Stitchalong catchup

I've been enjoying the little projects we've been working on as part of the Stitch-A-Long blog, and here are my May and June finishes.  First is my bag, from the Some Kind of Wonderful book by Anni Downs.  I chose to omit the stitchery once I found this lovely linen fabric.

 And a sweet little fabric covered button to finish it off

A couple of weekends ago I attended a class with a lovely lady, Sharon, who teaches classes from her home studio.  She is a very patient teacher and we were all especially keen to learn needleturn applique.  The project we worked on was, as luck would have it, the pincushion from Natalie Bird's Red Home book which is our June Stitchalong project.  I finally got mine stuffed and finished yesterday, and I'm so pleased with it.  Sharon can be found at O Sew Divine, where you can see some of her beautiful work, it is gorgeous.  Thanks Sharon for a wonderful class! 

 

I'm planning on finding some sewing machine time later today, and some stitching tonight while I watch the All Blacks play, hope you have a lovely weekend too......... Nicky x

FNWF and some February finishes

Hello there, firstly here is what I stitched last night for Friday Night with Friends(Big thanks to Cheryll for hosting us)  This is about half of the stitchery for this months Stitch Along pincushion.

I have a couple of finishes from February too, this is a little Leannes House-inspired pincushion I made for a lady called Chris whose property was devastated by bushfires in Australia recently.  Chookyblue told me about her when we were emailing about the Caring with Quilts appeal.  Chris had stitched all the blocks for her Leannes House quilt, and lost them all along with all her stitching supplies in the fires.  It touched a nerve with me, as that is one of the ongoing projects I am working on, so I asked if I could put a few stitching bits and bobs together in a bundle and send them over care of Chookyblue.   I would like to say a big thanks to Sandi who owns The Art of Craft in Gore for being so generous and adding some things to this bundle too.  When I was buying the threads she asked what I was stitching with them, and when I told her what I was doing, she very kindly added some bobbin cards, linen stitchery fabric, and a couple of extra DMC threads.  I was blown away by her generosity, thanks so much Sandi..... quilters really are the best!

At the very last hour on the 28th I finished my True Friends Tote bag, the February Stitch-A-Long project, nothing like a deadline....lol....... I'm not sure about the overall colours I've gone with, it seems very bright!  But I am pleased with how the stitchery turned out.....

So along with my little Ruby quilt, that brings me to a grand total of 3 OPAM finishes for February, the most for me in a long time.  

We are weighing 3 mobs of lambs today, so no stitching here until at least tomorrow....... have a great day............ Nicky x

A Winning Week

Earlier this week our Miss 10 had some exciting mail all the way from the Land of Oz.. We were lucky enough to win one of 5 lovely bags that Fiona of BubzRugz was giving away.  And Miss 10 was doubly excited to receive chocolate too!  Thank you Fiona for such a lovely gift, she has stashed a few treasures into it already.......

My winning streak continued yesterday when I won a wonderful giveaway from Linda at Razzle Dazzle Quilter.  I have won the clever quilting skills of Linda who will long arm quilt a top for me, isn't that such a generous gift......Thank you Linda.....

So far this week I have worked on a variety of projects, I quilted and bound my little Ruby quilt for Chookyblue's Caring with Quilts bushfire appeal.  Just need to make and attach a label and it will be on it's way......     This was a great pattern called Between Charming Friends which I found here, and was originally designed by Darlene.  

I made Block 7  & 8 from the FQS Designer Mystery Block of the Month.......... this is Block 7 'Moonlight Serenade', designed by Sandy Gervais...........

......... and Block 8 'Lime Sherbet', designed by Bonnie Olaveson and Camille Roskelley.........

 ......... and I started making some of the Flying Geese units that make up the sashing that will finish this quilt. 

I have also started the Stitch-A-Long project for February, which is a tote bag from Natalie Birds Red Home Book, this is the beginning of the stitchery panel,.  I'm stitching in green, which is something a little different for me!

