working on the wall hanging

I am still working on my wall hanging: I have almost finished the stitcheries.  Next is attaching and  embellishing.  I had hoped to finish before the end of January but that is not going to happen.

making a few marks

I spent some time babysitting next door yesterday.  It was a great opportunity to sit and try to sketch while the bubs were asleep.

After Australia Day

I was too busy relaxing yesterday to do any blogging.  There was cricket on the TV and so I sat, and sat and stitched most of the day.

However I did spend time thinking of this wonderful country we live in.  Many of us come from immigrant families.  My husband is English and my Grandparents were from the UK and Europe.

This is also a special day for us as our youngest daughter was born on Australia day quite a lot of years ago.

I have enclosed the pic above as I think it speaks of the open spaces we enjoy:  our wonderful beaches and open skies.

Whenever I go to the beach I think about the fact that we are all connected by the sea and the sky no matter how far apart we are.  There is great focus these days on what we own - surely what we share is more precious and more enduring.

Enjoy every day.

January

 I know January is not finished yet but I am really pleased with the amount I have managed to do this month.


The fabric in the first pic has been in my stash for years and I decided it was no use

to anyone while it was in the cupboard.  I cannot remember why I bought it in the first place - probably because it was a bargain.

My eldest daughter gave me some of her stash recently.  I know, it was just what I needed - more fabrics.  Anyway there was a large piece of high quality polar fleece.  Unfortunately it was a very dull colour,  like the colour of milky coffee but as you can see in the second pic it matches the cotton fabric perfectly.  Once I saw the two fabrics together I just new I had to make a couple of cot covers for the twins.  They are very light weight but nice and cosy too.So the stash is a little thinner.

This gorgeous embroidered satin fabric was also in the bag.  When Meaghan bought it she intended to make a cushion so today I made it for her.  It is appropriate to make it now as it is the beginning of the year of the dragon.

These pieces are from my own stash.  I have decided to make a mini quilt or collage or small piece of crazy patchwork each month and have put a some fabrics and trims in zip lock bags for each month of the year.  These ones are January.

I have just a few days to complete it before the end of the month.

The cricket will be on the TV tomorrow - it is the Australia Day Holiday - so I will have time to do some stitching.

I hope everyone is having a terrific week.

blossom

progress - slow but progress

I am still working on my wall hanging. It has been a challenge as I have found it very difficult to do the machine stitching on such tiny pieces of fabric. After much thought I have decided to try a different approach - using felt and beads etc to build up the small stitcheries. I am determined not to give up on this and Carol has been very helpful with ideas and encouragement.  


Visit Carole's blog here 

books in the post

This week I have received 4 books in the post.

The first one was a gift from my friend Julie.  It is really gorgeous - the title is "An Elizabethan Christmas" by Sheila Marshall.  It provides detailed instructions for the creation of Elizabethan Christmas Tree Decorations.  I intend to put this one away until the winter.  These are the kind of projects to work on when the weather is cool and and house is warm and snug.  Thanks so much Julie for thinking of me and sending this book.

The other three are ones I ordered last week.  They are "Fabulous Surfaces" by Linda Monk, "Mixed Media: new studio techniques"
 by Isobel Hall and Maggie Grey and "Contrasting Elements" by Jan Maries.


I have plenty to read and to inspire me now.  I really don't know where to start.


I bought these books here

We are so lucky to have such beautiful books available at reasonable prices.

Thanks also to Linda for helping with including links in my posts.