Cup Cakes and Polka Dots

It has been a few months since I last talked about cup cakes and polka dots but just recently Linda has been busy on the quilting machine and now I am in the midst of hand stitching the binding and then it is all finished.

No home has been found for this one yet but we can be enjoying it while we wait.

In the interests of stash busting and frugality Linda used a re purposed 100% wool cot blanket for the batting and a cotton fabric remnant from an op shop for the backing.  Very nice and cosy.

There was no pattern for this quilt, I just made it up as I went along.

The cup cakes in the centre were meant to be a feature but, with hindsight, I realise I should have used a stronger contrast in the fabrics.

However, Linda worked some magic with machine stitching a border around the blocks as well as doing some tiny stitching around the cup cakes.

I really appreciate the work she put into it.

This quilt was made in the interests of stash busting, as well as having a bit of fun along the way, but considering I have since been given some more cup cake fabric it is back to the drawing board for me.

The Sweet Peas are gathering

We did not realise when we bought this property how handy the large courtyard and lawn area might be.

Most Sweet Pea mornings we have 5 to 6 cars parked in this area and it is nice to think they ladies can gather without having to look for parking anywhere else.

As usual, there was lots of chatter and laughter and much interest in new and completed projects.

Debbie brought along this scrappy quilt which is still a work in progress.  The lovely bright colours and the way Debbie has mixed them is just magical.

I talked before about a change of direction in our birthday gifts for each other.

I made this block and yesterday we got to see what the others had made.

Trish loved the collection and it was not long before we were all gathered around as decisions were made about how all the blocks should be placed.

This is what we came up with.

A lovely assortment of stars with a common background.

Trish is going to make a quilt for the back of her living room sofa and we look forward to seeing the completed project.

Design board

Our design boards are large sheets of polystyrene with polar fleece pinned on them - pretty basic but they work for us.

I have spent a lot of time over the last week or so playing with the blocks in this quilt top.

When I completed the granny square quilt top I had a lot of 2.5 inch strips over from the jelly roll that had been given to me.

I also had surplus of the reddish background fabric and so I commenced making a whole lot of scrappy four patches and then playing with placement of blocks ensued.

After trying several options this was my final solution and so I now have another quilt top to add to my pile.

Last of the summer roses?

Come summer the roses bushes are in full flush and bring so much enjoyment.

The season wears on and with a bit of pruning at the right time you will probably get a second flush.

Then they seem to die away but there usually are one or two bushes that like to surprise with a last minute flourish.

This small yellow rose is a perfect example of this happening.  There is one small bud on the bush to follow.

In another part of the garden I have seen one pink and one white bloom and then that is probably it until the seasons pass and we start all over again.

Self sufficiency?

When I was in my 20's I used to read a lot about self sufficiency.  I dreamt a lot but it never became reality.

Even though those dreams are long gone I still retain an appreciation for anything that has a home grown flavour about it.

On the weekend Linda gathered eggs from our hens; fresh tomatoes, lettuce and chives from our vegetable garden.

Every now and then, on our menu, we have what we call a 'rustic lunch'. Linda makes focaccia bread and that along with these lovely home grown ingredients made a real treat for us for our Saturday lunch.

One bush, three flowers

With the change of season and the long spell of dry weather we are seeing changes in the flowers on the hydrangea bushes.

We have a bush just outside my bathroom window and yesterday I spotted the large soft purple blooms and decided I would bring them indoors for show.

When I went to the bush I discovered the other colours on the same bush.

One bush, three different sets of blooms - how good is that?

Linking to:-

A Favorite Thing at Mockingbird Hill Cottage

More than just a sneek peek

The other day I gave you a sneek peek at a scrappy chevron quilt top I was working on.

The quilt top is finished and really does look bright and cheery.

It is destined to become a quilt for a little girl and so I will get back to you when it has been machine quilted and bound and before I send it on its way to its new home.

These scrappy chevron quilts are so much fun.  I am sure I will be coming back for me on this design.

Linking to:-
Jaqs Studio - Made by Me Link Party

Free Motion Quilting

Today Freemotion by the River is having a Linky Tuesday and so I am linking about the transformation on this quilt by the addition of freemotion quilting.

I found this quilt in an op shop when I was staying in Tauranga in January.  I wrote about this find on the 15th January.

The quilt is wall hanging size and and in very good condition.  It had quite basic machine quilting which was okay but Linda felt it could be enhanced some more so this week she set to work on it and we now have a totally new, textured quilting masterpiece.

