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Showing posts from 2015

Secret sewing and new beginnings

wow i can't believe how long it has been since i have sat here at the computer and written in my blog.  i actually created a few drafts but then just deleted them for a variety of reasons.  a few months back i was very fortunate to have been invited to join the most lovely group of girls for a weekend away at MiddleBrook, it was just heavenly sipping G & T's and eating yummy nibbles on the deck of an afternoon and stitching and chatting away throughout the day and into the wee small hours of the morning. They even managed to achieve something almost unheard of in my household.... i forsaked my morning cuppa and went for a walk. My husband knows full well that i won't do anything until that first cup of Tea is finished.....if we do a road trip and he want's to leave early he actually makes me one in my travel cup so i can have it in the car. anyway the above photo was of a project i made whilst at Middlebrook, i arrived at middlebrook with some white f

Bathurst blog meet 2015

Ohh I had the most lovely weekend. On Friday morning Jan and I headed out west to Bathurst. After a little stop at Blackheath for the compulsory antique shop and lunch we headed to The home patch where we did a little bit of retail therapy. We arrived late in the afternoon to the sounds of the corks popping. What's the rules about drinking and sewing???? i don't think it's illegal . . . .  well, not yet There was lots of concentration And Victoria, after a pretty big rest over the winter, she got a work out  She sewed And sewed Until all of the centre was together. I completed the centre at about 10am on Sunday morning i purchased the red fabric for the next border today, so now i just need to save a little money then he'd down to red shed for some backing fabric and batting. which batting do you prefer? Of course we did so much more than just sewed, we had show and tell and we told stories , we laughe

Catherine quilt

Introducing the latest addition to my WIP quilt collection the Catherine quilt if you ve been following me for a while you will remember that last year i joined in a Churndash block swap with my local quilters group, the swap was organised by the gorgeous Cathy Pitkin Last year at Bathurst, my trusty little Bonnie (singer featherweight) sewed together the last of the 110 churn dash blocks i needed to complete my quilt. and then my lovely little collection of churn dash blocks sat in a shoe box waiting until about a month ago i had been thinking about what i would work on at the Bathurst retreat this year i have a lovely jelly roll with an idea of quilt . . . . . should i start something new? i have A LOT of hand stitching ( i am currently about 3 months behind in the Lucy Boston blocks) and of course i have the border to crochet on my cosy stripe quilt i looked at my WIP's and there in their little shoe box was my churndash blocks. and i thought that'

I ve been thinking of this all day....

Chooky did a post about what she does to relax.... And today when I could catch a breath and had time to daydream about what I would like to do this evening.... This was the scene in my mind...... Maybe a little tidier, but exactly this.... My fire ticking away , my scrappy Chook quilt on my lap and a glass of red beside me....  How's your Friday looking . . . ? Ciao  Googy Girl

Scrappy Chook quilt

This beauty has been the focus of my attention for the past week or so . . . . I ve been stitching in the ditch, on the diagonal, with the plan being to stabilise the quilt. Allowing me to come back later and do some gorgeous free motion quilting. The job was way to big for the sewing cabinet so I have had to take over the dining room table . . . . luckily the Googy household is pretty used to this and are happy to share their dinner with my quilt and Victoria  One day I will have to invest in a new sewing  cabinet that has the extension table on the back . . . .  The label is on, I guess I should explain why it s called the scrappy Chook quilt. The two times that I have been fortunate enough to visit the Chook shed I have had the great fortune to sleep under one of chooky's gorgeous quilts. I loved it so much I wanted to make one for myself. So waaayyy Back in 2013 I did a workshop at Cottage on the hill. Kerry helped me by working out the pattern and ch

My comfy cosy stripey crochet blanket

Finally last night i crochet the final row on my attic 24 cosy strip blanket. it was a bit of a interesting moment, it was wonderful to have reached this point but also a bit of a sad moment as i have enjoyed many snuggly warm nights under my blanket and it's a little sad to think this journey is almost over. today i grabbed the opportunity to curl up in the warm winter sun streaming through my lounge room window to tidy up the threads just adore the colours they are just such happy happy colours too long to hang on the line, it had to be folded over . . . time to start crocheting the borders now . . .  look what i found , peeping up in my garden on this beautiful winter day i hope you had a lovely winter day Ciao Googy Girl "Life is like a cup of tea, it s all in how you make it"

Sydney craft show twenty sixteen

Early  Saturday morning  miss S and I headed down to Sydney to see the craft show. It was my first time at the glebe Island venue I had planned to catch the bus from Central. But Miss S suggested the ferry I was so  glad she did it was really lovely cruising around the harbour The glebe Island venue, looked small from the outside.... But  it was truly like the tardis Inspired by Cardygirl I purchased a cross stitch, I have not done one of these for years. So I went small.... It's pretty cute and I m excited to have a go. I purchased this kit from Karen at Linen and Threads and I just want to say how absolutely lovely an experience it was, she was so very very helpful that when I decide to purchase a kit again, I will be contacting Karen. The rest of my purchases. Some super cute scissors. My red led light...which the scissor man assured me charges faster because it s red.... Lol Some fabric for my double wedding ring and MSG quilts. Some pounce p

Halfway . . . .

