Where has June gone??????

Hi everyone,

Wow haven't the last few weeks flown by!

I have been working full time for the last couple of weeks, but now have the school holidays to work on my own projects and spend some time with my family. 


My latest project isn't stitching related but just as interesting. My eldest daughter is the artist in our family and when she moved to Perth, Australia with her partner a few months ago she left her paints and things at ours. 


This was also just after her 21st and we had a photo board put together for that. And that is where my idea grew from! It seemed such a shame to put all of the photos back in the albums and frames that they came from and I liked the way that Kelsey had arranged the photos. 


I wanted a project for these holidays that was interesting, enough to challenge me without being too much and that was achievable in the time available and thought that this would fit the bill. 


After thinking about how I could display Kelsey's photos for several months, I knew that I wanted to put them onto a canvas but didnt know how or what materials I would need. So last weekend I googled it. Don't you love google and how you can get an instant answer. 


I hit pay dirt, someone has already done it and there were good photos of how she went about it and what to use. So when I went to do the groceries I purchased the materials that I would need. Canvases were on sale with 60% off - definitely a sign!


I have the boards painted already and just have to dig out some photos. Oh, did I forget to mention that I thought this was such a great idea that I would do several. 


Check back soon to see the progress! 


See you soon 
Donna-Maree

Queen's Birthday weekend

Hi everyone, 
I hope that you are having a great long weekend. This is the last long weekend until Labour weekend in October. The shortest day is only three weeks away as well. Then things will ready get cold, but at least then we will be heading towards the longest day - yippee!!! 


 The weather has been amazing, cool but fine. I spent some time in the vegetable garden yesterday checking on how everything is growing. I find it interesting how some plants prefer the cooler weather and flourish in the conditions that we are having at the moment. I have been also thinking ahead to what will be going into the beds next. 


 I still have some monarch caterpillars eating themselves into huge fat caterpillars getting ready for the next step of their life cycle. It doesn't matter how many times time I get to witness their life cycle, it always amazes and fascinates me. I go out to the garden every day and check on their progress. When Bentley was with us, we would go out there together with him racing on ahead. Talking of Bentley, when I skyped my daughter the other night, Bentley said hello. Boy has he grown, he is looking good. He doesn't sit still for very long though.


I haven't been that well this weekend, but are definitely on the mend and are feeling much better. I actually didn't realize how sick I was until I started getting better - not sure how that works. Unfortunately mum is about two days behind where I am with the sickness bugs and is feeling miserable with it. At least she has Wilson to snuggle up with her as she is resting. 


I haven't got much stitching done this weekend, due to not feeling up to it. It sounded good in theory but could only handle the knitting needles. My second scarf is growing very slowly, but it is beautiful and warm on my lap as I am knitting it. Some nights there is some competition between the cats as to who is going to get to sit on my lap. Whoever doesn't get my lap, gets to sit on the ottoman on top of a quilt by my feet - so it isn't all bad. Although I am glad that we only have two cats otherwise there wouldn't be anywhere else for another cat to sit!

Here is Frosty curled up on the ottoman.

Until next time, happy stitching everyone. 
Donna-Maree

Day trip to Kerikeri

Our daughters soccer game was in Kerikeri this morning. We did our usual trip into our local Famers Market, albeit earlier than we normally go. We then drove straight to Kerikeri so that the team had time for a good warm up before the game.


The trip up was quite pleasant, there was quite a bit of fog around. However this did not detract from the beauty of the scenery of the trip. 


After the soccer game we had a little look around the place, as you do, to see what has changed since the last time we visited the area.


I always love visiting the Stone Store and I took some pictures to share with you.

The last time that we visited here, they were replacing shingles on the roof - the old fashioned way.

Here is a photo of Kemp House. The history around these dwellings is impressive and well worth a visit if you ever get the opportunity.


If you are wanting to check this place out online click Here.


We visited our favourite butcher shop while in Kerikeri and purchased some supplies of yummy meats. We also bought pies for lunch at one of the bakery/cafes and boy did we have a treat. I had lamb and kumara and the lamb just melted in my mouth. Hubby had a chicken pie which smelt delicious. It is always a pleasure to travel around our region as there are always special things to see, do and eat. We live in a great place here in Northland. 


