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Routine Maintenance

2012-01-19T09:44:00.001-08:00

A lot of us consider routine maintenance of our sewing machine important and albeit reluctantly, take our precious sewing machines off to the service technician. But what about the other equipment/tools that we use, do we bother to give them the ‘once over’?
As I have got older/matured/aged or just become more aware that things don’t last forever without a bit of special care, I have started to become a little more ‘caring’ of the little tools of our craft, the minions of the sewing room. So I thought I would share some of these with you and how I give them the ‘once over’.
The Cutting Mat: It doesn’t matter what size your cutting mat is or what brand, they all do the same and all profess to be ‘self healers’, so let’s have a closer look at them. Do you tend to cut in about the same place on your mat and can you see whitish lines appearing where you cut? Each time you cut you do leave a scar on the surface of your mat and after a time those white lines appear as small amounts of fibres get caught in the cuts. So I guess the next question is … how do we get them out? It’s easy really. Gentle roll your board backwards and using a nylon pot scrubber, gently stroke the mat, just in one direction. By rolling the board you are opening up some of the scars and allowing the pot scrubber to catch the fibres that are filling them.
Scissors: Many of us have more than one pair and each pair tends to have their own specific purpose whether they be fabric, embroidery or paper scissors, all different sizes, all different qualities, all to be treated basically the same way. Regular sharpening (I mean about once a year) by a professional is the best, but if you don’t have someone that does that then there are tools that you can buy that are not our of the normal price range. Friskars have a handy little gadget that I use, and with just a few simple swipes it has been able to get rid of ‘dead spots’ on the blades.
Whether you are able to have scissors sharpened or not wiping the blades down with a cloth that has just a couple of drops of sewing machine oil on it will lengthen the longevity of the sharpness and don’t forget to add a drop of oil where the screw is and between the junction of the two blades, wiping off any excess before use.
Rotary Rulers and Templates: Regardless of what shape these take a lot of punishment when we are wielding our rotary cutters at a great rate of knots wanting to get our next masterpieces cut out.
Run you finger down the side of your ruler/template. Does it feel smooth? Does it feel straight? Sometimes, like the cutting board, we have used the same spot over and over again each time reducing the edge a fraction. Your quarter inch cut may not be a true quarter inch any longer because of this ‘erosion’ of the edge. Sometimes you may find a little sharp bit, dealing with this is up to the individual but I have used the softer side of an emery board to smooth out that little sharp spot. When using the emery board try to remember ‘less is more’.
Next, check the marked graduations on your ruler – can you still see them? I came across a very old one of mine and was amazed at how faded the markings were, actually some of the markings were totally gone – needless to say that ruler was ‘retired’ to be used as just a straight edge.
Pin Cushions: Yep, we all have them… pretty, plain, big, small all shapes and sizes and many of us have made our own but what have we put inside them to make them a better tool in our long list of tools?
I live in a location that has high rain fall and before I moved here I live where there was high humidity – what have these two locations have in common? Moisture, that’s what. When making my pin cushions I take this into account. I do have a variety of pins and will talk about those next but how to protect them comes down to how we store them. When available, I like to fill my pin cushions with natural sheep fleece (unwashed). The fleece is full of natural lanoline, it doesn’t let moisture anywhere near my pins. If I can’t get my hands on natural fleece I then use the same stuffing as what I use for teddies and soft toys plus… I add lavender rubbings. The lavender has a natural oil in it, each time a pin goes into the cushion it is surrounded by a subtle oil again protecting it from moisture.
Another product I like to include into my pin cushions is powdered emery, many embroidery supply shops sell this. The emery dust helps keep the points of my pins sharp. I also have a ‘strawberry’ filled with emery, if and when I have a needle or pins that is slightly dull or has developed a small burr, I just push it into the strawberry a few times and taa daa, back as good as new.
Pins, Safety Pins- If you sandwich your own quilts you very probably use safety pins to hold your sandwich together while quilting. Give them a check for burs and whether they have suffered any damage. Any misshaped ones that can’t be ‘bent back’ , throw them out. And if you have a good collection of pins store them in a screw top container that has a few ‘drying’ sachets in it – you know the type, they come free when you buy new shoes, new multi vitamins etc. Just pop them in the container they do work.
Dressmaking Pins and any other pins- Empty your pin cushion of pins and check how many of your pins are still straight. The pins do bend, some of them easier than others so now is the time to straighten them. I have a small pair of hobby pliers, DH tells me they are ‘short nosed’, whatever their name I use them. When the pliers are open there is one part of the ‘nose’ that is ribbed and another part that is smooth. I never use the ribbed part on my pins – it just creates a small ‘pinked’ effect on the steel, instead I use the flat space to gently straighten the pins. I also have a different pin cushion for pins that are used for different purposes, not because I am overly manic about their use but because I just find it easier to use them that way.
and lastly...
Rotary Cutters: We should all change our rotary cutter blades regularly that is a given, but we should also look at the 'holder itself. A lot of lint builds up under the blade and this needs to be removed each time a new blade is put on, like the lint in the cutting mat, it reduces the effectiveness of the blade. Also take time to wipe down the holder removing any marks .
I am aware that this is one long post but do believe we all need to take care of our equipment, we have invested rather a lot financially in it so it makes sense to keep it in tip top condition, I hope my tips offer something to you.
hugs

Woo Hoo, It’s Here

2012-01-09T11:14:00.001-08:00

I think during his flight around the world our Santa had a touch too much milk and cookies and lost his way.

You see, I took part in Chookyblue’s Secret Santa Christmas Swap (aka SSCS) and come Christmas Day my Secret Santa hadn’t visited here, sadly. Chookyblue kept in contact asking if the elves had dropped any parcels here and each time I told her no but yesterday the elves flew by my letter box and left this …

So very quickly I carefully opened it – no I didn’t, I ripped into it eager to see what was inside, yeah…

Marg was my partner from Australia – between you and me Marg I think the Post Office are taking the long way round to deliver parcels to NZ, probably via the UK, LOL.

Marg sent me a lovely card and tells me that she is from SE Queensland where she lives with her husband and 8 children – good lord Marg how on earth do you get time to do anything with such a family?

OK – I’ll carry on ripping into the presents

Oh my gosh, look at this lovely ornament. The machine embroidery is just gorgeous, so delicate and intricate – wow, I love it!

And because Christmas has been and gone I can keep opening the other gifts – hehe

Yeah, my own little Mug Rug, with more beautiful embroidery. I’ve been making lots of these for people just lately but never made one for myself. Now I have one to use when drinking my Christmas ‘noggin’ *wink*.

Now just look at what was inside the next little package (I got spoilt didn’t I?) Another lovely ornament each little block so carefully folded, geez Marg, you have been so generous and there is still another parcel to go – wow.

How gorgeous is this???? A delightful hearts table runner and every heart is from a different Christmas fabric – here, have a look.

Marg you have really outdone yourself and all I can say is a huge thank you to you for your generosity and skill, these gifts I will use and admire for years to come and to Chookyblue, thank you again for another successful SSCS.

Yeah, I love Christmas and late arrivals just make the joy last longer woo hoo!

Merry Christmas and lots of hugs

An Exercise in Colour

2012-01-01T18:50:00.001-08:00

On the way over ‘the hill’, aka The Southern Alps towards Christchurch just a few weeks ago I was blown away with the colour that just jumped out and announced itself as strong and bold and very distinct.

Firstly there was the vivid yellow that erupted from the gorse plants. Gorse in New Zealand is a noxious weed, something that grows where nothing else will and definitely where you don’t want it to. It has been said that early settlers to NZ from Scotland brought gorse seeds with them to plant as their bright yellow would break up the never ending green scenery.

Who ever brought it here would be so pleased with the colour now – even though most of us would gladly get rid of it.

Further on through the hills and valleys that are part of the Alps and down the long, winding road another colour took over thanks to the wild lupin plants.

Now, this is more to my taste, gentle soft mauves and purples, a lot more calming on the eye.

the lupines' seemed to have snaked their way through what was once a raging river and before that a massive glacier.

Onward we went and by this stage I knew not to put the camera away I had already missed too many shots as I hadn’t expected to be so excited by the scenery. It didn’t take long before the bees favourite came into view – the gentle white clover looked like we had just experienced a light snow shower.

Mind you, the way those clouds were moving in I think we were expecting a rain shower instead.

But not before I had one more thing to photograph, and in some ways it was colour, this time black.

With a smudge of grey both here on the ground and high in the sky.

Thanks for joining me on my trip

Happy New Year to you all

hugs

I must hurry

2011-12-30T19:38:00.001-08:00

I’ll apologise in advance for any parts of this post being disjointed you see it feels like an awfully long time since my last post and longer still since the beginning of the month when I started another OPAM month.
Because of that I’m having to keep flicking back through my photo’s to find out just what I have done.

Well first up was my blocks for the SAL ‘Some Kind O f Wonderful’, I was really rather pleased with myself at that stage as I was well up to date with my stitching and decided to do the following months blocks too.

Being a totally self confessed chocoholic I took great delight in stitching the chocolates making sure there were a variety to keep my imagination well fed.

Once these little blocks were done I spent some time actually looking through the book at other projects – well, before I knew it I had the light box out, some beautiful linen stretched over it and the bag and change purse both drawn up. The stitching help fill in some of the shops quieter days in the lead up to Christmas. Instead of using the odd bit of blue thread like Annie did, I chose to use a pale teal so that it matched the lining I used in both projects.

These have got this old brain going again and I’m in the process of creating a glasses case in the same style as well as another travel document holder, as if I need to start any new projects – huh!

Now somewhere amongst the month DH and I made it over to Christchurch. We needed to collect Hannah our eldest grand-daughter and bring her back with us to spend Christmas on the Coast, as we hadn’t done any of our Christmas shopping we chose to stay over a night get the shopping done, hopefully pop in to see my Mum and also go and spend some time with our own Miss Deb.

I wasn’t able to get hold of the sister that I needed to speak to before I saw Mum, there was nobody home. So rather than hanging around too much, we made our way into the malls that were packed with Christmas shoppers. Once we had done enough gift shopping for one day we found a lovely little florist where I was able to collect a pretty little posy for the lovely Deb and off we toodled to go and see her.

Deb’s husband Bill, had known about our planned visit but it was a total surprise for Deb. After an easy evening meal, lots of chatter and peace of mind knowing that Deb was doing a lot better than I had thought she might be, we returned to our motel for an early night so that we were well rested for another shopping day to follow as well as returning home with our gorgeous girl Hannah.

All through this time I had been aware that my SSCS gift was on it’s way to Tasmania and was sure that my partner (Fee) would like what I had made for her. The ornament Fee was able to open straight away but the main gift would have to wait until Christmas day. I was absolutely thrilled when Fee e-mailed me to thank me for her gifts saying that she loved them especially her main gift. I had made a wall hanging for her and knowing that she has Oriental cats I thought they would make a perfect subject.

During the following days I had been doing a little bit of Cross Stitching but nothing completed so I wont share them just yet.

Christmas day was a bit of a fizzer for us, DH had had a stomach virus a couple of days before the big day so wasn’t really up to his normal jovial, hungry self and I came down with it early on Christmas Day afternoon, needless to say there wasn’t a whole lot of feasting going on here.

Now it is New Years Eve, DH is on duty tonight, Miss Hannah has returned home with bulging bags full of lots of goodies fit for a pre teen and I will be home alone – and just quietly, I think I’ll enjoy it too. There are a few good movies I’d like to watch and our eldest daughter has requested a new quilt to go into her new home, so I think I’ll do the cutting for that in front of the TV.

