Decorated Bus Shelter & A Late Night Visitor.

Our Local bus shelter made the television news this week.
It is on the main route to the city, from our area & beyond. We are 1.5 klms  from the CBD, just 2 minutes on a bad traffic day.

Unknown folk decided to put a sofa in the bus shelter, which had been undergoing renovations, after the council removed the normal wooden slat seat, some weeks ago. From there it grew, a  light fitting, a bookcase, cushions, pictures on the wall, pot plant, rugs & because it was Christmas week, a decorated Christmas tree. Then a television set..

DH, photographed it on  Christmas Eve. No one had taken anything,  it seemed to be the pride of the suburb.

As of today, 29/12, it is still intact. Interestingly enough, the day after it was featured on the news programme , the council were there completing guttering & down pipes.

Two nights ago we could hear a soft thud outside the back door. I thought it was the wind. DH turned on the light & went to the door, only to see this wee creature nibbling on a lamb shank, we had earlier given to the cat.  I'm intrigued, as an Australian, we don't see hedgehogs in our country.  Echidnas are what we have in Australia & usually one does not see them in the city suburbs.  I'm used to reading about hedgehogs from childhood nursery rhymes, so you can see why I was so interested. 

The hedgehog seems to be rather shy & it moved into the shadows, when we moved into the light from behind the glass door. 

A Surprise Gift from a Talented, Special, Friend.

This morning, after a ring of the front door bell, I received an unexpected parcel. What a thrill to open the package to find a gift from a long time, dear friend, from home. It is a very special gift, which has given me great delight. My friend is a talented artist, whose water colour paintings are truly beautiful. Many of these exquisite paintings have been collated,  both by her Husband & Daughter, to be featured in this wee address book.

What do you think?


 I'm overwhelmed by both my friend's talent & her generosity.

Thank you so much, dear Rhonda. It is a very treasured gift.

A Few Treats.

Just before Christmas I received an ornament, from an exchange partner. It was immediately hung on my ornament tree. Also in the parcel, were a  variety of stitching treats. A kitted Christmas themed  pattern, a cross stitch magazine, a spool of  Christmas ribbon & a wonderful packet of DMC Collector's, Variegated threads.

Thank you Mary.I was thrilled.

I ordered a couple of ornament patterns early in December & they also arrived before Christmas, along with the required linen & threads. I plan to start the New Year with an ornament or two, a month.

Needless to say, I've been discussing with my very dear husband, the prospect of a larger ornament tree for next year. as you can see, the current one has reached the limit, unfortunately. He assures me he can construct one, a little larger.

Now a sweet treat, our Christmas Cake & Bon Bons.. 

I hope you enjoy the eye candy.

Boxing Day Already!

We had a very HOT, Christmas Day in this part of the world. 36C without a breeze. That kind of heat just  wrecks me, almost totally. I thought I had been transported, miraculously, back to my home town of Sydney.
Those kind of temperatures are normal in Sydney at this time of the year. Not so, I was right here still in NZ. I would never have believed such temperatures could be reached in this city.

Today,I'm having an R&R day & while doing so, I've been checking other blogs.
There is such a wealth of inspiration in blogging world. I would love to try so many wonderful creative, stitching pursuit, that are featured in this area of cyber world.
I am so very grateful to the folk who share their ideas, so generously  Thank you.
Their are also many folk who are willing to share their stash, in contests, such as  one I've discovered to day. Missy, look here, http://missyllanous.blogspot.co.nz/
who is having a Gingher scissors contest, Check it out at the blog address mentioned..

Where ever you are, I hope you have had a lovely Christmas time and can now relax with your stitching, as I plan to do right now.

Christmas Greetings

In this part of the world it is late afternoon, Christmas Eve. Our current temperature is 24C with a bright sunny afternoon.
To all those folk who have followed my blog and generously left comments I'd like to wish you & yours a Very Merry Christmas & A  Happy New Year.
I hope you have wonderful times with Family & friends, enjoy good times, along with plenty of creative pursuits.
Kay.

