Under the Sea

I'm a little bit behind but it's still February for another 8 and 1/2 hours so here is my postcard for 'Under the Sea'. I found just the right blue background fabric that to me looked like it has a great piece of coral already there. Swim little fishies. They and the green coral are hand appliqued and then I backstitched water with a blue metalic thread.


This is the postcard I received in yesterday's mail. Aren't those little turtles just the cutest. I think you call it couching and it's done with a gold metalic thread over wool with blue metalic thread for the water.

Back to the cutting mat for my next project.

Happy Sewing

Spiderman ~ Finished

Spiderman Wall Hanging is finished and wrapped, awaiting delivery to the birthday boy. (A breeze was making photography difficult)

A Little Sewing

There's so much else that has to be done and sewing is taking a back seat for a moment. However I did manage to get and hour or so in at our Patchwork group on Wednesday arvo. I can only get there after finishing work at 1.30pm so I'm going to take my Red Delicious and hand sew each month. Of course the coffee is a must as is chatting with friends.



January is all caught up for my Calendar Quilt . . .



and February up to the 14th. The 7th and 13th are backing fabrics for gift quilts. Then I thought I'd go with pinks for 'love month' and a red with bunches of white flowers for Valentine's Day.

As you'll see on my sidebar, I'm also taking part in Lurline's Happy House Swap. This is the first block I've made, untrimmed as yet. Can anyone else who has made these tell me if the side strips are supposed to be angled like that or have I done something wrong?

I have a date with Spiderman today. Quilting that is, on a panel for my nephew. Hopefully soon I'll have some finished photos and can add to my '2009 Finishes' on the sidebar.

Happy Sewing

Blog Launch and Giveaway

While wandering around blogland I came across Judith's new blog. She's launching her blog by holding a giveaway so you might like to check it out. Welcome her with your comment and be in it to win it.

A Loss for Words

What can I say that hasn't already been said?

Simply, my thoughts are continuously with those in Victoria at this time of great sadness and also with those in North Queensland.

Tennis, Cricket and McLeod's Daughters

What do you think these three things could have in common? My hand stitching progress of course. I've never been a big tennis or cricket fan but this year I'm enjoying watching both which is tricky when you have the men's tennis singles finals on one channel and a close cricket match on the other.

I did a lot of switching between channels while watching the tennis and cricket last night. Saturday night was tennis and then McLeods. I also made good progress on the log cabin quilt. I've now done the hand stitching part of joining the blocks so that they are in four strips of four blocks. Just three x 56" long seams to go and then the binding. I'm a slow hand stitcher so I'm really happy with my progress. I'd share a photo of the strips but I think my camera just passed on.

Off to town today which includes a visit to the local fabric shop. I need backing and wadding for the T-block quilt and also some backing for my nephew's quilt which is due by the 13th of this month and where is it . . . still in the UFO pile. I see a busy busy week ahead as it's also GST (Goods and Services Tax) time for this little procrastinator.

Happy Sewing

Crazy Patch Postcards

Back again with a picture of the sweet fabric postcard I received in the mail.

I've also been doing some hand sewing on the log cabin quilt, joining blocks. It's coming along nicely. Managed to get a log done while watching the final of McLeods Daughters.

Happy Sewing

Sewing Go Slow

Back at work, no sewing and exhausted. It's always the same first week back, takes a bit to get back into the swing of things.

In the absence of any sewing progress, here's the fabric postcard I completed for January.

Happy Sewing

Sewing, Sewing and More Sewing

I've been having a sewing good time! Every day last week I managed to get some sewing done. Yesterday and today have been more of the same. My machine is set up with the ironing board close by and I just keep sewing . . . with a few household jobs inbetween.

I'm getting as much sewing time in as possible before I head back to a work routine this Thursday, so sadly, 'ample' sewing time is coming to an end. Then it will be back to squeezing the sewing in.

So, what have I achieved.

This log cabin quilt I'm doing as a quilt-as-you-go. I'm just about to start joining the blocks.



I finally made a start on Red Delicious. Here's block one all ironed on, ready for hand blanket stitching with some embroidery on the bird tails and cherries.



And for this T-Block quilt, I used fabrics that I'd originally bought for the log cabin but I had twice as much fabric as I needed. For more pics of the steps to this quilt, see here.

Of course this means I've added more projects to my WIP list but I do have a time frame for these two quilts so hopefully they will soon be moved to the Completed 2009 list.

So it's back to the sewing machine for me, perhaps with a cup of coffee.

Happy Sewing Days

Colour In My Garden

Or perhaps my title could have been "After The Rains". Everything looks so much fresher and happier when it's had a good drenching.

Saturday we received 2 inches of rain in an afternoon storm. The only problem was it also came with high winds which not only blew the rain under doors and in windows, it brought down a lot of branches and some trees along our road. DD and I were on our way home from town and had to sit it out in a small town along the way.

With trees down blocking the road, and gullies gushing with water, we did wonder if we might have to turn around and head back to town for the night. Luckily we have an alternate track so DH came out along that one to meet us. It hadn't received the full brunt of the storm so we made it home eventually. A 1 hour 20 minute drive home turned into 4 hours but now the dams are full and the grass is growing so I will never complain.

So getting back to my title, I took a walk around the garden yesterday with camera in hand. I'd like to share a little colour from my garden.

Enjoy,

I'm off to do some sewing with perhaps a sewing related post later today.

Don't forget, I still have room in my PIF, if you've been thinking about joining, I'd love to hear from you.

Giveaways Galore

Surfing around blogland this morning I found several exciting giveaways that I'd like to share with you.

The wonderful Jo Jo at Home Sweet Home is celebrating her 100th post with a surpirse 'Pick-a-box'. Visit Jo to find out how to enter her draw. Here is my contribution.

My embroidery scissors

My scraps tidy.

My trusty Janome.

Gorgeous fabric and a pendant expecially for Valentine's Day. Say hello to Jane for your chance to play with this bundle of fun.




How lovely are these hand made earrings? Head over to Optimistic Beauty for your chance to win them.



More beautiful fabric. One of the prizes you could win by visiting Fabric Family and Fun.

Mary has a bunch of goodies to giveaway, including about 12 yards of pretty ribbon. Check out her eye candy pic at Primitive Seasons.

Now I'm off to do some sewing. Holidays are coming to a close and I'm trying to squeeze in as much sewing as possible.

Happy Sewing

Easter Swap

Check out Mr Bunny on my side bar and clink on the link ... or click here to visit Julie and see what she's organising.

I'm off to finish the other eight of these.

The 2nd and 3rd row of darks will be different so this won't be the final layout.

Happy Sewing