A Wet Weekend Is On The Way

As I sit here and type this blog post it is raining quite heavily.  A real winter soaking.  It is forecast for rain all weekend.  Perfect weather to stay indoors, I have some plans on Sunday but I think tomorrow will be a stay at home type of day.

The type pf day to put some finishing touches on a few swap gifts and give them a final wrapping before I pop them in the post over the weekend.

I am longing for a few rays of sunshine and know that spring is on it's way again now that we are at the end of the first month of winter.

I can already imagine the sunshine on my back as I pick vases full of spring blooms to adorn our home. 

But for now I will be content with making lovely pots of soup, warm hearty dishes in the slow cooker and baking biscuits and cakes to warm the bellies of my loved ones.  I will take the time to nap if I'm tired and sit with stitching on my lap, because I can........

I am thankful every day for being blessed with things in my life that make me truly happy and for being able to indulge in activities that give me much pleasure.  And I am grateful for having you stop by to visit with me in my little corner of cyber space.

So Thank You xxxxxx

This week's stitching and a swap gift.

Our Tuesday girls are making Natalie Bird's "Merry & Bright" Quilt and this week we put together the applique pieces on some more blocks and I have spent some time stitching the rest of Block 1 - The snowman block. 

All 4 of the quilts are going to look very different as we have all chosen different fabrics - I have gone for bright cheery Pinks, Yellows, Greens, Blues and Reds - I am trying to use up scraps from my scrap bin. 

Each time I choose a new scrap it reminds me of the project that it originally belonged to.  It's nice to reflect on finished projects.

I think the little soldiers are my favourties so far - This weekend I will be working on the angel block.

I received some more happy mail this week.  It was my swap gift from my online friendship group in our winter swap.  My parcel was from the lovely Tarnyia

Look at the lovely goodies she sent me.

I totally love the table runner that she made for me.  It is gorgeous.  Thanks so much Tarnyia - I hope you're feeling better.

Winter has really bitten us here in Tasmania - Thankfully the shortest day has passed and now we can look forward to a little more daylight each day  - We are on the other side - YAY !

Have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs - Fee X

Happy Mail & My Sewing Space

I recently purchased some gorgeous new "Shabby" items from my friend Kerryanne at her Facebook Sale.  I was lucky enough to win a pre-sale ticket which meant I could shop before the sale started.  I was chuffed.  They arrived this week and I am thrilled with my new purchases.  This is the lovely rose keepsake box which was my very first choice.

It now has pride of place on my dressing table

And holds lots of my jewellery treasures

I also purchased this letter holder.  It is the perfect place to leave a pair of hubby's glasses.  Hopefully now he will know where at least 1 pair is.

Look at this gorgeous little lavender bag that she also sent me - It is adorable.

And finally I purchased these ribbon boards and stand.  Thanks so much Kerryanne - They are all perfect.

I thought I would show you my sewing space today.  Toby as usual is with me but it is a little messy and I really need to put some things away and tidy up - BUT it is a well known fact that creative minds tend to be messy in their work space LOL - I do work better when it's tidy though.

My work table has items all over it including 2 more pieces of this week's happy mail

The Natalie Bird stitchery "Hearts Return" and frame which I purchased from my friend Pauline at Calico Crossroads

And Sandy at Cookies and Cream Craft had an Anni Downs Sale and I just had to buy another of the books I didn't have in my collection.

The table is littered with the remnants of my stocktake this week.  It is almost the end of the financial year so I really needed to get it done as it was a bit messy since the craft fair.  I am pleased that it is finally done and I discovered lots of stock I didn't know I had .

Another granny square pile is paitently waiting to be done

And this fabric is waiting to be bundled

My room also has a lot of my "Freebie" Pattern folders everywhere - I was looking for a particular pattern and in my frenzy pulled them all out and just stacked them up.  You can also see the piecing part of the Jitter bug quilt waiting for the applique to be finished and joined together.

And there is a box or two of fabric bundles ready for listing on the floor too ......

So I suppose I had best get to it and tidy the place up a bit.  I hope you are enjoying your Saturday.

Hugs - Fee X

I Found Him

I Found Him !!  Hidden under the storage boxes on the bottom shelf - My Mojo........  I wouldn't have been able to find him without your help, love and support.  I am very happy that he's back and now I can get through the pile of projects I have on my to do list.  Thank you so much.

On the day I found him I managed to get another 3 granny squares done - So that now makes 4 

I have prepped the applique for the Jitter Bug Quilt.  Just a bit more applique to do now and then I can put it all together.  The other 2 girls have finished theirs so I am a bit behind.

