Last Post of 2016

2016 has flown by ever so fast.  Many trips to Brisbane to visit Medical Specialists, emotions all over the place.  I feel this year my life has not been my own, that I have only looked in from the outside, like a voyeur, looking in on a crazy situation.

I accomplished only small amounts of sewing, some on my "Insanity Quilt", some on "Lucy Boston - Patchwork of the Crosses" and minimal on "Pie and Tarts".  I made some zippy pouches for gifts.

I vowed to myself that I would not embark on any new projects, however,I received an email, tempting me to "Delilah", a BOM that commences in March.  I have lost all of my photos, my tablet went MAD the other night, beeping, and carrying on, light flashing on and off ...... mmmmm.  When I had my wits about me the next day, it appears my micro SD card has gone and lost all my recent photos.  Still trying to work out to see if somehow they can be saved or something.

In 2016 I listened to ninety audio books, all from Borrow Box via our library, saved a lot of may sanity whilst travelling and waiting for appointments.  Then I read sixty-nine books, some of these were ebooks, some real paper books.  It will be interesting to see what I get listened to and what I get read in 2017.  Somehow, I do not think it will be no where near that many.

Hopefully, the treatment I have undergone this year has controlled the tumours in my liver and rib, and my health will improve.  My Hb level is way down low, I had four blood transfusions in two months, am due for a blood test this week to see how my blood levels are.

I wish each and everyone of you a safe and healthy 2017, filled with lots of time for stitching.

Thank you for taking time to stop by.
Happy stitching.
Sharon

Above The Clouds

Another trip to Brisbane, another blood transfusion  and more basting.  This time time I managed to baste  260 half  inch hexies in travelling time and waiting  time.

Unfortunately,  I  forgot to take a photo of the little darlings. But have once again commenced  sewing the diamonds together for for the  Insanity  Quilt.

When I  departed Brisbane it was overcast,  we flew through the clouds to start  with, then above the clouds.

It was rather magical,  the photo do not do it justice.

Next trip away will be almost the end of November,  so hopefully I will get some serious machine sewing time in on my days off.  I have a few smallish projects I would like to undertake.  Will divulge more when the time comes!

Thank you for taking time to stop by.
 Happy stitching.
 Sharon

Back Home Again

Arrived back home abot half past noon on Friday.

This is what some of the country looks like surrounding  Cloncurry.  Notice the green? Isn't it fantastic?  Amazing  what a little rain can do. Let's hope it  continues throughout the wet, and we get a decent wet season.

Of course I would  not let a chance slip by, so between  the  train trip to the airport  and the flight home, I  managed  to baste another 61 hexies for my  Insanity  Quilt.

I am so desperately  wanting to sew some of my diamonds together , but seeing as my Insanity Quilt  is scrappy, I  have to wait until all my diamonds are sewn together,  as I  don't  want all the purples, for example  to be clustered  together.

Thank you for taking time to stop by.
 Happy stitching. Sharon

A Day of Basting Hexies

Heelo thereToday I  had a day of basting hexies,  I  achieved  the grand total of 79

I was hoping to achieve more than 79 being basted,  but it was a little  difficult,  being hooked up to two IVs

Holding the needle and thread in one hand and the fabric and cardboard  in the other is usually  no drama, but I  could not bend my thumbs in tge usual  manner.

The IVs were the  PRRT (lutate) treatment  for my NETS. This was my third cycle, only one more to go, then to wait for scans to see if the treatment  has slowed  the  progression  of these little  wretches.

Yesterday, after visiting the dietitian  (for a dramatuc weight loss ), I  was  hoping to  do a little shopping,  but alas, my Hb levels in my blood  are not great, last weeks blood test they were 86, yesterday 's blood test  they were 83, so I was admitted for  a blood transfusion and some top up fluids.

Well last night, I  felt slightly more energised than I have in a long time.  This mornings  blood test  came back at 104..

So now we just have to keep a close eye on it.

All I  seem to  have done this year is remember dates to have this test or that treatment.  Hopefully,  these things will settle down soon.


Thank you for taking time to stop by.
 Happy stitching. Sharon

Some Lucy Boston - POTC

Hello again,
Poppy here again.

