February Wrap Up

It seems only yesterday that it was the start of the month and I had ages to complete everything that I wanted to.  In some ways, I achieved much more than I expected at the start of the month, as we were supposed to be in New Zealand.  On the other hand, when that fell through, I had grand plans in the back of my mind.  Some were achieved, others will be carried over to the future.

So what did I get done?

ONE MONTHLY GOAL

My goal was just to have my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks made.  A minimal goal, as we were were supposed to be travelling. That was completed in the first couple of days.

I’ll link up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts.  Pop over to see what the other ladies got up to.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

See above.

HAND STITCHING

I had hoped to make a small start on the second EPP borders on the Blue Quilt.  

I far exceeded expectations on this front, completing the second borders and being over half way done on the Dresden sections.  That was definitely a win for the month.

However, I didn't spend any time with my cross stitch kitten in February.  I'm not too worried.  There is no deadline and I have to be in the right mood for this one.  It will happen, all in good time.

15 MINUTES A DAY

I am really happy with how this is going too.  I missed just one day in the month, so my figures to date are:

15 minutes day/February = 27/28

15 minutes days in 2023 = 57/59

Success rate = 96.61%

I am very happy with that.

Pop over to Kate at Life in Pieces to see how the other ladies went.

FRIDAY NIGHT WITH FRIENDS

Not so much stitching during the evening, but a couple of hours in the morning made up for it.

Thanks to Cheryll for making this possible.

I have some other regular goals that weren't mentioned at the start of February, but I did try to work on.  I seem to have so many goals each month, which probably accounts for me flitting from one project to another all the time.  At least I can't get bored with anything.

UFO/WIP

This is where the Twister Quilt comes in.  Borders added.

Also, the bibs have been completed.

As well, I finished off some little butterfly magnets that have been hanging around for quite some time.

DONATION PROJECT

The little premmie baby quilt fits this bill, as do the  bibs.

LEADER AND ENDER PROJECT

I did fall down on this one.  Not much was done.  I need to get more fabric prepped.

KNITTING OR CROCHET

A little crochet happened, but has stalled at this stage.

I'm off and running again on my scarf, which is very enjoyable.  It is so lovely and soft and light.

ONE FINISH A MONTH

Exceeded, although they are all small projects.  The premmie baby quilt, bibs and butterflies.  Still, better than nothing.

USE MONIQUE.

A big fat fail.  Next month.

STOP PRESS

After initially preparing this post I went into the sewing room and put another baby quilt together.  It is rather cute.  Now I have something to practise quilting on.

Now on to the non stitching goals, which weren't mentioned at the start of the month.

READ A BOOK

Yes, I did read two.

TRY A NEW RECIPE

That only took place today.  We made another batch of tomato sauce.  I've only ever made Grandma's recipe and it is really dark, made with brown sugar, malt vinegar and lots of spices.  It has quite a bite to it.  We wanted to try to make a more traditional red tomato sauce.  We found a recipe in the Trunkey Creek School cookbook.  The ladies out in that small village are known for their excellent country cooking.  The recipe uses white vinegar, white sugar and only has cloves and cayenne pepper for the spices.  The taste is quite different - less spicy and sweeter - and it is red.  It will be nice to have the different varieties to use.

They look quite different, don't they.

HAVE A FUN DAY OUT

We ticked that box several times.  February sees the start of so many community events, as the weather is generally stable and will now start to cool down a bit.

12 Hour Car Races

The Oberon Show

100 Years of the Archies

Motorcycle Show

Sofala Show

Oh, and yesterday we went out to a mate’s place and picked some blackberries.  We had hoped to get enough for jam, but they weren’t all that good.  Despite all the rain we received at the start of the year, February has been rather dry and therefore the berries were rather small.  We did get enough to have a few with pancakes or in a breakfast parfait.  Just a nice taste.

There was also the little market I went to and fishing at Oberon Dam.

We were out and about quite a bit.  Such fun.

MOTORCYCLE RIDE

No, not as such.  Just Mick taking the bikes into the show.  It is too hot for pleasant riding at this time of the year.

USE THE CARAVAN

No, and we didn't expect to.

WALK

I've eased up on this.  Slack!  I need to ramp it up again.

So, that wraps up February.  A month that ended up being very different to what we originally expected, but enjoyable just the same.

Another Week Over

I’m finding it interesting to try and remember what we got up to in the last week.  It never seems to be much, but once it is written here there is just a bit.  I suppose the fact that we are not having to try and fit everything around going to work makes life much more relaxed and enjoyable.  So, what did we do?

On the stitching front I seem to be setting a trend of not sticking with any one project, rather jumping from one to another.  I probably need to settle on something and finish it soon.

Firstly, I finished cutting out the background for my Denyse Schmidt project.  It is now nice and tidy in a project box, waiting its turn.

