Saturday 9 January 2016

FNWF For January...

 Before I start with the fun stuff, I want to ask you all the spare a thought for the bushfire situation happening right now in Western Australia... so many homes, industry & businesses, livestock lost... these towns have a rich & strong history, & the devastation is unthinkable. One little town has lost near-on 100 homes. These communities, as with so many other regional towns right around Australia, are built on agricultural activities like dairy, timber, farming, wine.
The northern areas of the bushfire zone are barely an hour drive from my home.While we are not in danger, our little city is certainly buzzing with all sorts of activities to assist & support those in our neighbouring regions.
The town of Pinjarra (where my Patchwork group is located) is currently one of the relief areas & is teeming with cars, people, volunteers, and emergency services travelling through.

Of course summer in Australia seems to mean that while somewhere is burning, somewhere else is suffering with flooding... regions of Queensland and parts of New South Wales again inundated... it is the cruelest of weather patterns & conditions.

It's such a heartbreaking thing to see images on tv & hear reports on radio... & a reminder that we each have a responsibility to reach out & support. After such an event, it will be needed for a long time to come.
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*

Now to something brighter...
How fab is it to stitch on a Friday, knowing that your blogging buddies ( & not-yet-met friends!) are doing the same... Friday Night With Friends is a great way to get some needle & thread action, & then the chance afterwards to go visit other bloggers who did the same.
If you're not yet familiar with FNWF , please click here to find out more.

Thanks Cheryll for hosting us for our first FNWF of the new year!
I chose to do a bit more work on my Frangipani cross stitch... added little areas to the top right & bottom left... yes lots of blue stitching!
It will be fun when it's time to stitch the flowers in the centre of the design, they'll really pop against the blues & dark greens of the surrounding leaves.
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*

My new sewing room is coming along slowly but surely... it now has all its insulation & the wall panelling is in place... this coming week I need to decide on which colour I want on the walls & ceiling, and also choose flooring.
50 shades of grey has nothing on the seemingly endless shades of white!!

I have one last Christmas piece to share... only took a few evenings & has turned out so cute...
*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*


'Piece Yourself Together' has its first 2016 linky next week... I hope you'll join in, or at least pop in & check out what the participants are sharing.
HAPPY BUG and MARSHA HODGKINS sorry I can't reply to your Comments on PYT, you're set as no-reply so I have no email address to reply to...

Right-o... off to finally take down Christmas decorating & do some blog surfing later.

28 comments:

Dawn said...

Our thoughts are with those families devastated by the bushfires, we had them a few years ago and the scars are still evident. Bet you cant wait to get into that new sewing room of yours... something special to wait for...Love the cross-stitch, not sure if I have the patience for that, but good on you !!

Maria said...

Yes Anthea it is devasting and breaks my heart to see all the homes , business , industry and livestock lost. My eldest daughter lives only 11 kms from the fire but her partner and her are safe in Perth with friends.. Sadly her hubby's work place burnt down sew they won't know if he will have a job.....


How exciting for you to be choosing paint for your sewing room. Will you have any particular colour theme to go with the white walls?

Lovely cross stitching and will pop over for you piece it together...

Jeanette said...

It's been saddening to hear the news of those devastating fires. Love your cross stitch. Hugs, xx

Cheryll said...

Nice having you over last night Anthea. Love the Hibiscus & it will be gorgeous when done. Yes we have had flooding here too...not at my house... but just a few short suburbs away. Sad...very SaD. xox

Ondrea said...

It is always a bad time of year here in Australia, both locally and all over the country. My thoughts are with all those who have suffered loss. Apart from donating money one always feels a little helpless in these situations. What angers me is the number of fires lit by arsonists. I know that I always have my eyes on the hill behind us and Arthurs Seat in the distance.

Love your cross stitches. You are a very patient stitcher.

Kim said...

That is devastating. My thoughts are with those going through this terrible situation.
Your cross stitch is always amazing!

Michelle Ridgway said...

So heartbreaking for those communities and those left homeless...praying that they find the missing.
Love your Frangi and Santa.

Lin said...

The fires sound awful Anthea - that news had not filtered through to me, maybe because the UK is is still reporting it's own flooding. So sending thoughts and prayers to all involved and to those offering help. I love the dark background on your Frangipani and Santa is very jolly! xx

Justine said...

I love your cute Santa! So very sad to read about the fires and flooding.

Author said...

There are so many people who couldn't relax and enjoy an evening of craft last night. We are truly blessed to have the time and the projects to work on.

