I'm on a roll......

A Jelly Roll! Well two of them actually!

But first this.

Remember the fairies?

I started this back in January, and had some issues with it. The kit was disappointing fabrics had been swapped out and no matter what I did I just couldn't get the friendship stars and sashing fabrics to lie flat and behave.

Back in January, I pulled out my trusty seam ripper and rip, rip, ripped all that work out, then dumped it into a box and left it to stew.

Well on Tuesday before work I got stuck in and had another go.

 I had ripped and resewn the stars in the main panel so many times the fabric was pretty stressed.

So I gave up on the friendship stars and opted for simple blue corner stones.

(Sideways picture sorry.)

As you can see, everything is much better behaved this time.

Next it was time to tackle some more stars.

I only got chance to make one, before I got a call from work, asking if I could be there in 30 mins???

So I went off to work leaving a production line of stars on the design floor....

On Wednesday, after my chores I got stuck in again. These stars were much better behaved than the ones I attempted in January and in n o time I had then attached and the borders were on.

TaDaaaaaa!

I was dreading getting back to this project, and I think it may be what has been blocking my sewjo recently. But now that it is done, I love it again.

I plan to do some custom quilting in the fairy panels and will need to sort through my tin of pretty threads for just the right colours.

*

Sew, about the jelly rolls.

Some time ago I purchased a black and grey jelly roll, I stashed it away for 'one day'.

While we were in Auckland over Easter I found a half jelly roll in rainbow brights and a plan was born.

Sorry, I don't have pictures of either.. At 8.30 this morning after getting dinner into the slow cooker I opened up my jelly rolls and the race was on.

It took a long time to join them all together and over an hour to join that first looooooooong seam.

So long in fact, that the supervisor got bored and went to sleep.

But as anyone who has made a jelly roll race knows, after that it gets faster and faster and faster.

And by mid afternoon I had another completed top.

Two completed quilt tops, in two days.

I still didn't do any more work on my Christmas Ornament.

Maybe tomorrow before work.

I have to say, I really do prefer shift work over Monday - Friday 9 -5.

Still catching up....

 In my last post ( The first in what feels like a very long time. ) I mentioned that I had tried my hand at macramé, with mixed results. This here is the best one.

There are two others, that will be broken down and redone!!

Or maybe just broken down! I was using the wrong type of cord, it wasn't soft enough.

When I found the cord I've used here I had much better results.

Hopefully this will stop Belle (Damn Cat) from chewing on the tips of my spider plant.

*

I also mentioned that I have been doing a little crochet, I started this project simply because we were off to Auckland to see friends over the Easter weekend, and I knew that taking sewing along was not an option as I would need something mindless to fiddle with while we chatted and caught up. (I also finished two books in that long weekend.)

I pulled out some yarn that has been sitting for a year or three. LOL

I remember buying just because it was so pretty and I wanted it., no plan in mind at all.

You know how that works right?

There are also some leftovers that seemed to be the right colours in there too. 

While we were in Auckland I visited Spotlight and purchased more yarn, in similar colours.

And yesterday I ordered a whole bunch more!

It's just big enough now to keep some of me warm on the cool evenings.

I'm not going at it hard every night though, so it will be a while before I decide it's done.

*

And do you remember the Lottie Da! quilt from way back in January?

She got a second mention when I found a retro sheet to back her with. 

Well here she is complete.

She has been finished for some time, but for some reason I didn't have a picture in my phone, so had to get one this morning. She is a nice lap sized quilt, or maybe as a wee throw on a bed. She will be donated to work as a raffle prize for the staff social club. 

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Speaking of work. As I said all is going well and I have progressed from being a casual staff member to a contract holding staff member. It's good to have that security again. A few more hours would be good, but that said, there are always extra shifts.

I work mostly late shifts, which should leave me lots of time free for crafting, but as I said in my last post, I've been mostly reading and resting.

I do need to catch up on my Christmas Ornaments, and I did manage to do a little over an hour after my last post. I plan to do the same today.

There are lots of things waiting for me in my room, even some new things I didn't share yet!

Well I have to keep something in reserve, just in case I don't produce something to share!

*

Well that's me for today, time to get on with something more productive. 

Is there anybody there??

Sew, it's been a while, and for that I apologise. Life has been different shall we say.

Work is good, I'm still enjoying it.  Life away from work has been mixed. Busy and quiet. Happy and sad. Up and down. Home and away.

And to be fair, mostly relaxed.

I've done a little crafting, some baking, some gardening and some preserving.

But mostly, I've been reading.

The seasons have changed, from long warm Summer days.

To cooler winter nights.

As I said, I have done a little crafting.

Some crochet, I don't have a nice picture, so you'll have to wait for that...

I also had a go at macramé, with mixed results.

Again, no pics!

Something else for another day.

My Christmas ornaments got stuck and two and a half! LOL And here we are on the brink of month five! I'll catch up I promise.