So that’s it, my last post for this year. Written in a hurry so that I can get my count into the OPAM angels before the new year.

May 2012 be kind to each and every one of you

hugs

It’s here

2011-12-24T08:05:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas

Seasons Greeting

Happy Holidays

It doesn’t matter how I try to say it the feeling is still the same

That peace and happiness are with you, my blogging friends, on this most special day, and to my extra special friends in Christchurch, New Zealand – I also wish you a stable land to bring you calm

xxx

So Long

2011-12-14T22:07:00.001-08:00

It’s been so long since I last wrote but it hasn’t been through lack of trying. Blogger just wouldn’t let me get to my page. Each time I logged on another secret code popped up to tell me that there was a fault – grrr, technology is great, when it works – ho hummm

Well the family is now recovered from our daughters wedding and life has returned to some sort of normality. Sort of…

Within a week of the wedding my darling man decided that the time was right to remove a wall in our lounge room that I had been making none too quiet murmerings about removing to make the room larger. Behind the wall was a silly little two metre wide space that served no real purpose, so my thought was why not include it in the lounge. DH had refused for a long while but then out of the blue this happened:

Despite the fact that he laid dust sheets every where (sort of), my Spring cleaning has all gone to waste – there is dust hiding everywhere. He has actually taken all the framing down now and the extra space makes the lounge really really big. So the project for the New Year will be finishing, carpeting and decorating – yeah.

In a previous post I did mention that our little group of stitchers had gone out for Christmas lunch and had each shared our challenge quilts. The rule of the challenge was a) follow the theme and b) it has to be any shape or size as long as it would fit into a 25” square. So here are some

As you can see we each all have our own distinct style. The theme for this one was ‘Coffee or Tea?’ I think the girls rose to the challenge easily. Gillian, as I said, won the choice of our next challenge to be finished for March. She chose ‘Scotland (or was it Scottish?)’ – mmmm, my mind is working on it already.

Well, just a number of days now (not weeks nor months) until it’s Christmas Day. this year will be the first year that we will have all of our grandchildren together with us in the one place – it truly will be magical after all what is Christmas unless you see it through the eyes of a child? So I guess I should continue making the house ready and filling the cookie tins.

take care, hugs

Simply bursting with joy

2011-11-20T00:52:00.001-08:00

Yesterday became one of the single most happiest days of this young ladies life. This young lady came into the world 30 years ago and over those years she has experienced all sorts of highs and lows but yesterday the smile couldn’t be removed from her face, she was simply bursting with joy.

Yesterday I couldn’t stop smiling either as I watched our beautiful baby girl walk down the aisle to be with the man who makes her more happy than she ever expected.

Here’s another proud parent, my DH, he couldn’t stop smiling either…

… and neither could our number one daughter and grand-daughter…

…even after being blown around by the raging Tasman Sea winds this happy bride still looked gorgeous…

…pretty maids all in a row…

so happy.

Congratulations Jamie and AJ as you walk together hand in hand through life.

Hidden Treasure

2011-11-09T23:27:00.001-08:00

Over a decade ago my dear friend Linda made me a little pin cushion. It was about 4” in diameter and the top of it was made up of squares in a very elegant Japanese gold overlay fabric, the bottom squares were a plain black, and when put together it resembled a biscournu. This little pin cushion became the home for all of my applique pins and the odd needle or two that I was using at the time.

Today I made pin cushion, a little elephant complete with a trunk and tail. It’s funky colours aren’t really ‘my thing’ but I thought at least I’d always be able to find it amongst all my clutter and so I started transferring the pins and needles from one to the other. Eventually ‘Nellie” was fully loaded with pins and needles and the little pin cushion empty – or so I thought.

I really like the style of the pin cushion Linda had made for me and thought I might make one the same, so I started to pull out all of the stuffing through the small hole in the base. Bit by bit the stuffing came out along with one needle after another. There were over 45 needles buried inside my little pin cushion – OMG, over a decade of lost needles now found.

I guess the moral of this story is to squeeze your pin cushion from time to time and check to see if any hidden needles poke their way out, you never know with the price of good stitching needles these days, you just might fine some hidden treasure *wink*.

Happy days

hugs

OK, who did it and what secret has Santa got?

2011-11-06T01:00:00.001-07:00

Now I know you are all very nice people but which one of you took Spring away from us? Last week this Azalea was in full glorious golden bloom and then someone (not mentioning any names here) came alone with high winds torrential, horizontal rain and hail!! So much hail it looked like a light snow covering ,but believe me there was nothing light about the way it hammered against the roof and windows. Then as if that lot wasn’t bad enough the flipping temperature plummeted.

Now being a ‘Winter’ person I would normally be quite happy to go and hide in my sewing cave with the heater on but this time I’m kind of getting concerned. You see upstairs in one of the bedrooms there are four bridesmaids dresses and one bridal gown, complete with veil and not one of these dresses has sleeves or anything warm about them and the wedding is only two weeks away! So, if you’re the one that pinched our Spring, please return it and we will say no more about it – OK? *wink*

So, how many of you are all signed up for Chookyblue’s 2011 Secret Santa Christmas Swap? Once I got my partners name I went right into detective mode hunting out the slightest bit of information I could about her in order to make my gifts something of her taste.

Well, I think I’ve got it right and am now ready to pack it all up and get it posted. But before that here is a sneak peek at what I have put together. I sure hope my secret friend likes the goodies I have made for her – I’m sure she will ,anyway she’s too nice a person to say otherwise.

I also hope this swap gets to it’s partner faster than one I sent away over a month ago with TTE2. It still hasn’t got to it’s destination and I’m now really getting worried about it.

Hopefully the week will be kind to all of you,

hugs

In the nick of time

2011-10-29T22:47:00.001-07:00

With just three weeks to go until our youngest daughter gets married I have been racing through projects, knowing that for a week or so around the time of the wedding the only sewing I’ll be doing will be last minute alterations and I wanted to make sure that I managed to get the OPAM quota in ( not that our two chief OPAMers crack the whip at us if we don’t get things done).

This is my latest finish, it’s Carrie Nelsons Schnibble called ‘Roundabout’ and I think it’s just gorgeous. I had a number of charm packs sitting on my shelf calling to be used and wouldn’t you know it, I had just enough to complete this little Schnibble.

Now, some of you may be wondering where on earth the name Schnibble comes from and in fact is it a real word? I know that when I mentioned it at a group day a couple of years ago I got laughed at and told that there was no such word by those that thought they knew better. Well, sit up and take note… Schnibble is a real word and it has been published in the Dictionary of American Regional English. It means a scrap, small bits of cloth or left over bits of fabric. What a perfect word – I love it.

Well, I had better sign off and add this one to the tally before the end of the month dawns.

Have a happy spooky Halloween one and all

Short and Sweet

2011-10-26T03:16:00.001-07:00

This will be short and sweet, I wanted to make sure that I got this latest project on my blog so that it could count towards this months OPAM tally.

The cross stitch design is from Little House Needleworks and to a degree was the idea of making a sewing wallet, but this sewing wallet except for the cross stitching is all my design. I think the fabrics I used (which I had in my stash) are from a Robyn Pandolph range.

The outside cross stitched panel I have made into a pocket and on the inside added even more pockets plus a scissor sheath, pin cushion, needle case and thread loops.

See, I told you this was going to be short and sweet

Have a fabulous day

hugs

Secrets unrevealed.

2011-10-21T01:14:00.001-07:00

Hello one and all, please excuse my absence for the last few weeks. I have no excuse whatsoever except that life kind of got in the way, life and stitching.

Over the last couple of weeks we here at By Hoki Quilts have had number one grand-daughter, Miss Hannah, here to stay and tonight little Miss Faith has come to keep us company. This time she’s not so much into her stitching as she is the toy garage and cars that DH bought for her. Actually I’m not sure whether they are really for her or for him as he seems to have a great time ‘playing’ cars with our precious 3 year old.

Stitching hasn’t entirely taken a back seat, I’ve been working on my SSCS and of course because it’s a secret I can’t show you it, then there are the PIF projects that are underway – but they too are secrets – funny isn’t it that at this time of the year everything is a secret, how on earth am I suppose to add to my OPAM tally without giving a few games away?

One little exchange I can share is the xstitch Christmas ornament exchange done through TTE2. My one should have made it to the other side of the world by now so I’m sure I’m not giving anything away. My partner is mad keen on cats so that sent me searching through the old Christmas magazines for just the right image and came up with this little beauty . Here on the right is a close up of the little baubles that I used to decorate the tree. I do hope my partner likes it.

Next I chose to make a bag for the trip in March to Tasmania. The colours I used are not really ‘me’, but I had recently made a quilt flimsy and although I liked the stitchery in the quilt the surrounding fabric colours just didn’t ‘do it’ for me, so I unpicked it and used some for my new bag – aptly named ‘the Tassie Bag’. I wanted the bag to be a fun but functional bag so enclosed plenty of pockets and added just a little fun button to remind me to keep smiling. However I’m sure that once under the wings of the girls over there I wont need a reminder at all.

Well, I guess that is about all for the moment I don’t want to bore you all silly and will save other bits and bobs for my next post.

take care, hugs

By Hoki

2011-10-04T00:15:00.001-07:00

Dawn over a ‘As Sweet As Cinnamon’ has asked the question – how did you get the name for your blogspot and that got me thinking, yep a number of people have asked me a similar question… how did you get the name of your shop, By Hoki Quilts?

My shop and blogspot both have the same name, mostly because as a new shop I just didn’t have the funds to start a website but wanted to get our name ‘out there’. I didn’t realise at the time that blogging would become such a part of my life and I totally underestimated the number of friends I would make, some of whom I have been fortunate to meet and some who are now very close friends that I really enjoy spending time with. But back to the question.

By Hoki is an exclamation really, if I was living in Australia I think the closest would be By Crikey! Plus… Our shop is 6km north of our local town, Hokitika, fondly know as ‘Hoki’. So, taking the exclamation and adding it to the fact that we are BY Hoki the name seemed fairly obvious throw in the word quilts and ta daa, By Hoki Quilts was born, blog and shop.

So there you have it, how did you get your blog name?

have a good day

OK, who stole the last week or so??????

2011-10-02T23:46:00.001-07:00

Over the last week or so I’ve stitched, appliqued, pieced, quilted, stuffed and sent. That took only seconds to write but crikey, I’ve been going flat out for days.

Firstly I needed to get my TTE2 Xmas decoration finished and posted. It wasn’t a huge project but trying to get the flipping thing onto the blog was darned near impossible because of the flipping gremlins that made themselves at home in my computer – arghhhh, technology is great…when it works properly! This is just a tease of my exchange as I don’t really want to show the full thing until it arrives at it’s destination. I just hope all the little beads don’t set off some alarm somewhere – eeek!

Next I had an idea for a new beginners pattern rattling around in my head so after some drawings and finding ‘just the right fabric’ I set to making a sample. It’s not complicated by any stretch of the imagination but it’s achievable for beginners and that’s what counts. Anyway… it’s a table topper called ‘High Tea’ and involves cutting up a odd doily to add a bit of texture. Must have done the dusting that day, not a speck of dust in sight *wink*.

