Thursday, July 26, 2012

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
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:)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

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:)






Wednesday, July 11, 2012

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


Thursday, July 5, 2012

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