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

A Fresh quilt and kind friends

I have been busy with some machine sewing in the last couple of weeks any chance I've had.  I bought Camille Roskelley's Simply Retro book a while back and her 'Fresh' quilt is the one I kept going back to look longingly at.  So I gave in to temptation and decided on a kind of controlled colour palette using all my Bonnie and Camille scraps and a new charm pack of their beautiful Scrumptious range.  This is going to be a big quilt, it was meant to be a 4x4 block layout which finishes at 96" x 96", but I've decided to trim one row off and will end up at 72 x 96, plenty big enough for a single bed.  I have never trimmed Half Square Triangles down to size before, and it is rather tedious, but boy does it make a big difference when sewing them together and matching seams etc, love this technique now!  So this picture is half the quilt top, I have one more row complete and I hope to finish the last three blocks tonight when I join in with lots of friends around the globe for Friday Night with Friends.... maybe you'd like to join in too and sign up over at Cherylls blog here.....

Earlier this week I got a lovely surprise in the mail from dear Deb, who after I mentioned in my last post my lack of hand stitching due to the state of my hands, went to the trouble of doing some research and found this wonderful Aromatherapy Co Hand Cream and sent it to me...... it smells divine, such a sweet citrus scent and it feels amazing, won't be long now and I'll be back with needle and thread in my hand, maybe over the weekend if I'm lucky...... thank you so much Deb, your kindness is so sweet and I have been smiling all week thinking about you and your lovely gift.

Finally I had just the one little OPAM finish for September which was this little mini quilt for friends who have recently built their first home.  They have little twin boys and so this was my loose interpretation of them with their little guys..... my first attempt at the sketchy raw edge applique, and as my friends favourite colour is pink, that's what I chose for the binding....(taken on my own ugly wallpaper, not their beautiful new wall colours...lol) I kind of wish I had done some quilting in the background but didn't know where to start!

Right, had better get myself organised for a quick and easy dinner tonight so I can get sewing like a madwoman once the dishes are done....... have a lovely weekend....... Nicky x 

A baby dresden

I'm having a go at blogging from my phone so please disregard this if it doesn't work properly.  This is my first little dresden with all the petals sewn together.... fiddly but fun.  When you make dresden plates do you machine or hand applique to the background?  Ditto for the centre circle, needleturn or machine?  

Till next time. ........... Happy Stitching ............ Nicky x

Saturday morning with friends....

OK, so my Friday Night with Friends sewing plans went awry..... it was our 16th wedding anniversary yesterday, and when hubby realised he would have all the grass seed sown earlier than expected, we decided to head to town to a new restaurant for dinner..... so too late for sewing when we got home!    So instead, I have spent Saturday morning making up the final Scrappy Star blocks for the Sew Along that Terry kindly hosted last year.   I have decided to just make 12 and had a little trial run of how the final layout might be.  Don't you just love my red carpet.....lol......!!

I hope if you joined in Friday Night(or Saturday Morning) with Friends that you had a productive time too.......... Thanks Cheryl for hosting us all.....

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

Merry Christmas

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.  Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)

Wishing all who visit here a wonderful Christmas, I hope you have a magical day with the people you love................  you may see from the pic what I will be doing after Christmas(stitching binding that is, not playing Scrabble!)  I will share the beautiful quilting Leeanne has done when I have the binding all finished.

Much love to all and Merry Christmas.......... Nicky xx

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

A blast from the past and a set of twins

I've been seeing a few 1/2" hexagon projects around recently and thought I'd dig out and share this abandoned long-forgotten Grandmothers Flower Basket that I started when the girls were little, about 8 years ago.  I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking, when I chose marble fabrics for the flowers and just any old random green prints for the leaves.  There are so many different shades of green in there it just about makes me sick to look at it now.  It was all done the old fashioned way, me tracing and cutting out freezer paper templates and hand basting, it's a wonder they fit together at all!  And those little hexies are small, 1/2" sides seemed tiny at the time, but they're all the 'in' thing now!  Now that it's out, maybe I should add a stitch or three, after all it is on my WIP list (a little optimistic to have it there maybe....)  So now you can see that starting projects and never finishing them is not a new concept for me ......... I am experienced at it........LOL

Here are a couple of farm pics........ a set of day old twins with Mum.......

