A Christmas Sew Along

Have you seen the latest sew along by the Temecula Quilt Company?
It's called Tiny Tree and looks to be a series of tiny blocks arranged into a tree shape - a Christmas tree of course!
I've sat on my hands all year, not joining in with any of the great projects I've seen online but I've decided now is the time to crumple :-)
There are two weeks of 2¼" blocks, a different one each day.
All it needs is a pile of scrappy greens and a little background fabric. That I can do.
Here's the first one —

This post is my 5th for my 31 day blog writing challenge. Thank you so much for following along and cheering me on ♥
Read all about the challenge here on Cheryl Sleboda's blog.

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Stitching on a Friday....and a Saturday....

My goal for this weekend was to complete a little stitchery project... four of us are making a cushion as a leaving gift for a colleague....
It is a Rivendale design by Sally Giblin; her designs always seem to have sweet sentiments and make ideal gifts.
By the end of Friday Night Sew In, I'd got this far —

Using Cottage Garden Thread 1009 Cranberry

And yaay, Sunday morning, I've completed it —

It does seem like slow progress but there is one interruption after another these days, never enough stitching time! Special thanks to Wendy of Sugarlane designs for hosting us FNSI crafters...visit her blog *here* to see who else joined in.

Now I can pack it up and pass it on to the next stitcher :-)

It's been a while since I've mentioned my progress on my Omigosh (by Sue Garman) quilt...grabbing scraps and prepping them for leader-ender sewing or to stitch in a spare moment. I tipped my little tub of nine and four patches onto the ironing board this morning and was pleasantly surprised with the pile. I've got just as many partial patches too, so that's a good feeling. Lots of scrap munching...anything smaller than 1" square gets thrown out but everything else can be used here!

The upper right block is what these will become

A side view cos it looks even busier :-)

It's been an awful week in New Zealand with the massive earthquake on all our minds. *Here* is an indepth online news item if you are interested in finding out more about it.

Now it's time for me to focus on the finishing touches for my Chooky's Secret Santa Gift...the sleigh leaves this week...very exciting!!!
Thank you for the comments on my last post...apologies to those I haven't yet replied to; I'm hoping to get to those emails soon ♥

Happy stitching,  

Scrappy Saturday and Snowman Sunday

With a bit of wintery weather (wet but warm) I was happy to bunker down in The Palace and spend the weekend stitching.
On Saturday I did some Scrap Busting —

A few more cats

My little pile is growing. It will be a small quilt but I haven't yet decided
exactly what size I want it.

A few more 9-patches for my Omigosh quilt.
These are my Leader and Ender project, another pile is growing

And another star block

Over at Angela's soscrappy blog this month the scrap colour was teal/blues with a touch of green so I have a few less scraps in this colour now :-)

Sunday, being a new day, was time to focus on my OMG project - my One Monthly Goal for June was to complete a second block in my Quiltmania Snowflake Lane hanging.

Out came my #40 weight Aurifil for the applique.

Block Two completed!!!

Isn't he a sweetie?

Block 1 and 2 side by side. Hopefully next month block 3 will be with them!

It's great to be moving on this project again - thanks to Heidi and the little push of making that One Monthly Goal :-). *Here* is the latest linkup to see who else met their goal!. Wonder what I will work on next month...?

I've started the new week feeling content and, with winter still going on outside, I'm hoping to squeeze a few more sewing sessions in ♥

Have a good week - happy stitching,

...home again...

I waved the New Zealand flag for a few days in Australia on the way home after my wonderful trip away. A lovely way to finish my holiday ♥ A big public thank you to all those special friends who made sure I had a great time - you know that if any of you ever get to New Zealand, I'll be at the airport waiting for you...

A family outing and picnic in a park near Ipswich.

I arrived home to the realisation that I had swapped Spring in the Northern Hemisphere —

I saw Tulips galore while away - a novelty for this Northlander where they
don't grow very well...

— for Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere!! Brrr, it's a bit cooler than when I left....

...and the leaves are falling.

