SSCS gifts

Now that the dust has settled on our Christmas celebrations I want to share the beautiful gifts given to me by Cheryl in the SSCS exchange organised by Chookyblue and her very able assisant Googy girl.  In my last post I showed you the sweet little angel ornament Cheryl stitched for me and here is my beautiful Christmas stitchery piece, isn't it lovely?  I love the pretty variegated thread Cheryl has used, and the festive fabrics too.  Not only did Cheryl give me some of her beautiful stitching, but she also gave me a kit for another of Marg Low's cute Santa ornaments, I've seen some of these around blogland lately and they are lovely!  Thank you Cheryl, I have been thoroughly spoiled....

My SSCS partner was Maria in Australia, and I made her a Shepherds Bush cross stitch design into a Christmas pillow.  I made a few modifications to the pattern to make it the right size and shape.  I included a hexagon bag pattern and a few fabrics for Maria, a little blog spying told me that not only did she like the colour purple but she was a hexie fan too!  

A big thanks to Chookyblue and Googygirl for the time and skills they put into organising this swap, it's the only one I've participated in every year since I started this blog, and I love it, it wouldn't seem like Christmas morning without my SSCS parcel to open!  

Well the year is rapidly drawing to a close, I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope all good things come to you in 2014.  We are going camping with friends for a couple of nights to see the New Year in, so I will see you all again early in 2014.......... till then, take care ...... Nicky xxx

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

September FNSI

Last night I joined in Friday Night Sew In along with many other ladies around the land of blog.  It was a night for machine stitching only as after several weeks of lambing, and feeding pet lambs, the constant wet/dirty hands and the ensuing washing of those same hands, they are in no state for hand stitching.  Isn't that a great reason to continue with a new project I started a couple of weeks ago...LOL... the plan had been to complete a block every day on the Flower Girl quilt kit I purchased some months ago. This quilt is designed by Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms, and uses her Bonnie and Camille fabric range called Marmalade.  Like all good plans, it had to be subject to change, and I only got two blocks finished then, but managed another three last night for FNSI.   If you joined in with FNSI, I hope you too had a great night, the family gave me the evening off feeding lambs last night so that also contributed to me getting something done... thanks team.....

Here are the five so far, another 15 to go...... 

If you joined in with FNSI, I hope you too had a great night, the family gave me the evening off feeding lambs last night so that also contributed to me getting something done... thanks team.....

My focus for the rest of the month will be to get the final hand stitching done on my Sugar Dish dresden blocks(when my hands improve) and to finish the bag for my July Stitchalong project.  I have had to abandon my August and September efforts for the Stitchalong, I am sorry not to have been able to get the last two projects done, but there have been some unplanned interruptions to the last month or two. There are some wonderful needlecases popping up over at the SAL blog, why don't you head on over and have a look....? 

I have signed up for the 4th year to Chookyblue's fantastic Secret Santa Christmas Swap(SSCS), I've been doing some sly 'research' on my mystery partners blog so I can learn a little about her.  I have always enjoyed this swap and this is one that I just couldn't miss! 

It's a gorgeous spring day today, might have to get into the garden this afternoon.... have a great day..... 

 Nicky x 

My SSCS gift to Cheryl

I can now share the gift that I made for Cheryl in our SSCS exchange, sent halfway round the world to California.  The design is called Countdown to Christmas, by Anni Downs and was featured in Australian Homespun Vol 13 No 7.  I made a small alteration to the little sign, changing it from 'Countdown to Christmas' to 'Merry Christmas'.  I was pretty pleased with how the wall hanging finished up, and will definitely use a 'rusty' hanger again, I loved the look it gave.

Today I have put the final stitches into my Gardeners Journal quilt, and I don't know if I can put into words how happy I am that it is finally done!  I will put a post together for the SAL blog soon, and will share here too.   I have lots of emails to reply to and blogs to catch up on too, so that will fill in the rest of my Friday evening......

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

My SSCS gift from Lea

Christmas morning was made even more exciting when I opened my SSCS gift from Lea.  Lea stitched this beautiful cross stitch cushion for me, isn't it adorable, those hares driving the reindeer sleigh are the cutest...... and the pom-pom trim is fantastic!  I was so thrilled with my gorgeous gift, so thankyou Lea for the cushion and my two lovely Christmas ornaments, and a huge thanks to Chookyblue for organising this brilliant swap again.  This is my third year in Chooky's swap, and I hope she's planning on doing it all again in 2013, I wouldn't miss this one for anything!!

I will share in the next couple of days what I sent to Cheryl in the US, I have had a lovely email from Cheryl saying how much she liked what I made her....... it's always a relief to hear that!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, we certainly did...................... until next time, happy stitching......Nicky x

When all else fails read the instructions.........

I had some time at the sewing machine yesterday, and thought I'd get the piecing started for the zipper bag I've been working on from Anni Downs' Simple Life book.  So I happily joined all my little mini charm squares and then wondered why they looked like this bag would be enormous........ turns out I was meant to be using 1 1/2" squares, not 2 1/2".   That saying about measuring twice and cutting once...... it is absolutely right, you usually do have to cut at least once....... rather than not at all!  NOT happy - next time I will be more careful  and actually READ the instuctions!

I also got Block 6 of the FQS BOM together, all up to date now, and ready for Block 7 to land in my mailbox.  This block was designed by Kate Spain and is called 'Town Square'. 

Running a little behind with these two November blocks for the Scrappy Stars Sew Along that Terry has been inspiring ........ check out her stars all made up into a top already.

