I'm Back

Hi Everyone,
Yes I know it's been a looooong time since I've been here. I could go into a very long winded explanation about why I haven't posted anything for, eeeeeek, over five months, but that could get a little boring. If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram you will have a general idea about what I've been up to, but for those who don't let me summarise.
GARDEN GETABOUT
Garden Getabout is an open garden weekend on the second weekend in November. We have our garden open and I'm one of the coordinators so for several weeks before I pretty well eat, drink and sleep garden. And just to put a bit more pressure on myself I also have a my craft work on display to greet visitors.

ROSS' 50th BIRTHDAY
Ross turned 50 in mid December, so after a bit of down time following the Garden Getabout, it was time to think about a birthday celebration. Even though someone didn't want to make a big deal about it, mainly because he didn't want to make too much work for me, we eventually decided to have a casual lunchtime barbeque with family and a few friends. As the day approached it became of obvious that it was going to be a bit more than a casual barbie but people offered to bring salads and my ever reliable party prep side kick Heidi came home a couple of days early and helped with some cooking and made the White Chocolate Cherry Ripe Mud birthday cake, so it resulted in a great day.

CHRISTMAS
We love Christmas in our house (I've heard, believe it or not, that some people don't). We have traditions that have developed over the years, a real Christmas tree with hand made decorations, Christmas Eve mass, a treasure hunt (yes even though the kids are 28, 24 & 22), just to name a few.
This year lunch was at Ross' sister's with all of his family. We had a home made 'Kris Kringle' and everyone put a lot of thought and/or work into their gifts which made for a fun filled afternoon with lots of laughter.

HOLIDAYS

Boxing Day we headed to our annual holiday destination of Narooma where had a lovely relaxing break of nearly 2 weeks.

SCRATCHING AN ITCH
All the busyness in the later part of 2014 meant I hadn't really had a chance to do any major patchwork projects. In fact apart from making a few projects for the Friday craft group at the Neighbourhood Centre and finishing a quilt off for my Garden Getabout craft display I hadn't done much since early April. Admittedly I had swapped my fabric & sewing machine for wool & crochet hook over the winter, which was fun, but by the time January came around the patchwork itch definitely needed scratching. So scratch I have, like a dog with a flea. The itch has eased a little but my head is still full of ideas just waiting to materialise.

EXERCISE
I always been pretty self motivated when it comes to exercise but what with one thing or another the motivation has been a bit spasmodic over the last year or so. I don't like being unfit so after the Garden Getabout I gave myself a kick in the but and decided I needed to do some form of exercise a least 5 days a week whether wanted to or not. I started walk/running every week day and just before Christmas I joined the local Metafit group to work on strength training and add some variety. It has been a lot of fun and I'm enjoying my renewed fitness.

There you have it, between all these goings on and my blogging mojo going into hibernation, that is why I have been absent from this space. I'm hoping, now that I'm back, I'll get into the swing of posting regularly again. I have lots to share, it's just a matter of having or making the time.

 

Hope you've enjoyed the catch up

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird 

 

Craft Along - Week 2

Hey Everyone

Yay it's Friday and today I have the first step of the Mystery Project Craft Along for you.
I was planning to have this posted a lot earlier but I've had bit of a computer problem this morning, our desk top (our main computer) won't turn on. I hope it's not too serious. Thank goodness for the laptop so I can still finish this post on time. I've had to rework it though as I was going to provide a printable version of today's instructions but they're on the other computer so I've had to add extra instructions here. Hopefully the desktop will be fixed over the weekend and I'll be able to add the link then. Anyway the most important thing is I'm still here and I already had most of this done, I think I would have had a minor meltdown if I had to start from scratch.
So have you got all your materials? Is your sewing machine ready to go?  If you're new here, and would like to join in, you can find the material list on the previous post.
This week you will need the
  2 x light squares
  8 x dark triangles
  2 x 3"med/dark squares
  fusible webbing
  embroidery thread
  sewing thread

Before I start:
I have tried to simplify things but I have assumed you have some basic knowledge of patchwork and applique. If you are having trouble understanding anything just send me an email and let me know.
All seams are ¼" unless otherwise stated and I recommend you read through the instructions before you start.

