Stitching, Friends and Quilts ...

I went and stitched at Kath's house yesterday with Kath (obviously! LOL) and Katrina - what a lovely afternoon and evening - thank you so much for hospitality Kath! ... I stitched on my Celtic Summer (while Kath and Katrina stitched their SAL ... but I'll let them tell you about that ... hee hee) - here is her progress -



I stitched on green and gold swirls at the front/bottom of her dress - I've got to put her away now and REALLY work on the Wedding gift.

and for the friends part ... Kath and Katrina nearly made me cry *sniff sniff* they very sneakily (while I went and looked at Kath and Kevin's new house - oh my gosh it is looking GREAT!) ... quickly made this up for me -



They are just way too generous - but hopefully they know how much this means to me - I have sooooo many unframed pieces, it is such a luxury for me to finish one and be able to go and pick out framing straight away. Thank you so much, again, ladies :)

and as promised, pictures of the girls with their quilts -



... I should put in the small writing that I did not choose the pink to go the back and binding of Charlotte's one ... I preferred the red that I tried to direct her to, much better! LOL

Righty oh - I'm off to do grocery shopping etc and need to get moving!

First 2006 Finish!

Mirabilia's "The Christmas Elf Fairy" - started 29 Dec 2005, finished 3 January 2006. Stitched on "Evening Shadows" a Countrystitch Sparkles.



The photo hasn't shown the fabric well at all - it is more of a purpley blue, than the bright blue it looks on this photo.

This was a delight to stitch - I think the fact it was a Mirabilia and stitched up fast was half the fun - and she really is gorgeous, Rhiannon has already asked if she can have it (hmmmmm I don't think so! LOL).

We finished our doll quilts too - I forgot to take a photo of them, I'll do that in another post.

I DID stitch a wee bit on Rose Arbour last night as per my pre-determined rotation - I was hoping to finish the Elf earlier and have a bit more time - but I got a bit more of the greenery done. On to Celtic Summer today/tonight ...

I've just talked Kath ... and her and Katrina are planning an afternoon/evening of stitching and kindly invited me along - after a week of being cooped up with Mr DH who has been irritating the heck out of me (long story ...) ... I'm more than ready to escape the house and spend it with a couple of friends stitching! LOL

But first I have to do some soccer accounts - I've organised an auditor and need to get all the information to him - just need to update the last couple of months and finish some filing - and I'll be quite pleased to pass them on to someone else to tidy up. The someone else happens to be my future BIL which was very opportune - but I don't want to scare him off marrying my sister either! ROTFLOL

Hopefully I'll have an update of Celtic Summer tomorrow :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody ... may all your hopes and dreams be fulfilled :)

No stitching at all yesterday, I sewed with the girls and then we went off to a New Year Eves party at a friends house - we all had a great time, LOTS of kids and they all had a ball - Charlotte lasted until about 11pm when she climbed on my knee and cuddled up and dropped off pretty quickly (awwwww ... she hasn't done that for a long time), 10.20am and she is still asleep! It's the first time we've seen the new year in for quite a while - probably since the big 2000 :)

I have got a couple of pictures of the girls sewing though - Rhiannon did very well, she could almost do the guiding the fabric through and finishing off by herself, Charlotte just sat on my knee and "helped" ;)

I'll finish off there wee quilts today - good quilting practice for me too :)

Here is Charlotte and I -



and grown up Rhiannon -



I'll definitely be stitching my Christmas Elf tonight - I have to, I wrote down below that I would! LOL

January Rotation and Goals

Rotation

Week one - Sunday 1 January to Sunday 8 January

Sunday - Mirabilia Christmas Elf Fairy
Monday - Mirabilia Christmas Elf Fairy
Tuesday - Rose Arbour
Wednesday - Celtic Summer
Thursday - Wedding Blessing
Friday - Wedding Blessing
Saturday - Wedding Blessing
Sunday - Wedding Blessing

Week two - Monday 9 January to Sunday 15 January

Monday - Celtic Summer
Tuesday - Rose Arbour
Wednesday - Sampler Gameboard
Thursday - Ornament
Friday - Wedding Blessing
Saturday - Wedding Blessing
Sunday - Faery Tales

Week Three - Monday 16 January to Sunday 22 January

Wedding Blessing

Week Four - Monday 23 January to Sunday 30 January

Monday - Celtic Summer
Tuesday - Rose Arbour
Wednesday - Sampler Gameboard
Thursday - Ornament
Friday - Wedding Blessing
Saturday - Wedding Blessing
Sunday - Faery Tales

Goals -

Finish Christmas Elf
Finish Wedding Blessing (*gulp*)
Finish Rose Arbour
Stick to rotation and goals!

