Rosemary and Loch's quilts.........................

Rosemary made this quilt 10 years ago, it has been having a gentle rest in the cupboard all this time, that is until Rosemary asked me to do some edge to edge quilting for her.

Rosemary's Round the World quilt measures 80" x 85" I quilted 'Feather Me' edge to edge pattern using Glides 'Maroon' thread.

The next photo is a good one for sharing the quilting pattern, it is a lovely flowing feathery pattern.

Last but not least, Loch's deer stalking quilt. Loch is a keen hunter and when he goes to his grandparents farm to spend time hunting and doing boys stuff his Mum Marcelle decided Loch needed a suitable quilt.

Measuring 67" x 78" Fantastico 'Walnut' thread, Loch chose cross hatching and his name quilted on the stag.

                           Thank you Rosemary, Marcelle and Loch.............enjoy your quilts!

On Sunday I headed out for a tramp exploring the Tangihua ranges. It's fairly rugged up there, lots of under and over fallen trees, walking along what's known as the 'razorback' - think very high, narrow and a sheer drop both sides! But the views are fabulous. Seven hours hard slog and all was enjoyable except for the wasp sting right at the end!

back to work.....................

First customer quilt of the year.

Lois made this for her young friend who has just had a baby boy. I did very simple quilting, meander & a few straight lines using cream bobbin fill top & bottom.

Next quilt is also a baby quilt, made by a new customer Sue.

Again, fairly simple quilting, meander, some swirls, writing,  these quilts will no doubt spend some of their life in the washing machine, no sense doing fancy custom quilting.
Sue supplied a soft blue minky for the backing.

Next on the list is one from a regular customer, Ngaire............

A simple nine patch with appliqued butterflies. I used Madeira poly neon threads, a really nice variegated on for the cross hatch & loopy meander.

Before I head off to continue with the next quilt, I thought I would share with you the last Advent swap present I gave Dawn.

I made a Trapunto table runner, Dawn said she loved it, I am happy that she did. I must make myself one, I tend to give them away!

more swap presents,a book finish & customer quilts

I have finished a few customer quilts this week, here are two panel quilts. The first is a Beatrix Potter panel simply quilted with bobbin thread top & bottom using an 'organic' cross hatch. The tractor panel, same threads, but I just quilted 'organic' one way to look like a ploughed field. Organic gives you such freedom! This is a great one for a quilt that you don't want the quilting to be the feature, simply a texture.
I also finished an awesome quilt with a large appliqued digger, but I forgot to take a photo of it!


The next quilt is another beauty by Vivian, This one is called Hunter's Star, I love the vibrant, cheerfulness of this quilt. Vivian gave me free range on this one.

 I did an allover hooked loop using a Gunold variegated thread, then a petal in each diamond shape to show off the star, that now looks more like a flower!! I used Madeira polyneons for this.

The pieced border was given the curling ribbon treatment & the blue borders I simply echoed the same design as the main part of the quilt, it gives a feather look with a difference!

Now it's time to show you some more swap presents, but first a special present from a special friend, who said I could open it yesterday, & you can see why.................

I think if you click on this photo you will see the details such as the rusty stars, the cinnamon quills etc.............isn't it cool, now you can see why I was allowed to open it early, so I could enjoy it before Christmas is over, but I might not put it away!!!

Thimleberries pattern, Baahurrah farm 'coffee pot' soap! A lovely CD, recipe cards, a candle in a tin & at least a metre ( yard) of reproduction fabric! Thanks Dawn!

I finished another of Rosie Boom's books, "Where the Arrows Fly", from The Barn Chronicles. Not 3 hours later Rosie came into the shop , so I got to meet her! Great news there is a third book, "Where the Crickets Sing" & she has nearly finished the fourth book!

Before I go, I wanted to share a photo of a cheeky Magpie I got a photo of from out our window.

more swap pressies!

Day 12....a HurdyGurdy.......I had never heard of one before, it plays the most beautiful piece of music, when you turn the wee handle.

Day 13.....two wee canisters with buttons! I have hung them on the Christmas tree!

Day 14.....A Pooping Snowman!!! Some might say this one is X rated....but I had such a giggle with this one!! Click on the photo.

Thanks Dawn!

Because I needed to show you I have been working not spending all my time opening presents....................Another wall hanging finished for Ngaire.

Matilda Station & Advent Swap

Thelma made this quilt in a class quite a few years ago. This will now be gifted to Thelma's adult son to remind him of home.

A few feathers here & there.......................................

Wood grain on the barn, a touch of meander..............................

 Feather on the border......................look at the fabulous label Thelma made.

This time last year I did the same quilt for Megan, as seen back here


Now sharing days 9, 10 & 11 of Cat's advent swap..........................

Day 9, 2 lovely primitive Christmas decorations.

Day 10, a Christmas cookbook.

Day 11, 3 rolls of Christmas ribbon.

Thank you Dawn & Cat.

On a sad note our sweet little ginger cat Rose has been missing for over a week now, we feel something bad has happened to her.

Advent swap....they are here!

Yippie.......Christmas has come early to my house, I got home from the shop today to find a big box for me! My parcel from Dawn way over in Whiting USA. Dawn & I became L-O-N-G distant friends as Cat had buddied us up as swap partners in her Advent Swap.
Because my presents didn't arrive until today, I had 8 presents worth of catching up to do........& catching up I did! Hey I didn't need to be told twice, although my husband had the cheek to make sure I opened only 8 presents! As if I would try & sneak opening more!

Here's the box lot.....now here's the opening of presents...............

From left to right.......snowman socks, chocolate covered blueberries, lip gloss - coffee scented ( made by Dawn ), fabric bundle, scented wax melts ( banana muffin & warm cinnamon rolls ), note pad, cookie cutters ( I'm going to keep these as tree decorations, too nice to cut cookie dough with! ) & beeswax candles ( made by Dawn )................& 10 painted toenails ( mine! )

Thanks again Dawn! And a big thank you to cat for organizing this cool swap!