T-h-e-n, it was onto getting another Christmasy thing finished. This time I made Nancy Halvorsons ‘Merry Christmas’ wall banner. It went together really well and I was on a roll as I started the quilting. I even did lots of little holly leaves all over it. then I checked the back – oh no!!! birdnests everywhere. Mmmm, if I were a cross stitcher I’d say I spent most of the day ‘frogging’ but being a quilter I just unpicked – the lot!

This little pile doesn’t look like it took that long to ‘undo’ but it did and what an expensive exercise that was – it’s all Valdani thread. So in absolute disgust, I re pinned the thing out and quilted it as quickly and simply as I could – taa daa, here’s the finished hanging.

Wow, three finishes for OPAM, awesome! I had better get cracking on the new SAL now so that Miss Chookyblue wont have reason to crack the whip.

Have a great day everyone.

Was It Really Only A Week Ago?

2011-09-23T03:11:00.001-07:00

Travelling to our nearest large city (Christchurch) by car usually takes about four or so hours. The road is windy and although the views are stunning I usually end up rather weary at the end of the trip. Going there by plane is half an hour. Scrunched up in a teeny wee plane isn’t my idea of comfort travel so when I was asked to go and teach at ‘Creative Flair’ in Christchurch last weekend I chose what I now consider the most awesome form of transport available – the train, in fact ‘The
Tranz Alpine’. I’ll let some of the pictures save a thousand words eh?

As you can see I went from one side of the island to the other. Here are just a few of the spectacular views I caught on film. I’m sorry to say that in nearly every one of the shots, the reflection of my camera shows as I was taking the shots from inside the carriage. Through Hobbit country we went, up and over the Alps that act as a spine to our island.

Through another snow capped range and the blue skies of Christchurch are ahead.

The train trip was THE best way to travel. I arrived in Christchurch fresh and relaxed and there to meet me was Miss Deb and her ‘Sweet William’. This lovely couple were putting up with not just me for the weekend but also sweet Shiree from The Rowan Tree. Shiree had brought her shop up for the fair from Twizel.

Here are the three of us after a busy Saturday and a wonderful dinner that Miss Deb cooked for us. You can hardly tell that this was a ‘jimjam’ party eh?

All too soon my classes were finished and the weekend was over, but not before we had a little private class at Debs place. Early on the Sunday morning, Miss Deb and Sweet William got me to the train on time and sent me on my way back over the Alps towards home. Thanks guys, you’re the best.

Since arriving home it has been just go, go, go. Very little time for anything ‘crafty’, Spring is here and there are chores to be done ,but I still found a little time in the evenings to make another pincushion to add to the collection from a pattern book I bought at the fair.

I hope you enjoyed some of the train trip views. I tried to be selective from the 60 plus shots I took. The grandeur of the Southern Alps is truly spectacular and certainly have me smitten with their beauty.

By the way, the classes went really well, Miss Deb was my star pupil and we had a great group of ladies for the workshop they were really ‘into’ my classes and so was I – I even forgot to take photo’s – oh well, next time maybe.

Have a great weekend everyone

hugs

An On-Line Auction Win

2011-09-14T02:24:00.001-07:00

Here in New Zealand we have an on-line auction sight called ‘Trade Me’. I am only a beginner on using this site and usually just have a quick flick through it’s pages and never bidding. However… just lately sleep and I haven’t been the best of friends, so after another 3 a.m. wake up session I got my trusty ‘pooter’ (as Miss Faith calls my laptop)out and started really looking at the on-line auctions.
This insignificant little shiny pouch caught my eye, so I decided to look a bit harder…

Mmmmmm, interesting I thought so looked at yet another picture…

By now I had decided to place a bid and have a go at winning this little treasure that someone many years ago had made such a lovely job of.
I needed to wait 4 days before the auction closed so I decided on a maximum amount that I was prepared to pay and placed an auto bid.

Well, 4 days later and this little beauty is mine, nobody else bid on it and… I got it for $20. I think that was a bargain what do you think? The man that I bought it from said that it is at least 50 years old but anything beyond that he hasn’t got any idea. I just look at the handiwork and try to think of who the woman was that made it as I study her ultra fine embroidery stitches.
Now I’m going to try and complete a few UFO’s (yep, I have plenty) and then make a replica, maybe in cotton. Then I can put my ‘treasure’ away with my other collectables and start to use the newbie.
Maybe I’ll have to go back to Trade-Me and see what other treasures I can find.
Have a lovely week one and all
hugs

A Week On

2011-09-05T23:18:00.001-07:00

Blogging friends are just the best!

A week on from losing our furry gentleman and I have had so many beautiful e-mails and even the odd phone call that have made me even more aware of how blessed I have been. Thank you, thank you all many times over for caring. We still miss Chuck and probably will for a while yet and his furry fan club still look and call for him, but time will ease their grief too.

Over the last week I have been sewing up a storm with stitcheries and seeing that I haven’t, made them into anything yet I wont share them with you, they were lovely little things to do to pass time when I didn’t want to sit at the machine but now I have to decide just how to finish them for best effect. I did however get to the sewing machine and had a finish (yeah, another one for OPAM),

These little pinwheels were a dream to make, they just went together with no problems at all and I even surprised myself when I realised that even all the points were just right – amazing!

I think this would make a great little ones play quilt and as I’ve tried to use a spread of colours so it should suit a boy or girl.

Little Miss Golly was made by me quite some time ago, she is totally child friendly and by sewing every single strand of wool into her head by hand, she is also safe enough for children to play with.

Well, that’s it for this week. Again. thank you my friends.

hugs

In Honour of a Dear Friend. RIP Chuck

2011-08-29T10:36:00.001-07:00

Over the last few weeks I have been conscious of how quickly the aging process has taken over our friend, confidant and family member Chuck. Chuck is was a 13 1/2 year old Golden Retriever and became a member of our family when he was nothing more than a 6 week old bundle of fluff.

During his time with us he has run with my horses and hidden from the cows. He has ‘put up’ the pheasants that nested in our hay paddocks and allowed two orphan kittens to snuggle into him at night.

When we moved from our farm and headed south Chuck became a huge fan of the beach that is found at the end of the road on which we live. There he became a puppy again, this time ‘putting up’ the seagulls and even trying to hold a conversation with a wayward seal or two.

Once I opened our shop from our home Chuck became a bit of a welcoming committee (along with Polly, our very noisy Foxy).

Moving here so many thousands of miles away from my circle of friends Chuck became my constant companion. He heard my woes and gave me company and now he’s gone.

Chuck finally got laid to rest yesterday, he’s left a huge hole in my life, in fact he’s left a huge hole in all of our lives here at By Hoki Quilts.

Polly has been outside a number of times just wandering around looking for him, and Trouble, one of our two cats finally got put outside at 4 this morning after she was roaming the house meowing for her friend.

I apologise for this post being so long and without a mention of sewing. DH has lost his ‘buddy’ but I’ve lost a friend. Our gentleman Chuck has left us and it’s all just too sad.

It's never too early–is it?

2011-08-17T18:44:00.001-07:00

A few nights ago I was chatting to Dawn on line about whether or not to start a new project or continue working my way through a growing pile of UFO’s. We were both ooohing and ahhhhing over Anni Downs latest book of inspiration, Some Kind of Wonderful. I couldn’t decide, should I make the sweet little coin purse or what about a needle book for a friend? Later that night I had dismissed the idea of starting anything new and continued with the stitching I was working on. Well, blow me down, something happened overnight (insert weird music) because when I woke up and long before I showered and got dressed I had pulled out co-ordinating fabrics and decided to make the Travel Documents Wallet out of the book. A travel document wallet is just what I’ll be needing especially when I get to toodle off to Tasmania next March, hee hee, more on that in another post.

So, here I was fabric, trim, magnetic catches and the rest – as they say (whoever they are) is history, but here are the photo’s.

Having got all inspired about travel and wanting to make a whole heap of useable ‘stuff’ to take with me I turned my attention to my sad looking suitcases. actually they’re not that bad and I can’t justify buying new ones but… I can make some case labels to add a bit of ‘craftiness’ to them. Taa daa, luggage labels, Miche’le Style. Now I just need to find one of those hole punch thingies and put a little rivet in it so it all looks just right.

So, there’s my catch up for this week, our little shop has been humming over and yesterdays Sit’n Stitch Friendship day was full of chatter and laughter, just how we like it. I hope your week has been full of inspiration and friendship too.

hugs

MIA & PIF

2011-08-04T15:00:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness, I can’t believe that it has been so long since I last posted anything – I will consider myself well and truly told off!

Hummmm, so what has kept me busy for the last few weeks? Well, pattern writing for one – boy does that job take forever, then there was and is quite a bit of stitching of new samples, not to mention the cross stitching, stitchery SAL that we have going here at the shop, class samples and just life in general which also includes continued physio on my foot– so please accept my apologies for my MIA.
There are so many projects underway that it really is getting silly, some days I can be working through 3 or 4 projects – am I the only one here that does that? Anyway as a result there is little in the ‘finished’ pile and no photo’s to share, sad but true.
I know I have lots to stitch but couldn’t resist this…

Pay It Forward

I love making goodies for other people, so I have signed up with Peg so now I need three people to play….
the rules are…..
1) I will make some goodies for the first three people who would like to join in…… It will be a surprise and will arrive when you least expect it.
2) I will have 365 days to to do it in …………Where is the catch? to get a handmade present from me you have to play too! This means you pledge to send something to three readers of your blog. It does not have to be stitching or knitting just handmade,
3) You must have a blog. Once you receive your little something you must post about your Pay it forward on your blog to keep the fun going - be sure to use the Pay it forward badge.
So If you would like to play “Pay It Forward”….please make a comment
looking forward to hearing from you hugs

This, that and a bit of the other

2011-07-20T20:14:00.001-07:00

Brrrr, Winter has well and truly come to stay for a while and after seeing the end of the wettest couple of weeks on record for our region it is so therapeutic to sit, indoors, soaking in a little heat from a Winter sun. This is the view from out the front of the shop and this other is through the palm tree which is just outside my kitchen window, where the snow is just visible on the Alps in the distance.

I made the foolish decision to clean up, tidy up and chuck out any ~~crap~~ unwanted stuff (i.e., rubbish) from my little sewing cave. Well, that was three or four days ago and although I’ve filled many a bin there is no extra space to show where it all came from. Plus, I’m still plodding through the tidying session and looking after the shop and… Miss Faith came for a visit while her Mummy had a week in hospital.
Yeah, my little sewing buddy was here and yes, she still wants to sit and stitch with Grandma (waahoo). Some of her attempts have been rather ‘random’ in style but her tension and even stitch length is coming on. Anyway, I’ve kept the first couple, dated them and popped them into a frame. One proud Grandma here – tee hee.

On the sewing front, well, I seem to have lots on the go – huh, what’s new? Most of which is in the Christmas stitchery range but I have a couple of things finished for OPAM.
My first finish was a birthday gift for Miss Deb. I think it was supposed to be a wall hanging but I wanted to incorporate Debs beloved polka dots into it , so, in the end I made it into a cushion for her, and of course the back side had to have its share of polka dots too.

The next sewing project was something I thought “oh heck, the end of the month is nearly here and I have an OPAM project due”. Of course forgetting the cushion I had made earlier and knowing that I needed a project to run a class on so I got stuck into making a bag.

