Splashes of colour

After my few weeks of non-crafting I feel like I am almost getting back to 'normal' with a few little projects showing a bit of progress.

Love Me Love My Cat received its borders -

- and a good press -

- basting -

- and now the quilting has started :-)

My evenings were a bit slow until I got back into my groove - so I carried on with my (mindless) crochet - using all the scraps of DK wool that I have floating around.

I know it's bordering on being a little gaudy but I decided that this is the look I
was going for...it will be a blanket of Ganma's that the grandies won't forget :-)

But before long I rediscovered my stitching ...

Another block from the Country At Heart alphabet from
Rag-Tag Stitchin' Designs.

 And before you get too excited and think that I must be nearly done, I'm not. I'm stitching them all out of order. I think I'm a little over half way there.

'Z' is in the hoop at the moment.
♥ that wee mouse!

This week I am linking up to SuperMomNoCape - every week there is a link up to share our embroidery projects and usually there is a lovely (free) vintage pattern to download and stitch as well. To celebrate 25 weeks of link ups there is a fabulous giveaway this week, feel free to visit (*here*) and join in too :-)
The weekend was a fabulous affair, with the sun shining and the forecast rain keeping away; a lovely hint of spring, which surely is getting closer and closer.

[If you are a long time reader of this blog you may recognise some of the scenes in the following pictures..... as I'm sure I posted similar ones last year, and maybe the year before that and quite likely even the year before that.... so you will be excused for switching off now :-) ]

Now is the time when the bush at the back of the farm comes alive with splashes of gold. And I always love to make the trek out there and just soak up the loveliness.
The Kowhai trees did not disappoint again this year. They are big old tall trees and I love to look down and see them towering above and within the other old trees.... mostly Totara in this area.
(Click on the photos to get a better look).

In the past the MOML has come out with me, but last year he got a bit naggy, telling me he was slowly dying of boredom as I walked in wonderment amongst the trees. This year I left him behind. I left the quadbike at the top of the hill (he's brave enough to drive down but I'm not!) and even while walking down I could hear heaps of Tui, Kereru and other birds feeding off the nectar. Sadly the birds were too high up to photograph; even when I thought there was one I could snap, the camera didn't like being pointed up at the sky!

 It was a lovely, magical way to spend an afternoon. The area is all fenced off now (we've put in quite a few kms of fences since we've been here) so we are hopeful that some young trees will start growing in the near future.
This week I think I'll be able to grab a bit more sewing time, my social calendar isn't as full, although the MOML has just informed me that tomorrow may be a good day for de-horning the next mob of calves :-)

Hope your week is happy, thank you for visiting,

happy creating,

Happy Me!

**Warning - babies galore - no sewing - no quilting - no knitting - no stitching**

I'm still coming back down to earth after spending a fabulous few days away at my son's. Remember those babies I told you about in previous posts? Well, I finally got to meet them!!
Of course you will understand when I tell you they are the most beautiful babies in the world - and of course all the other grandmothers out there will dispute that :-) but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Pretty certain that is Saydee on the left and Kaliah on the right.
Or is it Kaliah on the left and Saydee on the right?
Saydee has a red mark on her nose which is our main identifier! 

Naturally it was cuddles all round and I spent many a happy hour with one or the other in my arms. The girls were about 7 weeks old when I visited, my how tiny they are but growing really well...they have plenty of chubby little rolls!

And speaking of rolls, I was there for one milestone; they both rolled over for the first time.

All too soon it was time for home as duty called. We still have a handful of cows left to calve and of course all those babies need feeding.

I will be forever thankful to YD and her hubby for spending/taking holidays to enable me to 'pop over the ditch' at this busy time of the year.

Thank you so much Laura and James ♥

There's been no crafting around here for a while, I didn't take any with me (strange, huh?). Last week I got a bit snuffly so I spent my days eating oranges and having lemon honey drinks in an effort to ward off any germs.....I was dreading having to put off my trip because of it. Luckily by delaying my flight a couple of days I was alright to breath on the girls.
Ok, just one more......

 Normal transmission should resume soon, those ufos aren't going to finish themselves.

Thanks for visiting, have a happy week,

FNWF in September

I started Friday Night with Friends yesterday a little early and did some sewing before the evening arrived. During the week I had finished stitching the final block for Love Me, Love My Cat so I thought it would be a good idea to do some joining up.

Block 8 of Love Me Love My Cat, a Birdbrain Design.

The rest of the blocks are elsewhere so this was all I could do, quite a cute wee hanging don't you think?!
After tea I settled down with the MOML and did some knitting, this project has been resting for a little bit so it was nice to get the needles out and get back into it again. As you can see it's an old and well loved pattern and all will be revealed some time soon... I hope! (No prizes for guessing who it may be for...!)

Cheryll is our lovely hostess for Friday Nights with Friends. Last month I was very lucky to win the draw for taking part, and recently this wee giftie arrived from her... gorgeous fabrics and very cool button pins (for buttons with shanks - cool huh?) and a neat coaster. Thank you so much Cheryll and thank you also for hosting us all. To see what everyone else got up to visit her blog *here*.

 Friday night (bed-time) also saw me starting a new book...this is quite a milestone...since July last year (yes 2014!) I have been re-reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. A few pages a night meant that it was a slow journey but I have thoroughly enjoyed my adventures with Jamie and Clare, Bree and Roger. I was quite sad when I turned the last page so I hope there's another one out soon! I haven't seen any of the TV series of them yet, looking forward to hunting them out. Although I'll probably wait for it on DVD.

Don't they look loved?!
The books seemed to get bigger as I progressed
through the series.
(Yes there's one missing, a daughter has it.)

(Mum and I weren't exactly racing but she started re-reading them about the same time I did, and finished them PLUS all the additional books MONTHS ago!!)

Until next time, happy creating and happy weekending,

Progress - it's a flimsy!

I've been really disciplined this week and am pleased to announce that I now have a flimsy :-)

This was the last round for our Tuesday Medallion Mystery (that I'm doing with The Country Yard), There were, of course, several rules for it, I think I've met them! I went for this foundation pieced border.....

The last side of the border - pieces ready to join - yaay!

The borders were quite a size!

Silly shot of the day, dancing borders.

Adjustments needed - off with the 1" border from the last round, and on with a
wider border - not sure if that's legal or not, but it's done now!

Foundation pieces all joined and edge stitched. I took the papers out, up to an inch
from  the curved edge - to maintain stability of the biased edges.
(Time to vacuum the floor!!)

Sewing on a bias strip which will act as piping. Flip the bias strip to the back and
press and baste in place.

Lie the top on the floor, check it's square and pin it down.
(At this stage I thought it looked quite ok like it was and wondered why I needed
the last border!)

Lie the last border on top (which was joined like a picture frame, I forgot to take
 a photo of that stage).
Measure, adjust, pin, re-measure, re-adjust, re-pin (and so on) until it's all square
and sitting straight.

Stitch in the ditch of piping to attach last border to quilt top.

Completed top, another one to add to the quilting pile :-)

I really didn't know if this border was going to work or not — after I sewed it on and pinned it up on the wall, I didn't (couldn't!) look at it for about 5 minutes. I hoped I would get a 'yes' moment when I finally did look at the full top - phew, I am happy with it...and pleased it is done, it was a really fun project to do. I'd love to get straight into the quilting but there are a few other projects I really need to get on with first....sigh!

For now I need to get the vacuum cleaner out as my Palace floor is a bit of a mess... a bit of other housework wouldn't go amiss either...!

Thank you for visiting, 

happy creating,