Making Pancakes, enjoying the sun...

Im sorry to say to all my northern hemisphere bloggy friends that the sun hads definately come over to this side of the world. Yes Summer seems to be entrenched in springtime hawkes Bay-or at least our girls seem to think so!! Gorgeous hubby spent the weekend cleaning, draining, painting and filling the post earthquake cracks then refilling it again. Cold but clear the girls were in their togs quicker than a cat up a tree and in and swimming.

Every since Jamies Ministry of Food programme the girls and I have been enjoying lots and lots of pancakes. It has got to the stage where they completely make these themselves, everything from turning on (and off) the switches, mixing the batter, measuring , cracking eggs..absolutely everything, while I sew happily waiting for pancakes whipped cream and ice cream to be served. Bliss!!

I have been busy sewing blocks for dissapearing nine patch quilt and today I went to the quilt show (much joy). There was some gorgeous civil war blue and red fabric at half price (1/2 metre minimum cut) and I clutched it o my chest, but what with the queue, the heat, the children (im hungry, I want to go home, Mum Dad will tell you off etc etc) I was forced to down fabric and leave. But the show is open til Monday so I live in hope!! I forgot my camera which no half good quilting blogger should ever do so i have no glorius prints, but as usual I was gobsmacked. Also I love the little notes on them telling of their history. There was a gorgeous scrap quilt called a mile a minute and I quickly pegged that in my brain as the next scrap quilt project. Infact it was instant love. Anyway I got home and looked up for a tutorial and sure enough found this here at the Quilting is my passion blog. The one I saw today had probably five blocks across by ten down and was interspersed bysashings. It looked glorious. I WISH I had a photo!!

Okay so its late and its muggy tonight and I really must go and put the girls to bed, have a shower and attempt to have an early night. But I want because I am down to the binding on the Keep Christmas in your heart panel and then its done. Yea!!

Have a warm night

Love Cherry

The Show..

The Hawkes Bay A and P Show was a complete waste of time and money and I was about five minutes into the grounds when I remembered Why I didnt go last year. Imagine if you will us all, in the middle of a recession spending 35 dollars on enough tickets to give the girls four(four) rides. Then there was one hour wandering the grounds trying to take the girls mind off the fact that theyd had four rides, by visiting the petting zoo, the hot dog stands and the grandstand, before giving into the fact that they werent going to give up until more rides were at the ready. So another 35dollars later. Oh I forgot it was 23 dollars for us all to get in... Other parents looked similarly cash strapped and broken by the financial demands of the place. I consolled myself by thinking a nice walk through the craft exhibits would bring me solace. But there was one (one!) quilt actually a christmas wall hanging , and a few scrapbook pages. It was stunningly inept.
I have told the children that next labour weekend we are going camping (And. I. Mean. It)
So the real object of this little speil is to point out this timely, inspirational and much needed post by the frugal Coop here I am going to read it again and travel here frequently. I feel so dispondant about todays utter waste of money and I felt like it at the time the cash was leaving in a southerly direction. At least (I suppose struggling to find things I did right) we didnt come home with senseless Spongebob balloons, large cheaply made stuffed animals or cheap Chinese made toys from the bargin stalls cluttering up the place.
Tomorrow I am going to the Quilt Fair at the Riverview Quilters shop. There is a quilt display BUT there is also 50 % off many fabrics. Now I wanted to indulge just a bit but due to today I feel I cant. Because what I havent mentioned is that i have pre Christmas laybys coming out of my ears..Perhaps I shouldnt go at all??
have a lovely cash strapped day in Paradise
Love Cherie

Im sew on a roll

My new sewing machine is humming. Im having so much fun with sewing basically on it. So far I have conquered the straight stitch, the zig zag and I have figured how to sew a quarter inch seam..

The pics show my second attempt at the peasant top. The girls are a bit ho hum on the pattern and I think I will have to try sewing a lovely silky bit of fabric that a friend gave me to get the loose and billowy look I and they want. On this one I gathered up the bottom slighty with elastic to give it some form, but I need to tweak this pattern further I think.

Its the recession now and so I am beginning my first scrap quilt instead of waiting til 2009. I have pulled together some scrappy bits and am joining 4" squares and i am going to make a dissappearing nine patch quilt which i had heard of but never seen until I found it here

Im tryinfg to make a girly versoin with flowery and more pink colourings, but I will stay try to my scrap ethos and only pull out what is in the stash. (unless I run out of lights in which case I may have to make a slight exception maybe a couple of light homespuns)

Im off to the Hawkes Bay A and P show with the kids tomorrow. I enjoy the crafts and the girls love the fairground.!

Have a great warm day in paradise

Luv Cherry

Check out my new shirt for the girls..