2006 Plans and Dreams

... that title should read - Tentative 2006 Plans ... very tentative LOL

Also - for now - as much as I'd like this to be working every week, all though the year, I really need to carry on selling a bit on ebay, plus I have a couple of obligation things (like my sister's wedding gift) I'm going to need more time than one night a week to work on. So for now I'm going to try and do this rotation weeks 2 and 4 of each month (I typed 3 and 4 first, then realised I have soccer/cricket meetings Monday/Tuesday nights every 3rd week of the month! LOL). I'm hoping life is going to change a bit over the next couple of months which will mean no ebay stitching and being able to stitch for my pure pleasure ... we will see ...

Rotation
Monday - Mirabilia/L&L slot
Tuesday - Mirabilia/L&L slot
Wednesday - DT/ED/Bent Creek etc
Thursday - Ornaments
Friday - Ornaments
Saturday - UFO/Obligation/RR/Exchanges
Sunday - Faery Tales

Mirabilia/L&L Started -
Celtic Summer will take Monday's slot, then - Ashley's Roses
Rose Arbour Tuesday's slot, then Mermaids of the Deep

... and each will then be replaced with what is next on the list.

Celtic Summer - 2005 start, 2006 finish
Mermaids of the Deep - 2006 start and finish
Rose Arbour - 2002(?) start, 2006 finish
Ashley's Roses - 2003(?) start - no finish date yet
Sleeping Beauty - 2005 start - no finish date yet
Petal Fairy - 2005 start - no finish date yet
The Kiss - 2005 start - no finish date yet

Kitted/Partially Kitted
If I finish Ashley's Roses, Sleeping Beauty, The Kiss or Petal Fairy - I'll "let" myself start one of these!
The Dreamer
Cottage Garden Fairy
Lily Dreaming Fairy
Madonna of the Garden
Under the Rose Tree
Queen Mermaid
Fairy Roses

Drawn Thread
Work on Sampler Gameboard and French Garden every second week, when one is finished replace with whatever I feel like.

Started -
Sampler Gameboard
French Garden

Kitted -
lots ...

Elizabeth Designs -
Started - none!
Kitted - lots ...

Bent Creek
Started - none!
Kitted - Lots of the rows.

Other UFO/WIPS to be worked on -
Carrie's baby sampler
Deserata
Toy Shop
L*K Season Snippets
others ...

Other stitching I'd "like" to work on ... lots

When kids and DH are out of my hair I'll actually pull out all my charts etc and fill in the places where I've put "others" ... and "lots". So there you have it ... I'm hoping those are goals I can stick to, I haven't really specifically put any definitely finishes for most things - rather just a rotation of the variety I want to stitch, I'm hoping that won't make it so overwhelming. Something I DO want to stick to this year is making goals each month and sticking to them - I'm a goal orientated person and as long as they are realistic enough that they don't take over my life, I work better at working towards achieving things if I write them down and plan for them. Happy New Year - and all the best for 2006, in stitching and other forms of life :)

2nd Christmas Elf Progress Picture

I'm loving stitching her - it's so nice to stitch a quick Mirabilia! ... um, but Carol ... you mentioned red and not putting it with purple in your blog ... so now I'm worried, I thought I had the colours pretty good - but she is definitely on a purplish fabric ... with all that red! LOL ... the fabric is called Evening Shadows - a hand-dyed from Countrystitch, I thought it looked perfect (and hey, I still do ... and that is what counts - so in all seriousness, I'm not worried ;))

I'm not sure I'll get time to stitch at all today - I promised the girls I'd teach them how to sew - I'm going to cut some squares and let them sew them together on my sewing machine into a quilt top for their babies - not sure how we'll go, I figured that was the easiest and simplist way to give them a go and actually make something "real".

