a baby and a quilt

 I know you've been waiting patiently for this post, and I've been very quiet of late, but we've had a lovely trip to Auckland to meet our first grandchild, Neve.
And of course a new baby is a great excuse to make a new quilt!

Granddad has his first cuddle

 Neve is now 2 weeks old, and what a gorgeous wee thing. So small, so perfect and so sleepy.

I get to have a wee cuddle too

I think I could quite possibly bought her home with me!

And here is her wee cot quilt in pinks, lemons and lavender.

Have a lovely week everyone and I promise not to fill this blog with photos of Neve!

Carole x

Neve has arrived!

Neve Catherine born 2.30pm Sunday 1st July.

Mother, father and baby doing well.

Grandparents thrilled. 

I'll share a photo when I get one.

Thanks for all your good wishes.

Carole x

Waiting for a baby

This weekend my stepson and his wife will hopefully give birth to their first child and our first grandchild.
The mother-to-be was admitted to hospital last night to be induced. Nothing happened. We are waiting...... it's killing me!!

Just have to wait with some of these, home made lamingtons. Just need to add a dollop of whipped cream to each one....

Will keep you posted
Carole x

Re-stocking my Etsy Store

card set 5

card set 6

card set 7

card set 8

These will be listed in my Etsy Store over the next day or two. They are sold in packs of two and come with a matching envelope and are blank inside so can be used for all manner of occasions.

Those of you who also make journals, these are perfect to add in as an extra pretty page.

card set 9

card set 10

card set 11

card set 12

A lovely card arriving in your letterbox is the best surprise, especially if it arrives for no apparent reason except that you care about the person you're sending it too!

Carole x

Feel like a little shopping therapy?

Why don't you pop into visit Jenny at her Etsy store, The Makers Studio? I've discovered she has in stock the most gorgeous laces, (amongst other handmade goodies!) and her laces are very reasonably priced. I'm sure she will post to your sewing room if you ask nicely!

Have fun!
Carole x

I feel like hibernating!

I really do feel like hibernating, actually I feel like I am hibernating! It's been so cold.
However I do have a wee zine to go out into the wide wide world. It will be fun to see what secrets it contains when it comes back!

And of course you just can't expect me to hibernate without the essentials!

It was my very first gluten free chocolate cake. I made it to take to work as a colleague is allergic
to gluten. He loved it!
Not bad for a first attempt!
Now, back to my bear cave......

Carole x 

Very chilly mornings

We've been having some very chilly starts this mornings. 0, -1.7 and -2.6 degrees C.
Please send me some summer!!

Carole x

a lovely way to start the morning

Feijoa and grapes

When you slice into your morning serving of fruit and it smiles back at you, well, what a fantastic way to start the day!!
Don't you think?

Carole x

In love again....

I managed to spend a little time stitching over the long weekend and worked with a few wee yoyo's.
Isn't this the cutest darn yoyo you've ever seen? I think so! It makes you just want to reach right out there and touch it.
Oh and if you haven't already guessed, I've got a thing for yoyo's :)

Carole x

A little card art

I've been making a few more cards.
They will be added to my Etsy Store. They are proving popular at craft markets because they can be used for all manner of occasions.

Carole x

Stitching over Queens Birthday Weekend

Hope you managed to get some stitching in over the long weekend!
Carole x

postal intrigue

Remember Project Zine that the QB5 girls are all working on? Well Linda's zine arrived recently and it's been waiting patiently for me to add to it.

It's packed full of old photos. Memories. Family, friends, lost love? Mmmmm..... wasn't sure where I was going with this?

But decided it needed an element of intrigue. A slight air of mystery.

A letter....? An inheritance....? A lost love....?

Childhood sweethearts....?

Separated in times of war? Who is Isabella Stewart of Wellington, New Zealand?

And just who is Q Mathews of Reids Air Field in England?

The QB5 girls are all listed on the right of this blog, check them out for zine progress. You'll have to wait until Linda gets hers back again to hear more about the letter!

Wouldn't it indeed be intriguing to find a mystery letter tucked inside an old album of photos?
Carole x

Babycake now delivered

Well, as you have probably noticed, things have been a little quiet round here for a while. Of course that doesn't mean I've not been doing anything!
Just the opposite, it means I've been busy creating exciting things I just couldn't share with you. Until now.

You may already know, but very very soon I am going to become a first time grandma! YAY!! And I'm quite excited about it.

I wanted to make something for the expectant mum Rachel and I found a picture of a baby cake on Jill's blog here that she had made which really inspired me.

It involved lots of nappies and more hands than I personally have. And of course I didn't have the right sized embroidery hoops.

 The baby is going to be a girl, and the colour pink was requested.  It's due date is in 4 weeks, although I have a feeling it's going to arrive a little earlier.

I have used disposable nappies, I think the parents will use cloth nappies but would like to have some disposable to fall back on if need be. Wow, have you ever looked in the disposable nappy isle of your supermarket? It took simply ages to try and work out which nappies to buy. In the end I had to ask a young mother which she would recommend.

It's starting to look pink, can you see where I'm going with this?The bottom layer of the cake finished.