I’m really pleased with the results of this bag, the end pockets are just the right size for specs and mobile phones and then there are just heaps of other pockets for me to fill.
So, another week is over, DD2 is out of hospital but still very sore, Miss Faith has gone home and my sewing cave is still a shambles – ho hummmm.
After sharing the stitchery I made for Miss Deb I have had a number of requests about it so I'm adding this little extra bit.
It is called 'Friendships Are Sewn' and I bought it on-line from www.beesewwhimsical.com

Time to throw another log on the fire.
keep well, hugs

Hunkering Down

2011-07-11T00:01:00.001-07:00

Living on New Zealand’s, South Islands, West Coast one would expect that we often get wild, windy weather attacking us fresh from the Tasman Sea, but that isn’t really the case. We moved here just five years ago from one of the hottest regions in New Zealand (the Bay of Plenty) and have found the weather to be far kinder to our aging bones, as the extremes aren’t so severe - well that was the case until this last week. Oh my goodness ,we have had every different kind of weather that the weather man could report on -apart from snow and ice. With the cobwebs being blown away outside I ‘hunkered’ down for a sewing marathon.

I haven’t kept my new found love of Japanese woven taupe's a secret and proudly showed off the Sunbonnet Sue’s and Sam’s recently here on my blogspot. Freezer paper applique has been my preferred method of applique for this beautiful fabric. Now I have blocked the sunbonnets and bordered them including an appliqued vine, leaves and a few berries. Do you see the bottom right hand corner? Well, that bit is where I plan to put a 3D flower and a few leaves so that has to stay like that until after quilting.
The other bits I’ve been working on are some little hexies. These little gems are just perfect for a bit of stitching while relaxing in front of the fire of an evening. 13 down and probably a few hundred left to go but I’m in no hurry, not yet anyway ; ))

Apart from a bit of a secret squirrel project that is about it for this week, nothing that I can show finished but plenty on the go. By the way, the Japanese taupe quilt – I think I’ll hand quilt that one
Have a great week everyone
hugs

To love, honour and respect

2011-07-03T19:47:00.001-07:00

I’m one of those people that quietly enjoys being at home most of the time, mind you sometimes I do get cabin fever and just itch to get out and do ‘something’. The last few months have had me really house bound and the lack of independence has had me going absolutely bonkers, so last week when I needed to go to physio and DH couldn’t take me I really enjoyed the feeling of freedom as I drove myself there. Yeah – free at last! I’m still walking with quite a limp and have been told that that may possibly be with me for life, but hey, at least I can still walk and there are many that can’t so I’m very lucky indeed.

Another reason I am lucky is with the man that I proudly call my husband. Last Friday Jon and I celebrated 32 years as man and wife . The day started off fairly quiet then number 2 daughter turned up with a beautiful bunch of flowers that were from her and her sister. I didn’t get much chance to spend too much time with her as the shop has been really busy and Friday was no excuse – no sooner had one happy quilter gone out of the door than another came in. By the time I got to sit down with a cuppa another delightful bunch of flowers arrived from DH himself. Gosh I’m spoilt (and loving it).

Once the shop was shut and DH was off duty we went out for a beautiful meal at the little local French eatery. By the time our food arrived I clean forgot to take photos so just believe me when I say the eye fillet steak followed by decadent chocolate pots kept me very, very happy!

Saturday, again the shop was busy and although I usually close at one I was still serving customers after three! In between I got to spend time with the two Grand-daughters: Miss Faith and Madam Taylor. Gosh they are growing so fast in fact Miss Faith has her first day at Kindergarten today. Saturday night we went out to a local rustic West Coast pub for a farewell function for one of DH’s colleagues. Heck two nights in a row I’ve been out – I’m almost a social butterfly now *wink*.

Well, the ‘going out’ didn’t stop there. DH decided on Sunday that we were going to travel up the coast line to Punakaiki for lunch. The scenery was wild and exciting and once at Punakaiki it’s pancakes rocks were clearly visible complete with blow holes

. Lunch was fabulous and I had a piece of the nicest, freshest fish I have ever tasted.

So today here I am, at home writing this in between serving in the shop and doing the domestic goddess thingy. The previous weekend has flown by like a dream and my life has returned to normal. My life that I share with the man I promised to love, honour and respect – yep, it’s a good life.

hugs

Latest Release

2011-06-26T01:14:00.001-07:00

After teasing over the last few months and sharing snippets of my stitching I can now finally share with you our latest release:

‘Letters In Magnolia’

Because of it’s size (40 x 75cm),it’s a little tricky getting a good photo and I am well aware that I am far from a great photographer, so I’ve taken lots of close up shots so you can se the stitches, lace and pearls that I have included in this pattern.

This stitchery is really a very simple one stitches include Satin stitch, Stem stitch, Lazy Daisy and Colonial Knots. Easy right?

The little pearls add a bit of ‘bling’ and the lace used is a variety of modern and vintage lace that has been ‘tea dyed’.

Yeah, another addition for OPAM. Thank you for letting me share our latest pattern.

hugs

A Waterlogged Season

2011-06-21T19:34:00.001-07:00

I’m not really a fan of the rain – that is unless it’s really belting down and is accompanied by thunder and lightning – then I like to sit inside and do the ‘nesting’ thingy. So when the weather is drizzly I try to get motivated and get things done in the sewing room so I don’t get to see just how awful it is outside.

Today it’s been drizzling so I’ve been stitching up a storm.
First up I have managed to finish “Tis the Season”, the SAL stitchery wall hanging that a number of us, under the guidance of Chookyblue have been working on. Apart from the small stitchery blocks mine is very different from the pattern. The original was scrappy where I have chosen just two colours plus a little red pleat as the first border. I’m sorry I’m no photographer and I kind of forgot to take any close ups . Thank you Chooky for organising this – now I’m ready for the next.

The next finish today has been a little applique bit that I shared a while back. Since then I have done a little trapunto, a bit of beading and an awful lot of hand quilting. I really like this hanging it’s simple colours I find really calming. The photo isn’t very good and makes the whole thing look slightly distorted but I think that’s just me being a rotten photographer again.

So, there are two more ‘finishes’ for OPAM, yeah, those UFO’s are slowly shrinking in number – but I’m not going to share with you how many I have just yet .

hugs

A Natural Legacy

2011-06-20T00:25:00.001-07:00

OK I admit it, when the domestic goddess gene was handed out I was busy somewhere and only got given the ‘leftovers’. So staying at home playing happy families/mummy wasn’t really my thing. Don’t get me wrong I did do it and love my family enormously but as soon as the girls were old enough I toodled off to uni to start a new career.

These days I just love being at home as long as I’m fit and healthy, plus I now run our shop from home. So when our daughter asked me to look after Miss Faith for the day I knew that although the foot wasn’t 100% I would be able to sit down and play cards or whatever with this switched on little 3 year old and should really cope with customers and her without too much trouble.

Miss Faith was dropped off at 7-30a.m. and by morning tea time we had watched kiddies TV, served a couple of customers and made a batch of banana chocolate chip muffins, so a sit down and a cuppa were well welcomed. Miss Faith chose to sit on my lap and I picked up a little redwork project and stitched away while she munched on her muffin.

Later on I left Miss Faith sitting on my chair watching a kiddies movie while I cleaned up in the kitchen. I popped in to check on her and got the biggest surprise I think I have ever had.
This little 3 year old (only just turned 3) had picked up my stitchery and was stitching! I don’t mean shoving the needle in any old place. This kiddie was actually doing my redwork!
Really!!!!
I even managed to remember to get photos. You know if it hadn’t had been a different tension sign, I would have struggled to see where she had sewn. Honestly, I was and still am gobsmacked. Faith had sewn on top of my Pigma marks, only a few stitches but enough to finish off the star thingy I was working on. Once I got over the shock, I gave this little sweetie her own small hoop, a bit of fabric, needle and thread and left her to it. For over an hour this little tot stitched, only needing my help to thread the needle and tie the knot.
Bliss *sigh*, yep, I’m so excited. The next generation has picked up it’s own needle and stitched – yeah.
To some of you this may mean next to nothing, but to this Grandma it’s an enormous thrill and one I just had to share.
hugs

Black’n White, not red all over

2011-06-16T23:04:00.001-07:00

You know in a previous life I was a teacher and had this great ability to stay on task. My how things change… my sewing room is an absolute disaster area, it seems each time I’m in there I’m rushing to get something sewn or, heaven forbid, something other than a piece of patchwork, ironed – shock, horror and as for staying on task – well, that skill has long since left me. I get in there with all good intentions and before I know it the thing I started on is on one side and another is in my hands – oh the shame .

Well, today being cold and miserable I didn’t expect to see many in the shop so I thought I’d spend time next door and do the tidying thing. Well, the thought was the only step towards it I made, instead I found a pathetic ‘flimsy’ that was just crying out to be finished, so what’s a girl to do? Yep, I finished it!

Another little Hunter Star quilt, this time using polka dots in black and white. The first inner border is a little pleat in red. This pleat has become a regular in my quilts and I think gives it a little lift and offers a ‘stop’ to the pattern.

I chose to just meander all over for the quilting and the truth is I just didn’t have the slightest idea of what else to do. Anyway it’s a finish! The room is still a bomb site but at least there is one less thing in there.

Now I need to thank many of you for your kind words and concern about my ankle. It is progressing nicely… the surgeon is absolutely thrilled with his handiwork and couldn’t wait to show us my x-rays on his computer. Sadly he was just the bone man, now some tissue healing needs to catch up with the bones. The local physiotherapist is doing her bit by making sure that all the strapping I need to wear isn’t dull and boring and has me doing all sorts of exercises to lessen the limp that I have been left with.

So that is where we are up to now… my sewing room is still a mess but hey, I got something finished for OPAM – yeah!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

In the blink of an eye

2011-06-08T14:57:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness, where do I begin? The last week or is it last two weeks have just flown by and I know I’ve been busy but really someone has been stealing my time so I guess I’ll just work through the time and show you the results.

Since my last post, the one about the bag that I made, I received an order for a ready made one, so, that order taken and the job done. This time I did it in a soft sage green with accents from a fabric with a slight pattern similar to a vintage style.

Then… I got the e-mail to say that our own Miss Deb and her man definitely were coming to stay over for a weekend. This was great news as so often we have had false starts with illness, earthquake and family getting in the way of our get together. Once through the door Deb gave me a great tray, just look at this it’s fun and practical and yeah those of us that are well endowed are celebrated . I just love it, thanks Deb.

Over the last few months a few of us that are members of the ‘Tis The Season’ SAL combined under the guidance of ‘Chookyblue’ to make Deb her own version of the quilt. Due to recent events Deb wasn’t up to making her own and it was a privilege to be part of this.
My job was to join the blocks and then do the finishing bits. The weekend just past, gave me the chance to hand over our combined efforts to our lovely houseguest.
Deb and her DH Bill were delightful and at one stage I remember thinking how ‘easy’ we all were with one another and having someone else to stitch with was just great. Sadly our weekend was over just far too quickly and Miss Deb and Bill made their way back to Christchurch where they were greeted with yet another decent sized earthquake the following day – yuk!!!

My latest bit of news is that at long last I am out of the ‘delightful’ moonboot. The man that did the surgery is very pleased with his handiwork and very quickly wanted me to see just how good the results were on x-ray. Now I need to learn how to walk properly as it has been six years since the accident and three years since the first surgery. So, with the help of one crutch and a bit of physiotherapy I wont be running any marathons but I’ll be doing my best to be able to take the credit cards shopping *wink*.

