Summertime

Well the living isn’t easy, but at least we are finally getting some Summer.  I’m still in slacker mode after finishing the last quilt.  I’m also doing a bit of research on the best way to promote the shop and what items I should stock.  So far the feedback tells me I should be on Facebook, but that’s something I have been avoiding.  I don’t wanna go on Facebook, it would make me feel like a sheep.  But I do need the advertising (free).  I’ll have to mull it over a bit.

Ian worked overtime on Saturday so I scurried off into Wellington with Cam and Lilly. I couldn’t face another boring day at home.  The weather was just stunning, hot, but bearable, so we hung out on the beach at Island Bay with friends for most of the day. It was GLORIOUS.  The kids even had a swim, not me though.  The water temp on the the South Coast, FREEZING!!

This week I’m making clothes.  I have a few pairs of pants to make for Cam’s best mate and I wanted to make the 90 minute top featured on Made by Rae, who is having a Celebrate the Boy month (check out the link on my sidebar).  I made the pattern, cut out the top and have finished the front and back edges.  So tomorrow all I have to do to finish is add the sleeves and hem.  I have used one on Nathan’s outgrown t-shirts.  Great way to recycle.

Nathan wrote a small computer program for me tonight, he is such a clever lad!! I got him to update all the links in my sidebar for all the bee’s and swaps I’m in, I was too lazy and fiddling with the code annoys me, so he wrote a program to make the code for me.  Sweet aye?

Last of all a few pics, what’s a post without pics?  Boring !

The completed mini quilt for DQS8. I love this mini, reminds me of swirling water.

A bit of progress on my hex’s…

I bought a new quilting book last week.  I can’t wait to make some of these!

Supercalifragilisticexpealidcious!

Didn’t you always wonder how that was spelt?  It’s probably incorrect, but that’s the way it’s always been inside my head. 

I finished another quilt for the shop a few days ago.  I find that after finishing a quilt I tend to bum about for a few days not being very productive.  I took some pics of the quilt, but they were taken before I did the binding.  I’ll show you, but it looks way different with the binding on (I’ll try to get pics of that tomorrow).

Cute animals !!

I did get a few blocks done for Karen for the Live Piecefully Bee.

Tonight I sat down and finished my mini quilt for the doll swap (except binding).  I find I work well under pressure, hence all the deadlines coming up.  As well as the 5 quilting bees I’m in, I have 2 mini quilt swaps and 2 fabric / handmade goods swaps.  Some are due before the end of Feb, some mid march.  I’m getting my A into G now so they will all be on time.

Trip away

A couple of weeks ago my SIL took the kids away for a few days.  My 3 big kids (Matt, Nathan and Lilly) as well as their cousins C and A.  They all went to Auckland for a couple of days.

 For my 3 it was their first time on a plane, so was very exciting. They all had a great time (while I enjoyed the peace and quiet).  They did all the usual touristy things like Kelly Tarlton’s, the Sky Tower, where they had lunch in the revolving restaurant, cruising Auckland harbour etc.  They were even given a VIP tour of the Air NZ hangars at the airport and got to have play inside a 747.  So here’s some pics.  I haven’t included the cousins as I haven’t got permission to post their pics on the blog.

I would add more pics of Nathan, but he is being silly in most of them.

Cam didn’t go with the big kids, so his treat was a visit to Wellington Zoo a few days later.  It was a great day for the zoo, slightly overcast and warm.  We caught the bus from the train station to the zoo and back, Cam really enjoyed that!  He liked the Zoo, but I was a bit disappointed, most of the animals were sleeping as it was afternoon.  Some of the animals we expected to see weren’t there any more.  I wonder what happened to the Zebra’s, Camel, Pelican and Kookaburra they used to have?  It was okay, but I’m looking forward to taking Cam to Auckland Zoo later in the year, they have a better selection of animals.

A few new projects

Here are few things I’ve been working on this week.

The first blocks for the Beatnik Bee, these are for Heidi.  The fabric is just lovely.

Some blocks for a new baby quilt for the shop (the zigzag quilt is SOLD).  These are on hold as I need to get more red fabric for the sashing. I got 4 out of 9 done though.