Another great tutorial that i found just when i thought my sewing mojo had gone, I found this tutorial for a sweet peasnat blouse. This one I whipped up in next to no time and as always with first tries it is as rough as they come, but Alex was persuaded to wear it for a blog photo!

I have quite a stash of cotton material bought in Autumn for a dollar a metre and so I will have some peasant tops from them. I had to tweak the pattern but its VERY easy. (i only chose easy tutes) The website that this tute came from has some great tutes for childrens things. I recommend that you go there. For my next tops I think i will make them longer and add elastic around the bottom to gently gather it. Or I might make it really long and add casing three quarters of the way down and have a ruffled bottom. The problem with my sewing is the kids are sometimes reluctant to wear these clothes because they are "scratchy". Oh well.

Tonight I was watching Jamie Olivers Ministry of food. My cooking ability is average and my keeness to cook is very come and go. I can adore cooking and baking for weeks on end and then struggle to do so thereafter.. BUT this programme really inspired me and I stopped flicking between it and Lipstick Jungle and committed myself to Jamie. AND im not that keen on cooking programmes per say. Hes bought out a great website to go with these episodes and the recipes are written people who cant cook in mind (Really- there were people on there who didnt know what boiling water looked like!!!) Most people have never learnt to cook from their mothers and have lived onn takewawy food. Sad:( Especially as they were passing this on their kids. Im not one to brag but my children are both adept cooks, preservers and jam makers and as soon as they were old enough to hold up there bodies they have been sitting up on the kitchen bench with me cooking. (and licking the bowl afterwards!) Anyway find his website here

Im a quarter horse!!

What breed of horse are you? Find out!

Ive been busy..

Purusing this site!!! OMG sooooo many tutorials, crafts, sewing, quilts etc etc. I could do this for hours!!! Its craftster and Im a new addict. Check it out NOW!

My new Bernina..

It looks like this ..















And it does all this..., And im too scared to use it right now!!



This is one of the ideas I have found for my Scrap quilt collection 2009. I think it will look great in my scrappy colours .
This is a short posting as I have been sick all day:/
Tomorrow it is the costume fitting and photo day for my ballet girl, that means we have to get up early :( But it will be nest to see what the teacher has in store for her this year.














Have a great rainy day keeping all the seedlings alive.
Cheers Cherry

Making progress.

Im not sure if you can see so well in my photo but the strawberries I planted last year and the runners they threw off are all holding lots of little berries. Im not sure if I will cover them or not but last year the birds pretty much left them alone. Probably due to the fact that the cats sleep around this area in the summer!!














I have my Primitive pumpkin and cat up on the door. My girls think this is crazy as "its not Halloween yet". After all the efforts put into making this I think it should be up longer than one night!














Here is the progress made during the last few nights. Really want to finish this as I have not one but two panels to quilt noe. With my NEW sewing machine!!! A wonderful friend and fellow quilter and crafter extroidainaire gave me a deposit for a new sewing machine that I had raved about!!! SO this morning I went and put some more money on it and the lady let me bring it home. It is a special Janome that was bought out at a special price for Breast cancer awareness. And it QUILTS !!! I am so excited that I can hardly bare to put it aside while I read the instructions. Also Im scared something will happen to it while its still not paid off. I really wasnt expecting to leave the shop with it. Then I passed a small quilt shop while in Napier that i do frequent when in Napier and I bought some grey for my repro pyramids quillt, some edging for my trade me panel. Also saw the panel in that shop for four dollars cheaper........ and then I spied for 6.oo a smaller panel(fat quarter size) similar to my big panel, that i will make into a Christmas decoration as well. My new machine will be buzzing.! Also they have old magazines marked down to 2.00 each and althogh my favourite American ones werent in the pile I did come home with two.. So it was quite a morning. Ill post pics in my next post.


Have a lovely windy and slightly wild day with a warm temperature besides.
Cheers Cherry

Oops I did it again..

Dang..just when I make these promises to myself

to not spend.. I saw this gorgeous quilted panel all ready for sale in our local Christmas shop that opens earlier every year..and it was 98$, I thought wow love the design if only I could find that panel..So on my daily sneak at Trade Me (Meant to be looking at lawnmowers there..) I found it, and of course it was pay by credit card (because its easier, faster etc, etc...) Now justifying this is quite easy. As I have several quilts to quilt and one Christmas tree skirt to finish (Actually progress is racing ahead on that Im on to the embroidary already!) you wouldnt think that justification was easy coming HOWEVER Alex has her ballet rehearsals and recitals and Im always on the front door at my little desk signing hundreds of parents and children in and out (fire rules) but inbetween that I have nothing to do and so taking this along and gently it will use up that time I just hope I have finished by the big day! Also spare time at swimming practise and piano practise and so forth and its not so big as to be cumbersome to drag around like a big quilt is. To justify the outgoings Im going to use a plain calico and try to sew together my remainding bits of lowloft wadding rather than buy some. (Makes me feel all better and frugal again!!). Obviously though I am feeling terribly guilty as I have felt the need to blog about it. Sometimes blogs do become something of a confessional dont they?!

