Well, what a month it has been.

Bella has grown considerably but she has had a rotten time. After we sent her in for a simple girlie op, she had a reaction to the pain killers they put her on. The long weekend turned into hell for her as she had difficulty breathing and was not able to eat or drink. We thought she was a goner at the emergency vets and so did they but come Tuesday morning, she was handed back to our vet and her life became so much better. He noted the problem, and she was leaping around the lounge again with full energy by the end of the week. Here she is in her relaxed mode. I so wish I could sleep like that …

And here is my big boy Raoul.

He is not happy having a kitten in the house at all but he is not the brightest either. Have a close look to see who is sleeping on the other side of the heater. Can you see the white paws?

Yip, he never noticed that Bella had claimed the other side.

And why were they hugging the heater? Well it might have something to do with the snow.

Well I have been busy with a little sewing here and there. First, I am involved with a Row Robin. There is 6 of us from around the world and we have just started on our rows. Mine is somewhere in the USA at the moment and I get to see it again sometime around Christmas after everyone has made a row to go with it. I made this row for one of the Marty who is creating a Butterfly Garden Row quilt. Sorry, but the camera couldn't get the whole row, but I think you get the idea

I am now waiting for the next row to arrive so I can make something to go with it. I think it is the Wizard of Oz.

I was involved with Karen’s Christmas in July swap. I had a special friend deliver it for me as I was a little busy with other things. If you pop over to Deb’s blog and have a look at what she got and who delivered the present for me.

Well it was the wedding anniversary and DH and I decided a wee while ago that it was not necessary to buy a gift for this occasion. Instead, we disappear for the weekend.

We take off to here and as you can see, there is no one else around. It is a quite little bay and there is only 4 people living there. Complete quite. No TV, No internet, No cell phone coverage, just bliss

The only problem with this weekend was I arrived with the flu. Oh bother. So I sat on top of the fire all wrapped up with blankets and waited until it was time to go home on Sunday. I spent the rest of the week at home in bed. Not a stitch was stitched.

So I am now back at work for this week and then I am on holiday for 2 weeks for school break. I have a lot of stitching to do.

DD1 went to Thailand with her partner for a lovely holiday. They did there own travel arrangements and decided to book accommodation when they were there. They had a wonderful time and I think they are planning on doing again soon.

DD2 had her birthday. It was a quite day as she is pregnant with grand daughter number 2. She has had a few worries. They have found 3 tumors on her uterus. At the moment they do not appear to be interfering with bubs but it did slow down her progress. She was rather tiny and was reading 9 weeks behind on development but with a good midwife and a specialist involved, she is catching up and should be with us on time. August 17th is the planned date

DD3 has been competing in the regional Big Sing competitions. She is in a school choir called Bel Canto from Burnside High School. She is in this photo somewhere on the right but this is all the choirs that were competing for this region and as you can see, there was many beautiful voices

Last week, she was told they have made it into the Nationals and will be competing in Dunedin at the end of August. The good thing is, that the cost is only $300 for her travel, accommodation and food for 4 days. A great bargain I am thinking. But of course last month she was told that she had been accepted for School tip to Greece and Italy next year. Well the cost for that one is nearer the $9,000 mark. Still a bargain she is telling me but I see that my fabric days are over for a while. Oh well, I guess that is why we have fabric stashes.

So if you have any fundraising ideas out there, let me know. The sooner I get the money for her trips, the sooner I can buy new fabric

Till next time, happy stitching

Birthday Girl

During the weekend, it was my granddaughter’s birthday. She is now the big old age of 2.

We had a wonderful day. Here she is with the quilt I made her to keep her warm this winter. If the autumn was anything to go by, it is going to me an icy cold winter this year.

Blowing out the candles was no effort at all for her; I think her mother has been making her practice the week before hand.

We even had cupcakes

At the end of the day, you could tell she had had enough

Happy Birthday Ava

Now, where was I

Yes, where was I before I was rudely interrupted by life?
First things first, here is a few snips of the swaps I have sent away during the last month.

