Old friends and New...

For some reason Blogger have changed the way I can upload a photo onto my blog, instead of choosing a photo straight from my computer I first have to upload it into Picasa. Argh! Do you know how long that can take when you only have dial-up.

There! I have somehow(I'm not entirely sure how)managed to upload the photo I wanted. This is my dear friend Vicky. We have been friends since high school (almost 20 years ago) and even though our lives have taken different paths our friendship still remains.  We spent the day together yesterday, chatting and catching up, it went way too fast!
Sadly she leaves us again tomorrow to head back to Bedford in England where she is currently living.
So my friend, take care and travel safe!

And to all my friends out there in blogville, I want to thank you too for your friendships and kind words!

Blessings
Michelle

Stuff...

Just dropping in to let you know I am still here(just in case you were wondering). I have been zipping from pillar to post for the last week, just stuff that life throws at you! And I'm about to take off again... but before I do here's a sweet picture of Poppy and the quilt that is currently gracing the end of my bed...

Christmas Wish...

I did something really dumb, I invited some people for lunch tomorrow as a friendly gesture, because they are kind of newish to NZ and our kids school.  And that's not a bad thing it's just that I didn't realize at the time that it is our regional day tomorrow, you know a sit 'n' stitch kind of day, with lot's of food and laughter. And the biggie Grandmother's Garden(they only come once a year) will be there!!!  Oh I could kick myself!  Maybe it's just as well, think of all that money I'll be saving, that's a good thing right? Nope it was still stupid and I still really want to go!!!

To console myself I have shut myself in my sewing room for a good part of the day, for a bit of therapy and this is what I accomplished...

I love it, I don't know why but photo's just don't do a quilt justice, it's just not the same as seeing it in person! Here's a bit of a close-up...

I was going to make this in Christmas fabrics but everytime I audition them, these fabrics kept filing into my thoughts, so I went with them!  They were part of a fat 1/8th pack I bought from Grandmother's Garden last year. 

Oh I really want need to go tomorrow, what a pickle I've got myself into, maybe they will leave early!

When in doubt, lay it out...

Today my friend Bev came to visit, she wanted a hand laying out some fabrics for a quilt. She bought the kit from Still Quilting in New Plymouth, it is for a minister who is coming to visit from America and we thought it would be nice for him to take a little bit of us and his time here in NZ home with him.  What do you think?

It is much brighter in real life, it took a little bit of sorting but we're really happy with how it looks! We are making it as a group project so it wont take long to whip up, and we have another very dear friend who has a longarm and has offered to quilt it for us, which is good because he will be here in about 6 weeks and with my track record lately it definitely wouldn't be done in time! ;oD 

Update...

Well not a stitch was stitched @ the Pony Club Champs, DD1 was escorted by her dutiful younger brother for the first day and part of the second, and I joined them for what turned out to be a very exciting finale!  Unfortunately I was too late to watch the cross country, but I made the show jumping. First a bit of background info, there were teams from all over New Zealand and the lowest ranking team starts off the show jumping. So as we progressed through the teams we work our way up to the two top ranking teams, Taranaki(this is my team!) was in second place and Canterbury were in first.  The crowd were on the edge of their seats as 3 team members from the Taranaki team each had a clear round(no other team had accomplished this) and then it was Canterbury's turn.  The commentator announces that for Canterbury to win their team of 2 (for the show jumping) must also have a clear round, so as you can imagine there was plenty of tension in the air.  Unfortunately the first rider knocked off the very first jump, the crowd erupted into a raucous cheer, followed by a oh! of support for the poor rider!  Her team mate helped her feel not as bad by knocking 2 poles down.  Sorry no photo's of the actual Parade and Prize Giving, which was quite spectacular to see all the teams and horses arrayed in their team colours in a semi-circle, DD1 had run out of memory on her camera by this stage :oD But I can show you an oh dear moment...

Horse and rider were both fine, but still that had to hurt!!!

I have a few finishes to show for myself this week, first off we have this Oh so pretty hat pincushion...

Next up we have this ???

No it's not a cushion, well I guess it could be called a cushion, I'm not sure what it is called or if in fact it even has an official name!  So for the sake of this post we will call it a cushion but this is actually intended for a young baby to play with. I got the idea from a friend who works at pregnancy help, and it is a great recycling project, not to mention a cheap present. The cushion is filled with plastic biscuit containers cut up into smallish pieces, it has texture and a crunchy sound.  I have a friend's baby daughter try one out and she loved it she thought it was hilarious! It kept her occupied for a long time. 

This next project has been a WIP for a very long time, it dates back to my cross stitching days, you know the ones before you became addicted to quilting!  I am so pleased I have finally finished it...

It is stitched onto plastic canvas with florist wire for antennas and I put a strip of adhesive magnet on the back, the colours are much brighter in real life and I love it! 

That's not all I have been working on this week, I am almost finished this wall hanging...

The bear just needs some eyes, a nose and a mouth! Lol It will be a gift for my half sister Jessica, whose got a birthday coming up soon.  Don't worry I know she doesn't read my blog, she is only 7!  And my Dad doesn't really know how to use a computer, so I think I'm pretty safe!!!

Bear Bear

Ooh... I wish I was Bear Bear, what a fabulous time he is in for! And oh the stories he will be able to share with us!  Do you think he would be able to squeeze me in the mail with him. Wishful thinking Lol! Don't know what I'm talking about then you need to check out this blog...

http://bearbearhomestead.blogspot.com/

Isn't he gorgeous, and he's coming to visit me!  We are are going to have so much fun!

See ya soon Bear Bear!

No name blog post...

Hi all...  Not much going on here, I'm feeling a bit under the weather today:o(

I have managed to finish a couple of small projects this week which I will share once I've taken some photo's.

Ok I better motivate myself, instead of sitting here blog hopping, I made a deal with DD1 that I would take her to The NZ Pony Club Champs, it goes for 3 days, hmm how did I get myself roped into that one Lol!  I think I will take some stitching to help while away the hours!!!  Take Care

Want to bust your Stash...

Then check out this blog...

http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com/

Taking time to be Thankful...

I have managed to curl up with a cuppa and the latest edition of Homespun and I've finished a small stitchery and I'm halfway through a second one...

I am enjoying the slower pace, and taking time to be thankful for all the blessings in my life, BIG and small!!!