In the sewing room today ...

Today I am going to do some sewing ... I have been procrastinating far too long.

I really have to do something, and I reckon I cannot get it done from the computer which is NOT in the sewing room... 

And I guess I will just have to sew around the mess, and maybe put a few things away as I go .. who knows. I may even be able to find and dig out the spare machine and finally retire this one that honestly is on its last legs ... bits are breaking off all over ... I think I am just too rough ... It is plastic with a steel inner ... my last old machine was metal on metal .. and it was able to take a bit of rough handling and stuff that this one seems not to have been up to the task... Not the machine's fault at all .. it is mine and only mine ... for the past 7 years I have been using one right hand which works perfectly well .. and one left hand and arm that has little to no sensation in it, but the hand and arm have an incredible amount of strength .. so it is great for picking stuff up ... but unless I am looking at what I have .... the hand does tend to let go and it drops stuff  ... all a bit useless really ... so... I have to stay attentive ... and if you are a follower of any of my writings you will know I get distracted very easily and go off in a different direction at the drop of a hat ...  if I am having a conversation with my husband he often says ... "Foe-cuss ... Focus Bobbie!!" ... lol. 

See just like that ... I have always been like it but since I had the stroke in 2015 I have been getting progressively worse ... I need some structure in my life or so I am told ... stuff that will need some mental exercise... like keeping a diary .. and I reckon my blog will act as a good diary. Typing is easier, it emphasizes my spelling errors and, I am able to read this stuff ... my handwriting after about 10 lines starts to fall apart and gets really bad .. haha .. and I think that's because I try to write as fast as I think ... no chance of that ever happening .. not even when typing ... but word now has talk to text and that helps heaps .. although there are a lot of arms in it because I say umm a real lot ... did not know that till I started doing stuff this way ... and .. here I am .. way way way off topic ... I have a little notice just at eye level pinned to the wall that says ... Just try a little harder .. and I do .. try a little harder in everything ... and today ... my trying harder .. is to achieve something in my precious sewing room ... but first I have to get in there ... I will finish off this post .. along with my lovely cup of tea ... and go do what I am supposed to do today. 

today I typed this out, tomorrow I am going to use Microsoft Word and speak it .. and have it come out in text ... of course, it will need some editing ... as there will be photos being shared ... the cup of tea is empty ... and now so will this chair be ... 

have a wonderful and productive day where ever you are ... 

love and hugs ..💖

International Quilt Block Swaps

I'm back ... I am also back and sewing too ... Hubby and I are making some changes here in chilly old Tassie .. most of I guess will be revealed later down the track .. 

But now the first one ... I have started an International Quilt Block Swaps group on Facebook ... it is a private group but anyone is welcome to join ... Just send a request to join .. and answer a couple of questions re your quilting adventures to hopefully weed out any scammers and you will be accepted into the fold ... and there is no need to jump right into the swapping .. you are welcome to sit and lurk for a bit to see if its what you are looking for. 

It is your choice of a 'finished' 12-inch pieced block in your colour choices... 

The block can be the same each month or you can change it and the colours every month ... it is your choice.

You will get one partner each month, and the allocated swap partner email goes out on the 1st of every month the block must be sewn and sent to your partner in that month .. and "as life does happen" an email or Private Message is all it takes for us to work out any issue that has arisen ... 

So far we have 36 members, from 4 countries. 

We have been going for around 6 weeks and are currently organising our 2nd swap.

I am really thrilled with the response we've had, and look forward to our group growing. And in the future, we should be able to add more variety to the group, things as... applique blocks ... and 6 ½ inch & 9 inch blocks for those who would like to do them and perhaps Foundation Paper piecing too. 

Also, a Christmas block swap that could run throughout the year for those who would like to create a Christmas quilt or table topper/runners, whatever it is that suits you ... I think cushions or table runners are a great idea for an Aussie Christmas. 

What would you make your Christmas blocks into?

Anyway, I know there are many groups on Facebook that do the block swaps ... and some are very much like this one ... some are not ... and some do multiple replicated blocks, sewn at once and posted back to the organiser ... I have tried these and was totally shocked at the quality of blocks I received back. So much so that I will never attempt this style again ... I am sure there are lots out there who get some wonderful returns ... but there are also those who have no idea what the blocks will be like and really don't care ... 

I will personally guarantee if you are not satisfied with your partner's making of the block ... be it the size not being correct, or them not following your requested block or colours ... I will see to it that you get one that is right ... 

anyway ... I will leave the FaceBook link here and do hope that we see you sometime in the future .. 

International Quilt Block Swaps

They say Late is better than Never

 Hi everyone ... I am just dropping in real fast to say to Cheryll and the other ladies from last Friday night's FNWF a small but very friendly group of ladies from all around the globe ... who gather online on the 1st Friday of each month. Anyone can join in and there is also a Facebook page that gets some sharing what they are doing.

