HEARTATHON! DAY 1

Joining in with Kate at I live, I love, I craft, I am me, where we are celebrating the lead up to Valentines Day with a heart themed beginning to February.  I may not post every day due to a few commitments, but will have a heart for the 14 days, even if some are for a few days together..  We'll see how I go.

Yummy Hearts

The above wall hanging has taken the place of the summery pansy one I posted at the beginning of January.  This is a spot just inside the front door where I can display a small piece quite well.  It is hard to take a photo though as the opposite wall is in the way.  I'd been wondering if I had anything both quilt & heart related & remembered this one.  YES!
The little wall hanging was made in a workshop in 1994 whilst living in Nowra & was only the second class I'd ever done, although I'd been patching since 1977.  I do enjoy classes and wish we had some locally, but I've plenty to do and will now talk about some UFO plans.

My friend Joy at Days Filled with Joy has talked with me a lot about catching up on UFO's and I've counted how many tops that I still need to quilt.  I have 23,  ranging in size from table runners, wall hangings, to small & large bed quilts.  I intend to get all these quilted this year.

I also have plenty of other sewing/piecing/embroidery & related bits to go through, as well as yarny projects I've started. Sorting the sewing related ones now & will photograph them in groups & hope to make a good start and reduce the piles. in the coming months.

The 2 tubs at the bottom contain most of the sewing related items.  Top tub has leftover batting pieces, so doesn't count, except to be pieced together and used in small projects.  I don't like wasting it.

Enough from me tonight & I'm off to keep crocheting my shawl whilst watching The Great British Bake Off.  I know that this will be early for my overseas bloggers, but when I catch up again tomorrow morning, it will be the 1st of February here and my little brother's 63rd birthday.
Take care all.
Susan.

JANUARY PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT.

Linking up with the lovely Kate at I live, I love, I craft, I am me.

A couple of this month's words were hard, but a few others, I found way too many choices.  Here we go.

1.   SMOKE.

Smoking whilst working hard.  Taken at the Lake Goldsmith Steam Rally a couple of years ago.

2.   TWILIGHT.

I think this one could be "just" coming on twilight.  Winter would be better as the nights close in differently.

3.   IT STARTS WITH F.........

FERNS.......Australian tree ferns, taken from the Noojee trestle bridge, &  found int my archives.
This is not far from us & has a small rail trail walk.

4.   CIRCLE.

I love the round towers on the churches in Norfolk  & couldn't resist this one from my archives.
It is in Surlingham, where my hubby's grandmother was born.
I found so many photos with circles, I had a hard time choosing just one.

5.   SIGN.

Don't you just love this.
Whilst in UK visiting family, we usually take our washing to the same laundrette we've used for many years.
One day, went to do some & he was closed.  Oh dear, we had to find somewhere else.
We made our way to Pudsey & I found this sign whilst waiting for it to be finished.
I just couldn't resist taking a photo, though it was hard getting all the signs in the same pic.
You will probably have to enlarge  to see  it all.

6.   HEAT.

A heat haze over the Dandenong Ranges, taken on a warm, sultry day, visiting the National Rhododendron Gardens,
late last year.

7.   IT STARTS WITH J.......

JUGS.
This one was doing my head in, till I took something from kitchen shelf & looked at the tall white jug with pink rim in the centre of this photo,   and "ping", a light bulb moment!
I gathered up a couple more, & then remembered a few more, so we have a collection.

8.   BIRDS.

EMUS.
I took this photo MANY years ago through the car window & scanned it for this hunt.  Not the best, but you can see a "lot" of birds running through a paddock.

9.   IN FLOWER NOW.

AGAPANTHUS.
These, although not native, grow very prolifically here in Oz, as they are hardy.  I took this when we visited San Remo at the beginning of January this year.

10.  MY OWN CHOICE.

SO CUTE!!!!
This is another from the archives (I think 2009)/  Not sure exactly where it was, but do know it was somewhere in Yorkshire. Loved the 2 little lambs following Mum down the road.

OK, that is my lot for this month and I do hope you enjoy.  Thank you Kate for our hunts.
Take care all & have a great weekend.
Susan.

RUSHING ON!!!!!!!!!!!

My goodness, the month of January is already more than half gone.   I thought about a post on Saturday, then yesterday and finally Tuesday morning, & yes, here I am doing it.
As to what I've been up to, I'm not really sure, but I think I've been both busy & hot.  Today is a lot cooler with a strong southerly blowing & rain overnight, but the temperatures will be on the rise again from tomorrow into next week.  Luckily the Australia Day public holiday (Thursday) is supposed to be a pleasant 26deg.  as we have a car club event that day.  

Now just a little roundup.

One evening last week I captured this amazing sky.

Taken from our backyard & it was a little surreal.  Not seen one like this in ages, especially here.

