Peace to All

This ornament is one of my favourites by Homespun Elegance and I've stitched it several times over the years now. This is for a dear friend of mine.

Stitched on 32 count Dirty Belfast linen with all the recommended threads and finished into a flat ornament.  I used some Lady Dot Creates chenille trim, vintage colourway, for the edging.

See you soon xx

Our Community Tree & a new project

Earlier this week our community Christmas tree was installed. Hannah and I checked it out on our way to work and school yesterday morning.

Isn't it fabulous! This was put together by one of the local arts and crafts clubs. Merry Stitchmas!

I've been waiting and waiting to start my next project and I finally did last night. I finished the very last Christmas ornament for 2019 on Tuesday - they are finally done and dusted for another year. I haven't made a final tally but I think there's about 20 on the list. These are always for family, friends and other special people I know. Next year's list already has some ideas on it!

So my next project is going to be Jack Frost's Tree Farm series by Little House Needleworks.

I'm using 36 count fabric as I'm planning to stitch all the designs together, and most of the recommended threads with a few DMC substitutes.

I'm looking forward to starting a few other new things over the summer holidays, as well as finish a couple of Wips.

See you soon and as always, thank you so much for stopping by xxx

Across the Miles

A little parcel has arrived all the way from the UK, from my dear stitching friend Andrea. As well as a gorgeous handmade card, Andrea sent this sweet little ornament.

Isn't it fabulous, and finished so perfectly!  I love the little charm too. 

Just had to share some photos of these gorgeous lillies, picked from the garden at work the other day.

See you soon xx

Dear Rudolph

And just like that it's the first of December! Seriously, where did November go? We've already started the lead up to Christmas with some festive fun activities and other events. Just two & a half weeks to go before our summer holidays start and this year we've got something extra special planned for over Christmas and New Year's - more about that another time!

This little design was a quick stitch recently, Dear Rudolph by Lizzie Kate. This will soon be making it's way to Australia as it's for a friend's little grand daughter.

See you soon xx

This Week

A few snippets from this past week:

I've started what I think is the last of my gift stitching - I say that because I need to do a tally up this weekend and check I haven't missed any off my list!

Sorting through some photos recently and I can't recall sharing a pic of this little pillow.  I stitched this Lizzie Kate design at the end of last year but it remained unfinished until a few months ago. I love the bright colours in this design.

I don't think I've shared a progress pic of Christmas Wishes for awhile either, there's not too much to go on this sweet sampler.

Miss H had her first swim of the season - brr, the water is far too cold for me, I don't think I'll be getting in there for a few more weeks!

It was the annual A&P show last Saturday so we went for a look around. Hannah enjoyed her twisted chip, a few rides and side shows, and catching up with her friend. I was able to briefly catch up with one of my cousins and her girls, who were involved in the horse jumping, a quick hello and chat, before the next round of jumping started.

On Sunday we headed through to Napier for the day for a special afternoon, taking Hannah along to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet's production of Hansel & Gretel.

It was wonderful - the music, costumes and of course, the ballet was absolutely amazing, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Then it was time for a treat - an annual tradition of trying out the Christmas specialty drinks at Starbucks.

This weekend coming up is our last free weekend before the "silly season" starts so I've got a list a mile long of things to try and get done including some sewing, the last of my Christmas ornaments. I'm really looking forward to working on some new projects soon, even though I've got several leftover wips from Stitch Maynia and Jolly July. All in good time!

See you soon xx

Jingle all the way

Jingle all the Way by Lizzie Kate was a kit that came out a few years ago. I have already stitched this for myself but this little pillow is going to be a gift for a friend.

Stitched on 32 ct dirty linen and I used most of the recommended threads. The backing fabric was in the small bundle of fabrics given to me last year by a friend.

See you soon xx

October Books

October's reading pile were all books that I thoroughly enjoyed and probably stayed up far too late reading at night!

Tidelands by Philippa Gregory is the first in a new series, The Fairmile. I've been a Philippa Gregory fan for as long as I can remember, and so is my Mum. I purchased this for Mum for her birthday in August and I didn't have to wait long for Mum to pass it back to me. 

This book is set in the mid 1600's and is the story of Alinor, the mother of two children who has been abandoned by her fisherman husband. Alinor is a midwife, herbalist and living in poverty. I can't wait for more in this series.

Where the Light Enters by Sara Donati is a follow up to the previous novel the Gilded Hour. Taking place in the 1880's in  New York, the main characters are two trailing blazing female doctors, cousins Anna and Sophie. Not only is this a great family saga, reintroducing characters from Sara Donati's Into the Wilderness series, but there's also an intriguing murder and kidnapping to solve. Don't let the length of the book put you off, 650+ pages, it's a great read.

Candice Fox and James Patterson have teamed up again with this book, the Inn. The main character used to be detective and now runs an inn with a whole bunch of odd but interesting characters living there. A fast paced, enjoyable read.

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer I gave 5 out of 5 tear jerking stars - this is definitely one of my favourite books for 2019.  This has a dual story line, Alice in the present and  her grandmother Alina in late 1930's, early 1940's in Poland. This is a beautiful, but heartbreaking story.

What have you been reading lately?

See you soon xx

Fa La La La

This is the Christmas design I picked to stitch for my lovely Mum, Fa La La by Lizzie Kate, a kit from several years ago.

My Mum is a massive Christmas time fan and her favourite Christmas colours are bright red and limey green, like in this design, so it's the perfect choice for her.

I used most of the recommended threads and trimmed the pillow with some Lady Dot Creates Sizzle chenille trim.  The fabric was a great match, found in a small pile of fabrics gifted to me last Christmas by a friend.

I'm so happy that I've nearly reached the end of all the Christmas gift stitching on my list - I'm aiming for the end of November to have it all done and then I can move onto something other then Christmas stitching, lol, or perhaps even finish some of my Jolly July starts.  We'll see!

See you soon xx

Wee Santa 2019

This is Heart in Hand Needleart's 2019 Wee Santa. I used the recommended threads and my favourite vintage mocha Belfast linen.

I found this lovely black and gold dotty fabric recently at my local sewing shop so decided to finish this as a small pillow.

A bit cute don't you think?

See you soon x

Bags and more bags

I've been enjoying a few sessions at my sewing machine lately and over the recent long weekend, I finished off a few project bags I'd cut out and prepared the week before.

First up, these little bags were made using the Stocky Sock Bag pattern by Sandra from Cherry Heart Designs. These are going to be birthday and Christmas gifts for some of the ladies at work.

I've also made up several stitching project bags, mostly for gifts too.

This one I'm keeping!

Aren't the Santa charms cute?? 

If you are interested in making your own project bag, this is the tutorial I followed.

See you soon