My gorgeous Brick Quilt has been sitting here quilted for ages so last night I finally sewed the binding on now all I have to do is stitch it down and it's done.

The binding is on the Geisha quilt - Just needs a label now

It is such a bright and cheery quilt - I am not sure which little girl will end up with this one yet - I will wait until I have all 5 done before I decide.

And last night our Tuesday night group began a new applique quilt.  We enjoy doing them together and decided to flick through some Homespun magazines and came up with Natalie Bird's Merry & Bright Quilt.  This is what I achieved last night.  There are lots of fiddly little pieces but using the baking paper method makes it super easy.  Aren't they cute?  The little soldier has 2 other pals in his block so I had better get those put together really soon.

So as you can see in the past few days my Mojo has returned with vigour and I am very pleased.

Have a great week and stay warm.

Hugs - Fee X

New Clothes, Baking & Friendship

Thanks so much for all of your lovely comments on my last post.  Living in such a beautiful place as Tasmania does have a slight downside and that is the cold dark days of winter.  For those of you that asked I do take a Vitamin D supplement but sometimes it is just not enough. 

To cheer myself up and get me going with my blog again I have given it some new clothes and a new banner above.  If you read my blog in reader then you won't see the changes unless you pop over. 

I use the free graphics over at "Free Pretty Things" - the link is on my sidebar on the right hand side - You have to see the Free Vintage Clipart she has - It's gorgeous.



Yesterday I decided to make a quiche for lunch and as I had no ready made pastry in the freezer I set about making my own.

I used my great grandmother's rolling pin which is one of my kitchen treasures

Into the oven it went and half an hour later

We had a lovely family sized quiche

It tasted delicious but unfortunately it was made from store bought eggs as my girls are having a little break from laying at the moment.

I then baked an orange poppyseed cake for afternoon tea

I couldn't get motivated to get into the sewing room until the late afternoon and then I think the only attraction was the single ray of winter sunshine that came through the window for a few minutes. 

 It's amazing how close friends know just the right time to call.  Dawn and I were on the phone having our usual natter and she was sewing granny squares.  We decided that an over the phone sew along would be the go to get me motivated

So I took my newly acquired Vintage Modern Jelly Roll and some white quilters homespun and set about cutting the fabric needed for 20 X granny squares.  It took less than half a jelly roll so I was pretty pleased with that.  The cutting took 20 minutes and all the time Dawn and I nattered and did the math together.

I sorted my squares into colour groups and then chose the squares for my first granny square.

And here is the end result - My first granny square.  I am not sure if my motivation will extend to anymore of these today but I am hoping so.  Dawn and I took a photo of the block that we sewed together (Hers is from Strawberry Fields by Fig Tree Quilts and is delicious !) Then we texted the photos to each other so we could see the other's work. 

It was a long distance sew along from Brighton in Tassie to Surrey Downs in South Australia but it was just the boost I needed.  Thanks Dawn - Love ya !!

Hugs - Fee XX

Winter has arrived .........................

Winter has certainly arrived at our house - Look what I spotted in the garden this week.  A robin red breast - A true sign that winter has indeed arrived.  I have to admit to being a little blue throughout these past few weeks.  I am sure it is because I leave for work in the dark and get home right on dark and spend all day inside an office - Hmmmm I think I had better start taking my vitamin D again.

I haven't been idle though I have been stitching a few blocks of a soon to be released redwork quilt for a friend.  It is a gorgeous design and one I think I will make in pinks.

We have had a new kitty join our family.  Meet Candy.  She is such a delight and is chasing a kitty ball around the house as I write this post.  She never stops playing - Who needs to watch telly when we can sit and watch her antics every night.

My online friendship stitching group had a winter swap.  I enjoyed making Gail Pan's Cottage Garden Threads Thread keeper so much that I decided to make another one for my partner Sandy

I am so pleased that she loves it - It is a real joy to stitch and easy to make.  Gail writes a very easy to follow pattern so no hiccups with this pattern at all.

I also played along in a COLOUR SWAP.  These are the gifts that I sent my partner Peta.  You will have to go over to her blog if you would like to see what I sent her as I forgot to take a photo of it all unwrapped.

This is what she sent me

Look at it all - Wasn't I spoilt?

This bracelet is just gorgeous and made by Peta herself

Lots of shabby coloured bits here

And look at this adorable kitty made in shabby fabrics.  Her name is Rosie.  Thanks so much Peta I love it all.

Hugs  Fee XX