Not My Cup Of Tea....

 After finishing my chores yesterday, I got stuck in and finished quilting the Debbie Mumm quilt.  I used a very simple Karen Emmerson design called waves. It's quick and easy, just what I needed.

After a quick trim, the binding went on.

The holder upper was busy giving his freshly washed car a blow dry.... So I had to get the finished photos without help. First Old man tree.

Not quite right. Might try the lawn....

Still not right! But you get the idea. LOL

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While I was closing the binding, I discovered a Copyright mark.

At least one of these fabrics has been around for 30 years!

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Not that I have had them that long. 

Various pieces came to me in bundles from here and there. They are not really to my taste.  But I kept them safe and gave them a home.  Then back in February of 2024 I put some of them together and returned to them again in the May when the top was created with a few bits and pieces that seemed to work with them. It was soon after Chooky had her Churn Dash sew along. I think I ended up making three Churn Dash quilts. LOL

I blogged about this one back here. 

 

I have decided to name it, 

Not My Cup Of Tea.

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But I'm sure someone will love it. 

This one will be donated, very soon. 

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Today I'll be getting back to the memory quilt. I loaded it onto the frame last night, just before going out to dinner at a friend's place. 

Fingers crossed, all will go well this time. 

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Progress Report.

My cross stitch has been progressing nicely. Winter Fairy, The Emperor and the Thistle have all had a little attention lately.

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The Thistle has been coming to work with me and has been stitched on during my lunch breaks. It's almost complete now! 

I might just work on it at home over the weekend and get it finished and ready to become a Finished Object. Of course, that means I'll need to find another work project to take its place.

I have a few smaller pieces to choose from. (Make that two whole small shoe boxes' worth)! LOL

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The Emperor went along to Embroidery Guild on Monday and has also been pulled out for 15–20 minutes in the mornings before work. He's progressing nicely too. 

I might make him my next work project, although he's a little on the bulky side for tucking into my work bag. Decisions, decisions!

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Winter Fairy and Gus have also made a little progress. Another shadowy window has appeared. No image of that one today, sorry. I might wait until I've completed the whole page before updating the photo. You'll just have to take my word for it that progress is being made!

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One of my goals for this month is to get the binding onto the I Spy in the Clouds quilt.

And here it is, hanging in Old Man Tree. 

I used the offcuts of backing fabric for the binding, and there was just enough! 

It's all ready for donation now. Another quilt finished and ready to go to its new home.

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As you know, the Debbie Mumm fabric scrapper went onto the frame the other day. I've got around to winding the bobbins and have even managed to quilt a few rows. This is another job I'm hoping to get completed over the weekend.

 No grandchildren this weekend! Daddy has something planned for them, so I'll have a whole extra day to play. I will miss seeing them and having cuddles but will enjoy the extra play time. 

Once the Debbie Mumm quilt comes off the frame, I'll get the Memory quilt back up there. It will be good to get that one finished and sent off to its new home too.

So, how am I doing with my goals for the month?

Poor, very poor! LOL

But we're only a third of the way through October, and I still have 21 days. Three whole weeks! Surely, I can make a decent dent in that list before the end of the month.

Watch this space! 😂

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Stitches and Splashes.

 Well, I'm back at work, but I just had a long weekend off. So, what did I get up to you ask? 

Well, you know Tony and I took a short road trip, and I was able to visit the exhibition at symposium, and I did a little shopping too. 

All very exciting, but what about my own sewing, how is that doing? 

It is still dominated by my cross stitch at the moment. I really am enjoying it and will keep going as long as that pleasure lasts.

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So here we are, The Emperor's Gift has grown considerably.

I'll be taking him along to stitchy club this evening, so hopefully he will grow some more. 

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I did commit to getting a scrappy quilt top loaded onto the frame. 

The Debbie Mumm piece climbed out of the pile and demanded attention. I'm cutting it fine on the backing, but hopefully I will manage. I'll need to wind some bobbins before I start quilting. 

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And finally for this evening a quick look at Winter Fairy and Gus the Pus.

Finally, that blue blob over on the left is beginning to look like snow laden rooftops and shadowy distant buildings. 

I have managed to complete over three quarters of this page at last. I aim to be done with this page by the end of the month and maybe even make a start on the next page. 

There are six pages in this size and then two much smaller parts to add at the bottom. So, a long way to go with this project. 

Hopefully I can get back to some quilting soon and not bore you with Winter Fairy updates.

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And now I'm off to embroidery club. I deserve it after the day I've had at work. 

A pipe burst yesterday so the water was turned off! That meant, no showers, no flushing toilets, not hot zips for teas and coffees and no dishwasher. All meals and drinks served on paper plates and cups today. The escaping water had poured through the kitchen ceiling blowing some of the lights and shorting out the bane marie!

 No laundry could be done last night so it was piled high beside the machines. The plumbers didn't arrive until 08.30; they got the offending pipe patched up (Not repaired) and ready for use just before lunch. 

The electrician didn't arrive until after 2pm the bane marie is back in action, but not the lights.

