cormoran Strike novels written by Robert Galbraith (aka KJ Rowlings) ....enjoyed the read but found it a bit more gruesome than the previous two novels..... 

.....Catching up with friends down from Sydney and their (local) neighbours..... over a "bush" barbeque on their lovely (holiday) acreage!

Also.... some fabrics have been taken out for a quilt........

And... a word of advice..... if buying a kit and you don't plan on making it up straight away check your fabrics before putting it away in your stash! I had this kit for some years (!) and when I took it out one of the fabric lengths was short by 20cm! I did find something similar to replace it with and further progress has been made.... but more on that in my next update!!

Happy Stitching

Asta

Mothers Day....postponed....

Well, the plan was to have our Mothers' Day celebrations in Sydney this year at mum & dad's ... but, as it was becoming a very wet and windy weekend a family decision was made that, in order for us not to be on the roads travelling over this weekend, we would "postpone" our Mothers' Day to next weekend..... after all does it really matter what day we celebrate this special day? ..... And, so it came about that I had a very relaxing weekend "cosied" up at home against the elements.... what was I to do??.... Be creative!.....make something for myself! 

This project has been in my "to-do" box for.....quite some time!!

A start..... and finish in one weekend.... I think the zipper sewn in by hand took as long as the piecing - wasn't very relaxing! 

One side.....

and the other......

It's just the right size to store some crochet....perhaps a stitching project ..... or the socks that I enjoy knitting? 

Last week a few ladies from our Tuesday night embroidery group decided to get together for an "extra" night..... they all wanted to make the small hexagon dilly bag I'd finished the week before.... hexagons all taking shape here.......

Will see what other projects might get started or continued during the week - the second sock of the pair I'm knitting isn't far off being finished....... am cutting out lots of little squares for a table topper I'm making...... have some more bunnies to make.... my daughter Hayley's quilt is cut out and ready to sew up.... and so the list goes on..... But, the weekend is over and it's back to work tomorrow......

Happy Stitching

Asta

A Birthday, A Reunion & OPAM

Here we are at the end of another month and already half way through the year!! 
This time of the year it is time to celebrate my younger daughter Megan's birthday..... as she is off travelling..... still ..... and will be for a while yet her birthday cake has to be sent via means of technology........

....although this present made and filled with some of her favourite chocolates has gone via "real" mail! 

Meanwhile another felt bowl has been made.....which will be a gift for a friend.....

And while I was away on holidays a couple of weeks ago just a few purchases were made - some to add to my stash others with a definite purpose - including another ball of wool for yet another felted bowl!....perhaps I'll keep this one for myself.....

Last weekend a visit to Sydney for a school reunion of...... my 6th class primary school!!! It had been at least 50 years (!!) since I had seen some of the class members and out of a class of around 50, more than half turned up for the reunion.....and surprisingly we were able to identify each other quite well considering the years in between.......We had a reunion about 20 years ago but not as many turned out then but we have decided that we should now get together every 5 years.... not 20 at our age! The reunion was held at the Kirribilli Club in Sydney and as we all caught up with each other this was the view we overlooked....

And..... here is little Miss Dora soaking up the sun on these bleak cold days that we have been having lately!! (Mr Mezzie must have been in front of the heater!) 

The little stitching I had done this month for OPAM was Megan's purse and the felt bowl...have spent most of the time reading but more on that next time.... time to cosy up in front of the heater with my knitting. 

Thanks for popping by.... till next time

Happy Stitching

Asta

A Quilt Finish & Other Bits

Well, here it is....my "secret sewing" finished! It will be "gifted" to my sister, Linda, living up the north coast early this week when I will be heading up her way for a short holiday! 
The front.......

The back..... all Kaffe Fassett fabrics!

The felt bowl...all dried to shape now.....

And who would have guessed that I'd find a book in my Agatha Christie collection to complete another book challenge!! "A book published the year you were born" (1953) can now be ticked off.

My weekend finished with the final show for the play I have been stage managing for the past month - the 10 actors all being aged between 12 - 16 (our senior youth group) I thought it was appropriate to make these for our after show party......

Chocolate Crackles!! (It's been years since I made these!)
I was given this beautiful gift as a "thank you" from the cast - all really great kids to work with!

And to finish off.... here is the most senior member of my household - 17 year old Mezzie - soaking up the early morning sunshine! (It is old in cat years.)... he is a beautiful family member who is always looking for cuddles...... 

Till next time..... happy stitching!

Asta

Catching Up!

A fortnight since my last post..... the weeks seem to fly by.......
Last weekend saw a day of mixed emotions as I attended a "farewell" for a lovely fellow who was part of our local theatre .... I had had the privilege of stage managing a couple of shows which he was in and over the years had got to know his family as well..... 
The evening of the same day..... and I was heading off to a birthday celebration for a work colleague -  it was fancy dress! So.... here I am in disguise as a re-invented "hippie" .... wig and all!

Sewing has been happening as well.... with a start made on the binding of the Nature's Journey quilt...

... I enjoy doing the binding by hand but really with temps gradually climbing to 40 deg there wasn't a lot done as the week progressed!

A UFO has also been brought out of "hiding".... so far back I can't even remember when - possibly 15 years ago? - this quilt was put together.....

and is now finally being  quilted - simple quilting I'm doing by machine....though progress is very slow as Miss Dora seems to think it makes for a very cosy sleeping spot......settling in very quickly before I move the quilt around! 

