RSC.

Well I had fun pottering this morning.  This months RSC colour selection is Dark Blue.

I have a few of those. LOL

So it didn't take me long to find more than enough to make my three butterflies.

Yesterday while I was flickering through magazines looking for a good scrappy project I came across this lovely quilt. Not the sort of scrapper I was particularly looking for, but inspiration struck.

I thought it might make a good RSC block.

I was going to bookmark it for next year, then had a sensible moment and realised that if I did that it would probably never see the light of day again. So I kept the magazine out and after making butterflies this morning I made up a single block.

All dark blue was going to be too dark.

But this works. I've stayed with the blue theme but used a contrasting fabric.

Much better.

I've only made one. I'll make a few more in different colours as the months go by and we'll see what happens.

 And because I know some people like to know, here are the details of the magazine I found the pattern in.

Look, there it is on the cover.

I think it is quite an old magazine.

My next find, while still flickering through back issues was this one.

Now this is what I was looking for.

I can see me making this lovely.

I didn't make a start yet, but while I was digging for dark blues I did put one or two other fabrics to one side, you know pieces just the right size for some of those hearts.

And once again, because I know details might be important.

 Another cover quilt off good old country threads.

I mentioned last time that I was taking a leaf out of Janice's book and trying out some new recipes.

We have made a few new to us dishes recently, but I forget to take photos!!

Last night I didn't forget.

Babotie is a South African Curry.

It has a sort of Egg Custard topping.

(Forgive my not so good presentation)

It was a very sweet dish. I was expecting that, given that as well as  minced beef, curry powder and stale bread it also had an apple, dried fruit and honey in it!

Not a dish that we will be repeating.

Back on safe ground tonight with Chicken and leek casserole. 

Didn't Quite Go According To Plan.

Remember my Flip Flop Scraps quilt?

I finished quilting and binding it way back here in Mid May!

With a little help from my lovely Tony.

I kept teasing that I wanted to add some finishing touches.

Well you see, I noticed as I was quilting it, that a seam had not quite caught as nicely as it should, and was opening up! Of course, by the time it is on the frame and quilting has started, it's too late for a quick fix! I know I thought, I can fix this with some applique.

At first I thought flowers, but they may have gotten lost in the riot of different scraps, then I thought cats. 

You know those quilts with the lovely silhouettes of cats on them? I'd love to try that.

I even cut out a couple of kitty cats and gave it a go. 

The frame wasn't the place to do it, that just didn't work. So later I tried on my tabletop machine, but pushing and pulling the huge bulk of the quilt through the free arm... I had no end of issues and even visibly bent a needle!

I huffed and swore and cussed then I unpicked and settled for Kitty Cat fabric. Just a patch with nice straight sides and some stabiliser pressed onto the back and appliqued on in a not so very tidy blanket stitch.  

My efforts to hide one opening seam, had caused another issue,

the foot, or the needle or something got caught and there was a tearing sound!!

 I decided on dogs this time.

Not at all what I had envisaged, but in the grand scheme of things, barely noticeable really!

This quilt was never going to be an exhibition piece, it was always intended as just a scrapper, for our bed, to keep us warm. And it will do that just fine, without the artistic patches of silhouetted kitty cats.

So now it is finished and on our bed and tonight we will sleep under it for the fist time.

It may not have gone according to plan A, or plan B, Or C or even D for that matter, but I'm happy and satisfied with it, it's a finish.

Sew, what else has been happening?

I didn't join in with Friday night sew along last night, nor have I been achieving my 15 minutes per day. Oh dear, I really have slipped.

I have been reading a lot and have made my way through 5 books in the last week! Not huge voluminous tomes obviously, but very enjoyable all the same. I have a few more to go.

Sewing wise, the final part of Kaffe is still sitting uncut awaiting my attention.

I still have another quilt top to quilt and bind and have still yet to find another scrappy pattern to start on once kaffe is finished. 

Yes, yes, I know many of you have suggested a Trail Mix quilt. I have looked at them on Pinterest,  but it just doesn't appeal to me. Even when I see it in different fabrics and colourways, it doesn't reach out to me the way Flip flops did, or Kaffe. 

Maybe this afternoon I'll pull out some books and magazines. I want to get something started, I sort of said that I might make our adopted Grand daughter a quilt for Christmas.....

But first it's time to go put the slow cooker on.

Taking a leaf from Janices recipe book, I have been trying out some new to us recipes.

Today will be slow cooked babotie. A South African take on curry. 

I'll let you know how that goes.

Oh!! And this months RSC colour is Dark Blue, so I'll need to have a dig about in the scraps drawer.

Maybe something will inspire me.

Another finish to share

.

Sunday was a grim, wet, cold and miserable day, just right for staying in doors and playing with some bright and cheerful fabrics. 

I've been dithering about how to quilt my batik strings for a week or two, and finally decided that as my trusty walking foot was already on my machine, some straight line quilting would be just fine.

I mean really, those lovely bright fabrics just speak for themselves don't they?

I kept it very simple. A row of stitches just inside the pretty squares.

And another outside the pretty squares.

Having quilted two quilts, even though they are quite small, my machine needed some love and defluffing.

Then it was time for binding. I found this amazing orange batik in my stash. Perfect for what I had in mind.

Last time I visited Cathy at the quilting shed, she was encouraging/challenging me to try something a little different. This is not quite what she was aiming me towards.

But I thought I might try this first.

