Happy Mail

I have received two delightful pieces of mail lately, the second of which arrived today.
The lovely Sue (kiwikid) sent 'Use Scraps, Sew Blocks, Make 100 Quilts. A fabulous surprise!

This is a beautiful book with lots of different ideas for making scrap quilts...Sue knows me well! I love it Sue, thank you so much ♥

This morning's mail was a big surprise as well.
A while ago I was contacted about a photo of mine that was on Pinterest. The Norwegian Quilters Association asked if they could use it in an article in their members' magazine.
I gave permission (of course) but did ask, if it were at all possible, that I could see a copy of the article. I imagined a picture of the page, but instead I received a hard copy of the whole magazine!
The article was about the Wagon Wheel block.

The photo was of a Wagon Wheels runner I made for a friend a couple of years ago, I blogged about it *here*.

How fun, huh?!

The magazine is a lovely one. I can't understand it of course but there are lovely glossy photos and interesting looking articles. They even cover Aboriginal motifs/symbols and the Sydney Quilt Show.

I did something completely crazy this morning. I set out for my walk - across the road and up the first hill - and kept on walking.....

Past where I went a week ago - that was a Big Walk —

Then I carried on —

And on —

Before I knew it I was at the run-off. Now, nobody walks out to the run-off. It's pure madness and a real walk and a half. But I did!!

This block of land is where we graze the non-milking animals.

The run-off, a cleared bit of pasture land in the middle of all the bush.

Well once I got there I realised I had to walk all the way home too! Most of the morning was gone by the time I arrived back at the house.

My little app that I have on my phone helps me keep track of what I'm up to. I never bother about the pace info as sometimes I pause it when I stop to rest, or take photos or whatever. Sometimes I forget. But I'm always interested to see the elevation lines (when they show up - I think it has to sync at home to get the full information).

Lots of people are talking about the extra baking they're doing during lock down - I've been doing a little as well - but I always love to bake in autumn, using up produce.

This afternoon I offered the MOML the choice between apple crumble, apple pie, apple shortcake or apple cake for pudding tonight.....

Apple pie and custard won the vote. The pastry looks a bit sad but it's
actually pretty good for gluten-free pastry.

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Scrap Basket Sunday - sort of!!

Here it is the end of Monday and I am just getting around to writing my Scrap Basket Sunday post!! I have been trying all day but just haven't got there! I was determined to link up this week as I haven't for a while, and you know me, I love playing with my scraps :-)

Thank you Kim, of Kims' Big Quilting Adventure, for hosting Scrap Basket Sunday. It is always interesting to visit others to see what they get up to with their scraps. Click here for this week's link-up.

In my last post I hinted at getting into my sewing palace and having a tidy-up ... I didn't get very far because a) I have little willpower and b) I got distracted!

Never mind, this little pouch is the result of that distraction......

 Happily made from scraps and bits that were lying around. I think it will be pretty useful as it's a handy size. Quilted with some cotton batting which gives it a nice bit of body. 

 I've been really pleased to add two books to my bookcase lately. They are by Rosemary McLeod who is a well known New Zealand journalist. She has a real passion for collecting NZ textile handcrafts. I found her first book, Thrift to Fantasy, in a secondhand bookshop and really enjoyed reading it. She has been collecting 'domestic handcrafts' from the 1930s-50s and in the book there are lots of photos of them as well as discussion on what they would have meant to those who made them. It really made me appreciate how lucky I am, being able to have several projects on the go at once - my family is clothed, warm and fed regardless of whether or not I finish the 101 projects I have started. I grow my stash with a vengeance and although I love to use my scraps, honestly, I don't really have to. What a luxury huh? In the not so distant past this was not the case.

