Fun and a surprise

My weekend retreat at Two Rivers Winery (Denman) was wonderful. It was exactly what I needed. The cottage was lovely, and the company exceptional. Below is before and after we unpacked. Most of us were hand sewing this time.......unfortunately no respectable group photo.

No finishes for me from the weekend, but a lot of progress......this mini is ready for a tiny bit of quilting.....

I made a start on my bunny hexagon quilt. These hexagons are a huge 1 1/2". I got the idea from Cathy. I'm a long way off a quilt, so if you have any 4" squares of bunny fabric you don't want I could put them to good use!

I came home to a very sweet surprise from Marina. It's very cute, and will be in use long after Easter. Thank you.

Unbelievably, it's FNWF again tomorrow. I'm looking forward to doing some more applique on my own quilt, it's a little bit too warm for hand quilting yet.

Happy sewing,

Susan x

Procrastinating

I am procrastinating on some of my bigger projects by finishing off some of the smaller ones. I don't know what stops me from finishing some things off, but it's good to spend some time catching up now and then. After finishing the applique, it was good to get this pincushion made up on Friday. It's from a free tutorial by Leonie Bateman. It was very enjoyable sewing, and I'd like to do more with woven wool in the future. Thank you Leonie. 

I did this cross stitch earlier in the year but couldn't find the blog where the design came from. I stumbled across it again last week so found some finishing ideas. If you like pears and cross stitch you should definitely check out Marly's blog.

And these 1/2" hexies have been hanging around for quite some time. They are now a nice little spring clip purse.......because I need another purse as much as I need another pin cushion!

I hope you find time for some stitches today.

Susan x

Odds and Ends

Like everyone, I have been busy starting some secret Christmas sewing..........so not a lot to blog about. I have added red to some of my 1/4" hexie flowers.

Today I stuffed and finished off this Blackbird Designs pin cushion whilst watching the Moto GP. Not sure if I like the buttons, but they were called for in the pattern, and they're on now!

Some more DJ blocks from a while back, only six more blocks needed to finish my Jane at a reasonable size.

I seem to have more projects than usual underway and they are all slow stitching.........but they are keeping me out of mischief. Hope you find some stitching time in the week ahead.

Susan x

FNWF

I have been naughty with the FNWF rules. I signed up on Thursday then completely forgot to do a post about it, and didn't even sew on Friday night! I hope Cheryll will let me off on this occasion.

I have been sewing of course, just finding it hard to settle on one thing. I love my hand work, but sometimes when I'm busy, I get frustrated by a seeming lack of progress. It makes me start other small projects instead of getting on with my quilting. This week it's another pin cushion inspired by Anna at Noodlehead who is in the Crazy Mom Quilts pincushion party. I have been channelling my inner modern stitcher. I love the charcoal linen which came from The Home Patch. The blue mark in the centre is not washable pen, it's in the star fabric.......should have thought about that a bit harder. 

Spent some time in the garden with hubby yesterday doing some long overdue pruning so that was good......except for the blister on my thimble finger. I have also been working on little 1/4" hexie flowers for a project that caught my eye at the Sydney craft show.

And feeling it's time to do something with these 1/2" hexies from last year.

Would someone please tell me to just get on with my hand quilting!

Happy Father's Day, I hope everyone has some happy family time today.

Susan x

Pin cushion finish

I haven't had much time for sewing lately. It's unusual for me, I just don't feel myself if I don't sew a few stitches every day. Anyway, I finally sat down to sew last night and decided to finish my linen pin cushion. It was already stuffed so I didn't need to open my new giant bag of walnut shells, they will have to wait for next time. I got lots of good thread ideas on my original post and decided to go with white around the Dresden.

And because I've decided I like double sided pincushions, I made a pentagon ring for the other side. One For A Wish suggested trying navy thread, and I think it looks good. I added some more navy around the sides because it looked a bit plain.

It's not my favourite pin cushion but it was an interesting experiment. I think it looks rather good on my freshly mown Spring lawn. So now it's back to my hand quilting.....I feel like it will take forever to finish.

Susan x

I have gone mad!

So, you know I'm looking for a cheaper source of crushed walnut shells. Well I found it, but I had to buy A LOT. So now I am the proud owner of a 6 kilo bag of crushed English walnut shells. I got them from Bills Pet Paradise in Bathurst today, apparently it's used for reptile enclosures. The lady didn't even skip a beat when I told her what I wanted them for, they sell quite a lot for pincushions. It's the smallest bag they sell, and it looks exactly like what I buy from craft stores. 

I think I'll need to share!

Susan x

Weekend sewing

The thing about hand quilting a large project is that I really need small creative diversions along the way. This week it's yet another pin cushion, but in green which is a colour I don't use very much. I have used this particular combination for a couple of zipper pouches and I really like it. Do you think green or white running stitch to accent the applique? Thought I'd have a go at a square pincushion. I used soft fill at first but it just would not stay in shape so reverted back to walnut shells........think I really need to get a bulk supply as it is my preference every time. 

I'm still pondering whether I should continue DJ. These are my blocks so far, and I do like it, but I don't think I will be making the quilt in its entirety. So I'm going to choose the remainder of the blocks that I'm happy to make and then come up with some variation on the border.

I think a lot of my sewing frustration this week has come from the cross stitch pattern I bought myself for my birthday. I wasn't sure I had ordered enough thread so I stitched one skeins worth and did some calculations..........whoa, way underestimated what I'd need of the "limited edition" colour (and not cheap thread either). Anyway, to cut a long agonizing story short I'm going to unpick what I've done and choose a nice dark red DMC. Just annoyed with myself for not thinking it through better......and I hate unpicking!

