Sunday, December 23, 2012

Have a wonderful Christmas...



             May you all have
                         A very
              MERRY  CHRISTMAS
                            AND
              A  Happy new year

     May all the joy and                   promise of the festive season be yours

Thank you for visiting and reading my blog during the year  and also for all the lovely comments that have been left.  They really are appreciated. 
I'm off to Sydney tomorrow to spend a few weeks with my Mum so I will be having a bloggy break.  I will be back mid January for a catch up.  Hope you all have a lovely break too.
See you all then.

Lyn X




Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Next project in the queue..

The next project that needs finishing is this one.  The stitchery part is done, the fabric is there...now I just need to cut it out, make it up and send it on its way.  Sounds easy doesn't it?? Well I will just have to see how long it takes me...

Monday, December 10, 2012

35 years on...

.... and who are the young couple in this photo from way back in 1977??  The years have just flown by (and we no longer look exactly like this any more!!!).  It doesn't feel like so many years have passed by.  We were married on a hot (very hot really as it got to 42 degrees) summer's day at Manly.   We are going out for dinner tonight to celebrate.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Christmas Mini Quilts

...sent and received.  The last mini quilt swap for the year was a Christmas one.
I received one from Sue which featured poinsettia flowers with a beaded centre.  It reminds me so much of Christmas and the poinsettia that Mum had growing in the back garden in the old family home.
Thank you Sue!
I was making for Sue, which was quite convenient because we happen to live in the same town.  My time management skills at this time of the year have been a little bit off and Sue waited patiently for my gift to her to arrive.  (I was in contact with her to let her know).  I made a Gail Pan pattern, sized for the 12 inch square that we are all making.

This time of the year is always hectic at work..and there are now just 3 days till the end of the school year.  Phew!!
I  traced out another stitchery of the basket of flowers that I made for the Spring mini quilt swap..now I have 2 weeks to stitch it as a gift for Mum before I head over to Sydney to spend Christmas with her...just the two of us.  My husband is off to see the orthopaedic surgeon tomorrow for his 6 week check up following his hip operation.  His progress is really going ahead now.
The sun is shining outside...finally...and the washing and a few chores are beckoning..so I'll get on to them and reply to some overdue emails that need my attention later today.  I haven't forgotten.  After 3 interruptions, while I have been writing this post, I'd better finish it off and get it published before there is another one.
Happy Stitching
Lyn

Sunday, December 2, 2012

It's December ...

and we are still waiting for the warm weather to arrive.  In the meantime what does..
                                        Plus
                                          Plus
                                           Plus
                                           Equal....

      Well it is a Christmas Swag ..sent by Bev as part of my SSCS 2012 gift.

I got to open it when it arrived and the other parcel is put away till Christmas day.  I just love what Bev has made me..reminds me so much of home..even though I have lived in NZ for a long time now I still think of Australia as 'home', and Bev could not have made a more perfect gift for me..Thank you so much Bev..

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Time slips by...

.....and before you know it, it is 4 weeks since my last post.  It has been a busy time here, but it should start to slow down in a few weeks and be a bit more relaxing!!!.  Some secret sewing going on and trying to meet deadlines.  I have been very lucky to have a couple of wins on giveaways..it is always exciting when the mail arrives.
From Sarah's giveaway I received this pattern by Rosalie Quinlan
 And then this lovely surprise win of the e-book for Home Sweet Quilt, when I commented on one of the blogs that was profiling Jill's new book.  I had decided that it was a book that I would just have to buy myself, as I didn't think I would be so lucky as to win one.

   My daughter and I have found the most tempting chocolate.
We were intrigued by it and thought why not give it a try.  Well the first block did not last very long at all and the 2nd block has not fared much better...
On the home front...my husband's operation went well and he has been making good progress since he got out of hospital a few weeks back.  Now that he is feeling better and is more mobile, boredom is setting in for him..he is not used to having to sit back and take it easy.  Meanwhile he has to rely on me to drive him places and I have been busy doing lots of the things that he usually does.  It will be time to do the lawns again this weekend ..oh dear..the last time it took 2 hours of pushing the lawnmower around.  The old quarter acre section gives you plenty of room around the house, but it means there is lots of grass!!!  I can understand why people want to downsize!!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

I think Spring has sprung a leak here...

