The Stitching Bee & New Goodies

The latest round of the A Little Help from My Stitching Friends Circle, an exclusive club to the Silver Needle, is nearing the end, with only one more kit to come. I have really enjoyed the kits we have received, you can see some of my finishes here and here.  

The latest kit is this cutie by Little House Needleworks and this was one of my Stitchmaynia starts.  

I used the supplied fabric and threads, the finishing fabrics, Lady Dot trim, jute and a Mother of Pearl button were also included in the kit.  I used some mustard/brown fabric from my stash for the back of the pillow.

My very first order from the Fat Quarter shop arrived on Friday - it was quite exciting to get a pink box delivered!

I got the two latest Blackbird Designs booklets, the 2019 Prairie Schooler Santa, and a few threads I was needing.

My favourite part of the order is the Cross Stitch Journal, some Pat's Favorite Needles and this lovely tin, which will be filled in no time I'm sure.

I spent a bit of time on the weekend going back and writing up my StitchMaynia starts and finishes, and this weekend I'll add some little pics of these to the journal. I recently bought an HP Spocket printer so this size of photo is just the perfect size. I'll share about this another time.

See you soon xx

A Quick Gift

Glenn's Mum is celebrating her birthday this week so I thought I'd make Heather some new hand warmers to go along with her other present - tickets to see the local production of Mama Mia that is on this month.

I chose some 100% NZ wool in this lovely blue shade:

They knitted up in no time. You can find the pattern by Roxanne Richardson on Ravelry here.

See you soon xx

Merry Snippet

Another ornament is done and put away into the gift box. This was one of my Stitchmaynia starts, Merry Snippet by Lizzie Kate.

Stitched on 32 count Vintage Mocha Belfast with mostly the recommended threads, I finished this into a trimmed pillow ornament with a red velvet ribbon.

It was a sunny winter's day yesterday so Hannah and I made the most of the sunshine and went out for a walk for an hour or two in the afternoon.

Of course, there also had to be a stop at our favourite cafe!

See you soon xx

Books - May 2019

Time for a round up of what I've been reading lately - a couple of books I had on reserve from the local library, a kindle book and a book I bought with some of my birthday money.

First up, Daisy Jones and the Six - I really enjoyed this and had to keep remembering that it's not about a real band!

The Familiars - set in the 17th century during the Pendle Hill witch trials, I've always had an interest in any story set in this location as my great great grandparents on my mother's side were from Pendle Hill, Lancashire before immigrating to New Zealand in the 1850's and their farm here in Hawkes Bay was named Pendle Hill. Many of the characters in this novel are real life figures.

Final Betrayal is #6 in the Lottie Parker series and this series just gets better and better with each book released. 

One of the local librarians recommended this next book - a British crime thriller featuring DS Manon Bradshaw and her colleagues as they investigate the disappearance of a Cambridge post grad student from a well connected family.

Finished just last night, the Huntress would be my favourite read so far this year.  This book takes place in the 1950's with some flashbacks to WWII and I could not put it down.

Started during my trip to Sydney, I am about half way through Lost Girls. This novel is a prequel to Lilac Girls and take you back to the years prior to and during World War I.

Have you read and enjoyed any of these?

See you soon xx

Stitch Maynia 2019 Wrap Up & other news

This past weekend was a three day weekend for us as it was a public holiday on Monday, Queen's Birthday. We had visitors Saturday night, my cousin Donna and her boyfriend Jess came to stay. They haven't been over from Palmerston North to stay with us since September last year, and we'd only seen them at the beach during summer, so it was good to have a catch up and enjoy a meal out at our local Indian restaurant. 

The weather here finally took a turn towards winter this weekend too. We'd been so lucky this autumn, it's been a very mild autumn here.  We woke up Sunday morning to see snow on the ranges to the west of town, giving a real icy chill to the air.  Perfect stitching weather and that's what I did Monday afternoon, sorting out some of the projects I'd started during May for Stitchmaynia 2019 while catching up on some Netflix.

My tally of new starts ended up being 9 new projects, including this last one - Blessed Bee by Brenda Gervais. 

I did take some stitching with me to Australia but only managed one or two hours on the project I had with me, Santa's List by Country Cottage Needleworks.

I've set up bit of a stitching/crochet/knitting plan for June, where I'll try and get some of the Maynia projects finished.

Crochet - I have my Cosy stripe blanket to work on and would really like to have this finished by mid August to give to my Mum for her birthday.

Knitting - Hannah's socks, the baby blanket for my cousin's new baby, and I've started a Rewilding Shawl which is going to be a gift too.

Almost forgot, I have several red work stitchery patterns traced and ready to go to, these will be Christmas gifts.

Nothing like a bit of variety! 

See you soon xx

Sydney 2019 Part 4 - Vivid Sydney

Sunday 26th May was our last full day in Sydney and we had lots planned to fill in the day.

First stop was a visit to the Haymarket area to Paddy's Markets, an indoor market that pretty much sells anything - clothing, phone, accessories, souvenirs, fresh produce, food and much more.

Situated above Paddy's Markets, we then ventured to Market City,  a shopping centre with lots of stores, factory outlets (Bonds, Havaianas flip flops, Skechers just to name a few) and a food court that has a selection of cuisine from all over Asia.

Walking back to our apartment, we went via China town.

After a shopping parcel drop off and a coffee stop at the Lindt Cafe, it was back into the main street for the afternoon

For our last evening we booked a Harbour Cruise to take in the lights that are a part of Vivid Sydney.
Running from the 24th May to 15th June, Vivid Sydney is annual festival of lights, music and more that illuminates Sydney during this time.

It was an amazing evening and if you ever get the opportunity to see it, it's a spectacular event and so much fun being out in the harbour watching all the beautiful light displays on all the buildings, Opera House and the harbour bridge. Well worth it.

And just like that, it was time to head home.

A wonderful time was had by everyone and we were all quite worn out when we arrived back in New Zealand. I was happy to arrive home to see DH and Hannah and they both loved the goodies I bought for them.

Back with some crafty news soon xx

Sydney 2019 Part 3

Where we stayed, there was a lovely cafe and bar and most days we'd start off here with breakfast and coffees.  The staff were very friendly and the barista was a kiwi so I'd find a silver fern on my morning coffees :)

Saturday we spent most of the day in the CBD of Sydney walking around taking in the sights and of course, some major shopping happened!

The Queen Victoria Building is the most beautiful shopping arcade, and as I loved going here last trip, I was looking forward to returning here this time.

These macaroons were delicious!

After lunch we made our way to the train station where we caught the train out over the Sydney Harbour bridge to Chatswood, a large shopping mall.

Then it was back to the city in the late afternoon for our next sightseeing attraction.

From the top of the Sydney Eye Tower are the most stunning views for miles and miles.  We arrived just before sunset and stayed until the city lights started shining.

Looking down at the area where we were staying

After dinner at the Harbourside shopping centre, we then joined crowds and crowds of people to watch the fireworks.

This elaborate display happens every Saturday night.

There were so many people out and about this evening, all enjoying the lights of Vivid Sydney, which I'll share more about in my next post.

See you soon xx