Great work

So much fun catching up with the stitching ladies on Wednesday. Classes started again and there was so much wonderful show and tell. Lynda has been stitching up a storm. She has some babies coming along in her family so she has made some bags and some cute outfits for the little ones.

 She has also stitched this useful zippered pouch.

 Please note that the back in all hexagons!

 I think Lynda is a bit hooked on hexies as she has made some great coasters.

 Marlene has been busy too making things from Natalie Bird's lovely book, Red Home. She didn't need another pin cushion so used the images to make this great door stop.

 She also made this lovely table mat from the same book.

 Great to catch with the evening girls too. Anita has been on holidays and as well as being a tourist she managed to make this special bag using Melba fabrics.

 She also whipped up these great bags. They have no sewing on them!!!! She tells us they are made with special double sided tape! We thought she might have been tricking us!

I am all ready for Stitching on the Lake! So looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. If you haven't seen the projects, then check here.

Karen's bag and pencil case

Karen had finished her gorgeous Red Home bag on Wednesday. Looks wonderful in this lovely range of fabrics.

 If you look carefully you will see that Karen has quilted around the birds and flowers and it looks like part of the fabric!

 Karen had also finished her pencil case!

Best head off to finish packing for Urban Stitching in Sydney. Have decided to take my big bag in case I manage to do some shopping!

A bit of stitching and boys

I had bought these little suits for the boys to applique and thought I had best do them or they would be too small! 

 I also finished the little coin purse from Red Home. It is tiny but went together very well, even with the zipper.

 Finally felt a little motivated to work on my large ongoing projects and put together the other centre piece for the Vignette quilt. I have decided to just do little bits at a time but try and work on each UFO at least a little each month. Eventually they should then get finished. I feel quite motivated to start the applique now!

 These precious boys came to visit on the weekend and they are growing and changing all the time.

 Benny loves to roll over and then isn't sure he wants to be there. He is able to lift his head right up and then does try to move his legs into a crawling position but no success yet!

 Sammy on the other hand is so happy and relaxed and loves to play with his toys. They keep him amused for ages.

Stitching and a busy weekend

What not to do! I felt like getting a border ready for Scandinavian Christmas (haven't touched this quilt in ages), so I read the pattern and started to cut the stars to the correct size! Oh no! I cut too close to this side of the star. What is the saying....measure twice and then cut!

 I had to stitch another star!

 Here is the top border almost done.

 I also forgot to show you the lovely bag from Red Home that I finished after Christmas. It is such a good big bag and went together very well.

 These lovely little fellows came to breakfast at Rocksalt on Saturday morning as it was their mummy's birthday. Benny went to sleep like a good boy. He does look tired in this photo.

 Sammy was very good and loved looking at everything.

 Benny woke up later when Mummy opened her presents and enjoyed a bit of paper chewing.

I then headed off to a birthday party for Sue which was fun and then a lovely BBQ at friends' place in the evening.We have had the hottest weather lately but it was a lovely time out and about.

Holiday stitching and Toulouse-Lautrec

Just before Christmas we headed to the National gallery to see the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition. It was well worth the visit.

 It is lovely to have a few lazy days after Christmas at home to catch up on a bit of stitching. I made up Fiona's shoe bag ready for the Summer day at Hobbysew in February. We are doing four projects that day including a canvas work, the little stitched purse and the Noah's Ark stamped cushion. Had to get this bag ready to put in the shop!

 I also decided that I would try and finish an old UFO! Would be lovely to do one per week but I am not making any promises! This lovely little felted wool bag was started over a year ago at the Jukejema stitching weekend. It is an Anni Downs pattern!

 Once that was done, I decided to work on a few recent projects. This one from the Homespun magazine needed borders and now needs quilting.

 In classes in Term 1, we are going to do some of the lovely projects in Red Home by Natalie Bird. It is a gorgeous book and I have been so looking forward to sewing some of them. I have started the pin cushion.

 Here are the hexagons all sewn together for one of the sides.

I also stitched the bag stitchery and the little bird over Christmas. They are now ready to sew to make the bag and the little zippered purse.