Sorry this has been such a long post, you know it was probably longer than my week – but hey ho.
Have a great week, hugs

Just a quickie over breakfast

2011-05-22T12:30:00.001-07:00

I’m writing this while munching on my Cornflakes as this could be the only time today that I’m going to have to get chance to put up a post.

Our little shop has been so busy in recent weeks and for that I am so blessed, even my ‘closed day’ has seen customers here. My Wednesday ladies have become Wednesday and Friday ladies and each and every one of them are so flattering with their compliments about the shop it really does make each day a pleasure.

Today we are having a bag class. The bag started it’s life smaller and with fewer pockets so we have done the ‘adaption’ thing and todays class will see the ladies making this spacious little number. This one I had to make over the weekend to remind myself how it all went together and it isn’t really looking true to colour. It’s actually a rich terracotta with a pinky background Jacobean design fabric for the pockets, accents and lining. I have used good old Homespun fabric as I believe it is so economical and underrated as a patchwork/craft fabric. The Homespun I stock is from Leutenegger and is the finest quality I have come across, so far.

Time to get the class supplies out, thanks for sharing breakfast with me. Have a great day

hugs

A year on

2011-05-13T11:46:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness, it’s been simply ages since I last wrote a post and apart from sewing I haven’t done much really. I’m still clunking around with the ‘walking boot’ making my foot heavy and huge and apart from the odd twinge in my back due to the ‘lop sidedness' I think I’m coping rather well, so well that I’ve even taken the crutches and propt them up alongside the sewing machine.

Last April, the quilt group that I used to belong to, celebrated each others birthdays by making four pre chosen blocks for the birthday girl. If you wanted a specific colour way or fabric it was your task to supply the fabric otherwise you got scrappy blocks. I decided that I wanted to have a two colour quilt so I supplied the pattern and fabric to each member. Now, there were only five members in this group so each lot of blocks could be made into a quilt will a little bit of extra work. Well, a member of the group for one reason or other chose not to make my blocks, she never did give a reason and that left me feeling really sad and very let down. For a long while the blocks that the other girls had made shouted out at me from my design wall, wanting to be made complete and for a long while I ignored them. Working on those blocks just recalled a sad, moment in my life – a time when I discovered that not all quilters stayed true to their words and in fact some could be darned right hurtful, hence the reason for me no longer being with that group.

Well it’s a year on, I belong to a great quilt group that love lots of fun and laughter and most importantly seem to adopt the sisterhood of quilters way without even trying. Now was the time for ‘the quilt’ to be finished, and that is exactly what I did.

‘Red Rind Cheddar’ came out of sadness and I think it’s absolutely gorgeous, I’m fortunate to have a friend who happens to be a talented long arm quilter and Sue really did an outstanding job for me. The photo is a little pale as the gold is much more deeper in real life.

So, there it is. a year on and feeling great and… something for OPAM as I was rather slack last month – sorry Peg and Kris.

Hugs

Full Weight Bearing…

2011-05-01T01:21:00.001-07:00

…and by crikey there is plenty of weight to bear after sitting for six weeks.

Last Tuesday we took the almost four hour trip over the ‘hills’ to see my surgeon and to get my ankle plaster removed (and hopefully not replaced).

With the weather getting colder leaving as early in the morning as we sometimes do isn’t advisable in case of frosts. On the way we took in Mother Nature in all her glory – Autumn is such an amazing time of the year, it’s as if Mother Nature has been playing with her paint box. I got so wrapped up in it all that I forgot to take many pictures. Sadly the photos don’t really show the glorious golds and reds that shone out. As we progressed through the pass the raindrops began to fall, then the snow! Just a little dusting to begin with, enough to get the worrying thoughts going. Slowly but surely the snow fell heavier the further into the pass we got.Before long we had made it through and now looked forward to what the surgeon was going to say.

First up was the removal of the old plaster – then the first good wash and just a hint of a long awaited scratch, oh bliss. Then it was off to another location for x-rays before returning to the surgeons rooms for the consultation. Slowly the excitement started to slip away as our 3 o-clock appointment time came and went. At 4.15 we finally got in and got the good news that no more plaster was required and I could walk, with crutches and be full weight bearing – oh my god, I’ve gained so much weight – eek, my poor ankle. Now my new fashion accessory is this beautiful (not) boot, but at least I have independence – yeah!

Now for the trip home, whew, these trips over the ‘hill’ certainly don’t leave much time for anything else, oh well, I’ll save my cash stash for another time. By the time we got home that night both of us were pretty shattered and just wanted a cuppa and a good nights sleep.

So there we are, all on the right track and healing well.

I hope all of you are well and coping with the seasonal changes while soaking in its beauty.

hugs

2011-04-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

ANZAC Day Dawn Services are being held around New Zealand to commemorate the 96th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli.

A tribute to the fallen at the Dawn Service in North Hagley Park, Christchurch.

PHOTO: Radio NZ

Hamilton was the first: the service there began at 5.40am at the Cenotaph in Soldiers Memorial Park.
Five minutes later, the Wellington Dawn Ceremony of Remembrance began at the Cenotaph.
Turkish ambassador to New Zealand, Ali Yakital, told those gathered that he is filled with special emotion for being part of the Dawn Service marking the 96th anniversary of the battle of Gallipoli.
He said great mutual respect has grown out of the horrors of war.
About 3000 people attended the service.
A vigil by personnel from the three services is now underway at the National War Memorial from 6am - 5pm.
In Auckland, the parade to the Cenotaph at Auckland Museum began at 5.45am and the Dawn Service followed at 6am.
Despite heavy rain, several thousand people turned out at the War Memorial museum. The numbers attending the service were as high as last year.
In Dunedin, the service gets underway at 6.30am at Queens Gardens.
In Christchurch, the Dawn Service at North Hagley Park began at 7am.

The cenotaph in North Hagley Park, Christchurch.

PHOTO: Radio NZ

RSA president Russ Barron says that as far as he is aware, it was the first time the service has not been held in Cathedral Square.
Servicemen and women marched across the park, to a specially-built cenotaph near a lone oak.
They were joined by the Governor General, Air Commodore Kevin Short, Mayor Bob Parker, Members of Paliament and the Dean of the Christchurch Cathedral.

With the going down of the sun

and in the morning

We will remember them, we will remember them.

Keeping Busy

2011-04-24T02:54:00.001-07:00

With just two ‘sleeps’ to go before I go over the ‘hill’s again and hopefully get this nasty cast off my foot, have a good old scratch and come home a free woman. But I’m not getting my hopes up too much ‘cos nine out of ten times I wouldn’t be so lucky as to get what I want – so enough said.

In order to keep myself busy over this Easter weekend I finally cut into my gorgeous collection of Japanese Taupes and began a ‘Sunbonnet’ wall hanging. The background fabric is a linen blend that wasn’t as costly as the taupes yet I felt still went well with those fabrics while not taking anything away from them. Some of these little beauties still have a little bit of embroidery that needs to be added to them, while others need a few buttons and/or colonial knots. It’s been such a lovely way to spend a wet holiday period.
By the way, for a self confessed choc-o-holic I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I haven't dived into one single Easter egg – yet!
Happy Easter

Friends From Afar

2011-04-15T00:39:00.001-07:00

Wow, what a busy little old shop we have been over the last few weeks and particularly today. Now for a small niche business this is fantastic news and in a small way I have to thank my blogspot – yep, good things to be said about blogger despite the fact that it has made posting a touch difficult on and off.

Many of my new customers – most of whom are escaping the problems following the earthquake in Christchurch, have said that they had learnt about the shop through blogger, yeah, how cool is that?

Today I got to host 18 quilters all at once – this little shop of mine was fair bursting at the seams, tee hee . Gail Garber is leading a group of quilters around New Zealand on their way to the Remarkables Symposium in Queenstown and quite some time ago I was approached to see if they could come and spend time in our shop. Well, of course I said yes, then promptly ‘Googled’ Gail to find out what I could about her. This is one of Gail’s masterpieces, WOW!!!

So, the big bus pulled into the driveway and out came all of the ladies. Once they had spent time wondering around the shop selecting treasures to purchase and once transactions were made I got to spend some chat time with some of them. Gail very kindly autographed my copy of her book and one of the ladies gave me a CD of guild projects past and present from the Santa Rosa Quilt Guild.

All in all it was a great visit, so now I’m sitting with my feet up getting ready to sit and watch this CD – life is good ; ))

have a wonderful weekend

hugs

7th Time Lucky?

2011-04-11T23:33:00.001-07:00

This is my seventh time of trying to load a post to Blogger. Goodness knows what is going on but between the modem throwing a hissy fit, telephone lines down, power cuts and then Blogger just refusing to let me load anything I sat back and sulked. Not a mature thing to do but what the heck, things were against me so I’m hoping this time works.

Mmmm, so after all that effort what have I been up to over the last couple of weeks? Well, a new cast has been put on my ‘gammie’ ankle, a shiny black one and I for one was very excited to see what my foot looked like following the surgery, as for the last three years it had been just plain ugly. I’m pleased to say it looks normal – yeah and I can even wiggle my little toes, something that hasn’t happened since the accident six years ago!

On the 1st April I got to celebrate yet another birthday. I don’t know about you all but these days birthdays are creeping around a lot faster than they used to. I got very spoilt indeed and the wonderful presents continued to arrive for a few days after the 1st. My dear Miss Deb sent these beauties – will you just look at the vibrant colours, absolutely gorgeous! Thank you so much dear Deb, and I do know what grief the florist gave you by not delivering on time. On the up side, they are still alive and still just as gorgeous.

In the last couple of weeks I have been flitting between projects. The SAL April blocks are done – just not loaded onto the blog yet (sorry Chookyblue), a few other little stitcheries have been played with and then last week I started playing with applique again.

Applique is my most favourite when it comes to my stitching, especially the freezer paper technique. After having all of those precious Japanese Taupe's tempting me I decided to try a few blocks using similar colours but not the taupe's – I still can’t bring myself to cut into them. Anyway I had a lovely package of applique blocks to choose from so that is just what I did. I haven’t quilted the wall hanging yet but I have done a wee bit of trapunto type work and the odd bit of beading. Once I’m a little more mobile I’ll pin it out and get onto the quilting. Can you see the hint of blue? I thought I needed to add a touch of ‘something’ so a little bit of blue filled the need (I think).

So there, that’s it, how I’ve spent the last couple of weeks – sort of, You ought to see the fabrics that have crept through the door of the shop lately though. But that’s another story for when I can get back on blogger.

hugs

Excuses, excuses

2011-03-27T12:36:00.001-07:00

Well, since my last post (I’m sorry it has taken so long) I have done the long car ride over the ‘hills’ and had my date with the surgeon.

The very nice man took out the old ‘hardware’ and put in some new bits plus a little bone graft from me. Tomorrow we repeat the trip and get a new, proper cast put on and let the healing begin. Thank you all for the lovely e-mails and cards – I am truly blessed with all my fab on-line friends.

Now while being held up in hospital I had a couple of visitors that you all know, and I’m sorry I just didn’t think to take photo’s. Our own Miss Deb and Darlene called in to lift my spirits – and that they surely did. Thanks girls and to Deb, that coffee was THE best, thanks hun.

Darlene and I had been flicking e-mails back to each other about purchasing a collection of fat quarters that Melanie (another beautiful blogger) had drawn our attention to– all of them being Japanese Taupe's. Well after a little elbow twisting on both sides Darlene put in the order, the precious box arrived in just a few days – amazing!! So, while I was laying there in all my post op glory dahlin’ Miss Darlene delivered the goodies – the best medicine I’m sure. Included in the box were some purse closures that we both quite fancied too. Now I just have to pluck up the courage to cut into these precious fabric morsels.

