Small things

This week YD discovered the joys of fusible web -

And made herself this book cover -

"No Mum, I will not become a Quilter!!!!"
Haha maybe not, but not too far off I reckon :-)

Meanwhile I spent a bit of time playing with my Omigosh quilt project. I've been making more of the tiny 9-patches as leader-ender scraps-

-and thought it time I pulled out the pattern to see what else I need to do for it....
I realised that the original 9-patches are all totally scrappy, not made out of the same fabrics as my ones are....

...so I made some of the necessary 4-patches scrappy.....

...and sewed together the first set of blocks....

...I've decided I really like the jewel effect of the totally scrappy
blocks so all the new (hundreds of) blocks will be made like this now.

I know this will be a slow scrap project (especially the way I'm making it) but I relish the thought of using all the tiny 1" pieces. Small things amuse small minds one of my teachers used to say. Enough said.
(And she used to finish that with "and small pants have small behinds"!!!)

Anyway, back to my Omigosh; I've remembered a tip I saw/read/heard somewhere about putting a weight on freshly ironed bloks to help them sit flat. These little 9-patches like to curve out at the seamline to greet me so I've started covering them with a weight once I've given them their final press. Usually something heavier than this ruler but you get the idea anyway. It works quite well.

They sit like this until they're cooled or until it's tidyup time and
they need to go away.

Also on the small side is the Postcard Swap I did recently with Jennifer - she travels in the summer months so chose to send me some sights from her adventures. This lighthouse was along the Oregon Coast. Very cool.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

It took me ages to decide what to make for my postcard but finally I decided that a NZ Fantail was a good kiwi icon to do. YD took 3 of my photos and photoshopped them together for me.... being little flitty birds I find them incredibly hard to get a decent photo of... so none of my photos were very good to use. After tracing the image and appliquing it onto a pieced background, I finished it up with a little fmq, and popped it into the post... happily it arrived in one piece!

Thank you Jennifer for swapping with me and also to Sheila for arranging the swap :-) Sheila regularly does these swaps so if you are at all interested, keep an eye on her blog. It's a fun way to meet other bloggers and also play a bit with your sewing.

The small dog is seen below modelling new jersey #3 which YD has nearly finished. Jersey # 2 needs a new neckline and that will be finished soon too....not long now and he will be the best dressed dog around. Her hubby sighs and wonders where his jersey is....

'till next time, 

happy stitches ☺

Big achievements and small sewing

One proud mother here, on Friday our YD graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. 

Congratulations Laura, here with her hubby.
Both relieved that she's finished!

The MOML and I had a nice day off the farm and ED flew up to celebrate as well so it was great.

Family selfie

And yummy dinner afterwards.

On the crafting front, things have been a little quiet... I got my Chookyblue's SSCS gifts in the post...after a bit of an oopsie - I decided to do a last minute removal of a tiny bit of a pen mark but ended up with some colour bleeding - ouch - and of course trying to fix it made it worse! An extra day to remake my ornament and all was well and my gifts are now posted!

Crocheted on our way down to YD's graduation. The afghan is slowly growing
and gobbling up my scrap yarn well.

Recently I took part in a postcard swap...Sheila of sheilasquiltworld organises these regularly and it's always fun to play with different techniques on a small scale and see what other people make.
This time I swapped with Marsha (quilterinmotion). She was doubly organised, sending her's off before she made her annual migration from Canada to Florida for winter —

It took me completely by surprise, arriving before I'd even thought of what I
would do on mine! Looks like autumn in Canada to me!
Thank you very much Marsha :-)

Finally I got inspired by some NZ fabric which I fussy cut. I love the Pohutakawa tree, which we also call our New Zealand Christmas tree as it flowers in December. (And I've probably raved about it in previous years!)

I added some french knots and a little extra Pohutakawa bloom.

I also experimented with the script on the card by doing it FMQuilting style using hand embroidery thread (Aurifil #12). Scary but it worked - next time though I will loosen the top tension a little more as some bobbin thread showed on top.

 Speaking of postcards; when our nephew was staying in October he started making a couple... he's made them in the past and gets a buzz out of sewing them and then receiving mail himself. He hadn't finished them when he left our place but I understand they've both now been delivered to bloggy friends of mine in Canada.

Max's postcards when he left our place. All done by hand.
He wanted to get his techniques right so he could make more at home
where he doesn't have access to a machine.
[The L and P is a NZ drink, and Gilbert is a sportsgear brand name :-)]

 Speaking of the mail and cards, I think I can segue nicely into my last photo - check out one of the most gorgeous Christmas cards we have ever received ♥

The girls are about 4 months old now, at a happy chortling age.

