The week that was...............

Well, what a week it has been, as the HOT weather arrived. Up until this week, our summer has been reasonably cool, with only an odd day or so of HOT, so when the heat finally arrived, and stayed for days, it was hard to handle. Of course, I should not really complain as I don't work outside, can work hours to suit myself, I have airconditioning if I need it, and abundant water on tap for the garden. My admiration and thanks, and many prayers go out to all those who need to be outside, especially the emergency services volunteers of our country, who are dealing with bushfires, some that have been going for a month now. So there is a sense of guilt as I stay in my cool house, and as someone who wilts in the heat, I can't imagine how they manage to work in it.

By Friday, after 3 days over 40, this was the temp just after 2pm. I really find it hard to read that 48deg feels like 38??? Who works that out? I had to google to find out what 48 is in Fahrenheit, and it came to 118deg!!

The air con in my studio did struggle a bit to cool the front room as well, after so many hot days, so out came the fan to help things along. Normally I would have been working with Max, and standing right in front of the air con, but Max has decided that he needs time off for maintenance now. I knew there was a problem that needed attention, but was hoping it would wait until I had finished the Kaniva quilts. Then I would have some time off to do all those jobs that had been put off. But Max had other ideas!! Unfortunately it will be after Christmas before things can happen to hopefully fix the problem. It could be a simple fix, or it might not be, so meantime................. It was Wednesday when that decision was made for me, and my "time off" has started this week. It's probably worked out for the best, as I had not done much in the way of Christmas preparations yet.

It feels a bit strange not to be thinking about the next quilt, and the one after that...... so it took a little while to get my head into thinking about what I should be doing. My "to do" list is quite long, but there were a few things that had priority. The following is a summary of this week.

I worked on Christmas cards, and thankfully they have been posted, days before Christmas! Last year or so, I am not sure I even got the cards done at all?

I have made a schedule of retreats for 2020, and if I remember, I will post that information on the Scheduled Retreat page at the top of this blog.

Each Christmas I like to make biscuits and put them into containers to give to various friends, who I don't buy gifts for, but like to let them know I am thinking of them. Not in the photo, but this year I even made sugared almonds, which has not happened for a few years now.

Of course, I have been trying to finish that quilt that I have been making for a friend, and I think it was about June that I started. So perhaps it was time to get it done. I did post that I had started on the borders, and they needed to be mitred. So some time at the sewing machine sounded like a good idea in this hot weather.

But, whoopsie, doesn't look like the mitre is going to work, does it? The black outer border, is just not quite long enough. Never mind, I mitred the other borders, and put a black square in the corners, and if I had not told you, it wouldn't be noticed at all. It was a bit tricky to line up each border, as it was really obvious with the contrasting colours if they didn't. (I did do some unpicking.)

And now it's done, and just has to wait for the quilter, and we know what she's like, don't we??

I fitted in an appointment with the hairdresser, and the doctor, and even did my Christmas shopping!! I do confess that I did not have a big long list, as my family are all getting some money to spend toward a family activity, but the children all get something little, just to say they had a gift to unwrap. Miss Billie loves stories, so I thought I might make her a book cushion. A search of the fabric shelves for suitable fabric, led me to all sorts of finds, and lots more things to make.

First I found this fabric, of the front and backs of a row of teddy bears. This has been in my "stash" for a lot of years, and comes from the era when cot bumpers were common. Perhaps I could do something with these?? I decided that if I cut the bears out individually then I destroyed each bear, although I could divide them into 2 lots of 3 quite easily. So thus an idea was born, .......

....and her we have a set of 3 bears, sewn front and backs, right sides together............ now i need to find some filling. Perhaps there might be some, somewhere in the dark depths of my room. (There are lots of bags of "stuff", hiding underneath the backside of Max, that noone sees. (well nearly noone!)

..and look what I found, some smaller pieces of leftover wadding, and best part of all, some silk fibres from an old silk quilt cover.........................

..and don't they look cute now they are stuffed?

And we have double trouble with 2 lots. These will be gifts for the 2 little boys?? And a bit more stuff leaves my sewing room!

I also found 2 preprinted lots of book pages, so made these up while I was doing other things. These will be put in the drawer for gifts for future babies, and I know there are 2 on the way in the next year for my brothers families.

I also found these 2 lots of squares, of farm animals and tractors, and these also have been "insulating" the shelves for many years. I spent some time thinking about what to do with these, and wondered if they might get made into books for the little people. I am still thinking about this. Do you have any ideas?

Then I found this fabric, and lo and behold, there was the perfect picture for a book cushion........

..............don't you agree?

And here is the cushion, all finished............

................and even with a book in it. Just goes to show, how one thing leads to another, and the other projects were finished as well.

I have instructions from one family member that I need to also make for the boys as well, and perhaps this square might work for them? (Miss Bridie already has a cushion that a kind friend made for her).

But there is still lots of that fabric left yet, so might get thinking about ideas for that.

I have had an idea for awhile now to make these journals for the Bible Study girls. (Do you get it that there might be tooo many ideas in my head of things I want to do?) Life has been too busy, and I missed getting them done before our final meeting this year. But they will be ready now for the first meeting of 2020.

The feature fabric has lots of Bible verses printed on it, so I thought it was rather appropriate for them.

Here is the results of my days at the sewing machine, and now it's time to tidy up my mess, and spend time cleaning and cooking, in readiness for Christmas and family time.

But I have to say, I have enjoyed my time at the machine, and perhaps it's just what the "doctor" ordered, taking time out from work. And of course it kept me busy in those hot days. I guess we will have more hot weather this summer, but this weekend the weather is a welcome reprieve from the heat. It would be better still if the fires could be under control, and rain would fall on our countryside.

Blessings, From Jude