Last night at Prize Giving, Griffin had NO IDEA what he was getting a prize for!
And he was as chuffed as us when his name was called out for:
First in Year 12 Automotive Engineering!
He has only been doing that subject for one year!
Wow, wish we got prizes like that when I was at school.
We are very, very proud of him.
Oh and guess what? I thought our 'school days' were over at the end of this month right?
WRONG.
Griffin has decided to go back to school next year! OMG another year of school shit. But, good on Griffin for wanting to do the final year, and get as many qualifications as he can. Proud of him for making a sound decision for his future.
Yesterday afternoon, instead of sewing like I should, I decided to read a few blogs.
Something I don't do often enough.
And of the 200+ or more blogs I used to follow and read/comment on... only a dozen or so are still active!
This took me over 3 hours to ascertain too.
That's 3 hours I'll never get back.
It's so sad that so many bloggers have stopped. Any blog that was inactive for over 2 years got deleted from my list, by the way!
Rather sad that some have also gone 'Private' and not extended invites to read.
But for whatever reason, it is what it is.
I will continue to read and comment on those that I can ... WHEN I CAN.
Sorry if I missed you yesterday, if you are still an active blogger that I used to read/comment on, sing out! Only too happy to pop over and say 'Hi'. *smiles*
Today I am going to sew a little bit, and get some housework done, before tarting myself up for Stew's end of year Christmas Function.
Bit early if ya ask me, but oh well... it's a night out.
And another chance to wear me lovely birthday dress!
Gotta wear it as often as possible, I don't get a reason to dress up much!
Invite me to dinner! I want to dress up more! lol
Fat chance really. The only time we go out to dinner is ... once in a blue moon! That's a bit sad actually. We are always saying we should go out more, but never do.
Stay at home, stuck in the muds, that's us.
Right, that's enough yabber, off to start the day.
ONWARD...
A blogger friend : (http://monika-quiltingjourney.blogspot.com/ ... gave me a link to a different way of putting the binding on quilts/runners etc last night.
And well... I just had to try it there and then didn't I?
So I was up till one o'clock last night doing just that.
And I'm happy to say it worked so well... I doubt I will ever do any other sort of binding now! Cos A. It looks fabulous. And B. Ya don't have to hand stitch the binding down!
It's all done by machine.
I just love it!!!
My 'stitch in the ditch' needs working on, as does my matching the corners, but it's not bad for a first attempt.
This method means I will have the runners finished way, way faster than I thought! I'm one happy Chick right now. *smiles*
1 pm: And I've just finished another runner using the above binding method... and.... well I'm having massive issues getting the join right at the end. NOT happy with it at all.
So I'm trying something else.
It won't be as pretty as the above, but still quicker than hand stitching. When I have the time, I will get some 'professional' advice on how to get the joins looking perfect. But not right now, I've got too much to get done before the next market!
Brylee just had her last day at school till her exams. Griffin has only one exam this year, so he's off till that. Which means he will now eat us out of house and home! All day access to the pantry... *sigh*
Well.... I tried another way of putting the binding on:
So now I've finished 3 runners, and have 4 to go. Probably won't get them finished today as we are going out tonight.
But there's always tomorrow! lol
9,15 pm: Home from the 'Christmas' Staff do. Which ended up being a bit more like a date night for Stew and I! The staff had chosen a Mexican restaurant for our dinner.
And of course, I can't/don't eat ANYTHING hot or spicy!
So ... upon looking at the menu, and talking to the waiter, we ascertained that there was NOTHING on the menu I could eat!
So Stew and I left and found a chinese restaurant nearby, and we had a nice dinner, just the two of us!
We did rejoin the others after our meal, then came home.
It is freezing again tonight... I really shouldn't have worn my dress and short sleeved cardi! I was pretty cold.
Quiet time now... catch ya tomorrow.
Congrats to Griffin and good for him to continue hie schooling next year! I watched the quilting video, what a great idea. It will save you so much time not having to do the hand sewing. How is Brylee doing with her toes? Getting better I hope!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the tutorial worked for you - and your finished runner looks great! I like skinny bindings on my quilts, so I have experimented a little with different width strips, too. I still do the odd quilt in another way, really depends (and the handstitching takes me forever).
ReplyDeleteI'm guilty of not blogging regularly now, IG has become a convenient way of posting pics with just a little text for my sewing but I have all intentions of picking it up again.