Some blocks using my Amy Butler stash and the gorgeous gold linen I scored a while ago.  This pattern has been haunting me ever since I made it for a Cottage Bee block.  I upsized it from 5 and a  1/4 inch squares (cut into triangles) up to 8 and a  1/4.

This was a quarter of a block………..

This is a whole…………

I decided instead of making 3 more of these for the main part of the top, to use the other triangles to make a border instead.  It’s still very much a work in progress and I’ll make it up as I go along (as per usual).   I do  like to take a pattern and make changes to it.  This is sort of how it might look.

It’s difficult to show the true colour of the gold linen.  Its is lovely in real life, and really soft.  I love it.  This quilt will be staying here

Wacky weather !

Funny Summer we are having this year.  Heaps of rain, we’ve only had to water the garden a handful of times so far.  Things seem to be about 2 months behind where they should be.  I did a bit of weeding and did find 2 massive gherkins hiding under the weeds.  We have zucchini, but nothing else to harvest really.  The corn is just starting to flower now, so that is still some time away.

We’ve had lots of Thunderstorms is the past few weeks.  On Wednesday we had about half an hour of thunder, but no rain.  Bizarre.  Yesterday we had another, unfortunately yesterdays one was not just thunder, lightning and rain, but hail too. Not your average size hail either, marble size hail. (insert swearing here).  It lasted about half an hour, and the rain for about an hour.  The driveway was a lake.  Here’s some pics.

This was the sorry state of the sunflowers and pumpkins after the hail.

Bugger !!  Oh, the other big downside to the rain yesterday, it was coming from the east, which is not the prevailing weather side and I didn’t realise that Cam’s window was open.  There are no eaves over his window, so 2 thirds of his room was wet.  Wet carpet, wet bed, wet toys.  Aargggh. It’s all dry today, but wasn’t much fun.  Half an hour after the rain stopped we were back up to 26°C again.  Not bad today though.

Hello, is it me you’re looking for??

I can’t believe the Summer school holidays are almost over.  Lilly and Nathan are both back at school on Tue / Wed next week.  I’m not really looking forward to it at all.  We’ve had a nice routine of getting up at 7.30 for the last few weeks, now we have to go back a 7am start and chaos.

We went and got the school essentials today.  School bags are so expensive :-0

I was lucky that they both only needed a few uniform items, shoes and sandals and a few things from the Stationary Warehouse.  I will wait till Nathan knows his optional classes before getting his books and Lilly’s stationery is issued at school on the first day. Even so, the coffers are few hundy less after that shopping.

Check out this score from the local library.

A whole $5.50.  What a bargain.  I’m tempted to go back and get a few more

Here’s pics of the two quilts I’ve been working on………..

Tadpoles and Frogs….front

Back……

Close up….

Any way up Allstars……………. front

back…………..

close up…………..

If you want to take one of these lovely quilts home, you can find them in the shop.

Lucky Number 13

Congrats to Kylie, lucky number 13, winner of the orphan block, which will now be made up into a cushion cover.  Kylie, check your inbox

Back tomorrow with a crafty post.  Got 2 new quilts to show off

Anyone up for a bee?

Jo (aka sparklygreenknickers) is starting a quilting bee specially for us Down Under.  Of course I have joined  

If you’d like to join too, here is where you should go.  Then send Jo a flickr mail. 

It would be great if you would join us !

Time for a giveaway !

This orphan block needs a home.  I think it wants to be either a mini quilt, or a cushion cover. (edited to add the size – 16 inches by 16 inches (40cm x 40cm).

So, make a choice, mini quilt, cushion cover, or as it is (so you can make it part of something bigger).  Winner by random number generator, or other random drawing.  I’ll make it up into whatever you choose and send it on it’s way to the winner.  International entries welcome.

All you have to do to enter is comment.  Want an extra entry?  Blog about it, come back and let me know in the comments.  Winner will be drawn Sat 23rd 8pm (NZ time).  Good luck.  Thanks for reading.

Here we are

I know I hardly ever post pics of me here, these ones are okay, nothing too close up

Taken a couple of weeks ago at Avalon park.

Nathan and Lilly up the hexagon.

Of course what the big kids do, Cam has to have a go at.

Fun !!