Sandbags, Cyclones and Sewing - Part 2

Yesterday we returned our sandbags to my son-in law. He had bought and filled them with earth when after two days - early in the week before Tropical Cyclone Alfred arrived - we were unable to get sandbags from the council or state emergency services. More arrived every day at the depot but we were taking no chances. By Friday a million sandbags had been filled and distributed in southeast Queensland. These ones protected my sewing room.

Much to our surprise the cyclone hit us with a lot more force on Saturday night when it crossed the mainland 50 km north of us. Then we lost power, and internet connection for 3 days. Although Tropical Cyclone Albert had been downgraded from a category 2 to a category 1, and then to a tropical low, we were battered by gale force winds and heavy rain until Monday. We borrowed camping equipment, and were treated to dinner each night by my daughter and son-in-law who live nearby, so we were fine. (My PC monitor decided to go 'pop' and stopped working when the power was reconnected on Tuesday!)

Thankfully we had very little storm damage - just a few small trees had broken branches. It was sad though to see two big mature trees come down in the park behind us. We really felt for all those who bore the brunt of the storm and the catastrophic flooding.

With the upheaval over the last two weeks, not much sewing happened on my Easter egg embroidery.

There are still lots of ends to finish off and perhaps a short row or two to stitch at either end. That will be quick to do.

An especially big thank you to all my lovely blog readers for your good wishes and very kind messages after my last blog post. It was a scary time and I appreciate them all! 

'Till next time, happy stitching!

Easter Card & Tropical Cyclone Alfred

This little Easter egg is a fun, quick project to stitch and it looks perfect on an Easter card. I started with a pattern I drew up and posted about on my blog here. Feel free to use it with the lists of colours and stitches. This version looks a bit different to the original. I seldom follow a pattern completely - even one I created myself! Its much more interesting to choose colours and stitches randomly as I go along. 

On the weather front, Tropical Cyclone Alfred sat ominous and threatening off the east coast of Australia for five long days. That provided plenty of time for preparations at home and by the state and authorities. The wait though was difficult. 

Last night the eye of the storm passed within 40 km of us. I am very relieved that we have escaped safely so far. We were spared the really stormy weather. The barrier islands off Brisbane's coast provided us some protection.

Sadly not so for thousands of others who are now dealing with the effects of wind damage, severe flooding and power outages. Over 250,00 were without power this morning, some without water and some without  telecommunications. Before the storm, huge manpower was put on standby and they are working to help those worst affected and restore services as soon as possible. 

Although the wind is still very blustery and there is significant rain forecast in the wake of the storm I hope the worst is over where I am. With the grey and damp hovering outside I'm thinking of all those who have already suffered damage and loss. I hope the remaining weather clears up soon for all of us.

'Till next time, keep safe and happy stitching.

Sample finished off

It's been a slow and happy start to the year after lovely few weeks when the whole family gathered here for Christmas and the New Year. I hope its going to be a very happy 2025 for all my blog readers.

My little sample of Ukrainian whitework that I wrote about here and here in previous posts has been stitched up and made into a little pouch. 

 I hemstitched the two short ends of the sample so I could leave an opening at the back. 

The opening would make it easy to eventually fill with sweet smelling herbs or lavender.

I like using lines of backstitch, and then whipping the two sides together for finishing off. It leaves a nice clean line of stitching.

Finally I slipped a little blue satin pillow inside the pouch. It contrasts well with the white drawn thread work for photographing. 

'Till next time, from a very hot and humid Brisbane, happy stitching!