FNSI

After a pretty hectic week I was quite tired last night so rather than sewing for Friday Night Sew In, I cut out most of the pieces for my next project.

These will be Christmas presents for little Miss M (floral fabric) and her cousin Mstr J (blue spotty fabric). I still have to find a coordinating fabric for Mstr J's softie for the snout and ears. I had the perfect one but unfortunately didn't have enough of it in my scraps. I can't wait to get sewing and see how they turn out!



Wombat Softies in progress

Even though it was a busy week I was lucky enough to be able to go to the WAQA sewing night on Wednesday and catch up with some of my wonderful friends. One of them, Tracee of Quilt Kitty Loves Life fame, was returning a book to the library which I pounced on as it looked very interesting.

The WAQA library has some fantastic books, of which this is one.

 

It is a fantastic book with some very useful tips around cutting up scraps ready for turning into lovely quilts and quilted projects. Luckily for me I am still fairly new to the quilting game so have not collected huge amounts of scraps yet. Maybe I will be able to get reasonably organised before I get too many bits and pieces.

 

We also enjoyed the show and tell session of the night. My other good friend, Phil of The Guilty Quilter fame, showed off 2 of her quilts which both won a 3rd prize at the Royal Show recently. She is an amazing hand quilter and appliquer, and her machine quilting is beautiful as well. You will be able to see some of the quilts that were shown off on the WAQA blog very soon.

 

If you would like to check out what everyone else did for FNSI you can visit Wendy's blog, Sugarlane Designs, here. I'm off to have a quick look myself now.

 

Happy stitching,

Tracy xx



A Wonderful Surprise!

Last month I joined in with Friday Night Sew In hosted by Wendy from Sugarlane Designs. A couple of days later I received a lovely surprise when Wendy e-mailed me to let me know I had won one of the prizes she had on offer that night. I was so excited as it was my first win since joining the blogging community!

Well, I have been waiting and waiting and waiting (not so) patiently and today my prize arrived. Hooray!!! Doing my happy dance :-). Look at the beautiful, bright fat quarters that Wendy so generously sent me, all wrapped up with this very pretty ribbon. Thank you soooo much Wendy, I can't wait to use them.

 

Friday Night Sew In (FNSI) is on again at Wendy's this Friday night. If you'd like to join in you can sign up at Wendy's blog. Who knows, maybe you could be the lucky winner of this month's prize!

 

Now, for all those readers out there, I thought I'd share what I'm currently reading. Some of you may already have discovered this series but I only came across it through an article in one of my magazines (Down Under Quilts, I think) earlier this year.

 

The series is 'Elm Creek Quilts' written by Jennifer Chiaverini. The first book I was able to get hold of, 'The Runaway Quilt' is actually number 4 or 5 in the series. I borrowed it from the library and took it to Marble Bar.

Normally I read horror (Stephen King, Dean Koontz), crime/thriller (Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, Tom Clancy, Michael Conway) or historical fantasy (Barbara Erskine) type novels so I wasn't sure whether or not I would enjoy a series about quilting. But after reading the first one I'm hooked! I am really enjoying them and have gone back to try and read the series in order. Unfortunately my library doesn't carry the first 2 novels and there are gaps along the way, but I am doing my best.

Jennifer is a wonderful author who has created a range of captivating characters. Her novels are a mix of historical based fiction and a contemporary quilting community. She shares the stories from the different perspectives of her characters which is a style I am really enjoying. I am currently reading 'The Quilter's Homecoming' and also have 'The New Year's Quilt' on my bedside table ready to go when I get a spare 5 minutes (ha ha, not very often).If you get a chance I would definitely recommend them.

Anyway, I must head off to bed as tomorrow will be a long, busy day. Hopefully I'll see you at FNSI on Friday.

Have a great week,
Tracy xx

Friday Night With Friends

Hooray! Another reason to stitch...as if I really need a reason :-)

Thanks to Cheryl at Gone Stitching I was able to join in with her Friday Night With Friends event. This is what I've been working on...

It's another of Claire Turpin's cushion designs, Pip and Ellie, which will go to my other niece. I really love the bright fabrics I managed to find and I find the stitching so relaxing.

I can't wait to see what everyone else did tonight. If you'd like to see too you can check the list here.

I also have to share some photos I took on our walk this afternoon. We now live close to a lake and took little Miss M for a stroll this arvo as the rain had disappeared for awhile. Spring has definitely sprung as the 2 swans we have recently seen on the lake now have a nest and, apparently, 4 eggs. We can't wait to see how things progress and look forward to showing Miss M some cygnetts soon.

Mama swan resting on her nest

Papa swan being all protective - so cute

I'll keep you posted on any new arrivals. Have a great weekend!

Happy stitching,
Tracy xx