Saturday in the sewing room

Hello there, how is your Saturday going?  I have had a great day in my sewing room, preparing a few blocks for some works in progress and finishing up a couple of things.  Firstly here is the bag I started early in January.  I'm really pleased with this, it's a nice little size, and I am really loving these Nicey Jane fabrics.  This was my first experience with ruffles and the result is not too bad!

In an Afternoon Bag designed by Rosalie Quinlan 
using Nicey Jane fabrics by Heather Bailey

This little flanged pillow is a Lizzie Kate freebie, the fabric I've finished it with looks red here, but is actually a very dark pink with cream spots.  

Friendship Grows, Freebie by Lizzie Kate
Stitched on Cream linen with Weeks Dye Works threads

This little lavender pillow is not todays work, but was my only January OPAM finish, and also my first Sew It's Finished finish for the year.  My list of works in progress at the start of the year was fairly large(a little understatement maybe) and I'm endeavouring to work on it with all the Sew It's Finished girls again in 2012. I think this was started about 6 years ago, and it only needed the opening closed, took about 4 minutes max!!  There really is something wrong with me!  But - it is done now..........

Lavender Pillow from Country Threads Magazine(can't find my copy to get designers name, sorry)

It's a long weekend here in NZ, where we are celebrating out national day, Waitangi Day on Monday.  Tomorrow we are heading to Central Otago for a little jetboating, and guess who's coming with us?  I'm sure  you can get proper pet lifejackets, but we were just trying this old one on Kelly for size this afternoon ......

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend whatever it is you are doing ............... Nicky

What happened to the lazy days of summer?

Happy(very belated) New Year!!   

I hope you've had a great start to 2012 and that everything is going your way.......

I had visions of a long hot summer, spending time with the kids, in the garden, on the farm, and hopefully lots of long evenings stitching....... but so far it's been anything but lazy!  Not too much time for gardening or stitching yet and the kids have been spending time with us, helping out on the farm........

We had New Years Day off farm work, so I added the borders to my A Gardeners Journal,(sorry no pics yet) while the kids played on their motorbikes with Dad, and their uncle and cousins.  Since then there has been three days of sorting lambs, drenching, weighing etc, 4 days back at my off-farm job, two days this last weekend travelling to Oamaru for a quick overnight visit with friends, and a fair bit of time worrying about the drought situation we have developing. 

We have had about 6mm of rain in the last 7 weeks, compared to our average 150mm or more for that period.  The rest of New Zealand has been experiencing a terrible summer, flooding in some place and lots of rain, but down south we have had a truly old-fashioned summer.  While it's been great not wondering how I'll ever get the washing dry on the clothesline, we are starting to despair.  We have a load of 750 lambs leaving tomorrow, just the smaller ones, they are heading north to Canterbury for finishing, who ironically are usually sending lambs to Southland by this time of the season ...... how the tables have turned!   I've already bought one truckload of water, and will probably need another 25,000lt within a few days.

You know it's dry here when the lambs would rather come in a slightly ajar gate and eat the lawn than stay in their paddock........lol .... and this was taken on the 29th of December, things are a lot worse since then. You also know you're a blogger when you go and get the camera before you chase them out.  lol

I have managed a couple of quick stitchy starts though, this little freebie from Lizzie Kate .........

........ and a half-finished little bag for me in Nicey Jane fabrics.... my current favourite.  Back at Christmas time I did get some more Butterfly Garden miniblocks done too, but need to take some pics.

 

Today I have started excavating in my sewing room, it's been a dumping ground for everything recently, and I've sorted out a few projects that need some urgent attention.  There have been so many wonderful SAL's and new and exciting stitchy projects starting online, but for now I am resisting the urge of joining in anything else for a while...... we'll see how long that lasts though!     In the interests of full and open disclosure I have to confess that I have been gathering fabrics for My Favourite Things, the new Stitch-A-Long project for 2012.  I put my name down for this SAL last year, and I'm not meant to start it till my Gardeners Journal quilt is all finished, but I am 90% sure I will be getting that quilted professionally, so I've done all I can on that one for now!  I won't be starting that for a week or two though.   

I've also updated my WIP list for 2012 on a new page at the top of the blog.......... and will try and post to the Sew It's Finished blog in the next few days. 

