madness and mess - better than watching t.v!

We have been in this house for nearly 5 years and we haven't had this happen before, this is totally new in the world of madness and mess! There's a first for everything!

Over the last 3 days we have had one sparrow after another come down the chimney, and find their way into the fire box. This has provided hours of entertainment and frustration for Buddy and Wednesday, much better than watching television.
How on earth could they get into that place to get that bird? They could also hear lots of chirping echoing down the chimney. (we need to check out the chimney!)
On 2 occasions I decided to open the large double doors and open the fire box door and hope the sparrow would just fly straight outside. I shut the cats in a bedroom. Amongst a cloud of ash, the sparrows did.
The 3rd time I tried this the silly bird missed the open doors and flew into a window and of course found itself in Wednesday's mouth, which of course, resulted with me throwing my hands round Wednesdays neck yelling "drop it drop it!!" She did. I rushed the bird outside and planted him on a branch in a tree. He sat there for a while and then flew off. None the worse for wear.
The 4th time the silly bird chose the closed window over the open doors again and this time Buddy, who was sunbathing outside somewhere, amazingly appeared from nowhere, zipped inside grabbed the sparrow and was gone! All in the blink of an eye! Right before me! However I sneaked after him, determined to prove that if there was a competition between Buddy and me, I was going to be the winner! Buddy was playing with the sparrow, he had put him down and the sparrow was hiding behind some shoes by a door. I sneaked up and gave Buddy the biggest fright, enough to divert his attention, (mean eh! lol) and in a blink the sparrow hopped into a space, and flew off!
I must say, Buddy gave me a filthy look! But I do prefer to hear the chirping of birds than to pick up feathers and half eaten bird bodies from all round the door!
Hope you are all enjoying an entertaining weekend!
Carole ;)

some additions ... old and new!

A few small things have made their way into my sewing room lately. I consider these 4 very large, old cotton cotton reels a great find! They used to have linen thread on them, but I think they may be used to hold ribbon or maybe lace?
At the quilt show in Levin I picked up some more hand dyed silk ribbon from Cheryl of Cherry Pie Quilts fame, and everyone knows how much I love hand dyed silk ribbon right?! You just never know when you might need some!
Then I received this unmounted stamp set in the mail today, I was extremely lucky and won it on Rachel's Darkroom Door blog, (www.darkroomdoor.com)she was introducing her new range of stamps. This is the Prague series. Her stamps are all gorgeous, but more so when you win them! Thank you Rachel!
Today was my last day of university for 2 whole weeks. We are on mid-semester break. I do have an assignment to work on, but will do it over the 2 weeks, so no stress there. But having a break means I get to spend a bit more time in my sewing room!! And, if the weather stays good, hopefully I can spend time in my garden too.

Happy Thursday to you all,
Carole ;)

to michelle....

Michelle who left a comment on my blog and some links to look at
your first quilt, it is really gorgeous! But I can't email you back, so
I have no way of contacting you!
Carole ;)

I'm taking time to smell the roses....

...or spring flowers, as the case may be! Remember all the bulbs I was planting, well all that back-breaking labour was worth it, just to be able to walk down the drive and pick a large bunch of these.




The next exciting event will be the arrival of our lambs! One week to go!
Carole ;)

Quilt show anyone?

Yesterday my friend Christine and I went down to Levin, 30 mins from our homes to have a look at the Levin Town and Country Quilter's exhibition. (there were also merchant malls!!) There were some stunning quilts on display, and lots which offered inspiration and motivation. Here are just a few pics from things that caught my eye.

hand stitched!!

And because we were so exhausted from all our oohhing and aahhing and looking at everything in the shops we had to visit Whispers Cafe in the town centre for a large slice of Kumera and Orange cake!
Enjoy your weekend!
Carole ;)

mess in a minute!

Don't you just hate it when you go to wrap a gift and discover you actually
don't have any gift wrap stashed away?
Impromptu wrapping paper! Pure fun!

Carole ;)

Oh darn, now I don't want to part with it!

You will find this beauty in my Etsy store.
It's a gorgeous lap quilt 60" x 46" with lots of stippling.
(Although it does look stunning on a table with a vase of roses on it! Or you could use it on a bed, or maybe snuggle under it on the sofa while you read.)
Handmade of the best quality cottons and a batting that's 80% cotton and 20% polyester which makes it easy to care for.

I've fallen in love with it myself now, darn, don't ya hate it when that happens!

Thanks for looking,
Carole :)

bursting on a spring day

Hope all my friends have had a fabulous weekend!
Here's to the week ahead!
Carole :)

clean clear sea air

A whole week has passed me by, I have been working on an assignment, reading, typing, more reading. Yesterday I managed to finish it and escape to the beach!
It was lovely walking on the sand, the sound of the waves, the salty sea air, people fishing, people walking their dogs. An elderly couple with a rug and a picnic basket.








No books, no cell phone, no computer.....just me, my man and my camera.
Carole ;)

a stippled sunday...

This is what I have been working on today....
I am making it to go in my Etsy store....
But I'm falling in love with it....

Carole ;)

to wash or not to wash, -that is the question for you to answer.....

I have read on some blogs, and I can't remember which ones, but after a quilt has been completely finished it has been washed before it's been given away.
I have never washed mine, mine have always been given in 'brand new' condition however, I used to always wash everything before I started a quilt.. The staff at my local quilting store are not fussed about washing the fabric before making a quilt either.
I wonder if the washing of a quilt after it is finished helps to 'puff' the fabric up a bit?

What do you girls do? Do you wash the fabric before cutting and sewing, or do you wash the entire quilt once it is all finished? Or maybe you don't do either?

I'd love your feedback on this!
Thanks,
Carole ;)

some recent mail...

I recently participated in the F-R-I-E-N-D-S swap where we were assigned a partner and we had to swap 7 gifts, one for each letter of the word. My partner was Debbie from Canada, and this was how she handled the challenge! (It was a bit overwhelming to get all these gifts! ) Thanks so much Debbie for going to so much trouble to put these together for me. It was really interesting to see if we matched any of the items.
F: a flower hot pad and a face mask, (just what a tired student will need, will save until exam time!!)
R: rick rack, ribbon and a recipe book full of chocolate recipes! (also good for tired students)
I: indigo coloured fabric and ribbon with inches marked on it! (great for students when not doing student things!)
E: some lovely embroidery and some earrings, (a feminine touch for the drab student who studies in slouchy track pants and sweatshirts!)
N: some needle pullers, a hanky for the Nose and a very cute notebook. (all ideal for the student who likes to do a bit of stitching)
D: some lemon drink sachets, a dip mix and a pretty cool doily, (stored, going and gone!)
S: a lovely souvenir tea towel from Canada, a pot scrubber, a strawberry huller and a gorgeous sewing kit! (for the spoilt student!)
And then Debbie added a few extras which was so kind of her considering she must have had to mortage the house to be able to afford the darn postage! LOL
Although I loved everything!!!! This wee thimble was my favourite thing, don't you think it's totally gorgeous?
And so too was the lovely tissue paper it was all wrapped in. Thanks again Debbie, and I hope this is the beginning of a great friendship!
Carole ;)