My crochet addiction continues, I can't help it the colours just make me happy. I spent a little bit of time at the chookshed crocheting away, keeping Kate company as she finished her dresdens and keeping Chooky Company on our last night. At that point it did not really even keep my knees warm The two thirds mark Big enough to keep my crossed legs warm. It s starting to feel like blanket now, and it's so soft and warm And tonight I ve reached the half way mark.  It's been three weeks since I started. And I have enjoyed every moment. I m just smitten with it. I think the last Half may take a little longer. I m now back at work and I foresee busy days ahead. But that's okay it's not about the finished project it's about enjoying the journey.  Ciao Googy Girl

Chookshed Party progress . . . . Saturday

Apparently Kate and I are naughty night owls . . . .  Kate and I did get in a little trouble for keep the head chook awake so late and then we made the fatal error of sleeping in until 8am. The whip was well and truly cracked The centre pieces of my DWR layed out ready to be joined. After a long day of piecing just over 100 arcs centres ( the middle four pieces) joined. Now I just have to put the ends on. I ran out of steam and needed a break. So . . . .     The 60 completed arcs I pieced before the party were joined to their melons. Ohh and we did some playing with free motion quilting. We had a great day Saturday. Ciao  Googy Girl   Life is like a cup of tea, it s all in how you make it.

Chookshed party

As you can see, it s a busy day in the chookshed. My DWR has been taken out of storage. What a way to spend your day. Just waiting for Kate to arrive.  Ciao Googy girl Life is like a cup of tea, it s all in how you make it.

Just a bit hooked

A few months ago I posted about my decision to return to my childhood hobby of working with yarn. I made some washers , using both crochet and knitting, and some fingerless gloves all projects inspired by the jellywares yarn club. I enjoyed working with yarn so much that I decided to take on a new . . . . Larger challenge. For quite a long time I have been following attic 24 . I love Lucy s bright colourful blog. I enjoy watching her create her lovely designs. Back in November last year, Lucy started her cosy stripe blanket crochet along . I instantly was drawn to the project, I loved the colours however I resisted temptation. Knowing that a crochet blanket was a long term project, and I already have so many of those . . . . . LOL. Over the past few months I have spent quite a few visits to Lucy s blog and drooled over her beautiful blanket.  So I caved in , and the lovely gadget and the girls ordered the wool pack from Lucy s store . The yarn arrive

After the storm

Well as most of you probably already know the eastern coast of NSW was hit by an east coast low, which is basically a category 2 cyclone. Newcastle and the Hunter ( and many other areas as well) were hit pretty badly.  thousands of households in the hunter area have been with out power for many days. many were also with out water. Newcastle itself appears to have been mainly damaged by the high speed winds but further up in the Maitland area flooding has and is the major issue facing many households. along the Newcastle foreshore huge old tree s were ripped out of the ground signs were either blown over or badly damaged, the rough seas caused damage to the ocean roads and walkways. at one point the ocean baths at newcastle were barely recognisable they were just covered by the seas Civic park lost many of it's beautiful trees. cars were crushed and some houses roofs and some were crushed beneath huge trees.  Fortunately Gadget and i were

Oh happy mail day ......

a few weeks ago i decided to sign up for the Jellywares autumn yarn club .  for the past few years my life has been filled with the thrill of making quilts and occasionally new clothes. My creative life centered around my sewing machine.  but when i was very young wool was the medium i worked with more than anything. When i was little my mum crocheted, at one point when there was very little money my mum would buy old handmade jumpers /cardigans and unravel them so she could make crochet blankets. My job was to roll the wool into balls. The other major influence in my childhood was Cookie, our lovely elderly neighbor from across the road. Cookie was a prolific knitter. i spent many afternoons after school at Cookie's house waiting for my parents to come home from work. it didn't take long with my all consuming desire to learn for Cookie to teach me to knit. she had an abundance of scraps of wool and i would toil away making scraps of knitting. I think my first major achievem