broderie

sewing days and friends

some of my friends and i enjoy regular sewing days, we sit round the table and enjoy the company and the conversation and our stitching. we all do some embroidery, cross stitch, patchwork and quilting.

 
we all bring our own lunch and make a cup of tea or coffee just when we feel like it

 
these lemons were hanging on the tree just outside the window, there had been some morning showers, and they looked so fresh and delicious

 

the colours reminded me of the 'greens' i was cutting out, more tumbler blocks !

 
these will add to all that i have already cut, heaps of them ! i have been through my cupboard and now some of those friends i spoke of earlier have also shared some of their bits ! thankyou ! maybe i have enough now ?

talking of cupboards ! someone has been sorting hers out !

 
this is the red shelf !

 
two and half shelves done, well done

 
sharyn had finished another cushion

 

i have always loved this little table and shelf, as the seasons change, my friend changes the colours in her house, this was part of the red !

 
in the same room and a detail of the boxes

 

and then some green in another room

 

 
a closeup of the dish of dollies

 
and these two framed girls were given to my friend by her daughter for her birthday some years ago, they are appliqued and stitched

 

and a bit of blue and white china, i have always loved it

 
a little out of focus, but i love the softness of the photo even so

 
and this cross stitch of an embroidery shop and a shelf above the computer desk

 

and some clear glass and a burning candle wafting a beautiful perfume while we sit and stitch and enjoy ourselves, thanks marlene !

 

and the saturday girls are coming to my place tomorrow for stitching,

another happy day !

 

 

 

 

time, pleasant hours spent !

since being home from my interstate visit there has been quite a bit to catch up with and some enforced rest and repair, some medical tests and reports. 'i am ok', my favourite response to the question 'how are you' and yes i am ok, need two new knees, but i have a 'good heart' and paper to prove it, so that is good news!

the last week of october brought about gatherings at home of sewing groups and friends and being spoilt by everyone, i was ok, but spoilt ! thankyou to all of you. no dramas now! this post is a bit about everything of how time is spent.

 
my front little room looks out on these very old roses, a lovely window view

 
some in a vase where i sit with my laptop

 
also some on the shelf to look at while i was getting the ironing basket emptied (i notice it is full again)

 
these lovely vintage buttons adorn marilyn's newest 'teatowel' cushion

 

i have also been knitting, this little jacket for a new baby nearly finished

 
and this quilt that i started in hobart has been getting some more attention

 
and i have chose this fabric as the back for my half square triangle quilt, i so often make up backs from bits in the cupboard, but i decided that this fabric would suit all the scrappy front

 

and jean over at linen and raspberry has got some of her beautiful samplers that she has worked in cross stitch on her latest post and it made me think of all the time spent in stitching over the years, happy times, pleasant times, comforting times, sad times, etc., so here are some of the hours spent i am talking about

 
this is a sampler by 'long dog' stitched by a friend, thelma, who now has parkinsons disease and finds stitching all too difficult to do now. thelma stitched many samples for me when i had my shop, a friend made through stitching!

 
and this one 'rose for grandma' stitched by sharon, my cousin who left us all too soon a few years ago. sharon spent many hours of her short life stitching, hours that brought her great joy and comfort.

 
and this was an old 'semco' kit, stitched by my mother in 1985 while i was overseas, i know it brought her much joy and comfort, she died in 1986. so keep stitching i say and don't forget the cross stitch, you are never lonely with a bit of cross stitch or any stitching.

outside in the garden, melbourne has been refreshed by the recent rain, fortunately no flooding for me, just a good watering from the skies above and it makes so much difference

 

 

 

 

 

 
the bird bath filled from water falling out of the sky, happy times, has not happened in this city for along time and in the yarra valley where it was devastated by fire earlier, the race meeting at yarra glen has been cancelled due to flooding over the weekend.

 
i always look forward to the 1st of each month and changing the many calendars in this house, another of my quirks, love a good calendar! the first tuesday in november in melbourne, australia is a public holiday for the melbourne cup and that is tomorrow, a big day in the sporting life of this city. i used to go often, many years ago, but tomorrow i will enjoy it all on television spending the time stitching! and just to finish off this framed box of stitching necessities i have in my little front room! that is where i started this post, i spend many hours of my time in that room!

