Scraps and finishes

Each year I allow myself to start one new scrap project (regardless of the state of my other scrap projects hehe). I've decided to join in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge run by Angela over at her superscrappy blog again - I lapsed with this last year but am up and running with it again.
So what scrap project could I do???





About the time I was sewing this cute block for my Farm Girl Vintage quilt, I came across this blogpost by Sue of Mother Patchwork.... I fell in love her finished RSC Scrapppy Sprouts quilt!! I followed the links she gave and decided to make one too :-)





So lately I've been leader and ending away sewing up 2 ½" purple squares. Sadly as I sewed I sunk deeper and deeper into despair — somehow I just wasn't feeling the love — the blocks didn't look like anything and I felt uninspired! BUT Something Happened when I rounded up what I'd done for a photo to prove that 'at least I'd tried' with this month's scrap challenge. I saw it through different eyes and fell in love all over again!!!!!!

A photo of my 'soon to be rejected' semi-made blocks

Yaay - I unpicked a few lights I wasn't happy with, did some more sewing and, ta-da, this month's scrap bocks are made!

I decided these lights were too dark and distracting.

Excitement mounting - maybe these will work after all!

Yes - I'm happy.
May I present This Year's RSC block project!

Thank you to Sue for the inspiration and to Angela for the motivation :-)

Most of the sewing I'm doing at the moment is for the shop I work at as we prepare for our New Year's Launch of new projects and programmes. Mostly secret stuff.  During the weekends I give myself some time-out and try to spend a little time doing 'my own stuff'. Today I finished off the second of the little cushions I've been talking about lately.....

Here it is with last week's finish.
The step-grandies have gone home now but these will be waiting for them in the next holidays :-)

These started off as test blocks for Juliet of Tartankiwi. Click *here* to get to her blog where she has links to her shop for these designs.

And I have one other little show and tell item to share. A friend and I have challenged each other to make one thing a month for our gift-box. I made one of these Ouch Pouches; rather cute I thought and also rather handy. I found the pattern on Melissa's Cornbread and Beans blog. Thank you Melissa for the brilliant tutorial.

A wee pouch for band-aids (plasters), Panadol, etc to pop in the bottom of a bag.

Now that the weekend is nearly over here it's time for me to get back to what I need to be working on for the shop - 

Flying Geese border for my Farm Girl Vintage.

Before I go, I thought I'd give an update on our wee dog. Last post I shared that he'd had a nasty accident...thank you for all the thoughts and concern for him. He is making a remarkable recovery so we are very pleased. His routines are nearly back to normal now. Apart from the stitches in his neck and a little bit of swelling on his head, you'd barely tell anything happened. Whew what a relief!

Wishing you all happiness and lots of creative moments,

Blink.....

Blink and you miss it is possibly the best way to describe last week! I settled down into my cozy chair after dinner on Friday night, with the aim of joining in with the other FNSI-ers from around the globe, but all I could manage was one row on my scrappy waves blanket before I called it a night and tumbled into bed.

I haven't shared about this project for a while.... I am relishing using my odds and ends of wool and all along just wanted it to be a mess of scrappy colour...which I think I've achieved. It's the project I turn to when I sit down at night and really cant be bothered doing anything. A row here and a row there and it's actually grown quite big.

I thought I'd give FNSI another try on Saturday afternoon...no dinner duties for me (yaay, it was kids' night cooking). Determined to get at least one of my cushions (shown in my last post) finished, I focussed and was just sewing the buttons on when I was called for our delicious tea!

And - yaay - my first finish for 2017!!

Baked cheesecake - yum!

Thank you Wendy for hosting us all on Friday night - signing up gave me the little push I needed to get something done! Thank you fellow FNSI-ers for your company!! You can visit Wendy by clicking *here*.

Our wee dog, who has been the hero of many of my photoshoots over the years, had a horrible injury this week.... we are unsure of exactly how it happened. He spent 2 days in vet hospital but we are happy that he is 'at home recovering' now. Not very happy about being under supervision and house arrest but doing really well considering the nature of his injuries.

Sulking... "I really want to run outside and chase something."
Stitches on his neck. Drainage tube, which you can just see, will be removed Monday.

Here's hoping for a calmer week!

