Spring is here....

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring in Southern parts, and we have enjoyed a mild winter, particularly August has been warm and great weather for lambing, which got underway for us during the last week.  A tiny vase of pretty little flowers is just the thing to say 'Spring'.......

In my last post I mentioned a retreat I had been on recently, and here are a couple of things I worked on while enjoying uninterrupted sewing time, what a treat that was.... two and a half days of it!!  This is a little Dresden pillow that I finished at retreat, and was part of the birthday swap gifts I sent to Leanne recently.  Without even discussing it, we ended up both making each other gifts from Bonnie and Camille fabrics, great minds think alike right?!

I also made Leanne a table runner in a kind of sampler format using half square triangles.  This was so fun to make, I used some of the bonus HST's left over from my 2012 FQS Block of the Month quilt, and added some more from the Vintage Modern range for variety. I did include some little extras but forgot to take a photo of them.

One of the main things I worked on while I was away was to finish up the Designer Mystery BOM, I have now made it up to this red border, I am unsure about the next white border with the pinwheel corners, I may try something different, or even leave it as is, it's already plenty big enough for me. This means that now I can start the 2013 BOM.  I have three blocks sitting waiting for me already!

 

A better pic of the colours - hanging on the clothesline late this afternoon.....

There were a couple of other projects I worked on, but one of them is still a little surprise so I will share it when it is done.  Since I've returned from retreat, I haven't really achieved much crafty-wise, but I will try and get a few stitches done some evenings during lambing(if I can stay awake that late!)

I am going to use my 'free pass' this month for the Stitch Along blog, I am still working on July's bag, so I don't think I'm going to get the August one done in the next few hours.....   

Thanks for visiting with me today... hope you're getting some stitching time in your day..... Nicky x

Another year older

A couple of weeks ago I had the good fortune to celebrate another year above ground.  My lovely stitching friend Leanne and I are sharing in a birthday swap this year and I was so excited to open my parcel from her on my big day.  Just look at all these goodies Leanne made me, and all in some of my favourite Bonnie and Camille fabrics.  

                                             A sweet little pillow with bluebird stitchery

A needlebook with a matching stitchery. The second photo shows the lovely spotty flannel on the inside of the needlebook and the felt inner for storing all my needles and pins.

There was also this sweet project pouch made in 'Bliss', which Leanne has beautifully quilted....

 And all of my gorgeous goodies together, see those cute crochet flowers and Leanne's House postcard, aren't they sweet!!  

Disclaimer:  There may also have been some Caramello Chocolate in this parcel, no prizes for guessing why it didn't make the photo shoot!  Thankyou again Leanne, I was spoiled rotten, and am so thrilled with my lovely handmade gifts.  Leanne's birthday is coming up soon, so I hope she will enjoy her goodies from me too.

I was lucky enough to attend my first ever retreat last weekend, I had a wonderful time, and worked on lots of projects(no new starts for me, wasn't I a good girl...lol).  Once I get some pics taken I will be back to share soon.  In the meantime I have over 200 blog posts to catch up on and see what everyone's been up to.      Till next time...... happy stitching........ Nicky x

Friday night fun

I joined with lots of others  on Friday night for Friday Night Sew In, which is being temporarily hosted by Wendy at Sugarlane Quilts.  Thanks for hosting us Wendy!

Some of my sewing was of the secret variety, but I did start to join my 1 inch hexagons together for the front of a bag, which will be my SAL project for July. I love these Double Chocolat fabrics designed by 3 Sisters, I got a charm pack and some yardage from The Art of Craft in Gore.

And for the cross-stitchers among you who thought I had crossed over to the dark side quilting side, some stitches were even added to my Christmas Garden piece.  I've been working on this a little lately, the bottom pic is where it was at way back in December.

