The Carolers

I recently finished another red work stitchery  - this is the Carolers, designed by Natalie Bird of the Birdhouse Patchwork Designs.

All ready for the pressie box.

See you soon x

Latest Redwork

I so enjoy doing a little bit of stitchery each work, lately it's been my Friday project and this is the latest piece I've finished.

This design is from Gail Pan's latest Christmas book and many thanks to Kath, who tracked down the Earl Grey Cottage Garden thread for us. The sheep design on the front cover is next on my to stitch list, so cute!

Have a good weekend xxx

Special Gifts

Happy New Year dear friends - I hope you have had a great start to 2017 so far. We had a very quiet evening on New Years, a barbeque, a few glasses of bubbles and in bed well before midnight, I don't think we've seen the new year in for quite a few years now.

I was intending to finish off the last of my 2016 Christmas stitching and the wonderful gifts I received on here before we went away on our annual family holiday to Lake Taupo, but didn't quite get there so I will share a few pics today and then be back soon with some snaps from our holiday.

This year I decided to make my friends a Rosalie Dekker stitchery design using these gorgeous doily frames I purchased from the Country Yard. I used a variety of Cottage Garden Threads.

I really enjoyed making these for all the ladies.

I was very spoilt and received some gorgeous crafty and other gifts from my stitching friends.
From Kath, this neat fabric Santa,

Several charts from my wish list, yippee, which to do first?

Some new T2 tea to try, delicious.

From Wendy, this lovely little set for drinking tea

From Clare, this very cute ornament for the tree

and a Gail Pan Pattern and gingerbread ornament.

My friend Elizabeth stitched and finished this little mat beautifully.

She also made a set of felt ornaments for Hannah and I, I just love these.

I am so thankful for my wonderful stitching friends, and I look forward to our stitching catch ups again during 2017.

See you soon x

March Round Up

Well the first month of autumn has been and gone but it has really felt like our summer has been endless, weeks of hot and dry weather, I remember it being like that when I was a kid. Our daylight saving hours end this Sunday, on Easter Sunday, but it's already has been getting darker a lot earlier in the evenings, and it's getting harder to get up in the mornings, especially since its pitch black and feels like the middle of the night!

So here's a round up from March, some of these photos you may have already seen on Instagram.

This term every Wednesday afternoon, off Hannah and I go to the local tennis club courts. I played tennis, school and club, throughout my schooling years so I'm really pleased Hannah has decided to give it a try too.  Sadly I don't even own a racket these days, something I might have to purchase down the track. So while Hannah is getting her lesson I find a shady spot with my cold drink and get to read for a whole hour with no interuptions!!

We have been continuing to enjoy lots of tomatoes and lettuce from our garden, they are about the only vegetables to do well over our hot summer. One night recently I made one of my favourite dishes, self crusting quiche with plenty of grated zucchini, carrots, sweetcorn, leftover veges from the night before and bacon. Served with salad and homemade tomato relish, yum!

Earlier in the month I spent the day out with the staff and clients from work. How's this for a great view looking over Hawkes Bay?

Looking back towards Napier way off in the distance. Everywhere you look there are brown paddocks.

A little bit of stash came in the mail - looking forward to starting Cherish Life, part 4 of the Shepherds Bush Fold, during Easter.

I decided to continue on with the Cottage Gardens Threads Club this year, it has a vintage sewing theme, and the first installment has arrived.

My current stitching project is A Yuletide Welcome by Plum Street Samplers. I've been really enjoying stitching on this, trying to get the house finished and I'm pleased to report it's mostly done minus the roof.

This gorgeous girl, my oldest niece Zoe, turned 14 this month - wow!  She's having a great year so far and is just loving college. Here she is with her Dad, my younger brother Marcus.

Hannah has just completed her first term of swim school - we have a wonderful pool facility in our little town,  and the staff and swimming instructors are just lovely.

Glenn and I spent last weekend in Wellington with a group of friends - we went to watch the Hurricanes rugby team play on Friday evening, yay, we won:)  Saturday evening we all went out to dinner to the Crab Shack, what a delicious meal we had. Might have done quite a bit of shopping too, hard not to when you're in Wellington, lol.

On the way home we stopped at Shannon for lunch and I got to indulge in one of my favourite custard squares, oh these are so divine!

I'm really looking forward to the Easter break and Hannah starts her school holidays for two weeks.   Donna, my cousin, will be here over the Easter break so no doubt there will be a lot of chatting going on, some yummy food, an Easter egg hunt,  and lots of chocolate being consumed!

Lately

As always, come the middle of the year I start to think about some Christmas projects, my favourite kind of designs. Here's a couple of things I've been working on lately:

 Month 4 of the Cottage Garden Threads club arrived recently, including a lovely stitchery design by Rosalie Quinlan.

Have a lovely weekend xx

Enjoying Lately

Just a few things I've been enjoying lately:

So pleased to have a new quilt shop open up nearby - and there's lots of beautiful Moda fabrics in stock.

These gorgeous flowers at my beauty therapist's studio - in readiness for St Patrick's day

I gave into temptation and decided to join the 2014 Cottage Garden Threads monthly club via the Stitching Post in Australia, so far two little parcels have arrived and the threads are wonderful!

 

Hannah has now finished Friday after school cricket and now it's Tuesday after school hockey. She loves it, although I don't have a clue about the rules, etc, since I played netball throughout primary school and college.

There's a bit of knitting happening in the evenings lately, making up a pair of hand warmers for a friend using my favourite pattern.

For the past month I have been going out walking with a friend three or four mornings a week, not such a good photo but it was taken at 5.30 am! What a great way to start the day.

I've not had many stitching photos to show lately but I do have some little finishes to share over the next few days. It was a rainy Saturday afternoon so amongst the chaos that is our house at the moment I got my sewing machine out and spent a couple of happy hours sewing away.  I'll have a kitchen update soon too!