Sew Wot Tuesday

 I was the hostess this time for Sew Wot Tuesday, and it was lovely to welcome everyone to my home for the morning.  Heather had just celebrated her birthday so there were lots of gifts waiting for her to open.  It was such fun seeing what was in those parcels, There was wool, smellies, a set of coffee mugs, and she was thrilled to receive a pair of hand knitted socks!  Plus a home grown lemon tree from Helen.

Birthday gifts for Heather

Heather had been knitting up a storm to bring along for Show and Tell.  There were two hooded sleeveless jumpers for when the great great grandbabies get a little bigger.  They have so many baby knits that Heather was planning ahead.  Plus a nice little cream and blue jumper.

Heather's knitting

And Carol had brought along a whole swag of knitted toys to be donated to the Neo Natal Hospital Unit.  Don't they look cute.

Carol's knitted toys

Mary had some knitting to show us too.  A cozy pair of bed socks, and a pair of 4ply socks, still works in progress she said, as they needed stitching up.

Mary's socks

And this cute little pink baby singlet was knitted by Helen, she completed sewing it up on the morning.

Pretty pink baby singlet knitted by Helen

I showed my recently completed boy's donation quilt.  Plus my completed secret sewing project but I can't show it here yet until it was been gifted.

My boy's donation quilt

Morning tea was served, including corn and bacon savouries, a recipe which harks back to when my children were teens, so that is going back a good few years!  The Eat-a-Lots certainly enjoy their morning teas.

Morning tea

Helen had kindly brought along some seedlings from her garden to share.  I don't have a veggie garden so took some cauliflower plants and planted them in  my rhubarb patch.  Hopefully they will grow.

Trying my luck with caulies

We had a lovely morning with the knitting needles click clacking away, socks, baby singlets, a scarf and a man's jumper being worked on.  Plus plenty of chatter too of course.  Gemma walked around and checked out everyone's bags, just in case there was something for her.  It was so nice to be the hostess again.  

Sew Wot Tuesday

 It was so nice to join in with the Sew Wot ladies again, as I had missed the last two get-togethers.  This time, we met at Jude's home.  Our numbers were down a little, with two of the ladies unable to join us this time.  The family dog was not at all happy to be locked up in the back yard.  He really wanted to come and meet all those visitors, and let his displeasure be known!

I had taken along some knitting patterns which were no longer required, and several found new homes.  The rest will be donated to one of the local Op Shops.

As usual, there was an interesting selection of Show and Tell.  Helen had recently made herself a knitting needle holder, a very clever idea, and it all rolled up neatly with a tie.

Helen's knitting needle roll

There was quite a bit of knitting on show.  Mary had made a pair of green and cream socks.

Mary's socks

Jude showed us her knitted scarf and a pair of socks.  The scarf has been knitted in a lovely manly shade  and will be donated - one of the knitting shop chains had put a call out for woolen scarves for veterans.  And the socks were knitted in such a pretty yarn, featuring cream, orange and yellow.

Jude's knitting

Carol had knitted three lovely baby sets, singlet, hat and soft toy, to be donated to the Neo Natal Unit for babies.  So nice.

Carol's baby knitting

As for me, I had taken along two recently finished quilts.  My embroidered Christmas wall hanging, and a boy's quilt for donation.

My show and tell

Then it was morning tea time and the tea trolley was wheeled out.  Cups of coffee and tea as requested, fancy plates and serviettes and some delicious food, we were certainly spoilt.

Morning tea time

Many thanks to Jude for being hostess, we all had such a lovely morning.  And we will do it again in two weeks time.

Sew Wot Tuesday

 I was looking forward to Sew Wot Tuesday, as I was unable to attend the previous get-together.  But first I had to wrap up a couple of birthday gifts to take, both Mary and Helen had recently celebrated their birthdays.

For the birthday girls

There was a full house at Carol's home, it was so nice that everyone could attend.  Sadly these days as we are getting older, medical appointments and issues seem to pop up regularly.  But we all made it, so that was great.  It was such fun watching both Mary and Helen open their gifts, I'm sure we got just as much pleasure seeing it happen as the birthday girls did opening their parcels.  

Socks certainly featured in show and tell, they were all laid out for a photo opportunity.   Some completed, and some just needed stitching up the side seam, another pair on the needles, plus a pair displayed on feet!  Winter certainly is sock knitting time, and Helen had also knitted a couple of wooly hats.

Cozy and warm for winter

Carol had completed her knitting commission from Heather to knit some garments for Heather's upcoming twin great-grandbabies.  So pretty.

