SSCS gifts

Now that the dust has settled on our Christmas celebrations I want to share the beautiful gifts given to me by Cheryl in the SSCS exchange organised by Chookyblue and her very able assisant Googy girl.  In my last post I showed you the sweet little angel ornament Cheryl stitched for me and here is my beautiful Christmas stitchery piece, isn't it lovely?  I love the pretty variegated thread Cheryl has used, and the festive fabrics too.  Not only did Cheryl give me some of her beautiful stitching, but she also gave me a kit for another of Marg Low's cute Santa ornaments, I've seen some of these around blogland lately and they are lovely!  Thank you Cheryl, I have been thoroughly spoiled....

My SSCS partner was Maria in Australia, and I made her a Shepherds Bush cross stitch design into a Christmas pillow.  I made a few modifications to the pattern to make it the right size and shape.  I included a hexagon bag pattern and a few fabrics for Maria, a little blog spying told me that not only did she like the colour purple but she was a hexie fan too!  

A big thanks to Chookyblue and Googygirl for the time and skills they put into organising this swap, it's the only one I've participated in every year since I started this blog, and I love it, it wouldn't seem like Christmas morning without my SSCS parcel to open!  

Well the year is rapidly drawing to a close, I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope all good things come to you in 2014.  We are going camping with friends for a couple of nights to see the New Year in, so I will see you all again early in 2014.......... till then, take care ...... Nicky xxx

A Winning Week

Earlier this week our Miss 10 had some exciting mail all the way from the Land of Oz.. We were lucky enough to win one of 5 lovely bags that Fiona of BubzRugz was giving away.  And Miss 10 was doubly excited to receive chocolate too!  Thank you Fiona for such a lovely gift, she has stashed a few treasures into it already.......

My winning streak continued yesterday when I won a wonderful giveaway from Linda at Razzle Dazzle Quilter.  I have won the clever quilting skills of Linda who will long arm quilt a top for me, isn't that such a generous gift......Thank you Linda.....

So far this week I have worked on a variety of projects, I quilted and bound my little Ruby quilt for Chookyblue's Caring with Quilts bushfire appeal.  Just need to make and attach a label and it will be on it's way......     This was a great pattern called Between Charming Friends which I found here, and was originally designed by Darlene.  

I made Block 7  & 8 from the FQS Designer Mystery Block of the Month.......... this is Block 7 'Moonlight Serenade', designed by Sandy Gervais...........

......... and Block 8 'Lime Sherbet', designed by Bonnie Olaveson and Camille Roskelley.........

 ......... and I started making some of the Flying Geese units that make up the sashing that will finish this quilt. 

I have also started the Stitch-A-Long project for February, which is a tote bag from Natalie Birds Red Home Book, this is the beginning of the stitchery panel,.  I'm stitching in green, which is something a little different for me!

Last night I stitched the little tulips miniblock in the top right of this block from my Leanne's House BOM.  Leanne and I have been stitching along together once a week on this project(in the virtual way only as we live in different countries with different timezones ..... lol) and I have found it very motivating to know that someone else is getting on with it too.  Thanks Leanne!

So you can see it's been a busy sewing week mixed in with girls returning to school, working with lambs, weeding my vege garden and various other 'stuff' that is always needing done.  

I hope your week is going great, as always thanks for making it all the way to the bottom.........lol

Till next time ......... happy stitching........... Nicky x

A new year?

So have you heard the news, we're in a new year already.......... I only just got the memo....lol.  I didn't intend to take this long to return to the blog, but that's just how it's turned out.  I'm finding it difficult to even remember what I've been up to so far in 2013, there's been some farm work, some nurse-maiding to my ill family who all had a nasty gastro bug, lots of rain, and a little sewing and stitching.   The family are all well again, and I think I have successfully dodged it this time round!

Just prior to Christmas I had a couple of finishes that had been a long time in the making.  Firstly my block from Stitching Round the Block was finally finished into a cushion.  This is the lovely round robin block stitched on by Raewyn, Janis, Leanne/Maria(no blog) and me.  I had it returned to me over a year ago, and it has waited all that time to have me spend about 20 minutes actually making it into a cushion!!

Below is my New Couch Companion, designed by Leanne's House, which has also been a long time in the finishing!  

I have signed up for the new 2013 Stitch-A-Long where we will be making lots of small projects from 3 books, Some Kind of Wonderful, Tis the Season and Red Home.  I have finished my January task and made this little thread catcher. 

