The weekend with friends

We've just had a wonderful weekend spent with friends; It started with Friday night with Friends, our monthly virtual sew in hosted by Cheryll. After a day at work and a trip to the supermarket, I only just made it!! I didn't sew for very long as bed was calling but I did make a little progress on the rabbit in the latest Anderson's Barge's Farm block.

Thankyou Cheryll for hosting us all. You can visit the link-up post *here*.

Below shows the result of my work day - it was mail out day for our Block of the Month, etc, programmes. Lots of wrapping.

I barely touched a needle for the rest of the weekend as the lovely Sue and her hubby (from Melbourne, Australia) came for a visit and overnight stay. Kiwikid Sue and I have been bloggy friends for a while now and it was so nice to meet her in person. We enjoyed our time chatting, eating, and looking around the farm.

Part way up the hill; Sue and her hubby posing...

..then Sue and I had a turn. Photo opportunities are a good excuse for a rest!

Sue showed me how she is doing her Clamshells; I'm very tempted to give this a try now!

Sue has written a lovely post about their visit *here*.

After we waved Sue and hubby goodbye YD and I did some horse work with my two horses. YD and her hubby have been working with my young horse while they've been living here. She is 5 years old and not yet broken in..... her hubby has saddled her recently but this was the first time she's had a girth on (so the saddle was actually buckled up!). Not bad - great work guys!!!

While she neighed in the stable ("where's my buddy?") with the saddle still attached, YD and I went for a ride - actually I rode and she opened gates :-) It's been a while since I've ridden my boy and it felt so good. I have a suspicion that exactly 24 hours after that ride I won't be feeling so good - that seems to be how long it takes for my muscles to realise they've done something they're not used to!!!

I've also made these blocks recently - I love this fabric, some from a Kim Diehl range - and I'm pleased with how these are looking :-)

(The lighting's probably not the best, I took these photos at night.)

All in all a wonderful weekend! I hope your's went just as well and you have a great week lined up ahead of you :-)

Happy stitches,

 

Blame it on the cows —

I had a gentle prod nag reminder about my neglected blog this week and it really is all the fault of the cows. And calves.

Feeding time. I have 70 to rear now.

However, moments of crafting are happening;
A few secret projects —

(it's fun having a daughter around who can show me how to play with Photoshop!)

I got back to one of my scrap projects over the weekend; I've renamed this one Honeypot Stars after finding out that my initial name of Honeybucket Stars did not always inspire sweet thoughts (just google it!). As I store all my scraps in the (empty) Honey Buckets we are given (full) as payment for having beehives on our property I had thought it was an apt name!
Anyway, here's the latest block.

Slowly the pile is growing. The blocks are 15" square so I don't need too
many for a decent sized quilt. Might go for 3x3 so I'm over half way there!

I'm realising that although I'm a scrappy lover, I also like the blocks to be a little co-ordinated, I'm not a 'close my eyes and grab a fabric' scrap sewer.

So they all get laid out and worked out before I sew. Slower but keeps me happy!

The start of a Honeypot star :-)

These stars are from the book S is for Scraps by Gayle Bong. I've talked about how they are made *here*. I was trying to keep up with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colours each month but now I'm just happy to sew up my scraps when and how it suits.
For those of you following YD's knitting adventures, here (in the teal) is the latest jersey for her dog. Trying to get an exact fit for his body has been a challenge, but she's doing rather well considering this is only her 2nd project. Oh and she drafted out the bones and worked out how to knit them herself!

Although the weather has changed again, we have had some beautiful days lately. The photo below really brings out the warm fuzzies in me. And didn't I do well, I managed to capture a bee at work too!

It's back to the gumboots for now, but later on I'm hoping for a quiet and productive day in my sewing Palace. Wish me luck!

'til next time, 

happy Stitches, 

Feeling —

I'm feeling a little behind at the moment; August has come, there was no OPAM finish for July nor a July OMG completion either. There has been plenty happening though —
Feeling the fun —

I pattern tested these two cute blocks for Juliet of TheTartankiwi... she's now running a QAL for this new Woodland series - click *here* if you want to find out more.

Feeling the love —

Our Australian family has just been out to New Zealand for a visit to celebrate our wee grandies' first birthday. My how they've grown; they're such lovely little girls - not that I'm biased of course.

We do have to share them with other family members so are always so pleased when they get to spend time on the farm.

Our son and Saydee.

Kaliah enjoyed having her hand sucked by the calves.

Let's explore! We'll try our best to make farmgirls of them!

Feeling pleased —

Part 10 of Mandala Madness completed - whew this part took a while!

Feeling the rain —

How a lot of our time is spent at the moment.
On this wet and cold day the neighbour had offered to help us,
not be the official photographer!

Feeling ready —

Yesterday I managed a sew day and prepped the next Anderson's Farm block. 

Feeling frustrated —

On the same day, I was having a fun time quilting...for some reason this part
fell off. When it's not inserted properly it feels like you are stitching
with a shovel, not a needle. Off to the fixit lady, shame, I was on a roll!

Feeling proud —

YD finished her dog jersey.
Considering the pattern was a weird one to follow, this turned out ok.
She's onto another, and is making up the pattern this time!

Feeling cold — off to heat up some soup and stoke up the fire :-)

Happy stitches, and thanks for stopping by,