 

 

more beautiful things

congratulations to linda at quilts in the barn and all those concerned for the beautiful exhibition of quilts held last weekend at her home. over $10,000.00 was raised for breast cancer research and if you go to her blog you can see how you can still contribute to this fundraiser and also see all the quilts and share in the pleasure that those of us who were able to attend enjoyed so much.

i am going to also share with you some more of the new and finished projects of some of my stitching friends.

the prince meets his princess, dianne has finished both of these embroideries, they are going to be made up into lovely cushions

 
he came with bird in hand, i wonder what he asked her and what answer did he get

 
the centre of a new quilt started, always gotta start a new one, but sharyn has finished this red and white, i love the block with the bit of blue, in a red and white quilt, i love this quirk

 
then jenny has embroidered these lovely monogrammes for two different friends, all three of them have special birthdays this end of the year

 

 
as is often the case, these cushions are made from beautiful linen tea towels, they are a favourite of mine, i encourage the use of them, why not when the result is like this

 
jan has done these, tea towels again, monogrammed, and being sent to hungary as gifts for some newly found rellies of her partner

 
and my liberty bits that i have been collecting for years

 
and this is not the final line up, i was just wanting to see how far the rows i have stitched covered my bed, still a few to go, but not many

jack fell down & broke his crown!!!!!

well yesterday started like most other days, a nice cup of tea, some preparation for the sewing saturday girls and some breakfast. then i was on my way to put some rubbish in the bins, lost my balance and over i went, tumbled down, over and over downs the steps, but did not break my crown, just dented it ! and a few other bits are black and blue !

i have been sewing and cutting more of michelle yeo's, 'king david's crown' design, a quilt that i have in the making, mentioned in previous posts.

some of the royal jewels !

the background fabric i am using was from the cupboard and i realised that i was not going to have enough, there are 20 crowns and i have cut enough for 16, so will use something else for each corner one. i like that idea and then will use another fabric for the borders.

for those of you who loved these teatowels

they are available at quince, the shop is open tuesday to saturday, 11.00am to 3.00pm, and is situated in wattletree road, east malvern, victoria, australia. follow the link for all other details.

you only need one teatowel to make two cushions using another fabric for the back.

and this scrap quilt continues to grow, when will i stop!!!!!

i have mentioned before that i am heading towards a celebration, well i think that you celebrate in 'blogland' and any excuse for a party i say! i am heading very soon to my 200TH post, not long now, there will be a giveaway, so stay tuned!!!!!

  

more cushion comfort

i know, i can hear you all say, 'not another tea towel story' ! but look at these lovely cushions made from a tea towel, they are gorgeous and i had such fun playing with the design !

they have multi stripe shades of beige backs and will be going to hobart to live! the cushions that is, not me!!!!!

another friend has just finished this lovely fresh looking design and i must say it looks very pretty on my chair

i know that i should have waited till the morning light to take these photos, but i couldn't wait !

  

lots of new

starting and finishing projects is always exciting and there has been alot of that going on in my sewing circle!

cushions . . . . . . . . .

i know this is not a picture of cushions, but lovely home grown figs, wonderful colours in the fruit and foliage, but spot that orange image in the background!

we had been shopping to ikea and found this fabric range, 13 new cushions were made and they have given an instant makeover to my cousin's seaside home, where from every window of the house the garden is seen. you know that i always seem to have a dog in alot of my posts, well here is another! sammy just could not wait till the stool had its new cover on, he checked the fabric out to see if the colour way would match everything!

he gave us a look of approval

then there were the TAH DAH !!!!!! moments of the last few days, completed things!

marilyn's cushions finished using her mother's buttons from a collection she had, something old is new again!

and then there are jenny's, you have seen the images of the embroidery before

and this piece of old embroidery, a stamped design on linen, done by jenny's mother years ago. what a great memory to have of your mother's work.

and at sewing last thursday, there were only a few of us, but sharyn finished her quilt top! all hand pieced, the pattern SAVILLE ROW, by judy newman. the pattern is available through amitie  and the finished quilt will be for one of sharyn's grandsons. lucky boy!

marlene and sally were just as excited as sharyn with the finished work of art, they held it up so sharyn could see it from a distance!

 

sally was knitting a baby blanket and it's nearly finished 

and just started . . . . . . . . .

friends are joining me in half square triangle scrap quilts, dianne is very organised now for a random quilt ! look at this lovely tin, with doily within and the scraps so perfectly organised !

hope you have enjoyed seeing some of the things we have been doing. stay tuned there is a big celebration coming up soon and a give away with it. soon, it will be soon!    

  

pictorial end of the month

february 2010 is over, well in less than two hours. my sewing friends have been busy and are very inspired and producing lots of new projects already this year. thought you may like to see pictorial evidence of some of the bits they have been stitching.

they were teatowels, now will be gorgeous cushions!

another teatowel, will be another cushion, really gorgeous! and keeping in the same colour way, marilyn purchased the king david crown pattern and off we went to amitie to buy the fabric and this is the start to her new quilt.

i am cutting these and marilyn is doing the sewing, such a different palette to play with, i am loving them.

and this old favourite bird that lavina is stitching.

busy stitchers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i will leave the rest to another post.
   

bits and pieces, big and small

a couple of things to mention before christmas is all forgotten . . . . . . one of the sewing girls had a very pretty, christmassy looking necklace and i took a photo

my friend thought i was a bit close, so a quick makeover, and the photo looks like this

 
20 years younger in a flash, though whether she could swallow was not determined !

