Zooming along...

 Today I planned to cross stitch on Winter Fairy for the morning, then switch to Bring Me Flowers for the afternoon. But plans change, that's allowed.

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You see I was settled in my chair; I'd been stitching for 10-15 minutes when I got a message saying "Chooky's on". 

Checking my emails I found my invite and in no time, I was zooming with Chooky and the girls while I cross stitched. 

When I started Winter Fairy, looked a bit like this. I've done a little work since this photo was taken.

Still no fairy, just Gus the puss.

Lunchtime came and went, I took a break for food, then continued cross stitching. I carried on stitching after Chooky had said goodbye, stopping at 4pm. 

I'm very happy with today's progress. I've almost completed the first page of the chart.

There are six A3-sized pages of chart, plus another page of smaller charts to complete the stitched area. It's full coverage, with a finished size of 16.8 x 15.4 inches.

So there's still quite a lot of stitching ahead of me, but it's lovely to see the background appearing gradually. And hopefully one day I'll see a fairy and the tiny face of a child peeking through the window.

Thank you Chooky. Lovely to stitch along while the girls were chatting.

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Back to work tomorrow. I'll have to make sure I put the tiny Santa stitch back into my work bag.

I hope your weekend was as good as mine. 

Another Quilt in a Day.

 And another monthly goal smashed out early!

I finally managed to pull one of those bundles of premade blocks out of 'that' drawer. They came in one of the $20 paper sacks and are a great head start.

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I had a shuffle about on the floor and once I was happy, I started to sew them together.

Just before lunch time I had the top loaded onto the quilt frame with a fleecy blanket as backing (No Batting).

Yes, Jenny Janome behaved herself and I was able to complete the meander quilting with no problems.

Back into the sewing room for binding. I had a piece of ditsy floral that was perfect. Trimmings from the back of the Down in the Garden quilt. LOL

It didn't take long to cut strips and sew them together, then on they went.

I got brave and opted to flip and sew the binding down right away, rather than my usual, do it by hand first, then go back to the machine for the serpentine finish. LOL

And here it is, the holder upper shot!

This one will be donated.

Now it's time to get ready to go out for dinner.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

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Advent Acquisition.

 Yes, I know we are only just into November, but I ordered this way back in July and it arrived on Thursday.

A New Zealand company, Orderly Stitching makes great stitchy advent calendars each year. I've watched with interest over the last couple of years and decided to take the plunge this time. 

Inside the package a cardboard box.

Hmm, boring?

Wait until you see the inside.

Three layers of cute wee boxes, each featuring kiwi characters. 

The little penguins are my favourite.

Also in the package was a cute project bag.

It is just as cute on the other side.

Something tells me that this year's projects will be featuring NZ birds.

Hopefully some little penguins.

Inside the bag there are some useful items...

Now I just have to maintain some self control and leave everything alone until the 1st of December.

I'm very excited, I wonder what I'll find inside those little boxes.

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In other news, I have been busy during my lunch breaks at work. By the time I have a bite to eat and a drink, there is only 10-15 minutes left, but that is enough, as you know, for me to stitch up a couple of lengths of thread while working through my collection of minis.

The latest is a Santa Ornament.

Another couple of lunch breaks should see the stitching completed, then it will be time for a new one.

These Minis fit very nicely into that pencil case I showed off recently.

I'll need to find a project to stitch that I can use as a cover to put onto the front of the case. It's still a bit boring.

I'm sure I'll come up with something. 

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Today is our wedding anniversary.

17 years.

Tony bought me beautiful flowers.

My rostered weekend off so, no work today. There are a few chores that need our attention, but hopefully we will both have plenty of time for our crafts, and we have a table booked for dinner this evening. 

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And finally, we have a new resident at work. She used to be a dressmaker and tailor. She and I were chatting about sewing and knitting and crafty things like that. She told me she has CRAFT disease. I haven't heard of that one. I asked about the symptoms.