The weather has been very changeable considering it is the end of October.  Grey skies, rain and cold weather seems to be the order of the day of late.
I've managed to do some more blocks for my SKOW quilt..I am going to focus on doing the applique first and then will do the stitchery parts after that.  I will get some photos up on the weekend when I have a little more time.  I don't know where the time has gone...
Just a quick post.  Life is a bit hectic at the moment.  My husband had his hip operation (at last) and we've just got back from seeing him in hospital.  Hopefully he'll be feeling a bit  better tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Mini has landed...

The Spring Mini I sent to Helen has landed on her doorstep in Australia...it's always good to know that they have arrived.  So I can now show more than the peek from the other day.  I didn't want to show too much the other day in case it was the last one to arrive and there would have been no surprise then on opening it.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Turning Tulips..

...is the name of the mini Spring Quilt I received from Danette...all the way from the USA.   We are in Cheryll's Mini Quilt Swap group.  It is just a gorgeous little quilt and I love it. ( I was lucky to get a lovely piece of fabric in the package as well).  Thank you so very much, Danette,  for this lovely little quilt.

Here is a sneak peak of the quilt that I made.  It has to wing its way North West of here so that could be anywhere in Australia, but it is going to ...... and I'm hoping that it lands on my partner's doorstep soon. (I ended up tracing out a second pattern to make one for my Mum as well..)
It is a lot of fun being a part of the swap organised by Cheryll and you can read about what the swap entails here.  The next theme for swapping is Christmas.  Yippee!!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

It's Daylight Saving time again...

and as usual it is a grey, gloomy day.  It always seems to be like that on the first day of Daylight Saving here each year.  So, I think I will have to make a little sunshine of my own and make the sun block for my SKOW quilt this afternoon.
I've been around the house changing all the clocks this morning....(couldn't be bothered doing it before I went to bed)
Last weekend I went around the garden taking a few photos of things that were in flower for Spring..and it was a lovely sunny day then...so I'll let them add a bit of sunshine to this post..
the flowering cherry is out in bloom...
 and there was some blue sky there last week...
the bumble bee was hard at work going from flower to flower
my favourite rhododendron is one of the first ones to flower in the garden
and luckily I took this photo before the wind and spots of rain this week
...the camellias won't last long without blemishes..

Saturday, September 29, 2012

What a game...

..we have spent the afternoon watching the AFL Grand Final..the only game this season to screen live over here in NZ and you needed pay TV to see it.  Whichever team won it was going to be all right, as my husband was a Hawthorn supporter many many years ago when he lived in Melbourne for a while ..and my mum is a Swans supporter so we were hoping for a win for her.  What an exciting game though as the lead changed hands in each quarter and at the end my mum was very excited when the Swans won....daughter in Edinburgh got up at 5am to go to a local pub to watch it on TV and she had managed to order a Swans shirt from the website and have it arrive in Edinburgh in time for her to wear it..so she is over the moon as well..
                                                

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Things were going so well...

until today that is...my husband had received the call a few weeks back to say that he was finally going to get his long awaited hip replacement operation, wonderful news ...tomorrow was going to be the big day...all was ready, he'd had his pre-op visits where they checked that he had no cuts etc, the school holidays start next week so I would be at home to look after him when he came home from hospital..
...all was going well, that is, until he had a fall yesterday and grazed his shins- not all that big really, but he thought he had better go to the hospital and let them check it out..and the verdict is that they don't want to risk an infection, so he has been resceduled for 4 weeks time... better to err on the safe side but disappointing to say the least...so now we wait again...

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Happy, happy mail..

Look what was waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home the other day...
a package all the way from Tasmania.  I joined in to Roseanne's and Sarah's precut party a few weeks back and lucky me I won this lovely gift.  What a way to brighten my day.
Some lovely fabric, patterns and the card which has the instructions to make the cover image.
Thank you so much Roseanne..I really enjoyed being a part of the night's sewing for your Pre Cut Party..

