Dear Friends...

As you may know, life for me has changed quite a bit lately with the girls now being home schooled.  Well, things just aren't the same any longer.  It's not longer 'Just About Me.com!'  So I've decided to say goodbye to my blog.  Yes I'm afraid it's time for a group hug my dears. 

But first I must say a huge thank you to all of you, for your friendship and time you have taken to write all those treasured and very lovely comments on each of my posts. 

  

Thank you very much for teaching me so much and for introducing me to the likes of old fashioned doilies!  Hubby doesn't thank you for that one sadly but No.4 does.

Thank you for getting me into quilting so I could make all my girls' quilts and pretty wall hangings.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make and give gifts for the Queensland flood victims. 

Thank you for always having such nice things to say about what I had to show and tell about.  Thank you for all the wonderful swaps too!

Thank you for being there at all our birthdays and sending birthday wishes to us all.

Thank you for teaching me how to crochet and encouraging me when it all went badly.  I have since found out that crochet isn't my thing, but I do have a big crochet blanket to show for my efforts. 

Thank you to all my friends who I have met on here (and sometimes for real) and have been such wonderful company.  May we still keep in touch.

Thank you for all the gifts you sent when I called out for help for the Christchurch Earthquake families.
 

Thank you for putting colour and homemade goodness into our home. 

I've had such a lovely time getting to know you all and spending time with you.  I will still be popping by your blogs and perhaps writing the odd message - although I find I can't with many of your blogs since getting a laptop.  Must be the settings or something, but it's very frustrating. 

Thank you for everything!!!!  I feel a bit sad about this but it must be done.  Who knows, I might be back one day.  Big hugs to you all.  xxx

Calling International Bloggers!

The girls have just signed up for a marvelous swap organised by the very lovely Megan from Mousehouse.  If you have any interest in the Rugby World Cup, or even if you just love to receive lovely parcels, pop on over and sign yourselves up.  Even if you don't have any children I'm sure it wouldn't matter.  RWC countries are scattered all over the world and a parcel from any one of these countries would be fantastic.

Megan is going to try and match up people from different countries so it's international.  We have been asked to send items that represent our country eg. sweets, kiwi related items, stickers, magnets, colouring pages, postcards, stamps, anything with a New Zealand theme.  You, international bloggers, would send us items that represent your special country.

This is a great way to include your children in a swap and help them to learn about another country in a very fun way.

Now off you go and sign up!  Work to be done around here now.  Have a super duper day today/or tomorrow for all you lovelies over the other side of the world.

What's Been Happening?

Well quite a lot really I guess, although some days I wonder where the day went.  We have had quite a few outings of late which we have really enjoyed.  When you home school you are able to go and experience real life quite a bit more than when you go to school, and it's great.  I love it!  We love it!

You probably know that we, New Zealand, are currently hosting the Rugby World Cup.  Well sport in general has no interest to me what-so-ever.  But I must confess to having watched a couple of the games, and yes I have enjoyed them and even got a bit excited.  Yes really!  They are quite gripping sometimes, and rather frustrating at other times. 

Well we simply couldn't pass up an opportunity to visit a Pacific show in the 'Cloud', as they call it.  Auckland city is not a place you just visit for fun.  The city, until recently, has been a place where some people go to work, university or something similar. 

As a host city we have to step up and look the part, and my goodness have there been some fantastic changes for our boring city.  I love the new look and hope to spend many a lovely day here taking it all in.

Quite picturesque wouldn't you say?

Love the stripes that lead the way from the water front to the stadium.  We didn't fancy the 4km walk there.

On to other things.  Polish paper cutting anyone?  Such fun!  (Anyone else adore the TV programme Miranda?)  Can you imagine cutting these out with sheep shearing scissors?  They truly did!  Luckily we were given your standard paper scissors, moving with the times and all.

No.3 has taken up knitting.  She looks like a real granny I can tell you, and has a very unique style too.  It's quite difficult to fix up her mistakes as knitting isn't my thing at all.  Still with a little help from a real Nana she managed to finish a blanket for her favourite tiger.

And lookie lookie!  Spring has arrived down here.  So exciting and the weather has been super indeed.  Well not this week at all actually, but we won't talk about such things.  No we won't.  We'll pretend it still looks like this pretty photo.

Check out those white pins!  Check out the grass while you are at it.

Yes finally we have grass at our house.  At last the girls say.  Their dream is to be doing cartwheels by Christmas.  The poor man is still suffering from laying it all in one day and that included a layer of topsoil as well.  A full day's work that's for sure, but splendid it is. 

This week we have two little sickies and perhaps another on the way.  Some horrid vomiting bug that has left the little girls lifeless and very quiet.  The older two were astounded that one small child could sleep all day, then all night, then all the next morning.  After a car ride, some sushi,  the chocolate sauce off a sundae and some lollies, she perked up a treat.  Let's hope it's all up for them now.

Right I'm off to check on the suspected sickie.  She's our nurse so it's not good!  Oh dear and it's our skiing day tomorrow too.  Indoor skiing that is.

