Weekend Sewing

I took this photo showing where I was at with my Evandale quilt after working on it on Thursday night.
Several borders of this quilt have applique cornerstones and I decided to make an effort to get them done this weekend.

With the addition of a few yummy treats (compliments of a sweet friend) I continued stitching on Friday evening, joining in with Friday Night with Friends; the monthly cyber sewalong hosted by Cheryll of Stitching Cubbyhole.

Can you spot them? Hehe they no longer exist!

The MOML fell asleep on the sofa (what a comfortable old married couple we are!) and I carried on stitching quite late. I had some more stitching time on Saturday with Joanne via skype; it was nearly Friday night for her so I figured I may as well continue on with FNwF  - what a good excuse to sew!

Show and Tell via the wonders of the internet!

All of a sudden they were finished and trimmed. I carried on with a little bit of a fix up job I needed to do on a border piece so I'm feeling quite satisfied now and a little 'all-appliqued-out'.

Next step, sew these onto the borders and attach to the centre....progress!

Time for a change; today I started a new project...this has been in the pipeline for a while...I've just been waiting to get a few others things out of the way.
This (legless) sheep is a re-make of a Farmgirl Vintage block...I'm not making the quilt again but using some of the blocks for a different quilt.

This fabric is called Bumble Berries by The Jungs. Fun, and perfect, I hope,
for the recipients.

As I want these blocks a different size, this block took me a while but I think I have it sussed! Hopefully further blocks won't take me quite as long!

With the rain we've had lately, the garden is refreshed and the soil friable again...and the weeds are taking off like nobody's business... I spent a bit of time tidying up yesterday - and you wouldn't believe it, the cheeky birds have been at the parsley!!

'till next time,

happy stitches,

A Finish!!

For me, one of the fun things about finishing a quilt is the photo session that follows!

And so it was for my newly completed Farm Girl Vintage!

Of course I decided it fitting that a Farm Girl quilt needed photographing on the farm. So started my tramp around the sheds and buildings looking for the right setting....

(Warning! Self Indulgent post! Photo Heavy!)

Surely hay bales will give a suitably rustic photo?

Not enough room to lay it out.

Pin it to the rafters..... but if I step back far enough to get it all in, I fall nearly
2 metres to the ground.

The back of the calf shed —

Sort of rustic but boring.

The chook yard fence?

Oops it fits if it's sideways...

Right way up, it was too long.
But nice backdrop!

A quick closeup....showing the border fabric.
Simple quilting, with cross hatching in the border.

A few swirls in some blocks, mostly outline stitching or SID

With a chicken?

With a dog?

With a different dog?

How about in a different shed?

Sort of rustic but not enough room.

Outside the shed?

Hmmmm

Believe it or not, this was my favourie rustic shot..... but I was downhill...!

It's a wrap.

Time to roll up the quilt and feed the chickens.

And time to get on with my day :-)

Details: 

Pattern -Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt

Fabrics - Gathering Baskets by Kim Diehl

Made for The Country Yard as a sewalong sample.

I really enjoyed making this quilt...there are lots of possibilities and ideas for using the different blocks in different ways. A book I know I will keep on using!

Busy day today, must be off :-)

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

 

The weekend with friends

We've just had a wonderful weekend spent with friends; It started with Friday night with Friends, our monthly virtual sew in hosted by Cheryll. After a day at work and a trip to the supermarket, I only just made it!! I didn't sew for very long as bed was calling but I did make a little progress on the rabbit in the latest Anderson's Barge's Farm block.

Thankyou Cheryll for hosting us all. You can visit the link-up post *here*.

Below shows the result of my work day - it was mail out day for our Block of the Month, etc, programmes. Lots of wrapping.

I barely touched a needle for the rest of the weekend as the lovely Sue and her hubby (from Melbourne, Australia) came for a visit and overnight stay. Kiwikid Sue and I have been bloggy friends for a while now and it was so nice to meet her in person. We enjoyed our time chatting, eating, and looking around the farm.

Part way up the hill; Sue and her hubby posing...

..then Sue and I had a turn. Photo opportunities are a good excuse for a rest!

Sue showed me how she is doing her Clamshells; I'm very tempted to give this a try now!

Sue has written a lovely post about their visit *here*.

After we waved Sue and hubby goodbye YD and I did some horse work with my two horses. YD and her hubby have been working with my young horse while they've been living here. She is 5 years old and not yet broken in..... her hubby has saddled her recently but this was the first time she's had a girth on (so the saddle was actually buckled up!). Not bad - great work guys!!!

While she neighed in the stable ("where's my buddy?") with the saddle still attached, YD and I went for a ride - actually I rode and she opened gates :-) It's been a while since I've ridden my boy and it felt so good. I have a suspicion that exactly 24 hours after that ride I won't be feeling so good - that seems to be how long it takes for my muscles to realise they've done something they're not used to!!!

I've also made these blocks recently - I love this fabric, some from a Kim Diehl range - and I'm pleased with how these are looking :-)

(The lighting's probably not the best, I took these photos at night.)

All in all a wonderful weekend! I hope your's went just as well and you have a great week lined up ahead of you :-)

Happy stitches,