Cross Stitch Tuesday.

 I'm making good progress with Jake's cross stitched Christmas stocking, despite only stitching most nights.  I plan on finishing it in time for this Christmas so showing my weekly progress is helping me to maintain my focus.

  I also have a stocking to make for my son in law and that is a few years overdue so I would like to have that finished this year as well. It's going to be a patchwork one and it's been delayed with our moving house etc so I really want to get it done this year.
  How are you all going with your Christmas sewing?
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Four More.

 With Christmas approaching rapidly my quilting group is also working hard to get quilts finished for donation to various organizations we support, such as Peter Mac Cancer Centre,  Anglicare and Vic Foster Kids.
    The first quilt was part of a larger quilt that I split to make 2 smaller quilts. I showed on in an earlier blog post. This one was the smaller of the 2 so I added borders.

This last quilt was also a larger quilt which I split into 2. I cut the side borders in half and now have enough for all sides of both quilts.
       We are also busy doing some home renovations such as putting glass fencing around the pool and using the existing wooden fence to surround the back deck so Jake can play out there without falling off the edge. It's almost summer and pool time so it will be good to have the work done so we can relax when it's hot.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Cross Stitch Tuesday.

 I used to show my cross stitching on Tuesdays and thought I would establish it again now that I have started cross stitching again. Jake loves trains and I wanted to make an heirloom Christmas stocking for him. I thought that I had better get busy stitching as Christmas will be here in 7 more Tuesdays.

I started a couple of weeks ago and I am progressing nicely so I am pleased with it. My last finished piece of  cross stitching  was a wedding piece for Jake's parents and I enjoyed the process again.

I still have more cross stitch UFOs to finish as well as more I would like to start but in the meantime I plan to finish this one in time for this Christmas and not have another UFO.

 This delughtful young man is now 14 months old and has started walking. He has just had 3 molars descend and is also producing his lower eye teeth. He is remarkedly good natured despite all these teeth coming at once.

He loves reading books and his favourite trick now is now to climb up into Pa Pa's chair and have me sit next to him. Jake certainly brightens our days with his antics and he is sleeping for a couple of hours most days which has helped give me some time to quilt during most days.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

A Block Party.

 This week it was time to get busy with some blocks and get more quilts finished in time for Christmas donations. The first blocks were stitched and donated by Sue McP from Victoria.  The blocks are really cute with lots of trains, boats cars etc and will be loved by a young boy.

 These 12 blocks were also stitched by Sue and are really intricate designs of houses and flowers. They will make a lovely quilt for a little girl.

 Sue also included these lovely stitched blocks of hearts and I will make 2 more to add to this 18. Many thanks for all of your beautiful donations, Sue.

 These blocks were from a damaged quilt and I rescued those which were undamaged and reset them with new sashing. It should look good with new batting.

This quilt top was donated by Jo from Qld and I have divided it in half as Jo's original top was much larger. It is in the pile to be quilted and will be finished soon.
    My night cough has finally gone and it's good to be back into quilting again.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Australian Quilters Association.

 I have devoted this week's sewing time to quilting 6 more quilt tops for AQA, my quilting group. Our members make lots of blocks and tops and I am more than happy to be one of the quilters who finish them off as quilts. We had quite a few older tops languishing in the group's storage space so I am trying to get those finished to make room for newer tops. We've donated 240 quilts in the past 12 months as we get lots of help from our members.

 We encourage members to assist with the sewing tasks that they enjoy and we have at least 2 ladies who are very skilled at putting together kits for members to stitch at home, as well as makjng up blocks and kits for blocks from the fabric we have received as donations. Sometimes a skill share day is organized and a new pattern or technique is taught. A Jelly Roll Race day meant we received lots of jelly roll quilts.  Some of them were too big for gift quilts so we have been making the tops smaller prior to quilting them.

 I love the scrappy nature of the first quilt I shared in this post and when I examined it more closely I could see that it was constructed from donated 9 patch blocks, combined with 9 patch blocks made from random squares. The borders are a lovely addition and this is one of my favourite tops I have quilted.

I'm still coughing at night but I am grateful that I am improving and able to get back to some quilting too.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

A Change of Pace.

 The stress of our trip must have had some effect as I came down with a nasty head cold and lost my voice.  Plenty of fluids, aspirin and early nights means that it's passing quickly thankfully and I am managing to look after Jake as long as I have a nap in the afternoons.
       My DD wanted some baby hurp cloths made as gifts for friends so I did get some sewing done. I made some for baby Jake too and they are very useful and relatively quick and easy to make. Both friends are having girls so almost all if the scraps were used up. I still have lots of scraps left over from Jake's too so it mighf be a good idea to get a head start on some for future gifts.
     I have also made time to pin baste more tops for AQA so will have more quilt finishes to share soon.
Hugs, Jan Mac
      

Not What We Expected.

 We were worried about how well little Jake would travel and how long it would take to get to Fraser Island in Queensland but he was really no problem and travelled well with breaks every 2 to 3 hours. We enjoyed the trip up and the warmer weather as well as playing with Jake in parks when we took a break.
     However the trip did not go as planned when we were only 10kms from taking the ferry across to the Island.

 The camper trailer our DD and her husband were towing lost a wheel which almost caused the car to overturn. Luckily Jake was asleep at the time, and even more importantly no one was injured.  It caused a small grass fire and Paul's skilled driving got them off the road without collision. We were a few kms ahead and they phoned us to return. After a few hours of waiting,  a tow truck picked up the camper and took it to the nearest town of Rainbow Beach. Their car was not damaged but their accommodation was no longer available until the trailer was repaired and no parts were immediately available. After a couple of days of trying to make arrangements to repair or return the camper to Melbourne, we decided to have it repaired locally when the parts arrived and we continued on down the coast with the use of cabins and motels.

 We tried to make the best of the time we had and travelled as far as Coffs Harbour, in News South Wales.  The weather was lovely and warmer than Melbourne and we enjoyed a few days at the GlassHouse mountains and Australia Zoo.

 We travelled back to Rainbow Beach to wait for the camper trailer to be repaired and our DD, her DH and Jake made their way back to Melbourne in time to get back to start work. We were lucky to be only held up by 1 day and it was a relief to have the repairs done and return home without further problems.
   It wasn't the holiday we'd hoped for but tried to make the best of it. Little Jake was a delight and it was lovely to see him enjoy his time at the beach.

 He took his first steps today, after gaining his confidence, and he will soon be racing around the house. Actually he's already racing around the house while he pushes his little toy train or toy walker around to help his balance. He can stand without holding onto anything but prefers to push his train around. We've spent this week catching up on the washing and unpacking and I hope to get more quilts finished soon.
     I ended up taking some hand sewing but I  didn't take a stitch so I will enjoy getting into my sewing again. It's good to be home and away from the sandflies too as we were bitten quite a bit while we were at Rainbow Beach. Thankfully the itching has almost stopped now.
Hugs, Jan Mac