Deconstructing....

Way back in June when it was cold I felt the urgent need to make a couple of scarves....

these were done with some large 'scraps' given to me by a friend.... I joined the pieces and purchased some more flannel for the back...

Well, now I have decided I don't really like them... just a bit too wide and bulky .... so I chopped up the two large ones....

and joined them together again.....

... then decided they needed a bit of extra gold to give them a bit of zing (Chris helped me choose.. thanks Chris if you are reading this... it's a perfect gold for what I wanted) 

Hubz was busy doing his own deconstructing so I drew, cut, ironed and sewed....

... and now I have a new lap size quilt top.... 

 It's really what I should have done in the first place.....

This is our porch where Hubz spent most of his Saturday.....

... hasn't even got the poles now....

... it's just bare cement... waiting for it's facelift.... so it will be all beautiful for Christmas...

I hope you managed something constructive over the weekend....

Righto, Gotto Go.... I want to tidy a shelf.... just one mind you... only can cope with one at a time!

One of those days....

Do you have those days when you want to do something specific but then faff around because there are so many other things to distract you???? I'm having one of those days so I thought I would faff around and do a blog post....

This is the task for today......

 Pinning my polar bear quilt (design by Toni)  which I made up some time ago .... (pattern is called Baby It's Cold Outside and can be found in Toni's shop HERE )

... see my new table top...... we have a board we put on top of our dining table which is especially for me to pin quilts on.... it goes over the edge so I don't do any damage with clips and pins....  well the board was getting messed up with all the stabbing and regular sandpapering and cleaning was annoying me.... Hubz and I glued on some vinyl over the weekend.... (I know... me outside in the heat doing stuff like gluing!!! sigh)

... anyway it looks fantastic and I want to try it out....

before pinning started my stuff for wrapping seemed to just arrive on the table....

and now I have a bunch of parcels under the 'Ausi Christmas Tree".... maybe I could splash out and get a nice big one this year?????

Most of the stuff I've been sewing is secret.... so I found some quilting I did a little while ago to show off....

Kris (from Tag Along Teddies) moved house and wanted a big of colour in her bedroom fairly quickly.... so she bought a couple of big sheets and passed them onto me to play with.... (isnt' that fun I get to play with other peoples toys!!!)

Kris loved Celtic and so I found a celtic love knot on line and made a template for the centre of the quilt....

This I gave an outline border ....

.. and then another border of celtic knots 

... big sheets have big spaces to fill and I filled up with hearts and butterflies on a twirly vine ... also things that Kris loves....

finally around the border I added a huge big ribbon type edge...

two side still had some space to fill so those little borders of feathers were added to finish it off....

 I have tried to capture a feeling of the whole quilt in this picture.... lovely quality sheets so it feels very lovely and soft .....

If you pop along to Kris's house HERE you will see her lovely bedroom space she has this quilt... and it shows a much better colour than I have managed to get....

Righto, Gotto Go... time to stop procrastinating... perhaps some tea first?????

Job done.....

Last week I posted off new grandiegirl Astrids quilt and Christmas stocking ...... I know she won't know but I think it's nice for the family to have it all as soon as possible....

Now elder sister does like her gowns.... and we do like to acknowledge our royal connections .... so I made her a suitable dress for entertaining visitors....

... so this went off in the parcel too.... hope it fits!!!

We have been in this house for 10 years now and always meant to fix up our driveway.... it slopes into our open garage and when we are lucky enough to get rain all the silt from this gravel goes everywhere..... plus peoples who can't reverse properly up hills (no names mentioned!) dig holes in it!!!

finally the big boys came along to our place....  I enjoy watching the process of how they do these things....

at the end of Day 1.... you can see it is quite a long driveway ....

... first thing the next morning......

late afternoon inspection by the site supervisor.....

... and we have a new driveway...... 

.. the porch is next.....  

Righto, Gotto Go.... today I need to work on some Christmas ornies...

FNSI results.....

Friday was a sewing day for me.... various bits and bobs got done and I carried on in the evening with it...... I do like those days..... joined in the evening by lots of other friends at FNSI hosted by Wendy... thanks for having us ....

I bought this fabric a few years ago.... I just love it - butterflies and bees and lady bugs.... finally decided to use it.... and some other fat quarters....

some simple quilting

then I finished off the hand stiching for my next section of  "Times Gone By" sampler and joined it to the pieced blocks.....

there is a bonus little birdie pattern with this block..... so now I have a new thing on my list!!! 

... here it is joined it onto the other blocks......

the other strip of letters and numbers will go below the next block.... which I need to prepare...

Later I did some hand stitching of this cute stitchery (Michelle Ridgeway design) ..... 

... and did several small bindings....

... to make up some wine totes for Christmas gifts.....

 

I used THIS lovely tutorial from Kate at Needle and Spatula... easy to follow and fun to do... as you can see by the ones standing up they are a perfect size for a favourite tipple ..

I used the thermal lined wadding so hopefully it will keep cooled wine cool for a little while... I thought my favourite fabric one would be perfect to take on a picnic

Righto, Gotto Go.....  need to get on with some ornament making ....

Christmas is coming.....

I have posted off a couple of secret parcels.......

these are for Chookyblue's SSCS swap and my parcels are off overseas... and another small one is staying local....

I started making my grandchildren their own personal stockings a few years ago .... this one was needed quickly to post off over seas so I based it on a ready printed panel....

.... she is lucky and has two sides to her stocking.... and it's big enough for her to use as a sleeping bag!

the pictures have been diddled up with quilting and buttons, bells and fuzzy noses and fluffy hat wool...

I received these lovely bauble buttons in a parcel a few years ago... absolutely perfect for this project

sparkly, jingly ausi animals....

.... I just had to add this cute little 'hand made' hand charm....

lots of quilting in a glitter thread....  you can't see it in the pictures very much but the stocking sparkles nicely...

.. so much sewing to get done ... I have moved into the dining area to sit under the aircon....

Hubz laughs at my 'princess and the pea' throne.... I need the height when I'm quilting or my shoulders hurt... however this bunch of cushions does squish down a fair bit!!!!!

Very busy trying to get all sorts of secret stitching done.... I am so grateful for these little balls of energy drink.....

Righto, gotta go... back to work