Long, long weekend wrap up including FNSI..

I have been very lucky to have had a very long weekend this Australia Day weekend - four whole days of fun, friends, exercise and, of course, stitching!  Do you want to hear what I have been up to? I hope so, because I am about to tell you!!! lol!

Day 1, Friday, 25th Jan - FNSI:

1. Water aerobics in the morning
2. Lunch with TraderVic at the Tassal restaurant at their Salmon shop in Kew, where we had the best salmon fish and chips that you could imagine. (Tassal are a company from Tasmania who breed beautiful Atlanitc salmon for the Australian market).  If you live in Melbourne and get a chance to go there for lunch I can highly recommend it.
3. Then off to do some Stitchy shopping (mainly at my LNS, Lazy Daisy although I did pick up a frame at a local gift shop). Here are some pics of my Stash Empire Building:

I am going to be part of a Joan Elliott Round Robin later this year.  So, I am trying to get organised for it so I picked up some JE designs - I have decided that my theme is going to be Fairies and Angels.

Then I really lashed out and bought these Sajou scissors which I have had my eye on for a while (they have been marked down in the shop for months now and every time I went I would drool over them and now they are all mine!  They are so beautiful and have a lovely, precision cutting blade.

Some fabbie for my stash - this is 28 count Meadow Mist (although the pic does not do it justice). I did buy some 28 ct Mocha Lugana, too, but I must have missed taking a pic of it.

Various threads for various projects:

A needle threader for those nights when my eyes are tired and that darn hole is invisible!

Birdhouse Alphabet by Little House Needleworks (which I finished last night but pics further on in the post) which I started stitching for FNSI.

Some more new lovely patterns from LHN and JBW - and aha! - there is that Mocha Lugana!

... and, of course some needles as I have a pathological fear of running out of them so I buy at least two packets every time I go to my LNS.

4.    FNSI - Well, I started on Birdhouse Alphabet - using some overdyed fabbie I already had in my stash, my new scissors and this lovely Belle Soie silk which came in the kit.  Now, I have never stitched with this silk before and it is absolutely wonderful to stitch with.  I think that I am going to have to buy some more in other colours for my stash.

 ... and this is what I accomplished in one afternoon - I was pretty pleased with this progress for FNSI.

I did this whilst watching one of my all-time favourite movies "Shenandoah".

I just love Jimmy Stewart and his six sons!

 ... and this final scene when "the boy" finally makes it home, always makes me cry...

5. Off to dinner with DS1 and TraderVic and then we went to see the new Tarantino movie "Django unchained".  It was good, very Tarantino but very violent - I had to cover my eyes quite a few times in the movie because there was just so much blood!

Day 2, Saturday, 26th January - Australia Day:

1. Up early and off to Carnegie to do Deep Water Aerobics with DS2.  Now, I have never done deep water before and I am here to tell you it is HARD!  Of course, it didn't help that I had forgotten to take my inhaler with me ( I don't know whether I have mentioned that lately I am having a lot of trouble breathing - my inhaler has been working overtime.  The air quality has not been great in Melbourne lately because of the bushfires, etc.).  The class was taken by a lovely young Russian lady who in her charming accent kept exhorting us to "Keep Going", "Turn around and go back again" (another 25 metres doing an impossible exercise) and "Keep Moving".  I can tell you, I have had spaghetti arms and legs and have been absolutely exhausted ever since - must have done me some good then!

2. DS2 and I then had a lovely lunch together - so good to catch up - and did a little bit of shopping (I needed to buy a birthday present for a friend). Once I arrived home again - it was straight to my stitching chair and I stitched away on Birdhouse Alphabet some more.

3. Saturday night, TraderVic and I caught up with some friends at a dinner party held at one of their houses.  Now, Robyn is a retired Home Economics teacher so I can tell you - the meal was magnificent.  For example, her dessert comprised a whole poached white peach (poached in champagne) with a rose jelly and a vanilla bean panna cotta.  Delicious!  The conversation was sparkling as well 

Day 3, Sunday, 27th January

1. Sunday morning it was off to brunch for the aforementioned friend's birthday.  Now, you have met Heather and Franca before as they are the ladies I go to the St Kilda sea baths with every few months.  We had brunch at the Fairfield Boat house and Tea Gardens.  We had a lovely time down by the Yarra River.

2. That afternoon I went home and stitched and stitched and stitched until I finished Birdhouse Alphabet:

What a Happy Dance I had!  All around the house!

Day 4,  Monday, 28th January (Australia Day Public Holiday):

More Happy Dances on Monday:

I framed Spring Heart, which is going to my secret exchange partner in the Initial Heart Swap, so I can't show you the finished piece but here are some tantalising glimpses:

I also chose some fabric to use with Birdhouse Alphabet to make it into a cushion:

Fabric for the front of the cushion:

Backing fabbie:

Then I got really productive and made four, count them four!, needle books.

I have never made them before and while they are not perfect I am really pleased with these, my first attempt.

So, in all a very satisfying and productive long, long weekend.

hugs, 

P.S. Don't forget to enter my Mystery Giveaways, closes Feb 1st, you need to comment on my Grow your Blog Party post to be in the draw.