I Have a Soft Spot for Tea Towels

Please excuse my sideways photos, but the dear man removed my favourite photo software and now I have no way of working with my photos.  He was just trying to clean out the computer to make room for all my crap lovely workings, so I can't be cross really.

Anyway things have been mighty busy these days as you can imagine with four girls all at home every day now.  Oh my goodness they can fight, squabble and TALK!!  Honestly if they don't improve soon I think I may just explode.  Yes there will be bits of me all over the show, I can tell you. 

Now I was offered the chance to pick a couple of very nice tea towels from a very nice lady called Al, who has an online shop called All Tea Towels.  Well of course I thought very seriously about this, as advertising isn't something I usually partake in.  Anyway the thought of two new FREE tea towels was just too much for little old me and I straight away ordered two very smart towels indeed from the World theme page.  So here we have my choices:



and...



Well I couldn't very well just put up a couple of photos of tea towels for you, no I could not.  I thought, what would my dear people think of that?  So I went the extra mile and whipped up an apron for my sweet daughter No.2 (At 8am I might add). This cherry print is just perfect for working in the kitchen.  I love the birds, flowers and the bright colours.  The tea towels are super thick cotton and great quality, so I imagine this apron will last a great many years to come. 

Check out the cheeky neighbour's cat!!  Honestly you would think she lived with us they way she behaves. 

Anyway this apron took about ten minutes to make with a bit of binding starting from one side, around the neck to the other side, where it is secured with velcro.  Seriously you should pop on over to Al's shop and purchase a few fab little tea towels and make a few aprons for Chrissy pressies.  Oh yes, you know that time is coming fast!  And the very best bit is the free shipping for the UK, one pound in Europe, and just two pounds per towel for the rest of the world.

Thanks so much for the wonderful tea towels Al!  I love them so much and look forward to making another apron with the French tea towel.   Once again, huge apologies for the sideways photos!

I shall be back with my goings on at some point - I can only hope! Hope you are all well and having a wonderful week.  The first day of Spring is here today and the sun is shining brightly.  Love to you all xx

How Many of You Can Say...

your jeans match your bed covers?  Is that taking clothes co-ordination a little too far do you think?  Perhaps, but when you have lots of heavenly scraps leftover, well why not?  Oh yes, and a doily!

Lots of leftovers also made this rather groovy pillow case just now.  It's fresh off the press.  Quilted just like the quilt will be so it should be snugly warm at night.

No 4's quilt top is also finished which is a huge relief.  Don't you just love it when you sew the last seam in a quilt?  Now I just need a wee trip to Spotlight for some backing fabric.  Not sure what I'll use yet.  I should use the linen fabric that I've used in the quilt, but it might add up to a little too much money if you know what I mean.  It's not like you really get to see the back of the quilt anyway.  Anyway we'll see.

I have been a busy beaver these holidays I can tell you!  My quilt for Gran's 90th birthday is warming her knees three weeks before her big day.  Well I didn't see the point in waiting when it's cold already.  Although still not that cold.  No heater on this morning and it's really quite warm out there today.

I used some scraps for the back piecing.  I was very, very impressed that all the seams on the back matched up with the quilting lines from the top quilting.  It's the little things that make me happy.

I'm feeling very good about finishing off these projects.  I do hate to have quilts sitting around and not finished. 

Now I really must go out with the girls.  I hope you lovelies are all well and perhaps enjoying the holidays too.  See you next time!

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

Well the garden sure has been super busy and so confused.  Strawberries in NZ in June???  OK it's a small one, but still.  Spring bulbs flowering?? 

Autumn leaves still changing?  Very late, but then the temps have been so warm and so NOT mid June.  It was 20 degrees on Saturday!!!  T-shirt weather I tell you! The high temps in Auckland are anything from 15 degrees to 20 at the moment.  They should be below 10!

Never mind we are not complaining at all.  No we are not.  And we sure are having our share of wet weather today. 

Now do you remember ages ago that I said I was too busy to blog because of a project I had been working on?  Well I can now tell you what that big thing was...

HOMESCHOOLING!!!!!

Oh yes, I may well have completely lost the plot this time around, but you know what?  I LOVE it!!  No.1 loves it too.  Yep it's just her and I at the moment (with No.4 pottering around) but we have two other younger sisters keen to join in sometime soonish.  So our days are busy now with work, outings, crafting, drawing, lots of learning in a fun way.

My mother celebrated her birthday the weekend before we started on our new venture. I decorated her cake.  Her sister baked the cake.  Just how I like it to be, no cooking.

This was her present from us...

I started this quilt about two years ago!!!  Finally finished and being loved.  I do love how it turned out.

A fancy little addition to the back and another doily label.

And last but not least.  I tested the linen with the cotton fabrics in the wash by making a cushion and guess what?  It was a success!  So now I can safely finish the quilt, sometime!  In the meantime No.4 can enjoy her new cushion on her bed.

And now my dears, we are off to the swimming pool.  And no I won't be going in.  Perhaps next time when I've sorted out the forests growing on my legs!!  How embarrassing!  The little ones have started lessons too and they are doing fabulously.  So sweet.  But for now it's No.1's turn to have fun.  See you next time xxx

Well...