For the twins

And Carol had another lot of baby donations to show, before they are whisked away to the hospital.

Knitted by Carol

In fact, I think Carol qualifies for a Gold Star as she had yet another finish to show us.  She had just completed this pretty embroidered wall hanging.  I love seeing embroidered blocks used in quilts.

Carol's pretty embroidered wall hanging

All of us were industrially knitting  even more socks, except for Jude who was busy with her crochet hook.  She was working on this lovely blanket, so pretty in these shades.

Jude's pretty crochet

Then it was morning tea time, always the highlight of our get-togethers, we always look forward to this.  I know we don't really need such a beautiful spread each time, but as we are known as The Eat-alots, we certainly enjoy it, and appreciate the work that goes into it.  Thanks to Carol for a lovely morning hosting the Sew Wots.

Morning Tea

Sew Wot Tuesday and Goodbye dear friend

 It was a Sew Wot Tuesday with a difference this week, Helen had arranged for us to meet  at Fox's Cottage quilt shop.  This is my favourite LQS and we are always warmly welcomed once we step through the door.

It was a nice sunny Autumn day

Believe it or not, there was not a single item for Show and Tell this week.  But we made up for it by checking out the shop, and most of us purchased a few goodies.  I had a very small list, I needed more pink thread to continue with my machine applique on my secret sewing project.  And I was also looking for some poppy fabric for a border on a small Anzac wall hanging I'm planning.  I didn't care for the several fabric choices with a black background, they looked much too dark for what I wanted.  And then Helen produced a pretty poppy fabric on a lemon background.  Seems this one had fallen behind all the others and was just recently discovered.  That one will suit me nicely, I decided.

My poppy fabric purchase

The staff at Fox's Cottage love it when the Sew Wots come, as there is always plenty of goodies for them to eat as well.   They sat down and joined us for morning tea.

Plenty of morning tea for all

Here we all all, with one absence

That evening I received a very upsetting phone call.  My long time childhood friend Merilyn had passed away suddenly.  That was hard to believe as I had just been chatting to her on the phone in the weekend, and we were talking about us both turning 80 this year.  We met in primary school, and I remember going away on several Christmas camping holidays with her parents.  We grew up, married and had babies, and then she moved down to Dunedin in the South Island.  Over the years we have caught up when she travelled up this way, or we had a South Island caravan trip, writing letters in the early days  and many phone calls.  When we talked, it was just like we had never been apart.  I feel so lucky to have had such a wonderful friend for practically my whole life, and will miss her terribly.  This really hit me hard, as I'm still struggling with losing Robin too.

Merilyn and I at a beach camping holiday

A lifetime of wonderful memories

Sew Wot Tuesday

 The Sew Wots gathered at my home this time.  All except Jude, who was away on a family holiday.   Heather arrived and presented me with a nice little bunch of flowers, such a lovely thing to do.

Flowers from Heather

Just a little Show and Tell this time.  Helen started with some baby knitting, a little singlet and three small hats.  All to be donated and she was happy to use up some of those small balls of wool which seem to hang around.

Helen's baby knitting

Mary had completed the lovely crochet rug she was working on last time we met.  This will be donated to a friend, it's so pretty.  Mary is a whizz with crochet, and can whip things up in no time at all.

Mary's crochet blanket

And I showed my recently completed burgundy red double handed oven mitt, using up some more of my selvedges.

Another oven mitt

Gemma thought having these visitors was great fun.  She wandered here, wandered there.  The ladies  all had bags at their feet, just waiting to be explored with a sniff test.   Then she jumped up on the wall unit, I'm not sure you should be there, Gemma.  But does she listen?  Of course not.

I'm a good girl really

We were all busy knitting away.  There were 4ply socks and thick bed socks being worked on.  And several little baby jumpers too, I noticed.  Heather has a lot of knitting to do, with twins arriving soon in the family, so she's been busy knitting two of each  item.

Heather, Sandra and Carol

Helen and Mary

Then it was Morning Tea time.  Hot drinks were made, and the food was set out on the coffee table.  The "Eat a Lots", the named coined by Helen's hubby, indulged again.

Morning Tea

There is always plenty of food, so I packed some up for the freezer, and took some up for my friend Dot and her hubby, he's not too well and has got a bit of a sweet tooth so always enjoys a few goodies.  It was so nice to take my turn hosting this time.  Next time, we were told, we would be gathering in Foxes Cottage, our LQS, that should be fun.  