We also want to start swapping the girls' and boys' room around - at the moment the boys' room is the smaller one and they are in bunks, but they're just growing out of them (they're 11 and 10yo) - so I've been working at clearing out our big wardrobe in the family room so I can fit a lot of the girls' toys in there - meaning they will fit in the smaller room - confused? ... I'm hoping it will give the boys a bit more space, they're really ready for their own rooms, but that isn't going to happen for a few years yet - so hopefully more room, will give them a bit more personal space.

Mia asked me how my 2006 goals/plans were going ... well, I sat here yesterday - created a new blog entry called "2006 goals" ... and saved it as a draft ... and that's as far as I've got! LOL

I think I'm going to work out a rotation of "types" of stitching - and then list what I want to stitch/I've started to stitch and put it under each category - and then work slowly through each category on the allotted day/days.

Do you ever wish you could just start again? I've been stitching for 20yrs and have SO many charts, so much fabric, so much stash ... and I love it, I really do, but I also have so many things to finish, so many things ready to start, so many things I really really want to get kitted and stitch ... sometimes it would be just nice to go - oh here's a clean slate, just start again ... does that make any sense? Can you tell I'm overwhelmed right now! LOL

I really really have to get back to my sister's wedding gift - unless I do some serious stitching on that over the next few weeks there is no way it will be finished on time ... I think I've been avoiding it. So for January my rotation will definitely be mostly that - with a few fun days thrown in :)

New Years Eve today ... friends of ours (the ones with five kids, two of which are best friends with two of ours) are having a very family orientated BBQ - lots of families, and hopefully lots of fun - not sure if we'll make it to midnight, we'll see how Miss Charlotte goes - I'm hoping she'll maybe just drop off when she's really tired and we'll be able to pop her on a spare bed somewhere ... considering that lately she's not asleep before 9.30pmish - she'll probably stay awake until midnight anyway!

Mirabilia Christmas Elf - WIP

Did you even contemplate that I wouldn't start it? LOL



... we're going out to a New Years party for the first time in years this year ... pity, I could have pushed myself to finishing it before 2006 if I was home for that extra evening! LOL

Happy Anniversary to me!

... well two days late ... but it's my blog so I don't care!

I can't believe I've been blogging for a whole year - gosh, I've been trying to keep a diary for about the last 36 years ... and never get past a few days, so this is obviously the best alternative!

Thank you everyone for your comments and really just reading and having an interest in my little world.

My anniversary resolution is to try and keep up to date with comments on everyone elses blogs - I read a LOT of them, and admire a lot of stitching but often do the "I'll comment later" and later never happens ... so hopefully you will see lots more of me on YOUR blogs over this year.

I'd like to say another resolution is to up-date daily, certainly I'd love to try, but I know full well that life gets busy and it isn't always possible ... but I'll certainly try.

I finally got my Mirabilia Christmas Elf Fairy today ... wooohooooo! of course I don't know whether to say stuff my other WIP's and just start it ... or to wait ... oh decisions, decisions ...

I'm still trying to work out 2006 goals, my biggest problem is that I have just way too much I want to stitch - how do you all break it down? I'm going to have to come with some plan ... I'm just really not sure how yet! LOL

I'm thinking you might see a progress picture of a little Christmas Elf tomorrow though ... see you then ...

Holiday Stitching Update!

I love this time of year for stitching ... no rushing off to work in the evenings, no after school sports practices, no meetings ... means I get EVERY evening, plus some afternoons for stitching - I love it!

Here are some progress pictures, mostly from the last week or so -

Celtic Summer - I've stitched this the last few days over Christmas etc ... I can't finish the cotton stitching yet because I still haven't organised the beads LOL ... I think I'm going to change them to Delica beads because I used hand-dyed 32ct so I'm pretty sure the required ones just won't fit and Katrina has assured me the Delicas are wonderful :)



Mirabilia RR - I joined this RR months ago and am only just now getting around to organising my stitching - and it's due to be sent next week! Eeek! ... I've decided on a fairy theme and I've drawn and cut out working copies of 40x100 parts of the fairy, making sure the face and some of the wings shows on each one. This is my piece - Adia ... I haven't got the krienks or the beads (well I probably have got some of the beads, I haven't looked, I'm still trying to decide whether to have everyone add the beads or not, or leave it until it gets back and I'll wash it and then add the beads - my preferred way of doing Mirabilias anyway). So here is Adia - minus the glittery parts! (I think I will just backstitch each section with a gold metallic).



and lastly, I started Faery Tales (heck I'm crazy ... I had the fabric, so figured, why not! - wow, it is a huge piece of fabric though LOL).