  

And finally this is the ornament I sent to Cheryl in Chookyblues SSCS exchange ........ it is the 2010 Snowman by Lizzie Kate.

I was so sad to hear of the tragedy in Connecticut, my thoughts and good wishes are with all in the US.  

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

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

Santa's been early.......

I was lucky enough to get an early visit from Santa yesterday, he delivered this wonderful SSCS parcel from Lea, who has a beautiful blog Fairy Floss Stitches.  Not one, but two darling felt ornaments, and a Larry Lamb pincushion pattern, which will suit me perfectly.  Thank you so much Lea, I am blown away with your beautiful gifts, now I just need to be patient and wait till Christmas Day for the big reveal of what is in that gold parcel!  A big thanks to Chookyblue for organising the wonderful SSCS swap for us girls all over the world to enjoy. 

 I had a great day at the A&P show on Saturday, I entered a few things, and was lucky enough to come away with a prize for most points in the Handwork & Craft section.  It helped me a LOT that entries were down compared to other years ....... usually I wouldn't get a look in!  My luck was really in as a I bought a couple of raffle tickets and won this awesome Christmas cake........ isn't that Santa playing with the Christmas lights so cool........

 Wonder how long we can wait till we start cutting!

                        

Only 20 sleeps to go........ are you all ready for Christmas??   ('Cause I am definitely not!)

Till next time ........... Nicky

A weekend away

Recently we spent a couple of nights with a large group of friends at a crib(small rustic Kiwi holiday house) on the beautiful south coast of the Catlins.  This was the view from the house, so peaceful and relaxing.  Note the fence to keep any visiting seals from your front lawn .......

We were lucky enough to see a little yellow-eyed penguin, also known as hoiho, making his way back up the beach at dusk one night.   I hope you can see him in front of the rocks in these pictures.

The following morning we went for a wander, and saw where he(or maybe she!) was going to........ back to the nest behind the safety of this fence.......

We also found these penguin tracks heading back out to sea...... clearly penguins get out of bed earlier than we did!

A wonderful weekend with great friends, if only it happened more often........

Most of my stitching time in the last couple of weeks has been working on my SSCS gift for Chookyblue's exchange which has headed off on a long journey to ?????

There has been so much happening here lately.  I have recently retired from my off-farm job so that I can spend a lot more time working on the farm.  I was thoroughly spoiled with a farewell gift of a beautiful dress ring, which was a combined gift from the board members, colleagues and some of our lovely residents.  We had a fantastic meal out together, where I was treated to beautiful flowers and some very kind speeches..... felt more than a little embarrassed by it all.  I will miss my little job, but know I have made the best choice for my family.  I am looking forward to being at home with the girls during the upcoming summer holidays, without having those few days a week away from the farm.  Who knows, I might even  find some more stitching and gardening time amongst the farm work!  (I wish....)

This weekend is our local A & P show, where I will be helping out as a steward in the Craft and Flower show.... looking forward to that, it's always a great day out.

I hope you have a lovely weekend too........ will see you on the other side.......... Nicky

SSCS and another BOM

Yet again, it's been a while since I've been around.......for many reasons, mostly just life!  I have been doing a little stitching, mainly working on my gift for Chookyblue's SSCS exchange, which I think I have mostly under control now.  For very obvious reasons, you won't be seeing exactly what though, but it is fun to be working on an SSCS gift for the third year, wonder where it's going this time around.......?

In one of the first few posts I ever blogged, I shared my Leanne's House Block of the Month quilt which I had started quite a few years ago. Below is where I was up to on Block 4 back in 2010.

(If you clicked through to that last post you may have also seen I said I MUST NOT START ANYTHING ELSE!   Ha ha ha ha ....... One thing that blogging has made me even worse at is starting new things and taking a VERY long time to get them finished .......lol) 

 I've dug it out again and almost finished the stitchery on this block, added some finishing touches to another couple, and made up another one ready for stitching.

This little vase is one of my favourite mini blocks....

It's been great to put some stitches into a long-neglected, but not-forgotten project.  I've also been trying to get some gardening done, though the weather has been truly awful for the last week or two, always raining, or even like today, lots of thunder, lightning and hail!  This is my new red pot on our deck with some parsley, chives, strawberries and my favourite 'Maggie Mott' violas.  I've scattered some Mesclun salad seeds among it all, and they are just coming through now and trying to fight the hail. 

We have got about half of our lambs tailed, just waiting on some settled weather to get the rest done.  The forecast for our holiday Labour Weekend is terrible, so it may not be till next week now, but I will enjoy my extra day off from the paid job though and make the most of a Monday at home!  I hope all the Kiwi girls have a lovely long weekend too............. till next time........... happy stitching....Nicky

PS:   GO the All Blacks tomorrow night in Brisbane  -  make it a clean sweep for 2012!!

Annettes SSCS gift

With Christmas Day now all done and dusted I can share what I made for Annette in Australia,  my partner in Chookyblues Secret Santa Christmas Swap...... this table runner using Rosalie Quinlans Little Patchwork Village design, and some  pretty Strawberry Fields fabric.

Annette has a lovely blog - Jindis Cottage - named for her much loved kelpie, Jindi, (sometimes you would wonder though - sounds like Jindi runs the house. lol) so I added the name to the house in the middle block...............

This birdie block was fun to stitch .......................

.......... and the big house with the Christmas wreath on the door seemed appropriate for this swap.......

So Merry Christmas Annette, I hope you like it .......... this is such a fun swap to do that I'll definitely be signing up next year ................. no pressure though Chookyblue .....lol

I'll be back in a day or two with some holiday stitching ................ Nicky