Happy stitching everyone.
Cheers
Donna-Maree

This week...

Another week has just whizzed by - where are they going?


A friend and I went and saw 'The 5 year engagement' at the movies this last week. We really enjoyed it and boy did we laugh! If you get the opportunity, go and see it.


Wednesday was my mums birthday and we had a lovely lunch at her place that my sister and I sorted. My sister came up the day before and we surprised mum as she didn't know that my sister was coming. One of mums sisters came for lunch as well and talk about laugh. It was really neat having four women from two generations visiting together while sharing good food and having a really good time. This is the stuff that memories are made from. I don't think any of us will forget the day any time soon. Of course we had Wilson to keep us company - when he wasn't asleep that is!

As you can see here!

Here he is waking up, maybe.

I was really lucky that my sister was able to spend the rest of the week here and that we got to spend some fantastic quality time together. These opportunities don't happen very often and we appreciate them when we get them.

Until next time sis.

Happy stitching everyone.

Cheers

Donna-Maree

Introducing Wilson

I always find it interesting how things come to pass. 


For those of you who have read my blog before, you will know of Bentley - my daughters cat/kitten who was staying with us for a couple of months while his mum and dad were moving to Perth and getting themselves sorted. Well Bentley has recovered from the long flight to Perth and has settled in well which is awesome considering that it is a lot warmer over there than here at the moment. (When I am feeling cold, I wish I was there as well.)


Bentley is such a special kitten/cat and it appears that there isn't anyone that hasn't come in contact with him that their life or attitudes haven't changed. 


My mother has been catless since her lovely Bluebell - called Blue passed on, which has been a little while now. Mum has been adamant since then, that she will not ever have another cat. When Bentley went to Perth, mum was making mutterings about getting another cat, then she would change her mind. Mum changing her mind back and forth went on for about a week - maybe longer. Anyway to cut a long story short and after checking out the local petshops, SPCA and Trade Me, mum announced that she definitely didn't want a cat. So it came as a surprise the next day when mum rang me and announced that she had indeed bought a cat. That is, if she didn't change her mind in the next 24 hours.


Thursday last week saw us travelling to Warkworth where we met my sister, who had agreed to collect the new cat in West Auckland and meet us in Warkworth which is halfway from home. It was also a good excuse to meet for lunch and have some mum and daughter/sister time. So we set off for home after saying goodbye to my sister with the little bundle secure in a cat cage that we had taken with us.


The discussion of names of course was prime topic of conversation and many suggestions were made. Buster was a consideration as he had busted out of the cardboard box that he had been secured in for the trip to Warkworth.

See what I mean - here is the little guy trying to get out of the box!

But mum couldn't picture herself calling 'here Buster', so there were many other considerations for names for this cat kitten. He is a very affectionate little thing, purrs at the drop of a hat and is a very pretty wee thing - if you can say that about a little male kitten. Mum wanted something that would reflect who he was without embarrassing her when she is calling his name outside where the neighbours can hear!

After much discussion, mum settled on Wilson and so Wilson he is. Wilson is appropriate as mum's mothers maiden name was Wilson. Little Wilson has settled in really well and is definitely making his mark on my mothers household. I am really pleased for mum and are happy about her having company 24/7 now.

Of course I have to visit to see how much he is growing and to get my fair share of cuddles. Here are some pics of the little guy.

Here is mum with Wilson, he is such a baby kitty cat.

Wilson just loves to play!

I really struggled to get shots of him - he was moving so fast.

There is nothing like seeing babies of any kind growing up and developing. I am going to enjoy sharing these things with my mum.

I will keep you posted of Wilson's progress - but promise not to bore you.

Until next time, happy stitching everyone.

Cheers

Donna-Maree

Mmmnn I wonder if Wilson will come and visit soon?

An unusual week

This last week has been a very unusual week. The weather is definitely cooling down and extra layers are being worn. There has been a lot of life things going on which has led to a time of re-assessment and reflection.


