Monday, April 30, 2012

It's the end of the month again..

and it's a quick post about some finishes for the month.  Yet again I have left it till the last minute.  This month I have made my gift for the Friends With Benefit Swap and this parcel is winging its way to Janet in Canada.  I can only post a photo of the parcel at this stage, but will be able to reveal what I made when it arrives.

I found this bag in a box of things to do...there were some pins sticking out of it, marking where I needed to do some hand stitching to finish it off..don't know why I had left it so long, so here it is all finished now...

..and I'm continuing on with my SKOW blocks and my crochet rug...

Sunday, April 22, 2012

The holidays are over..

and so it is back to work tomorrow...back to routines and goodbye to relaxing days ....
The weather has been wonderful for this time of the year..clear sunny days (I hope they continue)
I've done a little more of this
I had a lovely day yesterday..went to the monthly meeting of a little quilt group I belong to...I haven't made it very often lately, so I'm aiming to go more often this year.  There was the usual monthly meeting combined with making a miniature wall hanging..it was really relaxing and the tutor was just lovely...we worked on a few elements and were relieved to be told that we would not finish it in the day..phew..so by the time we had a cuppa to start, caught up with those who were there, did some sewing of 1 inch bias squares, had lunch, show and tell, then did some paper piecing, there was the call for afternoon tea..more chatting , looking at what others were up to and then time to go..
a sample of what I did
Today, while I am a year older than I was yesterday, I certainly don't feel it!! So far I've spent some time sitting in the sun, doing some stitching and watching some of the netball this afternoon..wow, the Vixens just  beat the Magic after being 6 down halfway through the last quarter..
And to cap off my special day we are going out for dinner later...I'm looking forward to that...

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Stitches and Spice...

Well the stitches part is a new piece of stitchery to work on alongside my other projects...

And the spices part relates to the kitchen.....and it smelt rather spicy at the weekend..the plums were past eating so into the pot they went with spices, vinegar, sugar and onions 
and then 2 hours later after simmering away and being sieved there was a batch of plum sauce, I haven't made it for a few years and hubby is rather pleased with it...it was a recipe his mother used to make..
Also on the go was a batch of cinnamon chocolate shortbread and I was in such a hurry to get it into the oven that I forgot to sprinkle the sugar on first..remembered later in the cooking time...I usually roll it out and cut out star shapes but this time rolled it into a log and cut it..much quicker when you are in a hurry..love the smell when I open the tin...hard to resist..


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Back again

It's been a lovely sunny morning here...in the mail today was the latest issue of the New Zealand Quilter magazine so out on to the deck I went, cup of coffee in one hand and magazine in the other to enjoy a quiet read..

It's holiday time for me...so it is time to try and do some of the big catch up that is needed on my SKOW Stitch-a-Long..trying to get the fingers working again on the needleturn applique...almost too embarrassed to show how far behind I am!!

 My crochet throw is growing again round by round, no pattern just doing my own thing with a variegated wool..I started it some time time ago to give me something to do when I was too tired to focus on stitching..consequently it has made intermittent appearances over time..so now I want to finish it off as I have another project that needs rescuing and renovating..more about that later.  Our golden retriever is never far away and there he is in the top corner...

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

There is some stitching going on...

A relaxing Easter weekend saw me doing a little more on some projects that I have on the go...a little bit of applique on my SKOW blocks (but I still have a way to go to catch up to where I should be by this stage)...a little bit of crochet on a throw that is my go-to project when I just need something that doesn't require too much concentration...
After some wonderful weather over the weekend, today was overcast and drizzling..so no photos today...maybe tomorrow....
So what else have I been up to...well...
a little time was also spent in the kitchen starting with the making of the Hot Cross Buns on Friday..
and some time thinking about Easters past when I still lived in Australia...going to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Forbes...we used to leave Sydney at 3am to avoid the traffic on Good Friday...stop in Bathurst at 6am, where the Lions used to have a caravan with hot drinks, food etc just before the bridge and then we would arrive in Forbes about 9am and my Aunt had a hot breakfast waiting for us... and then all too soon the weekend would be over and it was back to the city...

Sunday, April 1, 2012

A late Post for March...

I didn't have time to report in about my March finishes yesterday.  We had a wedding to go to...set in a lovely country garden where the leaves on the trees were just starting to change colour...it was a lovely sunny day..just perfect for the happy couple
...so today it has been catching up on the household chores that didn't get done yesterday..another lovely sunny day...so I spent a little time outside stocking up on some Vitamin D...read in the paper recently that because we are now so good at avoiding exposure to the sun we are missing out on Vitamin D...it went on to say that we should go for a brisk walk in the middle of the day with our hands and arms exposed to the sun...seriously when the midday temperature in winter here  can be in the low range of single digits who would be wanting to try that???
My finishes for the month of March are
my couch companion
I added a little to the length and put some template plastic in the pincushion part so the pins can't go through to the back.
I also finished off a bookmark that I set up last December...since I want to start something else it had to be finished...