Happy St Patrick's Day! A little belated but still, let's extend the shenanigans!🍀🍀
This year, like last and the one before, is just flying by. I don't know what it is....is it technology taking over our 'free' time? Being bombarded with information constantly through our phones and computers? I don't know what it is, but I'm aging faster than I'd like....but I guess that's a bonus not afforded to some, so I shan't complain.
Are you ready for our FNSI this Friday? What are you planning on working on? I have just finished a swap gift that hopefully will be delivered before then so I can show you. It was to be a pattern from one of our favourite designers made in Tilda. I found it really hard to send it off....I loved it! But I can make another one so I'm not too worried. My only hope is my recipient loves it too and can use it. I love practical gifts, not just dust collectors. What about you?
I've also just finished a top for a quilt as a gift for my neighbours who are overseas at the moment getting married. I'm waiting for the backing to arrive and I have two weeks to quilt and bind it before they get home. It has been a fun one to do. I've used blocks that were spare ones sent in the Little Box of Creativity from our beautiful sponsor, Kitty Rose Cottage. We were sent two strips of Tilda fabric, one patterned and one coordinating solid each month for a year. Sewing these together to make a 16 patch block made a rainbow of blocks and I knew I just had to make something special with them. I got inspiration from an email I received expressing interest in a quilt a long for valentines day.
I saw it and thought, "Ooh, this will be perfect!" So I played around with some graph paper and drew a block and subsequent quilt design. So each block became a heart! I had to make an extra 9 or 10 blocks to make my quilt top and I'm super happy with it. Here's some of the blocks....(I haven't taken a photo of the whole top yet as it's been wet, overcast and windy on and off over the past week or so...very unpredictable weather for taking photos!)
I'm not sure what I'll be working on on Friday night but it will be something, that's for sure!
I made a heart to commemorate one of FNSI's stitchy sisters who passed suddenly recently. Our friend Catherine Doust had been ill but passed suddenly...she was only 53 years old and gave so much to our group as well as many other online groups. She will be sadly missed.
The hearts (which are one of my favourite symbols as you can tell from my blog insignia and the blocks I make) were made by many and sent to adorn her coffin so that we could express how much she meant to us all....tell your loved ones (end even those who are just friends) how much they mean.....it can all be gone in an instant. Just know, I love you all.
Thank you all for all you give to our little group. It fills my heart every month knowing we can be together doing what we love best, even though we're miles apart. I sincerely can think of nothing better. Now saying that, I'd love to thank Dawn for supporting us with a prize each month for one lucky, randomly chosen FNSIer. Have you been to visit her online shop lately? There's some beauties there - the new Tilda Songbird, which I love, and the Brie Basics which I love even more! They go with everything and are so beautiful...I think I need to buy yardage! (don't tell my husband!) I think I might have to even order some poppyseed basics....they are cute!
So, our February get together had 23 beautiful ladies stitching. I popped everyone's names into the wheel of names and spun to find our winner. Congratulations to our February winner who will receive a prize from Dawn at Kitty Rose Cottage.
CONGRATULATIONS Dianne!!!!!
Now make sure you sign up below or on the facebook group page. If you're not a member yet, press the 'join' button and I'll be sure to add you!
In the southern hemisphere, we have begun our spring routines....out in the open air, admiring flowers and gardens, warmer days (in the most part) and cleaning and organising routines aka spring cleaning (I wish!).
My bush orchids have started to flower and the butterflies, bees and birds are being more productive in and around the yard.
I have been stuck at home off work for 8 weeks whilst my knee repairs after a work 'accident'! Yes I know, I have the worst luck! I was taking a client home from hospital after having her hip replaced and whilst taking her bag to her top landing, her dog started jumping and barking incessantly. I put up my hand to calm him but I didn't judge him well....he grabbed hold of my finger and didn't let go. Well, as you can imagine, my first reaction was to pull away....but he STILL didn't let go!!!! Hence he ripped my finger open (I won't post the pictures in case you're squeamish!) and despite trying to get back to the car where the first aid kit was, the pain overcame me and I passed out and in turn twisted my leg in the fall and tore the ligament and menisci in my knee! Fun times! I must have hit the un-health lottery this year! I'm ok though thank God...I just have to wear a ROM (range of movement) brace all day every day for the six weeks until I see the orthopaedic doctor again.
