Knitting and a trip

I'm coming along quite well with knitting my cotton summer top, although to be honest I don't find cotton very nice to work with.  But that's what I'm using in this project so of course I will persevere.  The back is completed, and I've started on the front, which I will take away on holiday with me.  It's always good to have knitting at the ready, just in case I feel like doing a few rows now and again.

 The back is now finished

I couldn't help myself and have cast on two little toddlers hats, to use up some part balls I had hanging about.   They are easy small knits so I decided to do two together.  One in burgundy, and the other in navy with stripes.

Oh dear, you can't see them, Gemma is checking them out

Two little hats

Of course, I need to take a book on my holiday as well, but didn't want to take a library book.  So I'm packing my copy of Wuthering Heights, to read again.  There is a film out at the moment which I plan to see on my return, so I thought I would refresh my memory of the story.  I do wonder how a clergyman's daughter living with her sisters and dissolute brother in the wilds of Haworth  could write such a book of love, lust, revenge and cruelty.  But the girls were very well read, I believe, and had been writing stories since childhood.  Maybe Emily was full of imagination and longing for love herself.

Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

I'll be away for two weeks traveling around the South Island, so will tell you all about it when I return.  I'm flying down to Christchurch tomorrow, haven't flown for several years so I'm just a little nervous.  It certainly doesn't help that I have just enjoyed  watching a series of air crash disasters on TV!  Gemma is  having her own holiday in the cattery, she wasn't at all pleased when I picked her up while she was sleeping, bundled her into the carry cage, then took her for a drive this afternoon.  She usually takes a day or two to settle down, and I know she will be looked after very well by Carol.  

Five Green Bags, and Books

 There was more green stitching this week and I completed five green drawstring bags for the foster kids.  So I'm quite pleased with that.  I'm always amazed at what is tucked away in my big bag of bits and pieces.  It doesn't seem to be getting much emptier. 

Bag making bits and pieces

So what did I find to work with?  There was an already made elongated nine patch featuring frogs, and a farmyard scene with a red barn and roosters.

A fat quarter of dark green Japanesy fabric was enough for two bags, plus two small pieces of New Zealand inspired fabric plus extras made the final bag.  I'll add them to last months blue collection, and I'm getting quite a pile.

Five green drawstring bags this month

And what have I been reading so far this month?  Lost Light, by Michael Connelly featuring Det Harry Bosch who has finally quit the LAPD.  But he took a murder file with him to reinvestigate, running foul of his old colleagues and the FBI.  As always, another exciting read with unexpected twists and turns.

Angela Marsons Dead Souls was next, and I'm a real fan of her books featuring DI Kim Stone, they never dissapoint, and I'm reading them in order.  The Thread Collectors was a joint collaboration by Shaunna Edwards and Alyson Richman, telling the story of two women, a black slave and a wealthy Jewess during the Civil War.  Their husbands both enlist in the Union army and form a friendship through their love of music.  Such an interesting tale, about two women in completely different circumstances doing their bit to help the war effort.    I certainly would recommend this book.

Books read so far this month

I had a lot of Help

It all started with this, a felt kit containing all the pieces for a family of snow people.  I found it at a charity fabric fair some years ago selling both new and used fabrics, linens, wool, kits and quilting and embroidery supplies.  That's cute, I thought, and I seem to remember I only paid a small amount for it, about $5 or so.  So it came home with me and sat for a while.

The Snowman Family kit

Why don't I just get on with it, I asked myself, and I have to say I really enjoyed doing the simple embroidery on the felt hats, gloves and scarves.  But then what?  I had no idea how to put it all together.  To be truthful, I don't really like making and stuffing toys, let alone stitching their heads and arms on.  So once again, it was put aside.

Then last year on one of my daughter's visits, I got the kit out and asked if she would like to help me as I was stuck.  I had the pieces already cut out and stitched and Nicky spent the afternoon stuffing their limbs and bodies.  Luckily I had some toy stuffing and beads for the bottom.  