Her second book, With Bold Needle and Thread was released this year and I was able to get it using the rewards programme, Flybuys. Still focusing on those years of the 1930s to '50s, this one includes patterns for 'vintage crafts with a modern twist'. It is a real cornucopia of photos and snippets of information, excerpts from old magazines and so on. A real browse-y interesting book. It reminds me of when I was a child...when we used to go and visit Nana and Poppa I would lose myself in the spare bedroom where Nana had her sewing. I spent hours looking through her books and patterns and spent a lot of time writing out patterns to take home with me... of course I didn't made many of them but I loved collecting them all the same. Some things never change!!

As I look at the clock I see that my Scrap Basket Sunday post on Monday is soon to become a Scrap Basket Sunday post on Tuesday! I'd best stop babbling :-)

Thank you for visiting, I always appreciate your visits,

Happy stitching, 

Friends, gifts and books

I'm still sorting through my photos from when I was on holiday.....
One of the great things about holiday-ing is the opportunity to meet people. I was so excited while at Paducah to meet fellow blogger Sharon. Sharon was doing the 365-day blog at the same time as I was, since then she has set up another blog, More Curiously.
Sharon and I got on incredibly well, and we were lucky to be able to spend a fair bit of (but not enough) time together in between classes, drooling over quilts and shopping at Paducah Quilt Week.

We went out to tea together one night and - would you believe it - spent
 the whole time talking!! Sharon's friend Julie (on the right) was really
lovely as well; it was a bonus meeting her also.

Sharon and I exchanged gifts. She made me this gorgeous little bag/purse with a matching pin cushion.

Just beautiful - and being used already....

Isn't it sweet? The pin cushion is stuffed with a mixture of walnut shells
and some layers of old woollen blanket and has a wonderful feel.

I ran out of time before I left NZ to make Sharon a gift, so sadly, I was only able to give her a few 'NZ kiwiana' bits and pieces I had gathered for her. I did make a couple of 'kiwi-flavoured' star blocks for her but forgot to photograph them.
I've already posted about my trip to Texas, to stay with Doniene and her family. Doniene was also a 365-day blogger and we also got to know each other well, before we had met. Here is Doniene's main blog.

I had a wonderful visit there, and have a beautiful wall hanging made by Doniene to remind me of the time we spent together.

Isn't it great? It is so fitting, just love it!!

I love the clever use of the 'T' block and the border fabric - perfect!

 I made Doniene a table runner which I hoped she would find a spot for in her gorgeous wooden home.

 (The kiwi was a free pattern (foundation pieced) from Regina Grewe but I'm not sure that it is still available).

On the way to the airport to start my journey home, Doniene kindly detoured so we could attend a book signing by Marie Bostwick, promoting her latest book, "Between Heaven and Texas" .
I have loved all of the Cobblestone series so it was very exciting to meet Marie and purchase her latest book... and just so fitting considering the title of the book! Marie was such a lovely bubbly person, it was really lovely to meet her.

I refrained from actually wearing my newly purchased cowboy boots while reading the book but I was so tempted!! Loved the story!! Looking forward to Marie's next one, which she says is in the pipeline.

And my cup runneth over - I also won a copy of one of the Elm Creek series books, 'The Giving Quilt' by Jennifer Chiaverini in a recent bloghop through Wendy's blog; it was waiting for me when I arrived at my brother's place.

 The other new book I have to report on is one I bought at Belle Meade Plantation while in Nashville. Apparently Belle Meade was the most influential thoroughbred stud farm in America's history, and this novel is written around the plantation. It will be fun to picture the house and the farm that I saw while reading this.

Whew, I think I am all talked out now and this post has stretched on and on!!! I'll just leave you with a photo I took yesterday. How Nigel managed to get safely up there without toppling anything over beats me!!

Precarious Cat.

 Happy stitching everyone, and thank you for visiting,

Pretties...

Here is a bolster cushion I finished recently.

Some pansy fabrics can be a bit 'old fashioned' looking but this one is Absolutely Gorgeous and has lovely matching prints.The cushion is a Sally Giblin design - I love her range of patterns, a lot have nice sentiments like this one.