Catching up with friends during the past week was on the agenda.... dinner at a Thai restaurant mid week with a few friends..... and yesterday catching a movie ("Carol" starring Cate Blanchett) with another friend followed by dinner at one of our local clubs with this as our view....

And.....during a busy week managed to finish another book.....

 ......so I can now tick off yet another reading challenge...... "a book with a blue cover"

Hopefully a cooler week lies ahead........ as I'm typing away here I hear rain has started falling..... time to head to bed with another book!

Happy Stitching!
Asta

A Quilt Finished!

Trying to keep up to date so not too many weeks go past before my next post!

I have actually finished my batik quilt during the past week and with fabric left over spent Sunday making a couple of pillows to go with it.....

Also during the week my Nature's Journey quilt came back from being quilted by Jenny - a lovely lady who is a member of our embroidery group......

...umm - probably should have closed the blind first so you could see the whole quilt...

...... so a visit to Steph's Fabrics was needed to purchase some binding fabric.... and thanks to a very helpful shop assistant I came home with one I didn't expect to get.... I had in my mind a brown and came home with the one in this photo....

lined up along the edge here....

....it is one of Anni's fabrics from "Under the Mistletoe" range.....now to cut it up and start sewing.... nearly there!

And another book has been finished......

so another challenge can be ticked off the reading challenge I'm in...... " a book set somewhere you'd like to live"..... who wouldn't like to live in Provence? .... I read this a few years ago and enjoyed it just as much the 2nd time! 

That's been my past week / weekend..... off to do more reading, cut up some binding and start watching the last series of Downton Abbey.

Happy Stitching 

Asta

Where has January gone!

Hard to believe that January is almost over..... have been productive over the last couple of weeks..... the "book pillows" have been finished... just waiting for the books to be popped into the front pocket.....

This pattern was from a book called "Growing Up Modern" by Allison Harris.... lots of lovely patterns for children's quilts.

Then the batik fabric quilt came back from the quilters .... not quite finished yet....

A little retail therapy over the last couple of weeks.....including a Jelly Roll of Jen Kingwell fabrics....... no projects  yet but it is lovely to look at them and ponder.... 

Finished reading a couple of books .... this one is set in the year 1908 near Eden on the NSW South Coast with the eldest daughter of a whaling family narrating the story .... 

and the second ...... one of Hercule Poirot's cases.....

A local bookshop has a book challenge which I have joined - there are 16 challenges ...... "Rush Oh" is "a book by a debut author" challenge and the Agatha Christie book is for "a book you have not read since high school" (I loved reading Agatha Christie's books every school holidays - and still have all the books!) .... so 2 challenges ticked!

In the garden.... a bumper crop of tomatoes - the first picking of many!

.... and in October 2014 I posted this...... a diamond python coming out of my guttering...

well, I thought it had gone but found it asleep in the garden alongside the house the other day - nearly dropped my green waste bin on it.... not sure who would have got the bigger fright! Having 2 cats who could have been dinner I called the "snake" man who exclaimed that it was "one very big snake!" - now re-located he convinced me it would not be back! 

Once again I have joined up with OPAM (One Project a Month) so that will keep me busy stitching and with all the reading I will be doing I think 2016 should be a very productive year.... so till next time

Happy Stitching

Asta 

A New Year!

Well, here we are nearly 2 weeks into the New Year....... and I'd better catch up before time does get away.... 

Bundanoon welcomed the family for Xmas 2015 - at my sister Vivien's place

 Xmas Day and here's the family adorned with various "decorations" - courtesy of my other sister Linda! - the only ones missing were my 2 - Hayley and Megan. 

 We all enjoyed the following week at Bundanoon with shopping at Bowral, a visit to Berkerlouw Books near Berrima and a drive to Robertson - what a great find this (massive) shop was - full of 2nd hand goods and new giftwear....

This nifty basket was one of my finds.... a sewing basket?.... 

.....or a basket for Dora?......

 

And....lunch at the Burrawang Hotel

 another day it was lunch at the good old Primula Cafe in Bundanoon

 We had leisurely days too and even though my stitching never came out of the bag I did enjoy some reading time and finished this book....

 the same author as "Under the Tuscan Sun" but this is a memoir of her early life growing up in the Southern States of America and the influence it had on her life.

Then it was back home for a friends' New Years Eve wedding at a local beach....

 ...and just a few days later the rain started! It rained for 3 days straight so what better way to spend indoors but start a quilt! This one being a present for the newly married couple.... batik fabrics that I had bought many years ago were just waiting for such a project....

These soon became.....

this...with a little help (?)  from a couple of  furry family members - now just waiting to be quilted ........

Another book finished during the wet weather - the first John Grisham book I've read and really enjoyed it 

 Fabrics were also cut out ready for my next project...book pillows for triplets I know who are about to celebrate their 1st birthday! 

And....finally the house was un-decorated - the Xmas tree has been put away, the Santa collection has been added to with a couples as gifts, one from Sweden sent by Megan, some bought while away including another pair of salt & pepper shakers..... 

..but they are all packed away now for another year........

Well, it's back to work tomorrow :( .... have had a lovely couple of weeks off - the rain didn't even dampen the spirits! I actually switched the Xmas tree lights back on to make everything a bit more "cheery"....not that it wasn't cosy being inside....just a bit dark and gloomy! 

That's about it from me at the moment - hope 2016 is a happy and healthy one for all my readers - with lots of creative hours!

Happy Stitching

Asta