Tiptoe through the tulips...

Okay, not exactly tulips but a wonderful garden. My husband decided that he was going to take me out for the day. He said it would be nice for us to just get out and about and see what is out in the great big world. I'm not knocking it in any way. I feel very privileged, that he cares enough to want to go on an adventure with me. So we went to the Wintergarden's in the grounds of the Auckland Domain.

I had actually never been there, I had been into all the other hideaways in the Domain, but never this one. It was absolutely stunning, they are basically two giant greenhouses, filled with amazing plant specimens. This is a really popular place for wedding photos, I even recommended this to my brother in law when he got married, sight unseen. His wedding photos were absolutely beautiful, and now that I have been there... well. I took lots and lots of photos. So every now and then you may see different ones turn up for added eye candy during my ramblings.

After we finished in the Wintergardens we explored an area called the Fernery. This was beautiful. It was like being in the New Zealand bush, it was really hard to believe that we were actually in the middle of the Auckland CBD. It was so peaceful, and serene.

When our garden exploring was over we went out into the main gardens of the Auckland Domain, the old trees, and well manicured gardens were so lush, you would be hard pressed to believe that it is supposed to be Autumn. The only hint that we have of that, is that it is cooler during the night. Need more blankets!!! I have so many pictures to show you. This is definitely going to have to be spread out over a few posts.

I've been so excited about all my extra curricular activities, that I forgot to mention that this has created a creative spark and I have managed to get so much applique done on block 1 of my new project, it is almost finished. I've discovered that I don't have the fabric for a particular part, so I will improvise, but probably after I have done block 2. I feel that once I have done that block I will have a feel for the look of the quilt as a whole and will be able to substitute from my stash much easier.

Until next time, happy stitching

I found it...

Well, after all the head scratching and hair pulling I am back working on a project again. Sad to say not an old one, but a brand new project. It is a block of the month project that has been waiting to be loved, it has a lot of applique along with piecing and I started with block 7, because I liked it but then realised that maybe that wasn’t the right way to go. So back to block one.

I really love needleturn applique, but as time goes by you are always looking for an easier way to do things, and I happened to be a follower of the Inklingo blog, and Linda has a method for applique called back basting applique. Well, at first, it was a teeth gritter, two appliques later, the jaw tension slackened, four pieces later, I LOVE IT.

Most needleturn applique I have persisted with in my own time, meaning that it takes that much longer, therefore explaining all those unfinished projects, but this method is working up so quickly, it really is enjoyable. Sew, sew, sew go my little fingers….

Until next time, happy stitching

What shall I do

I have been away from here for a while now. We have had some personal stuff going on, but I am glad to say everyone is recuperating nicely.

I don’t know what it is, but when I should be using my stitching to help get me through the rough times, it really is the last thing on my mind. I could hardly remember to pick it up when I walked out the door, when I was at home that is, and when I really did have some much needed quiet/settled time, I spent that sleeping.
But, I have returned to the fold and are stitching all over again. I haven’t done anymore cross stitch, I must remember to get that pattern enlarged, so it is much easier to work from.

But as I look all around me, we currently have absolutely nowhere to put anything. (We are hoping to get a new roof put on the house in the next few weeks), so I look at all this chaos and consider which of my many projects that I have in progress to work on, or treat myself. Now I am going to need to immerse myself in my “projects”, and find out which one “yells” at me for attention.

Until next time, happy stitching

A recent return to ...

I have been working on this recently, and I have so enjoyed it. I was right, cross stitch definitely goes along a lot quicker and is so much more user friendly. This is my progress so far.

But in the mean time I have also been working on a commission quilt for a special somebody, so I make put a few pictures on here, just to document the progress, and I also dug out Miss Hathaways Garden from Marty Bell published by Pegasus Originals. I began this project about five years ago, I have always been passionate about it but with all our shifting house, it was put away in a box and I really had forgotten about it until two months ago, when I found the project. That is when the hunt began for the rest of the project.  Four weeks later, I had stitchery, floss, hoop etc, but the pattern had somehow got separated. My next mission was to find the pattern, no luck here, so I decided that it was a necessity to buy a new one. Lucky for me after many a long day and night searching I finally located a retailer. I have all the necessary requirements and I am going to add this to my rotation.