I am truly sorry that I did not complete the event by doing a post on Saturday of my night's effort. I could put the photos up tonight along with a lengthy post, but really I am not sure if I can sit much longer than posting photos .. and I guess I could find the strength to post a small chat about the things that occurred .... 😊

Friday night ... I started the night with grand expectations and did get some stuff done .. not a lot but did some .. sewed some swap blocks together with some sashing and that is about it. I all went off without incident and I had a fantastic time sewing without disturbance from my Darling, who just sat and played his PlayStation and I think he was happy for the peace he had too ... maybe we should spend more nights like it .. haha 

Then came Saturday and I was keen to keep on keeping on with my sewing then My Brother (sewing machine) decided to have a heart attack. So my sewing day was spent trying to render aide to this great big useless lump of $#!+ and I am not sure if he will recover as I do not know how much the medical bill will be or even how much care will be needed in the future ... and will he recover enough to be able to put in a full hard day of never-ending sewing .. or will his days be that of treating him with care and not expecting too much out of him .... sure he was great ... in his day .. and sure he was loyal.. to a point and I guess ... and yes I could go on forever but the simple facts .. how much is this going to cost ME!! ...His days are certainly numbered now ..  ... we may have to just bring him home and just leave him out on the back porch to die from exposure .. 

and besides, I do have his little Brother here who will just have to make the effort his older Brother has put in over the last (too many) years .... He has no smaller feet than the older one so the shoes are no bigger to fill ... so thats going to make his job a lot easier ... and .. they were not close they both kept a nice distance from each other so there were no fights .. but I still think the older Brother will be missed ... well by me anyway ... but I will try not to compare them ... Yeah right!!! .. they may have the same name but you can tell just by their appearance that they are not closely related. I know this little fella won't bat an eyelid over the loss of the older Brother ... I mean they really did not know each other well ... and .. this little one does not have any eyelids .. his needle has an eye and I guess that's about as close as either of them could ever get to an eyelid.. 

anyway, photo time

These are the leader and enders small patches .. dark and light in the blue icecream tubs ... in the big box are pairs that have been sewn together .. and then in front of that are the 4 patch blocks and on the left of those, are 2 completed large 4 patch blocks sewn together but i am thinking of unpicking them and changing the design ..

 

These are 6-inch swap blocks that I put some sashing strips on the sides and stitched together ... I still have to add more to the ends ..  the rows were hung up the wrong way for the photo .. so they look a little lopsided   .. more blocks are needed on the sides and bottom .. the stips of sashings between the rows ... I will make up the shortfall of the blocks as I am no longer in the swap group. And I am kind of really looking forward to that.

And the last thing I worked on that night was these ... more swap blocks .. 8-inch "winter" blocks. They are very cute and I only have 11. I think one is either tucked up in between others or I have simply lost it ... which rather annoys me as I can't do my 3 across and 4 down ... but ... it is ok .. I will just change the plan .. maybe just put a border on it and make a tree skirt for my darling daughter ... just means I will have to open a seam and put in an invisible set zip .. should be easy ... she says .. she who hasn't put in a zip since 1991 lol  ... ... and I do believe that to be true ... Oh how I hate zips ..

Anyway for those of you in blog-land .. I do hope you have a lovely week. 

Take care and stay safe all of you ...  

Covid is still out there and it is still as active as ever ... 

as are all those crazy drivers ... 

Love and hugs .. 

Bobbie

oh  I almost forgot ...here is my sweet little dog ... who is getting old very quickly she turned 14 around the end of January this year... we love and would never, ever leave her out on the back porch .. 

My first FNWF

 Well here it is .. Friday, late afternoon ... I looked around for a sewing group to join, with the intention of hopefully getting a bit more motivated to do something in my sewing room

I found this group on my friend's blog and figured this would be a great group to join up with. The name of this group is simple .. "Friday Night With Friends" or "FNWF" for short .. they also have a Facebook page, which I have not visited yet. I will this weekend.

I should really be in my room now, but my son and his wife both have their birthday today ... and I have been on the phone for over 2 hours chatting. It was really lovely to hear their voices ... I miss them heaps, and God willing I will get to see them soon, however it certainly won't be soon enough  ...

I have been preparing some mug rugs of late to send to another DIL, (I have 3 so far) hopefully, she can sell them to help fund her social group at work ... and later I will work out a pattern to send her so she can make some herself ... So I think I will do some of them .. nice small simple little things to get me back into it .... 

