July block for Karen P

I have finished my block swaps for the first half of the year ... yay!!!! and am now into July on a positive note with one swap already completed .... 

Here is Karen P's block .. she asked for a Plaited Block from Quilters Cache .. It was an interesting block to do .. and half the fun was finding the 'bright' colours that Karen asked for ... hope you like my choice ... 

The weather here today was much nicer than we have had for ages ... hubby took his motorbike out this afternoon for a run ... he was gone for about 3 hours and is hoping for another nice day tomorrow so he can go out again .... once upon a time we were both right into riding the bikes everywhere and the weather didn't bother us too much at all .. but these days I don't go on the bike and he has become quite the 'fair weather' rider .. apparently that happens when you get older .. haha ... so I am hoping it is a nice day so that he can get out on his bike ... there certainly are not many days through winter that are nice for riding ... and .. if he is out then I am free to do whatever I want ... and that is ... of course ... sew ... 

Sail boats and wintery weather ...

These are the blocks that I did for the 6 inch swap ... Sue B was my partner ... she asked for these sweet little sailboats ... pattern from Quilters Cache 

I have not been able to get do much sewing so far this week .. the weather here is shocking and we have had people coming and going for the past couple of days ... 

It is a present blowing a gale outside .. and raining cats and dogs ... and it is so bitterly cold ... and for me to say it is cold ... it really has to be cold .... I just check the local weather site on the net and it says currently outside at midnight it is 9 degrees ... and also says it feels like it is 5 degrees ... our outside thermometer says it is 6 degrees here ... and i reckon it feels like 3 degrees ... 

Now I know to some of you .. that is not too bad at all ... but for here in 'sunny' Queensland they are saying it is the coldest 'snap' we have had in 5 years ... so you will have to excuse my whinging ..hahaha ..  I am just not used to this sort of thing ... and honestly do not particularly like this sort of cold weather ... 

But it will pass .. and it will be summer soon enough ... and guaranteed .. I will be back whining about the heat ... .... yep .. there is just no pleasing me ... 

The men folk don't mind this sort of cold snap though .. cos I tend to cook and bake when it is like this .. the heat from the oven helps warm the house up ... tonight they had home made pies for dinner .. and then for sweets .. a nice serving of bread and butter pudding ... with lashings of cream .... i had a small serving without the cream ... but did enjoy a lovely chicken and vege pie ... 

sorry no pics .. they ate it all before I could get the camera out ... 

more blocks ..

Here are the blocks I have made for Leena ... 

This is the replacement Spool block .... this time using the right pattern ... 

and her block for the Christmas Swap ... 

There will be more blocks to come ... would have liked to have done them tonight .. but I am just a little tired and my wrist is more than a little sore .. lol

here's hoping ....

I am hoping to get some sewing and quilting done in the next couple of weeks ... I have been rather busy with an added extra in my household in the form of an 18 year old grandson ... and a couple of broken bones in my wrist ... the wrist is probably the lesser of the two as far as not being able to get stuff done ... 

I never realised how much time gets taken up running kids to and from work and feeding them ... OMG .. I forgot just how much teenage boys eat ... and eat ... and eat ..... haha !!!

Our Ricky will soon have his drivers license and will no longer need me to 'supervise' his driving ... which is a plus for him and a very big plus for me ... it is just a good thing that I love this kid .... 

Over the next 2 weeks hubby is home on holidays and said he will run the lad to and fro so that I can get some time in my sewing room ... so I thought I would start today and catch up on some block swaps .... it is all a bit slow going due to the wrist pain ... but I am getting things done ... 

This block I did for Noelene F .... my QBSA partner from May ... oh aren't I norti ... 

And this one I did for Leena who is my QBSA partner for June .. 

but .. it is wrong because I did not read the email properly... not the 'spool' block I was supposed to make .. so it is back to the machine and cutting board to do the right one .... 

I also have another block to make for Leena ... for the Christmas swap ... and ... a 6" swap to do for Sue B ... and then there is a couple of quilts I really have to finish ... so off I go to do them now ... but will still be interrupted soon to feed the menfolk ... but I should get one block made before that happens ... 

see you all soon ..... with more photos .......

