Just a little...

Just a little bit of sewing that it.  As expected today was a thin on sewing day.  Hubby and I went off this morning and saw the new movie "The Pirates".  I really enjoyed it - not as much as last night's fabulous "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" - but it was funny and clever!  Afterwards we enjoyed a quick lunch before he headed off elsewhere and I headed home to start getting ready to have my nephew over for dinner tonight.  

I did sneak in a little sewing before it was time to put the roast and potatoes in the oven and make the salad- I made five new napkins.  Our old ones are cream ones that I bought and tie dyed about 13 years ago and they look like it too these days.  These are just two layers of fabric stitched, turned and top stitched but they look much cheerier than the faded green ones.  I have seven cut out but only had time to sew the five we needed tonight.  I am planning to stitch up a batch more in different fabrics just for fun!  When I have  a big crowd I can do mix and match!  In case it isn't obvious this one is folded in quarters.

 We had a lovely time catching up with Joel but it wasn't till after he left that I realized that I didn't get a picture of him!  Grrrrr.  I really have to remember the camera more often.  I am so out of practice though as it has been years since the boys willingly let me take a photo of them regularly!

I did squeeze in a little more sewing while hubby drove Joel back to him hotel in the city.  I managed to get all seven labels made - two for Aussie Heroes for quilts I hope to get in the mail this week and five for the quilts we are sending down to the Family of Five!  It feels so good to get them done!

And now I am off to bed - I have to get up in the morning and bake.  The boys are having their haircut and that means I owe the hair dresser payment of muffins and cookies.  I think it will be oat and cranberry cookies and apple muffins.  I will decide in the morning.   After the haircuts and the other errands I have planned while I have the boys in the car I am thinking I might blitz a few pairs of potholders off my list of things to do. But for now, I need sleep.

Till next time..............happy stitching!

More than I thought!

Well, I must say I achieved a good bit more than I expected today after all.  First up this morning I made a pavlova as my nephew from Western Australia is coming for dinner tomorrow night.  He has a conference this week and is arriving in town late tomorrow afternoon.  fabulous!  He hasn't been to Sydney since we brought him over when he was about 12 or 13?  He would be late 20's now and quite a lovely young man!

I managed to spend most of the afternoon sewing and soon whipped up all of the nine patches I needed for this quilt.  It needs to be sewn together and gets a narrow dark border and then it is done.  i actually think the tea towel is a little soft, maybe a little pale, but thankfully the nine patches seem to draw the colours out so I am really pleased and I think this will be a very suitable quilt to hang on an Aussie military wall!    Phew!  I hope I remember to put a rod pocket on it!  I am determined to get the top completed, and the backing pieced and labeled and a rod packet organised so that on the 18th of April, the next AHQ Sewing Day I can get some help layering it!

If I didn't have a bunch of orphan blocks to find homes for and some bundles waiting to be turned into quilts already I would be tempted to make some more nine patches but I don't want to start cutting out new blocks when there are already blocks to sew!

Hubby and I did get some time to ourselves today.  We went out tonight for a yummy dinner and a movie.  We did invite the boys to come with us - they laughed!  Undaunted we left them home and had a good time - we saw "The Best Exotic marigold Hotel"  - Loved it!  Fabulous actors, heart warming characters and gorgeous scenery.  My hubby has been to India probably about 50 times and he said it was pretty true to form which didn't surprise me!  I will always remember him telling me that he was visiting a site for work one day and the locals told him to always make sure he stayed on the path - because of the cobras!

He and I are off to the movies again tomorrow morning - to see ................wait for it..............

The Pirates, band of Misfits!

And yes, I am really looking forward to a good laugh!  

Till next time...............happy stitching!

M.I.A.

Have I really been missing since Wednesday's post?  My goodness, I think that is the longest break in posts I have had.  But there is a good reason.  This is the last week that Aussie heroes has to get quilts into the post so I have been flat out sewing.  As of last Thursday morning I had seven quilts to quilt and bind.  Well, I am pleased to say that as of just before dinner tonight I have bound the last one!  Yippee!  There are always more to do but that is it for now.  I still have some Aussie Hero sewing to do but I am going to share that with you as I think you might enjoy it.

So tonight, and for the rest of the weekend, whenever I have a few minutes to sew I am going to be working on these - 22 nine patches made from 3 1/2" squares.  It doesn't show up really well but each block will have four homespun squares and five Aussie Fabric squares.  I was asked for a quilt to hang in a Headquarters Office in Afghanistan to brighten their work area up and although I don't normally take requests for specific designs or themes I did for this one seeing as it is in a common area and I happen to have the fabric.  

 I don't have enough of the paler homespun so I am going to include a few random darker ones which I think will just add interest anyway.  there are a couple of duplicated Aussie fabrics nut not too many.

 The nine patches will surround this - a gorgeous tea towel that is one of thirty donated to us by "The Tea Towel People", The Rodriquez Company!  That is another reason I am happy and keen to finish this so that they can see the result of some of the generosity.