I am catching up on my stitching though! (always a positive!) and I'm loving home delivery of my groceries!
My time at home has given me incentive to catch up on some long-standing UFOs. This one has been on the list since before Covid so I decided to pull her out and get going. To be honest, the fussy cutting intimidated me a bit, but I'm feeling much better about it now so I hope to have it finished by the time I go back to work.
I'm also catching up on our FNSI draws.....my goal this year was to not be behind but it's just not my forte as I've found out! So here is July and August's draws. Each winner will receive a beautiful prize from our wonderful sponsor Kitty Rose Cottage. Some of the projects you see in my finished photos are available as kits HERE and if you're a keen Tilda collector, there's also some sale fabrics still available HERE (at $7.50 a half yard cut, you can't go wrong!) Along with the newest Tilda Christmas collection 'Merry Little Christmas'....it's divine!
I have my fingers crossed for you all.......our winner for July is:
and August's winner is:
Congratulations to you both! I love having you all join in and share our love of stitching and creating on a Friday night...hope you enjoy it as much as I do. We will be in touch with our winners pronto....but don't worry, there are more than enough FNSI prizes to go around. Just make sure you're signed up each month and your name will always go into the draw for a chance to win too! Just a little bonus for joining in with us.
You can either sign up below or join in on our Facebook group page HERE.
Recommend us to your friends after all, we know the more the merrier right? And we always have so much inspiration and fun......we foster new and old friendships and inspire ideas we never thought possible. I know it's my escape into a magical and wonderful place each Friday we join together.....the cares of the world just disappear! Can't wait to join with you this Friday night for a night of friendship and fun.
Wow, what a month! The nights are getting cooler but not so much as you need to wear layers up here in North Queensland! The roads are full of caravanners migrating north for the winter.....such a great place to be! Our lowest temperature has been 8 degrees and that was only for one day....mostly in the early to mid teens in the morning going to mid to high twenties in the daytime.....it's perfect! The beauty of living in the tropics in the winter!
Our school holidays have just finished and my back and neck have decided to seize up....go figure! I have bursitis and tendonitis of my shoulder and have been off work for the last two weeks due to the drugs I'm on for the pain. I have been ignoring the niggling pain for the past year or so but it had gotten so bad I just couldn't bear it.....massages, chiropractor and acupuncture have done little to fix it so off to the doctor I went. (I have an appointment with the physio next week...it's taken me 7 weeks to get an appointment!!!!) I'm off for a CT scan tomorrow on my neck and upper back and a guided cortisone injection next week so fingers crossed I can get on top of it. Lesson learnt......don't ignore niggles as you get older!!! We need to take care of ourselves!
So whilst I've been at home I've been catching up on some sewing. I've been putting together the hexies I received as part of a hexi swap in our craft group. I'm making a quilt top with them and I'm sure to need more but it's well underway. It's been a trip down memory lane as some of them have the dates on the papers on the back and some are from the early 2010's! It's lovely to see them come to life.
Ive also been playing around in my sewing room and with hubby's help, have moved things around to be more "user friendly". As my stash has outgrown its space and having been an empty nester for quite some time, things slowly but surely moved into my son's old bedroom. It's been a favourite haunt but having been time poor and not very organised, every time I go in there I get very overwhelmed with all the clutter....I don't really even know what I have as some of my stash is in my downstairs space, some by the sewing chair in the lounge, some in my study and a lot in my sewing room so time to do an overhaul....very gently and carefully whilst I have some time (don't judge me!)
I've loved looking at organising sites and getting loads of ideas but not sure how to execute it in my space so I've gone ahead and started to corral things. This is one area I've started...with a bit of my fabric. I've a shelf of some of my Tilda ( I have a HUGE tub to sort through yet) and some of my Devonstone solids. Just getting my fabric together will be a huge achievement and then, maybe I'll feel a little more in control!