My night with my stitching group was very enjoyable and I really appreciated the conversations with the discussions on rotary cutters, blades and scraps. 


It seems that everyone is indeed sick of the sight of their own scraps. Speaking for myself, some fabrics seem to be in every scrap quilt that I create and it is a great feeling when I know that I have used the last of a particular piece of fabric, whether it is an ugly or highly prized fabric. At this stage I remind myself that it allows for the introduction of more fabric (which might even require visiting a quilt shop and leaving with a purchase).


Through the generosity of one of my friends who offered a bag of scraps from a quilt that she had done with particular fabrics that she didn't think that she would use in anything else, an interesting discussion started on how we view our own scraps and how when given the opportunity to work with other peoples scraps, we find it exciting and fun. It was decided that next month we would have a scrap swap. 


After much discussion and weighing of fabric, it was decided that for those wanting to participate we would supply one 250gram bag of scraps over a certain size. This first month will be a trial to gauge interest and usability of the scraps and then we would decide where to go from there. I have to say that I am really looking forward to it. But which scraps don't I want any more?


I attended our local club day last Saturday which I thoroughly enjoyed. We had a shared lunch for Mother's Day which was really nice. It was a lovely opportunity to celebrate being women and remembering that many of us are mothers, grandmothers and caregivers. This is often recognised by the significant others in our lives, but this is the first time for me that it has been celebrated with my peers and I enjoyed it.


Our guest speaker was Catherine Davies-Colley who spoke about her recent achievement in completing her Masters of Fine Art. It was totally fascinating and it was over all too soon. Catherine's passion and enthusiasm shone through and she is an incredible lady. Her works are going to be exhibited later in the year locally here, so watch this space for more on that.


To check out show and tell from club, go on over to Leeann's blog (click here). It is well worth a look as we have some very talented and gifted ladies in our club.


Until next time
Happy stitching everyone
Cheers
Donna-Maree

Photos at last...

Good morning everyone.


We have woken to a grey dark rainy day which apparently is going to get steadily worse. You can tell it is going to be a yucky day when the cats come inside early and stay in, which is exactly what they have done today.


I hope that your Mother's Day yesterday was a good one and that you were all treated well and rather spoilt really. 


Like I said yesterday I had a cuppa in bed, a cooked breakfast and dinner cooked for me as well. My son and his friend turned up just in time for breakfast (pure coincidence, however very well timed!). I got Happy Mother's Day wishes from my eldest daughter who is currently living in Perth (Bentley's mum) which was very nice and the youngest daughter helped dad with the cooking all day which included a chocolate and ginger tart, that was to die for!


My mother joined us in the late afternoon and stayed for dinner, which was very nice. We got a chance to just chill and visit with each other which doesn't normally happen when I am the one doing the cooking when she comes over for dinner.


The best Mother's Day gift that I got yesterday (sorry family if this offends you - it isn't intended to) was the receipt of an email containing my registration details for the Taupo Symposium 2013. Check out this link for more information - Taupo Symposium 2013 it is definitely worth a look.


I have only recently registered for this while most of my friends registered last year. Anyway I am still very pleased with my registration number. Definitely lower than I had anticipated. So yes I have made a commitment to receiving more information, have checked out the tutors from here in New Zealand, Australia and those from further afield. A group of us have already booked our accommodation - so it is definitely in my diary for 2013.

Okay here is a photo of the first scarf that I have knitted and it is just beautiful, both in the colours that it contains but also to feel. I have to confess to being extravagant and spoiling myself. The yarn for this scarf is kid mohair and silk - it is just gorgeous. The yarn is so fine, it took me quite a bit longer to knit this than what I had anticipated. However it was definitely worth the wait.

This is the scarf that I am currently knitting (that I mentioned in the earlier post). Again the colours are just gorgeous and with the blue you can definitely see the difference of the two balls, however in places when the colours on both balls are very similar it gets a little more difficult. These scarves are incredibly warm, not that I have had a chance to wear them yet, although with them sitting on my knee as I am knitting them, it is just heavenly.

Anyway until next time,

happy stitching everyone.

