Remembering

For The Fallen

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old,

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Laurence Binyon 1869-1943

A long Scrappy Trip

Around Easter last year I was bitten by the Scrappy Trip Around the World bug that was going viral at the time.  I pieced my top and put it in my pile of things to get quilted 'one day'.  A few months later I was so lucky to win the quilting of a quilt on a blog giveaway from lovely Linda - Razzle Dazzle Quilter.  I received my beautifully quilted top back in December, and it's taken me several months to get that binding attached and sewn down.  However it is finished for Easter 2014, and the colours remind me of the bright, happy colours of easter eggs and spring flowers(though the irony is not lost on me that we celebrate Easter in autumn.)

                            

I've tried to get some close up pics of the beautiful swirly quilting Linda has done, isn't it so pretty, I am so thrilled to have been lucky enough to win this generous prize from Linda, her work is absolutely stunning and I would definitely recommend her services.  Why not pop over to her blog and see more of her lovely work.  Thanks again Linda!!

Kelly couldn't resist some photobombing..... she has rather a thing for blankets and quilts!

There is just one more week of school and then it's holidays for a couple of weeks, we're all looking forward to that, it's been a long school term and things have been crazy round here the last few weeks!  Daylight saving is now over and as the nights are longer I live in hope for a little more sewing time in the evening..... a girl can dream.....

Thanks for visiting me today, till next time..... happy stitching...... Nicky x

 

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

The longer you leave it, the harder it gets

Oh dear, it seems to be the same old tune here.... far too long between posts.... but hello anyway and a happy New Year to you!   I haven't even managed to get a post done in January, now we're in February and I am woefully late in sharing some beautiful Christmas swap gifts made for me by my lovely friend Leanne.  We did three swaps last year, Easter, our birthdays and Christmas, and it seems Leanne knows me so well, even though we've never met!!

Leanne made me this beautiful Christmas wallhanging with a redwork stitchery, it is gorgeous, and was admired by everyone who visited us at Christmas, truth be told I have now moved it to hang in my sewing room, it's far too pretty to only have on display at Christmas time!  And of course it's in one of my fave fabrics 'Scrumptious'.

She also made me this sweet little pin pillow... isn't it cute with the little orange flower..... and a cute pattern and magnetic closure to make a little hexagon purse.  Thank you so much Leanne for another great swap.....  xx

   

This is what I sent to Leanne, a Thimble Blossoms mini Spools quilt and a journal, both in Scrumptious fabric(both of us using the same fabric was not planned, but great minds think alike!!)

And now tilt your head to the left, this is the journal, a Melly and Me kit, and some Tilda braid I sent.  For the life of me I can not get this photo to stay turned around the right way in Blogger!

I have done almost no sewing in January, and February hasn't started much better, I am heading to the sewing room this afternoon to make the binding for my Scrappy Trip quilt, I really want to get that baby finished, and soon!  As usual January has been crazy busy on the farm, so much stock work to be done, and I am only now catching up on the several hundred blog posts I was behind on reading.  I have missed the signup deadline for OPAM for 2014, but I'm still going to try and get something done each month anyway..... last year was my best year for finishes in a long time, I think the Stitch-Along projects being small each month helped my cause.  So here's hoping 2014 will be a good stitching year for me..... hope you're finding some 'you' time too..... Nicky x

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

Garden tour

The girls and I went for a little drive the other day with my Dad and brother, through some local districts that had lots of significance to my family.  We drove through the farming area where my Mum's grandparents farmed and then on to this beautiful garden called Maple Glen.  The farm that this garden is situated was once owned by my grandparents and Dad spent his earliest years there until 1954.  He assures me it didn't look like this then, it was a small farm, not the magnificent garden it is now....... if you click on any of these pics they should enlarge for you. 

This is a stunning garden, beautiful in all seasons, and there is a wonderful nursery with plants for sale too. It is an absolute credit to almost 50 years dedication by the family who own it.  I hope you enjoyed this little garden tour today........see you later..... Nicky x