Treasures and Friends :)

This week I've been finishing off

some lovely little treasures

that I have stitched

using designs from Barb's gorgeous new booklet,

''When a Bird Sings''.

As you can see I had to use the

sewing machine

just a little bit

to make the wee pillows

but

you will be pleased to know that

my fabulously tidy sewing room

is still

fabulously tidy :)

Don't you love it

when a surprise package turns up in your letterbox.

I've had a couple of these lately

and

'wow'

don't they just change the whole flavour

of the day.

Inside this "oh so pretty" paper,

(which I will be recycling

'cos

it's far too nice not to)

were these adorable

little

handwarmers :)

I've filled them with rice,

stitched them closed,

and heated them up,

and

they are wonderful!!!

(and very very cute:))

Thank you so very very much

Simone

for such a gorgeous

and totally

unexpected

gift:)

My hands thank you too :)

And a few days earlier

these arrived ...

...aren't these colours simply delicious.

Makes you think of spring.

These are beautifully hand dyed

by another friend

I've met

through the blogging world.

She was telling me about her fabric dyeing,

and said she would send me a few pieces to play with.

My goodness,

a few pieces indeed -

it's a whole stack :)

Thank you so very much

Hylda :)

The picture doesn't do them justice,

girls,

they are absolutely gorgeous.

I have been thinking about a project

to show them off,

and I think I have settled on something,

but

not telling

quite yet!

I've been spoilt, ay.

Ta ever so muchly,

you are such lovely amazing friends :)

Happy stitching,

Jenny:)

My Sewing Room

I've done it!

Sorted my sewing room out.

But it took a lot longer than the one day

that I had set aside for it :(

I wasn't sure whether to post these pics,

'cos it will show the world,

just how much of a sewing room sloth

I had become.

And,

I confess,

these are actually some of the less slothy photos,

'cos the others were just too shameful :(

... but even so, it's pretty bad...

... badder still!!



... it's not good, ay!

Not good at all :(

I am hanging my head in shame as I write this.

This is part way through the process,

and yes,

I know,

it looks worse than ever,

but there really was some degree

of method

happening here.

I do remember the child coming into the room

about this stage,

and ....

backing out again,

very quietly!!!

I think he was genuinely petrified

I was going to ask him to stay and help!!!

But,

then the sun came out,

and three days later

here it is ...

 I found things I had forgotten about,

like my little button mannequin which I love...

...and all my needles in one place,

instead of here, there and everywhere...

Have to say,

it will be novelty

to be able to sew,

without first having to clear a space...



You know what the best thing was,

about the cleaning,

and sorting,

and tidying?

It's not that I can now see all my

''can't live without''

favourite fabrics

nicely

neatly

carefully

folded...



... and it's not that I felt

an incredible sense of

achievement

and elation

that I now have a fabulously tidy room.

Nope ...

the best thing was ...

the chocolate!!!

I know what you are thinking,

any excuse :)

But it's a fact,

I had to have it to maintain energy levels,

and my sanity :)

Sooooo ...

that's the little story

of how the sorriest looking sewing room

is now looking

much much much betterer:)

See you :) 

Jenny

P.S. I don't want to use it now,

though,

in case I make a mess:)





Stitchy Stuff

In case you were thinking

that I've just been wandering around

taking photos of frosty plants ...

I have proof

that I have been doing some other stitchy stuff :)

I've finished my

Chocolate Sampler...

... and I don't mind saying,

I'm pretty happy with it :)

And...

I've finished two cushions

that I started weeks ago.

In all honesty,

I ''lost'' them in the sewing room

for quite a while.

The state of my sewing room is shameful,

so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for rain

next Monday,

'cos that's the day

that I've decided is the right day,

to get in there

and

clean it up!!!

And if it's raining,

there's a better than fair chance

that I will clean it up,

'cos there will be no ''garden'' distractions :)

Not sure which of these is my favourite,

but I do know that I really really enjoyed making them,

and possibly

I think

I will make some more :)

My knitty ''thing'' is also finished,

and it's already ''in service''...



I thought I had enough of the plain blue coloured yarn

to do the complete shawl,

but when I got to the end of the yarn

it was pretty clear

that I needed to add more to it.

I raided the various baskets of wool I have scattered around

(sorry, tidily stored in my sewing room!!)

and decided it was a good chance to use up

lots of end bits -

you know -

those little part balls of yarn

that you can't bear to part with.

In retrospect,

after spending approximately four and a half hours

sewing in ''ends''

I thought,

give me variegated yarn any day,

but,

I have reduced the baskets of wool stash :)

And,

I have been stitching

some of Barb's gorgeous stitchery designs

from her fabulous new book

called

''When a Bird Sings''

which you can find here

or here.

I've used Nina's threads

in my favourite shade of ''chilli'' red

and stitched them on linen ...

... very very cute little birdies ...

... some of these I will be using in little home decorations,

so sweet :)

So, that's my lot for the moment ...

time to go put the kettle on,

and a slice of cake would be nice!

Chocolate of course :)

See you

Jenny



Perfect:)

I know I've said it before ...

...there is something about Central Otago,

especially Alexandra,

that is perfect.

It's the rugged beauty of the hills

that inspires me,

and the scent of thyme in the air.

So...Alexandra beckoned on Monday.

We got on the road early,

loaded with downhill bike,

gear,

camera,

and a picnic rug:)

Got to the top of the hill nice and early,

for the first of many runs,

and when I stepped out of the car,

the first thing I smelt was the thyme,

which surprised me

as I didn't think it would be all that noticeable

at this time of the year,

and the second thing I noticed,

was the air..

it was perfectly crisp and cold,

so cold that it really did make you almost gasp!

I managed to sneak off with my camera at times,

in between runs.

Things looked so pretty in their frosty coats.

Here's the child,

waiting perfectly patiently

for his mother

to stop taking pictures of

leaves

and

dead plants covered in frost :)

And yes,

I'm pretty sure I know what he was thinking ...

... but,

then,

this is me putting life and limb on the line

to get a shot of him ...



... and just to put things in perspective,

here's his feet!!!





And yes,

I'm pretty sure that you all know what I was thinking,

and it wasn't,

"isn't it a lovely day" :)

Before we sorted this shot

I did suggest that he keep a little to the left,

clearly he thought I meant

my left!!

We had a ''discussion'' as to what part of the word ''left''

did he not understand and his reply ...

"what are you worried about,

I was no where near you"

...ah, yeah right!!!

Just as well he was grinning from ear to ear

when he said that,

'cos I had to laugh :)

Had the most perfect day

in every sense:)

Not alot of stitching happening lately,

it's taken a bit of a back seat

to a huge shawl thingie I'm knitting,

that just seems to keep on growing,

and it's the perfect thing

 to be working on these chilly old nights.

Keep warm,

and keep left!!!

Jenny