Last Day of Feb

Hello my friends. 

Thank you for your visit. Love having you here.

I joined `Let`s Celebrate Swap` with Mrs Martin  this year. 

Birthdays are celebrated and mine is this month. 

My swap partner Maria -life on the block is my partner. 

It will be lovely getting to know her this year.

Maria sent this lovely parcel for me.

Beautifully wrapped in this lovely fat 1/4.

A lovely card with stitchery pattern and fabric to stitch it on.

Thank you Maria.

 I have a few ideas on what I`d like to make my fat 1/4 into.

February is my birthday month.

Family and friends helped me celebrate this with gifts,cards,phone calls and texts.

I`ve taken this photo of some of my gifts.

I  have received more taking photo. 

I will show my gifts at another post as it`s quite late now.

I was stitching so nicely and my needle roll was nearing finishing.

Then a little frog came for a visit and reverse stitching was needed before I 

could carry on :(

So close to my dead line.

Once frog went away I moved further on.

I`m thinking of using fabric from my `Thimbleberries` collection to make this up.

Thank you for your visit.

I`m of to stitch some more before I head to my bed.

Happy Stitching,

Clare.

Stitching in my birthday month

Hello my friends. 

It`s nice to be chatting with you again,

so glad you could have a short visit with me.

This is my finished bag from `Red Home` book by Natalie Bird.

 February`s project for Chookyblues SAL. 

As you can see I`ve had more than one project on the go.

February is my birthday month and I try to make a project by starting at the begining

  of the month. To be finished either before or on my birthday. 

This is so close to the end of the month that it usually gives me time.

This year I was nearly a week into February before my Crescent Color threads came. 

I had decided to make `Flowers for Sarah Needle case` from BBDs `Thank you Sarah Tobias` book.

Once the threads came I went will this project. I`m so pleased I did.

  I`m using suggested threads and linen.

I have enjoyed stitching this. After a week this was my progress.

Today I`m this far along.

  I`m nearly finished this part and as picture on book cover you can see one more part to go.

I will show my progress again soon and tell you if I meet my deadline for this.

I was going to stitch the kitty cat `Too Pooped` but realized a month wasn`t

 enough time to complete him as the colours are so close in some places 

that I need a fine day to stitch. So this is a WIP. I will show progress during the year.

Thank you for a lovely visit and I love the comments I get as I truely  feel you did visit with me.

Happy Stitching,

Clare.

Valentines

Hello my friends, I hope you are enjoying 

Valentines Day.

A surprise posy from my Hubby.

Flowers from our garden.

Lovely.

I joined Cheryl`s Initial Valentines Swap of gone stitching blogspot .

I stitched Janice Woods Quaker Motifs  Freebie heart pattern.

Using DMC v115 .

Then using a motif heart and Michell   @  http://michellsplace.blogspot.com/

initial I complete this side.

As you can see I added heart sweets and a heart shape tin of full of sweets too.

This is the other side.

I made it into a needle booklet.

This is the thread holders and felt needle pages.

My lovely surprise from Helen @ www.lemuronastick.blogspot.com 

A lovely initial heart,an amazing mug mat (love the entwining hearts) and 

a selection of chocolate kisses. Yum.
Thankyou Helen for the lovely gifts and it was lovely having a chat to you.

She has stitched this so beautifully and I now have it hanging off one of the little draws on my treasured wall unit.

Thankyou Cheryl for hosting such a lovely swap.

Well hope you are all having a lovely day.

Thank you for visiting .

Happy Stitching,

Clare.

A surprise in the post

Welcome my friends.

Stop for a short visit with me.

Today is Waitangi Day or New Zealand day.

For most of us it is a holiday.

On Monday I found lovely mail in my mail box.

Illene from retdairyqueen.blogspot had a giveaway. I wrote my comment .

I won one of the two giveaways.

`Too Pooped`.

Thankyou Illene for your giveaway I will be stitching this soon.

This little kit came with 14ct Aida.

 I love stitching on 28ct  so cut a piece for me to stitch `Too Pooped` 

 from my linen in the cupboard.

I will give my YD the Adia for her stitching.

I had another project to stitch this month

 for my ` Birthday Month`but since the threads have not come yet 

 I think `Too Pooped` is taking it`s place.

