Mid Month Goal review

Oh my goodness... we are half way through the month already... which means its 40 days till Christmas. I don't want to think about that right now though.

I've been very busy sewing all month so far but don't feel I have made much impression on my goals.

Suzu's Quilt.
I have decided what I am going to make for her but haven't started work on it yet. I think it might wait till after Christmas now so I can get my head clear.

"Doctor Who" Potholder
I have organised for the fabric to be bought. I will receive it on Wednesday so can get to work to sew these after that

"Stingin Em Along" Quilt
Nothing done on this yet. I need to choose the fabric for the background.

"Handmade Heritage"
I have put the top is together but I have to work on the borders. I've also started work on "Handmade Heritage Too"

"Getting Along"
The blocks are sewn into strips so that is a bit of progress on it.

Label completed HWL projects
This was all done last week by some of the other people who come to our group. It was great to get so much help with it.

Velcro on bibs and towels
Again some of the others at our group assisted with this project. It was great to get the help.

Complete the Christmas Stockings
These were done and posted off to my sister last week. It was good to get them done in a timely manner

Complete more items for the stall.
I have been working away at items for the stall. I didn't make any more zipper pouches but did make a stack of hair scrunchies, tissue packet covers, baby bibs, a few more pot holders and lots of bottles of sugar coated peanuts.

Looking back on the list I haven't done too badly. I haven't had any large completions and perhaps I was being overly optimistic about that given the preparations I have been making for the stall. I have progressed a couple of the bigger projects and now that the stall sewing is done I may be able to get a bit further with them now. I might alter the goals from "finish" to "work on". That makes them more achievable.


How are you going with your monthly goals?

Sunday Stash Report

I've been working away at a few things this week. Made progress on 2 quilts but not finished so they don't count.

I got busy making some more little things for the craft fair stall next weekend.

A friend on Facebook (waving to Sandi from Quilt Cabana Corner) made some tissue packet covers for a Christmas Fair she is attending so I decided I might make a few myself. I found a pattern on Di's Snippets and Scraps blog here and made 13 of them and then found that all the packets of tissues I can find open on the end and the covers I made are for centre opening ones. Rats. 

I had another search on Pinterest and found a tutorial on The Inspired Wren for both the horizontal and vertical opening packets. They were very similar designs and it worked out well. 

So I whipped up 12 of them... 2 more than I have packets of tissue for! Dilemma! The packets come in lots of 8 or 10 so I would have leftovers so could make up more of the covers BUT I am not sure how well they will sell and we already have 25.

 I am done with them for the moment. (and I now have a cold coming on.. think I am going to need a packet for myself) 1.16m

I also made 2 more sets of pot holders to send down to a friend who ordered them having seen my photos on Facebook of the things I've been making for Handmade With Love stall. I have another friend asking to see photos of what I have to sell as she is interested in ordering some stuff from me as well. 0.59m

The last thing that I have finished off this week have been some scrunchies to sell at the stall as well. I found them on this blog here. I made 13 small ones and 15 large ones. I may make some more before the stall if I get time inclination and more elastic!! (I've used up all that I had.) They look very bright and cheerful and I've used a variety of fabrics, including some of the licensed ones -Pokemon, Space Invaders and Minecraft. 0.85m

I did buy a fat quarter this week but it is for the club Christmas party. We have to put in 2 fat quarters, a black and white one and one that reads like a solid either tone on tone or solid. It can be any colour. I won't count it unless I win one of the lucky door prizes. I wil be able to find that second fat quarter in my stash so will be able to count it going out but not till the party which is still 2 weeks away.

I am hoping that by the end of the year my net used (currently 71.92m) will be greater than the fabric I have added this year (currently 78.62m) I will need another larger finish in order to knock that over easily. The little finishes I have had this last couple of months are all nibbling away at my stash but a bigger finish will be good soon! Comparing to last year I have already used more fabric this year than last but I have also acquired more fabric. My current net position is also ahead of my final position last year. Its been fun looking back and comparing.