One More Ornament.

Today I completed an ornament I"d  offered to do, when  a fellow stitcher requested an ornament from Australia or New Zealand. As an Australian, resident in New Zealand, I guessed I could fulfill that request, either way.. I had planned to stitch an Australian icon, a flowering native known as a Christmas Bell, with perhaps some Christmas Bush flowers, also an iconic Australian, Christmas flowering, native. With such short time I was unable to find such a chart. I thought perhaps a New Zealand Pohutakawa, such a beautiful blossoming native tree would be ideal. Likewise, I was unable to find a ready made design. I'll have to design my own examples for next year. This is the ornament I stitched, which is happily for me, now on it's way to Italy..

 

The second photo shows a very special Australian treat included in the parcel.

A Completed project.

This is one of my UFOs, which has been awaiting completion. Earlier this year, I finished the binding, made the label, & attached it to the back of the quilt. It is a pattern I have long admired, so much so,  I'm contemplating  a similar one, a tad larger,  in a different colour choice. This one is Homespun Houses, from "Pieces of the Past." by Nancy J Martin. The top was complete on the afternoon of the Death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997. 

The cat, decided she needed to be part of the photo. Holly   certainly is true to cat character, always very curious and wants to be footpath forewoman.  

Christmas is Coming.

Today in the mail, I received an unexpected gift  from a fellow stitcher. What a wonderful surprise to open the parcel to find not only an exquisitely, hand stitched, ornament but also two lovely hand dyed threads  and a piece pretty cross stitch fabric. 

Thank you so much Bonnie for such a beautiful gift, I'm thrilled with this  PS ornament along with the fabric & threads.

Christmas Ornament Exchange

This is my stitched item for the 2012 Christmas Ornament Exchange.

I stitched  it for Mary, who has already received it, along with a locally made chocolate bar & Christmas themed thread included in the parcel.

This ornament was a PS chart featured in TGOS magazine, from a few years ago..

Halloween Ornament.

This is the ornament  I stitched for Lyn. I added a locally made chocolate bar and two witches hats thread holders.. My pattern is from  a freebie design by  Casey Buonaugurio in 2009.

                                          

Today I received  my Halloween exchange from Lyn.
I'm thrilled with the gift she chose to stitch & send to me. Oddly enough we both chose to use  greens purples & black cats, in our ornaments.
While Lyn is experiencing a rather vicious hurricane where she lives, we are having a beautiful, warm, spring day in my neck of the woods.

Quilt Completion & Awards.

I've neglected my blogging for several months & consequently, missed enjoying the many & wonderful stitching blogs I usually visit.  It seems like ages since I posted. I had intended doing so earlier, however what's that saying about, " life interrupts while you're busy making other plans" ? :)
I was busy getting the hand quilting completed on my quilt for the exhibition, which is now over.
It was a wonderful exhibition & I feel very priveledged to have been able to exhibit my work, with such talented quilters. This is my quilt, along with one of two, pillow shams I stitched, to match.

I received three awards for this quilt. Can you immagine my surprise, quickly followed by delight. My wonderful husband was instrumental in this completion, with his loving support. I awarded him  his Dip' Master Chef, as he stepped up to make many delicious dinners while I worked for hours, over the quilting frame.

Here is a photo of some of the quilts hanging in the exhibition at The Academy of Fine Arts

 I have a UFO or two, waiting in the wings for the next exibition, which is scheduled for 2014.  I now need to decide on which quilt to submit, then chose the backing & get started, very soon. I never want to be under that kind of pressure again, prior to an exhibition.

I've worked on three small cross stitch pieces over the last couple of weeks. One was a birthday gift, the other two are ornaments. One for a Halloween exchange, already headed to New York, the other for a Christmas exchange, going to Springfield, MA. Photos when my exchange partners receive the items. My next task is to organise a new stitching rotation of cross stitch pieces, knitting & dressmaking items, to keep me out of mischief for the next little while.