Naked snow bodies

You can guess what happened next - it was packed up and left again.  And just before Christmas I took the bag along to my Monday Craft Group, asking if anyone would like to take it off my hands, otherwise I would be disposing of it.  I don't enjoy making toys, I declared, and I don't know why I bought the kit in the first place!  Carolyn, one the the members, is an accomplished toymaker, and came to have a look.  I'll finish them for you, she said.  And when the group started up again in the New Year, she brought the Snow Family back, all finished.  How kind was that!  

Here they are, all finished

Carolyn had to make and then stuff the heads, assembled the bodies, stitched the clothing onto them so it wouldn't get lost, created their faces and made Mother a little hat.  And she didn't want anything for her trouble, except maybe a little dark chocolate, she whispered.  So the following week I packed my lunch to take to the group, gathered up my knitting and wrapped up some chocolate for her to enjoy.

A small gift for Carolyn

I'm not sure what I'll do with the Snow Family, or even if I want to keep them.  Perhaps I can offer them to the co-ordinator of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren later in the year, if she wants them.  They could given as a set to a child, or split up and be gifted to three children, whatever she she thinks best.  I'll look after them in the meantime.

Although I've said I don't like making toys, I'd like to try making a bunny out of a square of knitting sometime, surely I could manage that.  And I have a pattern for a trauma teddy I'd like to try.  This design only has a front and back, no separate head and legs, and a simple embroidered face.  But maybe I need to get over the trauma of the snow family first!

Green for February

In the Rainbow Scrap Challenge internet group, green is the chosen colour for February. No problem, I can do that. so I set to and got to work on my two easy peasy blocks sets.  First up were the baby blocks, featuring a base fabric of white with tiny blue flowers.  I chose a pretty apple green floral to use - this fabric  was purchased to use in my daughter's 60th birthday quilt but the colour was not right, I decided.  But it looks fine in this project.

Green edged blocks for the baby quilt

The dinosaurs were next, this will be a bigger bed quilt for a boy.  There are not just dinosaurs here, but mammoths and sabre toothed tigers as well.  I made dark green blocks first, mmm, that piece of fabric didn't go very far.  So in my quest to "use up what I have" I came across a strip of lime green to use for two more blocks.  This is the last remaining piece of this fabric and I remember using it in a froggy kiddies donation quilt a while ago.  I like the way the coloured strips zig zag down these blocks.  Many thanks to Lou for showing this block, the nice thing about quilting bloggers is that they are happy to share their ideas.

Dinosaur blocks

You may remember that I've been working on blue stars and hearts for a secret project recently.  The tops have now been completed, and have been delivered to Deborah for long arm quilting.  And, is my custom, the binding has been made, so is ready and waiting for their return.  I will show you the quilts and the story behind them when they have been gifted.

 Blue stars and hearts

I have been enjoying the Jurassic Park movies each Sunday evening shown on one of the free to air chanels over the last 6 weeks or so.  I had previously seen them all, except the final film, "Jurassic World Dominion".  The story lines through-out were similar, dinosaurs escaping and running wild, bad greedy men out to make their fortune,   the good guys doing their best, the baddies getting chewed to pieces, and children running and hiding from the monsters.  I don't often watch films on TV, but these were good escapism and quite entertaining on a Sunday evening.    

Chookshed Challenge, RSC, and Books

 I'm taking part in the Chookshed Challenge again this year, and have listed ten projects to work on.  Some of the ten had been started and put aside, and some are new projects on my wish list.  Number 3 was  chosen for January, which for me is a blue and lemon cot quilt.  There is just the quilting to be done on this one, the top has already been stitched, layers pinned, and the binding made.  Blue is also the chosen colour this month for Rainbow Scrap Challenge in January, so this project ticks both boxes. 

Ready to be quilted

I remember starting this quilt when the Ukraine War started.  Quilters worldwide were stitching blue and yellow quilts which were the colours of the Ukraine flag.  I had already made the blue and yellow nine patch blocks, in fact I think they were left overs from yet another UFO.  So I set them on point with a lemon background, added a pale blue border, prepared some binding, and promptly set it aside!  Sadly, the story of my quilting life.

But luckily, this UFO made it to my 2026 Chookshed Challenge list as number 3, which was the number selected for January.  Time to get quilting.  I decided on a cross hatch design and got to work.  Then added the binding.   I took the quilt along to a craft afternoon, and hand stitched the binding down to the back.  