I'm trying the parking method ... and so far I've only had to use two colours, which is actually quite nice I feel like I'm getting into the rhythm slowly :)

As for Christmas activities - we had a fabulous time - Christmas Day we keep it pretty low key, just our family - we open all the Santa things (the smaller things in this house), sit around and relax a while, make a lovely brunch - including having the table more festive ... then clean up (about the only time of year the kids are enthusastic about helping! LOL) and then open our other gifts. One of the traditions we've started in the last couple of years is the kids putting their names in a hat and each one draws one out - we give them $10 each to buy that person a gift - it works really well, and I hope it is something they carry on as adults :) ... it's fun watching them enjoy seeing the thing they bought being opened ... and hopefully realising that the giving part is just as important, and feels just as good, as the receiving - we try anyway ;)

Deb and Jim and Deb's parents (Aunty Betty and Uncle Gus) - DH's cousin and parents - came for a BBQ later in the afternoon, which was pretty nice and relaxed too - Deb and Betty LOVED their boxes :)

Boxing Day my family gets together - I have 7 siblings, so it's a pretty big get together now! I organised it so we could use the soccer clubrooms this year - the "boys" (well, and a fair few of the girls, including mine of course!) enjoyed a great game of cricket on the cricket pitch next to the clubrooms and the littler kids could enjoy the playground while the rest of us adults could enjoy eating and drinking. I've got to say though, that as the years go on and the nieces/nephews get older, my siblings have less "little" children - it is becoming boozier and boozier, which, me not being the biggest drinker and knowing my parents don't drink at all, I'm not sure I like as much as in the previous years when we all had littler kids and it was more about family ... it IS still great to get together and things always change, but I suppose it just feels a bit sad.

Today we are off to start the 1000 piece Christmas puzzle Santa left for the family and probably off to the beach this afternoon ... then back to Faery Tales this evening - although I really should start back on my sister's Wedding gift ... and I've got to check the post box later to see if my Christmas Elf has arrived ...

Merry Christmas!

A very quick note before I go to bed :)

Kids are asleep, Santa has been ... kitchen is ready ... and I'm ready for bed!

We are having a no-computer, no-PS day tomorrow, including me ... so I'll wish you all the best of the season ... relax and enjoy yourselves, your friends and your families.

See you in a couple of days (hopefully with a good progress picture!).

Ohhhhh nooooo ... I've caved

I don't like HAED (and similar over one "print") designs.

Why not buy a print, rather than go to all the trouble to stitch one.

But the bug has been slowly weedling it's way in, I keep looking at WIP's and thinking ... gosh wouldn't that be a challenge ... No! No! No!

... then I go and see this and that's IT! I'm well and truly sucked in, soooooo sucked in that the grand total of $15.25 I had sitting in my Paypal account for a rainy day is now 25c.

Merry Christmas to me! LOL

... and talking about Christmas stitchy gifts - my Stitching Bits and Bobs order was sent one week ago - fingers and everything crossed it's in the Post Box tomorrow! If not, I'll have to keep stitching Celtic Summer the few days over Christmas ... and I can't say that would be a terrible hardship! What I do REALLY like about SBB is their ordering system where you can check the status of your order ... and despite having to wait this time, I knew the whole time what was happening - I've always said the lateness doesn't bother me, as long as they're honest and keep me updated - so big plus for them :)

... and I'm at work right now - so I should do something useful!

Swiped from Jo's Blog :)

I'd rather have money!

Your Christmas Stocking Will Be Filled With a Stuffed Animal

Either Santa got your Christmas wish many years late...Or he secretly thinks you're a bit immature!

What Will Be In Your Christmas Stocking?

Of course I'm nice :)

You Were Nice This Year!

You're an uber-perfect person who is on the top of Santa's list.You probably didn't even *think* any naughty thoughts this year.Unless you're a Mormon, you've probably been a little too good.Is that extra candy cane worth being a sweetheart for 365 days straight?

Were You Naughty or Nice This Year?

... and no surprise here ...

Your Christmas is Most Like: A Very Brady Christmas

For you, it's all about sharing times with family.Even if you all get a bit cheesy at times.

What Movie Is Your Christmas Most Like?

One last picture ...

