Cats, quilts and school holidays

After a late frost last night in which I stayed awake listening to the windmills and helicopters keeping safe the surrounding vineyards and orchards whilst all the time thinking I shoulnt forget my fear of the nighttime boogie monster and go out and cover my wee salad plants, we awoke to a white but bright sunny morning. Today is the first official day of the school holidays, so two weeks with my beauties. The girls were playing outside on their scooters and wanted me to come out with them. So I set out a chair and sat in the sun quilting my table runner (Im close to completion now...watch this space), BLISS...
Then I thought about this blog and thought I should include our furry babies:

This is Sara. She is Georgias cat and her hobbies include hunting the fattest pigeons she can find and eating them. She is sleek and weighs nothing at all, not like her sister Denzies (below). Sara loves sleeping under the sheets and bites your feet. She also like being a towell as yoiu come out of the shower.







Meekhoef.. She is our resident tortie who came to us at a year old. She isnt terribly cuddly but lloves to flirt with tradesmen and comlpete strangers. She also enjoys the vacuum and fireworks, which I think youll agree make s her quite a unique cat. We always have at least one tortie inour collection, infact since 1991!!














And onto Denzie. She is Saras sisiter is two and belongs to Alex. She is extremely fat and black and likes to play the piano and knock things off with her wide heavy table. When on the bed at night (She is an on the bedquilt not under cat) She takes all the quilt under her complete bulk and it so heavy to lift it back that we usually end up quiltless and cold by the morning! She has a huge meowsome personality.
We love all our cats and it would be a cat-tastrpy if something were to happen to them!














Here are the girls playing out the front. And here is what the post bought me, via Trade me, were I have been naughty lately. But YUMMMM. Reading out in the sun, dreaming of future quilts, my girls, giglling with laughter, did I already mention the word Bliss?/
Have a great spring day
Cherrry

Anyone got a spare longarm quilter they dont want...

Because I am sick of hand quilting this table runner... I would love to be able to send all my projects off to the quilter but the frugalist in me wont let that happen. So I hand quilt but dont tell the Quilt Police I do the illegal and scorned upon stab stitching method. The results are to the right and the underneath just looks dreadful on all my quilts. However when i try to do the correct method my stitches are miles apart as in the photo of the flying geese blocks (If you can see).















So Im really trying to get back to being super frugal because frankly Ive been buying STUFF and treats and stopping off at the bakery (etc). But today I just had to (for all sorts of reasons I could justify at the time but cant think of now) buy this issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. My new favourite magazine.
Upon reading it I discovered two more quilts that will be in my 2009 scrappy quilt from my stash quilt collection year..

am also in look officialyy with reproduction 1800 fabrics and am trying to find appropriate scrappy quilt patterns that will look good. Scrappy because I want to make these quilts look vintage, as if Ive found them in a attic somewhere.









This quilt below is very similar to the pyramids qiult I have planned to do with repro fabrics and grey light blocks. I just have to find more grey and more repro fabrics. And my favourite quilt store here in the Hawkes bay is having a quilt fair on labour weekend (october) so Im planning on having a bit of a buy there.
The most frugal thing I did today was to squeeze heaps of lemons from my Mums overburdoned lemontree and use the juice in ice trays and make lemon cordial using a recipe from Rhondas down to earth site (see on side bar). I want to freeze heaps more. lemon juice is so easy to freeze and make the gorgeous muffins. Maybe Ill make some take some pics and post them on here with the recipe.
Before I go I have to say that I love this spring season so much ...all the fresh fruits and produce, the looking forward to bottling (canning), juicing, freezing, stewing, pickling, drying and of course just eating the beautiful fresh goodness. Currently we are enjoying mandarins and oranges..mmmm
Have a great day
Cherry

Halloween Quilt finished!!

Ready, set, bind!














After an all nighter(well til 12:00 midnight anyway) I had the binding on this sucker and was furiously handstitching in bed. Little sleepless Alex was beside me sewing her wee tapestry and it was a lovely quiet sewing mother daughter moment.














I even added a label (a rare thing for me) and thought I would be arty and sew over the writing, Im not sure just when it is that i forgot how to stitch over writing but the general effect is one of a spider with cotton tied around its leg trying to communicate...
Now i MUST start over on my Christmas tree skirt and I have my stars and stripes to quilt, plus my scrappy friendship stars, then I have been collecting (just a small collection of them ) reproduction fat quarters and today I bought a small amount of grey. With this I am going to start a pyramid quilt that hupefully will take on the effect of something from the 1800s. I am so keen to start this project and have my template ready. I alweays start so keenly on these projects but find them a pain to complete only because the next project starts to excite me so much!! I guess we quilters must all be like that or we wouldnt have such things as UFOs..
have a great evening
Cherry

And then it was spring...

Hello little Rocket seedling. Not to happy yet? Soon have that fixed, just put you to bed in my mini glasshouse for a week or so. Soon when I have weeded elsewhere your rocket brothers and silcerbeet seedlings will join you..

Is it just me or has winter gone way too fast.. Perhaps I spent too long looking at American winter blogs and subconciously believe it can only be winter when there is heavy snowfall and blizzards..but it does seem like only a month ago we were putting the pools winter nightie on and lighting our first fire..

Still I am almost finished hand quilted my Halloween quilt and dream of the day it is hanging up and I have rediscovered my mojo for my christmas tree skirt and actually made a start by cutting the skirt , the backing and thinking about the rest!

Gorgeous , glorious day today and yesterday. Just perfick (as in The darling Buds of may..the latest play Georgia is starring in)

Have a great day and enjoy whatever season you are in as you read this, you global lot, you.

Remember yesterday is history, Tomorrow is a Mystery, but today is a gift and that is why is called The Present. (seen on a loo wall somewhere near the Tane mahuta Giant tree, Far North)

The far north

We have just returned from a glorious holiday to the far north of NZ. We stayed in Pahia (Waitangi) and travelled from there all around the place. On Wednesday we drove and drove and drove and drove until we reached Cape Reinga right at the very tippy top of our country.
Here is Georgia looking out over to where the seas meet and where you an go no further north.

I never realised that the far north was so ingrained with so many places of early pioneering kiwis as they came over here from England and Scotland. The oldest remaining house built in 1818 was just eye candy to me as was the adjoining oldest stone store next to it, that sells wares you would find back then. So they teachers are getting slates and pencils (!) for presents.
As soon as we came back, seven days later, I was into the housework with renewed enthusiasm, proving time away is indeed valuable.
When you are lucky enough to have orchardists for relatives you get bags of this and that. I received a huge bag of Granny Smiths which I have stewed(Pictured ) and a bag of seconds limes and I wasnt sure what to do with these so I squeezed as much juice as possible into the ice cube trays.
While on holiday I made good progress on hand quilting my table runner and also found some gorgeous reproduction quilt material in the Stone Store, proving that you can buy reproduction material in NZ from the 1800s. Now I just need to find some more and when I have enough I will be looking to make a quilt very old pioneer looking.
On the way home I stopped at a quilt store in a cute little town called Tirau in the Waikato and bought two0 gorgeous magazine Amercian patchwork and quilting. Whaty have I not discovered this mag before??? It will replace all others as first choice in quilting magazines BUT at 18.00 is is terrifically expensive. Still I love it, and am very envious of all the Amercians who can buy this magazine much cheaper!!!
Take care for now.
Cherie