My FNSI ...

Well I did not realize it has been so long since I posted in here .... way too long really ... but life does seem to get in the way of having fun ... Hopefully my life will settle down enough that I can get back into my sewing room and get a few UFO's finished ... 

Last nights FNSI certainly helped ... 

I managed to put together a quilt top that I started ages ago .... well now it waits to be quilted .. which could take another age to get to ... can't rush these things ... I posted last about this top back on the 5th December ... it is a tube quilt pattern .. and I got the inspiration from BubzRugz Blog ... hers was just so pretty ... made me want one of my own .... I do think I will need to put a border on it ... but which colour to do it in ??? ... there are so many to chose from ... 

I also put together a few blocks for a "leaders & enders" quilt ... it is coming along nicely ... 

and should not take too long to do at all .... I have everything cut out ready to piece them as they come together ... 

I will need 70 8 inch blocks to complete the top .... I have 25 done so far ... so I am off to a great start

Also I made a block for Holly ... she is my May swap partner for Block Swap Adventure ... 

Recycling ...

This is a recycled shirt lap quilt that I started a few years ago and finally got it finished on the weekend ... 

This one was made for my hubby ... and made just the way he wanted it ... all the shirt pieces left whole and overlaid on the background fabric until it was covered ... he had me do a recycled jeans one the same way a while ago .. 

so now he has a shirt quilt to go with his jeans quilt ... 

I personally don't like it too much .. but he does and I guess that is all that matters ... 

I did make this other one with the same recycled shirts in 2007 .. and as you can see it has friendship star blocks ...  this is a lovely size quilt and has been well used  .. measuring around 42 inches square .. it is just a perfect size for over the knees on those nippy winter nights... soooo cosy ..

Housework .... hmmm ...

Well I had a choice today ... do some housework ... or finish a UFO .... such a difficult decision .... haha ... Not at all ............ 

Hubby headed back off to work for the afternoon school run ... and it was a miserable as can be outside ... I looked at the mess in the lounge room .. then the kitchen .... and ... I gathered up my needle and thread .. and headed for the comfy chair ... turned on the tele and my lovely 'white' light and began sewing the binding on one of the table runners I have had sitting for about 2 years now waiting to be finished ... and honestly I have no idea why it took so long to do this ... as it was just a binding ... but .. the housework is still there ... but .. the table runner is done ... 

Here is a photo of it ... a simple disappearing nine patch ... with a little peeper and border ... plain and simple .. but I like it ... even though it seems a wee bit big for my table .. 

I have another one in greens to finish off too ... .... wonder how much longer that will sit before I actually get it done... 

Your guess really is as good as mine ... 

YAY ... I have started ....

At last I have started on our next grandson's quilt ... Ricky will be turning 18 late next month ... I have had the fabric for at least 5 years ... he told me long ago that he wanted a quilt with cars on it .... so ... cars he is getting ... 

This is a close up of one of the cars that I have put to a block ... 

And ... this is the block .. I have only made one so far ... but I am guessing this quilt is going to get rather 'loud' ... 

On point the block is close to 18 1/2 inches finished .. I need 18 of them to complete the quilt ..

 Everything is cut out ... now to put all these bits of fabric back together ..  .. It is going to look smashing when it is done ... 

I spent my weekend catching up on some block swaps ... 

this one is for Debbie Mac in Canada ... 

this one is for Brenda D in Washington ... 

and here are some "lotto" blocks for a couple of internet groups I am with ... 

I will be back a little bit later with some more photos of  Ricky's quilt as it progresses ... 

I do trust everyone is having an exceptional day ... 

life is good ...

I am really loving life .... we have 6 healthy children .. who have 6 healthy partners .. who have 24 healthy children (between them) .. we have nothing to look forward to but long days and endless travels .. just chasing the setting sun ... and yesterday marked 31 years married to my darling husband ... they have not all been easy years .. but I am still in love with this man that I married ... so yeah ...  life doesn't really get too much better than this ..

I hope everyone out there is having a great day ...

Why ????