This is the lovely rabbit I made for someone who will not let me know if she has received her or not, and as I read her blog comments, lots of people have sent her things that she is not claiming she has so I wont tell you who she is as that would be rude but I can show you the lovely rabbit I spent hours making for her.

Here is a the Spring swap I sent away but I have just found out that it never arrived, so I am putting together another to put in the post so I am only showing a sneak peek so as not to spoil the surprise

Here is a bag I sent for a bag swap I was involved with through Snickerdoodles. It was full of little surprises. Just as all bags should be

Here is a sneak peek of a Redwork cushion I made for another swap. I can't show you the whole thing yet as I have not been told if it has been received

So as you can see, I have been rather busy stitching getting my swaps completed and sent on their long journeys.

Which brings me to a little something that upset me in the weekend. I received an email telling me that as I had not updated my blog in a while, I was being pulled from a swap that I had joined that is happening in a couple of months. As you could imagine, I was blown away. To think that I have been black listed because I am so busy with my life and family that I can not be trusted to do a swap. What really got me was the person who wanted me removed was the person who was sending to me, not the same person that I was sending too. When I commit to something – I do it, no matter what is going on. Stitching fits in the handbag but the PC, well it just won’t. So when I am sitting at the doctors waiting to hear the news of the problems my daughter has medically with her pregnancy, or while I have my 30 minute lunch break at work, or while I am concerned about my daughters wedding being cancelled because a richer person wants the venue we booked for that day and they get it, I still continue to stitch to complete my projects.

I am flabbergasted with how people believe they no what is going on with me and assume they have the right to change things on me. If only they asked?

So I apologize to you all for not updating you all with my life and I am sorry to the lovely lady I had started making the swap gift for. I am sure you will get something nice from someone, just not me.

Please note that due to the privacy act here in NZ, I have not mentioned the swap or the names of the people involved. Now that would be bad of me!!

Sorry if this appears to be a little negative but I needed to get it of my chest. Next posting will be a happier one as I am getting together some photos of the lovely swaps I have received. And then I will show you what I made at the Symposium

Til next time, Happy Stitching (and less bitching)

New people, New friends

Well I said earlier today that I had someone new to introduce you to but now I have 2. And just to make it clear, I only had to pay cash to one of them to be my friend.

First, let me introduce you to Sherry. She just joined Blog land today so she could join my PIF. Isn't she wonderful. She is a manicurist my day and a quilter by night. I wonder how much she would charge me to do my nails? It's only a 17 hour flight. I'm sure it will be worth the trip. Pop over and welcome her.

Now for the friend I did have to pay cash for. Well DD has been asking for a puppy for quite some time and we managed to tame that want of a puppy to a canary in a cage. Well that worked for awhile but the want came back. But this time it wasn't for a puppy.

Let me introduce you to Bella


She is 12 weeks old, and as loopy as they come. She has found spaces around the house that even I didn't know about. However, Raoul our 4yr old cat, is a little put out. He is not that thrilled about having an excitable kitten in the house who wants to sleep in his spot, eat his food and try to disturb his peace and quite. Poor Raoul, I am sure he will get over it.

Busy Weekend

What a busy weekend of loud music and entertainment. On Saturday, DH and I packed a picnic and our chairs and headed of to Waipara (about an hour from home) to the Pegasus Winery

to attend the Main Divide Concert. It was an 10 hour outdoor concert. The grounds were fantastic. But don't you feel sorry for the opening act? She was great but as you can see by the crowd, there were very few of us there.


But as the day went on, the crowds arrived and by night fall, the place was packed



Then on Sunday, we had our annual Street Party here in Lyttelton.

They close of the main street and set up a stage were there is live music all day and stall holders selling everything from food to woolen socks. I don't think many socks got sold, it was a stinking hot day


Well back to work to have a rest I guess. Hopefully a little stitching during the lunch break
Later today, I will have a new friend to introduce you to. Any ideas as to who she is?