Okay ... I lied, it's actually two - but it's of the same thing!

Charlotte brought me home her little gift from daycare today ... and it is so sweet I have to show it off :)

Here is the closed box ... (sorry it's rather blurry!) -



and once opened ...



The little verse on the inside of the lid reads ...

This special box I give to thee
Holds the magic of the sea
When life seems to be amiss
Just lift the lid and make a wish

Charlotte tells me she sprinkled the sand in and stuck the shells in :)

Lots of pictures!

... and I know from reading answers to the Bloggers Question of the Week that you ALL like pictures ;)

Firstly - here are the Take Time to Quilt pieces finished into boxes - the Spring one is a bit blurry sorry, but maybe just as well - it was the first one I did and I learnt a few tricks while I was doing it, which made the second one much nicer looking!





Then we have a wee ornament, this is from an Ornament RR - I won't say what one in case the next person wants to be surprised. It is from JCS Ornament Magazine '98, by Victoria Sampler - I can't say it was a favourite, but I made myself stitch it :)



... and next the piece I'm going to make into a needlebook for my evil MIL, can you believe (okay, if you know me you probably can, all too easily! LOL) that I finished it, took it out of the Q-snaps and realised I stitched it on the left hand side, instead of the right ... major DUH! ... I'll cut the extra fabric off the right-hand side and sew it to where it should be - it will just mean there is a seam on the outside of the needlecase, I don't think that will matter. I'm hoping to make it up this afternoon.



and last, but definitely not least, an update on my Celtic Summer - I stitched some on the border on Saturday night, and then some more of the dress last night, I had real trouble keeping my eyes open last night so didn't get as much done as I would have liked - I hate it when that happens. I notice a few updated pictures of the Celtic Ladies ... we must have all finished our Christmas ornaments and obligations :) I'm going to have to put mine away again while I get this Mirabilia RR ready to go, hopefully that won't take to long and I can get CS out again, very soon.

Anyway - here she is -



Thanks for looking everyone :)

Yah ... a doormat ...

You are Scooter.You are a loyal, hardworking person, better known
as a doormat.
SPECIAL TALENTS:Going for stuff.LEAST FAVORITE MOVIE:"Go For Broke!"
QUOTE:"15 seconds to showtime."
LAST BOOK READ:"300 New Ways to Get Your Uncle to Get You a
Better Job "
NEVER LEAVES HOME WITHOUT:Coffee, clipboard, and Very Special Guest Stars.

What Muppet are you?
brought to you by

One hair wrap!

All that extra DMC and Krienk comes in handy!



... and now I've gotta run, I've got lots of housework I should have been doing!

Busy, busy, busy ...

... it must be Christmas time! December is always a really busy month for us - actually, it hasn't been too bad this year, busy, but manageable.

I finished one of the Take Time to Quilt boxes yesterday - it turned out "fine" - not perfect, but looks pretty good - definitely went as planned, except the pre-made box lid of course didn't fit once I'd covered the bottom with fabric, so I had to make the lid. Then again, definitely a good learning curve, because I now know I could make the whole box quite easily - so more boxes just might be in my future! LOL Sorry, no pictures, I'll take some once I've finished the other one as well.

I DO have a picture of the ornament I made Katrina, we did our wee Doris exchange on Wednesday night - I received a beautiful ornament from Pat (once again, photo to come ...) and a lovely frame and some Christmas candles as my wee gift - I felt very spoilt (or spoiled - can never remember which is the right one - I'm either rotten, or well looked after LOL). Katrina had made some gorgeous felt Christmas tree ornaments as well - they're adorable Katrina! We've got such a lovely group of ladies - we always have a lot of fun when we're together - and I know I always appreciate the support we give each other.



Rejoice - The Workbasket, from this year's JCS ornament magazine - I'm really pleased with how this turned out, I didn't have any 40ct fabric, so I stitched it over one, on 28ct (I think it was) - with a Needle Necessities over-dyed thread (I love NN - I always seem to be able to find the "perfect" colour when I need a substitute for an expensive silk!). The finishing was fun to do - not too hard at all :)

Thank you again for all the comments - Kath, you make me blush! I'm sure I'm not *that* clever ... but I am enjoying having more time and head space to be creative now the kids are all getting a bit bigger.