Can I just say too - thank goodness for sharp rotary cutter blades!!!  I go through a lot - trimming up 7 quilted quilts in the last three days can really kill a blade.  Gee a new one works a treat!

I hope you all have a lovely Easter.

Till next time..............happy stitching!

Del's Delightful Dalliances! Ha ha

Del came over today to help out with Aussie heroes but before we got started she showed me the gorgeous blocks she has been working on.  How gorgeous are these blocks!!!  So much work - the embroidery and the teeny tiny piecing!  Those teeny tiny shoo fly blocks are only about 4" big at the most!  Cute!

So far she has made two blocks 

 And is on her third

And there are nine in total.  If anyone wants to the pattern let me know and I will find out the details from Del.

Till next time..............happy stitching!

A good day's work!

I got started early.  If you read my last post you will recall that I managed to quilt both these quilts yesterday.  You can't really see the quilting on this one but I did a series of lines down from top to bottom.  I reckon this will look great on a single bed but I don't have a suitable room to try it out on - and by suitable I mean one that doesn't have teenager mess written all over it!  Yuck!

 I think this quilt is just gorgeous - but I really like bright pretty colours!  if you look closely you can see the gorgeous stripey fabric binding.  Both bindings still need to be sewn down but thankfully I don't need to do that.  I think this is a safe choice for a teenage girl.  Just hope she is not a tomboy or a goth!

 The boy's quilt is backed with more of the yellow and black check.  This is the backing for the girls.  I think it is lovely and given that Andrea already had it and we didn't have to buy it I think that makes it PERFECT!

 Irene made pillowcases to match both too.  

I am looking forward to them being completed so I can pack them up and send them on their way!

Till next time............happy stitching!

Mum's the Word!

Or at least it will be at the Mother's Luncheon with Maggie Beer which is in aid of the Children's Medical research Institute.  This quilt will be raffled there.  Andrea picked it up from the quilter today and doesn't it look lovely!  I still really love these colours and you just can't go wrong with pinwheels. All that remains now is for another Gumnut, Jennie, to sew the binding on.

 Andrea also worked overtime and put together all the pinwheels that we made at our last quilt group meeting.  She brought it over today and joined by Irene we layered and pinned all three quilts for the Family of Five.  

 Irene took the little girl's one home to quilt and I got stuck into the other two.  Phew!  Thankfully I managed to get them finished before the boys came home from school.  I really do like these colours!

Tomorrow I will trim the two that I have and make the bindings.  Fortunately I don't have to do the hand sewing.

Till next time........happy stitching!

Warning - really yummy recipe included!

Don't say you weren't warned.  I need some cookies tomorrow as some of the Gumnuts are coming to help layer and pin the quilts for the family of five.  And I also need cookies for Wednesday when we have an Aussie Heroes sewing day.  Plus it is good to have a little something to put in the boys' lunch boxes.  

Now I blame retromummy for me finding this recipe and she got it from here.  It is just too easy! 

 And sooooo yummy!

To save you going on a blog hop to find it here is the recipe.  Now this recipe is officially called 120 Cookies but I don't like that name so I want to give it another name - any suggestions?

Condensed Milk Cookies/Yummy Scrummy Cookies/Heavenly Cookies/Best Ever Cookies

Hmmm, the name needs more thought but the recipe doesn't!

500g butter or margarine

1 tin of condensed milk

1 cup caster sugar

5 cups of flour

Cream sugar and butter.  Add condensed milk and flour.  Roll into teaspoon sized balls and press down with a fork. (I  used my trusty small ice cream scoop and didn't flatten the cookies).  Place on greased or papered trays and bake in a moderate oven, around 180C, until golden brown - approximately 15 minutes.  

For a less floury cookies substitute half a cup of flour for half a cup of custard powder - oooh that sounds yummy.  I might have to do that next time!

Enjoy!

Now Cherry Red Sewing today - pout - plenty of sewing just no Cherry Red sewing.  It is a busy time for Aussie Heroes as we have just 14 more days to get quilts in the mail to Afghanistan and we have been asked to send some quilt to the hospital in Kandahar to be given to wounded soldiers who are transiting through on their way to military hospitals in Germany.  I am also organising quilts for the five chaplains who are distributing the quilts we are sending and also for a new team of Psych's who have arrived.  

Today I managed to finish one quilt for another special soldier (can't say any more just yet), and finished off a pretty pink and blue girly one - I also sewed the new April BOM.

I haven't even had much time to play with Snickers - she is doing her best to make me feel guilty

 And I keep getting these quizzical looks from Maisy too!

But right now, there is a pile of laundry waiting to be folded - oh the joy!

Tomorrow I will be layering quilts for the family of five with the other Gumnuts and then quilting at least one of them so photos tomorrow night.

Till next time..............happy stitching!