Hexie Swap Update...

Hmmm there's been a bit of slackness around here lately...you know the 'I don't wanna do that!' type of nonsense. So the stitching, though enjoyable was in 'fits and starts' as my mum would say when a task took a bit longer than expected. Procrastination methinks!! 

But I have basically finished stitching 15 pairs of hexie flowers...and I'm so glad! 

I lined the flowers up to take photos to put on Instagram, so if they go missing in the mail, at least there is some sort of proof that I made them.( Did I tell you that in the #Round1 Swap, one envelope of hexie flowers did go missing between being posted by the maker and reaching my place!) 

Photos...

And more photos...

I thought they were all rather nice. Many of the hexies were cut from my 'Amelia' (Moda)  jelly roll, as requests for bright, cheerful and modern fabric hexies abounded in this swap. But I also cut into my 'flower fabrics stash' this time too. 

After I photographed all these flowers I started sealing them up in cello bags, which I had found at a local 'cheap/bargain shop'...then I started addressing the A5 envelopes...then I realised that something was wrong! Those centres are quite 'naked'; there should be writing on them...like this! So out of the cello bags they came and I wrote my details on each flower...

I forgot to take a photo of my ones and they're well and truly on their way to their new homes, so the pic is of a pretty hexie flower that I received. 

There is one pair of hexie flowers which weren't photographed and not mailed...they will be mailed in late January as the recipient will be away OS until then. 

So what now with these hexies? Round 3 Swap sign ups will be in January. I don't think I will sign up...but you've heard that before haven't you! 

Friday Night with Friends...

First Friday night of the month is FNwF in Blogland and after missing the August one, I was determined to join in this month!

I continued to work on my hexie flowers for an Instagram swap that I signed up for. The plan had been that I would work on the project while we travelled so that when we arrived home, I would have them all ready to post. Didn't happen did it? I needed better light and my magnifier was definitely needed, neither of which I had with me, so progress was extremely slow. 

I had glued a number of hexies to the papers whilst on holiday so have been doing a few stitching sessions this last week. Last night during FNwF saw the most progress...but still a lot to do. The flowers in the foreground were a request for 'mix it up'; others wanted the 'petals' cut from the same fabric and the other pair were 'eye spy' with 'mix it up' petals. 

The flowers ( we have to make 2 for each person in our group of 17 people) have to be sent to the members of the group by September 30, but I had received some before we left on our trip on July 22 and there were another 7 lots waiting for me when I got home last week. They are all so beautiful; the fabrics used are so pretty.

First photo is the hexie flowers I received in July...

And the ones which arrived while we were away. It was like Christmas opening all the envelopes! :-)

We had to list the colours/ themes etc that we wanted. No surprises...I asked for blues, teals and purples :-)

Oh well, instead of writing about stitching these, I'd best get on and stitch some more! 

Friday Night Sew In...

It was a night of cutting for me! I had decided that one big cutting session should get me ready to start the Instagram Hexie Down Under Swap. There are 18 in my group ( that includes me) and we have to make 2 hexie flowers per person...so that's 34 x 7 that I needed to cut out. The hexagons are 1 inch.

We were each sent a list of people's preferences, so it was just a matter of sorting through my 'stash' to find suitable fabrics. In recent months I have been sorting my fabrics and putting them in bundles based on colours and themes...really glad I did that!!

I still have a few more to cut including all the centres...most want white, but there are some requests for a cream centre and one yellow. 

I used quite a bit of my leftover 'Amelia' jelly roll and charm squares...these precuts have made a lot of projects!

I will be using the glueing method and also the purchased hexagon papers. So I'm now just about ready to start...

Last Wednesday...

Last Wednesday I stitched most of the day. I wanted to finish the projects that I had been making for an Instagram Christmas in July Swap. Posting date wasn't until July 13 but I wanted to be early for once...

By late Wednesday afternoon the gifts were wrapped. Still 'smarting' 2 years later from paying $27 for postage of 2 mug rugs being sent to a North American address, I kept the parcel as flat as possible. One of the workers at our little local post office had recently told me the 'flat' trick. I had rolled those mug rugs and put them in a tiny post bag...they made a  thick parcel...so expensive postage! 

( the postage on this parcel was a more acceptable $14.50)

So now a little look at what I sent...

Some Christmas iron on labels

Some novelty buttons and some stickers...

A cushion cover...

I didn't do that machine embroidery...a lady on Etsy who embroiders this design on towels, was quite happy to embroider on a piece of homespun instead. I think you may have guessed that the recipient rather likes horses????

And a hexie table centre... The darker green hexies feature little rocking horses! Lol

Still last Wednesday...

On Wednesday night, DH went to the State of Origin Match #3 ( a rugby league match with Queensland vs New South Wales) with DsD2. The ticket had been his birthday present from all the girls and 2 partners. He wore his last year's Christmas gift from DSD2 and her husband...

