Stitching all the things

I have so many enjoyable stitching projects on the go right now including several new things underway.

Another Shepherd's Bush stocking, Martha:

I picked Humming of the Bees out of my stitching basket for last week's sampler to work on, I haven't stitched on this for months.

A little more stitching on Welcome to the North Pole, such a fun stitch.

A new start last week, the 2023 Collector's Heart by Heart in Hand.

I'm using the fabric and thread that came with the pattern.  The cute little needle minder was a gift from a friend.

I hadn't planned to participate in this year's Jolly July, the stitch along that's been running several years. However, Teresa Kogut's Patreon charts this month are just so lovely, I'm planning to kit up one or two to take on my trip down south.

See you soon xx

Nearly March -Cyclone Gabrielle, Stitching and More

As you may have heard, two weeks ago now, Cyclone Gabrielle left a trail of destruction around New Zealand's North island, including here in our lovely Hawkes Bay region. Our property was fine and most around our town, there were precautionary evacuations in place for some areas situated by the river. Schools remained closed for the week and many businesses too. The nearest town to us and outer rural areas suffered extreme flooding, including the business where my sister in law works, and the school where my brother in law is the principal. Further north, near Napier, some of the surrounding areas suffered devastation, ravaged beyond repair, including Esk Valley and Puketapu. Entire communities were cut off. There were ongoing power outages, lost of communications and we recently had a Boil water notice lifted that was in place for nearly two weeks. Tragically, the death toll from Cyclone Gabrielle is 11, with most of these deaths in Hawkes Bay.

The emergency response has been like nothing we've seen in New Zealand and so many people have assisted in rescues to get people and animals to safety, reconnecting power and communications, roading, etc. It's been absolutely incredible. Local community volunteers have been out there helping with clean ups, food and supply drop offs, and getting rid of flood damage goods. With homes, businesses, wineries and orchards destroyed, the damage bill is estimated at least NZ $13 Billion. 

It's been a very surreal time and today, the last day of our NZ summer, it's raining again and there's rain warnings in place for the east coast again and some of Hawkes Bay.  

Before I move onto an update of stitching and other stuff, I just wanted to say thank you to those who reached out and checked in with me, greatly appreciated, thanks so much for getting in touch.

Back in early February, we spent a long weekend at one of our favourite beach spots, the farm at Blackhead Beach. I was so happy to be there as our January holiday week was cancelled due to bad weather. The weather was glorious, sunny and hot, and we enjoyed the days, fishing, going for drives along the beach, reading, and enjoying time with our friends.

Perfect spot for some early morning stitching with a cuppa.

This little stitching project was one of my February ornaments, Rudolph and Friends by Brenda Gervais. My 2023 ornament stitching is well underway, and I have four stitched so far, they just need to be made up sometime.

Now to share a few recent finishes from during this month - 

Dasher & Dancer by Natalie Bird, the Birdhouse

2022 Christmas Stitching along by the Tiny Modernist, Christmas Snow Globe. This was my Christmas holidays project and I really enjoyed stitching the fox, deer, nutcracker, penguin, polar bear and snowman. 

Lois Stocking by Shepherds Bush, name to add and charms, stitched on Floba linen with DMC pearl 5 threads.

A new start and it's Hector's Stocking by Shepherd's Bush.  I just love stitching these stockings.

Lastly for today, a good boy update - Mr Diesel is now 7 months old, and he's just such a joy, brings us so much laughter and fun. His latest trick is to bring in a piece of wood from the pile we have drying out on our driveway ready to be stacked away for winter and proceed to spread bark and bits of it around the entire house before we can catch up with him! 

Hopefully from today, I'll be back to some regular blogging, fingers crossed!

See you soon x

Stitching this month

During my January holidays, I spent a bit of time sorting out my current stitching projects, putting away threads, patterns, etc from finished projects and making some plans for this year - things I'd like to stitch including long time wips or new projects. I also got a few end of the year stitched projects fully finished and several others ready for finishing - they just need trims sewed on, etc. 

So I made bit of plan to get some time in on a few unfinished samplers in my stitching basket - even if its only a few hours, and this was the first project to be picked out, Winter Rose Manor by Brenda Gervais, With thy Needle and Thread.

I did have a new start just before I went back to work. This lovely chart by Teresa Kogut, Needle and Flax, was on her Patreon for subscribers just for the week so I'm really pleased I spotted it and got it downloaded and printed off.

Another long term unfinished project, In My Garden by Blackbird Designs, which was part of the Friends Stitching Circle by the Silver Needle a few years ago. This is nearly done but I had to put it away for now while I wait for some extra thread to arrive in the mail.

Zzzzz, Diesel snoozes away most evenings next to me while I stitch. 

Sundays I've been stitching on my current Shepherd's Bush stocking project, Lois. This should be completed this coming Sunday. I've have plans to stitch at least three more this year for gifts.  

That's me for today - let me know if you have any special stitching plans for the coming months.   I've also stitched the first few of my 2023 Family and Friends Christmas ornaments, and have other charts I've all ready to go with fabric and threads. Photos to come.

See you soon x

November so far

I've really enjoyed putting a few stitches into this Shepherd's Bush project, the Lois stocking. I don't know what it is about Shepherd's Bush stockings, they are such a joy to work on.

My lunch break crafting lately has been crochet dishcloths.  Using my favourite pattern, Mama's dish cloth by Crochet 365, I've lost track of how many of these I've made now.

My LNS, Curtis Fabrics, has a wonderful selection of cotton, and all other types of yarn. Couldn't resist this variegated one, lovely pinks and lime.

Something I've been working on for ages and finally finished last week, is this Floss Flat, a pattern by Christine Sherman @windingrainbows. Using a finished stitched piece, Counting is Hard by Luminous Fibre Arts, and some of my favourite fabrics that match other sewing & crafting bags, I have had this on the go for several months. 

The inside has several projects and I added a couple of sewing charms to the zipper pull.

So relieved to have it finished and oh boy, was that binding tricky to get on!! I need way more practice at it ha ha.

Back in the last school holidays, Hannah and some of her dancing friends participated in a local talent show. It was a fabulous night, and we were so proud of Hannah for performing her solo dance and then a troupe dance with her friends. Thought I'd share a few pics of our lovely girl enjoying herself. 

The roses in our garden have all started flowering this month. I'm always interested to see which flowers first, this year it was the gorgeous smelling Friesia.

Mr Handsome is now four months old and such a dude.  He's a bundle of mischief at times and makes us laugh so much.

Diesel's favourite thing at the moment is Hannah's blanket that sits on her chair. As soon as she gets up from it, he's in there so fast, snuggling up to it. Lucky for him, she doesn't mind lol.

See you soon xx