Current Project

just lost my long post .... bugger .. i hate it when that happens ... typing in the half dark and hit the wrong key ... oh that is soooooooooooooo annoying ...


so i am going to keep this short ... i am doing a couple of wallhangings for the boys birthday this saturday coming .... one is a 'bundy bear' ... ex t-shirt patch ... and the other is an aussie flag with a boxing kangaroo on it ...... most of the techie bits are done ... it is just the stitching and quilting bits to do and then the wretched bindings ... haha ...


for Roxi i am working on a set of placemats ... and also a runner for the dresser she has in the lounge ... she is afraid it is going to get scratched up and has a towel on it at the moment ... not a good look really ... haha ...

then i have a quilt to do for the girls ... .and ... one for the parents ... then ... after lunch ... haha ... .... not sure if i will get all this done this month ... but i will give it my best shot ...

katie asked me the other week if i would make her a baby quilt for her sister .. who is in her late 30's having a bub ... not her first .. possibly her last .. but he was a complete surprise .. she was 6 months gone before even realising she was pregnant apparently .. her other baby turns 20 this year i believe ... so there has been a couple of years between her pregnancies ... haha .. just a couple ....


anyway ... there is a pic of what i did in the gallery ...

irene ... our irene ... made me the little embroidery blocks a few years back when Kate was pregnant with Chance ... i had planned on making a quilt for him ..... but never got around to it ... but finally had the opportunity to make one with them .. so thank you irene for the main ingredient in this cute little bundle ...


katie has gone to the baby shower ... quilt bundled up and a happy little aunt ... she was really pleased with the final item .. and so was i ...

very gorgeous baby quilt Bobbie... sweet little embroderies

Been to look and have to agree with Tarnyia, very nice job Bobbie (and Irene)!

last night i had a long night doing nothing but cutting and sewing and ironing on bits and pieces ... what a great night it was too ....

there is a website that does a friday night sew-in .. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ... you go in and sign up to play ... and then you do a blog post about your nights stitching and link to her site ... but the only problem i have with it is ... it is the 3rd friday of the month and i don't always remember it .... so i want to try to make every friday night a sew-in night ..

where i sit here in the bus ... and sew ... living here has its advantages ... i don't cook ... so .... i don't have to waste precious time feeding people ... i just go over to the house ... strap on the feed bag ... and when done .. leave .. oh .. i do help load the dishwasher if i can get into the kitchen .... i shower early in the afternoon .. about 3:30 when Katie is off picking up the boys from school ... then i go over to the bus and set up for the night ... all my tubs of fabric are currently on the verandah of the house .. so i have to go digging for what i need for the night or i end up .. like i did last night at 11 o'clock creeping around in the dark with a torch finding my applique interfacing .. haha ..

i made a couple of mugrugs .. from the past months swaps that i didn't get into .. the when i was young one ... i had bought some Dick and Dora fabric off ebay but it did not arrive in time for the swap ... and i sooo wanted to make these ... cos i just loved those readers when i was in my early years of school ... now the kids would laugh at them ... too corny for them .. haha ..

anyway ... i got 2 finished and one almost done ... having a problem finding the 'right' fabric for the binding ....

i also finished off a potmit for this month's projects ... and have another one that just needs the binding put on ..

oh ... and i have another 4 waiting to be quilted .. they are sandwiched but waiting ...

and then i have a baby quilt i started a while back .. i did a bit of blanket stitching around the applique parts .. well i tried to .. not sure if it was the fabric or the machine but it would not play nice at all .. so i got the interfacing and spent a heap of time cutting and iron that on to the back of the top ... hopefully that will help and i can get this little cutie finished off ... i have no one to give it to as it is pink ... but i am sure someone someday will have a pink baby that i can pass it along to .. hopefully it won't be a great grandbaby just yet ...

i think that is all that i have been playing with .... i have put pics in the individual galleries .. ... i am pleased with what i have done so far ...

let's see what this next month will produce ....

I have a few things on the go but.... I am tired and lost interest for a while? maybe a rest is in order.

Grandy 2 has ordered a rainbow birthday theme party this year. I have been making rainbow bunting by the yard and almost have enough to encircle the house at least once! Still have some smaller lengths to go to finish up the stacks of triangles I have cut already. Was having so much fun just slashing fabric strips into triangles 10 at a time I didn't give any thought to just how many I would really need and, well....... lets just say Grandy 1 might have to have a rainbow birthday theme too so I can use them all up!! ha ha 

I had also purchased a meter of striped rainbow fabric to add into the bunting but when it came time to cut it into triangles I balked and instead of bunting I turned it into a gathered rainbow skirt for the birthday girl. She will be impressed with me when she sees it!! Maybe I will applique bunting onto a little tee shirt to go with it??
 

I witnessed the great bunting in the making and was extremely impressed! Gob smacked to be honest! Lucky grandy and can see miles and miles of bunting being sold!

so ... where are the pics of these many buntings .... please don't forget to put some up .... no .. not right now .. when you have a couple of minutes and of course when they are finished .. silly ... 




so ..... are they done yet ???????????????

No we are most definitely NOT there yet!!! 

There are still little piles of triangles all over the table and yards of tape with nothing attached yet!!
The sewing machine (poor thing) is in need of a rest day and me too! 
The long bunting strips are neatly rolled and stored away for safe keeping until the party. 
Well, all that has been made so far.... there is still lots more to go!! 
I will have to take a photo of it at the party and post pics later.... check back in September...........