And a view from the bush looking down through the kowhai trees across to the hills beyond .......

Well I hope you're having a great day ..........Till next time................ Happy stitching ............. Nicky

Saturday in the sewing room

Hello there, how is your Saturday going?  I have had a great day in my sewing room, preparing a few blocks for some works in progress and finishing up a couple of things.  Firstly here is the bag I started early in January.  I'm really pleased with this, it's a nice little size, and I am really loving these Nicey Jane fabrics.  This was my first experience with ruffles and the result is not too bad!

In an Afternoon Bag designed by Rosalie Quinlan 
using Nicey Jane fabrics by Heather Bailey

This little flanged pillow is a Lizzie Kate freebie, the fabric I've finished it with looks red here, but is actually a very dark pink with cream spots.  

Friendship Grows, Freebie by Lizzie Kate
Stitched on Cream linen with Weeks Dye Works threads

This little lavender pillow is not todays work, but was my only January OPAM finish, and also my first Sew It's Finished finish for the year.  My list of works in progress at the start of the year was fairly large(a little understatement maybe) and I'm endeavouring to work on it with all the Sew It's Finished girls again in 2012. I think this was started about 6 years ago, and it only needed the opening closed, took about 4 minutes max!!  There really is something wrong with me!  But - it is done now..........

Lavender Pillow from Country Threads Magazine(can't find my copy to get designers name, sorry)

It's a long weekend here in NZ, where we are celebrating out national day, Waitangi Day on Monday.  Tomorrow we are heading to Central Otago for a little jetboating, and guess who's coming with us?  I'm sure  you can get proper pet lifejackets, but we were just trying this old one on Kelly for size this afternoon ......

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend whatever it is you are doing ............... Nicky

Stitching update

Hello again, it's been nearly two weeks(again) between posts but rest assured I haven't been sitting idle all that time..... here is some stitching I've been working on at nights while watching cricket and tennis, loving the Aussie Open, some great games and very entertaining.  I just wish we weren't 2 hours ahead of Melbourne as it was after 3am when I dragged myself off to bed last night!  (I have to confess there may have been some dozing in the chair at times though.)


But anyway, back to that stitching, this chart and fabric are a late Christmas gift to myself ........ I've made a small start, because of course starting is what I do best........lol.  This is Christmas Garden by Blackbird Designs, I think I am going to omit the wording at the bottom, and make it more of a family sampler than an exclusively Christmas piece.

Below is Secret Egg Hunt by The Trilogy, not much to go on this little one, just waiting on a couple of thread colours to arrive in the mail and I'll be done!

I have also started stitching those hexie flowers down on Janis' Stitching Round the Block, not as difficult as I imagined, the seam allowances stayed nicely creased under and I just used some tiny drops of Roxanne's glue to hold them in place while I stitched............ 4 done, 4 to go!

I think I mentioned a couple posts back that I had done a little Butterfly Garden stitching at Christmas time and here are 5 more little miniblocks done. .................... check out Fiona and her Butterfly Garden stitching, she is on fire, so is Josie, she is now working on her final block.   Oops I've just remembered I still need to get pics of my Gardener's Journal top now that the borders are on - next time!

Tonight I'm going to stitch while watching some more tennis ............. hope you're getting some stitching time today too............. till next time ..................... Nicky

What happened to the lazy days of summer?

Happy(very belated) New Year!!   

I hope you've had a great start to 2012 and that everything is going your way.......