I found my sewjo for a day or two in April and set about finishing two projects.

Gail Pans 'Wish You Well' sewalong.

I quilted it very simply by stitching in the ditch around each of the embroideries.

The binding and border come from the same piece of fabric.

And it is backed with one side of a quilt cover.

I couldn't resist these cute Kiwi when I saw them.

The other side of the duvet cover, a pretty peach with white spots....

Went onto the back of my RSC Butterflies.

I quilted them with more stitching in the ditch around each block.

The jury is still out on the antennae.

Some days I think they need them, and some days I don't.

And a closer look at their borders and binding.

After that little flurry, the sewjo went away again, until yesterday when I pulled out two scrappy table runners which I put together last year.

They both got the quick and simple quilting treatment.

And matching bindings.

I shall endeavour to keep the sewjo interested and come back with more soon.

If nothing else I'll need to get some decent pictures of my Macramé and crochet.

Maybe this afternoon I can get out my March Ornament and make some progress.....

 

 

Still Alive

Hi All, yes I'm still here, sadly my sewjo isn't!

 Tony and I have been busy with out garden and green house, I've had lots and lots of work and in my down time I've been reading.

Tony has a new job, back to working Monday - Friday, with a communications company. All heavy duty business level IT and communications stuff. And he is loving it. It is very similar to where he started out, all those years ago when he joined the Royal New Zealand Navy.

Happy Man.

Oh! And he gets to come home for lunch.

Happy Wife.

My work has seen me covering lots of late shifts, so I'm home nearly all day, not starting until 3pm. As many of you will remember I used to do shifts like that when I lived on the Isle of Man, and I used to achieve lots before going in to work. I am still achieving lots, it's just not craft related at this time..

The bounty from our garden and green house is keeping me busy.

I haven't tried any new preserving recipes this year. This very bright jar is Bread and Butter pickles, made with a yellow courgette and red onion.

In the pan below is good old tomato relish.

There has been more that one batch!

And while I type, there is a huge pan of possums pickles bubbling away on the stove.

I had an early shift on Valentines day. To make it fun for our residents we all went to work in our PJs and served up a cooked breakfast. That was fun. When I got home at 2pm I found these lovelies waiting for me.

After encouraging everyone to join me in making something for Christmas each month this year, I'm ashamed to say that I didn't even start Januarys piece yet!!

I hope you are all doing better than me.

Hopefully the sew jo will return soon.

I'm off to stir my cauldron of pickles.

 

Didn't have much to say....

So I was quiet for a while. Sorry about that.

But now I do have something to say.

Today was the day between Tony's night shifts. I had to be quiet. I had planned to sit and stitch, but it was such a beautiful day I opted to go out instead. I had a quick cuppa with Debbie, who is packing to move house. She is very excited. There really wasn't much I could do to help as she is culling at the same time, so I left her to it and headed on an op shop spree. 

No orange mug with white spots....

But I did hit gold in one shop. They had a box of patterns and charts.

These two caught my eye. A pretty cross stitched needle roll

And some butterflies. You know I can't resist butterflies.

I also found a pretty retro sheet that is just perfect for backing the Lottie Quilt.

So hopefully they will be loaded on to the frame very soon.

I've had some happy mail too.

A while ago I saw this pretty sail boat design on Marias header (Sadly it is gone now) and she was good enough to give me the details.

I ordered it right away, and it has finally arrived, all the way from America.

It's difficult to see in this pic, but each boats sails are made up of different quilt patterns.

So pretty.

Thank you for your help Maria. 😀

I took a few moments the other day to attach a pretty gold trim to this piece, and this evening I plan to make a wee hanger for it, then it can go on my wall.

The description on the kit packaging said pin cushion, but obviously that is not how I saw it.

And finally, on Monday I started on the Morning Moon Fairies kit. I loved this kit when I found it, but after getting it home and opening it I discovered that the shop who produced it had changed out some of the original designers fabrics and also changed some of the instructions.

The fabric exchanges were not straight swaps for another piece, many were different sizes too.

The new set of instructions required some interpretation and Claire's help was enlisted to sort it all out.

Then I set about cutting everything up. All was well until I started to attach the first row of strips and corner stones to join my rows together.

Jack the ripper had a lot of work to do.

I had lots of issues getting things to line up, and when they do, I have more waves than a beach on a stormy day!

When I got to this point on Tuesday lunchtime, I swore at it, just so it knows how I was feeling at the time. Then I walked away.....

Nothing crafty has happened since.

But I'm sure I'll be back.

*

I do hope your sewing is progressing better than mine.

*

In other news, work is keeping me very busy, with lots of shifts and phone calls to come and help at short notice. Which is a good thing, because after tonight Tony has only two more shifts left on his temporary contract at the cheese factory, then he is once again unemployed. He is very worried, and it is awful to see him that way.

Please keep your fingers, legs, pins and needles crossed that he finds work soon.

I know I am.