Update.

At last another day of sunshine after several wet, bleak & misty days.

A perfect time for stitching in the sun, although I'll do so indoors at the moment, as outside is still very cold in the wind. My quilt is nearing completion, the quilted part, then the finishing off and the sleeve for hanging.
I've spent three months getting it to this stage, with little other stitching to mention.  I have made five knitted scarves, while on the move & not able to quilt. A couple are for gifts, but three are for moi, a cherry red, a variegated blue & a silver grey. Photos soon.

I'm looking forward to moving on to other projects & being able to have this quilt off the "to do" list.
I've so many wonderful projects to chose from, no doubt one will call to me a tad louder than the others.

While quilting earlier this morning, I looked up from my stitching to see the TS Esmeralda leaving Wellington harbour. Unfortunately the photos I captured, were hardly visible owing to the murky weather conditions. this picture via Fairfax NZ.  Part of the departing fanfare, included a Port Nicholson, bright orange, tug, with the accompanying cascade of water from the fire boat,. It made a rather splendid scene. The sun appeared minutes after the barquentine  rounded the point, out of view.

I'm trying to honour my endeavour to post more frequently,  less than a month is progress.
Life has just taken over for now, although I'm still able to manage some quilting. We've had bitterly cold weather for the last couple of days, with rain & gales, a great time to be indoors stitching. As much as I like cooler weather, this current climate is a tad too cool.
I've had a quick look at a couple of blogs this morning, both new to me and very interesting. Perhaps you might like to investigate them for yourself. I'm obviously not doing the link correctly, so here is the information as best I can give right now, first one is ..happinessiscrossstitching.blogspot.... the second is the ...freebiegallery.blogspot.. hope you are can find them from that meagre information. Enjoy. K.

An overdue update.

I've been MIA of late, just busy with life & of course, hand quilting. No small stitched pieces to show, or large ones for that matter. Perhaps when I'm further along with the quilting, I'll photograph my progress.
I do appreciate receiving the update notifications from the stitching blogger group & others, so thank you for keeping me in the loop, I'll endeavour to be more diligent & post more often, from now

A Few More Stitched Purses.

A friend who patchworks, kindly lent me the pattern for these wee purses, the top two have already appeared in an earlier post.
Within my fabric collection, as with any patchworker, I have many small off cuts waiting to be put to good use. I had enough to make a few more of these for dear friends.

Stitched Ornamnts

I managed to stitch a couple of extra ornaments up until Christmas, to add to my own collection.
The one below needed to be finished & a small empty fabric container seemed to suit the piece.
It is one of the free PS cards issued when making a purchase.

Fifth day of the new year.

It's hard to reconcile we are already at the fifth day of the New Year. Time seems to be flying by so rapidly. Today is the day to dismantle the Christmas tree & decorations around the house. I really love our home dressed for this time of the year. When it is all packed away the house looks a tad bare.


We are supposed to be in Summer season in this part of the world, however, one could hardly call the last five days "summer," as I know it to be. It is so cool, lambs wool slippers & warm tops are the order of the day. The skies are overcast & the dreaded Northerly is blasting us with nasty gusts.

I am about to make up a delicious soup, to take to folk who are moving house today. Relocating can be an exhausting exercise so homemade soup might be a great help come the end of the day.

New Year.

I've made a great start on some patchwork for New Year. I also spent some time fondling fabric from my stash and deciding on several pieces to use in a few different projects.
This morning we've woken to the news of three more shakes for Christchurch. I do feel for the folk who are living through this constant upheaval of Mother Nature. I 'm made of strong stuff although I know I couldn't handle this kind of uncertainty under my feet.
We have a site called Geo net where we can see where the earthquake happened, the depth & the magnitude. These shake recordings below show the latest activity over the last 24 hour period, some 19 or so events. The map shows where the larger shake today was felt from the top of the North Island to Dunedin in the South Island.