I had visions of a long hot summer, spending time with the kids, in the garden, on the farm, and hopefully lots of long evenings stitching....... but so far it's been anything but lazy!  Not too much time for gardening or stitching yet and the kids have been spending time with us, helping out on the farm........

We had New Years Day off farm work, so I added the borders to my A Gardeners Journal,(sorry no pics yet) while the kids played on their motorbikes with Dad, and their uncle and cousins.  Since then there has been three days of sorting lambs, drenching, weighing etc, 4 days back at my off-farm job, two days this last weekend travelling to Oamaru for a quick overnight visit with friends, and a fair bit of time worrying about the drought situation we have developing. 

We have had about 6mm of rain in the last 7 weeks, compared to our average 150mm or more for that period.  The rest of New Zealand has been experiencing a terrible summer, flooding in some place and lots of rain, but down south we have had a truly old-fashioned summer.  While it's been great not wondering how I'll ever get the washing dry on the clothesline, we are starting to despair.  We have a load of 750 lambs leaving tomorrow, just the smaller ones, they are heading north to Canterbury for finishing, who ironically are usually sending lambs to Southland by this time of the season ...... how the tables have turned!   I've already bought one truckload of water, and will probably need another 25,000lt within a few days.

You know it's dry here when the lambs would rather come in a slightly ajar gate and eat the lawn than stay in their paddock........lol .... and this was taken on the 29th of December, things are a lot worse since then. You also know you're a blogger when you go and get the camera before you chase them out.  lol

I have managed a couple of quick stitchy starts though, this little freebie from Lizzie Kate .........

........ and a half-finished little bag for me in Nicey Jane fabrics.... my current favourite.  Back at Christmas time I did get some more Butterfly Garden miniblocks done too, but need to take some pics.

 

Today I have started excavating in my sewing room, it's been a dumping ground for everything recently, and I've sorted out a few projects that need some urgent attention.  There have been so many wonderful SAL's and new and exciting stitchy projects starting online, but for now I am resisting the urge of joining in anything else for a while...... we'll see how long that lasts though!     In the interests of full and open disclosure I have to confess that I have been gathering fabrics for My Favourite Things, the new Stitch-A-Long project for 2012.  I put my name down for this SAL last year, and I'm not meant to start it till my Gardeners Journal quilt is all finished, but I am 90% sure I will be getting that quilted professionally, so I've done all I can on that one for now!  I won't be starting that for a week or two though.   

I've also updated my WIP list for 2012 on a new page at the top of the blog.......... and will try and post to the Sew It's Finished blog in the next few days. 

OK - if you've lasted through all that, thank you, you deserve a medal!  I'll be trying to catch up on my blog reading and emails tonight and tomorrow, so till next time .............. happy stitching ....Nicky

A Gardener's Journal ........ the final block

Late last week the final stitches went into my last block of A Gardener's Journal, and it felt kind of sad to be finished.............. of course I still have to get the borders on and decide if I'm brave enough to quilt it myself or send it out to get a proper job made of it!  Once that's done I can get onto the new Stitch-A-Long project, another Anni Downs quilt, My Favourite Things from her Some Kind of Wonderful book.  I'm really looking forward to that!!   

Finally ......... the blocks are joined, almost a quilt top now!

Here are some pics of the kids vegetable gardens, they have their own little patch each, this is our youngest's below.........

................... and our eldest girls here ..........

And below is part of my potato patch...... some yams are in the tyre at the back.....

and some of the other goodies growing in our garden........

.............we've been eating lettuce, salad greens, radishes and silverbeet for a while now, and lots more is nearly ready now ....... I've had a terrible time getting carrot seed started this year, the first lot I think the seed was too old, and it's been pretty dry since I sowed the new seed.  We are desperately short of water, we are only on our own rainwater supply, and there is no rain forecast till at least the end of the month......... so I need to convince hubby to help me pump some water from the creek for the garden.  

So now there's only 5 more sleeps to go, I'd better behave myself so Santa stops by ........

Till next time....happy stitching

Nicky