Disarray

My house has been bedlam this weekend. We have literally spent all weekend painting ceilings, skirting boards, our laundry etc. We had decided last week we would get new carpet and flooring. As we own a carpet and flooring business, everyone was willing to fit us in quickly (like tomorrow!) - so we've been working like troopers for the last four or five days getting the house ready. It was a bit stressful and tiring to say the least, but we're all ready now and we can't wait.

I kind of lost track of what date it was too, my partner's squares for the Fair & Square Celebrate Summer round need to be posted tomorrow. Luckily I finished them a while back and haven't missed the deadline. Good job Clare emailed me to say she'd posted mine out, or I may not have twigged :-)

On Friday the chart I won on KarenV's blog giveaway arrived. Thank you Karen! I'm looking forward to stitching this one.



Hope you all had a great weekend.

Strewth!

Mid-winter has really struck NZ over the past few days, with snow to very low levels ... even in my usually mild corner of the country. Brrrr...

The cold weather has meant Tiggy has to be indoors. We've also been kitty-sitting the gorgeous Max while his parents are away. Here are the pair of them getting to know each other.

While Tiggy was sitting in her cage on Saturday Max whopped her on the nose. But tonight Tiggy got her own back - she chased him around the room, which was hilarious to watch... until she caught up with him and toppled him! Anyway, I thought this was a very cute photo so I had to share...



No stitching photos to share though, as I'm working on a gift. But I can share some photos of some stash I purchased today. I'm looking forward to their arrival. Once I've finished the two RRs I'm in, I'm going to concentrate on some larger pieces for a while.

They're both Papillon Creation designs - Simple Quaker -



And Mary Queen of Scots...



Hope you all have a great week!

Is it July again? Groan!

I've finished my piece on Carol R's RR for the Quaker Friendship RR. I love how these are coming along.

You can click for a clearer view.



I've also finished my partner's squares for the Fair & Square Celebrate Summer round. Once she has received them, I'll be sure to share a photo.

It's been quite cold here lately. Luckily I was well prepared and purchased an indoor cage a few weeks ago for Tiggy. I don't think she's very happy indoors, but at least she is warm. Roll on summer!

Thank you CarolR :-)

I am currently in the Quaker Friendship RR with the lovely CarolR.

Carol stitched a few test pieces when deciding what thread to use, and then made them into fobs for everyone in the RR. They are all beautiful, but I was particularly drawn to the green and blue one. Thank you Carol it was very thoughtful of you... and I promise not to break into it and spend the 5p! :-) lol

It's been a while since my girls appeared on my blog... so here is Tess, followed by Meg checking out my new fob...





Here's a little finish - Amour by JBW Designs, which I'll probably make into a little cushion for my smalls basket.



We're looking forward to seeing some visitors from Northern Ireland this week. I don't think they'll be too impressed with the weather which has turned to custard. I think I'll send it back your way Kathryn :-)

Have a great week everyone!

Winter Solstice

Today may be mid-Winter, but what a glorious warm day it was. It is supposed to deteriorate tomorrow, but that's OK I'm well stocked with chocolate buttons and some more new stash to keep me busy.

Last weekend my little sister came to stay. We decided to do a bit of shopping and ended up at an LNS (as you do!). I bought JBWs 'Lark' and some new needles, then we went to Spotlight where I picked up a kit 'There's no such thing as too much chocolate' for half price. OH then took the pair of us out for dinner and a movie (Indiana Jones). I also received Home of a Needleworker in the post from Meg at Country Frames & Quilts a new local online shop.



Here is a belated photo of my finished Summer Cottage Garden.



I've been working on Carol's Quaker Friendship RR, although I have put it aside until my 6" by 6" q-snaps arrive. In the meantime I'm working on JBW's 'Amore' and have pulled out an old WIP from 2005 - The Drawn Thread's 'Lily of the Valley'. About time I finished it, I think I actually started it in 2004!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

12 things about me

I found this on a non-stitchy blog, and thought I'd give it a go. I love how it turned out!



If you want to do it too -
1. type your answer to each of the questions below into flickr search.
2. using only the first page of results, pick one image.
3. copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into big huge lab’s mosaic maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

the questions:
1. what is your first name?
2. what is your favorite food? right now?
3. what high school did you go to?
4. what is your favorite color?
5. who is your celebrity crush?
6. what is your favorite drink?
7. what is your dream vacation?
8. what is your favorite dessert?
9. what do you want to be when you grow up?
10. what do you love most in life?
11. what is one word that describes you?
12. what is your flickr name?

Some progress and some stash

Thanks for your comments on whether or not to stitch some initials on the Quaker House Sampler.

I've been busy working on Summer Cottage Garden by CCN, and I'm not too far from finishing . I might even get it finished up tonight while OH is out watching the New Zealand All Blacks vs Ireland rugby match at the Cake Tin.

I can't tell you how glad I am NOT to be going. It's cold and wet, and it's going to get worse. So I'm going to start watching my Charles Dickens Bleak House DVD set, do some stitching and eat chocolate buttons!



I was hoping my stash from Down Sunshine Lane might arrive in time for the weekend, but thought the chance was slim since I only ordered it last week. But I was pleasantly surprised to see a parcel sitting in the letterbox when I arrived home from work last night. I've used DSL twice now, and have been very impressed with the service. Here's my loot -





Hope you are having a great weekend!

WIP Bustin'

Quaker House Sampler by Carriage House Samplings
Originally uploaded by rosie_kiwi

I started the Quaker House Sampler by Carriage House Samplings back in January. I didn't get too far before I put it aside to concentrate on commitment stitching and other projects, but I pulled it out on Friday night and finished it over the long weekend. It was a really enjoyable piece to stitch. There is something very visually pleasing about Quaker medallions.

I wasn't sure about all the random initials. They didn't seem to add much, and don't mean anything to me - so I chose to leave them out. What do you think? Leave them out or stitch them in?

I went to see the musical CATS last night. Wow, what a fantastic show! The other three people I coaxed into going (OH being one of them) enjoyed it too, phew!

Cindy's RR finished

I finished Cindy's RR, it's going in the post tomorrow.





Kathy wanted to know what kind of winter weather we get in Wellington. I would say we are quite lucky with the weather, a bit of snow on the hills is about as extreme as it gets around here. We can get some very cold mornings, like this day back in July which turn into glorious sunshine. Some parts of New Zealand don't fair so well though with extremely cold winters (and extremely hot summers).

I'll do a stash report when it arrives in. It took me ages (a couple of lunch breaks and several hours at home...lol) to decide what to get. I still haven't worked out if I don't like parting with money, or whether I am just bamboozled by all the beautiful designs out there. I mostly went for smaller designs - some JBW, Heart in Hand, Lizzie Kate, Just Nan and La D Da from memory.

Finally, before I go I'd just like to thank everyone for stopping by and for leaving comments. It's always appreciated :-)

Nearly there with Cindy's RR

If I didn't spend so much time on the internet, I'm sure I could have had it finished long before now! :-)



Thought I'd share a photo of Wellington. We're still having pretty good weather, even though it's nearly winter. I'm lucky in that the waterfront is very close to where I work. Great on a good day!



Oh well, I think I'm going to have a little online stashy spend. Hope you're having a great week - only four more days until Friday (and a long weekend - yay!).