Until next time, happy stitching

Where oh where have I been ...

I have been on hiatus. Well, that is my story and I am sticking to it. It doesn't sound very nice to say well I just couldn't be bothered or something along those lines.

While I have been away I have rediscovered a few passions in my life. I am back cross stitching again and getting really involved in it this time around. I always used to think that cross stitch seemed to produce very little for such a lot of effort. But, because I do so much hand quilting, my cross stitch seems to go so much faster. I really can't believe the amount that can be produced in just a few hours. The "bug" returned due to an excursion to my local needlework store for some thread for a quilt, I found a "quick project" while standing at the counter, and brought that too. When I got home I was in two minds about quilting, so I thought, I would really like something to work on, so I opened up the quick project and went to work.

Two weeks later this is what I have.

But while working on this project I also felt it was about time I got a long forgotten project out of the way. It is a picture of rosebuds, but at first glance it is really deceiving, it looks like a cross picture. But, as I have had to point out to more than one person, look closer, they are actually little tiny mosaic tiles. It is called "Pixel Hobby", and the possibilities with it are really endless.

But my foray into that has ended for a while because I have so many other projects calling out to me from different places in my house. So its back to paying attention elsewhere.

Until next time, happy stitching

The end is nigh...

The end of the month is coming up fast, REAL fast, and my monthly to do list is 50% completed and still have so many things to do.

I am thinking that I won't beat myself up about not doing the whole list, but I will make an honest attempt to do as much of it as I can, and whatever is left over can be put to the top of next months list.

I was catching up on Google Reader with the blogs that I follow and realised that I had forgotten to pick up this weeks pattern for Stitchers Angel 2009 because of our spontaneous weekend away, and WOW!! I really like this pattern. I think this could be such a handy gift for christmas, and I think I know exactly the right person that it would suit, (mothers-in-law, can be so hard to shop for).

I have completed block 2 of my Angel BOM. I ended up doing the pieced blocks by hand, because I always need to have some sort of hand piecing project on the go. These are so good when you are relaxing after dinner and your not really interested in what is happening with the television.

I dug out my cross stitch project bag during the week and discovered that somewhere during our house moving my folder that housed my pattern for "Miss Hathaways Garden" got separated from the rest of the bag. So I spent two days searching in all the places I thought it could be, and decided that I would give up for the moment because it is probably tucked away in one the many boxes that are still packed. So I have had to put that project aside for the time being and will hopefully make some progress on "Purr-fect Patterns" by Paula Vaughan. I am half way through this stitchery.

I still have some photos from our trip last weekend and here is a picture of one of the cubby holes in one of my storage units. I was playing with the macro on my camera. I figure that if I don't play with it how am I going to get any better at taking pictures.

Until next time, happy stitching

Out and about...

Sorry but I have been "MIA" so to speak. Mainly trying to get some of my September to do list out of the way, but also because we just decided to on the spur of the moment to visit my parents in Russell.

I forget how nice it is at this time of year, blossoms and blooms everywhere, house maintenance going on all over the place (minor fixes after winter) and not as many tourists around. The car ferry trip over was absolutely beautiful, but for the rest of the weekend we got to be the "tourists". I didn't realise that there were so many places that I hadn't taken my husband to, you would think that after 20 years of marriage you would have shown him all those wonderful places you got to enjoy as a child (but then again, you tend to take these things for granted).

He wanted to go up to the flagstaff, the views from here are
wonderful, (you don't appreciate those as a child, and because you've already seen it, you don't go back), my biggest mission was trying to get both the flag pole in Russell and the flag pole in Waitangi in the same photo. Not that easy as you will see, the odd white outline on the left of this photo is the flagpole in Russell and over in the distance you can just make out the one in Waitangi.

Over on another part of the hilltop is a giant sundial, and the base is made up of a mosaic of the Bay of Islands, we were trying to pick out where my parents live and the township.