Another pretty finish is this wee bag, a Birdhouse pattern. Very sweet.

Cant get away from the hexies!

Here's a pile of the books I've read over the last few months; they were piled up on the bookcase so I thought it a good chance to share them. I just finished The Wedding Quilt last night, and really enjoyed it - when I first started it and saw what year it was set in I was a bit concerned about all the Elm Creek news we would have missed out on, but I do think it was quite well done. 

The Diana Gabaldon was a Christmas present and again very much enjoyed, as was the Friday Night Knitting Club, a second-hand book shop find. 

I asked Mum once why she reads a lot of crime novels - her reply - that it was a change from what she does in everyday life! So there is the odd smattering of those in my reading repertoire too! I'm working my way through the Kathy Reichs series as Mum has the full set - every time I visit I'm ready for the next instalment!

And more pretties, but of a different kind!

We were pretty pleased with how our beef beasties went this year - these 6 month old 'calves' went off to a new home yesterday where they can eat and grow for a few more years. For those interested, they are Angus/Dairy crosses.
[And what am I looking forward to today? — Picking our Golden Queen peaches!! (Recent rain has made them slightly spotty so down they must come; plus the sheep and the pig have started camping under the tree!)]
Thanks for visiting, and have a good day - hopefully you can squeeze a bit of stitching into it, too,

The end of week already - well nearly!!

Here it is Thursday night and I realise I haven't shared for a week--- I have a busy weekend coming up (more on that later) so I thought I would do a quick post before I get too distracted.
I've read both these books lately :-) I've read all of the Elm Creek Quilter books by Jennifer Chiaverini and have enjoyed them all. The latest, set during the American Civil War was a good read and a chance for me to learn and understand a bit more about this momentous event. Another thoroughly good read (which I read until 2am one morning!!) was the book on the right 'a single thread' by Marie Bostwick. I would love to know if she has written any other quilting novels?? I think she has a follow-up to this one in the pipeline.

Below is a project on the go...had a fun evening of chain piecing; of course my short attention span meant I had to get up and 'arrange' my chain to see how far down the hallway it could go. As you can see, Miss Timmie got in the way. This is the starting of a scrap quilt, a sample quilt for my favourite local.

Timmie can sniff out a quilt in progress at 100 yards!

And another sample for my local, a spot of stitching below. This was done with Cottage Garden Threads, which I found really lovely to use. I just love the colour variations along the length - quite beautiful.

 The fish below is some stitching for myself.. another block in the Life Is Beautiful quilt. This variegated thread is Aurifil, also lovely to use.

 And NOW for my big excitement! At Midnight Madness a few weeks ago I cut out the quilt below, in preparation for RETREAT which starts TOMORROW!!!!!!

Triangle Surprise by Edyta Sitar. Hope my version turns out as lovely as hers!!

 A weekend of friendship and sewing!! I am so looking forward to it.

Only sewing things packed so far, hope I remember things
like towels and toothpaste :-)

See you after retreat - have a fun weekend every-one, I'm sure I will!

Red letter day....

It was a "red letter day" (good news day) today so I made a red rosette (hexie-flower) to celebrate!

The reason — my much awaited new sewing machine has arrived and I cant wait to play!! (yes I should have been machine sewing tonight, not hand sewing!!).
I have a total of 44 flowers so far - I haven't been making many more new ones lately as I'm concentrating on joining a few together; I'm doing them in groups of four, then they get pinned to my wall. This is what I've done so far (please excuse the radio aerial strategically  taped up for best reception).

It's also a good chance for me to decide which colours I don't want to use again, there's the odd one I have discarded.
Has anyone read any of Margaret Rowe's quilting novels? She's a relatively new Australian author and I've enjoyed both her books so far. I ask, because she has a new one published, 'The Caroline Challenge Quilt' [I have her email address if anyone is interested]. I've put in my order and am looking forward to receiving and reading it.

I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday and thank you for visiting,
happy stitching,
Raewyn