Rainy day play

With the rain falling yesterday what else could I do but work in the sewing room.  It was a good chance to work some more on secret sewing. 

Lots of scrumptious colours there – but I cant show any more than this till after my friend’s birthday..

This looks like such a lovely swap – best explained in Kathy’s words

“”A celebration of the wonderful friendliness, generosity, caring, fun and goodwill to be found in the sewing blogland community!””

The Friends part of the swap is what had me interested.  You can go to Sew Happy House to read about the benefits, and more about the swap.  ,

Such Bliss

On our way out of town for our time away last week, we had to go past the local Post Office.  I had a  card saying I had a precious parcel to pick up.  No waiting till we came back home – no way!!!   No waiting till we got to our first stop before opening it – no way!!!

I was fortunate enough to win Dawn’s Giveaway celebrating her 300 posts. 

What a yummy parcel, all wrapped up in a cheery fat quarter.  And I already have something planned for the ribbon tied around it – just the right colour too.

I love Bliss, the fabric range by Bonnie and Camille so I was over the moon to find a Candy Bar pack of Bliss.  I will have so much fun using them.  Also some variegated embroidered threads in gorgeous colours, some paper liners for tiny hexagons.and a beautiful card. Thank you so much for this gorgeous parcel, Dawn.

I was able to go along to see Kai and Charlie at their swimming lesson this week.  They are having such a good time in Prep.  Charlie sometimes goes to Kai’s classroom door at lunch time.  When the teacher asked him one day why he was there he told her he was waiting for Brother. (his usual name for Kai).  So they hang out together sometimes.

Ain’t Love Grand !!!

So the saying goes, and looking at this gorgeous couple, my Aunt and Uncle, at the weekend, I would have to agree. 

60 years of marriage is a huge achievement for any couple, but to see these two so caring of each other, still sharing jokes, enjoying each other’s company, and enjoying the celebration of this achievement was one of those occasions I will always remember.

To be able to celebrate the occasion with their bridal party was equally momentous.

It was good to be able to catch up with my 2 sisters also, and take the opportunity for some photos. 

Sharing some pre dinner nibbles as part of celebrating our own wedding anniversary was good too. Motel rooms dont allow for the poshest settings, but the nibblies tasted just as good. 

 

But there was very little stitching done, apart from a little more work on my “secret” stitching.

I've removed the Word Verification from my comments section so it should be easier to leave a comment. I am finding the double word verification difficult to read and enter – I always seem to have to redo it, even after checking carefully to be sure it is correct, so hopefully this will make it easier for you too as I do love hearing from you. If I find it creates a problem I can go back to using it, but many of you are finding it is ok without, so it is worth a try. If you want to remove it from your blog, or read more about it, Robyn from Stitchin Time has some very easy to follow instructions. Or alternatively read this post at The run-a-roundranch blog.

Has it really been that long???

Aah, just look at these baby faces.

  Yes, that’s  my hubby and I, 40 years ago on Sunday.  Who could believe it has been 40 years already.

Are we really old enough to have been married that long – yes it looks like we are.

 

. 

Here’s another  trip back in time – my lovely, lovely family.  Miss you so much Mum and Dad. 

 

And my younger sister who was my bridesmaid.  (The colours have faded so much that I wasn’t able to adjust them back to how they used to be).

This weekend we are heading back to where it all started – the town where we were married.

But our reason for going there is not to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

This week my Aunt and Uncle are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, and we are joining them on Saturday lunch time for a time of celebration and thanksgiving.

 

I am so looking forward to meeting up with people I havent seen for many years.  It will be good.

But we ARE going to celebrate our own anniversary with my sister and her partner on Saturday night – we are going out for dinner.  We will then be away for another couple of days – it is also a working holiday.

You dont know till you try

This month’s lesson in the Free Motion Quilting challenge at SewCalGirl looked daunting, and I have been reluctant to give it a go – until yesterday afternoon when I decided I really should at least attempt it.  After reading the tutorial I decided that yes I could have a go, as the process is so well explained.  This lesson was by Diane Gaudynski and she has some really good additional instructions and information on her blog. Her feather quilting is so beautiful – something to aspire to.

I was pleasantly surprised at how it has turned out.  There is a lot of room for improvement , but as a first attempt I am quite pleased.  At this stage I haven’t attempted any additional echoing, but I did add more plumes so as to have more practice.  On a quilt I would like to link  them in a more pleasing arrangement, but for this exercise I was making use of available room.  I found that keeping the 2 sides of the spine even  and the echo stitching was not so easy,  mainly because of the vision of the first line (something else I need to work on.)

So – now to go and practice it some more.

A new Cushion–and rain

Another UFO reached the finishing line yesterday.  The corners of this cushion were decorated using the heirloom stitches on my sewing machine, some with twin and  wing needle.They were part of a class at Sewing Club some time ago.

  I couldnt remember how the cushion was meant to be made so decided to make my own design for it.  I love this centre fabric, and it was just perfect for having the heirloom corners added. 

We had such a deluge of rain yesterday afternoon, turning this

 

Into this in a matter of 15 –20 minutes of rain.  On the right hand side the water is more than 15 cm (6 inches) deep.

Weekend projects, and our future chef

I was so pleased with how my sewing set turned out that I decided to make these for my lovely friend Jo for her birthday.  It will be a late gift as her birthday is in 2 days, and it has to get to the UK. Hope she will like them.

I also did some secret sewing.  This was a trial version, and I used Christmas supplies to make it.  It turned out as I wanted it to so this one will go into my giftie box for later in the year.  I will make some more now I know how it works.

I also made 2 more Dear Jane blocks.

Little chef, Sammy is in action making pizza.  Looks rather yummy.  Well done Sam.

Just a little rest

Hanging around this shopping centre is way too tiring for a little boy !!!