This lovely little cot quilt will be donated to The Nest Collective sometime soon.  Perhaps I'll wait till I have another one finished as well.

Blue and white check backing

Several of the blogs I follow list which books they have read each month, so I thought I would do that too.  You may or may not be interested, but I'm an avid reader and the thought of not having any books to read fills me with dread.  Most of my reading is done in bed at night, and when reading a Jack Reacher book, he is one of my heros, I often used to tell Robin I'm going to bed with Jack!  (A bit of a play on words, as before I met Robin over 42 years ago I used to go out with a guy named Jack.)  No Jack Reacher this month though, but these are the books I've read, and enjoyed, in January.  And just to let you know, I particularly enjoy reading about serial killers, and always hope that  the baddies will get their comeuppance at the end!

Play Dead, by Angela Marsons, featuring DI Kim Stone.

City of Bones, by Michael Connelly, featuring Dectective Harry Bosch.

The Glass Room, by Ann Cleaves, featuring DCI Vera Stanhope.

These three lead characters, I realise,  all had a flawed beginning in life.  Kim Stone's mother left her two young children chained to a radiata and Kim's toddler brother died, and Kim ended up in care.  The mother of Harry Bosch was murdered when he was a child and he was taken into care as well.  And Vera Stanhope's mother died when she was ten, and she was raised by her rather shady father.  All three characters live alone, moved up the police ranks and solve murders, fighting  to  put the baddies away.  I also enjoyed the Vera TV series,  and she and the other characters comes to life so vividly in the books.

Livid, by Patrica Cornwell, features another strong character,  Kay Scarpetta.  Kay is the Chief Medical Examiner and has her fair share of troubles, some of them political as well as attacks on her life, as she solves her cases looking after and examining the dead bodies which end up in her care.  Kay is married to a FBI Profiler, another very interesting character.

And lastly, I read The Disappeared, by C J Box, featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett.  This series is a little different for me, but very enjoyable.  Joe is a quiet man, busy keeping the hunting rules enforced, but comes across his fair share of  mysteries and murders as well.  This character is happily married, but often has political interference to his job.

So that's what I've read and enjoyed this month.  I love my local library!

Out and About and Lemon Honey

 I've certainly been out and about lately, meeting up with friends.  Firstly with Louise and Robert who came down this way in their motor home to attend a country and music festival in Marton.  Then they had people to see, family to catch up with, and arranged to meet me for lunch too.  There was a communication breakdown about where we were meeting, as my text message didn't get sent, for whatever reason.  After a bit of telephone tag later in the morning, everything was smoothed out, and arrangements confirmed.   We went to a favourite of mine, Salt and Pepper Cafe.  There was plenty to catch up on, we pondered the menu and ordered our lunches.  There was only one choice for me, with soup on the menu - mmm, delicious leek and potato soup, so tasty.  Louise and Robert only wanted a light meal too, as they were moving on after seeing me and meeting up with family for dinner that night.  And then driving back to Papamoa over the next couple of days.

Lunch at Salt and Pepper

Once they arrived safely home, there was really sad news from their home town and nearby Mt Maunganui.  The severe rain had triggered landslides.  One in Papamoa, which buried a house, killing a grandmother and grandson.  And another which came down at Mt Maunganui at the motor camp, burying caravans and damaging the toilet block, with the loss of another six lives.  So very sad

Then several days later I had a big (for me) drive down to Paraparaumu, I'm not too keen driving along the expressway, especially in the rain.  But I made it, and needed a coffee to recover!  Then I had a couple of things to do on my list, including going to the local Spotlight to purchase some wide backing for the blue heart and and star quilts I'm working on.  That was a  bargain, luckily it was on special at one third off the price!  I had arranged to meet friends Bill and Val for lunch at nearby Waikanae.  Bill and Val went out of their way to help me that day I lost Robin, towing the caravan safely home for me from Hastings, I will be forever in their debt.  We met at Relish Cafe, such a very popular place with great food.  I enjoyed some pate and toast for a change, delicious indeed.

