Stitching.....

There has been a little progress on my various projects recently as well as a few starts! Many years ago I started stitching some half inch liberty hexagons and they were safely stored away till last week. I had always planned to create a mini dilly bag inspired by the ones I made using Judy Newman's beautiful pattern. Here it is! It is very small and fairly useless but I love it anyway!

 I have popped into the sewing room to start piecing my Simple Life blocks too. Here is the first block and some nine patches.

 I have been working on these lovely Christmas stitcheries by Marg Low.

 Just the other day I started this lovely little pencil case. I bought the kit in Melbourne recently so it was easy to just start as it was all printed and ready to go. It is a very special pattern by Anni Downs and is all hand stitched!

 Nice to catch up with Roni at stitching last week and we all admired her cute Clips bag! What a good idea.

 Roni was also working on this cute little stitchery by Anni Downs. Must trace a couple of these to make. The pattern was a free one offered a while ago.

Stitching on the Lake

Fiona and I are all ready for our first Stitching on the lake day this coming Saturday. We are looking forward to catching up with stitching friends, both old and new, this week. Lynne is catering for us once again so the food is sure to be lovely. Here is a preview of our projects so you can gather your fabrics and threads ready for a great day of stitching.
This appliqued pencil case will be very useful. Enjoy trying your hand at needleturn or applique the pictures with fusible web if you wish. I have made my first sample with some Japanese fabrics I have been collecting but any favourite scraps of fabric will work. I am working on a second one in some Anni Downs' fabric to show you a different take on the same project. I have pieced the back using 3/4" hexagons. Bring along your glue pen and fine thread if you wish to try some English paper piecing. The threads used are DMC 3031, 610, 613, 3011 and 3857.

 For this sample I changed the red to DMC 221 to match the brighter red.

 The bunting will be a fun addition to any child's room. Don't forget to bring some fusible web, like vliesofix, for this project. The DMC threads used are 221, 782, 783, 3011, 580, 3031, 931, 310, 414, 612 and 613 or your own choice to match your chosen fabrics.

 The cushion is a fun way to practise your stitches. The threads used were some perle 8 threads, 503, 3348 and 922 and DMC threads 501, 470, 920 and 725 or your own choice.

Hobbysew will be coming with another lovely stall to tempt you but also with threads, needles, fabrics and lots of other things that may be useful. 

Show and tell at the retreat

There was so much wonderful Show and tell at the retreat and I only managed to capture a little of it. The ladies had been very busy stitching! Beth has made this wonderful quilt for her granddaughter.

 Roni has used the Christmas cushion houses and made a great zippered pencil case!

 Ros has been busy too and made this wonderful pouch. It is a Helen Stubbings pattern.

 She had also made this Anni Downs needlecase using French general fabrics.

 I now wish I had taken more pictures but it all happened too quickly! These three blocks from the bag at the retreat have been stitched a little differently but look terrific. Helen is going to do extras and make a quilt. Lovely work, Helen.

Show and Tell and Canberra's light show

Margot had finished her pencil case last week and here it is. She used music fabric instead of ticking to form the stitching lines and the pencil case looks lovely.

Judy has made another special gift for her coming grandchild. She has stitched the front and then made it onto a box to put baby necessities into. 

We headed out on Saturday night to check out some of the buildings in Canberra that are being lit up over this Canberra day weekend. They were really wonderful to see. Hubby took his tripod and good camera amd managed to take some wonderful photos. The first three are the front of the library. Hard to believe that this is just the front of a building.

Old Parliament house looked really fabulous especially with the reflections in the pond. There were about 6 different colours/themes on each building. 

Stitching progress and a good book

Here is the button bead that I created for the little pencil case. I didn't have a matching bead so had fun making my own version. I am feeling very righteous as the notes are written too!

Here is the little Sheep canvas work all made up.

I did manage to add the other 2 rows to the Crazy Christmas quilt. Now to figure out the borders.

I have just started reading "At Home" by Bill Bryson. I bought this for hubby for his birthday and have been waiting ever since to get to read it. It is a fascinating read about homes and the history of houses in Bill's usual interesting and amusing style.

My biggest achievement this week is putting away the decorations. It is a big job, as is putting all the other pictures and quilts back up! I do love the decorations and keep adding to the collection so I am my own worst enemy!

Another finish

I finished this little stitched pencil case last week and am pleased with it. It is another project for the Term 1 classes. I used the lovely ticking fabric by Blackbird designs and managed to put a zipper in! I haven't needed to sew a zipper in for a long time...not since my clothes sewing days. It wasn't as hard as I remembered. I have also made a little button bead thing to hang on the zipper so will show you when I take another picture.

It has been so sad to see the news over the last few weeks as Queensland is so flooded. What a terrible time for everyone in those areas. We are thinking of them and praying for those who are living through such terrible times.