Sewing

I was trying to be more regular posting but has been a month, a crazy month with lots happening.

Today I have been sewing today, the last QCA bee #2 block for 2013 is on its way to Amy. I sewed sampler blocks of Joshua's block from October, Amy's from December and Jessica's from January the last block from last years bee. Josh's block being 15" x 8" is a little hard to resize into 12" x 12" block can't imagine a square Union Jack, can you, so his will go on the back with all the names of this years participants. The quilt is made using Denyse Schmidt fabrics and plain grey. I've added a 5" grey border and when it is quilted I will use up my scraps to make the binding.

Amy's block

my take on Joshua's block from October

my sampler quilt top from this years bee
(don't you love that take great photo's of my toes)

There is also secret sewing going on, Christmas presents, I will take photos and share when they have been given.

Monday it was Steve's birthday, I bought him Lego Villa Savoye part of the Architecture series, cool isn't it. Elizabeth, Jared and Chris bought some Creator Lego. Lily and Violet rang him and sang happy birthday which he has kept and turned into a mp3 so he can listen to them regularly.

What happened next

On 16th November I joined the other Mill Rosie bloggers for our Christmas gathering, the swap for Christmas was a Red Brolly pattern, I bought the pattern for
and made the little basket and filled it with chocolates and made a free tree decoration from her website.

My secret Santa swap

some of the lovely swaps presents

On 25th November we, Steve and I had been married for 35 years, we spent the weekend doing lovely things together, brunch on the Saturday then catching the train into Melbourne CBD and exploring laneways and shops. On the Sunday we went to Point Nepean markets, these are all the way down at Portsea on the old Quarantine Station .

The view

Pine plantation near Oberon

Down a dead end track

Brumbies, Kosciuszko National Park

dead trees just so beautiful

one of the many dams in the park

After yesterdays words only post I thought I would share the view from the car as we drove back to Melbourne the other week. We decided to not just drive down the Hume highway, the road between Sydney and Melbourne,in fact we tried very hard not to but you have to get on it somewhere and we managed to not join it until Wangaratta. Having left the southern highlands we drove and spent the afternoon with Lily and Violet (granddaughters) at various parks around Camden ending up at McDonalds at Narellan for afternoon tea. Leaving them at home we headed to Penrith and up Hawksbury Road and through Yarrimundi  and Winmalee where the bush fires were recently. We drove down to where we had lived 30 years ago the other side of the ridge from where many of the fires were and then onto Katoomba where we stay the night.
We visited Leura school markets before heading over the mountains and through pine plantations, there was a tree fallen on the track so we had to turn around before heading onto Oberon, from here we drove to Goulburn, Braidwood, Cooma, Tallangatta out to Wangaratta and home.

Do you have.......

a family secret or a mystery or something that is sort of legend but not real sure if it is true or not. We have a few, my grandmother was married before she married my grandfather actually both my grandmothers were married before they married my grandfathers, weird hey! My mothers parents lost their spouses, my grandmother Florence Evelyn Allen (nee Rushworth) lost her 1st husband to war injuries from WW1, my grandfather Andrew James Frankland lost his 1st wife to Spanish flu. They married and added to their 7 children between them, my mum, her sister and 3 brothers. My fathers mother Edith Lepine Gray was married to  Apcar Leslie de Vine before she married my grandfather Percy William Ford. The rumor here is that he ran away from England with their son and she followed him to Australia. I have found on ancestry.com their marriage certificate and Acpar's marriage to someone else but nothing that tells me if they had a child or not, but I am still looking into it. When your grandmother is 72 when you are born 1956 it make doing family history in 2013 a little difficult. My sister in law Shirley has added some history for me......she wrote

