Scrappy Trips, Spiderwebs and Swoon

Another month has come and gone, and for a change there has been some action in the sewing department.  I finally attached the red spotty binding to my Scrappy Trip quilt that Linda quilted for me when I won a very generous giveaway on her blog.... the hand stitching is about halfway done now......  

Last weekend I attended a fabulous retreat with the quilting group I joined last year, so much sewing time, lovely ladies, fabulous food  and lots of laughs..... before I went I started a new scrappy project to work on at retreat.  I've been fascinated with spiderweb blocks for a long time, but all the foundation paper pieced patterns I'd seen had scared me off.... until I found this wonderful tutorial where your plain fabric is used as the foundation.  The blocks are a great way to use scraps, they are slow to piece but I am so pleased I persevered as I love the overall effect.

My finished spiderweb top.....

Once my spiderweb was finished it was time to start a Swoon at retreat, I've been planning this for a while to use a lovely bundle of Hope Valley fabrics I'd been saving for just the right quilt.  These blocks are massive - 24" square, but fun to put together!

Other than retreat there has been lots of these to work with..........

 ..... and a few of these..... the two calves our girls hand-reared two years ago, Ash & Donny......

I hope to catch up on some blog reading in the next few days, I managed to get myself very behind while I was away at retreat and since then....... catch you soon....... Nicky x

Where do I start?

So much has been happening here over the last few weeks, I have finally made it to the blog to check in..... 

Firstly my Secret Santa Christmas Swap gift has arrived from Cheryl in Australia, just look at this beautiful angel ornament she made me, it is adorable, thankyou so much Cheryl, I am waiting very patiently(OK, not so very patiently) for the big day to arrive when I can tear into the other parcels!  A very big thanks to Miss Chookyblue and her team for organising this lovely swap....

My SSCS gifts finally went on the sleigh and were delivered to Maria in Australia, where she has now opened her ornament.  From my stalking of Maria's blog I knew that her favourite colour was purple, so it may not be the most 'Christmassy' of colours I wanted to make her a purple ornament, though it shows blue in the picture.

Recently I was thrilled to receive my Scrappy Trip quilt back from Linda at Razzle Dazzle Quilter. Earlier in the year I won the quilting of a quilt in a generous giveaway by Linda.  The quilting Linda has done for me is nothing short of beautiful, and I plan to get the binding attached over the Christmas break, and then I will take some photos of the finished quilt.  So excited about this one!

We've had a busy few weeks of weaning lambs, cultivation work, school concerts and prizegivings. Our Miss 11 has finished at primary school and was rewarded for her hard work this year with a trophy for Diligence for her class at the Leavers celebrations.  She is super excited to be heading off to the college next year.  And Miss 13 received the General Excellence prize for her class with firsts in 5 subjects, we are just so proud of her and her hard work this year.  Two very proud parent moments! 

Christmas shopping to be finished this week, and the aim is to get our crops all sown before Christmas, and hopefully the old ewes shorn, and about 2 weeks of blog posts to catch up on, so if someone could find me a few extra days in there somewhere that would be much appreciated.  

Hope all your holiday season plans are coming together for you and that there might be some time for stitching in there too......    Nicky x

Wintertime

Hello again... winter has well and truly arrived here, with a short sharp cold spell last week.... here are some pics from round the farm in the last week or so......

Number 1 helper....Miss Kelly

Bleak

Heifers waiting for meals on wheels........

......... and tucking in.....

 Not sure if this chap is used to snow, but he is snug and warm under his new cover and enjoying his hay....

 And after a day or so we were back to sunshine again......one of our swede paddocks in the foreground, the hoggets are now eating these......

And this years heifer calves being nosy.....

 Thanks for visiting the farm today......... I'll be back in a day or two with a couple of finishes.... till then, happy stitching....Nicky x

Like little squirrels

Like every good squirrel must, we have put away the excess of summer in preparation for a long cold winter....... over the last two weeks we have been busy harvesting our silage and baleage.

I thought this may interest a few who have asked me before what silage is, with apologies to farmers/contractors or anyone who thinks I have butchered the explanation!  

WARNING - Lots of farm and machinery pics, no stitching today  lol

Firstly paddocks are 'shut up' to grow for about 2 months, then the grass is mown....by hubby in our tractor, all the other tasks are done by the contractors who go from farm to farm doing this for most of the summer...

Another tractor uses a big rake to gather about 3 mower rounds into one row......

.... ready for the forage harvester(we call it the chopper) to then drive over the row, this big machine feeds the grass in and chops it all up, then blows it into the bin of the truck driving alongside.  It is a feat of co-ordination between the chopper and truck drivers to keep going at the right speed and distance apart.  The chopper driver can shift the spout direction to where he wants it to go to in the truck bin, but they still have to work together .  