Why am I awake at 4 in the morning ?? .. I really don't know ... I have not been to sleep yet and I got up about 7:30am yesterday .. so it is not like I slept in late ... I spent most of the morning cleaning up my sewing room and  putting things away where they I go instead of being strewn from one end of this little room to the other ... I was finished that around 11 ... then I actually dragged the vacuum out and did the floor ... wow ... who knew I had carpet on this floor ... haha ..

I spent some time in the afternoon making a couple of swap blocks .. got them all packaged up ready to send on monday ... then I finished a couple of little sewing bags ... they are rather cute really ... a friend had one at a quilting day we went to and it seemed very simple to do .. so I started it .. and of course never got around to finishing it ... So today seemed like a good time to finish it off as well as another one that has been sitting for just as long ... waiting ... 

Here are a couple of photos of them .. 

These are the blocks I made .. and tomorrow or is that today ... I have to do another 3 .. then I will be caught up on all those commitments ..

This is the latest block I have received in our swaps ... it is so pretty ... and the photo does not do it justice ... 

Very soon I have to start on a quilt for one of our grandsons .. he turns 18 in April .. and then another 3 turn 18 next year .. so I will have to get a start on them too ...

well I think I am going to go to bed and see if I can get some sleep .. my eyes are very gritty and I have a bit of double vision happening .. haha .. so I am hoping what I have written actually makes sense ... or at the very least .. legible ...

good night everyone .. I do hope you all have a wonderful weekend .. and that if it is raining where you are .. you need the water ... or that you have some sewing you can do ... to pass the wet days away ...

yay ... I finally got a camera that works ....

I have borrowed a camera and have taken some photos of the latest bits I have been working on .... 

This is a starter block for a round robin I have joined in ... 

The theme for this was "Garden Tea Party" ... and this is what I came up with ... 

And these are what I made or should I say ... worked on at the last

These are for another swap .... Wonky House Swap

they were a lot of fun to make even though at times it got a little repetitive ...

They are currently winging their way across the pond to Jane's house ...

and here is just one block .. up close ... 

FNSI ........

My FNSI was fairly productive ... although I can't show you any of it because my camera is not working ... every time I take a shot it just goes all white ... so .. it looks like I am going to need a new camera ... oh my .. that is a bit sad isn't it . heeheee ... mothers day coming up in a couple of months ... maybe I can talk my favourite man into getting me an early pressie ...

What I did do though was get my 'wonky house' block swap almost finished .. they should be all completed tonight ... and if I can borrow a camera from my sister I may be able to get some piccies of them and post them here ...

They are very cute.. well I think they are ... as soon as I can get photos of them I will post them .... hmmm not even sure how I will get pics into flickr for the entry .. Looks like I will be visiting the sister soon ....

Have a lovely day everyone ...

What I have been up to .. sewing not involved ...

For the last 2 weeks or so .. feels like 2 months ... we have been searching the web for a bus/mobilehome to purchase .. as this time next year we are hoping to pull up stakes and drive off into the sunset ... of course we will have to do some packing and selling and possibly some storage to do this .. but that is the plan ... us .. bus .. sunset ...

Now we are not rich or very famous so our $$ are rather limited so the looking was a little harder than it would have been had we had lots of dosh ... but you take what you can get in this life and be very grateful for it ...

last weekend, after many phone calls and discussions hubby and I caught a greyhound bus to a little place in Victoria about 1400 kilometres from here in Toowoomba ... and we bought ourselves a bus/motorhome ...

It is like me ... rather old but still quite serviceable .. it don't go real fast but when it does move it moves smooth ... its a bit rough around the edges but but nothing a little TLC won't fix ... see ... just like me .. haha ...

and this is a couple of shot of the inside ... sorry they are not a very good ones .. 

but will give you a little idea of what she is like ... 