PRINTABLE INSTRUCTIONS

Mystery Project Craft Along - Week 2
Sew 2 triangles onto either side of the light coloured squares and iron.

Sew 2 more triangles onto the other sides of the square and iron.

You should now have 2 square in a square blocks (see above right) measuring 5"x 5".
Trace 2 hearts onto the paper side of the fusible webbing.
Roughly cut out the heart, leaving about ¼" all around.
NB: The heart is in the instructions but here is how I made it. Cut a 2½" square of paper & fold it in half. Draw one side of a heart shape starting and finishing on the fold. Cut along the line and unfold. Hey presto you have a heart to trace around.

Iron the hearts to the wrong side of each of the 3" squares with the paper side up.

Don't ask me why this picture downloaded upside down, it's just what happens sometimes.

Cut out the hearts and peel off the paper. 
HANDY HINT: If the paper is hard to peel off score across it with the tip of your scissors then gently pull the heart so the paper splits along the scored line. It is then easy to removel the paper.

Position the hearts on the square in the blocks and trim the hearts if you feel they need it. When you're happy with the way they look iron them in place.

Using the embroidery thread blanket stitch (also known as buttonhole stitch) around the heart. I used stranded embroidery thread and used 3 strands or you could also use a single strand No 8 pearl c

That's it for the first step. How are you liking it so far? I hope you're finding it fun and you will join me again next week.

Fingers crossed, hopefully next week the computer will be fixed and things will be back to normal, if not I'll be having a major meltdown.

Oh and I nearly forgot, the winner of the giveaway was Jackie, she was the only one to leave a comment so there's a kit for this project headed her way.

Looking forward to crafting some more with you next Friday

and hopefully I'll be able to slip in another post before then as well.

 



Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird

 

 

 

 

Craft Along - Week 1

Hi Everyone,

As I mention last time, the Craft Getaway that I had planned for last weekend didn't go ahead so I've decided to share one of the projects here in the form of a step by step craft along. I suppose it's like a tutorial run over a few weeks but you don't know what you're making. Every Friday for the next few weeks I will post the instructions for each step to make the mystery project. I know the whole mystery thing might be a bit daunting but I promise you will end up with something lovely at the end. It is a small project and you might have most of the materials already. I just went through my stash and used some leftovers from other projects.
I think this will be fun don't you?
As this is the first time I have done anything like this please feel free to contact me if you think something doesn't seem right or isn't clear.
Here is what you will need.
PRINTABLE MATERIAL LIST
Edit: On the printable list it should be an embroidery thread that matches the 3" square.

Mystery Project Craft Along

MATERIALS
7 x 2”x19” strips – coordinating fabrics
2 x 3⅝”squares – light colour
4 x 3⅛” squares crosscut into 8 triangles – dark colour
2 x 3” squares – medium or dark colour
(NB. All the above fabrics should coordinate, see example below)
1 x 11”x20” wadding
1 x 11”x20” homespun/calico
1 x 11”x19” fabric – anything you like
1 x 14”zipper
1 x 3”x6” fusible webbing
Embroidery thread to match your 3" squares
Sewing thread
TOOLS
Sewing machine
Scissors
Pins & a needle
Rotary cutter & mat (not essential all the fabrics could be cut with scissors)

Below is an example of the fabrics I chose but you can choose your favourite fabrics.

 

I do have a few kits that I made up in preparation for the Craft Getaway so if you would like to purchase one of them, just email me via the "Contact Me" in the right sidebar. Also I am giving away a kit to one lucky reader who leaves a comment on my previous post HERE by this Tuesday (October 30th).

 

Looking forward to crafting with you next Friday.

 



Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird