Friday Night With Friends Progress and Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Last night was the night to join in with Cheryll's Friday Night With Friends.  

It took me a while to decide what to work on, and finally decided it was the perfect time to start adding the borders to my Splendid Sampler 2 blocks.  It gives me a good idea on how the quilt will look and I'm pleased with the green fabric choice. There are several different green tones in the blocks, but they look fine with the borders.  Twenty done, eighty to go.... and still a few more blocks  to be made. This is part of my OMG for February. 

What is it with cats?  Joey was sleeping in his basket beside me for the whole time I was stitching, cutting and pressing.  As soon as I put a block on the floor he was up and on the blocks.  That wouldn't be so bad until the claws came out.  He was not going to use my quilt blocks as a scratching board.  Naughty boy! I realise he just wanted to have his photo on the blog, but he was moved along before he could damage anything.  I did give him some cuddles later.

After we had dinner, I decided to work on my UFO project for the WOOFA Challenge.  I added five of the red triangles, so making progress.  

During the week I made my RSC blocks for this month.  The colour is orange.

There aren't any really orange fabrics in my 1930s stash, but these aren't too bad.  I quite enjoy making these pineapple blocks.

I can't say the same about my drunkard path blocks.  I still find them rather fiddly and they are ending up being VERY drunkard path blocks.  Not to worry, they are challenging me, which is not such a bad thing.

I'll be linking up with Sew Scrappy for these.

My February Goals Check In

How quickly did January pass?  I can't believe we are already into the second month of the new year!

Having met my January goals, it is now time to sit down and work out my goals for February.

Firstly, my stitching goals......

My OMG still relates to the never ending Splendid Sampler 2 quilt.  

As usual, I want to make two blocks, but most importantly, now that I have the fabric to add borders around my blocks, I want to add borders to 20 blocks.  That will start to give me an idea of how it will look.  Maybe I'm a tad excited to reach this stage.  Mind you, I still have about 8 blocks to make - and they're fiddly jolly things.

Next, I want to keep working on a UFO for Cheryll's WOOFA Challenge.

I'm working on my Rabbit mat.  Realistically, I don't expect to get this finished in February, but it would be nice.  If I at least have the rest of the red triangles around the edge I will be happy.

Orange is the colour for the RSC.  I'm sure I will have my pineapple block and drunkard's path blocks completed.

There will be four blocks released this month.  I do hope to have them all made.

Lou (Manxgirl) and I have our little Christmas stitch along happening this year, so I will have a Christmas project made.  That will also be my OPAM project for this month.  I don't expect to have anything else completed.

The other thing I need to do is work out a new leader and ender project. I have to keep working on my black and white HST project that I have started, but I still need something little to just pop under the needle at the end of a stitching run.  I'm sure I'll work something out.

I think that little lot should keep me amused for a minute or two.

I have a few other little goals for the month as well.

1.  Go motorcycling - we are entered in the Orange Classic Rally in a couple of weeks.

2.  Go away for a weekend.  That is also planned.

3.  Read a book.  I'll get one off the shelf and have a read.

4.  Try a new recipe.  I have one in mind.  I just have to buy the ingredients.

Wish me luck.

January - A Final Wrap Up

I've just been tidying my photos and thought I'd better do a final wrap up for January.  It's been a rather full month.

The third block of Moda Blockheads was released yesterday.  I'm happy to say that it has been made on the day of release.  The fabric in the centre has inspired all the colours I am using.  Sadly, I only have a fat quarter of it, so will have to use it sparingly.  This block was fun to make and there wasn't even any reverse stitching.  You have to be happy with that.

I have been stitching black and white half square triangles as a leader and ender project.  There are now 42 squares ready to turn into nice neat blocks and then play.  I did some stitching this morning and really miss having a leader and ender project.  Time to cut something else out to sew.

I have started playing with my next UFO for Cheryll's WOOFA Challenge. This is the project from Girls Day in The Country at Nundle from 2015.  (I had to look it up.  I didn't realise it was from that long ago.)  Each year I say I will have it finished for our annual get together and do a bit more, but it still hasn't been finished.

I've pulled it out again and made a start.  The bunnies now have tiny patches added, I cut the next papers, covered them and have added three.  Surely, I can have it finished for Scrub Stitchin' this year.  Accountability always helps, so I am pretty confident it will  happen.

We had originally planned to have a week away at the start of the month, but when the weather was forecast to be stinking hot we decided against it.  As it turned out, the areas we were planning to visit were all on fire, so it was a good decision.

Therefore, Mick needed a project......

Something he has been planning for some time is to line our back verandah roof.  He has made a good start.  Now he is just waiting for the weather to cool a little before he finishes it off.

In the middle of this drought we have had a few storms.  We haven't received a great deal of rain, but on one afternoon there was a very short, sharp storm.  I was at work and we hardly got any rain.  Mick said we had the heaviest downpour he has seen since we moved here nearly four years ago.  We received 17mm, so not too destructive, unlike some in the area.