When full, the truck heads off to the silage pit, lifts the hoist and tips off their load, while the chopper starts filling the next truck back in the paddock.  The excavator works on the stack, spreading and rolling the chopped grass.

And the truck goes back to the paddock for another load..... there were two trucks working this day.

When the rolling is completed, the stack is covered with a huge polythene cover and lots and lots of old tyres (recycling at it's best!) are spread out to weigh it down and keep it airtight and to stop the cover lifting in strong winds.  The silage then begins to ferment and in about 3 months time it will be sweet-smelling and ready to feed to our sheep and cattle to keep them happy all winter!  I will try to remember to get some photos of the loading and feeding out of silage in the winter so you can see the end result.

The Vital Statistics - 65 acres of grass, 66 truck loads in the pit, approx 460 tonne of silage

I hope I haven't bored the pants off you all with this.......... till next time........ Nicky 

PS - If you didn't go to sleep during this, I have photos of baleage making to do a post about soon too..... Sorry!

January roundup

Time for a catchup on January............ lots happening on the farm...... some random farm pics from December and January.......

Yesterday I was thrilled to catch up over lunch with Michelle and her lovely family.  They are on a family holiday travelling around the South Island, and it was so nice to meet and finally put a face to the name/blog.  Michelle is a beautiful quilter and stitcher, her lovely blog is called It's Sew Me.  Here we are outside the cafe - I didn't notice how much taller I was till I saw the photos today.....lol.  I hope you and the family had a safe journey north Michelle......... and thanks for taking the time to meet us.....

Last week we headed to the beach with the girls, they had lots of fun boogie boarding in the waves, and we all had a little R & R for a couple of days, before heading home and back into lots of sheep work.  Today is the last day of four days shearing, great to get a good spell of weather to get that job done.....

On the sewing/stitching front, here is the little Ruby project I started earlier in the month.  It is almost quilted, and I have decided to send this one over to Chookyblue for her Caring with Quilts appeal for those who have lost everything in recent bushfires in her area.  This is not a big quilt, but would be OK for a cot quilt I think.  I will finish quilting it this afternoon and get it on it's way ASAP.  I can always make another one for me!!  If you can help by sending a completed quilt please get in touch with Chookyblue...... most of us can only imagine how heartbreaking it is to lose everything.

This bundle of loveliness arrived in the mail ....... I've had my eye on this since I first saw it and I could resist no longer.  This is Flower Girl by Thimble Blossoms using Bonnie and Camille's Marmalade range.

 I was also asked to make a pencil case in the same bike fabrics I made a pouch from last year, sorry no pics, it's in use at school today!!  So that together with my Stitch-A-Long Thread Catcher makes 2 OPAM finishes for me this month.

And finally here is a lovely cool desert I made for the family last night........... meringues, piled with whipped cream/yoghurt and lots of fresh berries.... yum!

Well, if you've made it all the way to the end...... thanks for sticking with me!!

Till next time....... happy stitching............Nicky x

Some stitching progress

I thought it might be time for an update on some ongoing projects......

• This is where I'm up to with Christmas Garden, by Blackbird Designs, the second pic is where I was at back in May(didn't think it had been that long....lol)  The top pic is a better representation of the fabric colour.

• Next is Block 5 of the Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery BOM.  This block is designed by the Blackbird Designs girls Barb and Alma...... still loving these fabrics.  Block 6 is ready to sew and Block 7 should be in the mailbox any day.

• I had my first attempt at prairie points on the first of two Pinwheel baby quilts, this is the completed top in Ruby fabrics, and I now need to add the prairie points to the one I have done in Bliss fabric.  The little twin girls these are for recently turned 1, so I need to make this a priority!!  Not sure how I will quilt these yet.......... 

I have heard from my lovely SSCS partner Cheryl in California that her parcel has arrived.  I can't find the photos I took of it, but when I do I will share the ornament I sent here.

We finished weaning our lambs this week, this was about 2000 ewes heading for the back of the farm yesterday .........

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Our girls are finished school for the year, they have both had a great year at school, our Miss 12 was awarded with the General Excellence prize for her class.  She was first in English, Mathematics, Science, Phys Ed and Visual Art, and also received a prize for Citizenship.  Our Miss 10 performed beautifully in her kapa haka group at their breakup, and has received a school report for the year that we are so proud of.  Apologies for the skiting, but there are two very proud parents here........  :o)

I hope your Christmas plans are going as they should, I'm off to town today to make sure that we will be ready too.

Till next time .......... happy stitching............ Nicky