Dressmaking

Made a few dresses in January - a couple for me.

Last year my friend Jenny (AngelCake Quilting) and I visited Berry and I bought this beautiful spotted linen at Berry Quilt Co.  This is an "Eva" dress designed by Tessuti Patterns.

I planned to make an "Eva" dress for Jenni but made a mistake when cutting out the lower sections so she ended up with a top to wear over jeans or leggings.

Another "Eva" dress - this time for a friend who sent me some beautiful fabric to make myself a dress.

This is the fabric my friend sent to me - such a beautiful, soft linen from Tessuti Fabrics, made into a "Melba" dress from StyleArc Patterns - I thought this would show off the fabric with the front being cut in one piece.

Another quilt cut out last year was "Picnic" designed by Joanna Figueroa (FigTree and Company).  This is another stash-buster and is quick to make.

The quilt has lots of borders so that's a great way to use up backing off-cuts.

I was also able to make the backing and binding from stash - this piece of blue FigTree fabric was the perfect size for this quilt.

I cut into the "Dwell" fat quarter bundle to make "By the Seashore".

Finished making the blocks last night.  These colours aren't my favourite although I love the navy and pink colourways.

I've joined Thimble Blossoms' QAL making "You Have My Heart" quilt also using Dwell.

These are very speedy blocks to make - 12-1/2" square unfinished.

Forgot to mention - highlight of January was seeing Michael Sheen in "Amadeus" at the Sydney Opera House - phenomenal performance.  The whole cast, musicians etc were amazing.

Went to the "The Wharf  Review" last night - was so wonderful, funny.  I don't know how the actors remember all those words!

Friendship Blues

Gulli drew a beautiful picture for my Retirement Day Party and Jenni decorated the frame with resin and glitter - now hanging in The Pink Room so I can see it every time I sew.

"Friendship Blues" is a quilt designed by Lissa Alexander and was finished on New Year's Eve.  It's so great to make a quilt almost completely from my stash - I only needed to buy backing.

Karen (Quilting on the Coast) quilted it with "Whitney's Pearls"- a new design for me - the curves look great against all the straight edges.

In between my social life and child-minding, I fit in a fair bit of sewing ïn December-January.  Blocks were sewn for Thimble Blossoms' "Springville" medallion quilt.  Another stash quilt.  This was one of the bundle of quilts I cut out late last year.

Eleven months after the start of the Scrap Busters QAL for 2022, I started making Tula Pink's "Butterfly" quilt.  So many beautiful, colourful blocks in gorgeous Alison Glass fabrics.

Took me ages to find a border fabric - the Alison Glass fabric I chose has small, scattered designs on the pale aqua background colour.

Not much sewing for the little ones last Christmas - I made Nancy Halvorsen's scissor fobs as tree ornaments and machine embroidered toppers for candy canes.  The tea towel was for a friend.

Mum, my friends and I have seen a few movies lately - some I wouldn't recommend but suggest people make up their own minds about seeing ("Babylon" and "The Banshees of Inisherin") and some I've absolutely loved ("What's Love Got to Do With It?" and "Operation Fortune").  Looking forward to seeing "What's Love Got to Do With It?" again - Emma Thompson steals every scene she is in and is a superstar.

Two Months!

Far out!  It's been over two months since I wrote a blog post.  Life has been pretty busy in that time and it's only this week that I feel things are slowing down a bit.

Mum had a great 95th birthday with most of her family - she loves seeing everyone and is always so interested in what is going on in their lives.

16th December 2022 was my last day at work.  I've been on annual leave, now on long service leave until 4 April and from then on will be retired.  

Elizabeth and Matt hosted a lovely celebration party with my family and closest friends.  The only photo I took was of the cupcakes Elizabeth and the littles ones made and decorated.

Christmas was fun - our family celebrated together on Christmas Eve and some of us celebrated with Michael, Peta and Gulli on Christmas Day.

Such a fantastic Christmas present from Elizabeth, Matt, T & H - it's now hanging in The Parlour and I see it every time I walk into the house, from where I sit in the loungeroom and when I go to my bedroom.

Not much to write about ...

I've been busy at home decorating the house for Christmas.  Mum's birthday is this coming Sunday and I like to have most of the decorating finished so that the all of Mum's great-grandchildren can enjoy it all when they come for Mum's birthday lunch.  Vinnie has visited a couple of times over the last two weeks and has had a ball playing with the train etc.

On Saturday, Elizabeth, Lynell and I went to Sydney to see "Moulin Rouge" - loved it.  I've known one of the main performers since he was a very little boy and it's wonderful seeing him shine.  So much colour, fantastic singing and dancing.

Very little sewing over the last couple of weeks - made Simone Gooding's "Jumbleberry Santas".  They were very enjoyable to make and a nice change from sewing quilts and dressmaking.

All of the littlies were at my place on Sunday to decorate the Christmas tree.  Such a fun day and they each took home a Santa and a new ornament for their trees at home.

Love the little foreman with his garden spade.

Scrappy Log Cabin

This is the second extra-large scrappy log cabin I've made and it was just as much fun as the first one.  So many favourite fabrics and last pieces of many of them.

I love polka dots and they work really well for the setting triangles and the posts.

A pretty Bonnie and Camille floral for the backing with a scrappy binding and Baptist Fan quilting.

Yesterday I posted Friendship Blues to Karen for quilting and that will be the last quilt for this year - there were also a cushion cover and two pillow shams in the package.  Time to start Christmas sewing for the little ones and the house decorating has also begun.  So many social activities in November leading up to Mum's 95th birthday party on 4 December.

I had dinner with The Schoolgirls on Friday night then went to the local races with a bunch of friends for a Rotary Club fundraiser.  Jenni, Kurt and Vinnie stayed over on the weekend and Vinnie went to his first show - his mind was blown seeing The Wiggles in Wollongong.