I've gone through my threads and organised them, sorted my felts and my linens, lace and ribbons as well as my pellon, parlan and interfacings and my ironing station and cutting table are almost there. So much more to do but little by little I'm getting there. It's a good feeling!
As it is the third week of the month, it's time for FNSI this Friday night! Every month I ask the same question.....how is time flying by so fast? But I'm so glad I get to share it with you!
I'm planning on stitching up a swap gift this Friday so hopefully it will be done and ready to post next week. It'll be secret squirrel business so probably no pictures till after it arrives at its destination but there may be, just may be some sneaky ones!
What will you be stitching? I look forward to seeing what's on your machine/mat/lap this week. Make sure you sign up below, or over on the facebook group page Share it far and wide, the more the merrier. We have over 150 members now but the more we have, the more inspiration and friendship and who doesn't love that?
We had a great sew in for June with 32 members join in. It's a great get together to catch up, encourage and support one another and to be inspired with all the crafty makings going on. Our wonderful sponsor, Dawn of Kitty Rose Cottage sends a prize to one lucky random winner for the month and maybe it will be you? Have you had a chance to pop over to see what's new at the Cottage? The new Tilda Merry Little Christmas release is ready for pre-order.......I'm frothing at the mouth as it's just divine!
I can't wait to make something with these when they're available. Make sure you pop over and pre-order. I swear Dawn has one of the cheapest prices for Tilda in Australia. You won't regret it.
In the meantime, our lucky wheel has been spinning and has drawn our winner for June FNSI.
Congratulations Leah for being drawn as our June winner for FNSI!!! I'll be in touch for details. Meanwhile, sign up below or on the Facebook group page so you don't miss out in July!
Well, I can't believe I haven't written a post since January, but in my defense, after the washing machine flooded half of our house and we had to replace flooring, carpets, walls etc, everything was packed away and my computer was inaccessible for the interim. I've only just signed off on the completion of repairs and I must say, it was a HUGE job. We've had people ask us if we were moving in or moving out! Packing boxes were stacked everywhere and half the house contents were moved to the front rooms. Mind you, it's been great for de-cluttering and it's given us the encouragement to start downsizing 'stuff'!
It hasn't made it easy to get into my craft room though as boxes and things from other rooms were stored (aka stacked) in there so sewing has been hand stitching in front of the tv when I can. I've been working on a secret squirrel swap project which I can't show yet, but I can tell you it's done in Tilda, so very pretty!
I seriously can't believe Easter is over and we're heading into May in the next couple of weeks. Every year I say the same thing and I'm sure it's not just me, is it? I hope you've had a beautiful Easter spent reflecting, resting and sharing beautiful moments with family and friends.
My little man (aka grandson, Ryker) had limited chocolate this year due to his craziness whenever he gets too much sugar so instead my son and daughter in law took him to see one of his favourites......Bluey at Bluey World! He was over the moon and even got to meet Bluey - you can hardly tell them apart!
He had such a big day he was exhausted before he got home. He slept so soundly last night.....so soundly that he fell out of bed and didn't even know it! Thank goodness for Snapchat and videocalls....the hardest part of living thousands of kilometres away are the experiences you miss out on, don't you think?
My focus in the past couple of months is to get my Patchwork of the Crosses quilt finished. I'm at the 'putting the blocks together' stage and constructing the top. Then I'll go back and do the edging and corner blocks before sandwiching and quilting. I hadn't looked at it as a whole until I took a progress shot of it on the bed today, complete with cat bump!
Couldn't get him to move! Still, I'm so happy with how it looks in Tilda! I still have a couple of rows to add and I'm happy with how it fits my queen sized bed with plenty of room.
If you're thinking of making your own, take the pressure off and order your blocks from Kitty Rose Cottage. Dawn will co-ordinate the colours for you and you can choose your own sashing block colours to suit your room's colouring. I chose a pink grunge fabric as I am making this one for moi!
I hope you get the chance to see what everyone's been creating in our Facebook FNSI Group. There's been some beautiful and needless to say, inspirational makes over the past few months. My list of wants is getting longer. If you haven't joined our group, just click on the "join" button on the group page or message me and I'll invite you in.....easy!