Whilst we were in UK, I bought some wool and a small crochet shawl pattern from Morley Markets & made a start whilst there.  Once we were home I did little bits of it from time to time & realised the 2 balls I had bought weren't going to be enough.  Help was needed as I couldn't purchase the same wool here in Oz.  My sister-in-law came to the rescue & got me some more.

I'm doing the one on the right & will show when a little further ahead.

On Saturday afternoon we made our way to The Vintage Shed in Yarragon, a small town not too far away, to see if I could find something small to go in the corner near my BIG quilting machine to hold a few odds and ends that I need on a regular basis.
I found this & it was inexpensive, so it came home with us.

A little shabby chic corner whatnot.  Notice the printout of the long arm quilter I found in my archive pics.  It came from the internet many years ago & I'd forgotten all about till I was searching for photos for our upcoming Scavenger Hunt.  Isn't it cute.

I've finally got round to putting the quilt on the machine and have even done one row.  WOW!  At long last, I think I'm finally getting back my craft mojo.  I've also got some of that stash busting quilt I talked about in a recent post on the design wall.  More about that in the near future.

Said quilt with part of the pattern showing up well on the white background.  Once finished I'll show a full shot.
I've named it for one of my granddaughters, and have two more in mind for the others.  

We have a weather station on the wall of our family room, which tells us both the inside and outside temperature.  This what it read yesterday about 6pm.

The lower lefthand corner is the outside temperature.  I've just noticed that it is actually nearly 7pm on the clock at the top.
Warm for that time of day, but better inside as we had the cooler on.

Just one last thing for today.
I've actually been reading this week.  Our local library requested a purchase on 2 books I'd asked about and this is the first one to arrive.  And, I get to read them before anyone else.

Lovely new book, which I saw at the Donkey Sanctuary near Leeds & really wanted to read.

So far (I'm not giving anything away), I've cried in the first chapter & been quite choked up in the next few, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends.  It is a true story and was published last year.  Some of my friends know that I'm an animal nut, & especially love donkeys.  The other book they are purchasing is about dogs, another one I love.

OK, that is enough of my waffling and as I have a busy day ahead, (meal planning & grocery shopping to name one),  best go and make some headway.

Have a good week all, take care & huggles.
Susan.

SOME THINGS OLD, SOME THINGS NEW.

I was hoping to post about a weekend quilt project.  It didn't happen, but I've made a start & maybe through the week you can come on the journey with me.

Instead we have some bits and pieces from the past & some from the very present.

My OLYMPIC STARS quilt, which I posted about on the machine back in July & told the story behind it.  I finally finished the hand sewing of the binding.  Tadah!!!

Something else I found whilst searching for an old quilt I've been unpicking was this.  Many years ago I attended classes and found that carrying all the paraphernalia quite bothersome, so I made this up as I went along.

The front has 2 star panels.

The back has some pockets, the large long one for putting my large rectangular ruler in.  The others for  bits 'n' pieces.

Inside more pockets, one of which has elastic casing, & I'm not sure why I did it like that, but things do stay in  there instead of dropping out.  Once I closed,  I can just slot my cutting mat inside  and away I go.

I don't do classes any more, as there are none close by.  Ah, maybe one day, but it brought back many memories of times gone by.

On the new front, I showed some fabric last post and also the needle & hook cases I made, and this is what goes with them.

I can get a large on the go crochet rug in here.  Very handy if I'm taking it somewhere with me.

Inside, as well as the pocket they suggested, I added one to take a pattern, so that it stays flat.

Hope you can see that taller pocket behind the long brown one.

Remember this........

After much hard work, we have......

A MODEL T FORD.

Now isn't that "absolutely" gorgeous.  Of course made by my very, very clever hubby.

MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK.  

Oh, I'm just kidding,  as it was large & heavy.

I spoke about lending a helping hand last Friday with a hoist going into a new shed a friend had built. Well this photo  is of the 4 men working hard and we've just heard that is now operational.

All hands on deck.

JUST BECAUSE, I CAN!

These last 2 photos, aren't related to anything new or old particularly.

We received this envelope today with a Xmas card in it.  Early or late?
Can you see the date on the postmark!!!!!
Long time coming.

I couldn't help but take a quick snap of this late today.   The sun was shining through the glass on our front door & throwing prism like rainbows onto the lounge room wall above my piano & capturing a shadow of the figurine.
OK, I found it fascinating.

Must away as I'm feeling a tad tired, as I've not been sleeping well.   Tomorrow is to be a scorcher & I want to work on something new on this here blog.  Will hopefully get some of the weekend quilt done too & soon be able to post about using your stash, which is what it is all about.  

Have a good week all, take care and huggles.

Susan.

BITS OF THIS & THAT!!!!

Another week nearly gone since I last posted.  Gee, what have I done?
Let's have a peek at the garden.

Julia's Rose & Eryngium in front of the blueberries.

Shasta Daisy.