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Just maybe...

...it is time to prioritise the projects I have on the go...and work towards finishing them off...and resist the temptation to even think about starting anything else (except of course for the SSCS gift).  So here are the projects that I have urgent deadlines for (..or at least they are the ones I'll admit to at the moment)
First on the list is this one...did all the french knots last night..might work on the lettering tonight..I just loved the fabric when I saw it...
Next up on the list is this one...fabric and pattern are sorted ,,just have to trace and stitch..yeah right!! (I thought the fabric looked like Spring to me) and it needs to be finished by early October and in the mail..but it isn't very big...
Then I have a clearfile with bits of pattern pieces that belong to my SKOW quilt..it has taken a back seat this year and now it needs to come to the fore again as the whips are cracking and the number of sleeps left to finish time is now less than 50..(panic stations!!)  Oh gosh I found this photo from way back in April and have nothing new to add...where has the time gone ???
And then I have bits and pieces of fabrics like these to have some stitching on them finished by the end of November, before I sew everything together...
Everything has gone into a basket to keep it right in front of me..there is no spare time to stitch during the day as I will be at work so I need to make sure that there is no snoozing on the couch after tea for me..the pressure is on..

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Calm before the storm ???

We have enjoyed lovely, sunny days with the temperature up around 20 degrees for the past few days, (most unusual for here!)...is this Spring?  Not if the weather forecast on TV tonight is to be believed...snow fell last night on the other side of the island and they are predicting a cold blast down south tomorrow night..hopefully it won't be too bad for the farmers who are in the middle of lambing..

I have joined in for Chookyblue's Secret Santa Swap for my second year and I have received the name of the person I am making for..so now the search is on to think of what I am going to make.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

A Recipe..

The recipe used for the cheesecake for our dessert on Fathers Day was written down from a calendar a few years back... 
White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake
Base:
1 ¼ cups shortbread biscuit crumbs           (I used plain sweet biscuits)
75g butter, melted
Filling:
 2 x 250g blocks Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened to room temperature
¾ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons gelatine, dissolved in ¼ cup boiling water, then cooled
200g white chocolate, melted
1 cup cream, lightly whipped
Garnish:
200g fresh raspberries  (I used frozen )
Icing sugar
Method:
Combine the biscuit crumbs and butter and press into the base of a greased and lined 22cm spring form pan.
Beat the cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice until smooth.  Stir in the gelatine mixture and then fold in the melted chocolate and the cream..
Pour the filling into the prepared base and refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.  Garnish with the raspberries and dust with icing sugar.

Monday, September 3, 2012

It should be Spring, shouldn't it ???

...well the calendar says it is September, and the Spring blooms are making an appearance (just a shame the weather doesn't know it is!!). At my little stitching group on Friday there were bunches of daffodils waiting for us to take home..one of the ladies had brought them in from her garden.  The perfume of the small cream one is just amazing.

It was a nice relaxing day yesterday...after a barbeque lunch we enjoyed the dessert that daughter no. 2 had made..... a white chocolate cheesecake with raspberries (we had to use frozen ones as they are out of season)
Our elder daughter rang from Edinburgh to talk to her Dad for Fathers Day.  It was good to talk to her.  She has a 6 month contract, working at a recruitment agency that she had first  got some temp work through...she had to travel to Glasgow each day last week for training..and.now that work is sorted she just needs to get something more permanent as far as accomodation goes.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Fathers Day Mini Quilt Swap

It is Fathers Day here in New Zealand and Australia this Sunday.  I participated in the Mini Quilt swap again and the theme this time was to make a quilt for Fathers Day.   Below is the one I received from Raelene and it has a nautical theme.  Raelene had googled the area where I live and seen that it was on the coast.  It is just perfect..each day as I drive up and over the hill into work I get a view of the harbour..at any time you can see boats, windsurfers and rowers out practising.  Raelene had added a label on the back of the quilt which explained why she chose this design.  A great idea..
And now below is the mini quilt I sent to Shez.  I saw this design in an old magazine and as soon as I saw it I knew that it was what I wanted to make.  I liked the saying..."A father is someone you look up to..no matter how tall you get "  I chose the check fabric because it reminded me of the old world look of the teddies.  I can show it now as Shez has received it (and it was a close run thing..just arriving today in time for Sunday) Phew!!
It is a great swap to be a part of and I am looking forward to the next one.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

My Friday Night Sewing...


