a teaser for Patty!

Well, Margaret, Nathalie, Linda and Patty have finished their swaps
and I've held everyone up, but Patty, you will be relieved
to know I have now finally finished and your wee 6x4 piece
of hanging art
will go in the mail on Tuesday morning! Yay!


And as everyone else has posted a sneak peek on their blogs,
thought I better include one for you Patty!

Work this one out! hahaha

From a very cool New Zealand,
Carole ;)

a small diversion lol

A couple of nights ago I popped into town to do a 2 hour class on foundation paper piecing. (taking a break from study) I've never done any of this and I've always avoided doing flying geese and anything with points! So piled a few scraps of material and the sewing machine into the car and off. We could use paper but I think most of us used a very thin Vilene which meant we could leave it on and not need to put it off. Talking, instructions and then discussing a display of pieced quilts took nearly an hour, so we had an hour to try some for ourselves.
Here are my 3 samples. I was very impressed at how neat they were!




(geez those pics are not so good! lol)
Anyway will file these as I am determined to use them in a quilt!
Carole ;)

An ATC swap

During the month of May I did an ATC swap, the theme was "L". Here are some of the neat ATC's the girls made.

This one is from Doreen in Australia. I didn't even think of lavender!
I love the little watercolour card on the side of the ATC, and the use of a serviette.

This next gorgeous one was made by Anne in the Netherlands,
a lovely little lady indeed! (and there actually isn't a mark across her chin, it's just my bad photography! lol)

Then there was Debbi's, lace, ladies and leaves, pretty cool eh!

And Annie's lime green lines! Pretty nifty. I love lime green!

And then finally mine, Ladies in Lace.

Annie also sent everyone a large pile of ribbons to use on the June ATC!
Where do I start? And will I ever find an end?
You'll have to come back at the end of June to see what our ATC's all look like!

Have a great weekend folks!
Carole :-)

Amazing!

Late yesterday afternoon I wandered outside with a cuppa, it had been a fabulous sunny day, clear blue sky, and now the sun was slowly slipping out of the sky. There was no heat left in it, and then I noticed the grass .....



The paddocks were all covered in wisps of spider web, well they appeared to spider webs, thousands of them, as tho they had blown in the wind. They blanketed the grass glittering in the sun. Truly amazing.

Buddy the Boss came out to watch me taking pics.

By the time I stood up I had these draped over me, they were all over the clothes line and the clothes. If I didn't think they were amazing I would think it was darn spooky! LOL

What happens in your backyard? Take your camera and go look!

Carole ;)

WOW! 300 posts! (a small miracle! lol)

Well 300 posts! What do you know? I think it is indeed a small miracle. And what nicer way to hit 300 than with an award!

Thank you to Debbi over in Australia who likes my blog enough to pass on this award! Thanks. I'm supposed to list more of you to pass this on to, but I think I'll leave that, for the time being.

What fun , I look forward to the next 300!

Carole :)

a little filler....

no exciting art work to show you at the moment (although there is some started - but if I show you I'll have to kill you! LOL)
here is a sunset pic for you, the colours were a little more intense than this, but you get the idea how spectacular it was.
Carole ;)

just what I need!

A new "old" vintage hanky, just what I may need late at night when my assignment isn't going right and I'm over tired!
(on second thoughts, it's too nice to use, where's the tissues!)

Carole (with 1 assignment left to complete!)

the post about procrastination....

As those of you who follow my blog probably know, I have 2 assignments left to complete before the end of the semester, (happy dance here!). The one I was suppose to start work on YESTERDAY however is sitting by the computer, I have read thru some pages of Codes of Ethics, and Statements of Principles, In the Public Interest vs Of the Public Interest. I have shifted the pile of books and papers from the table to the chair, to the computer table to the sofa, back to the table and back to the computer table. 3000 words. Media Law. I got an A on the last assignment, that is going to be hard to follow.
I have also received some distracting mail, two blocks in my Leanne's House block of the month quilt I am making. Block nine which is the last one, and block ten which tells you how to put the whole thing together with info on the sashings and bindings. Also patterns for cushions, etc... I have not opened these yet. (you can probably guess what will happen if I do!) I like to cut out all the fabric and trace out the patterns for the stitcheries, but I dare not do this! However they are a serious distraction! LOL
The pics aren't very good this time round, serious malfunction on my part!

These assignments are becoming an all consuming obsession and my life seems to be very dull at the moment. I need my creative freedom! I think the most exciting thing that's coming up is the new Stampington and Co publication Art Quilting Studio. I've just to work out how I'm going to get my grubby little mits on one without having to sell the car to purchase it! LOL
Well, I guess that as I have done some housework, put the fire on, (cos it's freezing outside) caught up on a few blogs, posted here, day dreamed, made some scones, I better pull finger and make a start on this assignment!
Will keep you posted!
Carole ;)

Remember this?

photo by traci

Remember a few posts back I showed you this pic of Mount Egmont in Taranaki. It sits nicely right outside my daughter's window,
well, it has been v e r y cold of late, and this is what it looks like now! In fact last
night on tv we saw photos of people using their ski field.

photo by traci

This one was taken from their gate.

