Another hot day down south...

We are having another hot day down south. As of 12:30pm it was 37.8 C / 100.04 F. Now if it was 30/40 years ago, I would have been sent home from school if it reached this temperature. Yesterday we got to 36 C / 96.8 F. Thankfully I am sitting in an air conditioned office and have no plans to venture out until 5pm tonight. Hopefully by then the forecasted cool change will have come through...maybe wishful thinking on my part.

Get It Done challenge

Well I have finally made a start on some UFO's. As I am a relatively new quilter (3/4 years) I haven't had to delve into the deep dark depths of cupboards, etc. Having said that doesn't mean that I don't have UFO's. I'm sure that I have at least one or two for each year I have been quilting...possibly more. To start I have chosen two wall hangings and a table runner which I started in the latter half of 2008. My reason for choosing these is that they were on the top of the pile and they are relatively smallish projects, so they won't take months to complete.

1. This is a wall hanging which I am making from a panel. There is a lot of faux embroidery stitching in the sashing, but it is difficult to see. I have overstitched these through the three layers which will hold it all together. I now just have to trim it up, do the binding, add somthing to enable hanging and add a label.

2. Christmas table runner. I actually bought this fabric around Xmas 2007, but didn't find a pattern I liked until 2008. This one I still have to quilt, bind and label. You can just see all of the pins in the picture which are holding it together at the moment. I was debating to machine quilt this one, but not ever having machine quilted before I think I might hand quilt it until I can practice on the machine a bit.

3. Another wall hanging. 'Chooks Rule the Roost'

There legless at the moment, so I'm surprised they haven't fallen off the roost yet!! LOL My attempt at some humour. Still have some more to add to the top, then it will need sandwiching, quilting and binding.

Now, one of the above projects will be for one of the blogs in 'Sooziii's decorate your blog for Xmas' comp. And I'm not saying which one, that will be the surprise.

Stitch 'n' Bitch - 3 Jan 09

I usually catch up with my Stitch 'n' Bitch friends on a Friday night, but we decided to do a Saturday a couple of weeks ago. This was so that Pam could work on a quilt she is making for her daughter which has lots of black in it and as the light during the day is better we figured she might finish it sooner. It was supposed to be for her daughters 21st in Feb 2008. She might have it for her 22nd birthday...we hope. Anyway, I needed to go to the patchwork store and choose some fabrics for my 4SQS5 (below are some of the fabrics I chose). And of course the other girls came along for the drive. Any excuse to fondle fabric.
I love the look of scrappy quilts and am trying to build up an assortment of values to add to my scrap stash. So I went through the scrap bin and chose the following three lots. They are all the width of a bolt, but vary in length from 9cm to 20cm. It is a great way of adding lots of different values to the scrap stash.

BLACK & WHITE - LIGHT

LIGHTS

DARKS

On the drive down to the quilt shop we passed a new Vinnie's store, so as it was still open on the way back we decided to drop in for look. I picked up four pairs of assorted stainless steel manicure scissors and a pair of surgical grip thingies, all for the bargain price of 50 cents each. The smaller scissors I'll use with small mobile sewing projects to cut thread. And the surgical thingies are great for stuffing things, and for pulling through tubing when making handles and things. Not very well explained, but never mind. Also picked up a cream towel for $1 to use as backing on some bibs which are on the drawing board.

My swap parcel arrived...

I have been somewhat remiss in posting to my blog since Xmas / New Year. There is a lot of anticipation and excitement building up to this time of the year, then once it is over there seems to be a big hole. Unfortunately this year I have had work to fill in the hole, as the company I am currently on assignment at has their financial year end on 31 Dec 08. What a silly time to have it. I guess it is a northern hemisphere thingy, as the company is German based.

Anyway, enough with the boring stuff & on with the fun stuff.

My Secret Santa Honeypot Swap parcel arrived just after Xmas and I would just like to thank Angie for the lovely ornaments. Yes there were two ornaments and a lovely sparkly card, although they don't really show up that well in the picture. They didn't make it in time to go on the tree this year, but they have been packed away safely and will be included in next years decorations. Thanks heaps Angie, I loved participating in this swap. I can't wait until next year!

Giveaway at Shabby Creations - custom blog design

If you are looking for a new look for your blog and need inspiration, pop over to Shabby Creations. They are currently having an "Out With the Old, In With the New" giveaway, so you could get lucky. They have some gorgeous designs, so if nothing else you'll be inspired.