You can read more about Linda's work and see more photos at Razzle Dazzle Quilter - enjoy!

Love those marigolds

An all time summer favourite for our family.

Marigolds are a sturdy annual that brings such lovely colour and vibrance to the flower garden during summer.

In recent years we have even been known to put some in the vegetable patch with basil as a companion plant to hopefully keep away unwanted insects.

This summer Linda planted some pom pom marigolds en mass in one of our patio pots.  We had to patiently wait for a result and now that it has come it has been a very impressive result.

We look forward to more and more of these fresh blooms until the first frosts of winter.

This one is for Aaron

When your children grow up and leave home you hope they will take some happy memories with them.

For my oldest, Aaron, apple crumble would be one of those and whenever we have a chance to meet these days if apple crumble is on the menu he is more than happy to come to the table.

We still had stewed apples in the fridge from our big apple cookathon and when I spied some blackberries in our freezer I decided it was time to do something with the apples.

I combined the blackberries with the apple and with some topping we soon had apple crumble for a treat.  Hot custard completed the picture.

We still have some left but as we are in New Zealand and he is in London I don't think he is going to make it to polish off the leftovers.  Would be nice if he could.

Surprised by Scraps

My latest work in progress has made me scrappily happy.

Based on Jen's In Color Order Chevron Quilt featured at Moda Bakeshop.com, it really is a very easy quilt to make.

I have already made one of these in Kiwiana fabrics and I enjoyed the process so much I thought it worth making another.

I have chosen modern brights for the nine patch component of the quilt.  Included are stripes and spots - fabric designs I usually avoid but in this structure I am really pleased with the way they are taking shape.

With all the best intentions in the world to complete the quilt top today, it was not meant to be - maybe tomorrow?

Time for a change

We are into the third year of meeting as the Sweet Peas sewing group.

For the first two years we celebrated birthdays by each giving the birthday girl a fat quarter of fabric in colours of her choice.

This year Linda came up with the idea of us making traditional quilting blocks for the birthday girl.

Linda did the research and found a selection of quilting blocks for us to choose from and most have made their choices already.

The first birthday belongs to Trish and she settled for a block called Sisters Choice.  Trish provided the background fabric, Linda gave a lesson on how to make the block and so it is up to us to do the rest using any colour we like except bright orange.

This particular block is 15 1/2 inches and so by the time we collect all nine of them Trish has the makings of quite a substantial quilt.

My birthday is not until December but I am already looking forward to getting mine.

Lovely Lilies

When we purchased our property there was an existing irrigation system but it did not cover all parts of the garden.  We have added to it a couple of times and this year we put some in the garden along our front drive and suddenly this white lily plant has come into bloom.  Amazing what a difference some regular watering can make.

I started thinking about the other different lilies I had taken photos of in recent years and so I did a search of my images and came up with these.  What a wonderful variety of flowers there are within the lily family alone and even then these are just a few.

Red on Black Tea Cosy

Completed!

One red on black tea cosy for my niece.

I have enjoyed making this and it could be a strong competitor to the purple on green one I made for our kitchen, however I think I will be happy to keep the one we have and send this to its new home.

Tea cosies can go on hold for now, there are other things that need doing like a baby quilt for my prospective granddaughter.

You may like to compare the two cosies.

Linking to:-

Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop # 98 
Link a Finish Friday #56
Can I Get A Woop Woop
Find A Friend Friday 
A Favourite Thing #26 
Sunny Simple Sundays 
The Creative Home Acre Hop 
Let's Get Acquainted
Anything Goes at Stitch by Stitch 
Mama's Got it Together 
Sew Cute Tuesday 
I Have To Say 

A Heath Robinson Affair

Now, doesn't that all look a bit strange and unusual.

Not the sort of image I usually try and use on my blog.

This is the continuing story of the apples we were given recently.

We stewed as many as we could but then it was on to making blackberry and apple jelly.

When I had finished combining the cooked blackberry and apples the quantity was too great to hang over the preserving pan so we had to resort to making something from where the jelly could drip, hence this creation.

We even felt the necessity to hang a tea towel over one end to warn of impending 'danger'.

If our Mum saw anything like this when we were growing up she always called it a 'Heath Robinson' affair.  Heath Robinson was a cartoonist who excelled in creating eccentric drawings of weird and wonderful make do and mend inventions.

My estranged husband was a great believer in the make do and mend philosophy.  In his estimation there was a lot you could do with a brick, some blue tac and glue - not necessarily together at the one time but he was often the recipient of Mum's 'Heath Robinson' comments.