I have actually made a start on No.4's quilt!  Yes I know!  Amazing, it really is.  And I started on the spur of the moment as well.  I just decided two nights ago to rip into it.  I'm not sure if many of you sew like I do.  I just went into this quilt with no idea of what I was really aiming for.  I knew that I was having squares and doilies, but as for design, really I was in the dark.  So I just began stitching squares together and I have to say I really like it so far. 

I might need to find a couple more bigger sized doilies, but that's OK.  I don't really know if I'm going to fill in all the small linen squares or just some of them with little doilies and bits of table cloths. 

I do think I'll make the whole quilt and then stitch the doilies on in case it shrinks and looks blimmin' awful.  And no I haven't pre-washed any of the fabrics.  And yes I know that linen mix isn't the same as the cottons and the shrinkage may differ. As I say, I like livin' on the edge a little.

And today I ordered another pile of fabrics as I ran out at cot size!  It's very me I'm afraid.  Not to worry, they should be here tomorrow.  There was a panicky moment or two when I saw that one of the fabrics wasn't available on the online shop.  Turns out she just hadn't listed some of them.  It sure does pay to ask ladies.  Actually it might pay to make sure you have enough fabric in the future when embarking on a quilt, unless you prefer to live on the edge like me.

So this is the quilt so far.  I've used bigger linen squares for underneath the doilies for support.  'Cause a doily needs a lot of support you know.  I've even decided to do quilting lines either side of each seam which another first for me. 

The little lady thinks it's a bit special to finally be getting a real quilt.  "Is it really mine?"  She keeps asking.  Although she's not keen on the spotty squares.  Who knows why??  This is a girl that hates to wear stickers and name tags, fake tattoos and pen marks on skin.

I'm thinking, yes I know I've done a bit much of that lately haven't I?!! Anyway I'm thinking that I'll just do more squares around the edges but not any more doilies as it will be less fussy that way.  But who knows what it will turn out like in the end.   Now I think I've prattled on quite enough for one day!  See you later xx

Little Fish for Someone Special

A while back my dear bloggy friend Lara sent me a quilt top, two matching fabrics and another matching charm pack.  She was having a clear out and getting rid of things that made her feel guilty.  Oh you know the feeling do you?  Yes, me too.  I told her I would finish the quilt and donate it to a charity.   Well surprise, surprise Lara, it's finally done!!!

And it's so cute too!  I love the Moda Odyssey range of fabrics.  I think a little boy in Christchurch is going to love snuggling up in his new quilt, don't you?

It's not that big, but big enough for a little lad and his teddy.  I'm sure it would look wonderful on a wooden cot too.

I went for wavy quilting lines as I thought it looked suitably sea-like for the little fishes.  A bit of a breakaway from my usual stippling.  Way quicker too, especially as I didn't measure the distance between each line.  It's fairly even I think.

A little label was made on my fab little machine...

and then stitched onto the dotty quilt back.  I really love the backing fabric.  It's just a cheapy from Spotlight but it goes well.  And next week when I meet up with Cat I will pass it onto her, to accompany her to Christchurch. 

Thank you Lara for helping me make this quilt for someone special.  xxx

Modern Meadow Quilt

I've had a collection of Modern meadow for quite a few months now.  I do love it.  I bought it because I loved them, not with a use in mind.  That's the nicest kinda fabric shopping don't you think?  Anyway it seems I'm not the only one who fancies it.  No.4 also thinks it is pretty and her thing.  Could I please have a quilt with this fabric she asked one day?  I really thought she was having me on as it's quite sophisticated fabric and not little girly at all.  She's only four after all.  Anyway I was thrilled to hear her say that and they have been labeled with her name since.

I've been searching for the perfect quilt design to use for her quilt.  And finally last night I found it - inside my own head!  Well actually it's pretty basic, just what I like, but with a twist.  You may remember that I was wanting to make a quilt out of doilies and traycloths?  Well this incorporates these with the collection of fabric as well.

So I got a cutting last night at 8.30.  Yep I cut every last piece of them and some linen/cotton as well.  I'm still a little shocked at the speed of cutting and the fact that I've actually cut through them!  Have I done the right thing?  Maybe squares are too yesterday?  Well if they are that's perfect because doilies are from the same era, right?  And old fashioned is what my little girl likes.  I do love that.  She and I delight in changing our dressing table mats, choosing which new one to have.

Are you seeing my vision?  Am I right in thinking it's going to be beautiful?  Or am I loosing the plot entirely? 

The whole quilt will be stitched together with larger squares of linen.  I will then sew the doilies and cloths over the top when the top is finished.  I'm thinking of handstitching some flowers and hearts onto some of the smaller linen squares for a nice handmade look.

And let's hope that they will NOT still be sitting in this container next year!!  I can be rather naughty like that sometimes.  I'm hoping that No.4 will be really bossy and nag at me to get moving on her quilt.

Now I must order some more of one fabric for the binding.  I'm thinking of using the circles one.  And now I really must run.  Have a super weekend everyone!!