My stats for week 46 are

Fabric used                2.60m        
Fabric added              0.00  
Net                             2.60m

Year to Date
Fabric used               150.54m
Fabric added               78.62
Net                              71.92m

Linking up with Patchwork Times

Fitness Friday

We've been home for just over a week now. I forgot to do a report last week so its 2 weeks worth today.

Whilst we were on the cattle station I managed to get my 10 000 steps most days, despite my Fitbit not always syncing (found I had turned the blue tooth off. I thought it was to do with not having internet access. ) On those days I worked off another ap on my phone (Pacer)

Keeping my weight under control wasn't as easily managed. I ended up nibbling my way through the chocolate we bought - but it was over a few weeks. And there were the meals - pretty high calorie. Anyway... my weight climbed to 99.5kgs. Just glad I kept walking as much as I did as that limited the damage I was doing.

Home again we were able to pretty well get back to more sensible eating. The exercise tailed off for a few days... took us a little to get back into the walking routine at home. I cranked up the treadmill a few times this week to make sure I got over the 10 000 mark.

We have had a few treats but that is life (Pizza a couple of nights when I didn't feel like cooking, a chocolate bar another day) but treats are ok... you can't be restrained all the time.

Its really heating up here in Queensland. Summer is no longer around the corner but right here in our face. Today it was 39c (108f) So grateful for our air conditioners today. We have to wait till the evening cools off before we walk but we got our walk in none the less.

On one walk we saw a mob of kangaroos amongst the houses on the edge of town. We have seen them down by the river frequently but to see them in the house yards was unusual. This photo is as close as I could get.

Fixit Guy is going away this weekend for Presbytery meetings. I wasnt' going to go with him as I had a function on but that has been cancelled but I have decided to stay home anyway. Having been away for 5 weeks I am ready to just stay home. With the Craft Fair just a week away I am going to have to get busy making the sugar coated peanuts and bottles of biscuits plus finishing off sewing projects.


Friday          13 584
Saturday       8 812
Sunday        11 865
Monday        10 153
Tuesday        10 432
Wednesday    4 879 (the day we drove home so were in the car for over 7 hours)
Thursday       2 980 (very slack day after we got home - might have had a flat battery in the Fitbit too)
Friday            8 594
Saturday        9 692
Sunday          8 023
Monday        10 327
Tuesday        10 095
Wednesday   10 352
Thursday      12 018

and my weight this morning was 97kgs - so going in the right direction once more

WIP Wednesday

Its been great to be able to get back to work on my Handmade Heritage project. My sister Joy sent me a parcel of doilies and other embroideries to add to the project. I have put together one quilt top centre (ie no borders as yet) with the pink strips. I wrote about about it in a blog a few days ago here

Having decided not to include the blocks onto which I had stitched purple sides in the first quilt I am now working on a second quilt which I will call Handwork Heritage Too. I have completed 56 blocks with purple strips and have sewn them into 7 rows of 8 but have yet to put them together.

As is my way, after I got the strips together I realised that I had 2 identical ones next to each other so did a bit of unpicking and rearranging. That resulted in 2 strips of the same colour being next to each other but I decided to just leave it. Ho hum

Today I put Getting Along at Patchwork on the design wall in the club rooms. With Lyndi's help I worked out what I had to do with the borders I had made to get them to fit properly - it didn't take much. I got as far as adding the dark cream inner board (1.5" finished) but packed it in and came home when I ran out of cream thread in my bobbin with about 20" to go. I finished it up this evening. 

Still have to add the crazy outer boarder and then probably another plain border in orange. I will bind it in orange as well.

I bought back a stack of items that are for our Handmade With Love stall at the Christmas Craft Fair coming up in 10 days. I didn't have any Velcro with me whilst I was away and I had also left the "Handmade With Love" labels at home. Tuesday at Handmade with Love 2 of the newer members of our group helped to get the labels stitched on whilst I sewed the velcro onto the hanging towels and bandanna bibs. Some others ironed labels onto some of the other items we couldn't sew onto. It was great to get them all done.