Above is my progress on `Mystery Sampler`.

For some reason photos not true to colours.

Hopefully next time they will be.

I`m using `Silk n Colors` Dickens Christmas`

Needle Necessities 142 (green)

DMCs 936,834,3828,3834 and Perle12 #712.

This Sampler is designed by `Elizabeth Darrah 

donated to the `Northern North Island Region as 

a progressive sampler from 1st Nov 2012-1st April 2013.

Thankyou for visiting and I love the comment I get from my blog.

Happy Stitching,

Clare

Starting and finishing

Hello my friends.

I`ve found time to sit and chat.

Come and join me.

On New Years Day night as the sun was setting this was the sky. 

My hubby took this photo.

Friends came visiting a few days later and said from their home it looked like angels wings.

I didn`t show this earlier as I hadn`t downloaded my photos.

My `Santa`s Village` is slow going as I`m waiting on thread and also in `Initial Heart Swap`.

My stitching for that is a secret at the moment. Tonight I hope to complete the stitching and then some shopping for chocolates.

I was so pleased to join again with Chookyblues SAL .

This month is `Thread Catcher` from `Red Home` book  plus if wanted to do, a shoe bag from `Some Kind of Wonderful` . I decided to make  a larger `Thread Catcher`and use as a storage bin.

`The Patchwork Cottage` block 1 is progressing nicely of `A Girls Day Out`.

This has been hidden in the back of a cupboard for awhile.

The bricks called out to be used and another piece of fabric I will quilt for the tiny quilt hanging in the window.

 Sharon started `Friends Making Quilts` blog for this QAL.

A close up of two cute cats among the bolts of fabric.

A friend gave me sometime ago this piece of fabric for my `Girls Day Out` quilt.

Little Jack the lamb has a friend to help get the lanky grass under control.

Happy Stitching,

Clare.

A gift for a friend

Hello my friends.

Welcome to my part of the world. 

Stay for a little visit as I show what I made as a gift for my friend Gail (no blog) for her birthday  December 2012.

I stitched a `Dutch pin keep` by ``GPA`` a pattern from Italy that I brought recently.

I also made her the lovely block roll. I like to make these for my friends plus need to make a few more for myself.

A closeup of stitchery. 

And then progress.

Hubby finished his canoe that he designed and then made up.

With his fishing licence he went down to the river to use his new canoe.

He caught this trout. This was part of our meal that night.

 I have some more sewing to finish as well as some stitching to do so will show that in my next posting.

 We are having some really hot days here that without the fan going I feel I`m about to melt.

Happy Stitching,

Clare.

New Year

Happy New Year.

2013 is here!

Welcome to my part of the world.

I thought that I would show you some of the gifts from friends and family for Christmas 2012.

Also a finished quilt top.

From Katrina

 Lynette Andersons book `Country Cottage Quilting`,

The Pink Needle `Patchwork is Happiness` pattern,

Another of her lovely Stitching holding bags,

A cute Rose Cat Stitchery from `Red Home` Natalie Birds book.

My ornament from her was the lovely BBD pin cushion.

  

From Kath 
 A Lizzie Kate pattern.She knows I love these.
Plus a beautiful angel.

A few gifts from my children

The sugar bowl to match mt teapot that was a gift in 2011.

I stitched this for my friend Gail (no blog).

A Just Cross Stitch Christmas ornament of `The Victoria Sampler` Merry Christmas 2012.

Kerry (no blog) recieved `Christmas Sampler Pear` from me.

 I used a piece of twig that had  blown down from our walnut tree.

This is a freebie pattern from

http://samplers-and-santas.blogspot.co.nz/

`Heart and Bloom` mini quilt.

My Christmas gift for our Grand-daughters dolls cot.

 This was from Natalie Birds book `Red Home` page 36.

Finally complete `Girls Christmas Party Quilt` a Bronwyn Hayes pattern from Homespun # 32  Vol 6 # 6. 

She had Santa blocks in the corners which I changed to Angels.

 They where out of one of her books but I made them smaller to fit. 

 Now to find the backilng fabric ready to quilt.

I have placed stitcheries so I can use this for a table cloth or hang it. 

Well that is it for me today.

Happy Stitching,

Clare.