I linked up for Sarah's Pre Cut Party and it was also the Friday for FNSI so I worked on a project that fitted in with both events.  First, I needed a pattern that used precut sized fabric.  I had bookmarked this Zig Zag Quilt Pattern from HERE some time ago with the intention of trying it out sometime.  I needed to start with 2.5 inch strips..
.then I sewed them together in pairs
Cut them into 4.5 inch segments..
Joined these pieces at right angles to each other
Then joined these units together into strips of increasing length first one on its own, then rows of 2, 3 etc..(the photo below is not the final layout)
Finally I started to sew the rows together..the rows run diagonally....and this is as far as I got for the night...
The quilt in the pattern is larger than I will probably make, so I will add rows until it is the size that I want..all I will need to do then is trim the sides so that they are straight, quilt and bind..so there is a bit of work to do yet..

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Pre-Cut Party


I have just been over to Sarah's blog and she and Roseanne are hosting a pre-cut party on Friday night...might be just the thing to get me sewing again.  If you want to join in the fun then click HERE to go and visit Sarah to find out more.
PRE- CUT PARTY

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

I wonder why..

...my motivation, of late, to stitch and blog seems to have fallen into a big black hole of nothingness.   I have so much on the go and my work has just been sitting in a basket untouched for weeks now.  I needed something to kickstart my stitching again and perhaps it has been the sound of a whip cracking that may have got me going again today.
Mind you the way the weather has been the last few days (cold, drab and wet) would not excite anyone.  The creeks and rivers are up and there is a lot of water on the roads. On the news tonight was a piece about what some university students got up to on this stretch of water that passes by the university.
They had hooked up a rope and were taking turns on a surfboard, as the rest of the group waited by the concrete wall for their turn.  Needless to say the police soon put a stop to it.  What did they think they were doing??

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

So, how far is it to Edinburgh ?

My daughter has been in Edinburgh now for a week.  She is looking for work and in the meantime is enjoying some sightseeing.  Before she left she went around town taking some photos , may be to remind her of home ???
Here is a shot of our Railway Station in town...in name only really...no regular passenger trains run on this main line now, just goods trains pass by as they head north .  There is a tourist train that departs and goes inland for a way on what has been left of that line.   

In front of the Railway Station is this sign, showing just how far it is to Edinburgh...

There is some Scottish heritage in our city as boatloads of settlers came out from Scotland in the mid 1800's.

Meanwhile on the sewing front I am again participating in this swap.
The theme for this time is a Mini Quilt for Father's Day...I have a pattern and fabric all organised..

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Friday Night Sewing

On Friday night I set up my cutting board on the cutting block in the kitchen..I'll be trying that again as it was just the right height to be comfortable. So with my sewing machine and iron set up I got to work
 First I cut 1 inch bias strips and sewed them together

 and then cut out some small bias squares, turning that little square ruler back and forth as I cut seemed to take a lot of time..but that is the way I was shown

 ...it doesn't look like much when I look at it like that but then I had to join pairs together..all part of a project I started at a meeting of our little quilt group a while ago (and it has lain in the bottom of the bag since.)
After I got tired of making squares, I wound some thread onto some lace bobbins to have something to work on yesterday afternoon, as our lace group was at the Art Gallery in town demonstrating lacemaking.  

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

FNSI

It's that time again.  Friday night sewing is on this week..Friday 13th to be exact..as Heidi said does that sound spooky?  If you want to join in then head over to Heidi's Blog, Handmade by Heidi to sign up for this month.
Handmade by Heidi