 "Grandfather Frankland served in British Navy WW1 and paid his way out of service whilst in Australia. He served as a Warden in WW11 which meant he had to walk around the streets of Sans Souci checking blackout curtains were closed properly.Grandfather Ford was a cabin boy during Boer war served at Gallipoli where he was wounded evacuated to Lemnos and returned to Gallipoli. Then went to Africa where he lost his leg when the camel he was riding was killed by an artillery shell. He died when his appendix burst shortly after having had one of his numerous operations on his stump. Two operations was too much for him to cope with"

Steve has always had rumors that one of his ancestors was aboriginal but given his dad died 40 years ago it has always been just a rumor until recently when his uncles granddaughter Kym was researching her great grandfather that the truth has come to light. A great read and some really interesting history, we have discovered that where Joshua and Jaclyn got married at the Colebee Centre in the Nurriagingy Reserve is where the family was granted land. We have always wondered why the Penrith NSW district was so familiar to him now we know why, this also means I'm married to a one eighth aboriginal.

This post is all about today Remembrance Day 11.11.1918 it got me thinking if my grandmothers first husband William Allen hadn't died of his injuries and Steve grandfather was a Boer war soldier as was my grandfather Ford or so I am led to believe (another mystery to solve). My dad served in PNG in WW2 and my eldest brother was in Vietnam when I was in high school. My brother in law has also served overseas more recently.

For those who served and continue to today...............Lest we Forget 

A wedding quilt and some other sewing

Add caption

Elizabeth sent me a link to this quilt and said she would like it made in red and blue, following the instruction I ended up with more diamond than I needed, so I have done a complete star below and added an extra point when we got back from our 9 day trip to Sydney and surrounds. The sewing was done at Clare's (no blog) while Steve spent the day at meetings and at Capernwray while Steve was at the board meeting.

 I joined the QCA hand made swap - a  needle case this time. I posted it to its new owner on Friday so it should be there soon

10 weeks

some of the girls at Mill Rose Cottage

Where has the time gone, we moved 10 weeks ago. All the important stuff is unpacked, there is just 20 or so theology book boxes to be unpacked, sorted out, given away or repacked for later. So........ what have I been up to, we bought a new car, a 3 year old Mitsubishi Outlander, I went to a QCA Melbourne meet up at Sharryn's place at Narre Warren, I joined the MMQG and went to a sew day at GJ Fabrics, discovered the NOTYQ although I have only been once as the family came to visit for Elizabeth and Jared's engagement party and when I went to go last Thursday it was pouring, so I sewed at home. I have been to the Ballan and Mill Rose Cottage for a millrosiefriends get together, the next one is 16th November and the swap will be a Red Brolly gift. We drove back to Sydney at the beginning of September and flew up 2 weeks later for the final Penrith Panthers presentation night, after 17 years as the chaplain of the club Steve has passed the baton onto someone else. At the end of the month we will head back to Sydney for a week as NSW SCA are having their conference day on 26th, Steve is preaching at Crest Community Baptist church on 27th and he has a Capernwray board meeting in the southern highlands on 31st and 1st November.

lots of boxes to unpack

almost there

Done 

My sewing space is working well, from many boxes to a space that works

Steve and Warren talking at Presentation night at Panthers

I have been sewing making August and September blocks for QCA Bee#2, a mini quilt for a swap and more blocks for my month in the bee as I want a square quilt not a rectangle

August for Kate

September for Rose

Mini quilt  for handmade swap for Ineke

my quilt so far 

I have made 4 extra blocks for my quilt, there are 3 still to come.

Christmas in July reveal

my lovely wrapped presents

tree

Santa

snowmen table runner

  my extra surprises.....

christmas pegs

fatquarters and buttons

chocolate

Today I was allowed to open my Christmas in July swap presents, organised by Cheryll, first there was a blood test then help deliver daughters car for service then home and open my lovely parcels from Cath.  They are now packed into boxes and my sewing room is empty

waiting to be moved out

my chair looks lonely

Next week we move to Melbourne, leave our youngest son (26) behind and gain his sister who has studied and lived in Melbourne for the last 8 years. Elizabeth is saving for a wedding and moving in with mum and dad helps to save money, plus she will get home cooked meals by mum most nights.