The orange peeper, is not as narrow as I would like, but works beautifully with the green.

And I got to finish it with the machine, rather than by hand, so it was very quick too.

I have to say, I'm rather happy with that. Though I do want to try to get that peeper a little narrower.

I still have one more smaller quilt that needs to be quilted and bound.

Maybe it will get it's day this weekend.

Back to Kaffe tomorrow.

There is only one little bag of fabrics left!

Then I'll need to find another project.

Thanks for the scrap quilt suggestions.

Hmmm....

Trailmix seems to be the winner.

I do like the simplicity of it.

It's a maybe.

A Finish!

But only a tiny one.

Remember this cute wee runner sized quilt top I made during Chookys Zoom meeting?

Well yesterday I finally got around to layering and quilting it.

Nothing fancy. I popped on the walking foot and did a simple cross hatch.

 Through the squares.

A quick trip around the outsides of the squares, just to hold the border in place, on went the binding and

TADA!

One finished table runner. 

I'm rather pleased with that.

Another thing I'm rather pleased with is my wee blanket. Now that my yarn has finally arrived I am able to start joining all those coloured squares I was making.

It's a fiddly but satisfying process.

Hmmm, I'm really not sure about that strong pink square.

It doesn't slap you in the face quite so much in real life. I need to make a decision before I get too much further or it will be a pain to remove.

With no lamp and no stitching I have been doing a bit more reading. I'm re reading some old favourites and thoroughly enjoying them. 

 I have company while I read of course.

 I told her it is very rude, to read over someones shoulder like that.

But she didn't let that stop her.

It's a very wet and gloomy day here, just right for sewing or crochet or something crafty.

What to do???

I could carry on with Kaffe.

Quilt one of the two tops I have waiting their turn.

Add the final touches to Flip Flop scraps.

Or start something new?

I need to find another good scrapper pattern.

Any suggestions for a new scrappy project, what is your go to for using up scraps?

FNSI and lifes ups and downs.

This past week has been a bit of a roller coaster.

My poor back has caused some of that ride. Thank you to everyone who sympathised and sent healing thoughts. It is all very much appreciated. As I said, it was mostly down to my footwear. I've had a weak back since I was a teenager and know the signs. I knew I needed new work shoes, and my Chiropractor had also pointed out the wear on them.  I didn't get a chance to go shopping before lock-down, when all the stores here in NZ were closed. Then after lock-down was over and things began to open up again, I thought, well I might manage to wait a little longer and hold on until Tony is able to find work again.

Serves me right! I should have known better.

Anyway, the new shoes did make a difference and things started to feel oh so much better.

One of the high points of the roller coaster.

I have been slowly working away on my Kaffetastic quilt top through the week, missing only one day. And here it is, after Friday Night Sew In.

I have completed three parts of the BOM now. Though I am going a little slower than a block a month. LOL

As you can see, Belle had to get in on the photo shoot. She had just emerged from behind the bottom.

Before you exclaim over all those points, they have been some of the low points of the week. many of them were sewn, ripped and sewn again. I resorted to the many, many pins method and still had issues with points and seams lining up. Grrr 

I've had that issue throughout the project, but this week seemed to be the worst yet.

That aside, reaching the milestone was very definitely a high point on my roller coaster. 

So after my high and the quick photo shoot on Friday evening I settled into my chair here in the sitting room planning to stitch some more of my I stitch project.

I was able to complete the second of the stitched pieces and made a start on the third.

But my lamp began to flicker. It's been doing it for a while, and turning it off and on again usually fixed the problem, but this time that didn't work and the flickering grew more and more bothersome. 

Tony took a look for me and announced that I need a new tube. This one is 16-17 years old and has worked very hard in that time. 

I'm told that very black looking patch is a bad sign. A new tube has been ordered but may take 6 - 8 weeks to arrive. Which will mean I fall way behind on my I stitch and Christmas ornament stitching, and no Cross stitch either. 😢

I can't do any of those crafts without my trusty magnifier and lamp.

Another low point on my roller coaster.

The bright blue marks? 

LOL That is ink. When I am cross stitching I use a gel pen to mark my pattern, to show where I have stitched. I hold the pen in my mouth, so I don't lose it. It often ends up drawing on the cover for the magnifying glass. LOL

Unable to stitch I turned my attention to my crochet and have made some good progress. I now have three little boxes of squares. Only one ball of leftovers left to use up. Then I'll need the yarn that has been 'In Transit' for eight weeks.

Guess what arrived on Saturday morning?

 I was just about to leave for work when I noticed a package sitting on the doorstep.

There were five different address labels, applied by two different European postal services and two different delivery labels, applied by two different delivery companies here in NZ!!

The poor package must have been so confused.

Never mind, it is here now and just in time to send me off to work on a high.

Only to plunge way, way down again...

My back!

Helping out downstairs I was leaning down into one of the big industrial washing machines to reach the last items in the bottom, when another area of my back gave incredible pain.

New shoes won't help this one.

Only time will fix this.

I can still potter about and do things, it's nowhere near as uncomfortable as the lower back pain I had earlier in the week. I've started to prep the next round of Kaffetastic and sorted out some bindings for some other recent finishes.

Cathy at the quilting shed has talked me into trying something new...

She does like to put out these challenges.

More about that at another time.

maybe it will be another high point.

I hope so, we need a few more in this house just now. 

I do hope your week had more highs than lows.