Relish Cafe

Then I had an unexpected invitation to meet with my daughter Nicky and her husband Robert for breakfast.  They were staying in Foxton Beach for the weekend, and the weather had turned bad, so I think they were bored.  Once again, I set off in the pouring rain, luckily the traffic was fairly quiet.  I enjoyed the most delicious mushrooms and bacon with blue cheese sauce, served on toast, so nice and tasty.  Nicky had her favourite Eggs Benny, and Robert had the Big Breakfast.  

Robert and Nicky

So what else has been happening here as well as me being a social  butterfly?  Gemma has been her beautiful self, and here she is getting some treats out of of her little plastic mousie.  She bats it gently with her paw and mousie wobbles about, releasing a couple of treats.  What fun for her, and she soon gets them all.

I think she's got most of them out

And I've also made some lemon honey (lemon curd),  so delicious.  And really easy to make in the microwave.  The recipe just makes a couple of jars which I store in the fridge.  Mmm, so tasty on a slice of toast, or fresh bread.  I think it can be used in desserts too, I'll have to check that out.

Microwave lemon honey

Knitting and Mending

 I've got three things on the knitting needles at the moment, no socks though, but I'm concentrating on a light summer top I'm making for myself.  For this I'm using some pretty pastel knobbly sort of yarn I found in the local op shop (thrift store). 

 I only have four balls so it's been a bit of an adventure to see just how far it was going to go.  Not too far at all, as it turned out, so I had to purchase  some balls of pale pink cotton yarn to eke it out in stripes.  After knitting part of the back four times in various widths of stripes, I've settled on two rows knobbly and two rows plain, so I know I will have enough to finish this project.   Finally I'm on the right track with this project,  so will just keep on knitting.  

Soft and pretty for summer

And after such a long time of procrastination, I have finally dealt with the mending.  First up was a small lumbar cushion which had a hole in the corner of the velveteen cover.  Not actually a hole, as it turned out, just the seam had come undone.  So that was an easy fix, the seam was restitched, the cover was washed, and it is now looking as good as new and I'll be able to use it again.

Then I had to fix the neckline of a summer top, which was too loose, which  I can't abide.  I threaded some shirring elastic through the top of the back neck band to pull it in a little and secured it.  Now it fits so  much better and doesn't slip off my shoulder.  And it didn't take too long to fix, either.

The last one was an alteration  - I had a pretty dress purchased ages ago from Hilo Hatties in Hawaii, which was also much too loose in the top.   I was heavier back then.  This dress has been residing in the back of the wardrobe for quite some time, lonely and forlorn, and needed a new lease of life, I decided. Out came the scissors, I chopped the bodice off,  made a simple elastic waist band, and now I have a new summer skirt to wear.  I've got a couple of tops I can wear with my new skirt.  Once again, I wondered why completing these simple fixes took me so long.

All the way from Hawaii

Gemma doesn't care much for mending, although she will happily jump on my lap when I'm knitting, and I have to quickly gather it all up.    Luckily she settles down to snooze and so I can get on with knitting a few more rows.  Here she is after I disturbed her looking out the window - she's always on the lookout for birds.  When she sees then hopping about on the lawn she focuses on them, making funny little chirpy noises.  I'm sure she is saying, "I really, really want to catch you, but I'm stuck inside  and you are outside hopping about".

Don't bother me, I'm busy trying to look for birdies.

A Week of Blues

 With blue being the RSC colour for January, there certainly was plenty of blue in my week.  I have  added another RSC to the mix.  You may remember that I stitch up draw string bags for foster children from time to time - they use them for toiletries, pencils, or to keep treasures in.  There is a big bag sitting by my sewing machine on the floor, stuffed full of small pieces of fabrics, lining, and cords.  Any interesting small pieces of fabric which I think might be suitable gets put away, as well as random quilt blocks.  Why not use the RSC monthly colour prompts to get stitching bags again, I thought.

A bag full of bag makings

So I went looking for blues, and found pieces to make 8 bags.  They were mainly dark blue, but that doesn't matter at all.  There are trains, baskets, fish, sailing ships, a random happy block, colourful rectangles, and nails of many hues.  When I purchased this fabric quite some time ago I thought it was full of pencils, but no, they turned out to be nails, which just goes to show that you see what you expect to see.  And not forgetting the jandals - summer beach footwear, also known as thongs overseas.  Not here in New Zealand though, thong is the word we use for those rather skimpy undies! I'll continue making these bags each month if I have fabric of the selected colour.