Last week I mentioned that I was in the process of adding the borders to my Twister Quilt.  I told myself that I wasn’t going to bed on Tuesday until it was finished……..So, I cleaned the bathrooms, pulled everything out of the big hall cupboards and tidied them up, did the washing and ironing, cleaned and descaled the coffee machine and my iron……in effect, just about anything to avoid adding the border.  

Finally, at about 9 o’clock at night I bit the bullet and went into the sewing room and got stitching.  I hadn’t realised how big this quilt would be.  It is 84 inches by 75 inches.  After only quilting a tiny baby quilt it will be quite a jump to quilting this on the frame.  I’d really like to have it done in March, but will do a couple of more small ones first and see how I go. 

Here it is, ready for the next step.  I do still have to piece the backing and fortunately, I will have just enough fabric for that.  I now realise that I have not made the binding long enough, but will fix that up a little later.

Ages ago I made a pile of bibs from a couple of panels I found hiding in my stash.  However, they haven’t had their snaps added, as that is another job that I just do not enjoy.  I have been using the metal snaps and quite often they don’t go on properly.  Anyway, my neighbour’s grandson needed a few bibs, as he is teething, and this was the good excuse to get them finished, so he could have a couple.  Yes, more dramas with adding the snaps.  I have now been shopping and have a pack of a squillion colourful plastic snaps.  They should last me for the rest of my life.  So much easier to apply.

It is such a good feeling to finally have them all completed.

At my stitching groups I have continued to work on my EPP Dresden sections.  I now have enough for two sides of the quilt completed.  If I continue to get four done each week, they will all be completed by the end of March.  I would be very happy with that.

Finally, I have once again picked up my knitting needles.  Remember a couple of weeks ago I had started a scarf/shawl and said how I was rather obsessed with it?  Well, not long after that I dropped quite a few stitches, in the pattern section.  I tried to pick them up and continued to get in more and more of a muddle, so I decided to rip it back to the garter stitch section, but still had no joy picking up the stitches.  By then I was over it, so ripped out the whole thing, back to the start.  Even as I did it, I didn’t mind too much, as I knew I would enjoy knitting it once more.

On Wednesday I started over and have now passed where I was up to previously.  Yes, I’m really enjoying it again.

I have completed my 15 minutes each day last week, although most days it wasn’t all that much more.

My tally to date is:

15 minutes day/week = 7/7

15 minutes day/February = 25/26

15 minutes days in 2023 = 55/57

Success rate = 96.49%

I’m pretty happy with that.

I’m linking up with Kate from Life in Pieces.

Now onto other things.

Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday, so we had to enjoy some pancakes for breakfast.  Yummo.

We’ve been making preserves again.  This time Tomato Sauce, using my Grandma’s recipe.  There is another pile of tomatoes sitting on the kitchen bench, so more cooking this week.

We were out and about on Saturday, as the annual Bathurst Street and Custom Motorcycle Show was held in the centre of town.  Mick took in “Floyd” the new to us black BMW and “Snubby” the silver BMW sidecar.  “Snubby” didn’t want to start, so a jump start was required.  He nearly stayed home.

It was a good thing that Mick did take him in, as to our surprise he won the trophy for “Best Engineered Motorcycle”.

We had to laugh, as Snubby would have been the scruffiest bike down there.  However, all that red section at the front is rather technical and not something that was just bought off the shelf.

Two of our mates also won their sections, which was pretty nice, as most of the bikes were from out of town.

The number of bikes on show was huge and it was just as interesting looking at the the bikes that just came as lookers.  The streets were lined with motorcycles.  A great thing for town, as most were visitors and many stayed for the weekend.

Here are just a few of the variety of bikes on show.  Lots of sparkling chrome.

Later that afternoon we went for a drive out of town.  Some friends had gone camping and we popped out for a short visit.  

They were camped at “Flat Rock”, a popular spot by the Fish River, out at O’Connell.  You can see why it got its name.  There are lovely big, flat granite rocks by the river.

It is a really pretty spot, and was looking lovely with a nice flow.

On Sunday we went for a drive as well, this time visiting the Sofala Show.  It is always a nice little country show to attend.

After a few years of entries being down, the pavilion was looking good.

We didn’t stay all that long, as it was quite warm, but it was a nice little interlude.

So, that wraps up another week, and nearly, but not quite, another month.  I can’t believe how fast time is flying.

I’ll be back with a wrap up of the month and March’s goals next.

To finish, here are our nice bright crepe myrtles.  When we bought this house the back corner was a thick shrubbery.  We notices a tinge of bright pink just at the top of fence height and were surprised to find two crepe myrtles.  They have grown quite a bit since and add a nice pop of colour to the garden at this time of year.