Zooming along.

I had planned to get a few chores done this morning before Joe and the family arrived, but those plans went out the window the moment I spotted a Zoom invite from Chooky. That was that —most of the chores were forgotten, and I headed straight into my sewing room to play while we chatted.

I carried on with the blocks for Kaiy’s quilt, adding more black strips to the long sides. I also had a little tidy up and even managed to do some ironing, in between blocks. Partway through adding my black strips I discovered I’d cut some of them too short, so I took the time to cut a fresh batch at the correct size. Once that was sorted, I made some really good progress before Joe and co arrived.

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We had roast chicken for dinner, followed by frothy jelly. For anyone unfamiliar, frothy jelly is simply a jelly mix with yoghurt, cream, or milk whipped into it once it has cooled — I’ve also heard it called Jelly whip or flummery.

After lunch we spent some time outside. The children love having a run around the garden, and today they found a visitor, so Grandad was summoned to help.

Closer inspection revealed that this beautiful dragonfly had lost a leg and another is damaged. Grandad gently popped him onto the BBQ cover, and we watched as he made his way slowly down the side and tucked himself out of the wind.

He’s still sitting there now, several hours later.

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Once everyone had left, I went back into my room for another round of sewing. I was having fun, so I decided to get the blocks made into rows — and since I was still enjoying myself, I kept going and started joining the rows together.

Here you can see the first five rows. There are two more to add: one still needs to be constructed, and the other doesn’t yet have its black strips.

I’m back to work tomorrow for what will be a very busy week, but I’m hoping to get those final two rows completed, and maybe even stitched on. I might have to give some thought to what I might work on next!

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A Good Push Forward.

 Our busy weekend is going ahead as planned, though I’ll admit I almost wished for rain this evening. We’re due to head out to an outdoor concert this evening, and while the forecast looked a bit dodgy, it seems the weather is going to behave after all.

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My chores were dispatched in short order this morning, which meant I could head to my sewing room for a couple of hours play this afternoon. I’ve been slipping in there before work all week and found I could comfortably make two complete blocks in the time I had, so there really wasn’t much left to finish today.

And finish I did — I sewed up a storm and completed the last of the 5×7 colourful blocks.

Next up was cutting a stack of black strips to sew onto the long sides of the colours. I didn't cut all of them as I was eager to get the first few on straight away.

While I've been putting these blocks together, I’ve been fossicking through my thread collection and pulling out bits and pieces of pinks and blues. I managed to use up a few odds and ends along the way.

I'm sure there are a few more reels, but I'll have to fill some bobbins soon. 

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Now it’s time to cook some tea and then head out the door. With a bit of luck I’ll get another chance to sew tomorrow, though Joe and the family will be here for Sunday lunch, so we’ll see how the day unfolds.

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The Pin That Sent Sally to the Spa

My one day off this week and I had grand plans: sew all day long, cup of tea at my elbow, Sally Skyline humming happily, and Kaiy’s quilt blocks coming together like a dream.

As you know, plans can go awry.

To be fair, I did get to sew — a lot. Things were going beautifully… right up until I tapped a pin.

At first it was just the odd skipped stitch, here and there. Annoying, but manageable. Then, despite everything I tried, the problem got worse. I rethreaded top and bottom threads (twice), swapped threads and bobbins, changed the needle, cleaned the machine, and even tried sewing at a snail’s pace. Sally was having none of it.

Janice suggested I use a spare machine.

LOL. I have one or two.

Bluey, the baby Elna, was sitting on the shelf giving me the side‑eye, so I pulled her out and dusted her off.

That was fun for about five minutes — she’s noisy and slow — so back she went, and out came my trusty old Silver. The last time I used her must have been when I made Charmaine’s bridesmaid dress; she still had a spool and bobbin of dark green thread in place.

Once I swapped out the threads, she ran much smoother and faster than the Elna. I managed to finish the blocks I’d started this morning.

I wasn’t really paying attention to how many blocks I’d prepped. I just pinned rows until I ran out of pins, sewed until I ran out of pinned units, snipped them apart, and went back to pinning. Then sewed and sewed until… well, you get the picture. I was going great guns and was delighted to find that I have just under half of the blocks made up to this stage. Now they need black strips added to each long side.

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I booked Sally in for a service, but of course when I tried to reproduce the problem on scrap fabric, she behaved perfectly. Never mind — I explained everything at the shop and told them I suspected I’d tapped a pin. 

They agreed with my diagnosis, that needle is probably a little out of alignment. The threader no longer works, and the cutter will only snip the bobbin thread, two more indications of misalignment. She’s in for the full treatment. I should get her back in about two weeks, give or take.