The result of our efforts was a thick dark juice that dripped through the cloth overnight.

Linda added sugar and in no time at all we had blackberry and apple jelly - very yummy with fresh baked scones.

Dare I add that we still have apples to deal with?

Linking to:-

Tilly's Nest Blog Hop #26

Fabric Flower Frenzy Carries On

My fun with using the Go Cutter to make fabric flowers has not finished yet.

When I shared about my tea cosy project my niece said she had just had her kitchen renovated and there was a touch of red in and she thought a red and black tea cosy would be really nice, so what's a girl to do?

Stage one is completed.  I have made a front and back and now I just need to quilt the background and finish.

I will report back then the project is complete.

Living alongside nature

It has been a long hot summer and our dahlia bushes have thrived.

This one in particular has given us a multitude of flowers.  As well as the flowers giving us pleasure we always delight when we see bumble bees doing their business in and around the plants.

Yesterday I went to cut away the spent flowers and when I had finished the dahlia bush I also spent some time on the plants behind.

I had just completed and was stepping out of the garden area when I felt a sharp stinging sensation above the inside of my right ankle.

My first thought was that I had been bitten by a white tip spider and I wasn't very happy at the thought but when I lifted my trouser leg a bumble bee flew out.

He must have been in search of a flower but got caught between my socks and trouser leg and so gave me a sharp jab.

Linda administered some first aid and it was okay but an itchy sensation stayed with me for the rest of the day.

There is still some itchiness today but better than it was.  I will survive and I am glad it was not a spider bite.

I can't be mad at the bee, they do such a wonderful job for us in the whole scheme of things.

When life gives you apples, start peeling

We were given a bag of apples this week.  About 20 kilos or 45lbs at a guess.

I stewed some to have with ice cream pudding which is a favourite of ours to have with summer fruit.  RazzleDazzleQuilter has the recipe for ice cream pudding on her blog.

Definitely cooking apples these ones.  I had a raw slice - very, very tart.

We still had heaps left so Linda and I sat down yesterday and peeled and sliced and peeled and sliced until we filled our preserving pan.

With water added we cooked them to a pulp and they are now stored in the freezer in bags for use at our pleasure.

We still have frozen blackberries in our freezer courtesy of our brother, Alan, picking them for us and so Linda is about to embark on making blackberry and apple jelly - another flavour treat.

Whatever is left after that we will stew and store.  Life is looking pretty good from where we live.

The simple things of life

When we were young Mum and Dad kept poultry as one of the means of bringing in an income for our family.

If one of the hens laid a double yoker Mum always made a fuss about what a lovely treat it was to have 'two for one' so to speak and you were lucky if you were the one got that treat.

Just a simple thing in the sum total of life but it has stayed with us and yesterday, when one of our new hens laid a double yoker we were most impressed.

Glynn, the man of the house, was the lucky recipient of our first double yoker.

I sent him a copy of this photo along with these words -

This is no joke,

It has a double yoke.

Served as a treat,

For our man to eat.

We have four hens and two of them are laying regularly now so we are getting at least 2 eggs a day.  It will be even better when the other two catch up so we can build a little surplus in the egg department.

Linking to:-
Mockingbird Hill Cottage - A Favorite Thing

All visitors welcome

Our friend, Debbie, visited yesterday with her two year old grandson, Rex.

Could he see the hens please.

Definitely.

Some of you have asked if the hens have names.  Yes, they do -

Clara - the leader of the pack and the first to lay eggs;
Zara - mainly because she followed Clara in the laying eggs department and their names rhyme;
Henrietta - she was the first to be named by Linda and we thought she was going to be the 'head chook' but Clara soon showed us how wrong we were;
Penny - well if you shorten Henriette to Henny you get and Henny and Penny so we have two pairs of names.  Penny is shy and retiring and definitely at the bottom of the pile with Henrietta.

We are still waiting for Henrietta and Penny to reward us with eggs and feel sure that day will come soon.

Rex was fascinated with the chickens and he is most welcome to visit again anytime.

Only the best at Riverview on Robinson

Linda's husband, Glynn, loves fish and would eat it most days if he could.

We have problems sourcing nice, fresh fish locally. In the end Linda was able to track down an online source, Hawkes Bay Seafoods.

After placing an order the fish is delivered by courier within 24/48 hours depending on availability.  It comes in a polystyrene box and the fish is packed between layers of bagged ice.

We usually buy 1 - 1.5 kilos and even with courier charges it is comparable, if not better than shop prices.