Have a lovely week, and happy creating,

Winging it

Last year  I was happy to pattern test for Juliet of Tartankiwi (it was some of the top secret sewing I alluded to from time to time). Juliet was preparing for 'In Flight Quilt along 2015' which is now up and running. I've been a little slow to blog about the blocks and each time she does a link-up for the latest pattern I have good intentions but......
In Flight is a series of foundation pieced bird blocks. They range in size and difficulty, Juliet started the quiltalong with the easier ones so sewers can practice the technique and build up to the trickier ones.  I've sewn/tested her designs before and always enjoy the way she interprets her subjects.

The current block; Block 6, the Swallow.

I decided these would become a quilt for YD, so asked her to pick the fabrics for me - I was quite surprised, but quite happy, when she chose French General style fabrics/colouring and this shade of blue. (Both these photos use the same blue  - the colour is more like the top one, perhaps not quite so dark!).

This was Block 2; the Swift.

To find out more about the Quiltalong, click *here*.

Also winging it have been these postcards in February.  Eglea and I were swap partners in Sheila's Valentines postcard swap. I was warned that mail to and from Brazil could be a little slow so wasn't surprised when Valentines Day had been and gone and neither of us had received our cards. What was funny though was that they both arrived on the same day!!

To me from Egléa.
Isn't it pretty - and look at the beautiful thread painting for the grass.

Do visit Egléa's blog, she is very creative and does beautiful work.

And here is the card I sent to Egléa.

Sheila has regular swaps throughout the year (I've just made another one which I posted yesterday) so if you think it may be a fun little way to play keep an eye on her blog so you can sign up. And here is the link to Sheila's Flickr page showing more postcards.

And books have been winging their way to my letterbox as I've been extremely lucky to win TWO recently.
Firstly Wendy of Inky Threads hosted a giveaway - and I was the lucky winner of this book by Jennifer Chiaverini —

Then Lara, of Buzzinbumble had a giveaway for this book on free motion quilting by Christina Cameli. I have taken a class of her's on Craftsy and really enjoyed her knowledge and teaching style - so I'm doubly happy to have won this book.

Both have special spots on my (growing) bookshelves so thank you very much, ladies ♥.
(I always believe that what goes around, comes around so maybe it's time for me to have a little giveaway...watch this space...)

I'm getting excited as next week I'll be off to Brisbane to spend Easter with my son and his wife. I'll have finished my small baby blanket by then so will have to come up with another crochet project for the plane :-) They live at Ipswich and I have a day to kill on Thursday while they are both at work. Do any of you who know Brisbane or the general area have any suggestions of somewhere for me to visit that day - maybe crafty or quilty places? (I think I'll have the use of a car.) Thanking you in advance :-)

See you next time, happy creating and thanks for visiting,

What now?

Since finishing my Red and White quilt top, shown last post, I have been feeling like a lost soul in my Palace; you know that feeling you get when you've been pouring lots of energy into something that is now ended?
That doesn't mean there isn't plenty to do, there's ufos, wips, qiw (quilts in waiting) galore, it's just taking me a while to work out where to start!
After a bit of dithering, and thinking that maybe a jolly good tidyup would help, I noticed my butterfly block lying on the bench. Rather than putting it away I got Proactive and made it into a cushion.
I made this block for the Butterfly challenge by Juliet of Tartankiwi. (More detail shown on my blog *here*)

Borders, some quilting, an interesting back all made this a fun little project.

'Scuse the loose thread! Didn't notice it till just now.
Oh the power of photography!
Played with using feathers as the fill, with the edge of the butterfly and outer
edges as the spine - so a little like one sided feathers, I guess.

I love playing with the backs - A - it uses up the leftover fabric and B it means
there's something nice to look at if the pets upset the cushion pile.

 I finished sewing the cushion binding down on full moon-eclipse-blood moon night. What an exciting spectacle it was. There's a couple more photos on my 365 day blog *here*.

Then, more dithering, but luckily DH's 12 year old nephew had come to stay and I was able to stall some more. He visited about this time last year. As well as doing motorbike, calf and farm things—

— he continued his interest in sewing which he'd discovered last visit. Making more postcards.....
doing some handsewing this time (he'd learnt running stitch at school and now knows backstitch).

Culminating in several trips to the post office!
While he was sewing I got through a mammoth pile of ironing; shirts, tablecloths and pillowcases all got dealt to in between answering questions and helping with the postcards. Made me feel quite virtuous.
Now he's gone and I'm back to my dithering.