There is a double bed at the back .. with a couple of cupboards for our clothes and a small linen cupboard ... plenty of hanging space .. with an air con on the back wall above the bed .. it is big enough to do the whole bus ... there is a shower and toilet at the rear as well ... and an automatic washing machine .. it is a wee little one but will do at least a couple of days clothing ... the kitchen has a full size refrigerator .. gas cooker and oven... lots of cupboards and a full size sink .. a hot water unit too ... there are a couple of nice chairs at the table .. these recline back for watching the television that came with as well ... we do have to do a little bit of work to her .. like a couple of tyres ... the brakes also need a bit of repair too ... we want to put solar power on it .. but that will probably be down the road abit ... there is also an awning on the side of the old girl which will come in nice and handy when we are parked up somewhere near the ocean .. it will give us a little outside shade for cleaning and cooking and eating all those lovely big fish we catch ... hmmm .. have to stop thinking about the ocean and fishing ... and eating the catch ... it is all too yummy ... 

anyway ... that is what I have been doing instead of sewing ... and .. somehow I am not too sorry about it either ... we have been talking about doing this for 32 years ... and finally I can see it all happening ... very excitement I can tell you ... haha 

see .. if you are patient .. things do eventually happen .. 

It's FNSI time again ...

I have just signed up for tonights FNSI ... 

I am hoping to get lots done .. we shall see .... 

I always start the night with good intentions but somehow don't always seem to be able to pull it off ... 

We are having a BBQ for dinner ... means very little in the way of a clean up afterward .. 

which should mean I can get back into the sewing room fairly quickly after we eat .... 

as I said ... we shall see ... I guess it all adds to the mystery of life doesn't it ... 

Hope everyone who is joining in has a very productive night ... 

Today ....

I had best get this post done as the day is rapidly running out ... 

I actually did some sewing today .... I managed to get a block finished for this months swap partner .... Sharyn ... she asked for a  house block in .. any bright colour under the sun ... so this is what is going out in the mail on Monday for her ... 

I put a bit of lace on the windows to dress them up a bit .. I do hope she likes what I have done with her house .... it should arrive home on Tuesday ... 

I will also post a photo of the quilt I made for our grandson Brad for his 18th birthday .... 

his is the first of many I have yet to do ...

opps!!! I forgot to mention .... I got the pattern for this here ... 

Tomorrow is Marcos' birthday ... 

I am guessing that we will spend a very quiet day at home ... because he says he will be old  ... haha ..

and now I am going to finish for the day ... 

close down the computer and get some sleep ... 

oh after I do a couple of emails that I should have done earlier in the day ... 

Happy New Year !!!!

Hubby and I spent a very quiet night at home ..... listening to the dogs howling because of the fireworks around town ... poor pouches ... not at all a nice night for them ... I am sure that many folk had a wonderful night seeing in the new year ... I much prefer to stay home .. watch a good show on the tele and maybe have a very quiet drink at the stroke of midnight ... as a general rule this 'quiet drink' is a cup of joe ... which my darlin makes me ... then he heads for bed and I am left to return text messages from the family who are all still up and enjoying the coming of their new year ...

Our new year is going to be a great one ... I just know it ... we have big plans for this year ... travel being at the top of the list ... and for me on a personal note ... I shall be doing more sewing than I have done in the past ... and .... I hope to keep my blog up to date with at least something posted a couple of times a week ...

So that is it ... more regular postings here and ... more sewing ...... seems simple enough ... haha ... now to get this scatter brain to do it ...

First ..... I will make a couple of lists and go from there ... That should at least give me some direction .... It should not be too hard to organise once I have some lists to work from ...

so i am off now ... to do my lists .... see you soon ... and have a very safe and happy new year ...

Last night's effort ...

We ended up going out for dinner last night ... which meant I got started on my sewing later than I would have liked to for my 

 ... but I did get started which is great ... 

I made 3 placemats ... not a huge lot accomplished .. but better than nothing ... 

I am still to finish them with the binding ... I also managed to cut all the backings and wadding for the other 20 ... so really I am off to a good start ... 

these are the first 3 ... 

I think I know who these are going to .. 

but that is subject to change at any time ... 

FNSI

Well it is about time I got myself organised ... haha .. I reckon I say that at least once a day ... but ... tonight I am gluing myself in front of the machine and I am not leaving until I have something sewn for my grandchildren for Christmas ... Because ..... tonight is ....

Friday Night Sew In at my place ...

Pin Tangle TAST 2012

This is what i am committing myself to next year ... it sounds like fun and I know I need that extra push at times to stay focused ... Pin Tangle TAST 2012

I do think I will really enjoy this challenge ...

