Stitching, crochet and boys

The last few weeks have flown by with the stitching days and all the normal activities. I have been stitching but it has been mostly secret as I am working on some of the projects for our retreat in August. They all need making by the end of May before I head away on holidays. Here is a little sneak peak of one of the stitcheries I have been working on.

 I had also finished the stitcheries for the Stitch-a-long but hadn't found or made the time to put it together. Yesterday was Anzac day here so there was a little time to sew this together in between helping Amy with the little boys who are unwell.

 I have been loving crocheting this lovely scarf! I am thrilled with how it is looking.

 At stitching on Wednesday, Gwen had finished her gorgeous canvas work from the stitching day. Doesn't it look great.

 We have been seeing a bit more of these precious boys this week as they have been unwell. Very hard for Mummy if both boys are feeling sick! They try to play and smile even if they are feeling snuffy and sick.

 I love this one of Sammy concentrating with such a dirty little face! They do hate to have their faces wiped!

 Poor little Benny looking a bit sad and wondering why he is feeling so rotten!

Class Show and Tell and a bit of stitching

It has been so lovely seeing Karen's amazing progress on her Quiltaid quilt. It is looking so good. Her little granddaughter is a very lucky girl.

 In the evening, Sue brought her Tis the Season quilt to show us. I love her choice of colours and the quilt looks great.

 Barbara has been busy too and has put together this beautiful cushion.

 It has a very special back with a zipper and piecing!

 Natalie has almost finished her little embroidered purse. Just the lining to sew in and it will be finished.

 I have been stitching too in between making kits and getting ready for Stitching on the Lake....which is tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow. These little stockings are from Lynette Anderson's latest Christmas book. We didn't quite get the enlarging right so these are a little smaller than the original but they do look cute.

 I have also finished the stitching on this lovely pattern from the Homespun magazine by Anni Downs. Now to put it together!

Such fun doing a few Christmassy things.

New books and a small finish

I was so excited to see this lovely new book at Hobbysew yesterday. Yes, it is Anni Downs newest book and it is such a great book with really special projects. Can't wait to make some of them! Thanks, Anni, for my special signed copy. 

 This is the back cover showing some of the wonderful projects.

 To make the week even better, the June copy of Vignette arrived and it is lovely too.

 Over the weekend I managed to finish this little bag from the Tis the Season book. I am looking forward to using it in December as my stitching bag! It was fun making the hexagons and choosing the buttons for the front of the bag.

I think this can count as a little finish for this week!

A bit of stitching

I have been trying to do a little stitching and piecing over the last week. I had stitched the little stitchery from Tis the Season for this lovely bag so spent a pleasant afternoon playing with hexagons and Lynette Anderson's gorgeous "Scandinavian Christmas fabric.

 Here is the front of the bag.

 I also couldn't resist continuing to stitch this lovely block from Some Kind of Wonderful.

 These little chooks were appliqued too ready for my last block of In My Garden. I would love to get this block done by the end of May and that quilt would be almost finished!!!!

 Lastly, I headed into the sewing room and finally, after much procrastination, put the patchwork border on this side of Vignette.

It is nice to see a few things getting done. Classes at Hobbysew start again this week. Looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Tis the Season done!

Here is Tis the Season finished! The quilting is fairly rough but I am pleased it is done. Remind me to get things quilted in future! I haven't the patience and don't enjoy the process enough to do it perfectly! 

 Here is the label too.

 I have also been working on the Florist from the My Town BOM. Just need to stitch on the felt flowers.

Slow progress and Some Kind of Wonderful fabric

I have finally pinned my Tis the season quilt and hope to quilt it soon...perhaps this week. The quilting is always the thing that takes the longest for me as it is the bit that I like the least!

 I have been collecting some fabrics for my Some Kind of Wonderful quilt. I bought these lovely ones, which are used in the original quilt, at Hatched and Patched last week.

 Then I have added a few more. I am not sure if I will use them all but they all seem to tone.

 Here are some of my backgrounds...they are a bit lighter in real life.

I am looking forward to starting but I promise I won't start until my Tis the Season is done!

Tis the Season progress

I am trying to catch up with my Tis the Season quilt and have pieced the last blocks, stitched the blocks together and added the borders. I did do some crazy things with these blocks as I forgot which were A and B blocks and so joined some together incorrectly! Oh well, you can't notice from a distance.

Now to the quilting!
Can't wait to start the new SAL so must hurry up with this quilt.

A farewell party and some stitching

I completely forgot these photos from our farewell at the shop for Cathy from a few weeks ago. We will miss her very much at Hobbysew but are glad that she has a great new job. Najelle did such a lovely job organising this little party. We had yummy pizza and Najelle's delicious cupcakes and slice.

Speech time was a bit interesting!

Here are some of the Hobbysew girls who came to the party.

I have been stitching over the last few weeks and finally put the borders on July's Tis the Season blocks.

My "In My Garden" house has some lovely, though fiddly, trees!

Di brought in her finished runner to show me yesterday at the shop and it looks so good. She has used lovely batik fabrics for her patchwork and stitched her flowers to match.

Christmas class and a little stitching

Last Friday, I taught a Christmas class at Hobbysew. There were 8 ladies but I seemed to have missed one when I took this picture. She must have been shopping! It was nice to catch up with some ladies that I know and also to meet some new stitchers.

Here is one of the ladies busy working on her canvas work...

and another busy beading her felt bird's wings.

I managed to put the borders on June's Tis the Season blocks this week. They were just a little late.

Stitch-a-long blocks

Just made it for the May deadline for these blocks! Here are my May blocks. I have had the stitching done for a while but just had to add the borders.