Beautiful vintage cloths and aprons.

On Friday I went to a cancer fundraising event at the Eltham Library.  The guest speaker was Wanda McPherson from the Embroiderers Guild, who spoke about the history and culture of tea around the world, and showed some of her collection of vintage embroidered cloths and aprons.  I have posted photos on one of my other blogs here.

Tote bag, Bee fabric.

A member of the Down to Earth forum posted a request last week, asking if anybody had a particular issue of Patchwork & Stitching magazine, as she was after a certain pattern.  I found it in my collection of P & S mags, and emailed her to ask if she wanted the magazine or just a copy of the pattern.  She said a copy would be fine, so once I'd done that I was about to put the mag back on the shelf, but decided to leave it out for a while.  The pattern T. had asked for was a cat silhouette on a totebag, and I had it earmarked to do 'one day'.  Well, no time like the present, so I pulled out one of the many promotional bags that I keep for redecorating, found some fabrics in my stash, and an hour later:  too easy!

 
Below is a photo of some fabric I bought last week at Darn Cheap Fabrics in Heidelberg.  I only bought half a metre, and have no idea what I will do with it, but I thought it would be useful for embellishing projects.

Got my mojo back!

Here is my second UFO project finished: the Sunbonnet Sue blocks made up into a mini quilt.

A friend was telling me about the pot holder she bought to use, but hates the fabric it is made of. I offered to make her another one, and finished this tonight. She is a Cat lover, so I think she will approve!

On to more practical things, I had three pairs of socks with small holes in the toe, and finally got around to darning them this week. I buy my darning wool from opshops, hence the variety of colours. Not many haberdashery shops sell darning wool these days, and even if they do, the younger staff have no idea what it is :-(

UFO challenge has reinvigorated me!

Whilst challenging others reading this blog to show their UFOs, I posted pictures of some of mine.   Nice to see quite a few have taken on the challenge, but a bonus side effect for me is that I have motivated myself to do something!  I got out some of the orphan blocks again last night and spread them on the kitchen floor to see what I could come up with.  The Sunbonnet Sue blocks will be teamed with alternative blocks of different fabrics.  I'm not using the two other blocks in this picture as they are too big, and too much pink.

I moved these blocks around for about 20 minutes and photographed each layout before deciding I liked this one best.  (But that can change, lol)

When I was tidying all these up, I found a single orphan block that was made from a kit that I was given at a craft show.  Here is the block, lying on top of a metre of fabric while I made up my mind whether to use it or something else.

After I'd made the block, I couldn't decided what to do with it, so parked it in the cupboard where it was forgotten until last night.  I had been wanting to make another wall hanging for our kitchen, as the ones I've been using before the renovation didn't really suit the new wall, and I was keen to make one with chook fabric that I have in abundance.   But when I discovered my applique rooster, I thought YES!  So today, this is what I finished up with.  Hubby has yet to notice...wonder what he will say.

Not much news for this blog lately.

It is a wonder I've got any followers left!  I used to be so busy posting my work and my linen finds here up to a few years ago, then I retired from paid work, and BOOM!  Thought I would have more time to do stitching and patchwork, but have got caught up doing other things with my husband Ken, who isn't in good health, so naturally I would rather spend time with him than anything else right now.  There are other issues taking up my time at home, but I don't post about those things here, so if you want to know about my non-stitching life, you can see it here.

I have started work on one of my UFO doilies though....just a few stitches, but at least it is out of the basket and on my sewing table.  I usually get some stitching done on those small UFOs when I go to the Embroiderers Guild once a month as a volunteer hostess, and it was only when I pulled this particular doiley out of the UFO basket that it dawned on me I had completely forgotten to go to the Guild last Tuesday.  I was so shocked, I felt really bad about it, as I've never done that before - just not turned up, I mean.  If I can't go for some reason, I always ring them in advance and find a replacement for myself.  But this past week has been full of unhappy events, and the Guild completely slipped my mind.  I sent an email to apologise and explain why I didn't arrive, and I also tendered my resignation from the volunteer role, as with Ken's deteriorating health, I never know where we are going to be lately, so I can see times ahead when I won't be available for volunteer duties, craft classes, or any other commitments.