Nice Weekend

Hi everyone,

Hope you had a nice weekend too.  I've been enjoying looking after Girl 8.  The weather was nice too so I decided to do some washing.

I made this quilt back in the 80's (sadly, it has no label) when my fabric stash had lots of dusty pink and shades of country blue.  I was living in Southern California at the time.  The backing was bought at a place in the garment district of LA that sold fabric by the pound....It has been on my dining table for years but I couldn't see it very well as my table is always covered in sewing stuff!  After a wash, it is now on my bed and I am enjoying seeing it once again.

Here is girl 8 on Friday night.  She has a full tummy and has put herself to bed.  Just like the other dogs,  she keeps the much loved teddy and bunny close by.

She is the  first of the dogs that doesn't like Vegemite in the Kong.  She only likes peanut butter.

Tonight is our last night together.  She will be picked up tomorrow morning.  I've enjoyed having her with me.  You can see more pictures of her on my previous post.

The celery is growing so fast.  I will be eating some this week for sure. This is day 8.

And this is day 14.   I think it's a pretty good deal for something that was headed for the compost bin.

xx debbie

Quilting, Girl 8

Hi everyone,

I have finished this quilt that I have made as a favour for a dear friend of mine.

 

She has done a great job choosing fabrics.  The binding matches so well.

This is a gift for her new baby nephew.

 

Yesterday I quilted my 3rd and final Blanket of Love for this year.

 

Here is the back.  The stitching came out so pretty this time.

 

 

I have the binding strips cut but not pieced yet. Nearly finished now!

 

 

Meet Girl 8.  She is super sweet.  She is my first senior citizen too.

 

 

No matter where she lands, this is her fave position.   She has been a working girl her whole life.

She recently turned 9 and she is now retired.  She has multiple health problems too.

 

 

This picture makes me smile.  She quickly worked out the coolest place in the house is the hallway.  The back of the house faces east, so there is usually a seabreeze blowing through.

 

 

I feel so lucky to be looking after this precious old soul.  I totally adore her.

 

 

Sunset 24 October 2013...From my front door.   Anyone sewing with me tonight? xx debbie

Quilty Love, Girl 8

Hi everyone,

I am expecting Girl 8 tomorrow.  She will be with me Wednesday-Monday.  Pictures coming soon.

I am still enjoying sorting my scraps.  I think I waited so long because it would be a chore, but things have turned out just the opposite.  I have found sew  much inspiration now that I can see what I have.

Yesterday I finished this flimsy which will soon be on it's way to dear Cheryll for Blankets of Love. 
I will quilt this as soon as I finish the one already on the machine.
I am happy with how the scraps worked out, nice soft colours for a tiny loved one.

I have also been sorting 2 1/2 inch strips: leftovers from Jelly Rolls, and many I cut myself.

I was going to sew these all in one quilt, but I have another idea now. Will get back to these soon.

My friend came over this morning. I showed her some sample quilt stitches, but she has asked me to do straight line quilting that outlines all the black squares.  I will finish quilting this today.

She also  brought this fabric for me to make the binding.  I think it will look great on this quilt.

This celery was in the fridge for two weeks, so I really didn't think it would do anything. This is
day 8.  The garden blogs say it is ready for planting when it has leaves and then it can be cut perpetually just like spring onions.   Sweet.  Back to quilting now. xx debbie

FNSI

Hi everyone,

Here is what I did for FNSI:

I layered and pin basted this panel that I am going to machine quilt for a dear friend.

This will be a play mat for her new baby nephew.  I'm thinking I must find my sunnies to wear while quilting it though. Wow, this one is very bright in person :)

I made a start on a few string blocks, then decided most of my strings are too wide for these blocks that are only 5" square.  That will be easy to sort out later.

Then I worked on this stitchery.  It's nearly finished and then I will make it into a thread catcher for my Secret Santa swap.  It's been fun to stitch and I will be making more of these! Design is by Michelle Ridgway :)

I've been sorting scraps all week and I had a nice stack of 4" squares , so here are some of them started off in pairs.  I love a scrappy patchwork quilt most of all.  So, that's my FNSI here at the cottage.  Hope you had fun too! xx debbie

FNSI

Hi everyone
I am joining in with Wendy tonight for FNSI.  Just pop over to her blog if  you would like to sign up too.  Thank you, Wendy.

 

I don't have a definite plan yet but I have plenty to choose from.  As I posted earlier, my focus this week has been rotary cutting and sorting my scrap drawer.

 

 

I have been cutting 4" and 5" squares,  2 1/2" strips, and strings only.  I decided this will simplify things because these are the sizes I use most. I don't care for the rotary cutter much, but I have found this task pleasant after all. I have sew many new ideas now that I can see what I have!

 

 

So, what shall I do for FNSI?  Here are my choices:

 

1.  I have 5" base blocks and strings cut and  ready to start a string quilt, could be for Blankets of Love.

 

2. I have enough 4" blocks ready to start another baby quilt for Blankets of Love.

 

3. I have a quilt panel, batting and backing here that I will be machine quilting for a friend.

 

4. My Secret Santa project: the embroidery is nearly finished, then will sew it into a thread catcher and add some goodies to fill it up.

 

5. My Aiming for Accuracy quilts...I've neglected these as I have lost interest.

 

6. My scrap  bag of 2 1/2 inch strips/ Jelly Roll leftovers contains many lengths, but I have had an idea that I could try a quilt along the lines of "Jelly Roll Race Quilt" just the same, even with shorter lengths.  You can find this idea on YouTube if you don't know what I am on about LOL.