Good on your boy for going back to school for Y13, I believe that more qualifications usually help in life - and somewhere there was some study that the longer one stays at school the better their ?? success in life (health & wellbeing, financially??? Will have to dig it up some time). Does your girl have plans for next year? Our 18y old just returned from his first year at uni yesterday - time flies...
Oh shot dude 😊👍
ReplyDeleteCongrats to griffin on his honor and for continuing his education!!! Good luck to him.
ReplyDeleteI love the look of that runner!
ReplyDeleteCongrats Griffin, good on you!
Come to Canada and I will take you and Stew to dinner :) LOL.
Massive congratulations to Griffin!!!! That's an amazing achievement and good on him for going back next year. He will have a really bright future ahead of him I'd say. The edging looks clever. I've never attempted anything like that - quilting looks way to hard :) I know what you mean about blogs - everyone is using other media now like Instagram or Facebook. I'm still a fan of blogging though, probably because I used to always keep a diary and blogging is just like that except it's open to the public (therefore obviously not a private diary so some things remain hidden).
ReplyDeleteGreat job Griffin!!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Griffin, famtastic effort. Good on hime for going back to school next year. Several bloggers I follow have stopped, which is a shame, but does make it easier to get to read the others 😆. Great to hear you have found a quickler way for the bindings.
ReplyDeletePS come to Aus and we will take you guys out to dinner too 😆😆
ReplyDeletelolololol I'm glad I made the cut yesterday! Thanks for commenting and WELL DONE to Griffin xxxxxx
ReplyDeleteWell done Griffin, you have raise a smart boy :-).
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Griffin on the awards and the decision to return to school.
ReplyDeleteWay to go Griffen congrats proud parents too .good on u stay at school too . dinner invitation her Chris and Stew whenever u get south again xx
ReplyDeleteWay to go Griffin awesome so proud of you. Just one more year Chris runners look fabulous.
ReplyDeleteSew normal binding to back fold to front and use an edge stitch foot to sew on the front. The edge stitch foot will let you stitch a neat straight line on the front. Because your binding is made from only one fabric you should have no trouble joining ends.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY what I was doing when your comment came in Maria! Too funny. I am happy with the result too.
DeleteCongratulations Griffin on your award! And way to go choosing to go back to school & get some more qualifications!!! Yeah, I quit blogging. I took it down so no idea how it looks if you try to access it, but I haven't gone private without extending invitations. Tree runners look great as always & I'd imagine using your machine rather than hand would be so much better! About the only sewing I do is putting buttons back on :-)
ReplyDeleteWTG Griffin!
ReplyDeleteHow does the school system work there? Here it's 4 years of high school.
6 years Primary ( aged 5yrs - 10/11 yrs), 2 years Intermediate (aged 11yrs -12 yrs) then 5 years High School ( aged 13 yrs - 17/18 years) Approx ages, depending on when their birthdays fall in the year.
DeleteAll of the bindings look great - just do whatever is fastest. IMO. You have so much work into them already.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Griffin..well done
ReplyDeletePeta
Well Done Griffin, you should be very proud. Good luck with your next year at school. Love the bindings on the runners Chris, and yes matching up the flange can be a challenge. The last one with the double line stitching is cool.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Griffin that's a awesome achievement buddy. Keep up the hard work dude your on the way to a awesome future. And I love the binding method your using looks real good with the Christmas runners. Have a great weekend . Bex
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add how utterly handsome Griffin is becoming.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Griffin. He'll go far!
ReplyDeleteXmas Do? No more school? Just seems far too early for both. I've obviously been in the northern hemisphere far too long. Kids here break up for xmas the day before xmas eve but these are your long summer holidays. No sign of xmas here yet. Won't be either till mid december. Early enough for me!!!
Love all your xmas runners. Have you ever thought of doing kiwi style ones? A friend of mine btought us one she made years ago and it is my coffee table runner, still going strong. Has maori symbols on material with kiwis and ferns. I love it, but maybe kiwis in nz wont.
If you look closely at the runner I posted FIRST today, you will see that it does indeed have Kiwiana fabrics! One is red with a maori design, and the other has a KIWI and Morepork and foliage on it! I try to add a New Zealand themed fabric in every runner I make. And they are very popular.
DeleteSorry, my phone is too small to show details. I have enlarged it. Love those designs. Thanks for pointing it out
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