The temptation was just tooooo much!
Here is Traci and her partner Mack on a tramp up the mountain to explore
the snow, isn't Mack brave in his shorts! You can see the country side stretching
out behind them.
It's Winter!

Carole ;)

no new art work but...

a glimpse of my new collection of old wooden cotton reels!

I think I could re-use them, I have embroidery cottons I could wind onto them!

And amongst this collection is a card of fine thread
for mending stockings and "all kinds of hosiery"

And what about this! A card of fine Irish Flax Fishing Line!
"Not a kink in a mile - not a fish lost in a season!"

More distractions!
Carole ;)

oh so many distractions!

I'm trying to get my assignment done....

A week full of utter madness

It's been a week of utter madness, one way or another. Here's Buddy, who as the result of a disagreement with another cat had to have a 2 night sleep over at the vets while they took care of an abscess. Apparently it is a very common occurrence, that cats suffer abscesses, and they are either on their faces or the backsides, (as they fight or retreat). Poor old Buddy looked like Mr Pumpkin head, but thankfully he's back to normal now except for the shaved face look and a pile of antibiotics.

I also made a REAL sensible purchase this week, yep you've guessed it right, wool, needles and a free sock pattern which I thought was a no-brainer! However, on further investigating the sock pattern looks like something from a Japanese novel! LOL I think it will take longer to knit a pair of socks than it will to make bed quilts for the entire house! I'm positively mad!
Hope you've all had a great weekend!
Carole :-D

going to the birds!

What a week!
Pleased it's the weekend,
what can I get up to?

R.I.P Chris

Chris our elderly pet sheep has passed away
he was very old, may be 10 or more years
and we think he had a stroke
I don't know if sheep have strokes
but he seemed to loose the use of legs on one side of his body
he cut a dashing figure amongst the other sheep
he was a leader amongst followers

he's gone to that great green pasture in the sky
I hope he gets to eat slices of bread
whenever he wants them
and that the rivers run with sheep nuts
some of his favourite things
R.I.P Chris

time for a tag!

I think I forgot to show you the last tag to arrive for the "friends" tag swap I was in. Very remiss of me!
This is it, Marie, and very prim I might add, don't you think?
You wouldn't find her with a pair of old black gumboots on! lol
No, it would have to be cake for this one alright.
Isn't she just gorgeous? Thank you so much Margaret - she certainly adds a touch of glamour to my sewing room!
Here are the five tags together.

I haven't done much creating of late, my assignments are taking up more time than I would like them to. But I have some things on the go which no doubt you'll all get to see in due course. They just take longer to complete than they used to.

Hope you have all had a great weekend,
Carole :)

a mother's day gift!

This was given to me this morning from my daughter, a special gift for mother's day...
it looked very old, it got my immediate attention!

An old 1930's Imperial Good Companion Typewriter!
I was so excited I could barely contain myself! The keys look so old, and it looks so tidy, apart from some dust. I have played with it for ages, I can't get the platten to move across as you type, maybe I've forgotten to do something?
This took me back to typing classes so many years ago...

I'm dying to play with my 'good companion', and I just know that we're going to get along just dandy!
Thanks Traci! You could not have picked a nicer gift! x


Hope all you mums out there, (including mine, who is off enjoying a bus trip to Rotorua today) are having a lovely day!

Carole :)

I sound young, but .....

Some adorable blog friends commented to me that they thought I sounded younger than what I am. What a lovely thing to say. I am not someone who worries about getting old, it's gonna happen, it's kinda out of my control, and I think to take it gracefully is a youthful approach! lol

So, I thought you might like to meet me, and then you can judge for yourself if you think I might be young at heart too.

(I love this pic, does it scream mischief or what!!)
Carole :)

I'm back!

Well friends, I finally got my assignment finished and handed in. What a relief! However there are 2 more looming...

I have given myself the weekend off. Boy it's cold outside, the fire is glowing and flickering radiating a lovely deep penetrating heat.

Well I had a few emails from you all wanting to see my version of the Amy Butler skirt. When I hung it up to take a pic, I thought it looked rather large, (must take these rose tinted glasses off more often!! lol)
Here it is. It has 4 layers with frayed edges. It fits lovely and I love it. I will certainly use this pattern again, but then I think you'd have to at $30. I didn't use her fabric to make this with, this was some I've had stashed away for a couple of years. The next skirt I make I will finish all the edges neatly, just to make it look different.
Well, was the wait worth it??
Here are a couple of recent finds....
a couple of lovely handmade doilies.....





a few very old silver teaspoons.....


and this last pic was taken of the moon tonight, just rising over the hills
Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow, until then
keep safe,
Carole :)