Donna-Maree

Happy Mother's Day everyone

Happy Mother's Day to you all. I hope that you are being spoilt today. 


So far I have had a cup of tea in bed (where I still am, to be honest), a handmade card from our youngest daughter and a dvd which was placed in a large box and then wrapped just so I wouldn't guess what it was. 


When asked what I would like for Mothers Day, my response was not to cook all day. "So then what do you want us to make?" My response was "surprise me". Isn't that the best part about not cooking, the not having to decide part.


Did I mention that both of the cats are curled up on the bed keeping me company. I won't be able to stay in bed long as it looks like a beautiful morning outside and at this time of the year it would be a crime to waste such a day.


Anyway have an awesome day and I will update this a little later.


See you then


Donna-Maree

Change of name...

Just a little update today...


Don't know if you noticed but there has been a slight change of name. 


I realised this morning that quilting isn't the only stitching that I do.  Bit of a light bulb moment, I know, but I have been doing more knitting than sewing just lately, and have requested even more knitting books from the public library - just to have a look through, you know how it is. So I thought it only fitting for the title to be 'Stitching at my place' as opposed to 'Quilting at my place', that way it covers everything.


We received a txt message from our eldest daughter early hours of this morning, to let us know that Bentley arrived in Perth without any mishaps. He was very eager to use a litter box after all of the hours that he was in a crate and on a plane.


Bentley grew a lot while he was with us as only 5-7 month old kittens can and Kelsey was surprised at just how much he had grown, especially his fur as he is starting to look like more of a cat than a kitten. Apparently he hadn't stopped purring either and probably won't for a while now that he is reunited with his mum. We had a peaceful sleep after that knowing that everything was as it should be. 


Anyway check back soon as I will have the photos of the scarves up. Plus I have stitching group tonight and club day this Saturday - so watch this space!


Happy stitching everyone


Donna-Maree

Wednesday already...

Well I just can't believe that it is Wednesday already.


Little Bentley is flying out from Auckland today, with a ten hour flight to Perth, Australia to meet up with his mum and dad. Have a great flight Bentley and stay safe little one.


I haven't been doing much stitching of any kind just of late. Although I have finished knitting my scarf, I just need to tidy up the end threads. I will post a photo a bit later. I have started a second scarf which uses two different balls of wool in two colours and I am finding this very interesting. In the beginning it took a bit to get my head around what direction I was going in, but once I got that sorted I was away laughing. I will post a photo a bit later of that as well.


Anyway off to do some jobs around the house and maybe I just might be able to squeeze in a little bit of stitching ..... I seriously need some today.


Happy stitching everyone
Donna-Maree

A little bit of sight seeing...

We delivered our eldest daughters seven month old kitten Bentley to a cattery just south of Auckland on Sunday, to allow for him to be ready for his flight to Perth on Wednesday. This is Bentley about a week ago playing under the stairs to the kitchen garden, he is so cheeky but a real sweetheart. We are really missing him already.

After getting Bentley settled at the cattery we stopped not far away at the Auckland Botanical Gardens at Manurewa for a breather and rest stop before continuing on with our day. We had a quick look around, promising ourselves that we will return another time and have a better look around these fantastic gardens.

There are some amazing pieces of sculpture in the gardens. This one was just outside the doors from the visitors centre and cafe. There were lots of families enjoying the gardens meeting friends and family.

I thought that this was amazing, I was going to crop the photo so that you see it better, however when I did that you lost the impact of the scale and proportion. This is an amazing sculpture that has been purchased for the gardens. The impact of this piece was impressive.

This photo is in front of the building. I loved the way that the planters look like boats emerging from the water.

These palm shapes are the fountain heads that the water for the fountain comes from. Approaching the building you can hear the water well before seeing it. You come around the corner and see this impressive sight. These palm fountain shapes are echoed on the other side of the entrance with the palms along the wall which you can see in the previous photo.

This sculpture is of a Huia which is a bird now extinct. This one is out in the parking area. We are really looking forward to another trip to Auckland and checking out these gardens when we have more time. The smells coming from the cafe were fantastic and judging by how busy they were, it is obviously a favourite place to eat. Might need to check it out when we visit. If you are ever in Auckland and enjoy the outdoors, gardens, and sculpture make some time to check this place out.

