Review of 2015 - Part 2

Let's continue with my review of 2015.  I'm enjoying looking back at what we had done......and what I'd forgotten.

MAY

May was a really busy month, as Bathurst celebrated it's 200th birthday.  We visited quite a few events on the main weekend.

The party continued into the evening.

Some major sites were illuminated, which made quite a statement.  We did enjoy getting out and about and enjoying all that had been organised for the community.

As always, the Historic Car Club hosted its annual Car Rally. We were blessed with gorgeous weather.

In other doings, the Chook Shed had it's birthday party, so Mum came over to our place for a virtual tea party.  We visited the Fibre Festival and I bought some lovely coloured wool.  Also, my friend Anne came for a play date and we created little fabric trays.  I continued to make a Christmas decoration for the month.

JUNE

We had our first frost.

On the long weekend we went on a road trip and visited the Chook Shed in person.  We visited the rodeo, a quilt show, I stitched while Mick went for a bike ride and then we came home via Gulgong.  It was a lovely little getaway.

In other doings we visited the Art Gallery to see the Mandala being created by some Tibetan monks, I finished off a very old UFO, made yet another Christmas decoration, resurrected the quilt I gave to my Uncle some years ago and installed it our lounge, shared the gorgeous fabrics I received in a swap and shared my gorgeous maiden hair fern,,,,,,which is still doing well.

JULY

It snowed....lots.  We had the best snowfall for 40 years.

Bathurst continued its birthday celebrations with a Winter Festival.  It was such fun.  They hope to make it an annual event.

We attended the Macquarie Towns Classic Motorcycle Rally at Windsor.  We visited a lovely spot for morning tea.  It was nice to feel warm for a change.

I made a few little things.  The Christmas decoration ended up being gifted to my little next door neighbour who helped me make it, more bibs, I started knitting up my pretty wool and played with origami butterflies.

This is when I started to get a bit slack.  The next couple of things never made it to my blog.

We also visited the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days.  It was a bleak, wintery day.  The number plate on this car said it all.  One display has this intriguing quilt made from old linens.  Rather lovely.

I have coveted three old sewing machines - a Singer Featherweight, a Bluebird in a leadlight cabinet and an Elna Grasshopper.  I found a Featherweight a few years ago now, passed up a Bluebird in perfect condition many years and have never even seen a Grasshopper except in collections.........until we went to Windsor.  We were wandering through a rather cluttered vintage shop when Mick asked if I had seen the sewing machine.  No I hadn't.  It was on a high shelf and I would have totally missed it.  I nearly fell over when I saw a lovely little Grasshopper - so called because of their shape and colour.  They are the first Elna model, made during WWII, as Switzerland were neutral they stopped making arms and concentrated on other products, such as this.  They were also the first free arm machine.  I was so happy that it actually works and wasn't too expensive.  What a happy dance there was.

AUGUST

In August we had a weekend away to Canberra, visiting the Craft Fair and Quilt Show and spending time with our niece and her fiance.

We went for a ride on a Steam Train.

Just a couple of little makes. Fairy Girl joined me in making some more butterflies and I made some fridge magnets.

In the background:

We had some daffodils and polyanthus provide some colour in the garden, while inside I had some tulip bulbs provide colour in a pot.  It is always fun watching them progress from just poking out of the ground to beautiful blooms.

Not a lot of blogging took, place after this so I will flesh it out a bit more in my next post.

I hope you are enjoying my review as much as I am.

Review of 2015 Part 1

Happy New Year to everyone.  I'm really looking forward to 2016.  We have lots going on.

In the mean time, I'll reflect on the year that has just passed. It is only on reading over old blog posts that I realised just how much we did during the year.  I did get rather lax at blogging in the second half of the year, so I will do a quick catch up as well.  Let's face it, the reason I started this blog was to create a record of our goings on.

OK!  Lets get to it.

JANUARY

The main outing we joined in on was to Carcoar on Australia Day with the Historic Car Club,

I made a good start to the year with a couple of Christmas makes, a sew together bag and participated in the Australia Day Swap.

FEBRUARY

As usual, February started with the Swap Meet.  We took a bit of a back seat as far as organising, which was a nice change.

Next was our big adventure to New Zealand for my 50th birthday present.  We spent three wonderful weeks exploring the South Island and part of the North Island.  The highlight was catching up with Lou and Tony again, after they moved from the Isle of Man. Of course, there were lighthouse photos taken.

I did get a little sewing done.  All gifted.

MARCH

A highlight on the calendar for each March is Girls Day in the Country at Nundle.  This yea was no exception.  Mick tagged along too.

After Nundle we kept heading north, visiting family and friends along the way.  We also had  a couple of days by the water, which was lovely.  I seemed to be taking photos of clock towers instead of lighthouses.

APRIL

We had a cold snap right at the start of April, which was a shock, so we changed over quilt to a more Autumnal version.  I made another Christmas project and introduced you to my "What's Next" sign.

The Show came to town with all its colour and noise.  We love to attend each year.

Anzac Day was commemorated with so many knitted poppies.  They really were stunning.

We visited "Ironfest" at Lithgow.  It was a great day out.  So many people go to loads of trouble with their costumes.

Easter was busy, joining in on a rather wet Classic Bike Rally, a quick trip to Hill End and visiting the Panel Van Nationals show.

We also visited the Springwood Quilt Show and met Rachaeldaisy.

So the first four months were pretty busy.