my friend jean, from linen and raspberry , introduced me to this photo imaging and it is alot of fun, time consuming for me at the moment because i am learning, but interesting. i often just get rid of very small bits of fabric, all added to the other 'stuff' we all have, it makes another collection of its own ! but i had some small half squares and quarter squares, already cut, left over from my circles quilt and i started stitching them together, i liked what it was creating and now if i see a small piece of fabric, i pounce on it, cut it into either shape and i am adding and adding and am loving it. keep those little bits from now on.

do you like it, it is amazing how everything goes together, i will show you the progression. it may be another quilt or i will just make it as a piece of cloth and use it to make something as you would a piece of new fabric.

then i was looking at quiltsalott, and janet mentioned that she had made a couple of pincushions recently and one was too big for her liking, and she showed one that she had made previously. it gave me an idea, since i got a new couch and chairs last year, leather, when i am sitting sewing i do miss not being able to just put the pins in the arm of the chairs, a bad habit i know! i made a very large pincushion, sits beautifully on the arm of the chair and is thick enough through that the pins will not harm the leather.

 

so that's what i did while the weather was hot and horrible, now it is cool and lovely again ! my 'pincushion' is large, the diamonds are approx 5 inches wide. i will go now and put all my pins in it, when i use my machine i just have it close by also, saves all the pins running around and ending up on the floor etc. a problem solved. 

i mentioned my circles quilt, have a look on amitie at a couple that were done as block of the month from the shop. i know one of the ladies, and the red looks wonderful as a background brenda! and the other one with the dark fabric and that border is gorgeous!  

just a bit more fabric

yes that is right, i needed just a bit more fabric, i wanted some mellow colours and maybe some reproduction fabric, yes i thought that would be good, i did think about it alot really, it kept coming into my very relaxed mind, i looked around, i had to go out last tuesday anyway, so after a conversation with a couple of friends, i went out earlier that i had intended and met my friends and we all bought some more fabric!!!!! the postman also brought some fabric and the latest copy of a favourite magazine. what a great day!!!!!

this fabric came in the mail

this favourite magazine has a bit of new look to it in 2010, but full of good ideas as usual. i also got another package of patterns for stitching which i will show you later.

so after that bit of excitement, off i went to meet my friends at somerset patchwork & quilting to look for some reproduction fabrics,( well i did say i had to go out and it was all in the same direction ), and i very happily came home with all of this.

and these

i was happy with my day, my purchases and the company of my friends.

somerset patchwork and quilting have just moved to a new shop in the mount waverley shopping centre, just right next door to the post office, at 18 hamilton place. so if you live in melbourne or interstate and know the shop, make a visit to the new venue.

and just prior to christmas, this princess and the pea pillow was made up for a friend for her grand daughter.

three of these together with a touch of orange and it looked like this

we have a few days of very hot weather coming, so i will be hibernating and keeping cool and doing some stitching! see you on the other side of the heat!   

my christmas 'oh yes i was spoilt'

on christmas eve, you could say that i am a bit unsociable, but i love being at home and just quietly watching the carols on television. this is a tradition in melbourne, it is a live telecast from the music bowl and has been going for years and years. i always enjoy it!

this year it RAINED in melbourne on christmas eve, alot of the crowd would have been very wet, but 'carols by candlelight' goes on regardless.

father christmas sent me some lovely parcels and i was spoilt by so many friends and family.

these are very yummy, thanks father christmas!

thanks again father christmas!

get the derwents out for this, lots of fun with this!

and this lovely book from a good friend

lots of lovely hours and treats from this book will be enjoyed, i hope that you and your families enjoy 'joie de vivre'.

some other gifts from friends, can you see a theme at all, or do they all think i am 'away with the birds'!!!!!!!

thanks to these two friends, the 'partridge in a pear tree' card and this lovely little tree. as i said at the beginning i was very spoilt, very spoilt, lots of other bits to make me look gorgeous, smell gorgeous, gorgeous things to eat, chocolates! a plum pud from the family in hobart! pear bags! and this gorgeous pear cushion!

this was from my valet driver and his wife, both are good friends and as a 'pair' you have made my trips back and forth to hobart so much easier this year. i am so very grateful for the help of getting to the airport and back at the melbourne end. you know that i am, but i just wanted to say so here, so everyone knows! thanks sharyn and noel.

we sewing girls said goodbye yesterday to one of our 'dear old girls'! marlene's mum, olive o'leary, passed away just prior to christmas. olive often sat in on our sewing days and nights, she had a great spirit and i personally had alot of fun with her over the years, would sometimes 'grannysit' her and enjoyed her company. farewell to you olive and i hope that 'somewhere over the rainbow' you have a good time.

and i   

 
you all a very happy new year. i look forward to 2010, let us make it a year of friendship and caring, of happy times, of good health, of enjoyment, of sharing, of having time to smell the roses. 

and time to pursue the pastimes we enjoy, i have enjoyed the cricket, been quilting while watching, now it is time to get started on some new projects and add to some already started and maybe finish some too ! i will be back next year !