Exams are over for now, Mr 16 has returned from the snow, and Mr Thimblestitch and I are running away to the city for a couple of days this week. So lots of planning and organizing to do over the weekend, but of course there will be some time for sewing too.

Susan x

Lilly's Bluebird pincushion

Why does that last little bit of finishing take so long? Why do I put it off? Yesterday I just made myself stuff this pretty pin cushion that has been sitting all but finished on my desk.......it took a tonne of crushed walnut shell and about ten minutes to do.

It's a Hatched & Patched design. I really enjoyed the appliqué, but it was very hard to turn right side out......think I used too much interfacing.

Hope you have a happy weekend of stitching. I'll be working through my scraps, one 1/4" hexie at a time......

Susan x

FNWF uh-oh

So I got quite a bit done last night. And spent a lot of time seeing what everyone else was up to! Thank you Cheryll for hosting.

But I have just realised I may have made a beginners mistake with my knitting in the round. I have started knitting my cowl but there is a couple of twists in it, which seem to be getting more pronounced. Please help if you have any knitting knowledge........should I undo or carry on? Will this twist be a problem to knit, and will the cowl wear ok? I won't do another stitch until I get some expert opinions!

Susan x

FNWF

Decisions, decisions......too many projects to choose from for FNWF tonight. I started with a little bit of applique for a pincushion. Marina made it for Dawnie in Japanese taupes and I couldn't resist the kit last time I was at The Home Patch. I love doing needle turn, and am still looking for my next big applique project.....

Of course the hexagons are always calling me. Two mini's on the go.....

Or I could start knitting a new cowl. I bought the wool at Morris & Sons in Sydney last weekend, which had a huge supply of beautiful wools. Not sure how I walked out with grey when there were so many incredible colours to choose from.

And I haven't made the first stitch in Irish Circles yet (that's the backing in the photo above), which I basted last week, just waiting for the right moment. Fortunately it's a long weekend here, so I may get to do a bit of everything.

I hope this weekend finds you warm, snug and stitching (if you're in the Southern Hemisphere anyway!).

Susan x

Made for Fiona

This is the pincushion I made for Fiona. It's double sided because I couldn't decide.

I love the effect of the cross stitching on the seams, taken from Anni Downs Heart and Soul pincushion design. I used crushed walnut shells and it felt so heavy and squishy, very solid.

So our little pincushion swap was a happy success. I'm thinking about trying my hand at doing a bigger one, but might have to get some tips from the experts first.......

Happy stitching,
Susan x

Pincushion swap

I love making pin cushions so I joined a small pin cushion swap with some blogging buddies. This pretty little package has been tempting me for a couple of weeks and I finally got to open it today!

Wow, wow, wow! Look at the adorable little pincushion I got from Dawnie. The detail is exquisite, so tiny and precise. Even the label on the bottom is perfect.

The golden topped pin is actually a Japanese needle capper. Fortunately Dawnie included instructions for that or I wouldn't have known what it was. Thank you so much my generous, talented friend, I love my new pin cushion.

A few chores and groceries this morning, then an afternoon of quilting in the sunshine I think. Thanks to those who answered my plea for sourcing Valdani perle thread. I ended up finding just the colour I needed at The Threaded Needle.

Happy stitching.
Susan x

Finished cowl

Chunky is certainly my style of knitting.......very quick. My cowl turned out ok and will be very useful if we ever have a blizzard in Mudgee. Perhaps too chunky for my taste, so I will try again in 12 ply and with a pattern.

Catching up on some cross stitch this week so I can give the frame back to its owner......who may have forgotten that I borrowed it.

And a little gift for a friend. Now that I've looked at the photo I think the handle isn't quite right. Wonky or quirky? What do you think?

Happy stitching,
Susan x

Odds and ends

I've been doing a little bit of finishing off. This cushion was stitched before I even started blogging, sewn together in Feb 2014, and finally stuffed last night. Better late than never!

Some lonely experimental hexies turned into a pincushion for an upcoming swap.

More leftover 3/8" hexies, these from the FiS Christmas swap in December 2013. Now a new mini waiting to be quilted. Very similar to one I made with 1/4" hexies for myself here.

And a little giveaway to finish. I won this set of smaller fabric pieces at a retreat, and they are just not colours I would use. The largest piece is 13" square, so suitable for a small project. Leave a comment and I'll draw a winner on Monday.

Susan x

Welcome 2015 and a distraction

It's a new year of sewing, but not so many new projects. I am determined to finish my Irish Circles borders soon. Two sides are on. I'm going to rework the corner blocks, some more applique I think.

However, as it so often happens, when I was looking for the border triangles I unearthed another little project.

The pattern and felt were still in the shopping bag from who knows how long ago. I'll reveal more in a couple of days.
This afternoon I am being wild and spontaneous and driving 3.5 hours for a bbq tonight, then straight back home in the morning. Catching up with some work friends from pre-children days in Newcastle.........2015 is the year of saying yes!

Susan x

Surprise package

Postie brought me a little soft package yesterday.....I wasn't expecting anything.....least of all this beautiful pincushion from Marina. Perfectly stitched with a clever little bunny sewing, and a lovely navy wool backing. As a rabbit collector it's a perfect design for me. Thank you so much Marina, I love it.

Susan x

Melbourne mini swap

I loved the mini I received from Elyte. The one I made for her was also in reds and creams. I intended to do an eight pointed star but the papers I bought weren't the right size, so six sided it was. It measures 12" square.

It was actually square, just looks wonky on the grass.

I also made a little pincushion for my fellow hexie lover, Marina. It looks a bit wonky because it was. 3/8" hexies.

I have been busy quilting my SIL quilt at night, it's keeping me very warm. Also planning my trip with the Cassilis Quilters to the Sydney craft show next week. Looking forward to catching up, seeing some beautiful quilts and buying a few supplies.

Susan x