He had a wonderful time...all the atmosphere and a very exciting game which saw Qld the winner 52-6!!!

And I had a lovely quiet night at home :-)

Friday Night with Friends...

First Friday night of each month is FNwF where people from all around the world sit and stitch or knit and crochet and then write a blog post. 

I'm working on an Instagram Christmas in July Swap at the moment so that the items are all finished and ready to mail by July 13. 

Hexie table centre...

Another row to stitch on and then the finishing which takes a little while. ( I will put some iron on Pelon behind the hexies and then use an acrylic felt as the backing as I don't need to 'hem' it to shape) 

The main project is a cushion cover but I can only show a little peek as the middle bit will alert the recipient that it's for her and it's all a big secret. 

I sewed the last border on last night so now just have to make the cushion. 

And lastly I did some crocheting...

Such a lovely night crafting this week...unlike the last FNSI! Lol

Missing...

Yep! I've certainly been missing from Blogland this last week! I've been so busy...trying to rectify a 'disaster'. 

In my last post I wrote about having to unpick and re-sew some blocks for a swap. Well out of the 27 blocks, I could only salvage 18. Some of these 18 were actually 'cannibalised' from the original 27 blocks...taking segments of some and putting them together with segments from other blocks. I discovered that the main problem that caused wrong sized blocks was that some of the squares were not 2 1/2 " and this seemed to have been caused by fabric slipping when cutting double layers of strips. 

So after the 18 were re-sewn, I carefully cut enough squares to make another 10 blocks...160 squares!  So for days I was unpicking, re-sewing, cutting new squares and sewing new blocks. Sometimes I really didn't feel like doing all this...but I would have been letting a lot of other people down if I didn't! 

But I was sneaky this time...I cut each square a tiny bit bigger and at the second stage of piecing,I would trim the four patch segment to 4 1/2 inch square. Also in the instructions, it suggested that it was only necessary to finger press the seam of those first 2 squares sewn together...well eventually I used the iron on those seams too with good results. 

I also did something that I haven't done for years...I tacked (basted) some of the seams with great results...no unpicking! My Nanna Rita ( a tailoress) would have been proud! Lol) 

Late Wednesday night, I had finished 27 blocks which was all I needed to mail as #28 is kept by the maker.  I ironed all of them one more time, prior to wrapping up for sending...all was good except 3 of the blocks. On closer inspection these 3  were very poor quality...so really could not be sent in the swap. 

So there was nothing for it but to cut another 48 squares! And today I worked at finishing this three and by this afternoon, I was happy with the quality of all 27 blocks. 

In this project I have made every careless mistake possible I think...squares cut carelessly, squares' corners not lining up, wonky, crooked seams, instead of both right sides together for seams, I occasionally had wrong side and right side facing in and sewn, I had twisted intersections' seams, wrong side facing out etc etc... Dreadful! One mistake I kept repeating was in the second step of construction. The segment on the left should have the seam pressed 'up' and the one on the right should be 'down'. 

To keep perpetuating the same mistake is a bit of a worry...:-/

(The lower segment is correctly aligned and ready for pressing)

Maybe it's the onset of 'Crafters' Dementia'?? Hope not!!! Lol

So, some maths...originally I cut 454 squares (448 needed for 28, 16 square blocks plus 6 extras to replace ones that 'didn't work'). Then I have cut another 224 in the last week...phew! 

When I get the parcel with 27 blocks swap blocks from the other participants,  I think it was all worth it! I mean, all that Liberty Fabric...loveliness!  

Christmas Swaps...

Recently I commented that I didn't sign up for as many Christmas Swaps in 2014, but when I sat down and toted them up, it was only one less swap than 2013 :-/ . I've shown photos of what I received in the Santa Sack Swap and the Chookyblue Secret Santa Swap and in this post I'll show photos of what I received in the Aussie Christmas Swap run through Instagram. 

This parcel didn't arrive until after Christmas and I'm sure my swap buddy must have felt quite apprehensive whether her parcel was lost! 

But it arrived in that week after Christmas...

A lovely vintage doily, a key fob, the sweetest mini charm pack, some delicious pistachio nuts in a Christmas cone and some beautiful knitting needles...and...

A lovely table runner featuring Christmas trees...so nice and festive! 

My swap partner wrote her initial and surname on the back of the postpac but I didn't know her first name. I went through the #aussieechristmasswap site trying to find someone whose initial was 'L' but without any luck. But I did have an address so I wrote out a thank you card and sent it via 'snail mail'. Then today, my post on IG was noticed by one of the organisers of the swap and she let me know that my swap buddy was Leesa. Another big thank you Leesa, for all my lovely gifts. 

Very soon my post tally will be 1010 which means, allowing for a number of encore posts, will be 1000 'first run' posts. Definitely cause for a celebration. So for 5 posts I will have a small Giveaway each time. The next post will be about tonight's Friday Night with Friends and then...the Giveaways!