Until next time, happy stitching everyone.

"The flowers they bloom in the spring tra la..."

While sorting out the other day, I came across this little wall hanging. I made this for a special friend of mine and have no recollection as to why I have it here at my house when it should be at hers!

Anyway I thought that I would share it with you before I return it to its rightful owner. This is a Kirsten Duncan design and I made this after a workshop here through the Whangarei Patchwork and Quilters Club. The label says that I made it in 2003 - thank goodness for quilt labels!

I really enjoyed making this little quilt, especially as it was for a such a special friend!

Thanks for visiting
Donna-Maree

Useful sleeves...

I thought that I would share these with you. These are probably the only things that I completed during the three years that I was studying.

I made this computer sleeve for my hubby for Father's Day and I used some of the ties that he doesn't wear anymore but just couldn't throw away. It is really nice seeing him use it whenever he brings his laptop home. It also goes a little way to saying thank you for all of the support that he has given me throughout my studying. This sleeve also meant that he could carry his laptop in his briefcase instead of in a separate computer bag, which made life much easier for him to and from the office everyday.

This little sleeve I made for my external hard drive and I made this for several reasons. I took my hard drive with me to Uni every day and I was concerned with it getting knocked around. The bright colours also made it easy to see in my bag and instantly recognisable, and I knew that nobody else would have one like it!

I just need to make one for my ereader now. Somehow nearly everything in my handbag is black including the lining of my handbag - don't have any idea how that happened, as I didn't set out to have everything in black. This makes it very hard to find things when you are searching in the depths of your bag.
Funnily enough I am a visual person and like things colour coded, so if things in my handbag have different colours, I will know instantly what they are. Anyway watch this space for the completed ereader sleeve.

I used the stitch and flip technique with both of these sleeves and have also taught my mother and my sister to make usefull sleeves for their items using this technique. My mother has sewn all of her life but isn't a quilter, my sister hasn't sewn a lot of things but has always owned a machine. They both really enjoyed the session and found it very easy - the hardest part was putting the binding on the edges. It also pays to remember to attach the velcro before sewing the sleeve together.

Anyway that is all for now so until next time
Donna-Maree

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day was a quiet affair in our house this year with nobody attending the dawn services as we have in past years when the children were involved in Scouts and Girl Guides. This year we watched the dawn service from the comfort of our bed supping a cuppa.

The above photo are the biscuits that I made especially for ANZAC Day which I have never done before. I was considering why this year and not other years and all I can come up with is that my appreciation and understanding has shifted somewhat and that I wanted to mark that somehow. So we had an ANZAC biscuit or two with our cup of tea following our lunch. I have to say that it is years and years since I have made these biscuits. 

I don't recall ANZAC Day being a big thing when I was younger. It was something that my father was involved in, as he was a driver in the Air Force but not something that as children we were involved in. I don't recall any special attention to it at school either. 

I then started to wonder about the history of the biscuits and how they came to be and why they were called ANZAC biscuits. I had figured that there were no eggs or milk due to the fact that they were in short supply because of the war and totally understand the need of making nutritious foods go a long way.

So of course I had to do a little research and isn't it amazing what we can find out when we google it. They were originally called 'soldier biscuits' - check out the info by clicking on this link - ANZAC Biscuits. The recipe that I used has similar quantities of ingredients to the one on the website but mine came from the Edmonds Cookery Book and uses a different method which I prefer. Here is the recipe that I used:

125g plain flour

150g sugar

1 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup of rolled oats

100g butter

1 Tablespoon golden syrup

2 Tablespoons boiling water

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, coconut and rolled oats.

Melt butter and golden syrup.

Dissolve bicarbonate of soda with boiling water and add to butter and golden syrup.

Make a well in the dry ingredients, stir in the liquid.

Place spoonfuls of biscuit mixture onto a greased biscuit tray, allowing room for spreading.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in preheated oven to 180 degrees Celsius (or approx 375 degrees F).

Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking tray.

Store in an airtight container.