Can you post about anything we can supply for ladies who have lost all their craft projects. I know I have some that I could give to them.

Your cross stitch is making progress.

retdairyqueen said...

Pleased you are safe but so sad to see the results of these devastating fires Part and parcel of Australian life I'm afraid
Your cross stitch is looking good

Helen said...

It is very sad to read about all the devastating fires and floods, thank you for your post. The cross stitch is coming along nicely.

Yvonne W said...

It is certainly a devastating time in some parts of Australia-- fires and floods causing havoc. Very sad for the people affected.

Your cross stitch is coming along beautifully. How exciting-- choosing colours for your sewing room!

Cheryl said...

Always sad having such terrible fires burning. Gorgeous cross stitching

sunny said...

What - you mean your sewing room isn't going to be BLUE?!? I'm shocked. I need to think of a new hexie project. Or maybe I could work on my long-term GFG? Prayers for all who are suffering from the fires and floods. We tend to have fires and drought on one side of the country and floods on the other at the same time. Mother Nature can be cruel.

My Sister Made Me Do It.... said...

So Sorry to hear about the bush fires and my thoughts and prayers for our Aussie friends. Your stitchings are lovely....I am so impressed with anyone who has the patience to complete those! I got some mini cross-stitch ornaments about 10-15 years ago and finished about 5 before I threw up my hands and said, "enough"! Lol........I have always been an "instant gratification" crafter....can't seem to change...

Fiona said...

those fires are frightful.... very tough on people. Love your little Christmas stitchery
Hugz

kiwikid said...

The weather is Australia seems to be extremes doesn't it...let us know if we can help in any way Anthea....your cross stitch is looking wonderful. Looking forward to the EEP link up...now I had better go and do some!! Lol!!

Lisa V said...

The fires are devastating and it is so sad to see the news and photos. I was reading last night that they have recovered the bodies of two elderly men from their homes, so sorry for their families who were so worried for them. Not a great start to 2016.

Janet said...

Way to go with persevering through the tedious part of your stitcherie and saving the fun stuff until later. Lots of thoughts for those in the areas of fire and flood. Where I live we don't have natural disasters very often - it is hard for me to imagine what it is like for Australia with the fires and floods every year.

Kaylee said...

Hi Anthea, Do you still have the same mobile number? I sent you as text on 23 December and also this morning. I actually only learned of this tragedy in WA yesterday as Rebecca phoned to tell me. She is travel to WA on Monday with her boy friend and their entire family to attend a cousins Wedding next Saturday. I am glad to hear you are safe from the tragedy. Cheers Kaylee

Quilting Chemist (Danette) said...

Sorry to hear about the fires and flooding there, we don't have fires like that here and I can't imagine what they'd be like. Were snowy here and the wind chills are below zero. Beautiful stitching, enjoy your sewing room.

Renee said...

My thoughts are with those affected by the floods and fires. Nature is certainly powerful and unpredictable. I live in Oregon in the US and I believe Australian firefighters flew in to the western states last year to help battle some of the fires we had here. Wishing them all safety.

Your Santa finish is darling. Love your FNWF cross-stitch project. (I have several blogging friends that participate. Perhaps I should check it out!)

Susan said...

Loving your cross stitch...and am lookig forward to seeing the flowers.

Dreadful fires. Hopefully they can get it all under control.

Linda in Calif. said...

I'm so sadden to hear of the fires (and floods). Your stitcheries are coming along quite nicely. It must be so relaxing to do them.

Käthe said...

Es tut mir sehr leid, um die Menschen die so leiden müssen.
Wir können froh sein, dass es uns so gut geht und wir so schön handarbeiten können.
Liebe Grüße
Käthe

Jeneta said...

We were over east when the fires started, but we kept up to date each day (it made the news each day over there). I especially feel for the town of Yarloop. I felt relieved when the fire was finally contained, though the aftermath will be lived by hundreds for years to come. Your cross stitched Santa is very cute!! I'm looking forward to seeing what shade of white you choose for your sewing room (or at least some part of it - who am I to assume that you'll paint the walls white?!!).

Stitching Noni said...

I so feel for Yarloop and all the others down that way... it is such a scary thing to have a fire burning and not know what it will do. We have a had a few around our area again.. 2 or 3 last night - one near Mandurah Rd was still burning this morning when I went to work. :o(
Love your Santa finish!
Hope your Christmas and New Year went well.... take care :o)
Hugs xx

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...