Look at what was right in front of our car when we parked it.

Our next stop was the next bay and we decided to go for a walk around the rocks, really because I knew there was another bay on the other side. It was so lovely and private, so we sat there and talked and looked for "sea gems", (old glass) and basically wasted the rest of the afternoon, dreaming about what we would do in the future, like what to have for dinner that night.

Mum and Dad lead such an active life here that from Thursday to Sunday they eat out at all sorts of different places. What a great life, I am definitely going to retire here, hubby wants to begin retirement next month, after we have broken the sad news to the kids. (I can see that going down like a big lump of dirt)....

So I am going to take myself back to the secluded bay and dream some more, because in those dreams I have completed all these "to do's" and living the dream.

Until next time, happy stitching

I just can’t help myself…

I’ve been plodding along nicely doing all my little mini projects to get some of my WIP’s completed. If I must say so myself, I think I’m doing quite well. But I do want to begin on my quilted diamonds.

Now hand piecing is my all time favorite thing to do when quilting. I like to sit and just sew away, it is so nice to have my hands working away with needle and thread, and still be “present” with my family.

That is the only thing that I don’t like about machine piecing, it “takes” me away from my family in the sense that I am so focused on using the sewing machine and getting as much of what I am working on completed that I need to be in a separate room.

Until next time, happy stitching

Been there, done that…

Well so much progress was made last month. I can’t believe how much of my “To Do” list I actually got done. I surprised myself, when going through it all and began crossing off items and eventually I got to the end of the list and everything had been crossed off. Yeehaa!!!

I know that my list looks a bit, shall I say “Over the Top”, “Too much information” maybe, but, for me to get anything done, I really need to break it down like this or I will get nowhere. Honestly!!!

I have so many projects that I have started and I get maybe the first couple of blocks together, or three quarters of the top made and I hit a speed hump, (like shifting house, and everything is so difficult to locate because even though boxes were labeled and inventories taken of said boxes, everything is still 85% in storage and I am unable to carry on, don’t you just hate that, I do), anyway, I digress, once the speed hump has approached all I can think about is the next project. How it's going to look, what colours it will have, and then "If I start it now, maybe I will get this project finished because I have lost interest in the one I am already working on".

So am I the only own that this happens to? Would you believe I already I have 12 projects that I have started within the last 12 months. These are all packed up in boxes and I work through a mini project on the more important projects at least once every month. But, I also have 4 projects that I have only just begun to receive as BOM projects and I would so love to have begun all 4 projects, like, last week.

I am currently keeping the urge in check. But as a self confessed quilt project beginner. I also feel that I may need help in keeping my urges under control. So that I may be able to concentrate on completing projects rather that just starting them.

Until next time, happy stitching

So much progress...

I received my usual block of the month packages yesterday and when I opened the second one I discovered another package and I immediately thought "oh my gosh, I have received someone
else's mail out", so I thought, I better get in touch with the quilt shop. Anyway, I thought, as you do, maybe I will just have a look to see what this package is about, maybe the recipients details are enclosed and I will just forward it. Well, to my surprise I discovered that I was the lucky recipient, I just hadn't remembered requesting it. So, I am going to make myself a Baltimore Album quilt and this is the first block. I am going to put this at the top of my list for projects to complete next month. I cannot put this one off.

Well as you know I completed the applique portion of my Angel block 2, and now I have completed all the stitchery.

So it is time to move on to the next project that I had planned to have completed this month. This is how it looks now...

I have actually done quite a bit of stitchery on it in the last few days but I forgot to take a photo before I began stitching and I only just remembered to take a photo today of how it looks now. So this is the last, oops hold on, I will need to check that (famous last words and all, you know) project that I have on my list to finish this month.




Oh dear! I've just realised how dark this photo is, but its too late know, I've finished "Mollie Jayne" and I am working on the floral borders now. So by the end of the week this one should be a finish.

I have been considering changing my profile photo and so I keep looking around the house to see what I would like to put in place of my photo. I have a couple of things in mind... maybe I will just take the pictures and be creative and see what I get.

Until next time, happy stitching