Blackbird Designs Weekend SAL

 With so many Blackbird Design projects on the go, how could I not join in with all the fun for the #bbdweekendsal, a stitch along organised by Brenda and Laura, from brendaandtheserialstarter Floss Tube.

I decided to start with some stitching on the Last Ripe Berries, I think I started this way back in April 2020. 

I have really enjoyed stitching this series over the past few years, I think after this one I have 4 of the charts to stitch.

See you soon xx

Birthday Celebrations for Hannah

 Hannah May turned 13 years old last Friday - can you believe it, I can't! 

She seems to have literally sprouted over night and is now only a few centimetres away from being taller than me!  We think it's all the dancing she is doing, lol. This year's dance classes consist of ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary and also, this year Hannah has taken on the challenge of solo and duo dancing. Many hours every week but she absolutely loves it with a passion.

This past weekend we decided to have a little break away for a few days, and it was just what we all needed. Although the weather wasn't the best, we enjoyed our weekend stay at Taupo, by the lake.

Brunches out - I love having Eggs benedict with salmon 

A visit to the Honey Hive for some treats

Always stop by Huka Falls 

Of course, I found a lovely fabric and knitting shop called the Eye of the Needle and picked up some fat quarters

The girls got to pick where we had dinner, one night it was MacDonalds and the other Indian Delight, which was so delicous

This is the villa we stayed at, very quiet and very spacious with a spa bath for the girls to enjoy

We also visited De Brett Hot Pools for a few hours, it was so good to chill out while enjoying a soak in the hot pools.

My youngest niece Sally also celebrated her birthday last weekend, her birthday is the day after Hannah's and she turned 10, where have the years gone?

See you soon xx

A Saturday Sewing Session

It's been awhile since I've had my sewing machine out on the weekend, where have the weeks been going? I really can't believe it's now May and would you believe that a certain young lady in our house is now 13, a teenager!  We've celebrated by taking Hannah and her friend to Taupo, we were all looking forward to getting away for a few days and it's been probably well over two years since we last stayed in Taupo. More about our weekend away in the my next post.

Back to the sewing, last Saturday it was a freezing cold day - I had planned to do some sweeping and weeding in the gardens but it was too cold to be outside so instead spent a couple of happy hours sewing and watching Floss Tube.

Isn't this little project bag cute! Kath made it for me and its called a Wee Braw bag. I think you can buy the pattern as a PDF.

The crochet and knitting enamel pins were also from Kath for my birthday last month, love them!

 

After stitching a lot of Easter designs last month, I decided to get some Christmas ornaments stitched to get a bit ahead.

This is the little pillow design from Chalkful Merry by Hands on Design and Priscilla Blain. Stitched on chalkboard linen and the recommended threads.

This is Merry Old Soul by Brenda Gervais/With Thy Needle and Thread, stitched on 32 count smokey pearl Belfast linen with the recommended threads.

 

For the trim, I stitched some natural ric rack down with red thread.

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon xx

A Couple of Things

Hello friends,  it's a lovely sunny and warm autumn day here today and I'm enjoying a day off from work to spend with Hannah, it's the school holidays here. We've been into town this morning for Hannah to have an hair cut, post some mail and visit the sewing shop, and then her choice for lunch, sushi of course!

A couple of things to share this afternoon, another new project bag has been finished. This is quite a lot larger than the other ones I've previously made and I quilted the pink fabric.

My sewing shop has a lovely range of knitting cotton in at the moment so I've been having fun making some dish cloths. The pattern I'm using can be found here:

Mama's Easy Crochet dishcloth

My friend Clare gave me this lovely project bag for my birthday

I'm not sure what I've let myself in for, but I couldn't resist signing up for a Block of the Month kit, the new quilt by Natalie Bird featured in the Homespun magazine, it's so lovely and the fabrics are gorgeous.

 Isn't it just so sweet? I'm sure it's going to be lots of fun once I've figured out what to do! Ha ha. I think I'll start with the easy bit first, the stitchery pieces.

See you soon x

Bunnies, Carrots and a Birthday

 

Here's a few more of the little designs I stitched during March.

Spring Hare Etching by Cecelia Turner of Heart in Hand Needlearts, from the Spring 2020 Punch Needle and Primitive Stitching magazine. I used Classic Colourworks Sticks and Twigs and Blushing Beauty on 28 count grey jobelan fabric.

                                                  

Tilda fabric and Lady Dot Creates Ballerina chenille trim for the finishing.

This little carrot design is a free design by Christina from Whilst Iris Naps, and can be found here

I have stitched the bunnies by Christina as well, and they are in the "to be finished" basket, along with a couple of recent Santa Sunday and Merry Monday projects completed recently.

Back on the 9th April, I celebrated another birthday and this year I was able to be with my friends and family. Last year we were in our little lock down bubble of just Glenn, Hannah and I, and even though I had a lovely day, this year to being able to celebrate with friends and family made me so happy.  

The wonderful ladies I work with surprised me with a delicious morning tea, and there was cake too!

My cousin Donna and her boyfriend Jess came to stay with us for the night so it was good to catch up with them. Donna made this yummy spiced pear cake for our dessert.

On Saturday evening I'd invited my family and a few friends to go out to dinner with us to our favourite local restaurant, Saffron, and it was absolutely delicious. 

I'm so very grateful for the birthday messages, texts, phone calls and visits, and the lovely presents I received, a totally wonderful weekend!

See you soon x

Easter Exchange

For quite a few years now, my friend Kath and I have exchanged gifts at Easter time. This is the sweet little bunny Kath made for me, I just love it!

Some years it takes me ages to decide what to stitch for Kath but as soon as I spotted this lovely bunny chart by Crocette a Gogo, I thought it was just perfect for Kath. 

I also gave Kath this cute bunny tea towel and a new cup. Kath and our friend Lisa visited for morning tea during Easter and we had such a good time catching up, talking about all things stitching and much more of course!

I stitched the bunny on a natural piece of linen with all the recommended threads and then finished using a piece of pink ticking fabric and some DMC chenille for the trim.

This lovely chart, Friends for Easter, is part of a set of 3, and can be purchased as a pdf chart from here.

Crocette a Gogo Etsy shop

See you soon xx

Easter 2021

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend, we certainly enjoyed our four day break. The weather was perfect - sunny and warm. We got lots of jobs ticked off our to do list, caught up with family and friends, had a few sleep ins (gained an extra hour on Sunday due to Daylight Savings finishing), went to the movies to see the latest Peter Rabbit movie (hilarious) and generally enjoyed being around home.

Our little cousin Ryan is now 9 months old!

My "second" daughter Kaiah, Hannah's best friend, stayed with us for a few days

We had a lovely Easter afternoon with Glenn's parents, my brother and sister in law and their girls

The annual photo with Granny's bunny

A very happy and fun Easter weekend!

I'll be back soon with some more Easter stitching.

See you soon x