A yellow Kangaroo Paw.  I showed one of the large red ones back in December in a vase.

My pink Achillea is finally flowering.  Brought it with me from Ballarat garden.

Our very small Hydrangea I planted last summer.  Bluer than I thought.

Although it's been hot, some parts of the garden aren't doing so bad after all.  I'll admit that I've not planted anything in the veg garden, 😞, but as we were away about the time of getting it all ready, I'll wait till autumn now & start again then.

A DAY OUT.

As yesterday was a little cooler, we decided I needed some sea air (I really do crave it), after being cooped up in the house, for it seems likes weeks in the heat.  I do get outside, but it's not the same as that salty fresh breeze you get off the water.
It was San Remo, which I've posted about before, but I did take some rather quirky photos & also got my face a little sun/wind burnt into the bargain.  I've had fun with these snaps.

Looking out towards Phillip Island, (I've blogged about this a few times).  The stairs on the far left go down to the beach, where we walked for a bit.

Clammy like critters.  Not sure what they are exactly.

More shells clinging to the rocks.

Interesting!  Smooth one side & rough the other.

Back along the path at the top of those stairs.

A creeper spreading through the bushy shrubs with copious amounts of fluffy seedheads.  It was quite amazing.

This was more of a vine, growing up some trees, with leathery leaves.

I do love looking at flora and fauna.  You may have noticed this before?
Back along the path I noticed the different colours of the water.

It nearly looks like stripes.  The colours were gorgeous, with the darker one actually being  drifts of seaweed.

We went back down the steps & walked back along the beach, where we saw these kite surfers.

Back home, what has been happening on the crafting front?

Hubby's been busy with this lot.
All will be revealed when he's finished, but it's a beauty!!!!!

I've not got very far with anything at the moment.  Backing fabric still slouching over the quilting machine.
A half finished project is sitting on the floor so I could do some ironing.

It's something to go with the needle and hook holders.  

Fabric from my stash, that I've been playing with.  Some of it fat quarters I purchased many years ago from Keepsake Quilting in USA (mail order), which was a bit a 'thing' at the time.  Their catalogues, with mouth-watering images of fabric, was a bit too much at times, and I relented & made several purchases, which I'm now trying to use.  I've designed a small quilt for this lot on my Quilt Wizard program & hope to make a start this weekend.  I'd like to think I could piece the top in that time, but it probably won't happen.

OK, one last photo.  It's not the best, but I was trying so hard to get Buddy & her 4 little ones into the picture at one time.  Birds do tend to flitter about, and being siblings (I think), they also started fighting, so I only captured four of them together.

I'll admit to feeding them, but I do love them coming, even if it gets extremely noisy at times.

Going now to serve up our tea & settle down for the night.  Tomorrow we are off to help some car club friends to fix a hoist into their new shed.  HE is "only" 80 years old & just built this shed, basically by himself to house & work on his collection of old cars.  Yay, to him.

Take care all and hope I've not bored you too much.
Huggles,  Susan.

AHHHH! MY FIRST POST OF 2017.

So far this year it has been "HOT", and I'm not enjoying.

I was going to try and post on Tuesday, but the day got away from us.  We went off on a shop hop for me, to buy some bias tape, ribbon, iron pellon & a few other bits for some sewing I wanted do.  It was successful, but I didn't get to the computer at all.
Now for a few Christmas finishes.

2 styrofoam balls I decorated.

The little Xmas tree hubby made now painted & glue glittered to look like tinsel?

I took down the Christmas wall quilt and replaced it with this one.  Think I showed it in the making some time back and it is now completely finished.  I can't stand back far enough in this house to take a good photo, so this is as good as it gets.

Pansies Galore.

What am I keeping in this bag?

Said bag from a Co-op store in North Yorkshire.

Why, it's my cupcake rug!!  The body of it is finished and now I've the borders to do, but it is way too warm to over my knees in this weather, so will come out when it is slightly cooler.

My beautiful pastel rug.

I've been cutting out a few things (a couple I can't show yet, though one I've given away, but forgot to take a photo), and have done some sewing.  YAY!!  I've 2 children's aprons to get done, but did this for myself today.

A knitting needle case & crochet hook case.

These fabrics came from my stash, but did have to purchase the dusty green ribbon.  Tonight I'm going to sew press studs to the end of each flap, which isn't in the pattern, but as I picked one up awkwardly & all the hooks fell out, I think it maybe a good idea.

Hey, ladies, does anyone have one of these and have you used it?

I bought this many years ago to entertain my granddaughter when she visited, but we never used it and it's been sitting in the bottom of my storage footstool.  Will I have a go?

That is about it for today.  I thought I'd taken a photo of something hubby made me, but I can't find it, so that can be another day.  I've had a great day, chatting with my childhood friend, sewing and clearing out the footstool.  Hope you've had a good Friday too.

Take care all and huggles from Susan.