I have grabbed Mum's tablet. She is sleeping after Night Duty.

Thought I  would share with you some of the Lucy Boston blocks she has been working on. Notice, now Mum has the cream joining elongated hexies sewn on. Mum has cut out lots and lots of grey joiner squares, but she cannot decide what layout to do.

Mum glue basted Lucy Boston, from now on, we will refer to as Lucy. Mum started off using the Sewline Glue pen, by Sue Daley, then misplaced it, so she used regular glue stick, not such a good idea, sticks to hard and very difficult to unglue when she wanted to recycle the papers. Oh well, a valuable lesson learnt.

Mum's Lucy is a BOM from Sandy at Shiralee Stitches.

Here is what Mum has completed to date.

Maybe one day soon Mum will write the blog herself.
Thank you for taking time to stop by.

A Long Time Coming Post

Hello Readers' of Mum's Blog

This is Poppy here, writing on her behalf. I have despaired of her blogging again, even though she has been making notes on what to blog about, I am going to try and make sense of them.

First of all let me introduce myself,  my name is Poppy, I am a three year old Jack Russell/Mini Foxie Cross.

Here is a recent phot of me, aren't I adorable?

Since March, (last time) Mum blogged, many life changes have occurred.

Her NETS have progressed in her liver and now there is one in her third rib, that explains the pain, that she was experiencing,  but kept getting the brush off, anyhow enough of that.

So the doctors, sent her off to see if she was eligible for some new treatment,  called PRRT, again this is only availe at one centre in Queensland, so she has to leave me every eight weeks for a a week or so. Funny thing is she goes for a short distance in thing with round black things, then goes up in this BIG tin bird, it eats her up, but lets her out at the other end, and BRINGS her back to me, oh and him ....

HE is Harry Creek the Black Cat, HE thinks HE is the love of her life, but hey, .......

Anyway, Mum was on sick leave for a long time, but now back at work part time. She has also recommenced quilting.  Givez me more comfy places to sit, but please don't tell her!

Mum finally completed this Golliwog Quilt she started for my two legged sister, many, many years ago.  This quilt was all hand appliquéd,  fused down, and blanket stitched around.  She cut out a lot, and I mean a lot of rectangles,  to go around the centre Golliwogs. Here are some photos. 

Now,  I overhead Mum talking about this how this quilt came about.  Katie,  the two legged child has always LOVED Golliwogs,  even though she is a grown up now! Well,  when she was an almost grown up, at one of the craft shows, she found a patter for a Golliwog Quilt and asked my  Mum to make it for her,  Mum, being Mum said, sure. Bought said pattern,  but when she got it home,  the trouble began.  Yep, TROUBLE, the pattern was in centremetres, grrrrrrr, not inches. Mum had to remake the pattern.  The photos above are the result.

Hang on, I'd better sign off, I hear Mum coming, and she will go spare if she knows I have been on her tablet.

I will try and blog on her behalf, until she decides to blog again. I have found lots of photos of blocks and things she has been working on. So will share.

Thank you for reading this post from Poppy.

Missing In Action

It has been a while since I have posted.  Actually been away in the city having a surgery.  Thimk it has fixed one issue , but may have exacerbated the issue from 2008, only time will tell.

While I was away, I basted what felt like thousands of half inch hexies for "The Insanity Quilt", also managed to sew together some of the diamonds that go into centre panel of the quilt.

There are thirty-two diamonds completed so far.  Only need another 126 diamonds!

Here is the balance of hexies basted. Still many thousands, yes thousands to baste, and cut.

The reason they are in snap-lock bags, is that they are for various sections of the quilt.

Least this project is a great grab and go, I can sew some whilst waiting for planes and flying, plus waiting for doctors appointments,  and any other spare minutes that happen by.


Thank you for taking time to stop by.

 Happy stitching.

 Sharon

Basting and Baking

Hello Fellow Sewists/Quilters

I hope everyone is keeping well and doing some craft they enjoy!

I have added some cream elongated hexies to another Lucy Boston block.

I also have been using my Thermomix.  Making bread, bread rolls, meals, biscuits to name a few.  Below are some photos of a small selection of what I have been up to.

The biscuits are Date and Ginger which cwere made for my Dad for his birthday.

