A UFO Update

Well despite moving in July and getting my new sewing space all organised I don't seem to have any time for any actual sewing! My UFO for this month was to make something with my string blocks - no wait a minute I think that was last month's UFO.  Never mind, I did at least manage to finish a quilt top with the blocks I started on my recent sewing weekend but that's about it this month.

Not the best shot but due to a mischievous golden retriever

who manages to plant herself on a quilt the minute I put it down to photograph it, I had to put it on our bed to take a snap of it.

This one will be a donation quilt and now I just need to get around to sandwiching and quilting it but somehow I don't like my chances anytime soon as I don't think we've got much free time between now and Christmas. However time will tell. I'm not getting worked up about it, this year has really been all about the move and it was definitely worth it.

I keep finding new things to love about our house. Here are a couple of recent finds.  Firstly even though I knew what this plant would look like when it flowered it still caught me by surprise at how pretty it looks where it is. I should have taken a close up photo but its a native iris and all the buds opened overnight on the same night.

This is another discovery, sitting on the garden bench looking up through the branches of our tree. Just lovely!

On the family line, my younger son had his graduation from his horticultural course.

The ceremony was held at Adelaide Oval. We had been there for an AFL game (sitting right up near the top of the stand in the background - nice and dry in the winter) but it was great to see it from a different viewpoint.  Here's a proud Mum with her baby boy (he just loves it when I call him that!). Not a great photo but it was the best my hubby could manage!

Well that's another month gone, not sure where they're going but they're sure going fast!

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Sewing Weekend Wrap Up

This time two weeks ago I was on a sewing retreat at my usual lovely seaside sewing location. Since that time I've been too busy with my mother in law staying to post about it but she went home yesterday and so its time to get caught up!

The weather was spectacular as you can see!

The retreat this time was with my husband's family and we had a bit of a hiccup as my sister in law ended up bringing one of her grandchildren at the last minute. Not quite the same thing being away with a 6 year old in the group and I don't think it will be happening again as Gaye didn't get much done with her along!

The nice thing about this getaway was that Michelle, my hubby's niece, did all the catering for us as she loves to cook and doesn't often get free rein to make whatever she likes.  She had also finished her teaching degree two days before we left so it was a lovely way to relax after all her hard work! She and her ThermoMix looked after us all weekend with lots of lovely goodies including a delicious butter chicken for tea on Saturday night.

Shortly after our arrival there was a quick trip to the nearest electrical store as Kerrie had left the cord for her machine home!  Even in that short time Michelle had a batch of muffins in the oven before they left, leaving me in charge of making sure they came out in time. Mmmmmm, yum!

I got stuck into some string blocks and would have finished my quilt top but for a lack of pink strings!

Here is where I got up to:

There's nothing like being on a retreat and sewing in your pj's! Here are my two sisters in law and our little visitor who you can see was getting a bit weary by this time after having been at a sports day at her school all day!

The next day was another spectacular day and we all took the opportunity at different times to have a walk along the gorgeous beach, and spent some time watching all the dogs having a ball on the beach, the fishing boats heading out to catch a big one and this ship heading back out to sea.

I was working on some more tea cup blocks (from a Missouri Star tutorial here) which I started making last month on my previous sewing retreat.  They are for quilts for a hospice and I let our helper see if she could find a layout she liked with the ones I had already finished (which let her grandmother get on with what she was doing for a little while at least).

By the time I had finished I had enough for two quilts (although I forgot to take a photo of the second one after I had it all together!).

The curtains served as an impromptu display board! I do have a photo of the second quilt before I joined the blocks together.

I also made some blocks for another cause but after coming home I think I've misread the guidelines about the fabrics. Never mind I'll still send them and hopefully they can make use of them in some way, perhaps on the quilt back! 

Well I think that's a wrap! I love going away sewing but I'm glad to be home for a while now. I've unpacked everything again and got my sewing room back to normal after my mum in law's visit. It was lovely having her to stay and I think she enjoyed the visit too. Apparently our new sofa bed is very comfy so that's good news too! 

Our dog Livvie is a bit sad today as she loved having her country cousin dog visiting, although I think Kip was probably glad for a rest from a super enthusiastic golden retriever who insisted on making him play whether he wanted to or not. They did get along well although they couldn't quite decide who had the rights to this dog bed!

Thanks for reading my blog today!