A Winner For May (and April! *oops*)

Before I draw winners for both April and May FNSI, I'd better show you what I got up to on Friday Night, don't you think?

I managed to get a little bit done and lo and behold, a finish!

Bob asked if I could make a peg bag just like Gail used to as his had fallen apart.  I decided to use some really bright fabric that Bob had gifted me from Gail's stash that reminded me of her.  She was an Islander who dressed in bright fabrics often with tribal-type prints so I thought this would be perfect. It wasn't till I'd finished that I noticed that I 'almost' matched the pattern in the centre front seam....totally unplanned but how wonderful!  So that's a finish for me this month.

I recently won a gorgeous pattern by Melissa Grant of One Day In May called 'Bunnies in the Blackberries' Zipper Pouch.  It's a gorgeous design, as are all of Melissa's, and as I shared my win with my beautiful friend Joy, we decided to stitch it together in a virtual stitch along. We were joined by another good friend, Miche'le from NZ who'd bought the pattern, so we've been stitching along together getting it done.  I was a little slow in starting with all the things going on, but I began it Friday night and I'm really pleased with my progress.....

Isn't it cute???  I just love bunnies and as we can't own them up here in Queensland, this is the closest I'll get.  When I was a child living in Victoria, we used to have bunnies as pets then, but seeing as I've been a Queenslander since I was 13, that has been an eternity ago.  So before too long we'll all have bunnies hopping about in our sewing rooms!  We'll be sharing our progress on our Facebook pages and I'm sure Instagram will get a look in too!

I'm so pleased with having another finish and another underway.  Pop by HERE to catch up with the other ladies that joined in on Friday night to see what they got up to.

Now for the draw.  Seeing as I missed last month's (don't know how or why?) I'll do that one too!

Here's April's...…

congratulations 

Anorina from Samelia's Mum

and Congratulations too to May's winner.....

Helen from Helbel's World of Craft

Ladies, your prizes will be out in the mail this week.

Have a fabulous week......I'm off to visit my cheeky Dad-in-law!

xox sugary sweet hugs :o)

  

May FNSI sign ups

Seems all I blog about these days are Friday Night Sew In sign ups.  Not that my life is boring......it's anything but.  There has been so much happening here of late, and not all of it good....mainly family health problems and work.  I promised myself that this year's blogging would be better than last year's.  I said that last year 'flew' by in a flash....this year seems to have grease on the skates even moreso, don't you agree?

I've decided as it's mid-year, I'm making a pact with myself to slow down and take time for stitching and blogging because it feels like there's a big chunk of my life missing and I want it back.  That's what blogging and stitching does for me.  I need some normality back to my hectic life, and if I don't schedule it in, I'm sure my levels of insanity will rise higher and higher and we don't want that!

So here's what I have done this month.....

A quilting friend of mine passed away from cancer two years ago and her husband recently asked me if I'd finish a quilt she'd begun to quilt by hand.  I felt honoured but I'm not one to hand quilt so I was pleased when he said he didn't mind how I quilted it, he would just be happy to wrap himself up in his wife's love and to 'feel' her one more time.  

She had begun to hand-quilt crosses through her nine patches and echo-stitch each pieced-section within each block and then again around the outside border of each block.  She'd already done a couple so I finished them off, using my machine on a large stitch  and the same coloured thread that she'd used, so you couldn't tell (too much) of the difference. I also stitched in the ditch around/through each block and stitched cornerstones in the four corners of the border fabric with perpendicular parallel lines of stitching around the border.  I think she'd like it.....Milo does!

I didn't really realise till I threw the finished quilt onto the bed how big it actually was.  It turned out it was a king size.  Our bed is a queen and the purple borders hung generously over each side.  I'm very proud to have been gifted the chance to pay it forward for this lovely couple.  I'm sure Bob will be snuggling up warmly wrapped in Gail's love tonight now the nights are getting colder, even up here in the tropics.

We celebrated dad's 83rd birthday at the beginning of the month.  He'd had a turn a couple of weeks before and they'd told us to prepare to lose him that night....he didn't go anywhere but stayed on stronger than ever and here we are, celebrating another milestone with him.  He even sang happy birthday to himself!  Love this father-in-law of mine to bits!

Now it's time to get ready for FNSI this month.  I see I missed last month's draw so I'll do a double draw this month for two lucky FNSI-ers who will win a little something from me.  Make sure you sign up below and let others know it's 'that time of the month'!

Now for me, it's time for bed!  Sleep tight and dream sweet dreams of your Friday night stitching with us!
xox sugary sweet hugs :o)