Chit chat

It's been another mixed up week of sewing,......while my main aim has been to get Show and Tell finished for The Shop's new projects launch, there have been plenty of interruptions.

Now that Tammy cat has discovered this quilt,  there is no keeping her away!

At least this time I had the time to turn the back over for her to lie on!

Slightly cooler nearly autumn days help, too 😊

(There should be a photo of the finished quilt top in my next blogpost!)
Just as well there are plenty of other things to do in The Palace while the cats take their naps...

I've been making these cute little blocks for another shop project — 

 

And another Split 9-patch, RSC block...this month's colour is green — 

It's nice to have these straight forward blocks to plan and sew in between the more important things going on.

More Very Important sewing over last weekend was helping Lily make a cushion for her Christmas kitten Betty. 

She planned it on their previous visit after finding some offcuts of Minky fabric in my baby/children's sewing box. I told her she needed to draw her design so that we all knew what she wanted to do. 

(If you can make it out, she'd originally thought about sewing the two colours side by side, but then decided to put the pink on one side for the summer and the blue on the other for winter.  Interestingly,  the back/blue side of the cushion is drawn on the back of the paper! Don't you love how young minds work?! 
Wider sewing foot attached and speed turned to low.

She allowed her brother to help her fill it with 'fluffy stuff'.

The slippery minky wasn't the easiest to sew, we had varied seam allowances, but she did well.

The wee kitten is a cute (mass produced) hanging I'd offered her for her dollhouse; she decided it needed to be sewn onto Betty's cushion instead!

Other important sewing this past week was to resize 2 pairs of shorts for YD. One was sort of easy, the other more tricky because they were fitted, but they actually came up the best...

I had to unpick the side seams, cut a one inch strip off each side, and then sew them back up again.

I know she was pleased with them as she was wearing them the next morning when she left for her week-long hockey tournament!

Thanks for reading along🌝

'til next time,

Happy Stitches,

Raewyn

Old and New

The New - I've had my foot down this last week and have made all 12 blocks needed for my Show and Tell quilt which I am making for The Country Yard's upcoming launch of new projects.

These blocks have been a lot of fun to make, and I'm looking forward to sewing them altogether.

Such rich vibrant colours!—

...and Old - Another set of catch-up photos from sewing I did last year. For Christmas I made Odie a new oilskin vest.

I made his first one for him back in 2021 when he was 18 months old. It has been worn and worn. Every time he helped feed calves last spring, I told myself he needed a new one. I decided that if I made it for Christmas, it would have a deadline and would actually get finished!

(*Here* is the original post I wrote back in 2021.)

Wearing it in 2021 as an 18 month old—

Wearing it in 2025 as a 5½ year old—

Here is the new vest made from one of the girls' old coats. I didn't take any photos when I finished it at Christmas and have had to wait till now to get them —

To make the back long enough I had to do a horizontal seam across the bottom. I'm pleased that, seeing it with fresh eyes, it looks like it is supposed to be there —

Here, I wanted to show that I used existing fastenings for the front, but he insisted I take a photo of the dinosaurs instead —

I'm pleased he finds this version as wearable as the first ♥ Yesterday (when I got the last few photos) he walked over to our place for some eggs. Here he is, walking back home again (the joys of having family living on the farm)—

The pattern is Pathfinder by Twig and Tale. The fabric used is an old oilskin raincoat, lined with winceyette/flannel. (Oilskin being an oiled cotton canvas fabric.)

Here's a wee update on my funny new chickens. I've started integrating them with the older chickens and there haven't been too many dramas. They're growing well and still look as Dr Suess like as they did when I first got them!

The kids have named them Buffalo, Sideways, Hot Chocolate and Zebra 😂

Time to get back to that quilt!

'til next time,

Happy Stitches,

Raewyn

Bears and some Farm Play

I had an uninterrupted sewing day yesterday and pieced together some more bear faces...these are the same (Show and Tell) pattern as the baby quilt (top) I put together last week — 

And some legs as well —

I'll put these aside until I make the small quilts these cuties hold.

Sneak peak of my progress —

Other sewing recently included making a simple purse. Cat-mad Lily happened to see a small square of cat fabric in The Palace last time they visited, and requested a purse with a zip.

I used a tutorial I had come across touted as the most simple purse pattern ever - just 6 seams and it's done!

Yes, nice and simple (and quick) but I don't like the way the zip is at the side seams so I don't think I'll be using this method again. (Sorry I didn't save the link to the tutorial so I can't share it.) I'll go back to a method with a neater finish.

But a 7 year old was happy with it so that is good - she loves anything with a cat on it!

(Warning, it gets a little photo heavy from here on in!)

School has started up again for most of the kids but Lily and George haven't yet gone back so they came to ours on Wednesday while their parents worked. Having them for a whole day at this time of the year is fun as we can get out onto the farm to play and explore.

They have a list of things they like to do —

Swing and eat fruit. Sadly this year's plum crop was a complete flop but fortunately the grapes are just starting —

Forage. The Totara trees are fruiting right now. Tiny little berries that only feed a bird, but fun to find all the same —

Go to the top of the big hill, roll down it and run back up again —

Go to the river (just a quick look this time) —

Go to the stream for a picnic and an explore —

{{As an aside; at first glance the stream doesn't look very inviting with that brown colour - but that's just because of its geological make-up. This photo shows how clear it really is — 

The stream starts as a spring in the hills somewhere above us and runs down through the bush, feeding into the afore mentioned river. It's filtered all the way down by all those stones, and supplies the farm (and our houses) with lovely water. We do UV filter it at the houses and shed but it is such a great asset.}}

Next on their list of things to do was to get the bubble machine going —

and do some sewing —

Mum (ED) came about 4 o'clock and Ganma collapsed into a heap. Haha it wasn't too exhausting but it was a pretty full on day!

'til next time,

happy stitches, 

Raewyn