Some stitching and little boys

It has been another busy week but there has been a little stitching done. I finally put together my Some Kind of Wonderful bag last weekend. I had done the stitching quite a while ago so it was good that the Stitch-a-long blog had this project for this month. Here it is all finished.

I also managed to finish knitting my slippers and they had to spend quite a long time in the washing  machine to felt down to the right size but now they fit!

The Wednesday lunch girls have been stitching with Heather over the last few weeks on a Thursday night. We are making some evening bags and mine is very colourful but I think it will be OK. We pieced the background and then appliqued some felt leaves and added some embroidery. We even learnt how to sew on the little mirrors! I have since added a few more and they are a bit better than the first ones.

On Wednesday Doreen (our lovely felted slipper tutor) had this gorgeous bag with her. I do love the French General fabrics and the lovely embroidery in the centre and the use of braid too.

 Then I had best share a few little boy pictures! They had a very big trip to Sydney yesterday to see Ma and Pa. I gather they had a lovely time. Sammy managed to attack Ma's Maiden hair fern, tried to turn the TV on and attempted to pull the tablecloth off!

The bags are getting slowly packed as we are off overseas on Thursday. It seemed our holiday was so far away and then, here we are, only 4 sleeps away!

Wonderful class with Michele Hill

I was so lucky to go to a class with Michele Hill on Monday. Michele has written several wonderful patchwork books about William Morris and she teaches on wonderful tours in England too. She taught over the weekend too and the ladies look like they had a great time. We were working with woven wool felt and wool felt on Monday and enjoying lots of lovely handwork. Michele was so generous and gave us lots of patterns and great ideas throughout the day. Here she is with her beautiful wool applique quilt.

 She also had lots of lovely show and tell. This dragon quilt is so amazing and is almost covered with beads.

 We could have made this hanging, the felt quilt above, a tea cosy or a block holder with our patterns.

 Aren't these blocks beautiful?

 Here is the one I started on the day. It is now all appliqued down and I am starting to embroider it.

 This is Adrienne's block. Her colours look great.

Thanks to Canberra Quilters for organising these classes and to the lovely ladies who provided yummy goodies for us to eat for morning and afternoon tea.And mostly, thank to Michele for a lovely class.

Concerts, stitching show and tell and boys

The last week has been so busy that there hasn't been time to blog! We went to 2 terrific concerts last weekend. We went to the Seekers on Friday night and even though they are getting older their sound is just wonderful. It was a delight to see them "in real life" after singing their songs so often when I was so much younger.
                       
On Saturday night we went to a small concert (it was actually a recording session) with the Spooky Men's Chorale. They were so good. Often funny but also serious with wonderful harmonies!

 Tuesday and Wednesday were so inspiring this week. Barb brought in her gorgeous bag that she has made using lovely fabrics and a Lynette Anderson pattern. It looks so different in these colours.

 Margot has finished her lovely book cover from the Lynette Anderson class but has sewn on buttons instead of the tiny suffolk puffs. What a good idea.

 Barbara came to class last night sporting her finished Red Home bag. Looks so good in these Chateau Rouge fabrics by French General!

I have also started some "mad" knitting on 2 sets of circular needles yesterday. Thanks Doreen for a great lesson but not sure if I have "got" it yet. We are making some felted slippers....perhaps!

 Just has to leave you with these little chaps in their cute checky shirts. Their Grandma has been visiting from Perth over the last week and they have had a lovely time with her.

They are also over their colds and are so much happier.

A bit of progress and a finish

With all the secret stitching and note writing I haven't had too much time to do much else! The secret things are almost done so it was nice to do some other stitching over the last few days. I am so excited to show you my finished croched scarf! The last bit of fringe was added last night. It was lovely to make and I can't wait to wear it. There is still some thread left so might have to make something else. I am tempted to try a ripple scarf.

 I have also been slowly stitching this lovely stitchery by Leanne Beasley and now need to do the applique.

 It was so good to see all the ladies from class on Wednesday night. Sue had finished her mug bag from the stitching day. Looks great and will be very handy.

 Judy has finished this lovely quilt for her little grandie, Will. What a lucky boy! Can you see the giraffe?

 This is the back of the quilt and it is lovely too.

 The weather has been beautiful here is Canberra. Normally we are all rugged up by now but the temps have been very kind and we haven't even had the heating on! The Thursday ladies had a picnic at the Arboretum yesterday which was lovely and then we walked up and up to see the view.

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!