I have been cleaning and sorting my sewing room this past week and it is still a bit of a wreck but ... as long as I can get to the machine, iron, and cutting mat it will be fine .. lol

  ... I have not done any patchwork or quilting for around 2½ years ... I had an incident within the family that spun me into an emotional spiral which I have found very hard to climb out of .. But we won't go there ... all I can say is, I am not in that place anymore, and I am feeling better too .. nuff said.. 

A few weeks ago I pushed myself to go into the sewing room and do something ... I told myself even if it was just to pick up a ruler and rotary cutter and slice up some charm squares .. and I have been getting that done. All 2½-inch charms. I will build these into 4 patch blocks which will eventually become a quilt .. 

 Yesterday ... I spent over 5 hours in there ... sorting stuff to be chopped up ... 

It has all been very therapeutic .. and tonight before it gets too much later I am going to go back in there and do something else ... 

I will be back tomorrow with some photos of tonight's achievements.

Have a great weekend

PS ... My boy and his wife sent me a photo of them just now ... It is a lovely pic ... makes me miss them just a little more yet at the same time puts a lot of joy in my heart ..

 A great big hello to anyone who still comes to read my posts .... not that I write any .. but if you are here ... thank you for popping in ... I will try to be a better blogger and do this a bit more frequently (i say that lots) and I do hope this will read ok ... some of my faculties are no longer with me due to the damage the stroke caused ... but all in all I am still me and I am great most of the time ... well I think I am ... lol ... when I am on my own it's hard to tell ... haha

But I have been playing with this blog for a couple of hours trying to get rid of the wretched spammers ... I guess it's my fault as I don't visit here often and I post here never ... now so I do not have to repeat this process I have changed the comment posting setup and now all comments will have to wait till I authorize them ... I had just under 100 spam comments .. really you would think these people would get off their butt and go get a job and stop wasting peoples valuable time ... 

Anyway ... on to other topics ... what have I been up to ... ummm ... nothing much ... I did catch a plane up to Brisbane and spent a few weeks with my sister in Leyburn, sort of south of Toowoomba in May ... I was going to stay until this week but Marcos was a bit unwell so I came home early... It was lovely to see my little sis ... it had been 2 years since I saw her last and she had some flybuy points left after booking a return trip for her and hubby to Perth so she figured she'd give me a return trip ... I did tell her I am worth it .. lol .. She is so sweet and I love her to bits .. they have a little granny unit out the back of their house and it is so very comfortable ... and it made the stay very relaxed ... they could go off to bed whenever they wanted .. they just kicked me out and told me to go home .. lol ... I am still an all-nighter girl and I still tend to sleep til noon if I am not woken up ... 

What have I been sewing .... ummm ... nothing much ... .... did I tell you I went to visit my sister ... yeah I did ... but I didn't do any sewing there either ... I do have enough fabric and patterns to last 3 people a lifetime of sewing ... and here I am with at best 20 years ... I did say at best ... I don't think I really have that long to get everything done ... I need to get busy and at least get the quilt tops done ... I have some done ... and I have some that have been quilted .. just need them to get some binding attached ... and ... I need to do these things sooner rather than later ... cos later is sort of catching up on me ... Marcos has said I need to do a bit of a cull cos we have discussed this and we both have decided we are going to move back to the mainland, and head north ... not sure how far north .. but north it will be ... 

I remember when I really loved the cold and winter was something I truly looked forward to ... but this winter ... well it has cured me of that ... I was reading a post that I wrote in 2012 here in blog land .. and I was coming on the cold miserable weather ... and the 9-degree temperature ... which felt like 5* .... well let me just say ... Oh my goodness ... what a sookie lala I was back then .... our weather here in Tassie has warmed up somewhat this week .... last week we were getting minus everything ... lol ... It was truly freezing cold ... in the middle of the day it was still zero degrees ... yea zero at 11:00am ... now for Australia folks .. that borders on being bloody cold ... we were getting -3* feels like -6 .... and yep ...that has cured me ... the fire is lovley ... but someone has to chop this wood and with Marcos latest heath thin he is not able to do it ... and he won't let me swing the axe cos he rerckons I will end up chopping either my leg or his head off .... hmmmm ... ....  i need to resist that temptation .. heeeheee

But yep we are coming back up where we will be closer to the kids for a bit of youthful support where and when support may be required .... and probably far enough north that I can start complaining about the heat ... but really ... but truly .. at this point in my life it won't matter where we live the weather will not be my friend .. ever ... it will be too hot or too cold .. but there is always aircon or heaters ... so I will be fine .. I think I would rather look out the window and see a hot/cold sunny day than a wet rainy dull summer/winter day .. .. our lease expires next April so we will be on the road at the end of April heading north .. and hopefully, there will be a lot of quilt tops in the packing boxes ... 

Well my lovelies ... that is all for now ... I do hope what I wrote makes sense ... it feels good to put my thoughts, as jumbled as they might be, into print. 

love and hugs .... 💓