Surfin' Safari

What a FABULOUS time Barbara and I had last night!

 

Such wonderful singing and glorious harmonies.  I was very skeptical about the show but was blown away by how good they guys sounded.  Great non-stop party with the crowd on its feet dancing and singing along to hit after hit - they sang 52 songs!  I will be forever grateful to Barbara for taking me with her.

Tick Tock

The new clock is hanging on the wall in my sewing room.

The pattern is from Natalie Bird's book "With Needle and Thread".  I've been wanting to make one for myself for a good while now - love it.  Such a simple, clever design.

This and That

More busy times here.  I loaded Hunky Dory Spin onto the frame early last week

and the quilting is now finished and it's time to add the binding.

The Pretty Maids quilt top, the little Baboushkas, is together and ready for basting.  Maybe on the weekend.

Tomorrow my friend, Barbara, and I are going to see The Beach Boys - I really hope it's a good concert and their voices are still there.  Last Friday's show, Tap Dogs, was sensational - loved every beat of it.

Fathers' Day on Sunday is also Jenni's 25th birthday, so the family is coming for lunch - looking forward to that.

This Week

This week I have been jumping from one thing to another.  Started off loading Hunky Dory Spin onto the quilting frame and did a few rows, finished stitching out the Baboushka machine embroideries, stitched out some very cute Ragdoll Critters, finished the stitchery for a clock for my sewing room (made a couple of these in 2009 for Christmas presents and never got around to making one for myself) and yesterday I cut out the block pieces for the Baboushka quilt

Think I have just enough of both fabrics left for borders and binding

and finished putting together my Little Apples Imagine from Carrie Nelson's "Schnibbles Two".

Waiting to be pressed

Today I have a visit to the hairdresser plus Mum and I are going to see "Hope Springs", the new Meryl Streep movie - Margaret and David weren't very kind about the film, they could be wrong.  Eisteddfod set up and some cooking tomorrow then "Tap Dogs" tomorrow night with Jenni and a couple of friends, really looking forward to that.

Little Apples Double Irish Chain

Another WIP is finished at last:  Little Apples Double Irish Chain featuring Annela Hoey's very cute "Little Apples" range of fabrics.

 

I love the feature fabric on the front and decided to use it for the backing.  All the little creatures in this range are so sweet.  Hunky Dory Spin is almost loaded onto the frame.

Beautiful almost spring day here today - we've had lots of wind lately.

Pretty Maids

Had an idea for a new quilt on Wednesday so started up the embroidery machine and have been stitching out some pretty Baboushka/Matryoshka designs.

I think there are 12 different designs all up.

Another two pincushions are finished:  Anni Downs design from "Some Kind of Wonderful" and Natalie Bird design from "With Needle and Thread".

Another weekend at the eisteddfod coming up but nowhere as busy as last weekend.  Little Apples Double Irish Chain is quilted, the binding is sewn on and ready for stitching down - maybe start tonight and might have some time over the weekend to sew it down as well.  I'm working up the courage to put Hunky Dory Spin on the frame - could be this afternoon.

Big Weekend

We had a huge weekend - I'm exhausted but it's been great.  Thursday was eisteddfod cooking; Friday I spent about 5 hours at the hall helping to set up for troupe weekend then came home and started preparing for the engagement bbq.  All Friday the wind howled and we were a bit concerned that we wouldn't be able to cook outside on Saturday.  Was still very windy on Saturday but not too bad - John rigged up some windbreaks and managed to cook.  We had a houseful on Saturday for lunch and it was so lovely.  We've spent a fair bit of time with Matt's family over the (9) years and it's even better to see them to celebrate such a happy event.

Elizabeth and Matt cutting the engagement cheesecake (made by Jenni)

Sunday was spent at the eisteddfod cooking, cooking, cooking - I don't want to see or smell bacon and eggs or chicken schnitzel for quite a while.  Was there for over 12 hours but I love troupe weekend.

This morning I walked into the bedroom where Elizabeth and Matt stayed and found Elizabeth's glasses, makeup, contacts solution etc so decided to make a quick trip to Sydney - caught the train up and quite enjoyed the time to be able to read my book.  Met Elizabeth at QVB and she treated me to lunch.  We had a walk around QVB and I tried on a couple of dresses.  Just seeing what's around that I may like for the wedding - no date yet as they're still deciding on a venue.  Lovely surprise day out.