scraps and salad

One of my goals this year was to use up more of my scraps. I've joined Angela from soscrappy in her 2015 Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) but this is the first time I have linked up and talked about it.

My RSC January and February blocks.

To help clean out our scraps, Angela chooses a colour for us to work with each month. We can make anything we like from that colour or join her in her 2015 sewalong. Family events at the start of this year meant I quickly got behind ... but I knew that would happen, was very grown up about it and have worked my way steadily towards catching up.
I'm using this scrappy colour challenge as a way to make some of the quilts that have been in blogland over the last few years - ones I've wanted to make but haven't...yet...

Great-Granny-Along by Bee In My Bonnet (from 2012)

So far we've had Blue for January and Pink for February...finding enough pink was a challenge; I discovered I don't use much of it.

Glaring sunshine sorry. Too impatient to take the photos and carry on with
something else!

These scrappy projects are my leader-ender sewing and I'm always amazed how quickly a block can be sewn up this way... it's like a busy wee elf is making blocks for me while I'm focussing on something else! Love this technique ♥

The cat-quilt-along by Oh, Fransson! (from 2013) 

I've also realised one big cut at the start of the month is the way to go... then I have scraps everywhere for one day only... (that's the idea)...

Angela's RSC Sampler - although for ease of cutting I'm doing the centre
blocks all the same.
These have connecting blocks (a chain block) I haven't sewn yet.

March is Yellow month - that will be another challenge - I'm sure I don't have many of those either!
I'm linking up with soscrappy today - feel free to pop over *there* too and see what people have been up to - or to join in too if you've been doing some scrap sewing.

~~/\~~

This sight tickled my fancy the other day...

Anyone for fruit salad?

After my last post I had some interesting discussions with several people about New Zealand. We live in the northern part of the country and are happy to have what is loosely known as a temperate or sub-tropical climate. Our place usually has about 4 frosts per year and if the temperature gauge hits 1 degree Celcius we shiver and say how freezing we are. Of course looking at the beautiful snow pictures that everyone is posting from other parts of the world at the moment I know that is far from the truth, but it's all relative isn't it?

I've picked this bunch to ripen on the deck so I can keep an eye on them.
I usually just cut them off as they ripen. 

It continues to be a thrill to me that we are able to grow bananas, a fruit not usually associated wth NZ.

My home grown bananas are quite small - this variety is called Ladyfinger for
a reason, but they are sweet and homegrown so who cares?!

And this is a banana flower; it's weird, hanging under the
growing fruit.

We don't get huge crops but enough that we can say we grow our own bananas!

I hope you all had a great weekend, our son and his wife were over briefly from Australia so that was wonderful :-)  Now I have a busy week ahead, so had best get to bed..... happy sewing and thanks for reading along...

Sunday afternoon —

*Warning - photo heavy post*
(Don't forget you can click on the photos to enlarge them.)

After finishing this block - 

[A friend inherited a partially made quilt from a late relative so a group of us each took a block home to make up for her. The quilt is called Echoes of the Past.]

-and making these blocks - 

-when I really wanted these blocks-

I headed off down the farm for a walk, time for a change of scenery.

I found a good spot.

Time for a small dog to have a dip-

- and an explore

Surrounded by beauty.
Here we have Totara, Punga and Rimu.

NIce pockets of light.

The quiet little stream starts at a spring somewhere way up in the hills/bush.
The water is nicely filtered by the stones all the way down.

We take the water from the stream for the farm supply before it hits the main river.
(This is the pumpshed.)

In a clearing we have a HUGE blackberry mess where I found a few of these.
(This area doesn't get sprayed especially for me!)

Walking back home we met the girls on their way to a new paddock.

They didn't seem to mind us -- too much!

A quick scout around the orchard found some windfall apples

And it wasn't long before we had a yummy Blackberry and Apple Crumble.

A lovely way to end a nice weekend. Hope you all are having happy days too ♥
Happy stitching,

A long Friday Night Sew-In

I decided on some machine work for my Friday night sewing, and am happy to say I had a productive and enjoyable time :-)
I was one of 60 from around the world who signed up with Wendy from Sugarlanequilts for this month's Friday Night Sew-In.

As well as other bloggers, Edith and her family kept me good company :-)

I continued on with the Weathervane blocks I started last month —

You've seen these before but now there are more...

 And I managed to get them all joined and bordered.

I'm fairly certain you can tell from the print who this project will be for!

This morning dawned a nice day, Autumn is in the air these mornings and it's pleasant to spend some time outside gardening —

Because of the dry ground conditions at the moment, gardening consists of trimming the grapevine so the sun can ripen the fruit and the pets can have a treat. (The pets get the leaves not the grapes!!)

 After a while it was time to head back inside to take advantage of time zones and join Joanne in her FNSI.

Here we are skyping and sewing, taking obligatory photos of each other!

This time I was doing some quilting; this quilt has been on the table for quite some time and I was excited to get back to it again.

I'd done all the ditch-stitching previously —

— but as you can see, I've still got a little ways to go!!

So all in all a great time was had be all! Thank you all for your company, and thank you Wendy for hosting us, I didn't take advantage of the yummy recipe you shared but there is always next time :-)
Click *here* to visit Wendy and see what everyone else got up to.
I hope you have a great weekend and happy creating,