Well that’s it for now. My post op fuzziness is slowly disappearing so hopefully I’ll be back into some real stitching soon.

Have a wonderful week everyone

hugs

Restless Mind Equals Busy Fingers

2011-03-14T21:39:00.001-07:00

Ok, I’ve been on the countdown for my little old hospital stay and as a result I’ve been stitching up a storm during those times when I can’t sleep.

Last year I bought the McKenna Ryan pattern – Faith, and made it as a mounted block for our darling grand-daughter, Faith. Well, as many of you know we were blessed with another grand-daughter and a baby sister for Miss Faith. Miss Taylor didn’t have a mounted block with her name on it and not being all that artistic I got hold of another McKenna Ryan pattern, did a few alterations and taa daa, a mounted block for little Miss Taylor.

When putting on the dragonfly I wasn’t totally happy with the ‘strength’ of colour that I had used but by then it was too late and I had already stuck it down. What was I to do to tone this flipping colour down? Well, I turned to a type of ribbon that I sell in the shop. I often tell customers that it makes great ‘fairy wings’ as it can be cut and it doesn’t unravel, plus, it’s great adding that extra touch of dimension. Soooo, I cut some of it to shape and then blanket stitched it over the wings. The ribbon looked like veins within the wings and I think looks pretty darned cool.

So now, I’m all done for the time being, each grand baby has their name done, including our eldest one Hannah.

So I’ll sign off for a few days and be back about Monday or Tuesday.

hugs

Made in Memory of

2011-03-10T18:18:00.001-08:00

Today I had the pleasure of watching a caring, sensitive member of our By Hoki Quilters group complete a small but very meaningful project. You see way back last year, 19th November to be exact, there was an awful mining accident at Pike River.

Pike River is just north of Greymouth on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. 29 Miners lost their lives at that mine and many families lost Dads, sons, partners and heroes.

Sue, a member of our quilting group, is close to one of the families involved and wanted to make a memorial for the two year old son to have of his Dad.

Using photo transfer paper and carefully selecting fabric that suited the lost Dads hobbies Sue set about to make a cushion. Something that could be there all the time, something that could be cuddled and treasured.

Sue chose a photo of the young boys Dad that also showed his Dad’s dog , as he had recently had to deal with the loss of that too.

I think Sue made a fabulous job of her pillow and I know I’m going to be in so much trouble from Sue for showing a photo of her, but credit where credit is due I say, what an awesome job she made and check out the fantastic label too.

Good on you Sue, I’m proud to have such a lady in our group that I can call a friend.

hugs

Woo Hoo, Another One Bites The Dust

2011-03-07T01:25:00.001-08:00

Don’t you just love OPAM?

I’m going to be preoccupied for a week or so soon and knew I needed to get something done for OPAM for March so I went through my well endowed bundle of ‘to do’s, most of which I store in their own pizza boxes, and found the ‘bits’ for the wee beauty “ Mmmm, Berry Nice”.

I started this one ages ago and carefully cut out all the contrast fabrics but hadn’t laid a blade on the focus fabric – I couldn’t! I had bought this fabric ages ago and had frequently dragged it out, stared at it, admired it and then put it away. It was/is one of those fabrics that no matter what I did with it I doubt if it was ever good enough. Well the day came when I just sucked it up got the rotary cutter, complete with new blade, and just went for it, ever so carefully of course – I didn’t want to waste a single strip of it. Eventually 12 tri colour blocks were stitched, there was no going back now!

So here it is, done, quilted and bound, another one for OPAM. Thanks Peg and Kris.

Tis The Season and the Reason

2011-02-27T21:21:00.001-08:00

By now I should really be packing up the new and freshly washed sleep wear, toiletries and of course a little stitching to take into hospital with me, however this afternoon I received a phone call that told me the operation has been deferred to goodness knows when. This news was no real surprise as the hospital I will be going into is in Christchurch. Poor Christchurch, the city that has been hit for a second time with a major earthquake.

So what do I do now? Well, what about getting stuck into the SAL ‘Tis The Season’ as organised by Chookyblue? I’ve been moaning and groaning to her that I need something to do and now I can get started in just a couple of days – yeah. All are drawn up, ready to go.

Thank you to all of you that sent your good wishes for a speedy recovery, I’ll just stash those away for when I do get the operation done *wink*.

hugs

Saying It Like I t Is

2011-02-24T00:36:00.001-08:00

While talking to our eldest daughter tonight, Anthea shared a passage that she had written to send out to others in the organisation that she works in. I thought it needed to be shared with even more people and of course that meant sharing it with my blogging family.
"The whole of the country is mourning the loss of the iconic garden city which has so beautifully archived our nations history and our ties to the British Empire. Much of the gothic architecture which defined the city will soon become a memory; until then it remains yet another obstacle hampering relief efforts in the city. The grieving process has only just started as the full impact of this cruel twist of Mother Nature is realised. As the body count rises the two degrees of separation we Kiwis are known for spreads the reach of this grief far and wide. We have all heard of much tragedy over the last few days, but also of inspirational stories of survival and hope."
Anthea, those are beautiful words, well written and so full of compassion. Thank you for letting me share them.
hugs

Kia Kaha, Stay Strong Canterbury

2011-02-21T22:33:00.001-08:00

So Mother Nature has thrown another hissy fit and yet again Christchurch and in fact all of Canterbury has been hit hard with yet another strong earthquake. My heart and those of many, many others goes out to all the displaced people, those that are injured, grieving family members, in fact everyone who has been affected by the earthquake including all my family members and dear, dear friends, some of which I haven’t been able to make contact with yet due to telephone overloading and lines down.

As the time draws near for my hospital stay (which happens to be in Christchurch – but we just wont go down that tale yet), sleep is very scarce. Yep, I’m tired enough but as soon as I get into bed the old brain starts ticking over – ho hum. So, what is a girl to do??? Yep sew. This little Hunter Star quilt is one using one of the tools that Kerry Glen demonstrated the other week back. Another finish for OPAM, sorry Peg, you were right, I did make something else for this month, LOL.

hugs

Flipped Out

2011-02-19T15:30:00.001-08:00

Waa hoo, another finish for OPAM!
Do pre purchased Layer cakes count as part of your stash cos if they do I can honestly claim that this little sweety, ‘Flipped Out’, was made entirely from my stash?
I’ve never made this block before and if it wasn’t for a friend displaying a quilt with the same block I wouldn’t have. Hers looked really warm and ‘homey’ so with that thought hanging around in the back of my head I wanted to give it a good – easy peasy. Even the quilting was a ‘doddle’ to do, just straight lines with lots of corners – no worries. I added a few prairie points in one corner, again something I’ve never done before and again super easy.
Woo hoo, another finish for OPAM and something to keep me busy while I wait for Chookyblue’s SAL, ‘Tis the Season’ to begin.
Not long now, are your needles at the ready?

Some ‘Me’ time to work on OPAM

2011-02-14T21:58:00.001-08:00

Tuesday is my only day off so when I asked DH if he wanted to meet me for lunch and was turned down, followed by DD2 turning me down as she had to go ‘out’ I was more than a bit ‘miffed’ but rather than feeling sorry for myself I cranked up the stereo, turned on the fan in my sewing room, lit a scented candle and gave the sewing machine a jolly good run.

A week or so ago I started making these dear wee blocks using a Robyn Pandolph selection of fabric. I had no idea what I was making but I just kept making them.

Well today I decided enough was enough so they got sashed, sandwiched and quilted and now bound. Yeah, another finish for OPAM.

Just by the by, it’s amazing just how good the bright sunlight makes the colours look compared to the overhead fluro lights in my sewing room.

Now what else can I get stuck into???

Have a great day

hugs

What a great few days.

2011-02-13T21:38:00.001-08:00

This blogging world that we are all part of makes the Earth a very small place but our circle of friends enormous.

You may, if you follow me regularly, remember my new infatuation with Japanese Taupe's. Deb and Darlene from over the ‘hills’ in Christchurch have both contributed to my growing stash and on Saturday, mail from Melanie in the UK added to my stash with an even greater selection of precious pieces that are just perfect for applique. Thank you so much Melanie, I’ll clear a couple of UFO’s then I think the time will be right for some hand work.

Now for something totally different…

Last Friday we here at the shop were very lucky to host Kerry Glen from Fast Patch. Kerry supplies many of us with block templates, rulers, stencils, marking tools and really high quality batik fabric which she sources personally from Indonesia twice a year.

Kerry kept a shop full of ladies, some of whom travelled over an hour to get here, in the palm of her hands for well over a couple of hours as she introduced templates and tools, block designs and layouts inspiring and motivating all in front of her. The ooohs and aaahs sure fire reasons for me to up my stock, including the batiks that all of Kerry’s quilts are made from.

With classes already requested I can see that I am going to be a tad busy creating class samples, watch out on OPAM.

Have a lovely week everyone

The Pitter Patter of Tiny Feet

2011-02-07T22:55:00.001-08:00

We live in a very rural part of Hokitika, actually we live 6km north of Hokitika up a long road and nestled in a spot surrounded by native bush. It’s a lovely spot and most days are started with the sound of native birds in the background. From the moment we get up and let the dogs out to do their thing ,the back door is hooked open and stays that way until bedtime. Now just opposite the backdoor is the door to my sewing room which is always open , so when someone turns up for a cuppa or better still for the shop I can see them from my sewing machine.

The other day I was having a great days sewing, I was totally ‘in the zone’. Behind me I heard a muffled thump, nothing major but enough to make me look around. Now, if you are squeamish don’t carry on reading – OK, you’ve been warned!
I found myself eyeball to eyeball with a bush mouse! This brown thing must have been awwww, all of 3 inches long then there was it’s tale!!!!!
Now why would a mouse want to come and live in my sewing room, there’s no food there for it and although we have had the odd ‘visitor’ before there was nothing for this one or so I thought.
Take a look at this, yep it’s soap! It’s a specialty soap a dear friend of mine gave me – she’s into trying new things and wanted my opinion on this soap. I never did get around to opening it so popped it on the drawers in my sewing room along with other treats I had been given by friends. Well, will you look what the crafty mouse did. Yeah, it’s porridge soap, but still soap and the flipping mouse ate the blooming stuff!!!
Now, onto something a lot less wordy and February's contribution for my OPAM count. Another cross stitch, Polly wally doodle. I was drawn to this one as the bird in it looks like the Pukeko, a native bird of NZ. I got carried away again, and beaded all the little dots around the words.

Oooops, I said the 30th didn’t I???

2011-01-30T11:08:00.001-08:00

Is it really the 31st?? Really!!! Oh gosh I am so sorry I said I would draw the name out for little Miss In The Pink on the 30th. I’m sure somewhere in the world it’s still the 30th.

Well without further to do…….. the winner is Vicki from The Pickle dish Patch. Vicki was unable to leave a comment on my blog, blogger just wouldn’t let her but she did manage to get hold of me through Facebook. And…. this very talented lady just happens to be a member of Gum Tree Design – how cool is that? What goes around, comes around.

Vicki, can you please e-mail me with your snail mail address so I can get this little lady off to you? Ta?

thank you to those that took the time to advertise the appeal for the flood victims, hopefully we can get lots of goodies off to those that need them.

hugs

Knock knock… who’s there???? OPAM calling.