Eight blue draw string bags

My favourites, the jandal bag, and Thomas the Tank Engine's friends

I've done as much as I can on my secret heart project - need to purchase some border fabric next.  So I've shifted my attention to the second half of this project, the stars.  These need sashing, I've made a start so I'll keep stitching away.

Blue stars

And how about this for a beautiful blue creation?  Vicky from our Creative Crafts group  has finished her gorgeous blue coat, a one of a kind original.  She has done couching, and applique, adding all sorts of beads, threads, ruffles etc to show an undersea wonderland with the seagulls circling in the blue sky above.  She is happy  for me to show the photo on my blog.

Wow, this coat is amazing

I've been to the movies again, this time  to see "Song Sung Blue".  This tells the true story of a pair of out of work singers who meet and become a Neil Diamond Tribute band.  The music was amazing, I was sitting engrossed enjoying the story, their stage performances,  and the songs, when bang, tragedy struck them.   I won't tell you the rest of the story in case you want to see the film.   If you love Neil Diamond music, I certainly recommend this film, it is the best one I've seen in ages.  

Song Sung Blue

There was a sadder "blue" happening this week.  Robin's brother Gary had died just before Christmas and I attended his memorial service mid week.  That was certainly sad, Robin's passing was mentioned, and there were family photos of him in the photo tribute, so there were plenty of tears seeing his image up on screen.  Gary was four years younger than Robin, and they died twelve months apart.

A Rainy Day in Summer

 I awoke to rain, rain and more rain today.  It's the middle of summer so why so much rain?  But as everyone says, it's got to be good for the farmers, and the home gardeners too.  It was raining so hard that the rain drops were running down the window, and Gemma was fascinated with the movement.  Perhaps she can catch one of these things, whatever they are.  But try as she might, those little critters, as she thought, just kept rolling down the window, oblivious to her paw batting away, trying to catch them.  

She can't catch the raindrops

I went up town to have morning tea with an old friend, and yes, it was still training hard.  When I had just parked the car, there was a knock on the window.  A lady informed me that my petrol cap was open.  Oops, I had put fuel in the car the other day and obviously had forgotten to close and lock it.  Over the last year, I have been using petrol vouchers for fuel. Robin had been given quite a few in appreciation of a voluntry  job he had done for a number of years, and for this fill I had just used the last of them.  So it will be back to paying with  the credit card from now on.  

Just used the last of the vouchers

I went inside to the cafe and awaited for my old school friend Robyn to arrive.   There was plenty to catch up on since I'd last seen her, and we enjoyed a hot coffee and something nice to eat.  Not that I needed anything to eat, and I keep reminding myself that when I'm out for coffee.  We said our goodbyes and then the next stop was the adjacent library.  What's this - quilts on display.  My club, Town and Country Quilters, had a display of smallish quilts, there wasn't any space for any big bed quilts here.  Hopefully, this display will attract a few new members, our membership had fallen during Covid and lock downs and hadn't recovered.

Members quilts at the library

Time to head home for lunch, and the rain was still falling.  If it's raining, I tell myself, it must be soup time.  I always have some tucked away in the freezer, for a soup emergency, and I had defrosted a container that morning.  Yummy soup for lunch. this one was creamy cauliflower, zucchini and golden kumara.  Just what I needed.

Soup for lunch

It will be a quiet afternoon for me, tucked up snug and cozy as the rain continues to come down.  Maybe I should get on to the job of mending a couple of items needing attention.  Why oh why do I keep putting these small jobs off?  I know it won't take to long once I get started.  Perhaps you are the same?

Blue for January, and Fred Dagg

 Blue is the colour chosen for January for those of us taking part in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC).  As I've got a multitude of UFOs from taking part in previous years RSC I was in two minds whether to start any new blocks this year or not.  But we all know how that turned out, I just couldn't help myself.  I had seen a scrappy quilt top on Lou's blog, and thought, why not.  Just a simple square, bordered on two sides, so it makes a zig zag line when the blocks are stitched together.  Thanks Lou.