And since I made it, it's had a good workout with the trimmings of a little project I've been working on in the last few days...... hope to be back soon with something to share......

I'm not going to make any rash statements about 2013, about finishing everything I've ever started, or not buying another scrap of fabric, or not starting any new projects, because I've decided that this year I'm just going to work on whatever I'm feeling the love for!!  No setting myself up to fail before I've even begun...... yes, it will be a bonus if I do finish any old stuff and I have even been working on a couple of longstanding items recently, but I am putting NO pressure on myself outside of the Stitch-A-Long commitments I've made, and my plans to join in again with OPAM, which will be kicking off later this month.  There are a couple of new quilt alongs I've been looking at, no decisions yet, but it could be fun!  

Thanks for all the kind comments about my Gardener's Journal quilt, it has been so exciting to get it finally finished.  I hope the New Year has been a good one for you so far.......... take care and happy stitching............. Nicky x

Fairy Friends

A couple of weeks ago my littlest girl celebrated her 10th birthday.  Back when she was 4, and attending preschool I started to stitch this design by Natalie Bird for her.  The plan was to make it into a bolster cushion, but then I had all sorts of trouble with the weaveline I used wrinkling, and puckering, and I put it aside in disgust.  This issue sent me looking to fellow bloggers for help, a post which still remains one of my most visited, even now over two years later.  I decided if it was ever going to happen it would have to be very simple, so here we have it finished onto a canvas instead!  The look on her face when she opened it was priceless.  It certainly was a big surprise - she had asked me every now and then if I was ever going to finish her fairy cushion, I don't think she thought it would ever happen!

Stitchery from Fairyland book by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse

In the end, I used some starch spray and gave it another press before attaching some light batting and covering the canvas.  The starch has definitely helped the wrinkles, they are much improved ........ still a few there but I am trying not to notice them and hopefully anyone who sees them will be polite enough not to mention them ...... wishful thinking maybe!

After lots of discussion(and more than a little begging) I have agreed that my big girl could start a little blog of her own.  She is a girl who is crazy about animals and is keen to become a vet one day.  Her blog is focusing mostly on her pets and animals at the moment, but who knows where it might lead ......... maybe you might be so kind as to click through and have a little look at Farm Girl Junior....... thank you in advance from Miss FGJ and myself!  She is keen to find some blogs of other young girls similar in age or interests to her(she is 12) so if you know of any, or maybe your own daughter or granddaughter has a blog, perhaps you could leave a link either here or over at Farm Girl Junior.

I have the next four days at home on the farm, I'm finished at my off-farm job for the week, so I see lots more lamb-feeding ahead for a couple of days.  There were about 20 pets/orphans to feed tonight, so it all takes time!!

Thanks for looking.......... happy stitching......Nicky

Still here .......

Well hello, it has been quite a while since I've been here ....... again..........3 months ago today since I last posted.    So much has been happening, some good, some not so good, but I wanted to pop in and let you know I haven't fallen off the edge of the earth.

Here are some random pics from the last few months..............

Some misty winter mornings on the farm ...................

A pretty sunrise.............

This framed stitchery is called Friendship Tree by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse. I finished this in June for my best friends birthday. It was a lovely little piece to stitch, and I got the co-ordinating frame when we were in Australia earlier in the year.  I must remember to add it and another little finish from May(which is currently in transit) to my August OPAM finishes as I haven't 'finished' anything since February :-( 

I love the little wooden buttons that came in the kit, aren't they gorgeous?

I have been trying to find some crafting time in the last couple of days, and have managed to start another new project - surprise, surprise!   Nothing like starting something new when nothing else is calling out to be stitched on......... lol.    Can you guess what pattern this little lady is from?

She is from Anni Downs recent book 'The Simple Life', and will be a little zipper pouch.  It's been such a long time since I've done any fusible web applique that I'd almost forgotten how!  I'm not sure if you can see part of my little stripey dog on the left side of the pic, he isn't coming out how I'd planned, so I will redo him in a darker colour I think.  And then I'll have to learn how to put in a zip....... don't know how that will go.