Linda packs and stores the fish in the freezer and most Fridays we have home made fish and chips.  The fish fillets are cooked in bread crumbs.  The potatoes are par boiled then shallow fried in olive.

What more could we ask for?  Only the best at Riverview on Robinson.

Flower Power

I offered to cut the pieces for a quilt in this pattern but when I looked closer I realised it was using techniques that I had never done before and so before I knew it another quilt had been made.

The pattern is called Fab Five and it is from Abbey Lane Quilts. The sub heading says these quilts are 'fun, fast and flirty' and considering I only started cutting and finding out what it was all about I was surprised to have completed it this afternoon.

Definitely in the quick quilts category even including the four layer flowers where I machine button holed around each layer.

The flowers remind me of the 'flower power' days of the 60's.

The quilt pattern gives five interpretations of the one quilt so you could make many variations if this pattern holds appeal for you.

Linking to:-

Freshly Pieced Work in Progress Wednesday
Jaqs Studio Made By Me

Quilting does make a difference

Yesterday Linda finished quilting my blue on blue project for me and made it into a cushion/pillow cover.

What a difference the quilting has made to the whole project.

The flowers stand out more and the attention to detail, doing small pebble stitches between the stems, really has transformed this piece of work.

A filler has been purchased and so this will soon be forwarded to our sister Barbara as a gift.

Anyone for tea?

My fabric flower frenzy that I reported on last week has now become a teapot cosy, just finished this morning.

We have been needing a new one for our kitchen for some time and I thought this might be a fun new cover for the teapot.

The colours I chose for this project were more to do with the brownish bench colours than the red teapot.  I like the colours of the cosy but not with the red teapot.

We could buy a new teapot to match the cosy but what about an excuse for another teapot cosy project?

I think I could do better with the placement of the flowers - they would look better, I think, placed closer to the bottom of the cosy.

The other thought is, that if I did red flowers on a black background that could look really good on the teapot, regardless of the kitchen decor.

Linking to

Richard and Tanya Quilts Link a Finish Friday

Back to the drawing board for me.................

Favourite Things

When Mum was still with us we found vases that were suitable for our bathrooms.

Mum loved gardening and she loved flowers but she was no longer able to garden for herself.

We liked to think that we could bring a little bit of the garden to her and we still try to keep this up to date as much as possible.

It can be difficult towards the end of winter to find something suitable but, for most of the year, we seem to be able to add a touch of difference to our bathrooms.

The dahlias in our garden are doing extremely well this year and these orange ones are blooming in abundance in our front garden.

Nice that there's enough of them to be able to have some indoors as well.

Linking to Mockingbird Hill Cottage Favorite Things - thanks, Claudia.

Sweet Peas

On Wednesday our home was full of lots of chatter as our Sweet Pea sewing group got together again for the first time after the Christmas break.

It was so nice to meet up again in this way.  Show and tell was on the agenda and Moira had some charming applique blocks she has commenced making and we look forward to seeing how these develop.

Rochelle also had a work in progress to share.  Excellent job so far.

Machine quilting next before the project is finished.

It will make a great wall hanging.

Linda at razzledazzlequilter has shared more images on her blog from this meeting.

In past years we have given each other fat quarters for our birthdays.

This year we are going to make themed quilt blocks for each other so that should make for some lovely show and tell to be sharing.

Almost forgotten

Recently I have been writing about my red, white and blue granny squares quilt top.

I was looking through our quilt tops the other day and realised that this granny square quilt top had not been given an update.

September 16, 2012 I wrote about commencing on this project.

I am not sure when I actually finished piecing the top but I know it was before I left to have a holiday break mid November.

I had a bit of trouble completing the quilt because the burgundy fabric I chose for the sashing was becoming increasingly hard to find but fortunately I was able to buy enough to complete.

Still very summery here but I am hoping to have this one quilted with wool batting to keep me warm during the winter months ahead.

Fabric flower frenzy?

I have now embarked on my third fabric flower project and so some of you may be inclined to think that I am having a bit of a fabric flower frenzy.

This project is in two pieces - each 200 x 275 cm (11.5 x 8.5 inches).

So far I have cut out all the flowers and fused them to the fabric.

The next stage is to get into the free motion quilting.

The end result will be a serviceable item for our home.

Can you guess what I might be making?

I will let you know when I report next time on this project.

P.S. I am enjoying working with these colours.  Totally different from the pink cushion cover and the blue on blue cushion cover.