There are a few distractions while I keep stalling. We just have five two cows left to calve, we've been weaning calves left, right and centre, and all is busy and growing on the farm.
When we took some calves out the back (to wean) yesterday we detoured to see the Kowhai Trees in flower. (Apologies to those of you who have been reading my blog for a while; you would have seen similar photos last year. And the year before!) (But I love them so there you go).

At the back of the run-off, there is a large area of bush, where many Kowhai trees
grow. Kowhai is the Maori word for yellow - you can see them in this photo.
Click on the photo so it enlarges... I just love how this one came out.

The Kowhai flower is particularly beautiful. The sun was very bright and because
the trees are so tall I was looking up into it so I didn't get many good shots.

The Tui love the nectar in the flowers and the trees are full of their unique sound.

I tried taking a video but it didn't come out so well - I had loaded it into this post but it's not particularly clear so I've removed it. The birds quietened down (might have been something to do with DH sighing rather loudly and saying that he was slowly dying of boredom?!) so head over to Leanne of Cottagetail who has a good video of the Tui's 'song' on her blog today.

Here's another picture of the Tui...also known as The Parson Bird
because of the white throat feathers.

Ok so for someone who's been dithering I've managed to fill a whole post. I think I need to revert to some list making and get myself moving. For now, it's calf time anyway so I've been saved by the bell, so to speak!
Happy creating, and thanks for reading along.

Stop the clock!

Gosh, since posting last time so much has happened...and I'm sorry, I have to throw in this old chestnut; "where has the time gone?"!

I see in my last post we were just getting ready to attend my cousin's wedding. We had a fabulous time down country, the bride was blushing and beautiful and we caught up with a lot of Mum's family which is always a good laugh. I also spent time with some cousins who I hadn't really seen for a LONG time.  And top it off, the weekend ended on a real high with a call from our YD to announce her engagement - wonderful news :-)

YD and her fiance!!

A few days after that Mum and I popped over the Tasman to visit my son and dil in Queensland, Australia. Phew talk about hot, but copious amounts of water and use of the air conditioning helped with that! It was awesome spending time with them; we did the customary drive-bys of places of work etc, saw some Aussie wildlife in a local zoo and local places of interest. Dear son googled quilting shops; we visited one and were told about a craftmarket that was on... by the time we'd finished there, the others were closed, but I was ok, I'd had my fix :-)

Of course we visited the local eateries too, and spent time 'just chilling' enjoying each other's company. All in all a great time. The (extended) weekend flew by.

It was exciting to arrive home to see that my Secret Santa gift had come in the post - squeal!!
We are allowed to open one gift now; oh look, gorgeous little hangings, thank you very much, whoever you are - they are lovely and will look great on our tree!!!

Handcrafty-wise I haven't squeezed much in but I do have a little to show. Following on from my successful discovery that I can crochet in the car, (this post) I finished a short scarf (the pinky one) on the way to my cousin's wedding. It was a horsetruck project from several years ago (easy projects to do while whiling away the hours at horse shows with the girls). So early in the trip that we had to stop at a small town to find some more wool for another project :-)





And because I have now finished both my horsetruck UFOs (ignore the fact that I started the little blue scarf!), I rewarded myself with being allowed to start my ripple afghan on my trip to Australia...yippee..! I have looked longingly at ripple afghans created by other crocheters and bloggers for several years now and have been collecting up a little wool for when I would start mine. It is so good to have started it, the pattern is really easy (click here to get to it) and it is a wonderful way to spend time on a plane or just sitting visiting with someone. You don't have to concentrate quite the same way as when doing closer work, and a crochet hook doesn't get lost as easily as a sewing needle! - plus I don't get car/air-sick

Woohoo, my ripple afghan - I love it!!

Of course the visit to family in December meant that I could deliver some Christmas pressies - here are the tags for them. The pattern for these is The Alphabet Noel by Michelle Ridgeway Designs. I used Cottage Garden Threads - perfect for this type of stitchery.

And in my last post I showed the postcard I had received from Mary at NeedledMum... here is the one I sent her - you may recognise the reindeer from here, he is a little pattern I have fallen in love with :-)

Just before the MOML went out to do farmwork this morning, he commented that my 'palace' used to be 'quite a big room'... in other words it is FULL OF STUFF!! I need a good tidyup - wish me luck :-) [this is an all too frequent occurance!!].

Happy sewing to you all, and thank you for calling in,