Last night I stitched the little tulips miniblock in the top right of this block from my Leanne's House BOM.  Leanne and I have been stitching along together once a week on this project(in the virtual way only as we live in different countries with different timezones ..... lol) and I have found it very motivating to know that someone else is getting on with it too.  Thanks Leanne!

So you can see it's been a busy sewing week mixed in with girls returning to school, working with lambs, weeding my vege garden and various other 'stuff' that is always needing done.  

I hope your week is going great, as always thanks for making it all the way to the bottom.........lol

Till next time ......... happy stitching........... Nicky x

Fairy Friends

A couple of weeks ago my littlest girl celebrated her 10th birthday.  Back when she was 4, and attending preschool I started to stitch this design by Natalie Bird for her.  The plan was to make it into a bolster cushion, but then I had all sorts of trouble with the weaveline I used wrinkling, and puckering, and I put it aside in disgust.  This issue sent me looking to fellow bloggers for help, a post which still remains one of my most visited, even now over two years later.  I decided if it was ever going to happen it would have to be very simple, so here we have it finished onto a canvas instead!  The look on her face when she opened it was priceless.  It certainly was a big surprise - she had asked me every now and then if I was ever going to finish her fairy cushion, I don't think she thought it would ever happen!

Stitchery from Fairyland book by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse

In the end, I used some starch spray and gave it another press before attaching some light batting and covering the canvas.  The starch has definitely helped the wrinkles, they are much improved ........ still a few there but I am trying not to notice them and hopefully anyone who sees them will be polite enough not to mention them ...... wishful thinking maybe!

After lots of discussion(and more than a little begging) I have agreed that my big girl could start a little blog of her own.  She is a girl who is crazy about animals and is keen to become a vet one day.  Her blog is focusing mostly on her pets and animals at the moment, but who knows where it might lead ......... maybe you might be so kind as to click through and have a little look at Farm Girl Junior....... thank you in advance from Miss FGJ and myself!  She is keen to find some blogs of other young girls similar in age or interests to her(she is 12) so if you know of any, or maybe your own daughter or granddaughter has a blog, perhaps you could leave a link either here or over at Farm Girl Junior.

I have the next four days at home on the farm, I'm finished at my off-farm job for the week, so I see lots more lamb-feeding ahead for a couple of days.  There were about 20 pets/orphans to feed tonight, so it all takes time!!

Thanks for looking.......... happy stitching......Nicky

Still here .......

Well hello, it has been quite a while since I've been here ....... again..........3 months ago today since I last posted.    So much has been happening, some good, some not so good, but I wanted to pop in and let you know I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth.

Here are some random pics from the last few months..............

Some misty winter mornings on the farm ...................

A pretty sunrise.............

This framed stitchery is called Friendship Tree by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse. I finished this in June for my best friends birthday. It was a lovely little piece to stitch, and I got the co-ordinating frame when we were in Australia earlier in the year.  I must remember to add it and another little finish from May(which is currently in transit) to my August OPAM finishes as I haven't 'finished' anything since February :-( 

I love the little wooden buttons that came in the kit, aren't they gorgeous?

I have been trying to find some crafting time in the last couple of days, and have managed to start another new project - surprise, surprise!   Nothing like starting something new when nothing else is calling out to be stitched on......... lol.    Can you guess what pattern this little lady is from?

She is from Anni Downs recent book 'The Simple Life', and will be a little zipper pouch.  It's been such a long time since I've done any fusible web applique that I'd almost forgotten how!  I'm not sure if you can see part of my little stripey dog on the left side of the pic, he isn't coming out how I'd planned, so I will redo him in a darker colour I think.  And then I'll have to learn how to put in a zip....... don't know how that will go.

Well, now that I have bitten the bullet and actually written a post, I hope I will be able to keep it up and not be a stranger any more!  I hope you are finding some time for some stitching.................. thanks for visiting, till next time ........ Nicky