The Shortbread were made for my Mum.

Not sure what airport security must have thought, as I brought them down to Brisbane as my carry-on luggage on a recent flight to Brisbane!

I also have been working on my Insanity Quilt. The pattern is by Rhonda Pearce of Post office Patchwork.

Here are just a rew of the half inch hexies I basted today.

Anyhow, this is all for now; stay safe and enjoy what you do.

Thank you for taking time to stop by.

 Happy stitching.

 Sharon

Been Cutting and Preping

It has been a while since I last posted.  I have been  busy cutting, what seems like gazillions of one and a half inch squares of fabric for my Insanity Quilt.

What appears like a gazillion one and a haf inch squares of cream fabric.

Also been cutting some one inch elongated hexies for Lucy Boston, Patchwork of the Crosses (the cream surrounding the centre blocks)

Think I have enough for the time being to get a heads up on sewing blocks together for Lucy, and mainly basting half inch hexies for the Insanity Quilt.  With the Lucy Boston quilt I have quiet  few centres awaiting the cream elongated hexies to be attached.

What I did do earlier today was make a batch of Pumpkin Cheesy  Puffs, I halved the recipe, just to make sure I would like them, they are absolutely yumbo.  The only trouble is I removed them from the oven straight away from being cooked and they sunk.  But I was concerned the oven may burn them, (yes I had the oven off), but also had another tray to bake.  But that is OK, will know better next time.

Thank you for taking time to stop by.

 Happy stitching.

Sharon

Suffolk Puffs, Unforeseen Trip and Surgery

2016, has hit with a bang.  I had a list of goals written out for the commencement of 2016, they included:-

1.  Drink more water.
2.  Quilt Golliwog Quit.
3.  Quilt Batik Quilt.
4.  Sandwich and quilt "Sew Kitschy" BOM from 2014.
5. Sandwich and quilt "Hexie" BOM from 2014.
6.  Work on Lucy Boston - Patchwork of the Crosses.
7.  Work on Pie and Tarts.
8.  Not start anymore new projects.
9.  Work on Hexie Odyssey.
10.

I will have to check my list when I return home, as there were a few more goals on the list.

Well I was working on "Pie and Tarts" and "Lucy Boston", on alternative nights.  But Christmas Eve,I had a small health issue, could not get it really checked out until Monday 4 January, and I was on a plane on Tuesday 5 January to Brisbane to see a Colorectal Surgeon on the Wednesday.  He scheduled me in for surgery on 11 January.  Now I am recovering.  Not to lift anything heavier than 5kg for a month, no straining, basically have to take things a little easier.

Well, when I had to pack in such a hurry, I grabbed my "Cotton Puff" BOM from back in 2013.  I have been busily sewing Suffolk Puffs/Yo Yos for the past week.

This little stash is 336 Suffolk Puffs/Yo Yos.  I have sewn approximately 24 this morning.  At home I probably have close to 200 hundred sewn.  So not really that many more to go, the BOM had 625 of these little cuties.

Now my dilemma, is whether to just sew them together and have a "flimsy" type throw, OR applique them onto some pretty fabric and quilt around them.  My original plan was the former, but now after mulling over this, and having a search on Pinterest, I have seen some appliqued onto fabric and quilted around, this is the way I am thinking of going at present, but who knows, may change my mind again.

I fly back home on Friday, so will them get stuck back into Lucy Boston and Pie and Tarts.


Thank you for taking time to stop by.

 Happy stitching.

Sharon

1st January, 2016

Happy New Year to All. Hope everyone spent  New Year's Eve doing something they enjoyed. We went to a bar-b-que, and were home by 21.30, as I had an early shift today. So I  slept the New Year in!

About 19.00 hours, these fellows started building up.  The wind blew 11.5 klms/hr. Just now the rain gauge read 14.7 mLs. Yes it still is raining, such a delightful sound to go to sleep to.

Tonight I sewed some more cream elongated hexies to one of my Lucy Boston blocks. Tomorrow I shall invest some time into cutting out some more cream elongated hexies.

Wishing everyone a year filled with joy and happiness, good health and lots of spare time for stitching.

Hugs and thank you for taking time to stop by.

Sharon