Some new reading.......

...and some planning to do.  There has been no sewing the past few days, but I have been reading these 2 books which I ended up ordering from here (the exchange rate was better for me to buy from there than it was for buying it from Oz)

I haven't finished the current Stitch-a-Long yet but am pleased with my current progress, so thought I would get some pre-reading done before the next one kicks off !

I have read Bonnie's blog and liked her ideas about using squares etc as leaders and enders (rather than using scraps of fabric over and over again) so you then have segments to use to construct blocks for a quilt.  I suppose it is about sewing smarter,  so I decided to buy her book and continue to read about how she does it.
So while I haven't been sewing anything in particular I think that reading is good preparation for future projects !!!  Sounds like a good excuse anyway...

Is Spring on its way....

Blossom on the plum tree

It's been a lovely sunny day today and there's been the sound of something that we don't hear over the winter months- the lawnmowers zooming around the yards.  Nothing much grows over the Winter.  So today I took a walk around the garden to see what signs of Spring I could find...

It has been a sunny afternoon...

Some colour in the garden..

New growth on the golden elm...

It shouldn't be too long now before the rhododendrons are in flower.  It has been a glorious day here today and it has been matched by my delight in a win for the Wallabies and Robbie last night...it will be a relief for me going to work tomorrow after the ribbing I got last week when the team and new captain was announced...

You know you need help when...

You can't see the eye of the needle to thread the cotton through.
You can't tell that you have left a few fabric threads between the stitches when you are backstitching...
So what do you do- go and get tested for some reading glasses- which is just what I did a few months back.  But...  I have still found it difficult to stitch at night.  I have been using a halogen floor lamp and even with the new glasses I just wasn't happy.  So last week I saw this lamp ( on sale at 40% off the day I was looking) and bought it.  It is just wonderful ......

My new Daylight lamp

So what is so good about it- well it has a bright white light over a wider area ( my halogen lamp cast more of a dull yellowish light in the one spot in comparison.) 
I'm delighted with my purchase and am enjoying being able to clearly see what I am working on!
It might help me to work a bit faster on some of my handstitching...

FNSI

I decided to participate this month after reading about it just early this week.  I have to confess though that I wilted early on in the evening, but not before I had tacked some more hexagons onto papers and then sewed 3 new 'flowers' together.  So this is my effort for the night...

With focusing on finishing the stitching for Tis The Season, my hexies have been lying forgotten so it was time to get them out and sew some more together- I now have a month to get prepared for the next FNSI so that will see me better prepared than I was this month, as I only joined up the night before..

I thought I might try this....

I have been reading about this on some other blogs so thought it might give me something to focus on tonight.

If you are interested pop over to   Heidi's blog for more information and to sign up

Feeling pleased with myself....

Blocks 11 and 12

I have finished stitching blocks 11 and 12 of Tis The Season so I now have all the blocks I need to piece together for the quilt.  Block 13 will be my label for the back ( I still have until the end of the month to stitch this and finally finish a month with everything done and up to date!)  I was well behind schedule at the end of July, hence the feeling of satisfaction that I have caught up so much.  All I need to do now is put the borders on the blocks and put it together- maybe this weekend........

The Polar Blast continues....

So I am the lucky one in our family to have another day at home...Yippee!  Everyone else has had to go to work.  My plans for the day include reading the latest Homespun magazine (which just arrived) and doing some more stitching.  What a way to spend the day...and then there will just be 3 days left of work for the week!  It is still very cold today and more snow is forecast but all we have had this morning here is rain- while the snow is falling up in the hill suburbs.  Here are a couple of more shots from yesterday- it was too cold to stay outside for long...

It's snowing, so visibility is low!

The snowplough is there, trying to clear the edges of the road

Bar-b-que anyone? Not in this weather!