Friday Already?

Ohhh my goodness, I was just getting done tidying up in the kitchen after dinner, thinking about what I'll work on in the sewing room, and I realised it is Friday and I don't really have anything noteworthy to share with my lovely online friends!

This week has been a busy one, with some unexpected family things, secret squirrell sewing, so many little bead heads being painted etc ... etc ... In amongst all that though, I did get a little felt crafting done:

This is 'A Partridge in a Pear Tree' from the mmmCrafts Twelve Days ornaments series. I've made it already for little Mary, but this one is for one of Marty's colleagues who lives in the USA. I wanted to get it in the mail with plenty of time to make it for the festive season. These ornaments are such a joy to work on, and I have a few more to go in the next few weeks.

I finished up some secret squirrell projects this week too, so I can't share those with you just yet, but soon, I promise!

The Xmas tree is also up after a big effort today, but I'll have to share a picture with you later as it's too dark to get a nice shot now. In fact, I will check back in at the end of the weekend with a more newsy post. So, chatter soon friends! xox

Such relief ...

This week I'm feeling so much relief that I'm really getting through some 'have to do' things. One of those things was to complete the tree skirt I shared an in progress shot of last week:

I've been trying to get a new tree skirt into my Etsy store each year, and this year the festive season is starting to draw very close. It's a quick make so I feel confident that people will be able to get one made in time with no trouble. This was such a fun project, and I was so happy to be able to use some fun fabrics. I don't have my tree up yet (which is so late for me) but I'm looking forward to putting this tree skirt to use.

Two other projects I'm working on I can't share just yet, but won't be long I promise.

On Monday I put together another block for the OPA Sampler sewalong. I challenged myself to work only from my 1.5" strips - I haven't actively added strips to that container in quite a while, so some of the strips in there are OLD. You'll see some very vintage repros in this block:

Block 22 - Brickwork

There is definitely a Smithsonian print in there, and several from the Ann Robinson collection - both of those are late 90's collections. I also see others that I know have been in my stash a good long time but I don't remember any details about them.

And last of all for today, I can share that last night I put the last stitches in the binding of the first of the Scrappy Stars Stitchalong quilts. In this picture you can see the plaid binding I chose really well, and also a hint of the random backing fabric I dug out of my stash.

I'm mad for plaid bindings right now, I just love how they look on the edge of the quilt, and I have several different colours to suit different quilts. Come to think of it, I really like a stripy binding too.

And as for that backing fabric, I really like it, but mustn't have had a plan for it. I'm trying to get fabrics like that out of my stash closet and used up to make room for future new fabrics.

After I'm done on here, I'm heading back into the sewing room, I'm really feeling like I'm on a roll right now and may be able to get a long term project completed this evening. Such a relief! So I'll chatter soon, thank you so much for stopping by xoxox

Limited sewing time ...

Sewing time has been so scarce this week that I have very little to share with you. My little Etsy store has been super busy and I've been painting wooden bead heads almost every day. It thrills me that people are so happy with my work, and I never grow tired of the darling little faces.

So, I have two things to share for you - the first up is a new tree skirt I'm attempting to have completed really soon. It'll be another option for people looking to stitch up something for themselves, and this time jelly-roll friendly so ppl can keep to a fabric theme/collection.

I'm having fun with these novelty prints, aren't they darling? I'm sure to be close to finished/if not finished by next week, so I'll look forward to being able to share more soon.

And today I made another OPA Sampler Stitchalong block as I've gotten well behind ...

Block 41 - Chessboard

This block absolutely could not be simpler, so it's a good one to get back on the horse with. And it's the only block in the quilt that is repeated, so I definitely knew what I was doing when I put it together. I'm hoping I'll be able to sew up another block tonight, but if I don't that's okay too :-)

Another thing I want to tell you about, and it's bothering me. I'm having loads of trouble commenting on peoples blogs recently, and I'm just not sure how to fix it. When I send lovely friends a comment after stopping by, I'm getting a message in my mail account saying Bigpond isn't allowing the comment. Gah! I'm not tech savvy enough to troubleshoot and fix what has happened, there must be an update that has messed things up. But I did want to send my sweet friends know that I have been visiting with you when I can, you just won't know that I've been by. I'm so sorry!

Anyway, that's enough from me for now, I'll check back in with you soon when I have something fun to share. Have a great weekend! xox

Checking things off the super long list!

Another wonderful week is drawing to a close, with many successes making me happy. I've been busy working on mmmCrafts ornaments:

These are so enjoyable and easy to work on. I have quite a few I'd like to get done before the big day. Some more for little Mary, and also Amy, plus some that I'd like to send to far away friends. They'll  have to be next on the list to ensure they get there in time.

And I did manage to quilt and bind the first of the Scrappy Star Stitchalong quilt tops:

I do really love a plaid binding, I have quite a few different colourways to suit different quilts. I think I'm mad for plaid in general, I'm always drawn to it in clothing stores and pretty much everywhere! I have some other things to work on for a bit, so I may have to put the second top on hold for a little while. Let's see how many hours I can eke out in the coming week.

This past Wednesday I went shopping with a lovely friend in search of something I have been seeking for YEARS!

I have wanted to get a Christmas Pickle ornament from David Jones for the longest time, and I'd never manage to get there in time before they sold out. Well this year I was determined to get in early and found one. Can I tell you that in store they only had 5 left already! Apologies for the blurry 'instructions' card, but you can see why the pickle is special. DJ's always have the most glorious selection of ornaments, so I got a few more things ...

Of course I purchased the Kitchenaid Mixer ornament, and the macaron ornaments too. They're so me. I know it's early to be talking about Christmas for some folk, but I needed to shop early to make sure I didn't miss out. Also, tomorrow is the day for the Adelaide Christmas Pageant, so it's traditionally the day I'd put our tree up. I'm going to wait a couple of weeks this year, as I need the space free in the lounge for a bit.

And the last Christmas themed info for this post: I've popped one of my finished tree skirts in my Etsy store if any of my sweet readers are interested. I really like it, and hope you all will too:

Please let me know if you have any questions about the skirt, I'll be happy to help you out.

I'll sign off here, there are still a number of things to get done today, and they day is disappearing, so I'll chatter soon! xox