Missing in Action

I am so sorry for the delay in updating my blog. No I haven't really been missing, but I have returned to work. After a wonderful 6 weeks holiday (can you guess what my career place is?) I had to return to work. I thought I would still have plenty of time for everything, but the start of a new school year is always messy.

So, I have got myself sorted out and I think I am back to normal, well as normal as one can be. Over the next few days, I will be doing some house cleaning on the blog and bring you up to date with my going ons. eg, stitching projects on the go, purchases of new quilting items, my daughters wedding coming up, a new grand child on the way and presents received in the mail. Yes, it has been busy and I do have a lot of thanking to do

Well Cheryl wanted to know what does the harbour look like today compared with my header of years gone by, well I have taken some photos of something you would not have seen in the harbour all those years ago.


This is the Regent, she was in port for 24hrs. Normally the cruise boats only stay for 12hrs. She looked lovely during the night with all her fairy lights on. She was in the Inner Harbour.

And on one of the outer wharfs, we had the Dawn Princess

During the summer season, we have on average, a cruise boat a day. Sometime 2 or as we had the other day 3 in at a time. The sight of watching them come in at 6am is just so lovely.

Till next time,
Happy Stitching

I'm making a Free Gift for you

So now I have your attention, don't run away. I am serious, I am going to make you a gift and post it to you to enjoy. I promise it's a nice gift and all you have to do is join my PIF by leaving a comment or emailing me. See really simple.

Oh you saw through that? Ok, so here are the rules. I joined Deb's PIF and now I need you to join my PIF and I will post you a lovely handmade gift. In return, all you have to do is place the PIF logo on your blog and get 3 people to join you. You have 365 days inwhich to make the gift and send it on. Now that is a whole year to think about what you want to make and get it to your players. Thats not bad and this is very easy to do.

So show me that you want to play and I will throw in a little something special just for you as well as the handmade gift all the way from New Zealand

Rag Doll Giveaway

De from Its About Annie is having a giveaway for a beautiful Annie.
Pop over and have a look

Swaps and More BOM's

Just a quickie today to let you know that there is an Easter Swap on. It closes on the 13th Feb so you have plenty of time to sign up.

And yes, there is another free BOM

Another week gone, and what have I done? NOTHING

I think I have been a little side tracked this week but I can not remember much of what I have been up to but it must have been necessary for me to do what ever it was that I was doing. I do recall going for a lovely walk with DH on Sunday morning and getting coffee after wards.

But I have been able to find the time to do Gail Pan's block

and Willowberry's block

No borders as yet, but why hurry these things?

Guess where I will be going for Easter this year?

Yes, I am of to Wellington for the National Quilters Symposium which runs for 5 days. This happens every 2 years and is always in a different location around New Zealand. My flights are booked as well as my accommodation. The only thing I have left to do now, is to collect the items I need for my classes and find the spending money for the Market Place. Only 31 merchants this year but for us NZ's, it is great to have them all in one place.
So what classes am I taking? I think I am going to be very busy.

First, I am attending a 1 day class with Gloria Loughman from Australia. I am going to attempt to achieve this wonderful Nature Landscape by just using thread. This should be fun, don't you think so too?

Second, is a 2 day class with Jenny Bowker also from Australia. Gee, if you thought Gloria's class was going to be fun, just look at this little beauty. Yes, another landscape created from a photo that I will be taking with me. I might have to do a little bit of traveling around the shore lines to get the right photo for this quilt.

Third class is also a 2 day class with Mary Transom from NZ. Mary is based in the top of the North Island and is one of the tutors I have always wanted to attend a class with but it is just such a long way to go for one of her classes. I chose this one as I have a little love of wine myself and this seems to be just a wonderful design. When I got the needs list for this one, I was a little shocked. I have to make up the background of the quilt before I get to the class and I have to have 120 grapes cut out and a little more. Oh well, nothing like a little challenge every now and again in one's life.