hAve a lovely day in the sun and the wind

Cherry

My garden

I have upped my chances of buying the wee cottage with the half acre by about another 1%. At least we are talking about it before (as oppossed to me shouting , crying and having a major tantrum about hubby not agreeing with my glowing account)

Now today was a gorgeous day. SOOO beautiful. I was the first person at the garden centre today and the frogs were croaking at each other in the man made ponds set up there. It was so delightful I was there for ages just looking for them and when I found them they bounded off or looked at me all froggy and innocent(Except fof the two mating they just looked embarressed and caught out!)

As I wrote in my last post I had fun planting my problem lavender area. Every year I plant new lavenders and every first planting they look gorgeous but by the end of winter they are woody/dead/skanky looking. I thought how delightful it would be to have lavender beneath my window but after trying different variesties I have given up and we (hopefully) farewell this property I want to leave the next owner with a quaint herb, flower and strawberry area.

The photos above are form my romp around the back garden today. Hubby sprayed and weeded and hosed and scrubbed the pool cover (yuck look at that water!) and so the garden is looking nice and positive and ready for new action!

The photos are of my giant box plant that grows in large wine barrel my brother gave me one Christmas. I was going to topiary it but it looks so magnificant four years later and I am such a obssessive pruner that I woul dbe bound to ruin it. It is so heavy that I think the next owner will likely inherit it.

After that is the joy of home made compost. I LOVE walnut trees having them permanantly in my growing up memories in the place where my heart still is (Fernhill) and these wee trees sprung up from our compost. These will definately being coming with me. There are about six of them. We also get tomatoes, pumkins and potatoes springing up all over the place from our compost. Quite often we will find half a pen, a macdonalds toy and other bits from tiys that bring back memories of the children growing up!

Its KFC tonight. As I spent the day doing other things my anticipated clean up house day on first day back of School didnt happen. So I plan to do it tonight. Also its my birthday treat. And we havent had it for ages. You have to pamper yourself sometimes. Funny how the justifications just fly out when needed. But I shouldnt. Money. Consumerism. Hughs chicken wars. Nuft said.

Before i Go I just want tp point out two very great frugal blogs I just discovered. This one is a follow on of Rhondas excellant blog and This is one of the contributers personal blogs. Very very good reading for the frugal amongst us and inspiring.

Have a great spring day

Chirpy Cherry

Shes got the key to the day never been 42 before...

This morning I turned 42. It seems such a big number...Also yesterday got the news I have arthritis in my lumber disc and my disc has disintegrated. This made me feel AWFUL as the constant hip and leg pain I have had and have procrastinated about for the last 10 months I always thought could be fixed. But I give up not. I am starting a new course of Omega threes and glucosamine. But the word Arthritis just sounds so, so ...NAna!! Gorgeous hubby bought me a gorgeous watch because I never have one and this one actually looks good on, It makes my wrist look...elegant.(well I think so anyway!)

I spent the day at the Public Trust, resorting our Trust and making WIlls (What a way to spend your birthday!) and then i went to the garden centre to buy some

strawberries..couldnt find ANY!! So I bought some basil and some flowers and some parsley for a problem area I have outside my bedroom window. I took the only remianinf strawberry plant that was sad and dry in a neglected pot. The giant Box plant sucks all other plants dry and placed in my new part. I added compost and slug bait and water and the idea is to have this all big and with stawberries poking out come Christmas. If were still here. . Im going to have to add a nother post as the photos to go with this post have disappeared into blogland.

Before I go dont you love handmade cards from your babies?

have a great day

Cherry

Cottage love

We went to see the Cottage with the half an acre of land attached...I LOVED it! I so wanted it. It was built in 1900 and shifted fourteen years ago so rewired, repainted, replaced, replumbed re piled etc. It was small bu the room was there for expansion and certainly with the market down when it comes up in a few years there will be definate room for price extension (its being sold under the rate

able value right now) BUT Hubby DIDNT. LIKE.IT. :(

I have half a percent chance out of 100% of changing his mind....He believes the market being what it is we can afford something bigger better etc. But honestly I just fell in love with it. I could see us all living there . I didnt even have to try to like it.Infact I was ready to be disappointed that I didnt like it because the price was so good. So I guess Watch this space. Thats my girls on the front verandah. Oh theres a book around called Historic NZ cottages and its in there too.. If yoiu happen to see the book.

On to brighter things..I am making progress with the skirt. Its very hard on my unthimbled fingers and somethimes I just cant go on trying to blanket stitch around the stitches. However it has me in its grip now. ALTHOUGH last night ..very late..I almost got into my small box of repro prints to cut out some triangle just to see what they would look like. (Im going to do a thousand pyramids quilt with alternate repro red and blue fabrics and grey) Glad I didnt because that would have completely gotten me off track with the Christmas tree skirt..

