Garage Sale at Harrowset Hall Emporium

A quick post to the girls in and around Dunedin - don't forget the garage sale tomorrow - downstairs in the basement at Harrowset Hall Emporium (377 Princes Street, Dunedin).  This is going to be fun!!  But then, bargain shopping is always fun!!  Access to the basement is down the alleyway off Bond Street - the sale starts at 10.00 a.m. and goes until around 2.00 p.m.

I'll be there with baskets and baskets of fabric - all pre cut - mostly fat quarters - some halves - and all at super cheap prices.  Fat quarters are priced from $1.50 to $3.50.  There will be bags of trims and buttons as well - and some patterns.

And then there are the Harrowset Hall treasures - was down there today helping to set it up, and you should see bed linens and furnishing fabrics (drool worthy:), furniture and collectibles.  It's like an Aladdin's Cave :)) I have my eye on several items - well, it's a sale after all, and who can resist a bargain!!!

Gotta go - lots more fabric to cut tonight:)
See you tomorrow.
Jenny

A little more crochet

The blossom tree is flowering and winter is slipping away.

Been busy with the room makeovers these last couple of weeks, and am making progress.  So, it's nice to sit in the evenings with my crochet - it's easy, but relaxing.  I've made some wee flowers for the top of the round cushion...

... and I've been playing around with a hexagon shape - these are really fun to make and for me the bright colours are quite a change - am thinking this could be the next two year project, though, as it's probably going to end up blanket size.

Today I need to go make some curtains for the wardrobe doors - and a couple of cushions.  It's not so nice outside, so the perfect day for a few hours in the sewing room.

Or .... I could make a few more hexies:))

See you later

Jenny

Fluffy White Stuff

We've had a wintry treat for the last couple of days - lots of fluffy white snow.  It does look so pretty ..

Why didn't it surprise me in the slightest that someone had to go riding in the snow :))

And if not riding, then sliding down the road on an empty potting mix bag, which did kinda look like a lot of fun but I was too much of a sook to join him :))

This morning I made my way very carefully down the front path, accompanied by Charlie who hasn't quite worked out what to make of this white stuff...

 

... gave the smallest snowman in the world a nod as I went past :)) (might be small but he is cute!)...

...and not really expecting to see a newspaper on the bottom stairs, was very very pleasantly surprised to be wrong.  Ten out of ten to the paper delivery person - now that's commitment!!!  Breakfast was very pleasant - fire roaring, tea and toast, newspaper to read, and snow gently falling outside. 

The snow days have been perfect for finishing some projects - my pale blue jumper finally got sewn up so I get to wear it this winter, not next:)

And I've been putting some more pink granny squares together ...

...and some blue ones...

I've been knitting beanies too - just playing around with my wool scraps and having fun with some colours...

It's been a knitty month, and in between knitting I've been doing things in this room...

It was meant to be a simple repaint job .... but it's funny how some things escalate !!! You can see what I mean - over on my cottage blog - www.thecottageatthetopofthestairs.blogspot.com.

Keep warm and snug.

Happy stitching or knitting or crocheting :))

Jenny

There and back again.

I'm still here, though I have been ''there'' and now I'm back again:)  As I sat down to do this post I realised that I might need supplies - it's gonna take a while - so I'm now camped out at the lappie with coffee and jelly beans. I'm a bit disappointed with the jelly beans, though - it's so chilly down this end of the country that they have almost frozen in the lolly jar!!!

But I've been somewhere lovely and warm - just across the ditch - up north, round Brisbane.  It was a very very last minute decision to go and do something to celebrate a ''significant'' birthday - now normally I'm quite happy to let them slide by nice and quietly, but at the last moment I decided, no, not this time - I'm going to do something a little different.  So we booked a ticket to the Sunshine Coast and had a fabulous wee holiday. I spent my birthday on a bike, cycling through forest, around lakes and through little towns and disused train tunnels - great fun (except for a couple of hills that these old legs decided to walk up instead of pedal!) And a birthday dinner in a neat little restuarant on the beach.  Nice:))  We went walking through the Glass House Mountains park another day - I have always loved the Aussie bush...

...and of course no walk in the bush is complete without some pics of the local flora - truly I am amazed at Jake's patience sometimes - it must drive him nuts at times, waiting for me to take pictures of flowers - like the cutest little purple one...

...and these were so beautiful, mind you I was a little wary at where I had to walk to get these pics - through some very long and dry grass and I was remembering the snake stories the bike tour guide had told us the day before!

We went shopping in Montville!!!!  Now that is the most divine town - so pretty, and so many gorgeous little shops to browse in.  Even Jake found plenty to amuse.  I managed to find some treasures to bring home - love these - they are going out on the front verandah ...

...this will find a home down the hallway with little linen hearts hanging from it...

...maybe some of these that I have stitched this week from a book I got while I was away, called ''Made in France'' - gorgeous yummy book full of cross stitch and stitchery motifs:)

I love anything to do with hearts - this is another wee sweetie I found which had to come home with me...

