This years secret ornament...

 They have all been delivered so it's time to share this years secret ornament.
It's a cute kiwi. I just snapped this image on my tree right now as I had forgotten to get some good images as I worked!

How on earth did I manage that? So busy telling myself they are secret I suppose and imagining that I have plenty of time. LOL

As I did mention in a previous post while I was sorting out backings and trims I came across two other stitched pieces that I also turned in to ornaments for gifting.

If you recall last year I ran out of steam and did not complete my list of secret ornaments, I made up for it this year and some people received two ornaments.

This cute gnome.

Or Gonk as my daughter called him was last years. Some were made in blue and some in red. 

This chap went on to my tree unfinished last year. At sometime over the festive season I pulled him down and added the finishing touches.

I'll need to start thinking about what next years ornament will be if I am to make a start in January. 

I might have a play with some felt....

I'm off to have a look for ideas on Pinterest.

Not much to report.

Not much sewing that is, but life has been busy. I've baked mince pies for Christmas. Not for us, no mince pies on the Keto diet, I'll have to think of another treat for Tony and I. The pies I have made will be going to Joe and Lee and maybe a plate to work for my colleagues.

I did seek and find a keto Gingerbread recipe, so maybe some gingerbread men. I also found a keto Pavlova recipe, Tony loves a pav. I had a practice.

Not the prettiest, but it was huge and did taste good and it is Tony approved, so I'll have another go at that.

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We had a nasty Nor 'West wind storm that did a bit of damage to the garden. The poor beans I had just planted were cooked! I have had to replace them. My lettuce also gave up in the heat. My new greenhouse was damaged, but we were able to repair it, luckily the plants inside were ok. It's only a lightweight tube style frame with a poly cover, just a cheap thing. We have agreed that we will replace it with something sturdier next year.  We already have ripe tomatoes! This is the earliest we have ever had ripe fruit. Very excited for more of those. The courgette are about to go nuts I think, I looked yesterday and predict that I will be inundated with them very soon.  We go out every evening to water and set the sprinkler going for 40 mins.

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I'm on days off, today and tomorrow so hopefully I'll find time to have a play with needles and fabric. That would be nice but first I need to prune the roses before the rain starts. 

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And on a very happy note Deana has posted up the badge for next years Chookshed Challenge.

I'll need to review my list, I started it a while ago and posted it in a new tab at the top of the page but I'm sure I need to update it.

Thank you Deana I'm looking forward to another year of happy sewing. 

It's looking a lot like Christmas.

My baby boy has had his birthday. Twenty nine years old!

Where did those years go?

As I'm sure I have mentioned before, I never put up any decorations until after his birthday and yesterday was the day after his birthday. It also coincided with my day off work. I hurt my back at work earlier in the week so took things real slow, taking pretty much all day, with frequent breaks. Tony helped when he got home too.

You remember that I have more than one tree right?

This first one is in the corner of the dining room. There are lots of old favourites living on this tree, some that were on my very first tree in my very first apartment.

Next my white tree in the hallway. This one greets you as you walk in through my front door. Blue this year.

Hmm, I didn't get the best photo of it, sorry. There are quite a few handmade ornaments on it, some made by you and some made by me.

This mini tree also lives in the hallway this year. In the past I have had it in my sewing room, but opted for the hall way for a change.

Multi coloured balls and ribbon, the light jar next to it was a gift from a friend and has rainbow lights, though they look white in this image.

My favourite tree of all lives in our sitting room and has many, many hand made ornaments. The oldest of which is Mum's fairy. It was hand made for Mum when I was a very much younger person. I think she is about 45 years old.

Each year since we lost my lovely Mum her fairy has sat atop my tree. Now that I have amassed so many hand made ornaments it seems right that she rule over them all.

With the exception of the fairy and four golden bells, everything on this tree is hand made, by either one of you or by me. There are secret Santa swaps, surprise out of the blue pieces and regular swaps with dear friends all keeping company with items I have made myself.

This years secret ornament is already up there. Can you spot it?

LOL

Thank you to everyone who has contributed, I feel honoured and loved to be the recipient of so many beautiful pieces, and you have helped to make a very special tree. 

Another new start.

But first a look at some of the things that have been going on at work.

Jo, the activities lady and I showed the residents how to make these beautiful paper angels using books.

I forgot to get a picture of them all together, they are to be used as table dressing on Christmas day. Many of the residents joined in with the activity and we have a whole host of angels waiting for the big day.

They were quite easy to make, but I must confess it felt so very WRONG to be pulling books apart and folding the pages. LOL That said I've been to the op shop looking for some battered old books in order to make one or two of my own.

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The other day we had a Gingerbread Jingle party for the residents. A local choir came along to sing and we squeezed everybody in to the day room. Delwyn (Another activities lady) and I had made Gingerbread houses.

We had a lot of fun putting them together and Delwyn went to town sticking lollies and sweeties all over everywhere.

They were used as prizes at the Gingerbread party. Everyone who attended was given a ticket. Staff, family members and all of the residents.

I'm pretty sure all of the houses went to residents.

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And finally, my new start. My very first Celestial Star block.

I cut all of the fabric pieces and started to glue baste them while chatting with Chooky yesterday.

I have a lot more to cut and prepare.

I still didn't sort out or start another sewing machine project, but I have plenty to keep my hands busy.

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No grand children today, someone has an upset tummy.

I'm sure I will find something to keep me busy. 

Two finishes in one day...

 It's only the third day of December and I've already smashed two of my goals.
My list of goals for the month was very short and half of them have been wiped out already. That feels good.

Goal #1 was to have my Windswept quilt top completed by hopefully Christmas, or maybe the end of the month. Ha! I set to yesterday and turned all of those A, B and C blocks in to D blocks.

First I played shuffle on the design floor .

I got the feeling that I was being watched.

There was a peeping Tom. That is our neighbours cat Noah, he visits us every singe day. Under his watchful gaze I spread out all of my pieces.

And discovered that I was missing one B block. It really didn't take long to make that. Then I set about sewing things together in to D blocks.

By lunchtime I had all of the smaller pieces sewn up.

After a quick bite to eat I carried on sewing one D block to another and by mid afternoon I had a completed top.

Not the best picture, but you get the idea.

It still has all of the foundation papers in place and it needs a good press.

But I'm very happy to have it finished. This picture doesn't do it justice, the colours are amazing and it has turned out just as I pictured it. Now to find the perfect backing fabric and quilting design.

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So that was one finish, I promised two.

With plenty of day left and still needing to keep busy I pulled out my Blue lanterns.

There really wasn't much left to do there, with only 6-7 blocks left to add.

It didn't take long and I was done well before bedtime.

This one is also in need of a good press and there are also some papers still to remove from the outer blocks.

Not quite what I wanted. In hindsight some of those paler blue fabrics shouldn't be in there, but they came in a bundle that my lovely Tony purchased for me, so I felt like they needed be included. I still love it and already have backing fabric, I just need to find a quilting design. 

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A November goal that was completed but didn't get a mention was my ornaments. I had completed the stitching but they needed to be finished in to ornaments. I'm happy to say they were completed on the last day of November.

While I was poking about looking for something else the other day I found two other stitched ornaments that needed completion, so they were also taken care of in the same session.

I had a message from my daughter Kaiy in UK this morning to say that hers has arrived safe and well. No mention from the other overseas recipients yet, so still no peek at this years design.

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I have chores to do today, as I did nothing but sew yesterday. LOL

Then later I'll find something to play with. 

I still didn't begin the prep work for the next big EPP.

Winter Fairy is waiting patiently.

I'll need to figure out a new sewing machine project, or pull out a ufo/wip.

And there is some secret stuff I could be doing.

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See Grace, I'm still not listed under bored in the dictionary.  😂

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Chores for the day.

 #1 Get a warrant of fitness certificate for my wee car.

#2 Pick up some supplies for the garden.

#3 Bake a cake. Chocolate brownie I think.

#4 Do some puttering around and have a tidy up.

#5 Make a chilli for tea.

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And once that little lot is done.

Playtime!

I hope your December is getting off to a great start too. 

December Goals.

I had a bit of a think about what I want to achieve for December. All of my ornament obligations are done, some have even been mailed and are winging their ways over the world.

My Chookshed challenges were all achieved. (Note to self, write a round up blog post for that).

So now what?

My Windswept project appeared twice on my Chookshed challenge list. At the start of the year it was a bundle of fabrics and a pattern.  I worked on it throughout the year making a point of focusing on it when it's Chookshed number was drawn. 

All of the blocks are now made, so it is time to start joining them together. Hopefully this month I can sew the A blocks,

Together with the B Blocks,

And the C Blocks 

And maybe have a completed quilt top by Christmas, or the new year at least.

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My Blue lanterns EPP project saw some love today as I joined Chooky and the girls after work.

I also stitched on a couple of blocks on Friday evening too.

I have only 5 edge blocks and one corner block left to add. 

EXCITING!

This was the last image I took of this project. Another row of blue and the beginnings of the final white row have since been added.

It would be nice to have this one as a completed top by New Year too.

I have a lovely piece of baby blue minky to use as backing. It is wonderfully soft with a cosy drape and a velvety feel. I'm looking forward to snuggling under that next Winter.

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I also want to make progress on my Winter Fairy cross stitch.

And make some preparations for my next EPP

Some of you know already what that will be, you helped me to decide on zoom one day a while ago, but just so we are all in the same page...

I have had this book and the paper bundle since 2021.

They should be nicely matured by now.

And as you know my batik collection is continually growing and evolving. Betty decided that I should use a few of them for this project, so here we go.

It's going to be 

BRIGHT

I'm looking forward to it.

Those off whites that I have labelled for use as the white parts and the diamond pieces have been maturing in my collection for at least 15 years. LOL

The brights at the top were purchased earlier this year, so a good range of maturity should make for a nicely balanced quilt. LOL

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Of course if that is not enough I also have my crochet, some knitting, plenty of tops that need quilting and few other side projects on the go.

And I'm sure a squirrel will hop by at some point.

LOL

I won't be bored.

End of November.

 EEK!
Where did the year go?
I didn't set myself much in the way of goals this month, let's have a look at them.

1) Complete my final Chookshed challenge. If you remember it was set aside so that I could focus on the wedding dresses.

I'm happy to say the stitching is complete and they are sat here by my chair awaiting some final touches.

2) Complete the Happily Ever After cross stitch.

Done, framed and gifted to the happy couple.

3)  Complete the Ready Set Sew quilt.

Done.

A very happy quilt.

4) Get back to my Windswept blocks.

I completed the last few B blocks and made a start on C.

I think I have about two thirds of them made. I'm hoping to get time to make more today. 

5) Prepare fabric and paper pieces for my next EPP.

Well the fabric is pulled from stash but I didn't start cutting yet.

I'm calling it done as I did prepare fabric.

No rush as I still have work to do on my Blue lanterns. 

That's it, those were the goals I set.

Of course me being me, I chased a squirrel or two along the way. LOL

Lets take a look at the unplanned progress. 

The Flutterby Bunny was quilted and bound.

I love this one. It might be difficult to part with when the time comes. 

I completed an adopted cross stitch piece.

There really wasn't much to do on this piece, all of the critters had been stitched and enough of the floral border to enable me to copy it. The hardest part was sorting the threads from my stash as no chart or legend came with it. 

I'm happy to say it is framed and waiting for Mr H to add a hanging cord.

And finally I made a new start.

Winter Fairy won the battle to become my new cross stitch project.

At 16.8 x 15.4 inches and full coverage she might take me a while to complete. But that's ok. 

I've enjoyed what I have done so far.

And found a friend to keep me company while I stitch. 

Today is the last of my rostered three days off this week. My house and garden chores are all up to date so I plan to spend some time turning the completed Christmas mini stitches into Christmas Ornaments and spending some time sewing some Windswept blocks. Then later I'll get back to the Winter Fairy.

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We finally have some official wedding photos.

A better view of my boys in their kilts. I do like to see a man in a kilt, but a Grandson in a kilt trumps them all. 

And the Happy Couple.

That's it. That was my November.

I wonder what December will bring?

I'll have a think about possible goals today, while I sew.

New Project.

As you know, a finish means a new start.

I've had two completed cross stitch projects this month and while I was working on them I let myself think about what I might stitch next. There were a few things calling for attention but Winter Fairy has won. I really cannot remember where I came across this design but fell in love instantly. I asked Santa if he could find a pattern for me. He did one better and found a kit.

It is a full coverage and should hopefully keep me busy for a wee while. LOL

Some of the white areas are stitched with a special glow in the dark thread. 

I'm looking forward to this one. 

But first, some smaller items. At the beginning of the month I said that one of my goals was to complete my final two Christmas ornaments.

Here is one of them as a WIP. 

Can you tell what it is yet? LOL

I'm hoping to make great progress on this one today. Which will leave only one to stitch.

While digging through my box of stitch kits I came across this wee piece that was acquired at an Altrusa sale, like the Wildlife sampler I recently completed.

It's only tiny and might be a good one to squeeze in before I start the fairy.

Like the Wildlife sampler it had been started. Someone had put sellotape around the edges. EW! I took that off and quickly ran it through my overlocker. Much better.

She had also done 2.5 stitches. Hmmm.

I pulled those out and will start again from scratch.

That's my stitchy news.

Hope you have a great weekend. 

Another one finished...

As I have mentioned previously, I found the cross stitched Wildlife Sampler at an Altrusa craft sale back in 2023. I just couldn't leave it there, it's such a nice piece and someone has put a lot of time into it.

The border had already been started so I was confident that even without the chart I could manage to complete the piece. A query on a facebook group came up with the design name and origin. It was published in a needlework magazine back in 1991. I did find a copy of the magazine on ebay, but decided that I wouldn't need it.  

It took me a while on Friday to sort out the threads needed to complete the border.  And off I went. It really wasn't difficult to copy what had already been stitched. Though I did make a change. My corners are different to the one completed by the original stitcher.

I wanted some way to acknowledge that two people had worked on this piece.

As I have no idea of her or his name I wasn't able to give credit.

The best I could come up with is this...

I have a frame sat in the cupboard that should be just right for this piece, I'll clean it up and then my adopted Wildlife Sampler will be able to hang somewhere in my home.

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I did hint the other day that I was thinking about which Cross stitch to start next.

I think I had better get on and stitch the last two stitched ornaments needed for this Christmas.

Then maybe I'll take a look into that particular rabbit hole...

One I forgot to share.

The Flutterby Bunny quilt is finished.

The binding is on.

It was a greyish day when I went out for the photo shoot but I think I did ok.

She is quilted using a new to me pantograph from Urbanelementz.

It's called take flight.

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I'm making great progress on adding the border to my adopted cross stitch and have even begun to wonder about which cross stitch project I should do next.

I have more than a few to chose from. LOL

A Finish and an adoption....

It's amazing what three days off work can do.  I feel relaxed and rested even though I did a bunch of chores, the grocery shopping, some garden work and even an hour long Fire safety thing at work!

Amid all of that I made time to sew, and I have sewn up a storm. Well part of one. I managed to complete the last of the B windswept blocks. 

And today I made the first fifteen C blocks.

They will eventually all go together with the A blocks 

And my Autumnal windswept quilt will one day be whole.

Not really the finish you were hoping for?

How about this one?

Happily Ever After.

Not quite a wedding sampler, but it shares the same sentiment.

I will gift this to Joe and Lee.

It has stopped and started throughout the year, but here it is, finally completed and in a frame.

So what's next?

I should be working on two more Christmas ornaments, but instead I found myself pulling out something completely different.

I adopted this woodland sampler at an Altrusa craft sale last year. No chart, no threads just an almost complete design for $2. Here you see it as I adopted it, only the borders to stitch.

There should be more than enough here for me to copy.

A plea to a facebook cross stitch group revealed that the design was published in a needlework magazine back in 1991!

I did find a copy of said magazine on ebay for a not so terrible price, but thought maybe I could wing it.

I spent some time this afternoon sorting threads for the floral border. And this evening I have managed to complete the bottom border except for the orange needed for the centers of some of the flowers. 

I'll go to the sewing center tomorrow, before club.

Tomorrow is patchwork club AGM, then sit and sew Saturday. I'll be taking my blue lanterns EPP. It is so very close to being finished. I'm excited to have a completed top so that I can move on to a new challenge.

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That was my exciting news.

Bedtime methinks.