I had found several long strips of 5in wide white fabric scattered with tiny pale blue flowers.  That would make a pretty little baby quilt, I decided, so found some blue floral scraps to edge the the blocks with.  

Baby blocks

But why stick with one block set when you can  make two?  This one utilises a rescued duvet cover featuring rather cool looking dinosaurs with sun glasses and head phones.  These blocks are cut larger, and I stitched four in blue.  I plan to  use solids or near solids for this one.

Dinosaurs

That didn't take me too long, so then I got to work on the blue heart blocks I'm making for a secret quilt, and stitched around each block.  That's one step further on, I'm pleased to say.

Hearts all stitched down

I had a trip to the movies last week to see all about the life of comedian John Clarke.  Kiwis and Aussies know all about his character  Fred Dagg, the iconic Kiwi sheep farmer, but I'm not sure how far his fame had spread world wide.  His signature clothing of black singlet, shorts, floppy hat and gumboots are forever enshrined in Te Papa Museum in Wellington.  He left New Zealand at the height of his fame to live in Australia and became a well loved comedian, writer and satirist over there.

Fred Dagg

The weather has been quite hot lately, and will get even hotter, due to high temperatures wending their way  from Australia.  The Met Service is giving heat alerts for some areas - I don't remember this happening before.  This is what Gemma thinks of it all - there is nothing for it but to stretch out full length on the carpet and try to cool her tummy down!

Gemma says "I'm so hot"

Chookshed Challenge

 The Chookshed Challenge is up and running again for 2026.  As I had quite good success with this challenge last year, I decided to join in again.  Can I find 10 projects to list?  Of course I can!  Here's what I've found to work on this year.

1.    Strings.  I've got bags full of strings, sorted into colours plus a whole heap of neutrals.  I want to get rid of some of them at least.

2.    Frilly apron - my adult granddaughter had asked for one of these sometime ago.

3.    Blue/lemon 9 patch baby quilt.  Top done, ready to be quilted.

4.    Play mat panel.

5.    Baby animals cot quilt.  Top done, another awaiting quilting.

6.    Strings.  Yes, again.  If I don't deal with these strings they will be chucked out.

7.    H S Triangles - there is a bag of these from another project waiting to be dealt with.

8.    Pillow cases.  The fabric is ready and waiting, I've been wanting to try making these for ages.

9.    Blue Rail Fence - some blocks done, so it's a start.

10.   Burgundy Log Cabin.  This stalled project was on my list last year and never got worked on.

That's my list of 10, let's see how it goes.  Number 3 has been chosen this month.  The top is completed, layers pinned, and the binding made.  Let's get stitching!

Ready for quilting, baby quilt and binding

Blue Hearts and Stars, and Contentment

 Of course, I'm keen and eager to join in with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC)  once again.  Blue is the colour for January, I must have known that as I've made a great start on sewing blue blocks already during the last month.   This is another secret project, and I don't think the recipient reads my blog. but maybe she does.  So I'll keep the details close until I have the grand reveal sometime later.

Blur hearts and stars

I've made a good start, and have completed all the star blocks.  The hearts have all be traced, cut, and fused, and now need to be stitched onto the background.  There was lots of rather old visoflix in my stash, which I was pleased to use up.  But of course, not quite enough, so now I've purchased some new stuff, which isn't coming away from the backing paper as before, so much easier to use.  I'll continue working on these blocks during January.  Still a way to go, but I'll get there, one step at a time.

I'm sure some of you watch Kate, from "The Last Homely House".   I really enjoy her vlogs, and she has such a nice way of chatting away, talking about this and that, as if we were friends together.  And in a way we all are, as we sit together on her lime green sofa, which goes right around the world.  Regular viewers will know exactly what I'm talking about.  

The reason I'm mentioning Kate is that in her New Year Vlog she decided that instead of wishing all her viewers a Happy New Year, she would wish us contentment instead.  That thought really resonated with me, as I don't feel at all happy with losing the love of my life, and I never will.  I'm not happy that my life has changed so drastically either.  But maybe I can work towards feeling more content - in my home, doing what I enjoy, being in the company of good friends, and reflecting back on happy times the two of us shared together.  Yes, that might be the answer.