Enjoy and thanks for visiting.

Cheers

Donna-Maree

School holidays at an end...

It is Saturday already, where did the week go?

Term two begins on Monday and our youngest daughter and my husband go back to school and work and the house will be quiet once again. Actually it won't be, the builders returned on Thursday after a long absence and I tried really hard to embrace the noise, but I am struggling.

I didn't get any sewing done this week much to my disappointment. I did start some knitting last night though. On our way to the retreat a few weeks ago we called into a few quilting shops. One of them had an interesting wool shop next door that we couldn't resist visiting. While there I ordered some wool, actually it isn't wool at all but is 70% kid mohair and 30% silk. Just inside the door they had a sample of the most beautiful scarf I have ever seen, so I decided that I deserved one of these. Due to the multi colouring of the yarn I thought that I would get a lot of use out of it as it would go with a lot of things. The yarn is so fine and it is knitting up nicely and won't be big and bulky.
Here is what I have knitted so far, I wonder how long it will take me to get it done. There is motor racing from Hamilton on tv this weekend, so I imagine I will get quite a bit done.
Soccer started for our youngest daughter for the 2012 season today. I found it hard getting out of bed to get to the Farmers Market before getting to soccer. I didn't manage it, so we dropped Georgia off for the warmups while we went to the market and we returned just in time to see her game. This is a new team and club for Georgia this season, lots of changes. The first half was a little hairy but they improved immensely in the second half and won the game 5 nil with some awesome play. I think we are in for an interesting season this winter.

Talking about winter, I am not looking forward to the cooler temperatures. The last few evenings have been several degrees cooler than what we have been used to. I have put an extra blanket on my side of the bed as I feel the cold more than hubby does. I think I will be grateful for my new scarf before too long.

Anyway that is all for now, until next time, happy stitching and thanks for visiting.
Cheers Donna-Maree

Club Day

Saturday was our club day for Whangarei Patchwork and Quilters Club. We meet on the second Saturday of each month at the Maunu Primary School Hall.


Saturday was a treat for me, as I haven't been able to attend Club Day for several months due to family commitments. I managed to catch up with people that I haven't seen for a while as well as those that I was on retreat with just a few weeks ago. The club has a fantastic library and it always amazes me how you always seem to see the books that you need right now to help you through the next phase of your patchwork and quilting.


I haven't quilted for a while and my skills are a little rusty, funnily enough I saw two books perfect for assisting me through this experience. I have been reading them and are looking forward to the opportunity to practice some of the suggestions and techniques shown and getting some of the flimsy's finally quilted, bound and labelled.


We often have a speaker at our meetings and this month we had Bruce Sowry who collects sewing machines. In his talk Bruce took us through the history of the sewing machine, the information that Bruce has on this is incredible but it was his passion that shone through and spoke volumes. He has been fascinated with sewing machines since he was a boy and he purchased his first machine when he was 16 years old. The variation in sizes of the machines is as much as the machines themselves. You can catch up with him on Leeann's blog Quilt Whangarei as I forgot to take my camera.


Some club members had taken their older machines for us all to see and it was fascinating the age of some of these machines and who owned them. The stories linked to some of these machines are very interesting and the machines were a delight. I got to see my first featherweight in person and I was impressed!


Anyway that is all for now, so happy stitching everyone and thanks for visiting.
Cheers
Donna-Maree

Stitching group with the girls ...


Last night was stitching group night, we meet once a month on the second Thursday of the month. I was really looking forward to last night as for a change I had some show and tell!


I haven't achieved much stitching in the last three years due to making a commitment to study. However, I have been stitching whenever I can since then and I have something to show for my effort.


So here is my progress so far:

This is my version of the Log Cabin Quilt from Quilt along with Emilie Richards - Lover's Knot Book 7. 

I had completed the top at some stage last year, but finally made a decision about the border and added it last week. It is now however waiting to be quilted.

I saw the pattern to this quilt on the front of a magazine and liked it immediately. I made this quilt using 2 Jelly Rolls plus extra lights and are quite pleased with it, another waiting for quilting.