I've drawn our winners for January, February, March and April and without dragging it out, here they are.............
Congratulations ladies! Dawn has your details and will be sending your prize shortly.
I hope you enjoyed our FNSI together and I look forward to stitching along with you in May for a very special Birthday FNSI celebration!
Big sugary hugs to you all and chocolatey Easter love xo :o)
I missed last month's post as it crept up on me yet again. Could it be old age? Becoming forgetful? Being too busy? or all of the above!? Anyways, we're back in business!
I've been busy trying to do a bit of a tidy up of my craft room which becomes more disheartening as I get myself into such a muddle once I start as I don't know where I'm headed with it all! I've joined a few Quilting organisation Facebook groups which have given me some inspiration (and a few jealous moments, drooling over some of their rooms!), so I'm going to attempt to tackle things slowly but surely this year. It doesn't help my room is just a small bedroom and I have so much crammed in there. I need to have a good think and plan something out that's going to work for me.
Seriously though, I can see a bit of a destash coming up soon!
I have been busy catching up on my Farmer's Wife blocks. I'm up to number 87 now so on the downhill run. I've started with some French General fabrics and added a few more complementary reds, blues, and beiges to fill it out a bit. I must say, looking back on the blocks I've done, I've surprised myself as I'd never done hand pieced blocks when I'd started and just fluffed along, trying different ways to make them. I thought I'd have to redo some but they seem better than I recalled so I think I only have about 25 blocks to go before I start with the sashing and putting it all together. I'm thinking I may use the machine for that. It's getting to the exciting part, where I'll see it all come together...I can't wait!
Now let's catch up on our past few months of winners, shall we? Firstly I'll begin by saying how much I enjoy your company every month and how you not only inspire me but the motivation is just so valuable to each and every one of us. It never ceases to amaze me how online friendships are so wonderfully special because they start with a common interest that often turns into some of the best relationships you can wish for.
Okie dokie....let's revisit January's FNSI. We had 25 lovely ladies join in with some beautiful work on show. I popped all names into the Wheel and gave it a little spin...
February, we had 27 stitching sisters come together both virtually and face to face as we had the Tilda 25th Anniversary Tour in Brisbane that weekend. It was so good to catch up and then many of our group were lucky enough to travel to the Melbourne leg of the tour and get together the following weekend. I love our quilty get-togethers! After giving the February Wheel a bit of a spin, out popped......
Our March FNSI was a bit of a rush job (my fault)_so we only had 22 friends to stitch along, which isn't a bad thing because it gives you a better chance to win our draw!!! *wink* So here's who's name spun up when the Wheel did its thing....
Congratulations to all our lovely ladies....I just know you'll choose something beautiful!
So now we're all up to date with our draws, I promise to try to keep on track for the rest of the year!!
Remember that our winners have all won a $30 voucher from our wonderful, amazing, extraordinarily generous friend and sponsor, Dawn Hay of Kitty Rose Cottage. If you haven't had the chance to pop over and have a look in the shop lately,
I recommend it...the latest Tilda range, "Creating Memories" is up for pre-order and IT IS DIVINE!
Each month, Dawn sponsors our group and generously donates a $30 voucher to spend in -store . She has the most beautiful heart and if you purchase anything from Kitty Rose Cottage, you're bound to find something special tucked in there to make your day. She regularly pops an extra Tilda fat eighth in her Little Box of Creativity or some other special treat. You will not be disappointed with the service you receive, I can 100% guarantee it.
So you have a chance to be in the draw for the $30 gift voucher this month, make sure you link in below OR head over to the Facebook group page and join in on this month's post.
If you're not a member of our Facebook group, ask to join when you're there or send me a message and I'll send you an invitation. That's where you can follow what everyone's up to on the night....it's so much fun!
I'm looking forward to getting another couple of Farmer's Wife blocks completed....what have you got planned for Friday night? Looking forward to stitching along with you again!
I'm not sure what I'll be working on on Friday night but it will be something, that's for sure! 
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