FNWF and a Lucky Find

It's been a bit damp here with monsoonal rains so staying in and stitching has been a plus.  Friday night I joined with other ladies  and our lovely hostess Cheryll for our monthly Friday Night with Friends.

But before I share, I have some good news......I got a phone call last Tuesday from our local council.....someone had handed in my beautiful girl to the pound!  

It was hard at the start as Milo had forgotten who she was and she was just an 'intruder' to him...she smelt 'funny' and he was not impressed.   It took a few days but now they are the best of friends again.  Mocha has been seen by the vet who said she had been looked after well so after just over a month, they decided she wasn't keen to stay with them and wanted to come home.  All I can say is thank God for microchipping...that's how they found who she belonged to as she had lost her collar, who knows when?

Told you 2019 was going to be an awesome year!

This wet weather has given me lots of catch up time so Friday night for me began early.  I managed to catch up on the second last block of Foxley Village.

I'm keen to put this one together with only one block to go.    I also put my hand up to join the 'Bloom quilt sew-a-long' with Chez.

 I was a bit behind but managed to get the first two blocks prepped and stitched down as well.

Some more progress on "It Takes Two"....

...and even a hexi for our group swap.....

All in all, quite a productive Friday I think! 

The week saw some treacherous weather in our parts with the monsoon hovering over our area and flooding a nearby city so much so that the dam had to release water at 8pm last night so its banks did not burst.  The timing coincided with the tides so the impact would be as 'minimal' as possible, however this put its residents at risk and with around 2000 megalitres pumping out per second *eek* about 20000 homes were flooded. Today is predicted for more rains and already the area has been tagged as having a 1 in 100 year event that is the second largest flood in Australia's history. You can see some of the devastation HERE and HERE.  And here is a photo from the end of our street.  

You can see the block flooding and the drain is just about at its limit.  But we are nowhere near the devastation Townsville has encountered.  They have had around 2000mm of rain in the past week whereas we (about 80km south) have had about 1000mm  It's predicted we'll get another 1500mm in the next 10 days...we're hoping and praying not, but time will tell.  Mr B had to 'relocate' this Eastern Brown snake who managed to sneak in under our back door and take refuge in our lounge room!  I can tell you we've both never moved so fast in all our lives as these are in the group of  most dangerous of all snakes in Australia, if not, the world!  

Talk about freak out!  This one was a juvenile and about 3 ft long but mighty fast!  We locked the cats in the bedroom and did what we had to do.  Needless to say, there are multiple towels piled up against the back door, hopefully sealing it from unwelcome visitors.

Don't forget to go and see what other friends got up to as there are some beautiful crafty people in our groups.

for now, I'm sending big sugary hugs and loads of love and thanks xox   :o)

FNSI Results

Well, this week started out like last year.....where did it go????
Started Monday with work.....Tuesday I had to go and visit a new little great-neice...…

Welcome little Madelyn Rose to the world...here she is...24 hours old...isn't she gorgeous?

Such bright eyes, and a gorgeous shock of dark brown hair.....looks like she's been here before, doesn't it?  She was my Tuesday distraction!  Wednesday I had to run errands around town and Thursday, back to work again.  This afternoon I'm headed to the big smoke (Townsville) for a check up for Mr B's eye operation and seeing if they can do his other one.   He had a cataract removed and a lens inserted in his eye.....no pain whatsoever and it's been such an easy recovery for him, but I've had to play nurse with drops every day, 4 times a day and he's not allowed to do anything except rest. (When I die, I'm coming back as Mr B!)

Last Friday we had our first FNSI for the year and I promised I'd get organised with prizes and draws.  Before I show you, here is what I got up to.....

I was reorganising my sewing space to fit in my new toy......

never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd every own one but I saved and saved and saved and here she is, my sweety.

I added table risers to the legs of my cutting table so I could fit my shelves underneath and now it's at a more user-friendly height so that made me even more happy!  As you can tell though, I haven't had a chance to try her out but as Monday IS a public holiday, I might just have to give her a spin! 

I chose fabrics for my 'Bloom Sew a Long" with Cheryll .  We're following Lori Holt's original sew a long plan from 2016.....it's never too late and keeping true to form, I've picked my fabrics and got my templates but I haven't started yet (I WAS distracted a bit!) .   

Then we'll link up on Cheryll's blog the second and third Saturdays of the month sharing our progress.    I'll do catch up over the weekend!

I did get a little hand stitching done though.

I finished off the embroidery on this block, now to add the pieced blocks and then I'm up to the last one....getting close to finished. 

Now to the important part....our winners!  We had lots of fun with our Friday Night Virtual Stitchers and lots of  'work' was done.  You can see it all HERE.

I had Mr Linky randomly choose winners for November, December and January and here's how it went....

November winner 1:    Karen's Korner

November winner 2:  Rike@flickchensquilt

December winner :    Cheryll from Gone Stitchin'

January winner:         Nancy from Joy for Grace

  

Congratulations to all you wonderful ladies....thanks for joining in this month and beginning this year off with a bang! Send me your postal details and I'll get a little something off to you pronto.

Remember, lock the third Friday night of each month in for your FNSI fix.  You never know when your name will be drawn as a winner.  Regardless, we're all winners as we have so much fun stitching virtually with so many wonderful stitchers from around the globe...and we get more of our projects done!  Winner, winner!

xox Sugary hugs :o)

TWO winners for FNSI

Thanks to all who offered their condolences, sympathies, love and hugs on the passing of my father (in-law).  I truly feel blessed to have a virtual family I can turn to when times get tough and I always know you'll all be there for me......the quilting family really is a unique one, don't you agree?  Love and hugs to you all.....only wish I could reach through the screen and give you big sugary hugs for real.  It really has meant the world to me.