2011-01-28T19:36:00.001-08:00

The postie dropped by this afternoon with a couple of little birdies from another little birdie way over the hill in Lyttleton. Miss Darlene has been busy I feel as it was only this morning that I left a comment on Shiree’s blog http://therowantree.co.nz/ , about the delightful little blackboard that Miss Darlene had sent her. Then blow me down, the postie had one for me also just look here on the right isn’t it cute? Just look at the free bird too, just way too cute. Thank you so much Miss Darlene what a lovely surprise you gawjus wee thing. Mwah.

And now for something completely different – OPAM. Wahoo we have started another OPAM year and am I the only one that seems to be on some sort of a roll with finishing things??
First of all I got this little beauty done
Then I managed to get this other one finished too and then there was a fun cross stitch that finally got some fabric and quilting added to it. As if all of these weren’t enough I rummaged through my smaller UFO pile (yep, I have them in varying sizes) and found the following two stitcheries that are now finished. Whew, no wonder I’m a tad tired, all this finishing really takes it out of a girl and I still haven’t managed to sort out my sewing room – oh well, that can wait for another day (or month, or year). So how’s your OPAM total coming along?
hugs

Glacial exploration, sorry it’s photo heavy.

2011-01-27T23:52:00.001-08:00

This last week poor DH has had his tranquillity at home shattered with a houseful of our daughters and grand-daughters. Not only did eldest DD come home for a week but eldest GD came to stay too. Then most of the time youngest DD was here too with number 2 and 3 GD’s. Although he made the odd mumbling comments about a house full of women I think just quietly he enjoyed the pampering that ended up his way.

Eldest DD lives in our capital city, Wellington and hasn’t spent much time on the West Coast and with the weather being so kind to us we thought a trip to show off Franz Josef Glacier was in order.

The West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island is a beautiful yet untamed massive stretch of under populated land. Our trip took us just over 1 1/2 hours and in that time we came across less than a dozen cars but boy did we go around some corners and by the end of the trip there I was well and truly sick of seeing nothing but local bush. These photo’s , of which there are plenty, I took at regular intervals, mainly to break the boredom of the trip.

Eventually there was more than the bush in view and a hint of snow began to peep out through the clouds so we knew that the glacier was nearby.

Yep we had finally made it to Glacier Country and a much needed coffee stop was ordered.in the Franz Josef township, What an mazing view to have while sipping a long flat white – yummm.

The glacier itself I was kind of under whelmed with. I understand what it is and how old it is but the truth is it’s just an ice river and some of the local scenery impressed me more. I mean just look at the reflection photo- simply awesome and the colours in the ice are just stunning.

In saying that, we’ve done the tourist thing and been to see it so that is something else crossed off the ‘bucket list’.

I hope for those of you having your holiday time now, you are able to experience something new.

hugs to all

p.s. don’t forget to get in the draw for the little Sunbonnet Sue give away.

New Beginnings on Australia Day

2011-01-25T21:47:00.001-08:00

I’m not part of a huge or even large quilting group, instead I’m part of a small group of like minded ladies that I really enjoy the company of. These ladies all have different talents and abilities and each one is very different in personality from the other but what these great ladies do have is a ‘can do’ attitude and a huge amount of empathy. So when I mentioned The Gum Tree Designers appeal for flood victims, New Beginnings, the girls didn’t hum and ha, instead they said “when are we going to do it?”

Today is Australia Day, what better day could we choose to start making a selection of sewing caddies as our contribution to the New Beginnings appeal. We were really lucky to gain another sewer when Rachel from ’A Patch Of Country’, in Kaikoura joined in to grow the number of finished caddies.

Only a few caddies got to the finished stage by the end of the day, the others have been taken to various homes to have the hand sewing done. By this time next week we should have a respectable amount to mail off to The Gum Tree ladies.

All in all a very Australian Day.

hugs

Miche’le

Sunbonnet Line Up

2011-01-19T22:59:00.001-08:00

So here they are revealed, my little line up of Sue’s all in their sun bonnets. Are they not just sooo cute? Added to that they are mostly in those beautiful Japanese Taupes that I have just started to collect. So here they are in order from left to right… Miss Darlene, Miss Nic, Miss Deb, Miss Shiree , ‘In The Pink” and Miss BHQ.
Now, if you were reading this properly you would have noticed that there is one little Sue that doesn’t have a proper name. She’s a honey and has slightly pink tonings and stands at just over 10 cms tall. Now the reason for highlighting her is… she is free to a good home but there are a couple of conditions that need to be followed before she can be given to a lovely fellow blogger. The first condition is that whoever wants to give Sue a new home must be a follower of this blogspot and secondly… look over to the right there, can you see the pink flower on the New Beginnings button? Good. Well, you need to put this button onto your blogspot and link it back to the Gum Tree Designers and their appeal .
That’s all, oh and let me know in a message that you have done both then your name can go in the draw for little Miss In The Pink. I’ll draw a name on the 30th January.
Good luck

Can You Guess?

2011-01-17T21:08:00.001-08:00

I love doing this secret squirrel stuff that we all take part in from time to time. The only thing is I just can’t help myself I always need to share just a wee bit of what I’m up to.
Even just a sliver exposed builds the thrill of the disclosure, even just an insy winsy tiny bit can make it all sooo much fun, really.

Now, I’m not one to kiss and tell but hands up if you think you know what I’m up to – tee hee.
hugs

Just A Quickie Before I Go

2011-01-13T20:08:00.001-08:00

Woo hoo, I’m on a roll. Here’s another finish – please note Pam and Kris (the OPAM sheriffs).

This quilt is for number one Grand-daughter, Hannah. Hannah is nearly 12 and I thought this would look great on her bed at Grand-ma’s house.

Bright colours aren’t really my ‘thing’ but I’m quite please with these ones, sadly they haven’t photographed too well. That bright teal is in actual fact a strong turquoise and the yellowy green is fluro green. But what the heck, I hope you get the idea.

Now I’ve got to go, Miss Deb is coming here tomorrow and I can’t have her seeing my sewing room in the state it’s in at the moment(oh, the shame of it). So you know what I’m about to do, toodles every one.

By the way, I hope you are all getting stuck into to making sewing pouches for our slightly damp sister quilters in Oz, our love goes to all of them that have been affected by the floods across ‘the ditch’.

hugs

Little ‘Blackbird’ Stockings

2011-01-09T01:23:00.001-08:00

I know I should really be completing the embarrassingly huge amount of UFO’s that I have but I just can’t help myself, you see last year I let my fingers do the walking and bought a number of cross stitch patterns on line. Well, I shouldn’t just sit and look at them should I? The least I can do is start them, “oh no, more UFO’s” she cries. But in this case I got totally hooked and managed to get a few of these little stockings finished. Blackbird Designs have them for each month of the year. I don’t know if I’ll do that many but I do think I’ll do more.

Now the other embarrassing thing is that I didn’t realise that I had left the basting stitches in until I took the photo – oops.

Anyway, I think they are kind of cute, totally useless, but non the less cute. So now what does one do with them and how do you display them??

I hope you are all having fun stitching into the New Year

hugs

My First Finish For The New Year

2011-01-04T00:54:00.001-08:00

I’m a huge fan of applique and piecing combined and when you add ‘scrap’ to that combination, well… perfection. So When Kim Diehl books started appearing in our shops a few years ago I made sure that I collected them all. Collecting the books and getting the fabrics for each project has been a lot quicker that completing each individual project. This one I’ve called “Not the real Diehl” as I have done ‘my thingy’ to it. Kim's designs are just sooo lovely, and already I have the next one calling me to start it.
The quilting of this is not my best work, for some reason I just couldn’t get it right and spent almost as much time unpicking as I did sewing, but it’s finished and where is OPAM when I need it? LOL
On to the next UFO,
Happy New Year everyone
hugs

2010, A year of lessons.

2010-12-30T19:07:00.001-08:00

As we all are coming to the end of this year my thoughts have been drawn to experiences that will define the year.

I have learnt that solitude can be lonely, yet motivating . That a day can be as long as you want it to be as long as you don’t look at the clock. That exercise can be routine and that you don’t have to enjoy it. That there are people on this earth ready to pick you up when you are down and yet others that just want to push you down to promote themselves.
I have learnt that unconditional love often has conditions and that friends don’t always accept you for what you are despite what is professed, yet other friendships grow as a result of what and who you are. I’ve learnt that you can only please some of the people some of the time and that a plan ‘B’ is always a good thing to have on stand by.

But the best thing that I have learnt this year is to accept myself as I am. I am me, friend, wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, quilter, domestic goddess (well, sometimes), teacher and learner and blogger. You my blogging friends helped me get through a trying year, you have been there day and night, offered advice from near and far and become part of who I am, thank you all, mwah!!!
2010 has been a year I would rather forget yet look at the lessons I have learnt.

…and that 2011 is a year of fulfilment and joy for each and everyone of you.
many hugs

SSCS, guess who

2010-12-24T22:09:00.001-08:00

This was my first time with Chookyblues’ SSCS but making and sending my parcel across the Tasman was really exciting and I truly hope my secret partner enjoyed and liked her ornament and the gifts I so enjoyed making.

I was very very lucky, my SSCS partner had obviously done her home work and even the Christmas ornament was in just my type of style, have a look here, isn’t it just lovely? I did think about putting it up on a wall as it’s a lovely wee garland, but chose the tree instead and I think it looks just great there. Look at the word on the star in the middle, our own Miss Faith thought the star in the middle was just for her. Speaking of who, look at the little Miss herself all grown up, what a doll.

Now I do have a bit of a problem with the lovely lady who sent me the decoration and other gifts, the only indication I have as to who sent the gifts are initials – so I did a little detective work and think my partner was Julz G, I hope I have that right and don’t offend anyone. Anyway, Julz if it was you thank you soooo very much, if it was someone else, thank you too but please let me know who you are.

OK, now I was very good and kept my gifts under the tree until this morning so here are the treasures that I received. Firstly a great cushion done in applique and stitchery. Just look at the wee bugs aren’t they sooo cute?

Then, this is where the homework was really done… the most gorgeous little coffee mug complete with two cappuccino sachets. check out the inside of the mug, there is even a dear wee rose there, so precious and so delicate all complete with its own fab selvedge coaster and cute little hat box.

Then… my dear secret friend supplied a little pattern to keep me busy through the seasons until this time next year.

Now, how’s that for being spoilt??

Thank you so much my secret friend and Chookblue, thank you again for organising such a great swap – so when do we sign up for the next one? LOL.

I hope you all have had or are in the process of having a wonderful Christmas surrounded by family and friends may the year ahead be full of good health, comfy wealth and lots of quilts.

Merry Christmas

hugs

Celtic Woman / Chloe Agnew - ''O Holy Night''

2010-12-22T22:04:00.000-08:00

This must be what it sounds like in heaven at Christmas time. Take a moment and listen to the angels sing. hugs Miche'le

Oh flip, I’ll start at the very beginning, it’s a very fine place to start…

2010-12-21T23:04:00.001-08:00

Ha ha, I know you now have a certain tune playing through your mind haven’t you??

It’s a story that took about a week to create and now I’ve discovered that life took over, Christmas is here in a couple of days and I can’t push the ‘pause’ button.