I finished off the Christmas stockings I was making under commission

 as well as the potholders, another commission which had needed their labels stitched on. I made another 2 sets of potholders to complete this order. 

I posted them off today.

I've been browsing through Pinterest to find some more ideas for things to make for our craft stall. I'm keen to try some scrunchies and tissue packet covers. I'm having fun looking anyway! I am also thinking about making a few more baby bibs.

I am under orders though to make some of my savoury sugar coated peanuts before I do any more sewing for the stall. I bought the peanuts and sugars today. I am going to have to look for the recipe I used last year. If I find it I will save it to Pinterest so I can find it again.

Hope you have had fun this week and working on lots of stuff.

Sunday Stash Report

Home again after 5 weeks during which I accomplished great things with the sewing. I got through all of my wadding, iron on stiffening, Vlisofix,(I can't spell that - can barely pronouce it) and all the projects I had pre prepped and heaps of others I did on the way. It was great. 

I did a bit of sewing before we had to pack up and come home. I completed all the projects I cut out of the yellow bike and house fabric apart from one cosmetics bag as I didn't have a suitable zip for it. that is - 5 potholders, a zipper cosmetics bag, and 2 hanging towels. 1.54m

I made 3 little zipper ear bud pouches (which used up the last of my iron on stiffening)  0.22m

I also mended a pile of workshirts and jeans for my Sister in Law but since I used fabric she gave me for the patches I can't count that.

Then it was time to pack up and come home. Once home I was able to pick up the embroidered names that Lyndi made for me and thus finish off the 4 Christmas Stockings that had been ordered from Handmade With Love. 1.97m

Speaking again of the lovely Lyndi - she sent through a link to some fabric stars she had found the pattern to. They are called Scandinavian Fabric Stars
They required no machine sewing so I was able to play around with them after I had packed up my machine. 

I am thinking I might put in some judicious hand stitching to make them a little more secure. 0.31m

We had a birthday to go to on Saturday. I bought the 2 little people books and then made them book bags to put them in (and to use for school when that comes time) The lovely Lyndi is going to do some name tags for them as well and I will put them on retrospectively. I didn't have any vlisofix left to do the applique ahead of time. 0.48m

My stats for week 45 are

Fabric used                4.50m        
Fabric added              0.00  
Net                             4.50m

Year to Date
Fabric used               147.93m
Fabric added               78.62
Net                              69.31m

Linking up with Patchwork Times

Handmade Heritage

We are home again! Its 5 weeks today that we left for our trip and we got home yesterday so we had 34 days in our caravan. I must admit I did enjoy our big bed last night. The one in the van is just a bit shorter and narrower. I also liked making the one at home better. The van bed is pretty good but... the one at home was better!

Last night we had pizza for tea... we drove the 600kms home from Fixit Guy's brother's cattle station in one hit. Yeah we talked about how we might stop along the way but we are way too used to doing it in one hit and we spent all the time we could with family. So..... we drove on through and stopped only to buy a burger for lunch.

Pizza for tea and then an evening blobbing in front of our tv. We had gotten most of the van unpacked after we got home but there was still some unpacking to do this morning and of course there is the cleaning still waiting for me.

I was excited to get my Handwork Heritage quilt out... the one made from cut up doilies that I have collected from my mum, my aunt and my mother in law. It was great to be able to spread the blocks out on the design wall (well the ones that would fit) and get a photo of how it looks. I cut more strips to go on the other side and started sorting through the 1.5" box of squares for the corner stones. 

I was tossing up about how to sew the other side on. I could sew what I have made (ie the blocks with one side on) into strips and then sew strips of the other side strips with cornerstones between and put it together like that. In the end I finished off each block individually and then played around with the block placement. Trying to keep the different colours of the strips and corner stones apart as well as the different pieces from the same doilies was pretty tricky and despite my best efforts I ended up with some next to each other but you get that. (or you do if you are me)

I tossed up whether to include the blocks that had the dark purple in them for ages but in the end have left them off. My sister Joy sent me some more doilies and other old embroideries that she was given by a friend at craft and I have decided that I will edge those ones in purple and together with ones I already have it will be enough for a small quilt.

