Tis the Season progress....

Life is back to normal routines here after a lovely Easter break....

Before I get totally consumed with Royal Wedding watching ( I have a big session of stitching and watching and maybe a little glass of  wine or 2!), I thought I'd better show you all that I have been busy during this month catching up with my Stitch-a-long blocks..............

Feels a bit funny stitching Xmas at this time of year....am I early for this year, or very late from last year?

Here's a piccie of all my completed blocks so far....I love them all together......

Can you spot the problem?......... I have only just noticed that my little birds are floating....oh dear I forgot their perch....not to worry....I can fix that very soon......

It is a beautiful day here today, after lots of rain....got to do some washing now........I'm trying to send the rain to Chookyblue, and I'm hoping since it's fine here that my plans worked????? So....is it raining for you Chooky??

Back to Normal Tomorrow

Well it's been a wonderful Easter break, and now tomorrow sees the kids and myself back to work as usual.

Easter Sunday was spent with family.....and we were very naughty.....

Fresh raspberries atop homemade pancakes.....yum

Not much sewing happening, although I have 2 more blocks for the Tis the Season quilt completed....must take some piccies.

The other project taking up my time is a secret, I'm sorry to say....all shall be revealed soon.

I hope you and your families enjoyed some happy moments over Easter.

You were right.....It IS a bag......

Most of you clever ladies know your Aussie designers very well, and almost all guessed correctly....this....

.....was to become........this......

A beautiful design of Anni from Hatched and Patched.

Here's a clearer piccie with a plain background.

Check out the stitchery/applique pocket.

I bought some locally handmade buttons at a craft stall last year and I was keen to use them..

This is the base of the bag...kind of barrel shaped.

Anni's designs are always well written and easy to follow. That makes them a joy to make.

I think I have enough bags for a while now, so I'd better get on and make something different.

I hope you're having a productive weekend.

I've Been Busy in the Sewing Room....

I've had a blissful few days at home looking after the farm while all the 'boys' (hubby and son) have been camping and mustering cattle, and the DD has been staying at her friends. So...there's no prizes for guessing what I've been doing .........

This will soon be a shaggy flannel quilt. I have enough fabric for 2 lap quilts so one will go to the reffle for our local Cancer Council Morning Tea later in the year.

I've been making Lynette Anderson's  My Home Or Yours quilt for too long now.....do you know that feeling??....Like it's gone on for too long so " better get your skates on" !!?? Did a bit on that....lovely English Paper Pieced borders....

I

And a new start........bought a pattern in Nundle....one of Anni's.....can you guess what this will become....come on all you "Nundle Girls" you must know?????

I have used a charm pack called Evening Mist for this. I really love the mix of colours all misty-like.
Tomorrow I will reveal my completed candlewick quilt at my local craft group.....not too many quilters amongst the ladies but it's always good to share, so I'm looking forward to that.
I hope you're all managing some time to sew........

It's Great to Stitch-a-Long with others.....................

As soon as I heard about a group of ladies stitching a quilt together, their own, but at the same time, I was keen....Chookyblue signed me up ( thanks Chooky!),and I set off to buy the book, gather fabrics and get stitchin' to catch up !!!!

Here's the results so far.......I have completed the set plan for March........3 little stitcheries (there are 12 in the whole quilt).....

Oh, and I've added the borders too.....Here are some closer piccies........

I love checking out the blog to see all the various fabric choices and 'twists' on the original. Someone has posted this months blocks already.....cripes, I'd better get moving.....I've heard that Chooky cracks the whip if you slow up too much !!!!   lol....I'm off to stitch........

A New Bag....For Sewing ...

I was so inspired when I met Anni Downs at GDITC, that I decided I needed to get busy and finish this bag that I started some time ago.

It is called "Sewing Store", and this is a close-up of the applique and stitchery....

I chose this ticking fabric as the lining....

I plan to use this bag to cart all my sewing treasures to and from craft group on Thursdays, and also to load all my purchases in when I visit the craft shows.

A Finished Quilt...

I am doing a "Happy Dance", as the long journey of making a candlewicked quilt comes to a close. It's been going on for a few years now....and here it is...

It is quite a large quilt so it fits nicely on our queen sized bed......I love the texture created with the knots, and then added to with quilting motifs.....some close-ups....

I'm not sure that the photos do the quilt justice....but you get the idea, I guess....

Now, after a quick tidy up of all the quilting gear, and a reset of the machine back to normal stitching, just what will I go on to next........Hmmmmmm.....let me go and see........

Some Quilting Therapy........

I have been sewing some candlewicked blocks for years now, and finally have finished the 25 blocks, joined them etc and begun the quilting journey.

I decided to quilt a feather motif in each corner of each block (25 x 4 = 100)!!!!!! Needless to say it has been a mammoth job, but I love the result, and it is great fun to drop the feed dogs on the machine and just "go for it".

Onto the borders now....I use "quilt and tear" paper.........don't quite trust myself yet without that guidance.

I'm really happy with the little feather motifs that frame each design........

Here's a bit of a view of the overall effect, but it looks a bit crinkly on the table......better one to follow when I finish.......

Better get back to it.................

The Finished Purse from GDITC....Ta Da.......

This is the beautiful project I started in Nundle at Kerry's Girls Day in the Country last weekend.. Anni's design, and gorgeous hand dyed felted wool...so lovely to sew with...like sewing butter.....FINISHED......I love it

I was so pleased at how easy the frame went on...never done one before, so was a little nervous to start with....

There was a great swap of little items from Anni's designs. This was great fun....here is my swap pressie.....made by Kylie.......the scissor fob sits proudly on my little embroidery scissors now.........love it....thanks Kylie.....

I took my Mum with me to Kerry's day and we sat at table with all wonderful ladies. The very persuasive "bloggy queen" who established me into blogland worked her charms on 2 of the ladies at my table.....AND....now they have started blogging too...woo hoo....great work girls....here's a link to visit them both..... here and here.....................

P.S. for anyone interested, the quilt behind my purse photo is the project at my sewing machine at the moment....a candlewicked quilt I've been working on for years.....quilting it now....photos soon.....

More on Nundle....

I brought home some special things .....

I fell in love with the wool felt...hand dyed by Anni's husband...great job Pete...it's really yummy...

 Some of Anni's latest designs...just "had to have"....you know that feeling when confronted with such loveliness and you know you won't have this chance again for a long time.....

Kerry's book....What a beautiful treasure trove the Cottage on the Hill is....WOW....I was in heaven...and Kerry is such a lovely person, had to take a little of her home (via her book!)

Kerry had some FANTASTIC lucky door prizes...and guess what !   I won one...this lovely charm pack....think I'll make one of Kerry's quilts from her book with this one...

Stay close by...after I return all these goodies to their cupboard, I will photograph my finished project from the workshop....did you hear that Chookyblue ??? FINISHED ! Your favourite word on Saturday ....LOL
Pop here to see what Chookyblue finished on Saturday at GDITC.......Then come back here real soon to see mine finally done...