Talking of kids ... that little angelic (ha ha) Charlotte found the Christmas gifts yesterday ... I think she only saw the Polly Pocket she brought out to ask if she could play with, but I still sat her down and had a wee chat about how Mummies and Daddies sometimes help Santa by looking after some of the toys before Christmas ... I swear that child will send me grey long before any of the others do! I can laugh now, but I wasn't yesterday ;)

I'm off to try doing a hair wrap in Charlotte's hair - a few girls have come back from holidays in Australia and paid good money to have them done at markets over there - I've looked at them and I'm sure they're not that hard ... so she's going to be my guinea pig today :)

Happy stitching and happy weekend everyone!

Some photos ...

Firstly, a big Happy Birthday to my now 7yo Rhiannon - her birthday was on Sunday, she had a lovely party with her friends and hopefully a nice day with her family :) Hard to believe my little girl is 7yo ... I can still remember the excitement and wonderment at having a girl when she fell out (and yeah, she literally fell out - such an elegant start to the world LOL) - don't get me wrong, I love my boys and was never disappointed that they were boys, not girls ... but after three of them, you can only imagine the wonderment of a girl.

Anyway - here she is with her birthday cake -


and with her fairy friends at her fairy party (at a party place ... so worth it, NO hassles or stress!).



and lastly, her funky fairy cake - I'm pretty darn pleased with how it worked out, she loved it - and even mentioned how lucky she was to have a mum like me awwwwwww ...



and now some stitching photos - this IS a stitching blog ...

Take Time to Quilt -



and all my ornaments from years of stitching friends/exchanges :)



I'm sure I had lots more to say ... but can't think what now! No doubt it will all come back to me as soon as I walk away from here.

Meanwhile - I hope you're all having a great week!

Lots of rambling ...

Comments!

Thank you everyone for all the comments lately! I really do appreciate them, and love knowing that there are people out there interested in my ramblings and stitching :)

Stitching

I'm still working away on Take Time to Quilt - Autumn, I'm hoping to get it finished tonight. I bought fabric for one box yesterday - I forgot to take the other one with me, so couldn't match colours - duh! I have no idea when I'll get to a good fabric shop again, maybe Monday if I can get some work done tomorrow.

I'm thinking I'll "just" do a needlebook and fob for MIL - I think two boxes to fiddle with will be enough, and I know I can make a needlebook and fob pretty quickly.

I kinda forgot, but not really forgot, more put out of my head and was thinking I had lots more time ... that I signed up for a Mirabilia RR - the mail out date is January 3rd! whoops! I sat last night at work and figured out what I'm doing, I just need to make sure I've got a good piece of fabric, some of the Krienks that I'll put in with the charts and then do the borders, hopefully I'll have time to do my square, but if not - I'll definitely get borders done and it ready to send by then. I went through my fairies and outlined the faces/wings in 40x100 blocks, I'm quite excited about it now - I think it will look good!

Ornaments Received

Here are two ornaments I've received from exchanges -

A Santa from Leah for a PS exchange


(isn't he lovely! Thank you Leah :))

and Noel from Lara for a board exchange -


Love this one too - thank you Lara!

Birthdays

Rhiannon's 7th birthday is tomorrow, Cameron's 10th on the 20th. I've booked and organised both their parties, I need to go out and buy one last gift for Rhiannon today (some swimming togs) and they're pretty much done. I also need to make Rhiannon a cake today, ready for tomorrow, and haven't really set in my head what I'm doing! ... I've got the day though ;)

Christmas

We're decorating today :) We don't go all hard out (I think that is quite an Amercian thing, not a NZ thing ... although that is changing), but will buy a tree today and put it up and decorate it - I've got a couple of ideas for hanging all my beautiful ornaments too - I've got quite a few special ones from various exchanges over the last few years, it's always nice to bring them out and remember where they've all come from - so they need a special place :)

I'd also like to make a quick (it would have to be quick!) table runner for the coffee table, then do a centre arrangement for it ... still thinking about that, maybe tomorrow ... between birthday girl celebrations.

I've got most of my shopping done, just a couple more things to add to the stockings and Josh's telescope and then I'm basically done - yay me!

