FNSI for April already!

Can you believe it?  This year is scooting by faster than last year, I'm sure!
What have I been doing?  Well, a little EPP, some stitchery, some hexies for swaps and quilting a dear friend's quilt (who has since passed away) for her husband to snuggle under to be closer to her.

I've also pieced some blocks for a pineapple quilt I'm making for my DIL-to-be but it's all come to a standstill this past two weeks as I've been working full time 6 days a week while the boss took her holidays.  I didn't stop to take photos of it all but you can see some of the progress.

Sunday I had a day off, that just happened to coincide with dear Mr B's, so we decided to go on a road trip.  We travelled up to Tully where we had an impromptu meet-up with my cousin, who lives in Cairns.  From there, we travelled to Mission Beach  (I hadn't been there before) where we had lunch, spent some time catching up on the goss, and then we headed home - her northward-bound and us southward.





Along the road home, we stopped at a few roadside stalls and picked up some fresh papaya (pawpaw), avocado, pineapples, rambutan, dragonfruit and some bananas....gorgeous fresh 'cheap' tropical fruit.  We'll be eating nice healthy fruit salads this week.... yummo! 

 

Looking up into the mountains, you can still see the remnants of stripped trees from Cyclone Yasi in 2011. 

Mind you, it's not all bad.....the improvements that have been made since then to the roads and to the Cardwell foreshore are just wonderful.

 

So now that brings me to here and now....and that it's time for our Friday Night Sew In sign ups once again.....and I must say, my favourite time of the month!

I would love it if you joined in with us.  Just sign up below so we can visit you and cheer you along and I'm sure I can find a sweet little prize for one lucky FNSI-er!

 

Must be off....work again in the morning and the kittens are climbing all over me trying to entice me to bed.   

 

Big sugary hugs xox :o)



FNSI draw and Good Friday blessings

We had 28 at our little virtual sew-in on Friday night and what fun we had!
I managed to get caught up on some hexi-love.

I'm part of an online hexi swap and I thought it might be a good idea to get some prepared ahead, for those times when I can't manage to get them done on time! 

I enjoy handwork in front of the tv....it's always relaxing.

 

I'm sorry it has taken me a week for the draw but since we've had internet problems and the storm knocked out our power and I had to reformat my computer, I've had issues with uploading and resizing my photos.  I think I've got it sorted now!

 

I also noted that I missed the draw for the last month's FNSI so I'm going to double up this month.  I'll do a draw for February and a draw for March.  Then hopefully I'll be set to have everything in order from here on in! *fingers crossed*

 

Here we go.....

February's FNSI saw 33 ladies joining in and Mr RNG was busy picking a winner......

 

CONGRATULATIONS

JEANETTE

 I'll be sending your prize out to you soon.

 

.....and our March winner is

 number 26, CONGRATULATIONS

ANTHEA

 

Your prize will be in the mail soon too!

 

I hope you're enjoying a very restful, blessed and safe Easter break....and for those of you who believe, keeping in mind the reason we have this very special celebration in the Christian calendar...the very generous gift of  life so that we might live.

 

xox Sugary hugs and Good Friday blessings :o)

 

 



My sleepy FNSI helper helped me with sign-ups today!

I thought you might like to see who likes to help me these days when I'm blogging.....

It seems I can't get near the computer without Milo, who continues to grow each day. 

Our babies had the last of their needles this morning when our resident travelling vet came over.  Dr Kate was shocked to see how much they'd grown with Mocha now 2.4kg and Milo a hefty 2.8kg.  They've developed their own personalities now.....Milo is my boy....he loves cuddles, being close by and nibbling on my necklace.  Mocha, on the other hand, is Mr B's girl, an independent tomboy who loves rough and tumbles and hunting geckos, even though they're on the outside of the window!  It's lovely to watch their personalities blossom as they grow.

It's so nice too, to be able to be connected again.  I've missed blogging.  It's so strange not having internet as we become so reliant on it....how on earth did we function before!?  Mind you, our phones weren't dependent on internet service, home or mobile. Although mobiles didn't exist then, we could still get in touch with the old dial phone.  Sometimes I wonder whether we would be better off with the 'olden days', but then I think about blogging, and the inconveniences are worth the friends we make over the blogosphere, don't you think?

Which leads me to another cyber-get-together:  our monthly FNSI. 

Delayed due to the lack of connective fibres, but definitely not forgotten, nor will it be missed!
Make sure you sign up for this Friday night where we can stitch in the comfort of our jammies at home with a nice hot chocolate and a purring furbaby or two.  Sounds just perfect to me.   Will you join me?  Sign ups are below.  I'm looking forward to it!

xox sugary hugs :o)

Delayed FNSI

My sincerest apologies but this one was out of my control

Our regular monthly FNSI will be held NEXT Friday 23rd March due to the fact I have only just got my internet back on this very minute (well, within the last 3 minutes!).  I'll put the sign-ons up on Monday.
We have been without for nearly 4 weeks due to an NBN outage and after many calls to and fro with the provider, it was found to be a fault in the NBN fibre which has only just been fixed. 

