This and that

 I have managed to finish a few things over the last few weeks. I made this lovely pin cushion which was my birthday gift from my dear friend Fiona.

I also made this little purse for Janet's birthday recently.

I was very pleased to collect this quilt from Monika and to bind and label it. It was a delight to make as I love paper piecing and was a lovely sewalong with Amanda on instagram.

We also had a lovely lunch recently for our Thursday group. 

Beth has also finished her gorgeous Anni Downs' bag. 

Last week we had a delightful dinner out to celebrate Barbara's special birthday. 

Stitching....and boys

Lynn came along to class last week with her gorgeous hexagon pencil case all finished. Fantastic job, Lynn.

 Margaret has been busy too and has made this lovely quilt with machine pieced hexagons using Anni Downs' gorgeous fabrics.

 I finally sat down on Friday when I had the whole day almost all at home and put together this little block for Ben and Sam to share. I had stitched it years ago when I went to the Immerse stitching day in 2010! It is a Melly and Me pattern.

 Last year at Urban stitching in Melbourne, I stitched Rosalie Quinlan's Urban stitching set. Here they are finally put together. I changed the background colour as the aqua was very bright! The bag just needs some cord. I also changed the bag and pin cushion stitcheries around and used the bigger one on a larger bag.

 I can't resist showing you the boys from a visit on Saturday.

 Benny so wants to crawl!

March Stitch-a-long

This was a lovely project as it was small but also makes up such a special little pin cushion. I had some fabrics left over from the little project bag in Anni's book and used those with a few other favourites.

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.

Another stitching Wednesday

Wednesday was full of stitching and chatting as usual. It was good to see the ladies at social stitching at the shop and at the classes. Jan has a lovely new grandson and has made him a beautiful blanket.

In the afternoon class, Jill had this very handy bag with her. It had been made by her sister and has so many great pockets. We all loved the plaited handles.

Jill finished her pin cushion and it looks so good. It is a lovely big one and so very useful.

In the evening, Danielle brought along 2 great bags she has made for gifts. They are such a good size and are reversible too. I am sure the birthday girls will love them.

Kits and the felt needlecase

I was very busy at work today getting the kits ready for the Christmas classes. The first one is on Friday and it is nice that the kits are all finished ready for a lovely day with the ladies.

The kits are for these projects.

I have also been working on the felt needlecase from the pattern "Bluebirds in the Hedgerow" by Diane Leftwich. It still needs to be blanket stitched together. I am very pleased with the result and really enjoyed the stitching on felt. Felt is such a lovely fabric to work with.

I hope to trace the pincushion tonight.

Penny's lovely gift

Penny shared these lovely projects with us last week at stitching. She is sending them off to England as a gift. I think her friend will be thrilled with these. This is Larry the lamb and he is a pin cushion.

Then Penny designed this scissor keeper to match. Isn't that clever. I'm planning to make one as it is so cute.

Then she also designed this needlecase to match with a fluffy, towelling Larry on the front.

What a lovely gift!

Class projects for Term 1

Thought I would post some pictures of the projects that we are doing in my classes at Hobbysew this term. Thanks to Fiona, my fellow stitcher and blogger at Peaceful Threads, we are making this cute little house pincushion first.


Then we are making this little evening bag. It is crazy patchwork decorated with beads and embroidery.
This colourful quilt is based on the wonderful techniques taught by Mary Ellen Hopkins. I did a course with her a few years ago and bought a few of her quilting books. The books focus on really easy techniques and quick quilts. This one is easy though the squares are small and it takes a while to cut the 600 or so you need. It is a wonderful way to use your stash of dark and medium scraps.
Then we are making this appliqued and stitched patchwork bag. 

Lastly we are stitching this little canvas work scene. It is only 2 1/2" square.