As a result of the bit of rain and some cooler temperatures for the last week or so, I was surprised to see this delicate little mushroom pop up in the back yard.  Our very dead lawn is now sprouting some green, which is lovely to see.  However, we are now in another heatwave, with temperatures up to the low 40s, which is expected to last for the next few days, so that will be hard on everything again.

When our guests arrived last week, they came bearing gifts.  He is enjoying playing with recycled timber.  The recipe book stand is made from an old falling down farm gate.  I love it.  So practical.

He also made some bookends for Mick.  They work really well with the coffee table we made over 20 years ago.  Mick has used one end to add a frog for a pen holder and uses the other end to keep tabs of his reading glasses.  They won't stay here, rather move to beside his chair, but they were the ideal gift for him.

And, when a mate comes to stay for a few days what do you do?  Find a project, of course.  They had a great time building a mezzanine floor in Mick's shed.  He now has plenty of storage out of the way, creating floor space to store "Snubby" the silver sidecar, while still having room to work on things.  

He still wants to sort a lot more things out, but he can do that at his leisure.  It's just a tad too warm up there at the moment.

They also removed some dead shrubs from the garden.  The garden beds are really deep and we've never been able to get to the back of the beds.  A few more shrubs will be removed, creating quite a gap. There is the possibility of yet another project in the future - a potting shed come green house.  Just in the scheming process at this stage.

While the boys played in the shed, the girls played in the sewing room.  Nothing to show for it at this stage. 

This week Bathurst has come alive for the Bathurst 12 Hour Race, which is held on Sunday.  There are practice days, with support races, today and tomorrow.  Yesterday, a selection of the race cars came downtown for a display.

We know nothing about this type of racing, but there were some very flash cars.  I'd hate to think of the value of what we saw.  

There was a really good crowd having a look.  Lots of autographs were being signed, but I've no idea who any of the drivers were.

The cars all had the driver's names and flags of the countries they come from.  Yes, lots of Aussie drivers, but so many internationals.  I didn't even recognise some of the flags.  The race is televised world wide and apparently has the potential to become bigger than the Bathrust 1000 Supercars race.  It can only be good for Bathurst.

Finally, there is no photo, but I tried a new recipe for lunch today.  

I made some rice paper rolls.  They were not too bad, but not photogenic either.  I'll definitely have another go at them.  As a result, I have a new respect for the shops that make heaps of them each day - fiddly jolly things.

January's Goals Met

Last year I found that setting little goals for each month worked well, so we're into it again this year.

I had set myself quite a few goals for January and I am happy to report that they have all been met.

My One Monthly Goal for January was to complete two Splendid Sampler 2 blocks and select and purchase the setting fabric.

These were the blocks I wished to work on.

The weather here at the beginning of the month was stinking hot, so sitting in the air conditioning, watching the cricket was the best place to be.  I not only glue basted and stitched the hexies together, I even did the applique by hand.  Now, that is rather unheard of for me.  I'm pleased with how it turned out, and especially that I could centre those bunnies.

I found yet another relatively simple block that I had missed making, so that was my next one.  I think it is rather pretty.  The centre and blue fabrics are new additions to my stash.  They work well together.

I was then on the hunt for the perfect green for my skinny borders.  I had this spot in my stash, which is just the colour I wanted, so looked into some Kona greens to see which would be the best match.

I ended up with Kona Old Green, which is the closest I could get and a pretty good match to the green my Grandma painted on her kitchen dresser in the early 1930s.  It should do the trick.

Goal met!

You can read back here the details of January's RSC stitching in green.  Now it is time to start thinking about next month's blocks.

   

My Santa Mini Quilt met both Kris' One Project a Month and was a finish for Cheryll's WOOFA Challenge.  Not only that, it was a Christmas project for my little stitch along with Lou.

Of course, I also started the Blockheads 3 stitch along.  The first two blocks are done, with the next one out Thursday our time.  So far, so good.

On the non-sewing front I have also set myself a few little monthly goals.  I'm not sure how they will go, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Each month I would like to:
1.  Read at least one book;
2.  Go motorcycling at least once;
3.  Head off for a weekend; and
4.  Try a new recipe.

Yes, I read a book, albeit a very quick, easy read.

We went motorcycling on "Sophia" the Moto Guzzi one afternoon with the Panorama Motorcycle Club to the Royal Hotel and Lyndhurst.  The weather gods were looking down on us, as it wasn't excessively hot and was one of the rare days earlier this month where we saw the sky, without dust or smoke.

Mick was able to head off for an over nighter one weekend with the same group of people, on "Snubby" the silver sidecar, to the little town of Quandialla.  They had a great time.  Sadly, I couldn't join him, as my Mum had a couple of days in hospital.  (She is now back home and on the mend.)

I haven't tried a new recipe yet, but there are still a couple of days left in the month.  I WILL try something.

I'm happy with the start to the year and just hope I can keep up with it all.  Mind you, the idea is to have fun, so if things slide at times, so be it.

You can pop over to Elm Street Quilts to see what other goals have been met. Thanks Patty for inspiring us.