Christmas in July

at the post office, ready to go

I joined Cheryl's Christmas in July swap, it was posted late yesterday and is now on its way to it new owner. It was a secret  handmade swap, my last post you can see what I made, I forgot to take a photo of the mice on the tote, too late now when it reaches it new owner  hopefully she will share a photo and you will see what I did.

christmas in july swap

Christmas in July swap

 June is almost over and at the end of July we are moving 1000 km south to Melbourne, where Steve will have already started his new job. These are for the Christmas in July swap I am part of, 3 gifts made from the letters of Christmas , a mouse on tote bag, stars on a mug rug and an angel to watch over pins. They will be wrapped in pretty paper and sent on 15th July to there new owner.

QCA bee#2 blocks

January to June

April

May

June

I spent yesterday sewing, I made April, May and June blocks for my sampler quilt. Each month I am making a block to send to a new owner and a block out of Denyse Schmidt and grey as my plain fabric to have at the end of the year as a reminder of the bee. April block is still my least favourite so far, I like the look but my brain has trouble with the putting it together.

Sydney Quilt and Craft show

Kathy Doughty in masterclass

Wendy Williams in masterclass

 Clare and I went to the Sydney Craft and Quilt show last Thursday, we booked into the Masterclass with Kathy Doughty and Wendy Williams at 10am. We wandered around that end of the hall looking at various stalls, fondling fabric, looking at wonderful patterns, notions and being inspired.

my goodies from the show

We bought stuff, the bag below is a Monica Poole pattern bought at Rosehill earlier this year, the pattern also has a spring loaded frame which I bought so I can make another bag, I heart patchwork was on $5 from Keith Ainsworth books, stitch is one of my favourite USA magazines but to buy at my local newsagent cost $26.95, uniquestitching were selling them for $13 each, some superior topstitch needles and thread from Punch with Judy. There is some easy threading needles, some wonderfil thread and a panel of Christmas fabric for the Christmas in July swap I am in.

New bag with a Monica Poole badge

I showed Monica my bag made from her pattern and received the pretty pink badge from her, it is a great bag, enough pockets and the really useful thing was putting an open ended zip in it, as per instructions.

Mothers day present arrived

Chris asked what I wanted for mothers day, yes I know it was a month ago but he had to wait for payday and then forgot and had to wait for the next one and me remind him to order from book depository, long story short it arrive Thursday and was at my front door when I got home from the city. I am not allowed to start anything new until some of the tops are turned into quilts, I have done the girls, got my been in oz ready to quilt. With moving in the next 6 weeks or so to Melbourne I will be packing up my sewing room soon as well as the rest of the house as Steve starts his new job 8th July but we are still looking at where to live.

Bee in Oz top finished

finished, now to baste and quilt

signature blocks for the back

Nothing like a move to get the I got to get it finished happening. Having finished the girls quilts this was the next one that I want finished. The blocks were made in 2011 by a flickr bee group, Bee in Oz.

Last one finished and a win

Violet and Lily

stitched in yellow cotton perle

backing "It's a HOOT" by MoMo

Lily's quilt had the binding sewn on yesterday and was finished for her to take home last night. There was no way I was going to be allowed to wrap it and give to her on her on her birthday on the weekend, just as well grandma has Lego ready to wrap for her special day.

my winnings

Amy of And Sew We Craft had a a giveaway back at the end of April and I won these lovely charm packs all 6 of them, there are 2 of each set. The parcel had to travel from one side of Australia to the other and took a while, it arrived on Tuesday when I was at Clare's sewing. Aren't they lovely, I have already been asked by Kate what I plan to do with them, the Reunion will go with the small amount of yardage that is in my stash, the Twirl and Hullabaloo I will dwell on for a while as I am in a finish up the WIP at the moment. The next thing to be finished is my Bee in Oz quilt from 2011, final borders need to be attached and then quilt it.