We were also settling into life back in town, which was good.  It was easy to disappear without worrying too much about what was needing to be done back home.

Final Finishes for 2015

Yesterday one of my friends came over for a day of stitching.  I'm currently on our Christmas break from work, but Mick is still hard at it.  The perfect opportunity to play.

Anne arrived with two large embroidery hoops and a plan.

Thinking of my new sewing room, which will become a reality in the next few months, I found a couple of fat quarters in the stash, and before long we had made a very handy pocket to hang on the wall. I'm rather happy with the result. I may just have to add a little something to the top to break it up.  Maybe an origami butterfly, methinks.

As the hoops took less time than we anticipated, we looked for another project and came up with a Goody Goody Binding Kit which has been making several appearances around blogland.  A bit more work in this one, but not difficult at all.  Anne used the same fabrics as for her hoop and I dived into my fabric drawers and came up with some fabric scraps, this time from a quillow I had made way back when - like in 2008.  It is the second bottom photo in the link, one of the first projects I ever blogged about.  The scraps were just the right size for what I needed with a few extra fabrics added.

I'm so pleased with the look of this. However, when I bind a quilt my tools of choice are needle, thread, scissors and one pin.  I don't actually use any clips.

Now, that doesn't mean it won't get used.  Oh no.  I have a plan......

An English Paper Piecing Kit. That WILL be handy.  A nice zippered section for the individual little bits and pieces - yes I do use binding clips here - and the bigger pocket for finished sections.  Maybe I'd better use it and finish the table mat in time for Nundle in only a couple of months time.

The pattern was very easy to follow.  Just a couple of observations - the fabric ties could have been quite a bit longer than the pattern says, as there isn't enough length to tie a bow, and the fabric strip on the inside for holding cotton reels is too thick for a Gutermann reel, which is what I mainly use.  Looking closely at the pattern, they show Aurifil thread, which appears to have a larger hole in the centre of the reel.  I think I will carefully remove the fabric strip and replace it with narrow ribbon to tie in the middle. Also, I changed the shape of the scissor keep.  That was just for speed. I would certainly make it again. It is a great project.

I don't have a photo of Anne's projects, as we didn't finish off the back of our hoops or stitch the bindings on our Binding Kits until last night, after she had gone home.  Anne used bright, bold, large scale prints, while my projects were ditsy.  It is amazing how different the same projects look with different fabrics. They both looked great. A rather interesting exercise.

We were both really pleased with what we achieved on the day.  Now we will have to plan another get together some time.

More Christmas Giving

Over the last few years, Loulee and I have swapped Christmas gifts, firstly while she lived on the Isle of Man and now from New Zealand.

This is the little collection I sent this year.

All the little gifts were made from tutorials I found online.  The Christmas Hexy Coasters were a new one to me and so quick and easy.  Maximum effect for minimum effort - just how I like it.  Now I need to make some more for us. It is also the first time I have made a Cathedral Window Pincushion.  This one was a bit fiddlier, but worth persevering with.  Once again, I need to make one for myself.  The Fabric Basket, Origami Butterfly, Fabric Tray and Origami Ornament for Lou's blue Christmas Tree were all patterns I had made before.

Unfortunately, the post is being a little slow and the giftie that Lou sent in this direction is still in transit - something to look forward to in the New Year.

Secret Santa Christmas Swap Gifts

Now that Christmas  has passed for another year I can reveal the gifts I sent to Carole and those I received from Oddbjorg.

Secret Santa Christmas Swap has become a part of Christmas I really look forward to.  A special thanks to Chooky for going ahead with it this year, considering she had quite a bit going on in the background.

Firstly, this is the little parcel that went winging its way to the USA to Carole.

I had fun making up the pattern for the table runner once I saw the background fabric.

Oddbjorg sent me these gifties all the way from Norway.

What a cute and practical gift.  I’ve never had a bag for my knitting.  It has always just gone wherever it will fit, and the pouch for circular knitting needles is also great.  Another item that never gets properly stored around here.  The sweet pink charm squares will find a use I’m sure.

Thanks for the great presents.

I have always received wonderful gifts in the SSCS.

The SSCS Sleigh Has Landed

I know I have said it before, but Christmas wouldn’t be the same without Chookyblue’s Secret Santa Christmas Swap.

This year I sent my parcel off to the United States.  Carole was the recipient.  She has participated in every Swap.  What a trooper.

I won’t share the decoration until Carole has had a chance to share on her blog.

Now I received my gift all the way from Oddbjorg in Norway.

I have to be very strong and not open the main gift until Christmas Day.

In the meantime, we had to put up our Christmas tree.  Now, our main tree is too large for our current lounge room and we wanted something a bit bigger than our little table topper tree, so we went shopping.  Yes, I said “we”.  Mick even came along.  We looked at quite a few and finally settled on one that was not quite your usual traditional tree, but it is great for showcasing special decorations.  Love those twinkly lights built into the tree - no messy cords.  I also love the way the photo has made them sparkle.

There’s Oddbjorg’s decoration front and centre.

Thanks Oddbjorg.  I can’t wait till Christmas.

Thanks Chooky for organising us all.

The Sleigh Is On It’s Way

Once again I have joined in Chookyblue’s Secret Santa Christmas Swap.

Last week a parcel started winging its way to somewhere in the world.

No peeking, but here is a teaser.

Thanks as always to Chooky for making this happen.  A very special part of Christmas.