Sew Wot Tuesday

 Our Sew Wot morning started with a severe weather event.  Heavy rain was pouring down, the wind was fierce, and the fire sirens were sounding.  What on earth was going on, a bit of flooding, I thought.  But it was much worse than that, a small tornado had struck town, very close to me indeed, but I didn't realise this till later in the morning.  Roof damage, fences down, trees uprooted, flooding, dear me.  

I drove through the heavy rain passing a group of work men dealing with tree damage at a nearby park.  Jude was the hostess this week, and when I settled down, the others filled me in on what had been happening.  The wonders of the internet make accessing information so very easy indeed.

We could all make it to Sew Wots this time, so that was nice.  Appointments, family  and holidays sometimes take precedence.  Just a little Show and Tell this time.  Carol had a couple more teddies and baby singlets to be donated to the Neo Natal hospital ward, all nicely packaged up in cellophane bags.  Helen had brought along her pretty Ohio Star top last time.  All finished now, quilted and bound, she is keeping this one for herself.

Helen's Ohio Star quilt

Mary had a  crochet blanket to show, such pretty colours, made to use up her leftover yarn.  I really admire people who can crochet, it's not a skill I have myself.

Mary's crochet blanket

After knitting three kitten blankets to donate to the SPCA I decided to knit one for Gemma, using up two balls of cotton yarn I had.  I made it to go into the cat tower, she sometimes likes to snooze in the middle section.  It's hard to see her when she is tucked up in her tower hidey hole.

Gemma's new blanket in her tower hidey hole

As usual, there was hand work being done, knitting and stitching.  Plus plenty of chatter as well.  Then out came the morning tea trolly, we are always so spoilt.  There was plenty there for the "Eat a Lots", as Helen's husband calls us.

Morning Tea

Thanks so much to Jude, it was indeed a lovely morning.  And we get to do it all again in two weeks time, when everyone will gather at my home.  Mmm, what shall I bake?

On the way back home I stopped off to purchase some fresh fruit and veggies at the local growers.  And also came away with two pumpkins.  I love roast pumpkin, and can also see some pumpkin soup happening very soon.  With the weather cooling down, it's time to make soup, that's my idea anyway.

Ready for pumpkin soup

Sew Wot Tuesday

Heather was the "Hostess with the Mostest" this week, and we all gathered at her home on a lovely sunny Tuesday morning.  She had been having a clean up in her sewing room, and had lots of goodies looking for a new home.  I spotted a strip of three teddy bear panels, which Heather had received from someone else and wasn't sure what to do with them. They will be perfect for making  three kiddies cushions for donation, I told her, as I scooped it up and put it in my bag.

Show and Tell was overflowing this time. Sandra arrived with a big armful of quilts, some of these had been hanging around for a while and she wanted them finished and gone, she said.   We all admired the postage stamp quilt she was making for a friend, just the binding to do on this one.

Postage Stamp quilt

The next was a pretty floral star quilt made for one of her Aunts.  Nice soft colours in this one.

Floral stars

I remember seeing the next one when it was a top, such a nice design and great colours for a masculine donation quilt.  I like the pieced border too.

Nice for an older boy

The next was quite a striking design, something she just wanted to try, Sandra said.  Another donation quilt.

Such a striking pattern

And lastly, another donation quilt, I really like this pattern, simple but so effective.  I might have to remember this for my own donation quilts.  Sandra has done so well, having a big push to get all these quilts past the finish line.

The final donation quilt, didn't she do well!

Our hostess Heather had a lot to show as well.  I had seen and admired her pretty Kawandi piece over the months while it was being stitched.  Originally it was going to be made into a bag, but then Heather decided to make a mini quilt instead.   

Heather's Kawandi piece, pretty in pink and black

The yet to arrive twin babies have a pretty aqua cardigan each

And lastly, Heather had knitted a pretty shawl for her friend, so light and lacy.

Pretty shawl

Jude had been knitting too, and  brought along five kitten kitten blankets for the SPCA.  When each kitten gets adopted, they get a cozy blanket to take to their new home.

Jude's kitten blankets

Helen had been busy too, she had stitched her Sew Wot mini blocks into a little book.  What a lovely job she has made of this.

Book made with Helen's blocks

Helen made another pair of socks

And lastly, Helen's sister knitted a baby cardigan, which Helen stitched up for her and will be donated.  Here sister has not done a great deal of knitting, so it was a great effort indeed.

Knitted by Helen's sister

And what would our Sew Wot get together be without another tasty morning tea?  There were plenty of tasty goodies here for us all.  The table was set with a custom made table cloth, using up many 5inch squares.  

Thanks so much, Heather, we all had a lovely time.