Well, now that I have bitten the bullet and actually written a post, I hope I will be able to keep it up and not be a stranger any more!  I hope you are finding some time for some stitching.................. thanks for visiting, till next time ........ Nicky

Annettes SSCS gift

With Christmas Day now all done and dusted I can share what I made for Annette in Australia,  my partner in Chookyblues Secret Santa Christmas Swap...... this table runner using Rosalie Quinlans Little Patchwork Village design, and some  pretty Strawberry Fields fabric.

Annette has a lovely blog - Jindis Cottage - named for her much loved kelpie, Jindi, (sometimes you would wonder though - sounds like Jindi runs the house. lol) so I added the name to the house in the middle block...............

This birdie block was fun to stitch .......................

.......... and the big house with the Christmas wreath on the door seemed appropriate for this swap.......

So Merry Christmas Annette, I hope you like it .......... this is such a fun swap to do that I'll definitely be signing up next year ................. no pressure though Chookyblue .....lol

I'll be back in a day or two with some holiday stitching ................ Nicky

Tis the Season blocks

Here are the last four of my Tis the Season blocks finished up.  Now I need to join them all together and get it finished up before the end of September so as not to be the last to finish this quilt over at the Stitch-A-Long blog where we've been stitching this since March.  I am one of the few slackers slower stitchers who still haven't finished their A Gardener's Journal quilts from last year, so I don't want to be in the same boat this time around!  In the final photo I'm showing some rather wrinkly progress of the stitchery for my final AGJ block.  I've been trying to put a few stitches in here and there so I can get it finally finished.

It's been a fairly awful week of rain, hail and cold winds, not the ideal weather for lambing, but not quite as bad as last year ....... yet.  The sun is out today though, so it would be great if it hangs around for the next few weeks at least.  

Till next time ................................. happy stitching........... Nicky

Butterfly Garden

Last July after seeing May Britt and Hanne commit to finishing their BG quilts that they had been working on for a while, I started mine with the intention of stitching one miniblock a week, so that I would be finished 81 weeks later, at the end of this year.  Well now it's nearly June and I had a paltry 9 miniblocks done.  Pathetic isn't it.  The last time I updated a finished block here was in October............ yes I do have a very short attention span...........lol.

In the last couple of weeks some girls have been working on their BG's again, so I dragged mine out to see where I was at.   Nicky..... Bec ...... and Lynda have been busy on theirs.....Lynda has now finished herquilt top and it looks amazing.   It always amazes me how different one quilt design can look in a different colour way or fabric style.  Do have a look at these ladies work, they are incredible and very inspiring.

So here are my 3 new miniblocks finished in the last week or so....................

I love the little french knot flowers on this block, very slow to stitch, but so pretty too!  Below is the block I'm working on currently, gosh there's lots of stitching in them.

Maybe you have a Butterfly Garden block or two lurking you'd like to drag out and get stitching on??  I'd love to have you join me......... but I'm not making any more rash promises on deadlines yet. lol   I'd love it if you'd leave me a comment if you are stitching or have stitched Butterfly Garden, it would be great to see some pictures if you have a blog or a link to a flickr album etc.

Thanks for the lovely comments on my Martinique runner, and for the great tips on quilting at 1/4" spacing.  You gave me lots of ideas for which I am grateful.  I hope you're having a fantastic weekend...................till next time ....happy stitching.............Nicky

Easter bunnies and birdies ........

Isn't this wee guy the cutest?  I was lucky enough to be a winner in Carol's Spring Giveaway a couple of weeks ago, and this Just Nan bunny has come all the way from Pennsylvania to live at my house.  Carol's finishing is beautiful and she has a whole lot more gorgeous bunnies she's been stitching up for Easter.  I feel SO lucky to be a winner in your lovely giveaway Carol, this is the first giveaway I've ever won, so thanks!  I don't enter many giveaways, unless it's a blog I already visit, so I feel very blessed.    It may not be spring here in NZ, but it is definitely bunny time with Easter only a day away!

My stitching from last weeks FNSI is now finished.  This is the April block for the Birdie Stitches BOM, with a cute Easter egg tree.  The tree is a little hard to pick out, maybe I should have chosen a darker green.  Sadly the cross stitch I had planned for Easter has not eventuated ...... yet!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter, we are heading away tomorrow for a few days to my in-laws, so I'll catch up again next week.

Till then.............happy stitching...................Nicky

PS:  Miss Moe - if you could email me    nickyw76 at yahoo dot com    as you are no-reply, and I will get back to you about the SB stockings.  Thanks.