I took this quilt last night for some advice on borders. This is Bonnie Hunter's pattern Pineapple Blossom, isn't it great. http://quiltville.blogspot.co.nz/2005/06/pineapple-blossom.html

This one is another Bonnie Hunter pattern, Weed Wacker which you can find here: 
http://quiltville.blogspot.co.nz/2005/06/weed-whacker.html
This one is waiting for borders and was another one that we discussed the border options on last night.

These are my Barrister Blocks that I have completed so far.  I read about Randy and these blocks on Bonnie Hunter's blog and couldn't resist making a few myself. I do need to catch up though as I am way behind.

The first block is Jacob's Ladder and the second one is Bears Paw and are the first two blocks that we are doing in the stitching group this year. Each person in the group got to choose one block each. The maker can use whatever colours and size that they like, they can also make more than one of each block - the choice is theirs. These are my blocks. The Bear's Paw will have tramming around it. The next block is a house block - this can be pieced or appliqued. The block after that is a star block - any kind, again your choice.
So watch this space to see what I do for those. I keep changing my mind with the house block ...


Cheers
Donna-Maree

Check this out ...

This morning when I was checking the emails there was one with a link to Patchwork Set to Music, here is the link. It is about 7 minutes long but well worth a look.


http://www.nfb.ca/film/quilt/?ec=en20120412


This is a little film made by Gaye Thomas about the beautiful world of patchwork patterns, set to music. This is the site of the National Film Board of Canada.

How was your Easter Weekend?

Easter Weekend is over for this year and the weather was just glorious with the exception of one afternoon when we had a little rain. As we are nearing autumn the mornings and evenings are getting a little cooler but the temperatures through the day have been fabulous.

We have had quite a busy summer here at our place and so we just had a quiet Easter with my hubby and son painting the roof of the house. They have made amazing progress and the roof is looking great. The guys being busy on the roof left me with the opportunity to carry on with my current patchwork project which is my Orca Bay Quilt pattern by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville. Classic hits had a retro 80's music weekend which meant that we could all enjoy the music while doing our respective tasks.

Last night I got a couple of blocks put together and so then decided to lay them out on the lounge floor so we could see what they are going to look like. There were no cats in sight until we stood back to admire the blocks and then ....

Hello Bentley was right in the middle. Bentley is our daughters five month old kitten that is staying with us at the moment. He has been with us for two weeks and until he came here, he had never seen a quilt before. So why is it that cats in our household go straight to a quilt?

I am a little focused on this quilt at the moment working on it at every opportunity, I so want it done!

Best I get busy then.

Cheers

Donna-Maree

Good morning

Well here it is, my very first blog. The family are a little bewildered as to why I could possibly want to do this. Well it isn't like it is something I just thought of. I did set the blog up in 2006 and it has sat until now, maybe a hint of procrastination. I have been thinking about sorting it for some time now, however some things just take time.

Life is a journey and we never know where it will take us. That is precisely why I wanted to do this blog. There are a couple of blogs that I read everyday and some I check every week and some when I find the time to squeeze them in. I get a sense of connection with people who are interested in similiar things as myself from engaging with these blogs. The sharing of ideas as well as techniques is amazing, but the glimpses into others lives helps create and maintain those connections as well. The inspiration that I get from checking out other peoples blogs inspires me with mine and maybe the things that interest me might interest others as well.

My family are very supportive of my hobbies which include patchwork and quilting, reading, knitting and gardening. However sometimes they just don't understand the complexity of some of the things that I do and therefore can't totally appreciate my creations the way that a fellow patchworker and quilter can.

The final reason is to document my journey. My memory isn't what it was and I struggle to remember things at times, so having somewhere that my journey is documented will help me keep a record of what I manage to achieve. I want to celebrate my completions, whether it is the completion of a block, a flimsy, or a completed quilt.

I went into the shops yesterday and saw a camper bus with the name 'stolen moments' and I thought what an appropriate name for a camper bus. It also occurred to me, that often the times that I sew are indeed stolen moments and for those I am grateful.

There is no place better that I can share the results of my stolen moments than here with my friends and family.

Thank you for visiting.
Cheers
Donna-Maree