March again!

Well I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering where the year is going?! Here it is March already, the nights are a lot more pleasant and the mornings cooler than what we're used to - yes, Autumn is on the way, I love this time of the year!

...the Chysanthemums are looking beautiful...

..there is an abundance of fruit...

... and the chooks are moulting - their fresh feathers will grow back in time
for winter...
(she couldn't work out which was her best side for the photo; I didn't have the
heart to tell her she didn't really have a best side right now!)

And in My Palace there's been a hive of activity this weekend. Another one of those secret projects so this photo below is all that I will show you for now.

Boring, huh?!
I spent the weekend cutting and sewing up a storm and made great progress :-)

Not a secret though is another project I've recently started (I had 3 (!!) finishes last post so am allowed to start something new LOL) —

This is Block One of Lynette Anderson's newest Button Club which I am doing
through my LQS, The Country Yard.
It's called Anderson's Farm aka Barge's Farm!
The heart needs stitchery on it, that will happen at some stage.

And the button is tacked on for now - I can never resist adding them even though
they have to be removed for quilting.

Speaking of finishes and secrets, I can now share yet another very late Christmas present that winged itself across the ocean to a dear friend.

I made another knitting bag last Christmas for my SIL; this one's slightly different. One of these days I'll make one for myself :-)
(The fabric is a NZ botanical/floral print - very pretty).

The back.

Isn't it nice when you have moments of brilliance? This happened to me a while ago when I was having a bit of a tidy up. I was throwing a woven storage cube out, it was quite squashed (one cat shall remain nameless) but I noticed the push-in base was still intact... it was an aha moment as I realised I could use it as a mini design board. I first saw these *here* on Lori Holt's Bee In My Bonnet blog.
One scrap of batting and a glue stick later and voila! I had my own upcycled design board.

And then a day or so later, I realised I could do the same with the lid of a cardboard storage box. Once again I attacked the back of the batting with glue and pressed it to the inside of the lid and there was a little design board for the current block of that project. (You may recognise the Hen and Chicks block from the Anderson's Farm aka Barge's Farm Button Club, shown above.)

Since I took this photo I've trimmed the batting a little as it was
 too close to the edges.

Very handy! I'm linking up with Sew and Sow Farm's Sew Simple Saturday Link-up Party. Thank you Jan, this link up is a great idea, another chance to be inspired in blogland!

I see some bottling and fruit gluttony in my week ahead (it's not easy to resist a freshly picked apple - peach-pear or grape is it?!)(straight from the tree is the only way to go for me!).
And a little more secret sewing :-)

I hope March is putting a bounce in your step, 

'till next time,

Happy sewing,