The question of the day......................if a young man of 40, asked you to make him an old fashion patchwork quilt, which block would you pick.......................Lorna

I have just finished 30 blocks, Yankee puzzle, have to decide what borders I will put on, no pic taken yet. Lorna

Lorna .. i quite like the churndash block ... it is interesting enough to be a main block with maybe an alternating snowball block ... 

i also love a logcabin block .. they are very smart and quite 'old world' ... and if you wanted to do an alternating block with it .. just a plain old diamond in a square would look great i think ... 

and i also think the diamond in a square is rather a striking look all on its own ... the amish used it often and in dark colours was great for a guy ...

will follow up with an email and hopefully some pics soon hun ... busy doing dinner at the moment ... 

hugs ...

You have my email Lorna and I just sent a follow up one.

Which Yankee Puzzle block did you make, there are 2 of them I believe?
Looking forward to seeing the pictures and what colours you used.

I like log cabin blocks (traditional and court house steps), basket weave or triple (or more) fence rail blocks and the good old stand by ..... disappearing 9 patch which can be made to suit any age or gender. My fave blocks to make are strip pieced as I like to finish my quilts quickly. I also like to make blocks with a twist to keep them fresh and modern, like varying the width of the logs in a traditional log cabin to produce a curved illusion.

Our niece is getting married next June and I am in the process of collecting lace, ribbons, buttons, beads etc to make her a small drawstring bag to hold her 'bits and bobs' on the day. 

I thought I would add an "emergency kit suggestion list" for her to use including the following:

small tissue pack
3 safety pins
3 hair pins
3 bandaids
paracetamol
small note pad
pen
lipstick


What else would you add to the list please?

oh my ... you are super organised aren't you .... i would not have thought of half that stuff .... and in saying that ... i can't think of anything else that could be added ... well maybe ... a little pair of those 'jiffy' slippers ... ballet slippers i think they call them today ... little soft things if her feet start to hurt and she doesn't want to look feral and go barefooted .... like i did .. haha .. if you can't buy them i reckon you could make her a pair ... out of cream or white satin ... whatever she is wearing ... that would be good me thinks ...

i am currently working on some SSS ... secret santa sack .. gifts for a swap ... i can show you pics here of what i am up to cos my partner is not a member here ... but that is it .. can't put any pics anywhere else in the world cos it is a secret swap .... 

i have until Christmas to make or buy 6 things for her ... I MUST make one and it must be christmas themed ... apart from that the rest can be purchased ... but i am going to try to make them all ... i am almost finished with the table runner ..... it is the christmas themed item ... 

my hand is getting worse by the day and i am not sure how much longer or how much more i will get done .. so if i can at the very least get this runner done .. all will be excellent .... 

i have ideas for mugrugs .. placemats ... covered coathanger .... candle mat ... and the list goes on ... but i have to limit myself to 6 ... haha ... not an easy task for me .. i always over do these things ..which is not very fair on my partner ... and what makes this really hard is that we get to 'meet' our partners ... so you have to be extra careful so the ideas don't get out there ... 

i know she loves 'hearts' and 'birds' and autumn colours ... hates brights which is just NOT RIGHT .. lol ... oh and if my fingers will work long enough i think i would like to make a pincushion too ..... and a needle case maybe .... then i do the filling bit ... you know .. cup and coffee/ chocies for the mugrug .... pins and needles for the needle case and pincushion ... a little bag of buttons cos we all need them ... i have a couple of little patterns too and an embroidery kit all stashed away ... actually it is getting to be a rather substantial stash that is getting plonked in a shoe box size gift box ... i reckon I will get out of this with postage costing around $20 which is pretty good considering ... and it is a local swap too ... my partner is in south australia ... i am just hoping my hand lasts me ... go for an ultrasound on monday to see if they can find the problem ... 

what the doctor diagnosed it as ... is not supposed to be a painful condition .. and this is very painful ... constant ... and causes me much grief when using the rotary cutter ... every thing else is fairly passable when it comes to movement etc ... but the pain is all consuming ... can't get past it ... and pain relief things are of no help at all ... just have to deal with it ...    hmmmmm this might help ... hahaha ..

Hope you find out what is really wrong with you hand soon Bobbie.
Maybe it is RSI from 'too much' patchwork?
Nope! That can't be right!!!!

nah .. i don't think so .. well it would not be the only problem ... i have a small lump in there .. well not so small really ... and it is very hard ... and i also have a couple of tendons pulling up .. the middle finger one ... and one that goes to the thumb ... you can actually feel the tendons on the surface of the palm .. 

the latest doctor seems to think it could be a ganglion .. and another says it looks like .. dupuytren's contracture ... hopefully this ultra sound will give a more defined prognosis ... but neither look too good really ... i am just a little tired of the discomfort and inconvenience of it all ... actually .. i am really quite over the whole bloody thing ... it freeking hurts ...

I had one of those ganglions removed from my wrist years ago. 
All better now.
The 'pulling-up tendons' don't sound good!
Glad mine was only a ganglion!!!

Oh Bobbie...so sorry to hear about the hand.....hope it's not RSI from... ....do hope the matter is diagnosed soon.....and you get some pain relief.    

 

 
Hello Robyn!!!

Hi there Evelyn....

Haven't been in for a while.... was kinda succonded to teach fro a term at Tafe, and run business as well.....juuurrrst a tad busy..... but love it here...

Sorry, Robyn, was just in another thread and missed your post.
Been so quite in here lately you could almost hear a pin drop!
Guess everyone is a tad busy lately too!