Now, I was planning to post what I did on my FNSI,  BUT.....just my luck, I came down with a head cold - again!  The last time, not so long ago, it was one of the Influenza strains and it hit pretty hard....but this time, it was just a stubborn head cold.

Nothing pleasant about it though, blocked sinuses, ear canals and drippy, sneezy nasal passages don't make it any easier.  So I've mostly stayed home and slept and drank plenty of fluids, trying really hard not to rub my nose red raw (but we all know that doesn't work when you've got a cold!) and spread the lurgy.  So both Saturday afternoon, Sunday and yesterday, when I was going to post, I sat down at the computer and my head said ,"Nope!  Sleep!" so I went and rested a bit.  I'm feeling a fair bit better today, still congested but not as sleepy so I'd say I'm over the uphill battle and on the downhill stretch.

I did manage to get some stitching done on Friday night though.....

A bit more of this UFO  was stitched down.  Now just the windows and doors and stitching the details.....oooh, and the flower bouquet along the bottom to go.
….and then there was a bit more stitching on THIS project.....

Block 6 is nearly complete and only 3 left till I can put this baby together.  With Christmas only 3 months away (today!) *eek*, I'd better get a wriggle on.

I hope you had time to pop over to my last post and visit all my Friday Night stitching friends via their links?  If not, head back and have a look.....some beautiful eye candy there.

Time for a winner to be drawn...in fact, TWO winners.  One from last month and one from this month. Each will receive one of these beauties.....

…..a pack containing 8 gorgeous colours of Cosmo stranded cottons and a piece of beautiful white linen onto which you can stitch whatever your heart desires.  I've stitched on it, it stitches like a knife through butter...the needle just glides through.  I'm sure our winners will love these!

Here goes.....
Our August winner was

Vicki

and our September winner is

Illene

\o/ \o/ Congratulations to both of you!! \o/ \o/

I'll get those prizes off into the mail so you can start your stitchy projects for next month.

Speaking of which - FNSI for October will be on the 19th.  Pop that date in your diaries so you don't miss out.  It will be upcoming Halloween for our Northern friends.  I'm sure there'll be some spooky stitching happening next month - can't wait to see!

Until then, happy stitching and big sugary hugs  :o) 

xox

My FNSI

Didn't start till later on Friday as we had a funeral in the afternoon, so stitching Friday night was definitely needed.
I started working on my Foxley Village Block 2 - it's the Block of the Month in the 2016 Homespun Magazine designed by the lovely Natalie Bird....I always love her work......she is one talented Aussie designer.
This is where I got to by about 4pm this afternoon (once I started, I couldn't put it down!).....

I'm loving the Tilda fabrics used for the BOM kit I signed up for....it is from both the Autumn Tree and Sweetheart ranges.....so pretty and typically Tilda-ish.  I really need some practice with  my needleturn techniques....perhaps by the end of it I'll be better...it's been a while since I've done some needleturn and I'm a bit rusty!

I will be drawing a winner tomorrow night, in the meantime, pop on over {here} to see what everyone else got up to...some gorgeous projects underway that's for sure.

xox sugary hugs :o)

Hearts a-flutter.....

Wow....time flies so they say, and boy, they weren't kidding!

I have been working studiously on my APQ UFO challenge this past week, trying to get it finished in time for the end of February, but even with an extra day thrown in, I didn't quite make it!

Once I'd put it all together, I noticed I needed 3 more blocks, so I appliqued a heart on the bottom corner block, and drew two other blocks up to match....one a snow hearts label and one other snowheart.

But once I've finished those two stitcheries, I might add a couple of borders on, then it's time to quilt.....so much further along than I was at the beginning of the month, so even though I'm not finished completely, I'm entirely happy with where I'm at with it. (you'll notice, the date on the label???.....2011......so this has been resting for a looooong time!)

I've also made a start on my 2016 Homespun BOM, a design by one of my favourite designers, Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse....another great Aussie designer. (Queenslander!)  This one's called "Foxley Village and with it, I'm rediscovering my love for needleturn (and Tilda *swoon*)

It's funny, I don't know about you, but needleturn was one of those techniques that never really 'grabbed' me....that was a style that 'other' quilters used, not me!  But over the course of the past year or two, the slow stitching and 'preciseness' of it all has really drawn me to it...need I say it makes my heart flutter?   Have you found there's one style you swore off for life, only to find it's one of your favourites now?  I can't say it's my absolute favourite, I love all kinds, needleturn, raw edge, hand applique, machine applique, not to mention piecing and stitchery....I just love it ALL!

And I've made a start on the Splendid Sampler....are you doing it too?  It's hosted by Pat Sloan and our very own Jane Shallala-Davidson and incorporates 100 blocks from over 80 designers from around the world...I'm sure you'd have heard of it?  There's over 16000 people signed up to participate and well, I'm just a little slow off the mark.....there's two blocks per week and I've started with number 3 block and that's all I've done so far....we're up to number 5!  Ho hum....nothing like starting behind the 8-ball!   So here's my progress....

with all the tools I really,  reeeeeeally needed to make this block!  

Needless to say, I didn't have any complete finishes for OPAM for February, however I'm sure March is going to be a whopper!

xox Sugary hugs :o)