At some point we discovered that someone had left taps on downstairs in the laundry and a bucket in the sink. The water was ankle deep and running out of the door!  

💦 Mop, Mop, Mop. 💦

Then it was time to make a start on last night's laundry!

With just one exception all of the staff and residents took it well. We laughed and joked and ignored the grumpy one. 

Here is to a better day tomorrow. 

Threads of Our Time Quilt Exhibition.

 Quilt Symposium New Zealand is currently being held in Christchurch. Tony and I took the 2 hour drive North from Timaru on Friday. We had a look around, did some me stuff and some him stuff, it was fun. I had discovered a new stitchy shop, brand new only just opened and was determined to pay a visit. Angelic Needle Crafts is a cute wee store, as I said only just opened, so not yet bursting with stock, but still, plenty of eye candy. When we arrived, the owner was sat outside in the sunshine doing her stitching. She apologised for the mess!? Turns out there had been a burst pipe in the neighbouring property and water had also gotten into the shop. Oh no! Luckily all of the stock was ok, nothing had been in harm's way, but there was a huge dehumidifier sat in the store making a lot of noise. I felt so sorry for her, this is her opening week, symposium is on and the neighbours had burst a pipe!  

I did make a couple of purchases, some needles, the hoop and the Pears pattern in this photo. The rest you will learn about later. LOL

On Friday we also visited two shops for Tony, he was also quite restrained in his purchasing! And I walked out of spotlight with empty hands.

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After an overnight hotel stay, we headed to Symposium.

The merchants mall was all set up in the school gym and they were packed in. I visited the Sew it stand as I knew they would have superior threads.  You don't need a photo of those do you? There were three large spools. 

Next stop was the Handi-Quilter stand, I had a play with a Moxie and we had a good long chat with the representative. We need to reach a milestone on our mortgage before I can get my hopes up on that purchase.

By the time we had a good look around in the gym, the exhibition was open. I won't bore you with every single photo I took, but here are the highlights and their info.

That is just a few of the quilts on display. I thoroughly enjoyed having a look around. 

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After a visit to the Air force museum at Wigram, we headed in the direction of home, with a stop at Annie's of course. Where I purchased the other pattern, some more needles and another pot of thread conditioner, all in the previous photo. 

All in all, I had a lovely weekend. Even with Tony along! 😂 We both managed to enjoy ourselves, and I was actually rather pleased with how restrained I was on the spending front. There was definitely temptation, but apparently, I do possess some willpower after all!

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Now it's back to reality and back to work tomorrow. Although I'm sure I'll find something stitchy to keep me occupied in my lunch break and hopefully when I get home. 😉

Octobers Hopes and Dreams.

And suddenly it is October!
Time to spell out my aims and goals for the month. 

I'm glad that my Christmas ornaments are completed and that pressure has been lifted. So, what will claim the top of the list? 

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1) Try out and possibly share a new recipe.

Hopefully I can come up with something delicious.

2) Make progress on Down in the Garden.

I would like at least to get the borders on.

3) Progress Lest We Forget.

The poppies have been hanging around for long enough. Time to get the hand and machine quilting completed. 

4) Complete the Memory quilt.

I'll be working on that today, there is just a little of the poor-quality quilting left to rip out, then the top and back will need a good press before I even think about putting it back onto the frame.

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4b) I want to have one more practice on a scrapper before I commit to the Memory quilt again.

5) Continue to work on Winter Fairy and Gus. 

I really am enjoying cross stitching again, so best to keep up momentum on this huge piece.

(I've been working on getting better image quality, still not perfect, but it's an improvement).

6) Complete the Thistle cross stitch.

It's such a small piece that should be doable. I'd also like to get it made into a cute needlebook. Then as a part of the same goal, I'll start another small, stitched design, something I can work on in my lunchbreak. 

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6b) Continue to work slowly on the penguin cross stitch. Those 15 mins in the mornings are good and it's also a good one to take along to embroidery guild.

I was very pleased with the progress I made yesterday, even though there were people to meet and so many lovely projects to look at.   I thought about taking it to work, once the Thistle is done, but it has a lot of threads and a medium size hoop so it's a bit on the bulky side. 

7) Add and close the binding on the Eye Spy scrappy quilt.

And as it looks like there will be another scrappy quilt on the frame before the memory quilt goes back up there, I'll add it here too. So hopefully two scrappy quilts will get their bindings this month.

And I think that is enough! Seven goals is a lot for me, and let's not forget those little b) notes so technically nine goals. Phew, I'm going to be busy. I'll make a start today.

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Tomorrow Tony and I will be hopping into the big red car and driving up to Christchurch. We plan to stay overnight, have a look around, do a little shopping and also to visit The Threads of Our Time quilt symposium. Yes, Tony is coming along with me this year.  (If you remember that far back, he came to The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham a couple of times too. This one should be easier on him; it is much smaller). I have not booked any classes or seats at lectures; I'm just going to look at the quilts and visit the vendors. Yes, I have a shopping list. It is very short. I'm saving for a new quilting machine! Tony also has a list which is also pretty short.

Of course, a weekend off to do that, means I'll have to pay penance by working extra shifts next week.

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