Three layers complete, now I need to decorate my cake! For this I used some layers of ribbon and items of clothing rolled up to look like flowers. I wanted to keep the colours soft so that it actually did look like a cake.

Little pink stretch-n-grows and some little socks for flower buds, and a little green singlet makes gorgeous leaves. And I had to add a soft toy or 2!

So there you have it. The kids had their baby shower on the weekend and I got to give it to them, my version of a baby cake. I think it looks good enough to eat and would happily of kept here for myself to enjoy!
What do you think?
Thanks to Jill for being such an inspiration!

Carole x

National Quilt Symposium

I'm starting to get more than a little excited about tutoring classes at Symposium next year!
Follow this link if you'd like to read more about it.
It's going to be fun to meet so many talented people! Here is a list of the tutors:

Susan Brubaker Knapp - USA
Susan Carlson - USA
Susan Cleveland - USA
Judy Coates Perez - USA
Crain Dena - East Africa
Lenore Crawford - USA
Lynne Edwards - USA
Robbi Joy Eklow - USA
Gail Garber - USA
Cara Gulati - USA
Patti Hempen - USA
Rita Hutchins - USA
Libby Lehman - USA
Gwen Marston - USA
Phillippa Naylor - GB
Vikki Pignatelli - USA
Jennie Rayment - GB
Kathleen Sage - GB
Jane Townswick - USA
Joen Wolfrom - USA
Jenny Bowker - Australia
Nic Bridges - Australia
Pam Holland - Australia
Chris Jurd - Australia
Gloria Loughman - Australia
Debbie Louie - Australia
Jane Monk - Australia
Lisa Walton - Australia
Michelle Yeo - Australia
Sharon Bradley - NZ
Carole Brungar - NZ
Tina Cooper - NZ
Jo Dixey - NZ
Hazel Foot - NZ
Noeline Johnston - NZ
Chris Kenna - NZ
Raewyn Penrose - NZ
Sonya Prchal - NZ
Jane Rixon - NZ
Helen Townend - NZ
Mary Transom - NZ
Julie Van der Putten - NZ
Sue Weston - NZ

The classes will be posted to the website in December. Taupo is such a fantastic place to visit and in the middle of winter the thermal pools are going to be incredible!!

I hope I get to meet some of you who are making the trip!
Carole x

Being nosy in the garden...

and look what I found!

What's in your garden at the moment?
Carole x

A visit to the stock yards

Yes, you got it right, a couple of weeks ago I visited the stock yards in Feilding a rural town about 30 minutes from Palmy. I went on a Friday as this is when all the farmers bring their sheep and cattle to be auctioned off.
The Feilding yards are the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere and hundreds of thousands of dollars exchange hands here every year. There are 350 holding pens all full of wee sheepy faces staring up at you!

 And there are 140 pens for large faces too but these cattle were not interested in those who were walking above them as they waited to be sold to other farmers.
I think I enjoyed watching and listening to the auctioneers working.

Why is it when it's crucial not to wink, blink, scratch, or nod that your nose is always itchy?

I was seriously hoping that I didn't buy anything while taking this photo!! (I mean, how on earth would I be able to go home and tell Mr M&M that there would be 319 sheep arriving shortly??)

Maybe one of them bought all those sheep?
The first stock sale was held here in 1880 when 100 cattle were sold. Now there are approximately 450,000 sheep sold here every year and 50,000 cattle.

A very interesting outing. And Feilding has some lovely shops too if you're ever in the area, check out their website for more info!

Carole x

A visit to the quilt show in Palmy

(But first I have to apologize for the quality of the photos)

On Saturday the Rose City Quilters had their annual show aptly named Tote and Gloat. I decided to pay a visit, it's the first time I've ever been to one of their shows.  There were the usual merchants malls with tempting things to buy. And there was exhibitions to look at. But the most interesting part is where members of the audience - who I'm sure, are all quilters, get to stand on the stage and show their quilt and speak about it.

It lasts for most of the day and by the time I left to go home I felt very inspired by all the talented girls who were there.
This quilt was queen bed sized made from civil war fabrics with small doilies sewn onto squares. It was very plain but it would have been one of my favorites.

This one was a close second as a favorite, again a very plain pattern, but really effective. There was also a lovely display of mixed media work done by Lynette and her friend Katherine. If you'd like to see some more of there work you can find it here. I could show you lots more, but may be another time.

So off home to work on my latest quilt. I'll show you photos soon.

Carole x

Craft market was amazing!

Here's my wee table at the craft market on Friday night.
It was a busy night despite it being cold and dark all the nearby cafes were full and people were out walking. The library made for a great venue although the lighting was a little dim.
My most popular items were my lavender bags and cards, so I'm hoping lots of mums are going to get wee treats next weekend!
Thanks to those who stopped by my table, lots of people popped by who have visited me at other markets. Thanks also to Christine who stopped by and bought me a latte, it was the best coffee ever!

Now, I have a quilt to make!
Carole x

Almost ready for the craft market

Brooches, hair barrettes and rings to finish...

See you at the City Library tonight, 6pm to 9pm!
If you're in town, pop in and say hi!

Carole x