 

7. I still need to cut and sort more scraps, but I have made good progress with this project.

 

I will probably work a little on several of these projects.  What goals do you have for tonight? Do you struggle with scrap quilt colours too? I find I have to force myself not to worry too much about what matches or not.

xx debbie

 

 

 

 

Travelling Treasures Winner

The lovely Bev has chosen the October winner of Travelling Treasures.

Sincere congratulations go to Susan.  If you have a moment, check out Bev's blog. She has made a
very special gift for Susan.  I am jealous!  Thank you to everyone who played along.

Here at the cottage, there is still plenty of yardwork happening. I've been trying to do as much as I can before it gets too hot.  I was very sad yesterday I had to dispose of 3 fully mature tomato plants that I grew from seed.  They were loaded with tomatoes that were full of grubs. I've thrown away more than a dozen fruits so far and have yet to eat one myself!! The remaining plants are well sprayed now with garlic and chilli spray and homemade white oil.  I refuse to give in!!  Some things are going well though.   I have had these pretties for lunch the past two days, freshly cut by me!

Spinach, spring onions, rainbow silverbeet.  I added celery, capsicum, and tomato to make a huge salad. Did you know you can plant the roots of spring onions from the store and they will grow?  I have a steady supply now as I can cut off what I want and they grow back.

This is my scrap drawer.  It is only 3 inches deep, but it holds a lot. I promised myself when it got full I would do some cutting and sorting instead of starting another drawer :)  Then I looked around my sewing room (which I never sew in because it is too dark) and I saw little stacks of scraps here and there that had been multiplying when I wasn't looking.  There is no way all of those scraps would have fit in the drawer too, so it was time to start sorting.

There are 30 leftover / orphan quilt blocks on this chair, found in that drawer.  Hmmm......

I have made a huge mess but it is a pretty one. I decided I don't want blocks in every size, so I have limited my cutting to 4" and 5" squares, 2 1/2" strips, and strings. These are the sizes I use most.
I made a bag for each of these sizes to simplify sorting while I am cutting.

This produce bag is nearly full of the crumbs too small to save. The pile is 8" high!

Here is the drawer a few days later...and it doesn't look like I made much progress.  How do you sort your scraps?  Do you set a limit for yourself?  Do you cut many sizes?  xx debbie

What a Tuesday!!!

Hi everyone,

I have a friend that is retired from the Air Force.  He flies planes from here to there for their
100 hour service.  He also flies on his days off from work just for fun.  On Tuesday, I was
invited to go along.

This is the plane we went in, just before we left. The red letters on the tail say REDCLIFFE.   I've done too many international flights in my
lifetime to count: USA, London, Australia, Japan,  Indonesia, etc....but I have NEVER been on a
plane this small.   I told myself not to be nervous....but....

Before we left, he told me there was only one engine, (Only ONE engine, seriously) ?!?!! and he told me he would take the long way and  fly along the
beach all the way so we could crash on the beach instead of the ocean, and he told me what position
to get in if we were going to crash...(He called it mandatory safety information).

We flew from Rothwell to Caloundra, in Queensland.  We were over the water in no time!!

It wasn't a perfectly clear day and we could see fires burning in the distance north to Sunshine Coast.
Most of our time in the air was flying along the coast of Bribie Island.

Here we are approaching the runway in Caloundra.  I was hoping the propeller wouldn't fail!!

This is my fave pic of all the ones I took on the day. This is after we had a coffee in Caloundra
and are back in the air on our way home.

Here we are flying along Bribie Island. The dark spot is the wheel for landing.  We both had
headsets on with microphones so we could chat the whole time.

The colours of the sandy beach and the water were just beautiful and ever changing.
The dark shadows are clouds from above.  We did go up to 1500 ft, but most of the time
we were only at 500 ft. I could see people on the beach.  Our speed was 180km/h.

 

We landed safely back in Rothwell and I survived to tell you this story.  It's not often I get

very far from home these days, so this was a VERY exciting day for me.  It's the best day I've

had in a long time! xx Debbie

There are heaps of pics....here is one more....
I will be playing with rotary cutter tonight instead of sewing....anyone care to join me?

Travelling Treasures Giveaway Time

Hi everyone,

It is Travelling Treasures time again.   You can read about how it all started here.  

 

Bev C. over at Kainga Happenings  has received her parcel from Lyndell  and shown pictures of

what she is keeping and adding to the parcel.  She is also offering a fun guessing game giveaway.

You have until Midnight Tuesday the 8th of October to pop over to her blog to offer your guess for a chance to win the next parcel.   Good luck!  xx debbie

FNWF

Hi everyone,

                                                                            

Lovely to stitch along with  you last night.  I have a favourite BeeGees concert cd that I listened to
most Friday nights as it is good sewing music LOL.   My stereo has been broken for months so I
am really missing it, but I have new friend that is working with tech support for the maker and hopefully it will be working again very soon!  Here is what I worked on last night:

I made a start on Breast Cancer drain bag #3.

I trimmed 16 quilt blocks so now they are ready to sew in groups of 4.

I made a start on this cute little stitchery for my Secret Santa project.

A dear friend has been helping me with yardwork.  What a mess!

My back is aching from all the raking, chopping palm leaves, and sweeping.

It looks so nice out there today.  I love to sit out there and stitch or plant things.

Right in the middle there is my first tomato of the summer just starting to blush.  Yum.....
xx debbie