Happy stitches :-)

Better late than never -

I started this as my "New Year " post but got sidetracked (and it went into draft) so here it is now - better late than never, they say!
Before I get serious though I will show you the progress I've made on my Farm Girl Vintage quilt which I talked about in my last post -

Since YD and her hubby have been living with us we have had the pleasure of our two step-grandies staying during school holidays...they're not used to spending time with a mad quilter so have been intrigued by the whole process...the number of times I was asked if the quilt was finished yet was mind boggling :-)
So when I got the centre pieced they were very excited to be able to hold it up for me for a photograph session —

Whoops, need to get it right, how do you do this anyway?!

Phew, that's better!

I've got as far as I can for now as there are border decisions to make - that will happen soon I think :-)

— Taking this modelling thing seriously!

On a bit of a high from this interest I pulled out two test blocks I had made for Juliet of Tartankiwi back in July. I had sewn them thinking they would be great made into cushions so I thought it would be nice to pull these out while the girls are still here.

Borders on —

And pinned, all ready to quilt; a quiet hour or so should see these finished and on the girls' beds :-)

Finishing off these will form part of my goals for this year. (Here comes the serious part.)
I really enjoyed visiting everyone's blogs at the start of the month; reading of New Year's promises, pledges, projects, Words of the Year, new QALs, SALs, KALs, CALs, mysteries  and so on - a real cornucopia of inspiration and motivation. However I told myself I was just going to carry on as before and not set any goals or rules for my quilting year that would likely be broken or neglected before the first quarter is out.
But I did read an interesting item in the paper reiterating how important goals and plans are for giving direction (and so on) so I thought maybe a few would be a good idea!
So, I'm not pledging to Not Start Anything New, nor Not Buy Anything, nor Finish All My UFOs but —
I am Hoping to make my way through test blocks like these above, giving them proper finishes and homes.
I am Hoping to LABEL all my quilts - even those already finished!!
I Will continue working my way through my scraps and my stash, using it in projects old and new.
I'd Quite Like to decide which UFOs need a new direction - I love most of my UFOs but there is the odd one that can be repurposed - and maybe even start those on their new journey.
AND Above All, I know I want to continue to Love the Journey, Enjoy the blogging world and Treasure the friendships made ♥
That's as committed as I'm going to get and I'm not going to share photos of the copious amounts of projects the above goals and wishes cover (far too embarassing!). I will draw up a mind map of the the goals and projects to pin beside my desk and, hopefully, motivate me through the year.
On that very positive note, I will sign off!

Happy creating,

Drumsticks and sheep legs...and a little more —

On Friday night I joined in with the first FNwF of the year, stitching along with others from around the globe... my goal was to finish off a couple of Farm Girl Vintage blocks that needed some stitchery added to them.

Yaay mission accomplished :-)

Thank you Cheryll for once again ably hosting us all.... visit her *here* to see who else crafted long with us.

It took me a while to get back into any sort of stitching after Christmas, I think my body and mind just needed some 'down time' (how does that work.... sewing and crafting is my relaxation?!!). The last week, however, saw me sewing away again and I'd just about done all the blocks I needed for my Farm Girl Vintage quilt.

And then today I finished the last four blocks I needed for the corners - simple stars - and now 'all I need to do' is to assemble the blocks, put borders on and quilt it!

This is a project I am doing for The Country Yard and I am enjoying putting it together :-)

Talking about The Country Yard, we had a special visitor while I was at work on Friday.....
There's a water feature at the front door and this Wood Pigeon decided it was a good place to stop by and drink from before carrying on with his day!

Next time I hope to be more organised and hopefully will get a better photo - he really was beautiful.

I spent a fair bit of Saturday at the Artisians' Fair, helping my ED with her stall. This is held on 'the old bridge' down by the local marina. A lovely spot, although this time there was a bit of a chilly breeze which didn't feel summery at all.

If you enlarge the photo below by clicking on it,  you can just see her checking someone's spine.

Across the way from us was Sarah... I was delighted to meet her as I read an article about her in a magazine recently. This bubbly lady is travelling the country in her campervan. She has a sewing machine run by solar power and she loves to chat to people about sustainability and looking aftre the earth one stitch at a time..... simple things like making re-ueseable totes for shopping and mending clothes instead of replacing them. She runs sewing workshops and apparently has large numbers of men attending - attracted to the thought of Mastering a Machine :-)

Here is a little about her, a news item from a year or so ago... and *here* is her website. An interesting lady.

And now it is the end of the weekend; I hope yours has been happy and you've had a chance to put in a few stitches.

'til next time