Linking to:-
Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Scrappy Chevron - update

A few days ago I wrote about my work in progress on my chevron quilt.

Since then I have been able to piece all the blocks together and so now it is already for machine quilting.

This pattern is so easy and gives quite a stunning result.

A great way to use up scrappy fabric.  I have more variations in mind already.

In the meantime this chevron quilt will wait its turn to be quilted. I am sure that will be worth reporting on too, when it happens.

We have action!

Just over two weeks ago I wrote about us purchasing four hens so that we can have our own free range eggs.

Twice daily we have been visiting, cleaning, feeding, letting them out, penning them up for the night and generally making friends with these lovely young ladies.

Today we were rewarded for our efforts.

One solitary egg in the nest.  Small beginnings but a promise of things to come.

It was a lovely surprise at the beginning of our day and we are sure to have many more to come.

We were supposed to be at the market

but we had heard that there was to be a swimming race leaving from the lagoon below our place.

We stopped at home until it got underway - so nice to be able to observe a fun event from the comfort of our home surroundings.

The market came next.  We needed some free range eggs (our new hens are still not laying) and some fresh fruit, apricots, peaches and plums.

Then, our brother took us to a plant shop and we came home with a whole stack of plants for the garden. 

Guess we were are going to be this morning before the sun makes it too hot for us.

It all began........

when Linda decided to make a lightweight lap quilt for her husband, Glynn.

She even went out and bought special fabrics but in the end she found a scrappy pattern on the net that she liked and this is the result.

Very suitable for a man, bold, with nice warm colours flowing through.  You can see more images of this quilt on Linda's blog as well as the link for making this chevron quilt.

It is a very easy quilt to make and another good way to use up scraps.

I still have Kiwiana fabrics and so with 141 x 3.5 inch squares of patterned fabric and some black to alternate I now have a work in progress on the same quilt design.

Linda's quilt has 5 inch scrappy squares and mine 3.5 inch squares.  Linda's has a much more dramatic effect (especially with her lovely quilting to accent) but the smaller chevrons have their place too.

Chevron quilts are now a new favourite for me and I am linking to:-

Quilting in my Pyjamas Friday Favourite Things 
Confessions of a Fabric Addict Can I Get a Whoop Whoop
Sew Many Ways Crafty Link Party Week

Op shop treasures

Not necessarily everyone's cup of tea but op shop treasures can be nice.

While I was traveling overseas Linda spied some white fabric that had been quilted but not finished.  She cut some of the best out of it and made this square pillow for my bed.

We have a houseful of visitors at the moment and I was running short of clean pillow cases and then I remembered these battenburg lace ones that had been found at an op shop.  They had been washed and ironed but never used by us.

Time to bring them out for a spot of bedroom decoration.

Ernest Bear, from our Mum's collection, is taking care of the clothes peg doll, a souvenir from a visit to the United States.

Op shop treasures can be good and have their uses.  Most welcome at our house.

Linking to:-

Mockingbird Hill Favorite Things Friday 

 Self Sufficient Home Acre

Blackbird Has Spoken Op Shop Finds

Child psychology?

If Linda and I want a treat we can think of nothing better than morning coffee at our local favourite cafe - Piccolos.

Some people like to do a little bit of housekeeping each day but we like to get it all done in one hit if we can.

Tuesday is our day for this task and sometimes we drag the chain a bit so recently we have been promising ourselves that if we get the housework done by, say, 10am, we will take ourselves to Piccolos for morning coffee.

It really does work for us.  Not bad for a couple of 'girls' in their 60's to still be impacted by child psychology.

Granny squares update

My red, white and blue granny squares have now been sashed and are waiting their turn to be machine quilted.

I really like the floating effect of sashing with the red.

Red is really quite out of my comfort zone, being an autumn girl at heart, but I am happy with the outcome of this project.

I look forward to seeing the enhancement that machine quilting will bring.

Anyone for a bird bath?

From my bedroom window (once again) this morning I spotted this thrush sitting on the hose sprinkler.

Not only was the thrush sitting there but it was hopping over and under and every which way to take advantage of the gentle shower the sprinkler provided.

Generally speaking the land in the Taupo area is becoming very dry and so the birds seem to be appreciating any water supply that can be found.

Linda took a panoramic shot of the river below and wrote about it on her blog the other day and you can see how dry the land has become on both sides of the river.

This morning we have gentle drizzle.  First rain we have had in a while.  It is supposed become a lot heavier and we hope this will be the case.  It would be really nice to see the land return to green once more.