merry christmas

 

Good grief! It seems I only pop up for holidays.

I'm afraid crazy things at work and some health issues have kept me from doing what I love - sewing! That needs to change for sure.

I hope you had a peaceful Christmas with family and friends. I look forward to catching up on your blogs and all that you have been doing.

Best wishes

winter

Thought you might like to see what winter looks like Down Under.

Or Spring . . . 
 

 Or Summer . . .

Or Autumn . . .

It's colder than it looks. Honest!

A nice bowl of soup and some crusty bread for dinner is just the ticket. I'll be making this . . .

Meanwhile, I'm sewing more of these . . .

 So that I can make more of these . . .

Happy 4th July to my USA bloggy friends! Have a S'mores for me!

solstice

 

Yesterday was the shortest day of the year for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere and the sun shone brightly as if in celebration.

I spent the later part of the afternoon working on my EPP project. Yep, that's the messy back. I use plastic covered paper clips to hold my pieces together.

It's just over a quarter size but already it's becoming a little difficult to wrangle. Not sure if I should make four quarters and then stitch them together or keep working in rows.

One shouldn't rush these decisions. Perhaps coffee and cake will help. Happy Stitching!

progress

 

With winter finally here good and proper (top temps are 60-65F - yes, stop laughing) this is the brightest thing around these parts.

And I was worried that this was going to be too *loud*. It's just the tonic for a grey, dreary day.

Other things to do today include making a boiled pumpkin fruit cake and some prune and pumpkin muffins after a friend brought around a giant Jarrahdale Grey Pumpkin.

These beauties are a challenge to cut as they have a tough skin with a firm flesh. Average weight is 13-17 pounds.

They have a good flavour;  great for roasting or a curry as the flesh will hold its shape but probably not really sweet enough for a pumpkin pie. 

Hope your weekend is a fruitful one!

perhaps

 

 Image reproduced courtesy of crazy mom quilts

Reading through some blogs I hadn't visited for a while, I came across this idea from the very talented Amanda Jean at crazymomquilts.

Admittedly her quilt design is a little different from mine but the way she has finished the edges is quite clever.

I could certainly adapt my blocks to achieve this. 

 

Hope you find time to sew a little something this weekend.

afternoon

 

What is about hand sewing that is so satisfying?

Doesn't seem to matter whether it's hand-piecing a block, catching a binding, some embroidery or a stitchery project.

I had a peaceful afternoon working on these diamonds and stars.

That cute little pincushion was a gift from Nora who used to blog on APQ back in the day and drops by now and then to see what we are sewing. Thanks Nora!

Hope there is time in your weekend for a little sewing.

inventive

 

found on Pinterest

 

Some folks are just too clever by half.

That said, I haven't been around much lately (okay four months since the last post) so perhaps this is old hat.

When I think of all the times I have dropped my roll of binding on the floor. 

You know it's been far too long since I spent time at the sewing machine. Something I should rectify soon.

I've really missed it.

Hope you are making better headway with your projects.

spam

If you receive an email from me with a link please treat it as SPAM!

I apologise if this happens. I have reported the issue to Yahoo.

I was going to post a link to an article about how this stuff became the word for nasty email but perhaps I'd better not.

unexpected

These blocks have been tucked away for a while now as I had been playing with different layouts, trying to find one that appealed.

After the post about small projects and a table mat seen on the web, I sat and stitched these guys together.

I really like them now and you know, I might just keep  going and make the lap quilt I always intended.