In the meantime, I’ll be using the Silver to keep working on these blocks. Not the day I planned, but progress is progress. 

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I’m back to work tomorrow, but I’m hoping to sneak in a few moments of sewing before and after each shift. It’s going to be another busy weekend off, so every little bit helps. With luck, I’ll get a few more blocks made. I’d really like to finish this stage before I start cutting the black strips — it feels good to be moving forward. 

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Scrappy Hexies — Finished at Last

As you know, I’ve been happily stitching away at an assortment of scrappy hexagons for quite some time now. The pile has grown from all sorts of places — my own fabric scraps, treasures from op shops, oddments from sales, and even a few flowers that were already basted when I found them. Others were just cut shapes waiting patiently for papers. I’ve enjoyed every minute of working through them, sewing them into cheerful little flowers.

Over the last few weeks the project gathered momentum, and on Thursday I put in the final few hexies to complete a lap‑size top. Friday was a busy day, but I still managed to trim the edges and start auditioning border fabrics.

This morning I made my decision, stitched the borders on, and pulled out a cosy fleece blanket to use as the backing. Onto the frame it went — no batting required.

For the quilting, I wanted something simple and gentle, so I chose clamshells, another lovely design by Kerryn Emmerson.

Being a lap size, the quilting didn’t take long at all. Before it was time to make dinner, the binding was on. After the meal I sat down to close the binding, and once the last stitch was done, I called in the holder‑upper for an outdoor photo shoot.

So here it is — the finished scrappy hexie quilt, posing beautifully in Old Man Tree.

And of course, the mandatory holder‑upper shot:

And one more look at Old Man Tree, because he wears a quilt so well.

Another scrappy hexie quilt completed — and with a whole pile of extra flowers waiting, I suspect it won’t be the last.

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Though I still have a cheerful pile of hexie flowers waiting in the wings, my focus for the foreseeable future will be on Kaiy’s quilt. My roster is a bit of a jumble at the moment — swaps, extra shifts, and general chaos — but I’m hoping to get all the blocks completed and joined before the end of the month. With a bit of luck, I might even get beyond that.

A great start to February.

My days off started with my usual rhythm — I’m sure you know it by now. Up early with Tony, then once he headed off to work, out came the cauldron and in went the veg and tomatoes. Uncle Ruffie’s sauce today. Once I had it bubbling away at a good steady simmer, I could leave it to do its thing and slip off to my sewing room.

I’ve been picking away at my squares here and there since my last post, so they were already sewn into strips of four. 

While I was sewing all those squares together, I spotted the most beautiful watercolour landscape hiding in one of the fabrics. I can see fields and paddocks separated by hedgerows and taller trees way over in the distance on the edge of a lake, with a far green shore and the sky beyond. 

Or is that just my imagination?

Seeing it set me off thinking about the whole bundle and wishing I’d taken photos before I cut into them. There were some real treasures in there. One looked just like those photos of Jupiter, with swirling clouds and that great storm rolling across the surface. Another reminded me of an octopus releasing ink into the deep — soft, drifting plumes of colour blooming through water. And a third had the softest pink glow, exactly like a winter dawn sky. Little pieces of all of them kept appearing as I stitched, tiny glimpses of whole worlds tucked into each square.

Today’s plan was to turn strips of four, into strips of five. I stitched about a third of them, then scooted back to the kitchen to stir the cauldron and tick off a couple of small chores before returning to the machine for the next batch. And then again — more stirring, more chores, more squares. By the time I’d added the final square to every strip, the sauce was ready to ladle into pots for the freezer. Yum.

Once the kitchen was sorted, I took a seat and snipped all the chain‑pieced strips apart. Then came the pressing. It took me a full hour to get them all flattened and lined up (tidily‑ish) on my cutting table. The next job will be to turn them into blocks of 5 × 7 little 2.5‑inch squares — but that’s a task for another day. Fabric sudoku may take a while.

Next, I headed into town to finish my errands, grabbed a quick lunch, and now I’m back in my chair with a cuppa. It’s almost time to settle in with my hexies. With a bit of luck, I might even get the top finished today 

I have two more days off, but Tony will be home for both of them and weather permitting we're hoping to have a working bee out in the garden, there are one or two jobs that need taking care of out there.  There is also another 50th Birthday party to attend. 

And now I’m off to play with my hexies for the afternoon. I hope everyone’s February plans are unfolding kindly — mine certainly are, and I’m feeling very happy with my progress so far.

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