Christmas prep...

I seem to have had a bit of an unofficial bloggy break (sometimes these things happen!)..so here I am making a concerted effort to put that right :-)
In spite of my limited blog-reading time  I do know there's been a 'bit of talk' about Christmas lately - it's so much fun to see the Christmas spirit around the world so I thought I would add to it as well.
Christmas in New Zealand  for me, goes hand in hand with summer... we seem to be busy busy busy leading up to Christmas then all of a sudden the country stops and most people are in holiday mode. For us on the farm the cows still need milking but it is still a relaxing time of salads and sunblock.
For me, there are little things that get my adrenalin going and get me excited about Christmas coming.....

...Yummy fresh foods start appearing signalling relaxing meals with family and friends...

...The flower garden puts on a nice show before too much summer sun starts drying it out too much. The appearance of my red Christmas lilies lets me know it really is December and that Christmas is coming.

...Likewise the Manuka is in flower giving us our very own special sprinkling of Christmas snow,

It was difficult to photograph but these sprinklings of white flowers are
throughout the bush. Scrubby trees really but the Manuka honey from
them is highly prized. In fact there have been bee wars in our district
lately with 3 different beekeepers wanting to put their hives in our bush.

The bees are as busy as....bees!

[I  took a couple of really neat bee photos yesterday, shown here, if you are interested...]
So I really am feeling Christmassy even if we still have to find a (real) Christmas tree and get some decorations out - we have no children at home this year to bully, nag, motivate us!

I've done a little Christmas sewing - this is all I'm showing of this little project just now; these are 'one good turn deserves another' gifts (or gifts for Random Act of Kindness I have received).

I can tell you though that these blocks have come from the Quiltmakers
100 Blocks magazines; I find them a great resource.

And this morning I finished this 'Art Binder' for my nephew. I'm quite happy with it, and the excellent tutorial for it can be found here.

Some of you will be aware that this year I joined the Farmers Wife Quiltalong with Brynwood Needleworks. The lovely Donna sent me this lovely wee gift recently - just for participating!! Thank you Donna.

I'm impressed you are still with me...! I just have 2 more photos to show - both of little critters ---

Here is my latest Hannah and Harrington block - number 8,
yaay, I'm catching up!!

For those closer friends who have been asking about the new carpet we put
down recently , this photo shows you how well camouflaged
our pets are on it!!

I feel caught up now, thank you all for reading through to the end!!
Wishing you all fun, happiness and excitement in the lead up to the festive season -
and happy sewing everyone,

Seeing Stars

There seems to have been a bit of a Star theme going on here lately —

Maverick Stars - a surprise for a friend-nod-nod-wink-wink.
I love making these stars.

Christmas Table Centre Star.
Something is wrong with this picture - can you tell what?
(Yes, I've run out of fabric).
I made one of these as a class sample for The Country Yard,
and loved it so much I'm making one for myself!!

Yummy Christmas fabrics making me drool!
(And hum Jingle Bells in my head).

Farmers Wife blocks #31 and #41
(Evening Star and Friendship Star)
It's been a while since I did any of these.

First blocks for Joanne's Thread Head Quilt Along
I had some Kansas Troubles fabric sorted out to do this with but decided
at the last minute I didn't have enough colour in the range.
So I'm using the Moda Special Basics range instead - these were the only
fabrics of it I had at home but there are lots of muted colours in it which are lovely!
Seems like I need to go shopping!

I don't think one could get bored with Star blocks - there are so many variations around... but for now, I'm all starred out so I'll do a bit more on my Hop To It sashings!
Have a great week everyone,

A Farmer's Wife dilemma

As a Farmer's Wife, a Farmer's Daughter, A Farmer's Grand-daughter (and more) I thought tackling the Farmers Wife Sampler Quilt was a GOOD idea!! This year I joined the Farmers Wife quiltalong run by Donna. Inspite of the wonderful support from her I haven't got as far along on my journey as I would have liked (!) but I have competed 8 blocks.Now to my dilemma - how does a Farmer's Wife display her blocks?-

On a Farmer's Wife's Farmbike?....
#20 Churn Dash

...In a Farmer's Wife's Woodshed?...
#10 Bowtie

....In a Farmer's Wife's garden?...
#103 Whirlwind

...on the Farmer's Wife's Gumboots?....
#2 Autumn Tints

...or on a Farmer's Wife's floor?
Less adventurous but easier to arrange!
#34 Flock, #21 Contrary Wife (had to make that one)
#9 Box and #16 Calico Puzzle

So far, all machine pieced.  These are 6" blocks, which I find quite a nice size.
As usual with me, my fabrics are a mixture - I'm not very good at sticking to themes, ranges or eras. I am using, mostly, reproductions fabrics - and anything else that takes my eye.

I've had a bit of fun making this pin cushion for my ED this week. I made YD one earlier on this year so now I have evened it up with one for each girl.

No red felt for the embellishment so I made a red yo-yo instead!

She's called Henrietta Turtle; a Heather Bailey pattern. I quite enjoyed making it but I must admit it nearly ended up on the compost heap at one stage... however I pulled out the stuffing and tried some different fill and had a lot better success - I couldn't believe what a difference the better quality stuffing made!

Here's Henrietta, now called Frank, with his new Mum, ED, on the right
(and YD on the left).
We popped down to Auckland to see her for her birthday today.

Time to go - thanks for visiting, and happy stitching,