I also have been investigating pattern (FREE!!) on the net of scrap quilt for my scrap quilt 2009 year (This being the year in this recession we also start to eat pigeons, pooums and rabbits..)

and I found a great site here. There are also crumb quilts made up of all those little bits and bobs left over. And also on this fabulous site there are ideas for charity quilts. I love this idea and have thought of this before I read about it and want to know from any KIwis anywhere..are there any organisations that act as a middle ground for people wanting to donate quilts. I thought I could start by approaching the WOmans refuge to see if I could donate some quilts for families in need.

Ill be interested to hear your thoughts.

Have a great Spring day. its warm and calm here, not like the usual windy in October Hawkes bay day.

Progress....

A while ago my favouritist quilt shop, The QUilters CAbin in the country area of MAraekakaho closed down. Unfortunately I was in an extreme frugal state of mind when the owners bought their remaining things to town to sell off at very marked prices. I really didnt take advantage like I should have but one thing I did do was stuff this bag full of leftover fabrics for 5.00. SOme fat quarters, fat eighths and a myriad of gorgeous fabrics were to be had . I have been holding on to this stash especially for myChristmas tree skirt and so I was delighted to be able to poke around in here.












And so to the progress report. Actually I started off quite enjoying the applique (I do the blanket stitch method) but it soon became evident why I dont like applique. Its just all the faffing around, ironing vislieofix, peeling, re ironing, positioning, putting wrong things on, tearing off etc etc.. Then blanket stitching around everything while the smaller peices fall off anyway with all the manouvouring around this huge thing!
But I have made some progress and for that i am thankful. After all the appliqueing is done, then comes a ton of embroidary to the wadding, then a few rash cuts, a few ties added, a few scallops sewn on, the backing sewn the whole thing turned inside out and sucked out again on the right side and -fingers crossed- sucess..

Im determined to finish you....

So now Im determined to finish this Christmas tree skirt. I have often raved and gone slightly mad thinking about this skirt. The first reason is that when I started this pattern a year ago I quite liked it. (Actually really adored it) Now Im just warm on it..Also I am finding the instructions quite hard to follow and so have had to design my own way(Not a good idea for me with dycalculia-which is dyslexic at maths!) Plus there is a lot of applique. Now when I first started on this quilting adventure two years ago I could have (And did!) sew applique for hours and hours happily and totally devoted. NOW Im OVER it! The thing is when I fell in love with this pattern I made all the little scallops for around the edges last Christmas and it would do my crafting heart no good to forsake all that work.

So the above pics are the scallops and the pattern from the Homespun magazine from which all this madness started. Homespun is no longer my favourite magazine (american patchwork and quilting now has my heart) but when I did buy issues in the past There have been many readers who have made this skirt and sent in their photos thus making me mre determined to finish mine.

Im going to Spotlight (face being made here) to buy some visielofix and embroidary thread, and hopefully tonight I will be wholeheartedly appilqueing. (sorry about the spelling mistakes)

Its a warm though dreary day today, light rain falling, so a visit to the library in town is imminent. I have also promised the girls a visit to the bakery, they are actually doing chores right now (Real chores, with no nagging from me....) I hope it lasts...My biggest problem is that I do everything myself rather than go on and on so to see them in chore mode is amazing.Bless them!

Have a great day quilting in whichever part of the world you are.

Love Cherry

Finished my runner!!!

So FINALLY I finished this runner. When I pinned it up ready for our far north holiday I expected to come home with the thing completed. What I didnt realise was the time that stippling BY HAND took... However I am pleased with the finished result, stuffed up binding and all.(Grin..another quilting story)














This is my gorgeous girl playing the part of Victoria in The Darling Buds of may. The show just finished the Saturday before the Monday of the School holidays. Being an adult theatre it didnt finish until 10.30 each night. We didnt go to school on the Friday, but after two weeks of theatre that was the only time. I have to say that Georgi has been in musicals and shows since age five and her sister has become the Green room expert in that time, and they are both professionals now!



















..Did I say that 2008 was the year of the scrappy quilt. THIS (bought from trade me in a weak moment) is the quilt I am going to do when I have collected enough flannel material. (shirts from the Op shops, fat quarters lying in tempting cut price baskets etc). I LOVE log cabins and I LOVE flannel, so ..a match made in heaven.
Its been muggy and hot her in the Hawkes bay and today although it rained it was 26 degrees. Not bad for spring huh?!

We have also found a place in the country that could be a great starter for us. It has half an acre and is an old but mostly done up villa, close to the school and the local country pub(!) Im very excited a sits the only affordable (To us) property Ive seen. We veiw on Wednesday.
Have a great spring school holiday
Cherry