The Australian stopover (if you call 3 days a stopover?) was a good chance to sort out any jetlag issues because as soon as I got home it was full speed ahead and back to my normal routines (not to mention folding a monumental pile of washing the MOML had collected for me!!). Of course there were some things that needed to be done 'yesterday' - no I'm not complaining, after all I had an epic time away.
First up was getting back into the Fabulous Friday Mystery project I'm doing for The Country Yard. Here are some of the blocks I prepped before I went away (or I haven't shared yet) —

Flower Block

Butterflies

More Churn dashes to go with some made the very first week.

And this block was the first thing I needed to get to when I arrived home. 

I've called it the Whirly bloom block - not sure if there is a real name out there for it?!

It's so exciting having the ladies come in on the allocated day (twice a month) to share their blocks and get their new instructions... they are scratching their heads a bit, wondering how they will all fit together. The gallery for their blocks is *here*.
After the large (18") block, I decided it was time to change direction a little and stitched up this wee star... isn't it fun? It's 2¼" finished and gave me a chance to play with my new Itty-Bitty Eights rulers (designed by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings) - awesome with all those one eighth markings.

When I travel I like to collect thimbles, if I can; the one below was a little too big to fit in my bag — 

Outside a souvenir shop on the way to Niagra Falls.

— but these ones came home with me. A nice little add-on to my collection. Wish I'd been able to find the one above, and also I see I don't have one from Winnipeg - 

Paducah-Indiana-Canada-Toronto-Niagra on the Lake-Canada- Niagra Falls. 

Already I have a mess on my cutting bench so before I start anything new I'd better see to that (do you realise I managed to keep my bench tidy for a WHOLE month?! hehe ok, I was away - doesn't it count?)... then I might just pull out some more fabric and do some more playing :-)

Happy creating,

Friday night sewing (and more)

Last night (Friday) the MOML helped our neighbours to pick up their hay - and although that meant I needed to milk the cows for him, it also meant I had the evening all to myself - a rare event! After a quick tea - toast and leftover chicken - I was set to sew :-)

A bit of cutting

And a bit of piecing

The MOML had a late night, he proved he can keep up with and outlast the younger generation throwing bales (on and off a truck) and then had a good hearty and well deserved meal at the neighbour's. By the time he got home I'd made these wee blocks and was ready for bed myself....

I first saw these *here*  but wanted them smaller so re-sized the pattern. These have finished up as 2 1/2" blocks.

I've become addicted to these mini stars lately — here are some I made earlier on.... these ones I finished up to be tree hangings.

Thank you to Wendy for hosting us Friday Night Sew In gals - as I was 'home alone' it was nice to have the company of you all :-) Please visit Wendy *here* to see what everyone else got up to. [Wendy also made up a list of the yummiest sounding Christmas treats - worth looking at I think :-)].

We've been quite busy on the farm lately so I've got a little behind with my blogging; this looks like it will turn into a catch-up post.....
I joined up with Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap again this year - how exciting to have the sleigh landing  - a big thank you to Sonia of foreveralwaysonline...........she put her blog name on the tag so I could track her down (I wasn't so kind and didn't do that to my recipient!)

Thank you so much Sonia, I'm looking forward to Christmas Day when we are allowed to open the main gift! Isn't this a nice way to make new friends?!

Isn't it lovely? The needle sewn on is a great touch!

And sweet Di from quiltingisblissful popped a pressie onto the sleigh as well - what a surprise to receive these delightful goodies from her - (the message said I could open them straight away!) -

Hehe a snowflake with a Santa hat - too cute!

And this delightful needle case - after stitching letters for others
over the past few years, it was special to receive my own!

Bigs hugs and thanks to you Di ♥

It's not all been about Christmas lately - a dear friend had a birthday the other day so I sewed her up this little chicken hanging.
(I thought I'd better tell you that they were chickens... the MOML couldn't work out what they were!)

I forgot to measure the size of the chooks but the hanger was about 5" wide so guess they're just a bit under that. Can you tell I ♥ my mini sewing?

We've had our last Friday night before Christmas so the countdown really is on. I aim to spend the weekend prepping bedrooms for our visitors next week PLUS make a last minute Christmas Cake (it won't have long to mature but the fruit has been soaking in Brandy for about 3 days now so that should give it a head start!)

Best wishes to you all in your pre-Christmas busy-ness, hope you find a little 'me' time,