Kids' Sport

Cricket has been cancelled this morning due to wet weather - poor Cameron is having quite a sulk about it (like we're supposed to talk to the rain Gods or something?). I'm sad for the kids - they love their Saturday morning sport, but happy to have an extra bonus morning to get things done! David came back from his cricket camp yesterday which involved me leaving the house at 10.30am, stopping at Thimbles and Threads - I don't get over to Upper Hutt a lot! - driving to Masterton, picking him up, driving to Wellington to make it in time for work - although I was a good half an hour late, would you believe I got held up by TWO accidents on the way back home! ... all in all I spent about 5hrs sitting in the car, what a waste of a day ;) Anyway, David had a great week - learnt lots, made lots of new friends, I'm proud of him, I'm not good in that sort of situation but he is and I love that he is :)

Kids Generally ...

The younger kids brought home their school folders yesterday, the school does this twice a year, it has samples of their work, spelling tests with age grade, and a comment from the teacher. We got some lovely comments and their work is looking really good - Josh (11yo) has a spelling age of 14yo, Cameron (10yo) has a spelling age of 12.5 - I think they're doing fine :)

David missed his prize-giving because he was away at camp, but apparently won a prize - I have no idea what for though, it doesn't seem to interest him, but I'm impatient to an extreme, and just have to know LOL

Weight Watchers

I was disappointed to the point of being really bad tempered yesterday to find I'd only lost 200g - I thought I'd had a pretty good week - so what did I do? ate crap all day. Urgh - like that is going to help. Back on track today, hopefully this week will be better.

I just found out that my work offers a $200 subsidy for gym membership! I need to check it out properly (whether it is for part-timers as well, whether it covers Paraparaumu gyms, and to the same value etc) ... but I'm thinking, definitely over winter when I struggle to keep going, that I might look at joining. My legs, although still way too big, are definitely improving from all the biking - but my middle needs some serious work that will take more than dieting!

Take Time to Quilt

One down, one to go :)

Here is Take Time to Quilt (Spring) - with very different colours from the original!



I love the texture of this - I used two threads, rather than one like the chart suggested, mostly because I was using 28ct fabric, rather than 32ct and the single thread just didn't look right.

and here is the start of Take Time to Quilt (Autumn) - again with very different colours from the original -



I've pretty much decided I'm going to try and put these on box tops - I'm going to look in Spotlight on Friday and see if I can find the perfect sized boxes there, as well as the perfect fabric - then fingers crossed I can get them to look like I imagine they will in my head! If I've got time (and I should have) I'll make a small needle book and scissor fob to go in each one as well.

Then to decide whether to bother making one for my evil MIL or not ... part of me wants to, just so she has to open it in front of a couple of relatives and friends who I know they are spending Christmas with, and knowing that she would have bitched about how awful we are (I'm picking, especially me ;)) ... it would give me great satisfaction to have her open it and everyone see the work that goes into it and wonder why this awful DIL would do such a lovely thing, and yes, I'm evil, LOL! Plus, to be fair, she does do a lot of lovely needlework and it would be a nice gift for her (albeit I swore I'd never make her anything again after the remarks she makes about cross-stitch being too "boring" and "easy") - but the in-laws are a whole big story that isn't worth going into!

Here I am at 9.00am sitting on my butt, still to tidy up the house for the morning ... why? you ask? Cameron and Rhiannon are going to the NZ/Aussie cricket game this afternoon with friends, so I didn't bother sending them to school - which also meant no before school rush - yay! gosh roll on holidays when I get 6 weeks of the same :) We're going to my parents for dinner tonight, but it will only be Charlotte, Josh and I - so quiet :) ... David Jnr is away at his cricket training camp, DH has a dinner to go to ... so I'm hoping for a quiet, stitchy filled afternoon/evening (although if I don't get off my butt and go tidy the house and do some work, I'll still be doing that!).

I managed to do some Christmas shopping yesterday, and now don't have too much left to do at all :)

I need to sit down and plan some baking and food for Christmas day so I can start stocking up the pantry now (I hate the shops the couple of days before Christmas so will only leave the fresh stuff until then).

We're going to get our tree and put up decorations this weekend - the girls are really excited about it this year, so it should be fun. Girls are defintely lots different than boys - they tired of making ornaments and decorating pretty quickly - the girls definitely seem to find it a fun thing to do, which makes it more fun for us too.

and last but not least!

Happy Birthday Kath - I hope you have a wonderful day!

(here is the link to Kath's blog ... I know she'll be thrilled if she gets lots of birthday wishes :))