OK - if you've lasted through all that, thank you, you deserve a medal!  I'll be trying to catch up on my blog reading and emails tonight and tomorrow, so till next time .............. happy stitching ....Nicky

Martinique Table Runner

It was so nice to spend some time yesterday finishing - yes that's right, the F word - something that's been languishing in the work in progress pile for too long.  This is my second(only my second!) Sew It's Finished WIP finish for the year.  I really have to work on that list. lol

Skinny Verna Runner in 'Martinique by 3 Sisters'

I recently ordered a walking foot for my machine and - WOW - what a difference it made. I didn't know what I was missing before, it was so lovely to use. Can someone tell me if there is such a thing as a 1/4" walking foot, or do you just change the needle position to line it up to 1/4" when you need to? The first version I made of this runner I quilted in 1/4" lines, but this one is more like 1/2" and I also didn't quilt the white edges this time round.  I'm putting this away as a gift for my aunt who is celebrating a big birthday this year.   This was my first attempt at machining the whole binding and it worked out well.   Hand sewing the back of the binding at the end is one of my least favourite jobs.

Nice to see you here today.........thanks for visiting.........Nicky

Making a list and checking it twice

Well, its finally done, I've hauled out bags, baskets and shoeboxes from all over the house and had a good sort out.  I've ended up with only three things to give away, one finished cross stitch and two half finished ones which will find new homes soon.

My list is on a separate page - see above - a total of 30 things.  Not great, but I think in my mind I was expecting there to be a lot more.   It feels less overwhelming already, just to have them written down! 

Among the cross stitch to be framed or finished into something I found this wee beauty.  You'd think with pansies being my favourite flower and all, that I would have finished this up ten years ago when I finished stitching it...... but never mind, it's been discovered again, so the chances are improving.

I've put a few stitches today into my Fruit & Floral Wreath I, which is definitely a looooong term project, it has so many stitches in ones and twos all over the place, but I do still love it, and I guess its about 1/4 done.  I remember now why I put it away in the first place, a lot of time spent stitching, with not a lot to show for it.

Priorities for January are:
1. Finish SRTB piece for Raewyn
2. Finish another A Gardeners Journal Block
3. Make up In My Garden Needleroll

That should do for now, anything else will be a bonus!  I'm going to head on over to the Sew Its Finished blog later and post my list there.

Thanks for stopping by...........take care,   Nicky

2011 ...... the year of the WIP.........

Happy New Year all - wishing you the best of the best for 2011!

After a year of muddling along stitching a little of this and a little of that, and actually finishing very little, I have decided, along with a lot of others it would seem, that 2011 is going to be my year of the WIP!  Bold statement isn't it. lol

Don't for a minute think that I won't start anything new, in fact I have a few things I'm keen to rip into- think Vignette and the Tis the Season SAL - but I will also attempt to tidy up a few things that have been lurking for a few(or sometimes even 10+) years.  The first part of this plan is to locate and list all of the WIP's that I own.  This is a really scary thought, as they are lurking everywhere.  Being a Type 2 crafter, I have projects in bags and baskets in at least four different rooms of the house, so just finding them all will take some time.

I'm also sure that there are several things that I just don't love now like I did when I started them, so I think there might need to be a bit of a biff out/donate to charity/give away pile also.  That might seem like cheating, but I think I just need to cut my losses on some of the things that I am not feeling the love for anymore.

Thanks to Michelle for pointing me in this direction, a bit of motivation is at hand. A challenge - and of course another blog - should be the kick in the butt I need.

Top of the list will be the Stitching Round the Block pieces for Leanne(now done), Raewyn(almost done) and Janis, and then I will try and prioritise my list of UFO's.  I'm thinking I will put my list on a separate page on my blog, I don't think my sidebar could cope with this list!

Here is a little sneek peek of Raewyns block -  I love her fabrics and gorgeous Aurifil threads she has chosen.

Some projects need so little done on them it's almost ridiculous.  I made this little cushion(from a Country Threads magazine, I think) five years ago for a friends birthday, didn't finish it and ended up just buying her a gift.  For goodness sake, it only needs stuffed and the opening at the bottom stitched up - what is wrong with me!

 And there are others like this wrinkly piece The Potting Shed by Shepherds Bush, that need a lot of work.

I have a lot of small pieces of stitched up cross stitch that need made up into 'something', not sure whether to add them or not.   I probably will list them as they are mostly within my limited finishing skills to do something with them. lol.  I'm definitely not listing the finished big cross stitches waiting for framing as that is more a matter of the cost of framing them, than me needing to do any more to them!

I don't even mind if the WIP total at the end of the year isn't a lot less, would just be nice to finally finish some long neglected projects and then feel less guilty about starting new ones.

So hopefully, confessing all of this publicly will keep me on track - how many Works in Progress do you have?  Let me know if you plan on attacking your pile this year too.

Have a great day ............. happy stitching........... Nicky