Is anyone else out there going to the Symposium or even attending one of these classes?

Well that's me for the moment.

Till next time,
Happy Stitching

Pressies for Me? Yahoo

A got a little gift from Deb from her travels to Australia to visit the family. Look what I got

Well for me, the bag is enough. It is a long standing joke with us. Many years ago we attended a stitching group. If someone had issues, we would respond with "It's not all about you" and everyone would laugh. During this time, Deb and I would search for items that reminded everyone that it wasn't always about them. We went away for a weekend with these wonderful ladies and Deb and I came out of our bunk room wearing slippers that read "It's all about me"
Well you could imagine the fun we had with those slippers. I now have a keyring with that saying on it and there are other items around the house just to remind me that it is all about me ... Yeah right, LOL

So lets have a look in the bag shall we?

A beautiful piece of lace and 2 Christmas fat quarters. I am so lucky. Thank you Deb.
I am a little concerned as she told me I was not allowed to cut up the lace for my craft work.
She knows how much I like using bits of old lace and doilies in my work. But I promise not to cut this one up.

Til next time,
Happy stitching

Projects This Week

Firstly, I wish to thank you all for the welcoming comments and emails I have received since joining Blog Land. You have all made me feel very welcomed.

I did get a wee reminder today from someone, telling me that "one post, does not make a blog". Well that does put the pressure on, doesn't it?

today I thought I would show you some of the projects I started on last week while on a 3 day retreat in Hanmer with a friend. It was lovely and a lot of stitching was done. Firstly I thought it was about time to start block one of the Red Delicious BOM

But why stop there when I have Block 2 as well

Well what was I going to do on Day 2? Simple really, I was asked by my daughter Samantha (aged 15) to make her a quilt. I was over the moon with this, as Sam has never wanted a quilt before except when she was 2yrs old and I have to admit, it is still sitting in the back room waiting to be finished. Oh well, that will be finished at some stage. So I was told the requirements, and here they are - brown fabrics only, and it has to be scrappy. Only BROWN? Yes she is not the usual teenager. So I had been spending the last few months hunting down brown fabrics. Not an easy task I can tell you.
So Day 2, I have the fabrics on the cutting board and away I go. Threads everywhere on the floor, blocks laid on the floor, my poor friend Cathy had to sit on her chair and hand stitch all day so she didn't get in the way. Evening comes, and I am not in any mood to put the rows together so of to bed and that will be tomorrow task I said.
Day 3, up early and ready to go again and this is the result I got

I have to tell you, I was very happy with the result. However, Sam was not. Firstly, it was to big. Sam has a queen size bed so I made one to fit. You should have seen her face when I told her that it still needed borders yet. Then she said it had orange in it. What? No honey, it is autumn brown. But no, she said is orange. Oh well, teenagers ahh? I will still finish it and it will be given to her. Hopefully when winter gets here, she will grow to love its warmth.

Right, now for the rest of Day 3. Yes I too did sign up for the Designer Mystery BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop And like everyone else, my BOMs sit here waiting to be done. Lucky for me I decided to take all 7 blocks with me. However, I only got 4 done.

Well, thats me for today. Now I am off to paint the room that will be my new craft room. Having 2 daughters move out over the last few years, has allowed me to spread myself around the house. This is not a good look so a craft room with everything in one place is being created.

Till next time,
Happy stitching

The starting of a New Year and a Blog

Well, I have finally done it. I have a very good friend Deb who has been trying so hard to get me to start a blog. Well Deb, it is a new year and I have made the big decision to start a blog. I am hoping to use this as a way to allow me to get more stitching done and keep a diary of what I have been doing. So here's hoping it works.

My header is a photo taken in the early 1900's. It was taken at the bottom of the street that I live in. In the background is the harbour that I look at every day. Isn't beautiful? I will admit that it is very peaceful. But more about that another time