Some stitching

After a few busy weeks getting ready for the retreat, it has been nice to do little stitching of my own. I started this block a little while ago and have now completed the embroidery. I am very happy with it even though it was lots of work!

 I had cut out this little felt robot and stitched it up this week for Alice. It is from Anni Downs' Boys book.

 I also thought I would show you a close up of my projects for the retreat. They were fun to make.

 At Hobbysew this week, Najelle had finished this gorgeous beanie for her daughter! The wool is so lovely and she has done such a good job! We now have some wool and lots of needles at the shop.

 I forgot to show you this great quilt that Colleen had just finished. She used recycled shirts for the patches! What a great quilt for a man.

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.

Stitching in the Hills

Fiona and I held our third Stitching in the Hills retreat this last weekend. Friday was a freezing day and many of the ladies had driven through snow to get to the retreat! Luckily Saturday and Sunday were much nicer days and the sun streamed into the rooms at Warrambui. Here are the projects that we offered this year. We used the Mirabelle range of fabrics and it was fun to work with a different pallet of colours. 

 Because of the range of colours we had a bit of an orange and green theme happening. Here are the bright bags all ready for the ladies on Friday night.

 On Saturday, Terrie and Najelle came out with a lovely range of goodies from Hobbysew.

 Here are some of the ladies hard at work/play!

It was even warm enough to eat lunch in the sun on the deck. 

On Saturday night we had an orange night and these girls really did a great job! Well done Beth, Marian and Alison

 Laurelle looked great in her orange wig along with Judy, Michelle and Maria.

 Here we are with Rose, who came all the way from Melbourne to come to the retreat.

 Here we all are in our orange gear!

Classes, a little finish and a new start

Last week ended up busy with retreat planning and kit making and classes started as well. It was lovely, a always, to catch up with the ladies and see and hear what the have been up to. Anita went away and did so much sewing! Check out this lovely owl bag.

 She also made this runner and the quilt top below!

 I have been knitting and finished this little cardigan for Alice. Just needs some buttons!

 I did start something new though! I bought this Yoko Saito Mystery quilt as a BOM last year and hadn't started as I had told myself that I couldn't start till Vignette and In My garden were completed tops. Now they are, so I got these lovely Japanese fabrics out and have began block one. Lots of fiddly needle turn but I am pleased with it. I am now working on the embroidery which is fun. I will try and stitch a block each month.

Family and some progress

It has been really chilly here in Canberra but it hasn't stopped the little boys getting out and about. They were at the park with Mummy and Pa recently and had a great time playing with the leaves. I came along a little later and they were slipping themselves and their hats down the slippery dip. It is amazing how little it takes to have a happy, hilarious time when you are two!

 Yesterday we met the boys and Dad at the school park again and it was such fun to watch these two at play.

 Little Alice was there too and the boys love to see her.

 Here are a couple of recent photos. She is almost 6 weeks old so we are so looking forward to seeing some smiles soon. Supposedly she smiles at home at Mummy and Daddy!

 Last week I cut lots of fabric and bits for the kits for the retreat. They are almost ready which is good. I had some time then to do a bit of other stitching. This cushion from Lynette Anderson's Christmas book is now finished. It was fun to make. We are doing this book at class this term along with a few of my Christmas patterns so it is good to have the samples all made.

 I was very pleased to get the borders onto my Chateau Hexagon quilt. It is already for some hand quilting.

 I have also been knitting a little cardigan for Alice. Just needs the last sleeve.

A few weeks ago it was Ma's birthday and I haven't made her anything for ages. I had bought this pattern at a craft show a few years ago and thought I would make Ma a scarf. The pattern is a Wendy Williams pattern and her flowers were yellow. I had the deep red flannel so made the flowers pink.

I think I would like one of these to add to my scarf collection.

Craft Fair Shopping

After and while I was working on the BeBe Bold stall I kept seeing things that I just had to have. Jane carries some lovely Japanese crochet books and I kept looking at them. Not sure if I will be able to interpret the graphs (as I certainly can't read the Japanese!) but it might be fun to try. I also bought some fine thread to crochet as well. Brings back memories of crocheting doileys when I was in my 20s! 

 BeBe Bold also has some lovely patterns, fabrics and notions. These just had to come home with me.

 Jane uses this tool to make lines for sashiko. Thought I might need one. Jane had also made a lovely little bag using these apple core papers. It might be fun to make some of these with my Japanese fabrics.

 I showed you some of these fabulous birds that Doreen is making and when I saw this book, I couldn't resist.

 AK Traditions had a lovely stall as well and these dollies are so gorgeous. Little Alice might like one...when she is bigger. The colouring book is gorgeous too and I think I would like to stitch them!

 You can't go to Sydney without buying some goodies from the Hatched and Patched stall. I was quite good really as I could have bought so much. I bought a little kit and Anni's new book for Quiltmania, called The Home Patch. It has so many lovely projects in it.

It all looks quite a lot really. Must get going on my retreat kits so I can have some time to make some of these lovely projects. Lots of fabric being cut, notes almost written and photos taken. It is only 2 weeks till our retreat!