What to do with the quilt when I finish it is another thing that has been causing me concern. It really isn't going to be suitable for a bed quilt - or only a bed that never gets lain on during the day. It has too many loose pieces of lace that could get caught up in and some of the fabrics are pretty fragile. For the same reason it is not suited to being a cuddle quilt.

I think I will make it into a table cloth. 

Talking of my design wall not fitting all the blocks onto it. FG asked me what I would like for Christmas (Our family starts thinking about it early as we have 2 sons born in November and so we are needing ideas for their presents and whilst we are on the job there we ask everyone else what they would like) I said I would like my design wall extended, an idea he had not long after he had made me my first one. We have started discussing options and hopefully he will come up with something that is going to do do the job beautifully. It is great having a handy husband.

WIP Wednesday

This week I have continued to work on little things because we are still not home so I can’t make any progress on the bigger projects I have underway.

I did a full report on all my completed projects on Sunday. I have slowed down a lot since then. Its only been a couple of days but we are leaving for home tomorrow so I’ve lost a bit of motivation. 

I’m also running out of some supplies. I ran out of batting before we arrived here at my brother in law’s but my sister in law gave me some fabric I could use as wadding in the pot holders. I’ve just about used it up too. And the vlisofix I bought with me is all gone too.

I have now used up all my iron on stiffening so that means no more easy cosmetic bags. I have some zippers left but the colours I have are now limited.

I have some bicycle fabric in yellow and orange with a co-ordinating house fabric. I cut out 5 pot holders, 2 hanging towels, and 2 easy cosmetic bags from the yellow bike and house fabrics. I used up most of the stiffening I had on the bags. In the end I only made one of the bags as I didn’t have a zip in black or white which I felt I needed for it. 

If I had cut out the orange fabric there was a great orange zip that would have gone well with it but it wasn’t to be.  I used white binding on the pot holders. I was a bit disappointed with how they turned out. I think black would have been better but I didn’t have any black and I was keen to get them done. They are finished and will be fine but it put me off doing too much more as compromising can mean less than great results.

I made 3 more ear bud pouches using up some Alice in Wonderland fabric. I had fun matching up the two sides on the zip but even so… it wasn’t as great a result as I was aiming for. I used up the very last of the iron on stiffening… patching little bits together to cover the area.

My friend Lyndi shared a link to a website craftingarainbow that showed how to make fabric stars. Last night I had a go at them and managed to make 3 of them and think I will make a few more.

Sunday I was home alone as everyone else was off for the day doing station work or in town. When I was getting the washing in for my in laws I noticed that some of the jeans and shirts were a bit torn so I decided to mend them. I hunted through the pile of washing to be put away and found some more that needed mending as well. I know a lot of patchworkers get almost offended if asked to mend things for other people and loathe mending their own things. However I don’t mind doing it. I get quite a bit of satisfaction returning torn and damaged clothing to a useful state. 

Sunday I mended 5 pairs of jeans (including one my SIL was planning on throwing out.) and several shirts. Today (Tuesday) I asked my Sister in Law if there was any more she wanted done and she found another 6 shirts so that was my sewing for the day.

We will be driving home tomorrow (Wednesday) so there won’t be anymore sewing done this week. I will pre post this before I leave so it will go up anyway. I might be able to do the link up whilst we are travelling or perhaps not till I get back home.

My other WIP - our trip is almost at an end. We have been at my brother in laws place for 10 days now. Fixit Guy has been busy helping his brothers including spending the last 3 days mustering but we need to start heading home tomorrow as we have commitments on Thursday. Mind you he still isn't home so not sure when we will get away!!

Some photos from our time here on the property