where ever you may, who ever you may be with,  I hope your Christmas Day is full of fun, friendship, and family

Have a super fantastic Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas,

SSCS, FNSI, Christmas cake 'n' more...

...well this post has been in the making for a day or two, so I apologise now for all the randomness, and the photo overload, it is that time of year and so much is happening, and like most of you, I have been rather hectic, trying to get Christmas organised alongside of daily life in the country and the quilt shop

my childhood friend visited with her Mum recently and stayed overnight, it was absolutely fabulous to catch up with them after so long, Beverley and I grew up across the road from each other, went to primary school together, but different high schools. We met up again when we both ended up doing our nursing training together in the same cohort, and keep in touch, even though Beverley now lives in Qatar.

..and Rosemary (from the UK), visited my shop too, when she was holidaying here with her husband - they were having a fab holiday in NZ, and I am so pleased that she called in. We are both doing the Sue Spargo 2011 BOM Imperial Blooms, along with many others worldwide,

When we went to Dunedin to see the Elton John concert recently, we stayed with our good friends Mike and Sarah, while the blokes were out rowing, Sarah and I headed to The Broad Bay China shop, this is a delightful little boutique junk shop, with  the most amazing treasures galore - vintage linens and laces, and the most impressive collection of china - a true treasure trove!

and a bit of time in the garden, we have so much rain for what we usually have at this time of year, and everything is sooo green, of course that means that while the flowers and grass are flourishing, so are the weeds

YIPPEE - my SSCS present arrived from Lorraine - how exciting seeing who my swap partner was - THANK YOU ever so much Lorraine, see the lovely handmade ornament that Lorraine sent, and 2 more BIG presents for under the tree, I was so tempted to rip into them, my present to Kate has arrived as well, this has been such a fun swap, THANKS Chookyblue!!

BUT as the ribbon says ~ no peeking!

I played with these tags...

to create this which I saw here,

and finally got my December Daily album together ~ with some pages completed but lots more to do yet!

I have to show you my new funky chair, isn't it delightful, and great for sitting stitching, quilting or sewing on  bindings,

some more treasures from Omarama, Ellie and I had to make a trip there Monday for her vaccinations, and I simply could not drive past this shop ~ not that I need any more of these, however I do have a few ideas....
Whilst I was poking about seeking out these goodies, I heard a car alarm go off, not once but 3 times. On investigation, I discovered it was my car, Ellie was buckled into the back seat but had some room for movement and set off the alarm ~ which I now know that we have!

finished the quilting on this Christmas quilt, can you see the Christmas trees?

and the fireflys on the back of this quilt, these are both Christmas presents..... and my effort for last Friday nights stitch-in, there is another one this Friday night as well to help us all get that Christmas stitching completed, head on over to Heidi's blog and sign up..

 the binding now on this one

and some social time at the local pizza bar, just one of many end of year do's... I am so over wine and food right about now,

and this delightful little towrag, has been munching pine cones and made such a mess in our lounge,

oh and I finally made the Christmas cake...s 

Saturday...

well what a fabulous Saturday... I headed off off Friday afternoon with my friend Gaynor, and travelled over the Lindis, a must stop at Mrs Robinson's in Tarras to lighten the wallet a bit, on via Cromwell, through the gorge to Queenstown, quick bite of tea... and then off on the Southern route to Invercargill for the night.

 Early Saturday morning saw us setting up our stall for the Southern Artisan Fete at The Hideaway in Lochiel, about 15 mins NE of Invercargill,  what a perfect venue..

 what a fun day we had, the weather couldn't have been more perfect, warm, slightly overcast... which is great for displaying quilts and goodies..

 and the best site ever with wooden gates to hang the quilts over

and trees galore to hang skirts and quilts

and the view from our gazebo AMAZING!

more of Gaynor's fabulous skirts ...( more on these in another post, I promise you these are fantastic!!)

yeh... I have to leave you with a morning photo of Ellie... she is soooo good... sleeping most of the night with little or no noise now - she pees and poops in the right places... and just loves cuddle time!.... oh yeh and chewing EVERYTHING!
hope your weekend is a fun one!

S.L.E.E.P

yep spells sleep, however Rowing Man and I are feeling just a little sleep depraved right about now,
meanwhile...

enjoy your day!

Sunday Snippets...

this last week or so

 I have traced this design out so I can do this in the car on the way to Timaru this afternoon

 and pieced this quilt top together, binding ready, just needs to find it's way to the quilty machine

 and really enjoyed putting this little fellow together, we had a workshop over the weekend so quite a few of these about now..

 potted out some garden colour

added sashing & borders to this Christmas pressie, it too needs to find it's way to the quilty machine

and a bit of hand quilting just to keep the fingers busy at night time

let me leave you with this snapshot taken on my walk yesterday morning, these are the beginnings of this years pine cones, isn't the colour stunning?
enjoy your week,

Bloggers Quilt Festival 2011 - Mt Cook Sunrise

this quilt began when we lived in Dunedin and was a group project with my Dunedin quilt group - The Garage Ladies. Michelle led us with this quilt, and it was the first time for me to do foundation piecing, I just love it now and teach this class several times a year

 not the best piccie, but in my haste to get this post up, the best that I could do as I just couldn't find where I have stored the better photos,

 it currently hangs in my shop, just over the batik collection, as I find these work very well in this type of quilt. I made this to hang on the bedroom wall of our holiday home here in Twizel, that was way before we moved here, the colours in this are so reminiscent of the magnificent sunrises and sunsets that we have here in paradise

 I really loved putting this quilt together, and I love teaching it as well. It is fascinating watching others put their own mark on this design, and watch it all come together. I have been meaning to try it out in black and white, with just a splash of red, ...stunning, but then it would hardly be Mt Cook Sunrise then huh..

 I am off to Temuka today, taking The Rowan Tree Quilt Gallery for an outing...to Ashfield Manor House in Temuka for a Garden Walk, Quilt Show & Mini Fete

 at least the weather is a bit kinder today with blue skies, and no snow or rain like yesterday, much better weather for a garden walk!

then I am coming back to finish off this quilt, which is a surprise Christmas present for someone that I won't mention just in case they stumble on this post

pop on over to the Bloggers Quilt Festival and enter your quilt and check out all the others!
Enjoy your weekend whatever your plans...