We ended up getting a little delayed in Brisbane - the ash cloud saga. Sadly we had to spend another two days in Brisbane, all expenses paid in a fabulous hotel right in the heart of the city, with dinner each night!!!  Now I know that for some this was not good, as they needed to be home for various reasons, but for us, I'm afraid I couldn't find too much to complain about.  It was luxurious, and I could not fault how we were treated by the airline and the hotel. 

We had time to explore the city properly, incuding playing an excruciatingly long game of mini golf!!!  I say long, because it took about 3 hours!!!  I'm pretty sure that atleast half of Brisbane had the same idea that morning.  However, it was quite an amusing game due to the antics of the group in front of us - they had us in fits of laughter most of the way round.  We walked for miles around the city - it has some of the most glorious buildings - the architecture is astounding - I never knew!! 



Our hotel was just around the corner from Roma Street Park which is such a beautiful park right in the heart of the city.  The garden beds of cyclamen were amazing.

..the colour was stunning...



The child never fails to amaze me with his choice of gifts - have to say, I think he has exceptionally good taste:) He found these exquisite little pendants for me at one of the markets we went to...

...and this gorgeous scarf...

He's such a honey:)) Such a neat holiday - turning 50 wasn't so bad:))   Well, the jelly beans are long gone, I've had a second cup of coffee, and it's time to go and collect the child from a soccer match.  He asked if I would like to watch and normally I would, but when I discovered that they were playing at Kettle Park I decided to be a sook and politely declined!! Wished him well, and said I would be back to collect him at the end of the game:))  Mother of the Year, or what:)) Kettle Park is right on the beach and definitely takes the medal for the coldest soccer ground in the world (slight exaggeration maybe, but not much!!).

Not so much stitching has been done over the past month, but that's about to change cos the nights are long and chilly, and the best place to be is right beside the fire with needle and thread, or a pair of knitting needles.

Keep warm:)

Jenny

My "Snug'' Quilt

Now I don't want to skite, but I have to say I'm pretty pleased with myself because I have finished the quilt!!! That's the one that I showed you a couple of posts back - I am impressed with myself that I have actually managed to finish and hang this quilt in what, for me, is a respectable amount of time from start to finish. It's in one of the guest bedrooms, the ''snug'' room, and it's not going to end up joining the pile of other neatly folded ''tops''. The quilting is not perfect - in fact, it's far from perfect - but it's okay:) I nearly gave up on the quilting, though. Tried four different patterns, and nothing seemed to work - even resigned myself to hand-quilting it but decided that I wanted it on the wall this year, not next, so I went back to the machine. So, yeah, it's okay, but the overall effect I'm very happy with and I still sneak a peek each time I pass the room cos I love it :)

I've also finished the Kathy Schmitz sampler I've been working on for a few weeks - it's called ''Peace and Plenty'' and I decided to stitch it all in blue - now I'm on the hunt for the perfect frame for it. This week I've been making a start to my samples for the Simply Charming retreat weekends. These are some of the hearts and sachets I've made for the Lavender and Linen one..

...and this is the tea cosy for the Retro Vintage Home retreat...

There's more, but they are not quite finished, so I'll keep them for the next post. The crochet bug has bitten again - there's been some seriously addictive crocheting happening this week, which has been perfect, really, cos the nights have been chilly and the fire has been going, and there's even been quite of bit of decent telly for a change - well, any week with Grey's is good isn't it. It seems like forever since we last saw McDreamy :))

Can I have another skite before I go? Well, not really a skite, more of a ''he did good'' moment. Since I was here last, we took a drive down south to Bluff - an interesting quirky little town that does the best hot chips in the whole wide world (I wish I knew the name of the shop cos it is worth a trip to Bluff to taste these chips - they are amazing!!!) But we didn't actually go there for the chips - they were a delicious and unexpected bonus (you can tell that I really liked them can't you!). We went there for the hill, and the Downhill Southland Champs - and the child came away with the trophy for his age category. One happy child, one proud mother. And happy for him too:) He was covered from top to toe in mud, but grinning. Another bag of hot chips on the way home to celebrate (any excuse!!).

Gotta go - homemade pizza night - and I can hear the crochet hook calling me already - there will be many more mini granny squares littering the couch by the time I have finished tonight.

Happy stitching.

Jenny

Simply Charming

I've been busy making a few plans for the winter months....

''Simply Charming''

Weekend Craft Retreats at the City Sanctuary

Indulge yourself this winter - come and join me for a ''girls weekend''.

The weekend retreats include accommodation, food, a tour of a beautiful historic home, stitching, coffee and cake, ''chick flicks'', relaxing in front of the log fire, chococlate (of course) and a project kit and tuition for one of these....

Lavender & Linen

Crochet Chic

Retro Vintage Home

Needles & Pins

Sound like fun?

A nice treat to brighten up the winter months, a girls weekend with your best friends, or simply a ''just for me'' weekend escape.
I've got more details on the web - www.thestitchery.co.nz .

Off to make a few more plans:)

See you

Jenny

Happy Easter

Have a happy and relaxing Easter holiday - indulge in a little bit of chocolate (or lots!) and some hot cross buns - and enjoy:)
Happy Easter!