It arrived ....

I went out on Tuesday and purchased a table tennis table .. with the idea it would be perfect for pinning my quilts layers together ... perfect for single size quilt tops ... which is what I am making for the grandchildren ...

The table arrived yesterday afternoon .. in a box ... and it took us both ages to put it together .. and when I say both of us I really mean my darling husband Marcos ... He worked on it for around 3 hours and finally it was done ... in all its magical glory there it stood .. and where was my man ... out side stretching ... he had hurt himself climbing under it to do nuts and bolts up ... opps .. sorry hun ...

I do love this man ... after 3 hours of fitting this wonderful table together for me .. I wheeled it up the passage way to my sewing room to put it away ... tra-la-la ... lala-la-la-laaaaa ........

oh my ... oooohhhh my ..... oh noooo .....  it won't fit through the door ... it goes up the passage way not problem at all ... and goes through the doorway .... about 2 feet ... but ... can't turn far enough in the passage way space to actually go all the way into the room .... ohhhhhhh mmmyyyy .... there is 4 foot of this thing that just don't fit .... no matter how much we giggled and pushed ... and wiggled and rocked .... and nugded and coerced  ..... and threatened and yelled .... and ....

well ... after a wee bit of a dummy spit from this here dummy .. and a couple of major tanties ... (again from me ) ... my darling man suggest we do a little rearranging ... the table would just go straight through the doorway into our bedroom because our room was at the end of the passage way .... so why not ... move the sewing room to the bedroom and the bedroom to the sewing room .... I will lose a bit of space because the bedroom is a smaller room but it has better light from more windows .. and he wins too because the sewing room new bedroom is darker and this means .. longer sleep ins ... not that he really needs much help in that department ... yesterday ... he didn't rise until 10:30 and this morning it was a little after 10 ...

My dear friend Fiona told me this morning that I will laugh about this soon .. and I am off to a good start .... because I am already laughing ... at myself ...

oh well ... I am going to sign off now ... and get back into making this quilt for the lad ... the top is all but finished ... and I now have a wonderful big table surface on which to pin it ...

have a lovely day out there ... be safe and stay warm ...

ahhhh Christmas ...

it is almost that time of year again ... and as usual I am no where near ready .... I would like to make all the grandies something this year rather than buy them something or ....  just give them money which honestly is my first choice .... because then they can get something they really want rather than just something Nan got them that will sit in the bottom drawer and never get used ...

but this year I think I am going to make them something ... small ... and easy ... cos there are 23 of them and I have less than 3 weeks of time left and that time is also shared with another project that i still have not finished ... but it is coming along really nicely ... i have all the blocks put together ... now to just sew them all in rows and then put those rows together ... no borders ... just quilt and bind ... not too much more to do at all ....

i will be back with photos soon ....

and I think I shall make the children ... placemats ... all different of course ....

Back again ...

I have to be quick with this entry cos I am busy busy ... I have made a start on the quilt for my grandson Brad's 18th birthday ... which is on the 21st of this month ... hench the need to do a hasty post and get back to it ...

but I just wanted to update on a couple of things that I have done ... like the tube quilts progress ... not finished but still on the design board ... if I pack it away who knows when it will ever get done .. so it can stay there until after Brads quilt is done ...

here is a quick pic of the progress ... the top row is stitched together ... 

the other 4 are not ... 

I think it is coming along nicely ... 

Now an update on my block swaps for this month ... I had 2 with 

http://quiltingblockswapsaustralia.blogspot.com/

Here is the one I made for Beatrice .... who lives in France ... 

and this one I made for Jen D ... 

who lives in Allentown, PA 

some beautiful batiks ..... 

(sorry the pic is a bit blurry)

And this is a pic of a lovely parcel I received the other day ... 

I will be back a little later with photos of Brad's quilt .. 

but here are a couple of the what I have done so far .....

these are 6 ½ inch blocks .....

looks interesting no????? .... NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... haha ... 

I am being norti ...

I am doing stuff I should not be doing .. 

with this .... 

and ..... 

Not doing the thing I should be doing ...

with this .... 

but .... I am having fun .... haha !!!!