Home Sweet Home

It was so good to arrive home in the wee hours of Saturday morning. We had a great holiday, but nothing really beats your own bed!

In amongst the bills and mail was a lovely little package from Marina. She very kindly sent me some FG fly fabric, after I admired it on her blog. Now to work out how she made those cute little hexie pincushions with it!

I had a productive time on the plane.......hexie love.......and some reading.

And what have I been doing since we got home? What we all do when we get home from holidays......washing!!

Hope you're having a restful ANZAC long weekend.

Susan x

A little stitching

We are still enjoying our holiday. It's raining today, but the beauty of North Queensland is that it's still warm when it's raining. Today was the first day in a week that I got the iron out........but only to press this stitchery, no clothes ironing on holidays! I've also done some piecing on an Irish Circles block. Not sure if I like that purple circle now that I see it in the photo......there is a little appliqué to go on yet so I'll see how it looks.

Snorkeling on the reef was amazing, and I can thoroughly recommend it as a really memorable experience. Here I am looking glamorous in my stinger suit......everyone had to wear them even though stinger season is just about over. I felt like a ninja.

Our day at the Daintree Rainforest was also a highlight, but very glad it was only for one day......a jungle girl I am not.

Hope the Easter Bunny found you all!

Susan x

Baby Adelia

This is my Baby Adelia orange peel quilt, inspired by Kathleen Tracy's Remembering Adelia. It's hand pieced and hand quilted, and measures 12" square. I love this new addition to my mini wall.

I love the texture of the quilting from the back.

I lasted four days on holidays without stitching, a personal best really. This is where I have been sitting sewing by the window of an afternoon.

We are going snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef tomorrow......I think it will be a highlight of our trip.

Susan x

Holiday time

We had a very interesting weekend waiting to see if Cyclone Ita would stop us from going to Port Douglas in North Queensland. We arrived safely yesterday afternoon with no dramas or delays.....straight into relax mode!

On Saturday we went to my brothers 50th in Sydney. It has been a few years since we were last together. That's me on the right next to the birthday boy. I'm the only one under 50 now, and didn't I rub it in.

Not sure how much sewing will be done on holidays, but I brought plenty with me.

Susan x

Mini progress

I have started quilting my little orange peels.

A little sneak peek at a special mini swap for later in the year.

Remember our "unpaved" paved area.......well it has been paved! You don't want to rush these things, it's taken a bit longer than a year to do, although the actual job was done in a weekend.

Really looking forward to the end of the week when school holidays start. We are starting with my brothers 50th in Sydney and then going to North Queensland to see the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. I have a little stitching packed......probably time to think about clothes as well.

Susan x

FNWF and Cassilis

It has been a whole Friday with friends today. You can visit Cheryl to see who else joined in.

We had a great day of stitching at Cassilis, complete with pouring rain, and a visit to the historic Royal Hotel. Built in 1869, it has just reopened to the public, so we enjoyed a glass of wine with our lunch (which created a few wonky stitches!). Raelee, Lea, Julie and Kylie.

Raeleewas working on her Violet quilt. Isn't the centre gorgeous.......and more fabulous borders to come.

Julie put the final stitches in her daughters new quilt. Beautiful fabric choices.

Kylie was busily stitching one of Rosalies lovely designs, and I was working on an Irish Circles block.

Hope you find a moment to stitch over the weekend.
Susan x

Laura's quilt

I think you will agree that this quilt is something quite different for me. I was inspired by the lovely Ros at Bloom, such great design and fabrics. Ros has put a tutorial on her blog for this quilt, made using a slightly different method, and in a larger bed size. If you haven't already, you should really check out her blog. Thanks for the inspiration Ros.

Since I am usually a hand stitcher, I was amazed by how quickly the blocks came together in one evening using the machine. I love half square triangles, they are so versatile. Just have to sew them all together now. I think I'll quilt with white perle in the white areas......open to suggestions.

I am well ahead of schedule on this one as Laura's birthday isn't until December. More troubling is the quilt for her mothers special birthday in August.........any suggestions would be gratefully accepted.

Looking forward to a day of stitching with the Cassilis Quilters tomorrow.

Susan x

It's autumn.....

But my roses think it's spring.

I have been a very busy little stitcher working on a stitchery from the Simply Blessed BOM, for Rosalie Quinlan to use in a sample. My goodness there is a lot of stitching in these designs, I think it's all the chain and satin stitch. Gorgeous design and a beautiful thread too. Thanks for the opportunity Rosalie.

I got the best kind of mail yesterday. I won a giveaway on Anthea's blog and was lucky to receive a great project bag (perfect size for my knitting), some very pretty thread and a cute little tape measure (which now lives in my handbag). Thanks so much Anthea. X

Last night I thought I'd have a quick look at the fabric I bought for my niece's quilt, just to have a think about what I was going to do........well I was whisked away with creativity and got all the blocks sewn! They are only half square triangles but there is over 80 of them....and I had to remember how to use my machine again (no hand piecing on this one). The layout needs some tweaking so hope to have a pic soon.

Happy stitching,
Susan x