Maybe this should be called ‘Having my head in the clouds’ as that is where our story begins. You see I had a surgeons appointment in Christchurch. Now that is a three and a half hour trek to the other side of the Alps so Mr BHQ and I took of early with plans to do a bit of last minute Christmas shopping. Less than half way over the pass we were delighting in the beauty of the scenery and then as if someone had heard our conversation we rounded a sharp corner and were met with thick low clouds. Slowly, slowly we carried on, certainly not at the speed that we would usually race to the other side. Four hours later we crawled into Christchurch, desperate for a decent cup of coffee and the usual pit stop.

Now the reason for the surgeons visit is on going pain following surgery over two years ago to my ankle where a couple of rather large pins were inserted, so masses of walking just doesn’t come easily for me. Mr BHQ thought he knew the best place for coffee which just happened to be at almost the opposite end to where the pit stop amenities were. This blooming mall must have been at least 5km long (well it felt like it) OK so that’s a bit over the top, but the blooming thing just went on and on. Why can’t men just go with the flow instead of thinking they know it all?

With 15 minutes to spare before the pre appointment x-ray I discovered the cutest little shop that sells coffee and quilts and especially Japanese Taupe fabrics – waa hoo. So, being rather reserved and knowing that there was very limited time left I only bought just a few little bits. Now aren’t they just gorgeous??? The best thing is I now know where this shop is and as Arnie said “I’ll be back”.

We made the x-ray appointment and then straight on to the surgeon. My appointment was for 4-15p.m. Another man thing – huh, we got in to see him closer to 5. Anyway the upshot of that was there is to be more surgery – we’ll chat about that much later but not today.The race home was to begin. Both of us were now very thirsty and hungry so called into the the afore mentioned mall to visit McDonalds for a takeaway. This time I led the way, at a hobble of course and Mr BHQ just had to fall in line – yeah, I won!!

So that was the 16th, we got home close to 10p.m. and really needed a good sleep. The 17th had FIL and BIL arrive on the early flight to stay for a few days. Joy!! I truly love my FIL and was so pleased to see him and how he is progressing following a stroke early this year. Domestic goddess/super heroine is how I was starting to feel, cooking, cleaning, serving in the shop every moment was filled in.Yesterday all visitors left, the house got cleaned, laundry done and I even managed to get a bit of sewing done.

Today I finally got to get out in the car and collect a few groceries – yeah, freedom at last! While loading the groceries in to the car boot I discovered the gifts and Christmas cards we had planned to post while in Christchurch over a week ago – OH NOOOOOO!!! Stop the world I need a rewind all our gifts etc. just aren’t going to make it in time – oh flip.

I hope all of your plans are going much better than mine

hugs

A Quilt Not Forgotten

2010-12-08T01:24:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I received an e mail that was titled ‘ A quilt Not Forgotten’. I didn’t recognise the sender but took a risk and opened the e mail. The writer of the e mail said that a few years ago she attended an exhibition and remembered talking to me about one of my original designs, Jacobean Therapy. I had made the quilt while recovering from a touch of PTSD after one of my pupils had ‘bashed’ me. The Jacobean style was one which I was familiar with and because this entire quilt was hand stitched and quilted with mostly hearts I found it slowly helped heal my thoughts with each stitch, hence it’s name.

Jacobean Therapy never won any major award but has received special mention at one quilt show for the hand quilting (I’m quite proud of that).

Anyway, back to the story. The writer wrote that at the time she really wanted to buy the quilt but she and her husband were in a rush and I didn’t have an ATM or the like close by. So the lady and her husband left me feeling really rather pleased with the lovely compliments I had just received.

Well as I said that was a few years ago and I had forgotten the whole episode until the e mail arrived. Well… over the last couple of weeks there have been many emails and today a bank draft arrived. Woo hoo, my therapy is going over the seas to live in Montreal – how exciting!! If only I could take it there personally.

I hope you have a great day and find solace in your stitching when needed.

hugs

Christmas Corner at BHQ

2010-12-05T22:06:00.001-08:00

Now all we need is a little fat man with a red suit. Walk through the door and the heady Christmas scent draws you in.

Someone help me please!

2010-12-05T16:12:00.001-08:00

I make no secret of the fact that me and technology don’t get along – in fact it’s a love hate relationship. I love it when it works and hate it when it doesn’t – fair enough I think.

My problem is, whenever I want to get onto my blogspot and then onto my dashboard the thingy at the top of the page that says sign etc. has disappeared!

That was my front door to my blog spot, so how do I get it back. At the moment the only way to get to my dashboard is by the back door – in other words I go onto a blog belonging to someone else and sign in from there.

Come on you lot, you are all so very clever surely one of you can help me, please, I don’t like sneaking in the back door.

hugs

Going dotty and then there’s OPAM

2010-11-27T18:02:00.001-08:00

Recently I had the fortune to be introduced to Japanese taupe's and if you haven’t tried sewing with them do – they are superb to handle, soft and smooth and even better to stitch with. Well, having my own little quilt shop has allowed me the right to select fabrics to sell, so as soon as the taupe's were available I managed to get a few to go on the shelves. These really are gorgeous and sadly the photo just doesn’t do them justice, hey, they are so good even the reverse looks great.

Another pile of fabric crept its way through the doors this week too – all dots. Some pink ones, some green ones, mauve ones and red ones, then there’s dark greens, dark reds, cerise and brown. Big ones and small ones and some that aren’t quite round.

Then we move onto the beautiful Charm packs that followed their big relations the FQ’s, through the doors. So it’s all been pretty busy here, stacking the shelves and getting ready for the tourist season to begin.

In between folding, rolling and stacking I managed to get a few more Christmas decorations made, some lovely quilted baubles and a little finish for OPAM. They are so easy to make that I think I’ll just keep adding them to my stash.

Well a new week is almost with us, last week was awful and there have been so many kind people that have given up themselves and their sympathies to the families of the Pike River 29. Let us hope that day by day life will get easier for those left behind.

Have a wonderful week, hugs

Remember to hug the ones you love–daily

2010-11-24T18:41:00.001-08:00

Yesterday the part of the world that we call home was rocked to its core and the rest of the country and then the world got rocked too.

The Pike River Mine disaster was a coal mining accident that began on 19 November 2010 in the Pike River Mine, 46 kilometres (29 mi) northeast of Greymouth, in the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island. A first explosion occurred in the mine at approximately 3:30 pm (NZDT, UTC+13). At the time of the explosion 31 miners were present in the mine. Two miners managed to walk from the mine; they were treated for moderate injuries and released from hospital later that day. The remaining miners were believed to be at least 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) from the mine's entrance.^[1]

Following a second explosion on 24 November at 2:37 pm, the 29 remaining miners are believed to be dead.^[2] Police Superintendent Gary Knowles, the man in charge of the rescue operation, said he believed that "based on that explosion, no one survived".^[3] It is New Zealand's worst mining disaster in 96 years, and the nation's worst loss of life as the result of a single event since the 1979 crash of Air New Zealand Flight 901.

I decided to copy the above text from a news site as I am very aware of how much sadness could be caused by the wrong information being shared.

The West Coast has a reputation of having a family that stretches its entire length and when some thing like this happens everyone is affected. At the time of the news of the second explosion I was at the hair dressers (yep, a new look, but I’ll share that another time), the young lass washing my hair shed more than one tear and the rest of the staff and customers suddenly became very, very quiet. I knew I was witnessing something that I would remember for life and the event that caused it. My heart goes out to all the families and to those that worked towards trying to get a better outcome.

Go and hug someone you love today.

Christmas Quilt Show 2010

2010-11-16T01:35:00.001-08:00

Sew Cal Gal is hosting a fantastic Christmas Quilt Show over on her blog. I’ve decided to enter a quilt I made last year.
I really enjoyed making this quilt, especially all of the applique and then I really got carried away with the embellishing. I didn’t get to have it on display last year – but this year it will have pride of place on the wall. The original design for this quilt was produced by the talented Kim Diehl, I just fudged a few things.

Pop over to sewcalgal and check out some amazing festive quilts, you wont be disappointed.
hugs

New Patterns and more OPAM finishing

2010-11-13T17:40:00.001-08:00

Designing quilts and wot nots can be really frustrating at times, especially if you are writing the pattern to go with it. I’m not sure how others work but I end up making two of what ever project I am working on. Usually the first one is accompanied by just a few notes that include basic measurements, then I start writing the pattern and creating the second sample so that photo’s and refining can be done.

Over the last year I’ve put together a number of samples for patterns and copious amounts of notes and photos but due to goodness knows what I’ve only got three of them published. The first this year was ‘Oh, My Stars’, she’s a pretty little quilt, just 25” square and a great little number to use up scraps and learn about the use of colour values. While it uses a simple basic nine patch and a snowball block it is a great pattern for honing ones skills when matching seams.

Following ‘Oh, My Stars’ I put together a “Quarter Quilts’ version of my original ‘Stepping Stones’ pattern. Again like the previous quilt, this one is 25” square and again it’s great for using up all of the scraps we stash, plus it’s a really nice little quilt for teaching machine ‘raw edge’ applique – and… you quilt it as you applique it. Now how easy is that?

The third of the three I’ve published this year is a little folly. ‘A Little Boot for Mrs Claus’ is made from felt, is stuffed halfway and made as a tree ornie. It’s one of those little things you can have fun embellishing and is just as easy to make by hand or machine. With each pattern comes a piece of red felt large enough to make one boot just in time for Christmas.

Recently, as many of you know Christchurch suffered a huge earthquake. On the day of the earthquake friends of ours were getting married in Darfield. A place close by Christchurch that I believe was the epicentre of the earthquake. Well, our poor friends wedding went ahead, sort of. I mean they did get married but the after function was restricted. Anyway, last night we attended a delayed ‘after match function’ for the now long married couple. They had a lovely party that they held in their old villa. I wanted to make them something original and oldish looking. So I tea dyed some old bridal satin and then stem stitched a small saying and design on it. Quilting was done with very tiny pearls and I then pressed it ‘face down’ on a towel to give it a wrinkled appearance. Anyway, this is what it ended up like and just quietly I’m quite pleased with it, plus, it’s another OPAM finish – yeah!

I hope you are all having as much fun stitching, as I am stitching at the moment.

hugs

Secrets and hides

2010-11-07T19:54:00.001-08:00

Oh my goodness me, just a few weeks now until Christmas and although I have been really busy sewing I can’t show you what I have been stitching,as like every thing else at this time of the year – it’s a secret!

What I can show you are the beautiful sunsets that glow over me as I sit hand stitching in the evenings. Aren’t the colours just amazing and I didn’t even have to edit them at all?

Then I can show you a bit of some of the fabric I’ve been using on one of my secret squirrel projects. I sure hope my secret partner likes it.

Another secret or two(from DH that is) that I can show you is some of the ‘buys’ that just jumped out of the laptop at me. Firstly there is a whole lot of Blackbird Designs patterns, followed by some more – some of which I’ve already stitched up. Aren’t those little stockings so sweet? I have a few more of the stocking patterns on back order. I’m starting to notice that all my buys are for cross stitch!!! How can that be? I’m a quilter! But that’s just reminded me – I need more 30ct linen.

Then – you can tell DH has been on many late shifts by the amount of on-line purchasing I’ve made, LOL. I remembered some thread sticks I saw at the Quilt and Craft Fair a couple of months back. So I managed to track them down .

Now, as I said these are all secrets from DH – he’s not to know, OK?

Goodness me, just rolling back over this is shocking. But what you do need to realise is that these weren’t all bought at once, I did pace myself over time. Now I just need another twelve hours in every day to get them and all my quilts done in my life time.

Happy stitching everyone

hugs