Bits and Bobs

The last hexie flower is now finished for the inner border of Brinton Hall. I "should" be seeing to my No. 3 on my UFO CHALLENGE list but as I have a dreadful aversion to "should" I'm not...lol! I instead have worked to a certain goal on Brinton Hall.

Star blades are also basted for the corner blocks of this border. I wasn't fond of the one in the pattern so in typical "me" mode changed it. I am using the same one I did on Blessings....why? Because I like it! It will be nice to see how this border works out.

Four more sweet little tags  for Ruths Quilt by Leanne Beasley have joined the growing pile. I think I mentioned before that they are a wee bit addictive.....and I see nothing wrong whatsoever with that! My doubts about the thread colour have gone and I am really loving how it is stitching up.

I am still hand quilting at night....taking it slow and enjoying every stitch. I had forgotten just how much I enjoy it. Whilst it is wonderful to embrace the new and exciting there is also something very comforting in doing a task in the time honoured way.....whether it's quilting, embroidery, knitting or crocheting.

I am very close to 4 blocks done.
Two new books, well new to me are waiting for me to open the cover and dive in to.

Looking forward to that treat. That's your lot as the say from me this Friday.
I wish you all an enjoyable energy restoring weekend. I am off to an art workshop to exercise my "little grey cells"......

Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx

Wednesday Stitching Day

We all had a special treat today at our friend Bev's house for our fortnightly sewing day........a little touch of Christmas for Christmas in July.

Santa's watching over us......

Delicous things to eat.....missing in the photos is the warming soup and club sandwiches. My goodness! There is a saying in our family "full up to pussycat's bow" and we certainly were.

We all felt very spoilt indeed.
My friend Bev has beautiful taste and kindly let me snap a couple of photos of  her gorgeous groupings of special treasures.

We were all really industrious with our stitching and wool work amongst the laughter and chatter. It was also lovely to see Bev's favourite collection of vintage type fabrics that she has made into a beautiful quilt.

Isn't that bed simply gorgeous! Bev has just begun to hand quilt it.....love all these romantic fabrics.

I worked on my hexie flower blocks for Brinton Hall.

3 more appliqued down to add to the growing pile.
It was just such a lovely day.....thank you Bev for the spoiling!
I'm off to feed the husband.....don't think I can fit anything in lol!
Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx

Blessings

Yesterday I had a day all to myself.....the V8 racing was on at Queensland Raceway. So that saw Hubby race out the door to go and watch with No.1 son.....
My goal for the day was to put the finishing touches to my Blessings quilt top.

First job was to stitch on that little missing circle!

And then stars pinned and basted.

They came up a treat even if I say so myself.

I can live with the inaccuracies on the borders now.....I think lol!

I apologise for the crinkly top but I didn't iron it yet!
So.....tada! Blessings is now a flimsy top.

I love this quilt. A beautiful design by Robyn Falloon who is one of my favourite quilt designers.
So UFO CHALLENGE No. 4 is well and truly done!
This months UFO CHALLENGE number is

Which I believe is another Yoko Saito block......now if I can just leave those cute tags alone we may have a chance to get it done.
Enjoy your day lovely folks.

Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx

FNSI

My Friday night stitching was like a bag of mixed lollies....I had a lovely quiet day at home catching up on laundry etc. so inbetween loads I continued on with my hand quilting .

It was easy to pick up and put down between chores and I was quite pleased with the inside of the garland...I wanted it a bit different to the cross hatching.

I put aside my quilting in the evening to get some prep work done for the last bits of Blessings.....4 little stars to match the centres of the circles on the quilt.

Removing papers and basting and centre circles completed.

And importantly that renegade missed circle!

I finished off my evening with a little more stitching on Ruth's Quilt tags.

I have 4 more to add to my little pile.

So all this kept me up quite late whilst watching Sir Elton John's Las Vegas concert....I enjoyed my evening and I hope you did too. It is such a nuturing thing to do.....set aside time for yourself to stitch and knowing other women are doing the same xx
Thank you Wendy for getting us all together. You can visit HERE and visit others who stitched along too.
Have a lovely weekend.

Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx

Back to Stitchy Things

My Mum has always loved Pansies. We were never without a Pansy display in either garden beds or pots of some description.

So when several years ago Pansy themed fabrics were all the go my Mum set about collecting them. My Mum would not say she was a quilter but the fact is she has made a couple over the years. Her collection of Pansy fabrics became a Dresden Plate quilt which is loved by a family member. She was left with lots of Pansy scraps and decided to use them all up in a Sunbonnet Sue type quilt for my Nan.....every scrap was used.

My Nan loved it. Especially as she was a gardener and adored flowers.
When I visited my Mum recently she really wanted me to have it and take it home.
It means a lot to have a quilt my Mum stitched and my Grandmother loved.
It's all been hand quilted and hand appliqued.

It has a scrappy pansy border and all the dollies have lacy trims.

Some lovely memories and as they say "every quilt tells a story" I am very happy to be the custodian of this one.
Not too much stitching has been happening as we have been busy with family but I did take my tags with me and I now have another little few completed.

Looking forward to some hand quilting this evening.

Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx

90 Years Young

We had a special family celebration today. My dear Father in law turned 90 years old.
He is a quiet unassuming man that does not like a fuss but it was obvious that he was quietly pleased that we insisted on marking the occassion.
It was nice to spoil him for once as he cared so loving and for so long for his ill wife.
The cake was awesome and as a fellow chocoholic...Dad was thrilled!

It was also a lovely opportunity to make some photo memories too.
Four generations of Ridgway blokes.

A beautiful Granddaughter and Granddad moment.

Child, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren! So special!

His Nephew and his wife.

Wonderful, loving neighbours.....adopted family!

Our small but very strong clan....

It was a very enjoyable day and seeing the little ones interacting so lovingly with their Great Granddad was simply in a word....... beautiful! Handing over handmade cards......the stuff that's life's real treasure.
Happy 90th Granddad.

Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx