SSCS

my sscs present

the wall hanging

My SSCS travelled from Sydney to Melbourne where we spent Christmas with our youngest daughter Elizabeth, her boyfriend Jared and his family. Our eldest Kate her husband Graeme and their girls Lily and Violet and our youngest son Chris also came. That left Joshua, Jaclyn and Charlotte at home in Sydney, Josh has been teaching English at a local high school but wasn't there long enough to have enough holiday pay to make the trip. We are planning on doing Christmas with them soon.

I'm sorry for missing the bottom but doing things one handed is really interesting, you see my right hand is in plaster almost to my elbow. I have a bone in my hand broken after colliding with and tripping over outside AAMI park on Friday night when we were going to see Melbourne Victory play Newcastle Jets football game. Instead I spent a couple of hours in emergency having x-rays and my hand plastered, now in a sling for the next couple of days. We travelled home yesterday with Steve doing all the driving, I cant and Chris is on his P-plates and can only drive an automatic car not the manual 4 wheel drive.

Thanks chooky for organising it and Nemo for the lovely gift

Swaps, swaps and more swaps

Swap 14

rainbow jelly roll

swap 31

swap 29

christmas fatquarter  switch a roo

rainbow bag

On facebook there is a group called Rainbow charm square and more swaps I joined this group maybe back in August or September and so far have a huge pile of fabric to start making rainbow blocks next year. I want to make Oh Fransson Paint box quilt, the scrappy blocks.
Sally organised a christmas fatquarter switch a roo, I sent 4 fatquarters and got 5 back. The pink Sarah Fielke St Ives, Kate took as it was an extra and I already had it and the pinky brown flower was one I sent so I used it in the WMQG as wrapping for my mug rug.
I cut up some of the other charm squares and made this bag, the pattern is the Sawyer bag from Sara from sew sweetness.

Latest sewing

designer charm square swap

 On my design floor this afternoon is 224 half square triangles, these are from a charm square swap on facebook. I contributed 2 fabrics, a Anna Maria Horner and a Kaffe Fasset, there were 28 participants and the range of fabric is wonderful. I went to Wollongong Modern Quilt guild meeting yesterday all my grey squares cut and ready to draw lines across on the diagonal, stitch them and cut them in half. Today I pressed them open and then played with them on my lounge room floor. On Tuesday I am off the the Cottage Quiltworks at Warriewood for sewing day organised by Sarah Fielke and this is the project I am planning on taking.

my Kris Kringle from WMQG with my plain fabric

 Rachel the chief organiser of WMQG organised a Kris Kringle for our Christmas sew day yesterday. The 6.5" squares are what I received and the plain fabrics is what I plan to sash each block with and make an I Spy quilt that my granddaughters can play on.

mug rugs

 The mug rugs I made using up scraps of Denyse Schmidt fabrics bought from Spotlight on sale. The one on the left is using all the selvages sewn together, cut up and resewn together. I'm keeping that and the one one the right is what i gave for the Kris Kringle at WMQG.

bakers dozen drink coasters, wedding present.
There are placemats also but they are still to be made.

The chaplain to Sydney uni cricket and union teams got married on Friday. Mike ( the chaplain) and Amanda did a simple afternoon tea at the church instead of a big wedding reception. I made some drink coasters out of charm squares and planned to also make some place mats. The place mats didn't quite make being made but will be waiting fro them when they come back from their honeymoon.

SSCS arrived

ornament on tree

do not open until Christmas

My SSCS parcel arrived today from Norway from Tonje (I hope I have spelt it right). I have put the ornament on my tree and the parcel under the tree.

Airing of the Quilts, Braidwood

bargello quilt

 Saturday we drove to Braidwood, on the Kings Highway between Canberra and Batemans Bay on the coast. Each year they have an Airing of the Quilts, always near our wedding anniversary. I have been wanting to go to this for the past couple of years, at the beginning of the year I put it in the diary so we would not put anything else on that weekend. Steve really liked the quilt above and now he is going to pick the colours and I am going to make a Bargello quilt.

love those eyes

 Don't you just love the googly eyes on this chook, and if you look closely you will read "no roosters" and "chicks day out" in the fabric. The whole quilt was the same block, but this one really caught my eye.

loved this quilt

This quilt was wonderful, I should have taken a photo in the morning when you could see it really clearly. By 4 in the afternoon as we walked back to the car it was in shade. I was fascinated by it, each individual block was strip pieced - 1.5" strips and approx 3" square. I took lots of photos and anyone knows the pattern I would love to hear from you.

St Andrews Anglican church

This Anglican church built in 1892, designed by Cyril Blacket is a wonderful building, there were quilts displayed all around the walls, across the top of pews and in the choir seats at the front.

Steve checking out the front of the church,
the stained glass windows and quilts

from Mrs Macquarie's road the huge cruise ship leaving Sydney

Sunday was our 34th wedding anniversary, we went to church at GracePoint, Randwick, had lunch at a nice cafe, showed another church GracePoints building and then we ended up at the Botanic gardens, going for a walk around Farm Cove, up to Mrs Macquarie's chair. You could see the huge cruise ship across the cove and as we headed back towards the car it was moving down the harbour and out the heads. A lovely weekend but by Sunday night we were both exhausted. 

Minnie QCA travelling stash

what I took

what I added

Samelia's Mum

Anorina over at Samelia's Mum is having a giveaway of wonderful charm packs. You can  see the giveaway here. Actually she has some really good  giveaways at the moment, go have a look.

SSCS

My parcel ready to be sent

This year I joined in Chookyblues Secret Santa Christmas Swap and my parcel was sent this morning on its journey over the sea. In my parcel there is a tree decoration for my swap partner to open and put on their tree, a hand scarf and a bag made from a homespun pattern. The bag has stitcheries as part of the front panel, now I'm sure my partner doesn't read my blog but that is all the clues that I am giving until I know that she has received it.

November QCA Bee#2

Polariod blocks

These are the blocks I made Janine for the QCA Bee #2, they are heading to WA this afternoon.

green and yellow charm squars

There is a Rainbow charm square swap group and these are headed to Sally who coordinates the group for swap 31. Each swap is different, there is a 2.5" with of fabric that is also happening at the moment, I have some charm squares and jellyroll strips at Sally's due to leave her place next week. Don't you just love getting fabric in the mail.

another charm square quilt ready to go

Kate came to visit this morning and we laid out another charm square pack Hoopla by Moda, no designers name. I have the main print in white (4th row from bottom, left hand side) bought from Hancocks for the backing. Need to go clean up sewing stuff that has all been dumped on the dinning room table so I can do some sewing. Might even watch some cricket while I do it and then cut 5" white squares to go with the  blocks above.

I've been busy

Here in NSW our end of school exams in year12 are called Higher School Certificate - HSC, I am a supervisor of these exams at St Andrews Cathedral School. Work is March for half yearly exams, August for trials and October/November the HSC. This Thursday 8th is the end of these exams and it my final shifts, I am actually working all day. The pay happens in early December and this year it is going towards Christmas in Melbourne with Elizabeth.
Some sewing has been happening and some surprises arrived in the mail. I signed up for a birthday giveaway last year and then promptly forgot about it, this arrived the day after my birthday from Leona and I have signed up for next year as well and will probably forget again, nice surprise.

birthday surprise

I signed up for a pay it forward with Catherine and it arrived last week from Ireland

pay it forward from Catherine

The facebook group Quilt Club Australia - QCA has a sub group travelling stashes and Drover is one that is travelling around the country at the moment. You can take any fabric that takes your fancy but you must replace it like for like, I took 10 fat quarters and 2 charm packs and he will continue on his travels tomorrow, he is off to Armidale.

Drover, travelling stash as he arrived

what I took from him

I have quilted the baby quilts from an earlier post, one completely finished, 2 just need binding and I need to make some more tops so Kate can put them in her shop

other sewing that has been happening

the monster quilt for Kate and Graeme
The fabric is Stitch in Colour by Malka  Dubrawsky

 I made this quilt for Kate and Graeme (daughter and son in law) it is made from 2 layer cakes of  Stitch in colour and white 10" squares. It measures 104" x 123" (264cm x 312cm). There is enough squares left over to make pillow cases to match, the quilt will be for their king size bed with a big hangover the sides, the girls also like to sleep in mum and dads bed. The focus fabric, the one right at the front of the photo is part of the backing fabric, I bought it on Esty all 5 yards that the store had and the layercakes I bought from the lovely Anorina and little fabric store Fabric Buzz

cot quilt in Ten Little Things by Jenn Ski

cot quilt made in Curzo by Kate Spain

cot quilt made in Lollipop by Sandy Gervais

The 3 cot quilt are the start of a stash of quilts that I am making for Kate, and her store Sqishyboo. I have other charm square packs to make more, but first these need to be finished so she can sell them. Back to sewing and getting them done.

blocks to and from Susan

block for Susan

This is the October block for Susan in Maryland for the Block Swap Adventure, her request was for a pinwheel, string, snowball, square in square, 9 patch in any of these colours, aqua, red, pink, white. The only block left to do is McKenna's August feathered star that has most of the bee still shaking there head of how beautiful it is but also how complicated it is. That's why I like doing bee's, someone is always going to take you out of your comfort zone. This is the tutorial that she gave us to follow and it is not going to defeat me.

block from Susan

This lovely block is what Susan sent me for October BSA2

sscs 2012

I have watched this Secret Santa Christmas Swap over the last couple of years, tried to join once a few years ago but my email went into the ????. This year I signed up with Chookyblue and if I could work out how to put the link up I would. I am busy making my partners present, we make a gift for their tree that they can open straight away and a big present to under their tree to be opened Christmas day.
 I will take photos because it is a secret so my partner won't know that I am stitching them for her. I bought some Giggle button stitcheries, they are done and now I am going to make them into a table runner.

oh my goodness where has the time gone

October blocks for Kelly QCA bee#2

September blocks for Laura QCA bee#2

block  from Tara for BSA2

The block I sent Tara

Charlotte's first birthday with cousins
Lily and Violet

I have been busy, sewing, but not a lot to show, some blocks and a quilt for Kate and Graeme for their king size bed, some baby quilts for Kate to sell at squishyboo. I will take some photos over the next couple of days. Charlotte turned 1 on 2nd October and we had a teddy bears picnic in Camden. 

name game swap

my quilt

This arrived with courier this afternoon, Anna did a wonderful job, bold and bright and just my style

friends swap, what I received

4 fatquarters

ribbon

indulgence

embroidery thread, rainbow colours

notions - pins, tape measure, unpicker, scissors, thimble, needles

delicious - Whitmans sampler box and chocolate cover frogs

sewing stuff - sewing caddy and teapot pin cushion