Can't

Remember

A

F#####g

Thing.

I was shocked, delighted and amused all in equal measure.

Many of my colleagues have diagnosed themselves with the same condition.

The biggest laugh came when we told the Doctor about it during his rounds. He was at the computer at the time and set off looking for information. 

He had a great laugh too and declared that in future, the informal name for dementia would be Craft Disease.  

Another November Goal Achieved.

 Down In The Garden is done, finished, completed!

As I mentioned in my last blog post, Peter returned Jenny Janome last night while I was out at embroidery guild. So I didn't get a chance to play until this morning.

(Yes two posts in one day, if you're counting).

There were only 4 rows left to complete.

They didn't take long to do. 

Then it was time to go out to that H&S meeting at work.

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As soon as I got home, I trimmed the quilted piece and set about making the binding, all while lunch was cooking. After eating lunch, I got on with the business of sewing on and closing the binding.

Then I had to wait for the holder upper to get home from work.

Like yesterday I filled in time with a bit of a tidy up.

I'm very happy to have this one finished at last.

Down In The Garden, designed by Leanne Beasley.

I collected the parts as a BOM back in 2011. I think I possibly started the first block too, then it went into the UFO pile, until 2019, when I had another go and dated one of the blocks. Then back into the UFO pile it went, until last year when I had another go, eventually finishing the stitchery earlier this year. The quilting has been an adventure. I used my favourite meander, which looks just fine, even through the stitching. 

The back is a piece of fabric from a $20 paper sack! 

No surprises there. I cut it's width in half and sewed the selvedges together to make it long enough.

It's a bit difficult to see, but there is an all over tiny flower pattern.

It finished at 51x51 inches.

Once I get a hanging sleeve attached, it will take a turn on the wall in our entrance hall. 

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Back to work tomorrow.

Time to move on to my next goal for the month though. I'll let you know how that goes.

Interruptions.

Here we are at my two days off and both have interruptions!

Yesterday I made an early start in my sewing room, as I knew there would be a planned power outage, starting at 10 am. So I headed into my room early and got busy.

First task was to pull out my big tub of batting off cuts and make Frankenbatts for my bright new placemats.

It's rather a large tub, but I was able to find just what I need close to the top. Two pieces of cotton batting were trimmed and sewn together.

Then I layered my mats and quilted them using the serpentine stitch on my machine.

It works well wandering back and forth over the ditch. So much easier than trying to stay in the ditch!

I had already dug about in my box of leftover binding bits and found some that would be perfect. I joined them together and it didn't take long to sew them on.

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Then it was time to do chores before heading out at 9.55 am. 

I spent a couple of hours in town, visiting a select few stores, buying two spools of neutral thread at the sewing center. A new pair of black culottes for work, and even the beginnings of a secret Santa, also for work. Next, the groceries then it was almost 12, time to head home and see if the power was back on.

It wasn't, but I didn't have to wait long before my clicker opened the garage door and I was in. After putting the groceries away, I had a quick lunch and then Peter arrived to take away naughty Jenny Janome. Then I settled in my chair with my teapot close by and closed the binding on the placemats by hand. 

Then I went back to the sewing room and used the serpentine stitch to add a little more security.

Yes I know I could just close binding on the machine, without the hand work, but I am still learning this process and find it easier to ensure an even finish doing it this way. LOL

Besides, I really don't mind sitting and closing by hand.

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I frittered and fiddled away the rest of the afternoon having a tidy up and making some tea. After tea I went out to guild for a couple of hours. I took along Bring Me Flowers and made some progress on the next large flower.

I still need to stitch the border, but it was a good start.

While I was out, Peter returned with my quilting machine.

So today I'll be trying to complete the quilting on Down in the Garden.

Hopefully all will be well.

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Today's interruption?

A 10.30 Health and Safety meeting at work. 

I really should attend as I missed the last one. I'll see how things go with Jenny Janome.