weekend retreats are soooo much fun

 Sarah Fielke was our special guest tutor at our winter weekend retreat at Pudding Hill Methven this weekend - Keep Calm & Quilt On

 and we certainly did plenty of that, I taught my Mt Cook Sunrise class, I always love teaching this, sooooooo much fun!

 a few completed blocks

 and "The Burbs" from Sarah's first book - Material Obsession

 Roz placing her stars (from "Quilting from Little Things")

 Fenella & Sarah showing off another of Sarah's wonderful creations - " A Walk in Deventer" - inspired by Sarah's visit to the Netherlands last year

 and again -

 close up of previous....

and I taught these fabric art books today, I love these, so creative and such fun!

Fenella taught "Sand in my shoes" and Michelle was a fabulous help for the weekend, it was a great weekend ladies and I really enjoyed our time together...thanks to everyone who came and made our retreat weekend so fun-filled and fantastic, you were all amazingly wonderful to be with, do come again next year!

57% finished...

 shadows from the morning sun, one or two trees still to come down...

                  not sure who is going to clean these windows

                                           exterior cedar cladding

                                                    main bedroom

                                                deck post rails

                                                 lounge area

                                                     kitchen

                                                         dining...
well it all will be in a few months...

Lest We Forget

Nelson Mini Symposium 2012

well what a fabulous week!!!

 Rowing Man and I toddled off last week on a road trip to Nelson, a 6-7 hour road trip... we left home about 10am Wed morning last week, and arrived in Nelson about 7pm... a few pit stops on the way.... we left a sunny Twizel but by the time we  got a bit further up the island the weather changed and it rained the whole way...

 here's Puddles doing her startled possum look!

 a good time to catch up with friends.... (bad hair day for me huh!)

 and fellow merchants

 from near and far

 we're a very happy bunch

 and love getting out to see you all

so that's it for another year....next mini-symposium in Ashburton in 2014, but National Symposium is in Taupo next year... will I see you there?

Sarah Fielke Retreat weekend...

...is approaching fast! Yes Sarah is coming to my house... well mine and Fenella's, to teach from her book

this book is just full of goodies to create, this truly is a book to umm and ahh over, and deciding which quilt to make first is a bit tricky.. Oh the decisions a gal has to make!

so where & when is this wonderful weekend then I hear you ask.. well let me tell you all... May 4th & 5th ...

@ Pudding Hill Lodge, Methven, now the owners Peter and Lesley have spent a huge amount of time and effort renovating this lodge, and it sure looks like it will be a fabulous hideaway venue for a fabulous weekend...
there will be lots of stitching, 'n' chatting 'n' relaxing...

and lots more stitching...work on a project from Sarah's book, with Sarah's help, or join one of our classes... or work on your own project
This is simply going to be so much fun, so treat yourself, come away for the weekend, we still have a few spaces left, and we would like to fill them

May 4/5/6 & 8/9 @ Pudding Lodge, Methven and 12/13 @ The Rowan Tree Twizel. registration packs available now

 email Shiree at info@therowantree.co.nz

love to see you there!

hello again...

soooo much to tell you all, what with a whole 3 - no almost 4 weeks of no posting, there has been a whole heap of goings on here in my corner of the world,

 here we have the wonderful Michele Hill from Adelaide, THE William Morris pattern and fabric designer, my BFF Colleen and I headed off to Tauranga at the beginning of March for a fabulous weekend at Village Fabrics and Needlecrafts. What a treat and a wonderful road trip for Colleen and I.

 We stayed in a cute little bach in Omokaroa, ate out at the local boat club, and walked heaps in the evening,

 I was ever so lucky to be in Wellington for my eldest daughters birthday - Envirogirl - we had a great time catching up, and I shall see her again at the end of the month when she is down,

 and I have been busy creating - in my spare time (hmmm... what is that??) - in between shop stocking, fabric arriving and a class this past weekend - all good fun and for another post huh

Ellie had a playmate when Rowing Boy (Son) and his wife (French Chic) came up for the weekend, Ellie is so tired now, and sleeping beside me as my fingers tap!!
... and I plan to spend the day updating my website - which will likely take me the best part of the day - before I head to my quilty machine - news about that too as I have updated to a new long-arm
talk again soon - have a fabulous day, wherever you are and whatever you are doing!

Gosh it has been a busy week..

hmmm it has been rather hectic, but oh so much fun!

 this bright breezy Dr Suess quilt is for my brand new - well 4 weeks old now - baby of my lovely niece Emma. Yep, 4-5 weeks old and just tipping the scales @ 71/2lbs, so a teeny tiny model

 this lovely bright one is for a very good quilting friend from our local group who very sadly lost her battle with cancer late last year, our group has been rather busy working through her stash making quilts for her grandchildren. So these are my 2 finishes for February OPAM... and I made a couple of journals also, but haven't managed to take photos yet.. on the to-do-list!

 and I have been rather busy eating plenty of these fresh goodies... off my good neighbours tree... must plant a few at our new home, they grow ever so well up here. It has been a plentiful year with beans, plums, pumpkins, courgettes, tomatoes and of course the usual lettuces, potatoes, spinach etc

 and a blog post is not complete without an update on our delightful leggy blonde.. my she is growing very fast. I can't imagine a time when she was not in our lives...

and this was on my (new) quilty machine.... all done and dusted now, along with 2 other mates, I thought I had photos, but cannot find them so maybe not... another time then,,
so, you see, I have been rather steadily busy - great fun!
how was yourweek?