Our little rural/regional area has limited internet at the best of times and our house seems to sit on a 'black spot' of internet connectivity, so when the NBN isn't working, the household stops!  No internet means no phone, no Netflix, no blogging, and limited facebook and Instagram.....and Pinterest is out of the question!  It's a hellhole! (what DID we do pre-internet???)

Hubby was out talking to the guy fixing the connections and he said there were broken wires within the fibre but now they are all good and we should have no further problems  PLUS, the bonus.......our internet speed has doubled!!!  So blogging will be soo much easier from here on in!

Have a fab weekend.  I'm off to my son's and daughter-in-law to be's engagement party tonight!  They grow up way too fast don't they?

Can't wait to stitch with you next week!
xox sugary hugs :o)

My FNSI

I love this time of the month, when I get to sew in comfort with my buddies, but I especially love this month and watching the winter Olympics, feet up on the recliner, sewing in my lap and kitten trying to ski down the slopes too!

Gee I love these little guys....one was sleeping but this little boy (he's now nearly double the size of Mocha) was a bundle of energy....and then just dropped in front of the tv- one of his favourite places to be.  Well, it beats them climbing all over me and trying to pull pins out of the pincushion and needles out of my stitching....they truly are little devils at times.

I did however, manage to finish the cross stitching part of my old Queenslander, and I'm pretty happy with it too.

Now for the trickier part, adding all the backstitched detail.....I'm always worried I'll stuff it up, a bit like when you're quilting and you put off finishing the top and making it into a quilt because you worry you won't be able to do it justice (or is that just me?).   I'll keep you posted with how I'm going with it...I'll be trying to get it done by the end of the month so I have a finish for OPAM.

It's only 20-ish days till we fly to Brisbane for our annual LGS aka Let's Get Stitched weekend with these three wonderful designers - Dawn Hay, Fee Ransley and Joy Coey and I can't wait!  Each year, we make a swap gift and a badge for two different people, one is a random 'lucky dip', the other is assigned.  This year, our swap gift is a needlebook.

I managed to get the stitchery for the front of the needlebook done on Friday night too and the needlebook itself will be made this week, followed by the badge.  Our theme this year is 'tropical' so there's lots of ideas going through my head.  I'll show some sneaky peeks when I've got something started.

Nothing else to share at the moment...about to go and visit dad-in-law in the hospital so I must be off.  Don't forget to drop by to see what all the other Friday-nighters got up to....it always inspires me!
xox sugary hugs :o)

Friday Night Sew In Sign Ups

Surprise!     Yes it is......

and yes, it's a bit late, as usual!
We've had problems with our NBN and have had no phone or internet since last Wednesday.  It was booked in for reconnection yesterday and after many a frantic phone call, was finally connected well into the afternoon....what is it with technology and us?  I know it definitely kicks up the stress levels a bit.  But finally, it's on again.....after hours on the mobile phone last week and again this week.....you just don't realise how much you rely on it, do you?

And now my computer has decided it doesn't want to upload any photos from my phone so I can't even show you what I've been up to, apart from this one block I've been working on for the Fat Quarter Shop Classic and Vintage Quilt Along using the Hunter Star block.

I'd show you the whole block but I just can't get it from the phone to the computer!!!!  grrrrrrr......there must be a way!   I know what I'll be doing this afternoon!!!!

Before I completely lose it, I'm going to put up the link for this Friday night's Sew In.  Don't forget to link up and join in.....it's the best party you can have in your pjs!
Happy Valentine's Day <3

xox sugary hugs :o)

FNSI winners - December AND January...

I'm so sorry this post is so late today.
I had planned to get it organised yesterday afternoon, however I discovered, after a power outage in our area in the middle of the night on Saturday night, my computer was not able to start up normally and I had to reset everything. 

This meant all my apps and links I use regularly and are pinned to my start page, had been cleared in the reset!  I didn't realise how much I took for granted that they would always just 'be there' so when they had to be cleared to be able to start my desktop again, do you think I could remember what half of them were called?...all the drivers and programs and even files that I had pinned to the taskbar;  my computer wouldn't recognise my camera so wouldn't download my photos either - aaargh, such a nightmare!
But now I'm up and 'basically' running I thought I'd get this post quickly done so you didn't have to wait any longer!

Our December get together was a little smaller than most - I suspect as people were busy with Christmas parties and preparing for the 'big day', stitching was low on most people's list of priorities.    We did however, have 21 lovely friends getting together for some last minute finishing of Christmas gifts. 
With the help of Mr RNG, here is our December winner....

Congratulations to

CHRISTINE  from MacDonald's Patch

and your prize, which will be sent tomorrow, is.......

....a beautiful mini charm pack of Regent's Park by Maywood Studio and two matching threads....hope you like them Christine!

 

Mr RNG was also busy picking our January winner......

doesn't seem random does it, when it's the very next number...but I promise, it is.

Congratulations to

HELEN from Helbels World of Craft.

 

Helen, I hope you like your prize ....

 

 

...a mini charm pack of Sticks and Stones by Laundry Basket Quilts for Moda and two matching threads.

 

Until next month's FNSI, thanks for joining in and if you haven't before, give it a try next month.  Our February FNSI will be on the 16th, so lock it into your diaries.

 

xox Sugar hugs :o)