It's a stunning winter's day here in the Deep South, a day to throw all the windows and doors open and enjoy some beautiful sunshine....prune some more roses, and maybe get some time in the sewing room later too. Thanks for stopping by today....... Nicky x

My Friday Night with Friends and lovely gifts

My Friday Night with Friends started a little later than I planned, with our girls both having netball games on Friday evening, but better late than never right... and here is the littlest peak at some secret sewing I've been working on tonight.  These are some of those wonderful 'bonus' half square  triangles left over from my Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery BOM blocks.  I've also added a few different fabrics from a charm pack for some variety, do you think you can guess what I'm working on??   If you were joining in tonight for FNWF, I hope you got lots done too.... and a big thanks to Cheryll for hosting us all.

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win Anthea - Hibiscus Stitches beautiful giveaway of some goodies she purchased at a big Craft Show. A pretty floral fat quarter, a Cottage Garden Thread(I've heard lots of good things about these) and a pair of gorgeous bunny scissors.  It is all so pretty, I love it Anthea!

So imagine my surprise when included in the parcel was this lovely mug rug, with the prettiest seed packet fabric on the front, and backed with this cool black and white 'quilt words' fabric, can you see some of the block names and quilting expressions on it?  Thanks so much Anthea, I love it all and am so thrilled to have been the lucky winner!

I was going to make the next part another post on another day, but my presence here has been rare lately so I'll just put it all in the one post!!  Here are the final four blocks of the 2012 FQS BOM.  I finished these last month, but only got some quick pics today....

 Block 9 - Lakeside Retreat - Designed by Joanna Figueroa

Block 10 - Sunday Drive - Designed by Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson

Block 11 - County Fair - Designed by Julie Comstock

Block 12 - April Showers - Designed by Sweetwater

 I have the first 6 blocks joined into their rows with their flying geese for sashing, there is a big vertical red and white stripe fabric to go between each horizontal row, but I need to take my time cutting that so I don't stuff it up!

The rush is on to get this one finished as the new 2013 Designer Mystery BOM has started and I have block one sitting here waiting to be started.  I saw a few girls were going to be getting stuck into that one tonight, hope it went well for you!

Thanks for visiting today, I will try and be back a lot sooner next time.... happy stitching...Nicky x

Stitchalong catchup

I've been enjoying the little projects we've been working on as part of the Stitch-A-Long blog, and here are my May and June finishes.  First is my bag, from the Some Kind of Wonderful book by Anni Downs.  I chose to omit the stitchery once I found this lovely linen fabric.

 And a sweet little fabric covered button to finish it off

A couple of weekends ago I attended a class with a lovely lady, Sharon, who teaches classes from her home studio.  She is a very patient teacher and we were all especially keen to learn needleturn applique.  The project we worked on was, as luck would have it, the pincushion from Natalie Bird's Red Home book which is our June Stitchalong project.  I finally got mine stuffed and finished yesterday, and I'm so pleased with it.  Sharon can be found at O Sew Divine, where you can see some of her beautiful work, it is gorgeous.  Thanks Sharon for a wonderful class! 

 

I'm planning on finding some sewing machine time later today, and some stitching tonight while I watch the All Blacks play, hope you have a lovely weekend 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

Anyone there?

Hello there, I won't be surprised if you've all disappeared from visiting here, much as I have lately.  I have been very absent from both my blog and visiting and commenting on others for the last month or two.  School camp, family visiting, school holidays, winter sport getting under way and lots of busy days on the farm has meant little sewing or blogging time for me.  Hopefully things might settle down soon!

I have finished my feeble attempt at the Tis the Season wallhanging which was the April project for  the Stitch-A-Long blog.  The original has three stitchery blocks joined in a horizontal row, but I have settled for one this time.  

 The only other thing I've really worked on lately has been to finish joining the 'petals/blades' for the Dresden plates for the Sugar Dish quilt.   Time to decide on centre circle colours and how I'm going to attach them to their backgrounds......

I have the fabrics all ready to go for the bag for the May Stitch-A-Long project, and will do my best to get it done before the 31st!  Hope you're having a great weekend whatever you're up to, it is a beautifully warm, breezy day here today, though we are being warned about snow for Monday....... not looking forward to that......

Till next time(hopefully not so long next time though) ........  Nicky x