I went fishing yesterday

what did you do?

Carole :)

just when you thought it was safe to check my blog!

More details coming soon!
Carole :)

nippy mornings and some European comfort

We've had a few frosty, foggy mornings here of late. A bit nippy first thing in the morning, but we've had some lovely days to go with them, a very pretty start to the day.

Bet you can't guess who has been visiting New Zealand?? Oh my this chocolate is good!!!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Carole :)

sewing again, it's a definite sign!

I'm sewing again,
it's a definite sign that one of my many vices is in full swing.

I haven't worked on anything major for a couple of months, and felt like I needed to. I need to work with the sewing machine...
So out with the stash and a challenge to use some of my scraps, decided to use up the remains of the batiks from the quilt I made for Mr M&M.
After loads of measuring and cutting, I'm off on the sewing leg. It's coming together quite quickly.

However,
it's a sign...
when I'm procrastinating I sew,

how about you dear reader, what do you do when you procrastinate?

I also have several others...
when I'm angry I clean,
when I'm stressed I garden
and when I'm down in the dumps I eat.

I am sewing because I have my final assignment to write, it's approx. 3500 words. It's a biography.
And I'm a little stressed because I will be finished university in a few weeks time and will urgently need to find a "real" job! LOL

Did I tell you I weeded the garden?

Oh well,

here, have an apricot pie!

Carole :)

a little sunshine goes a long way

Debbie from over at Little Red said sent me some very welcome sunshine, thanks Debbie!

As I'm a bit shy about passing on these awards, if you happen to come across my blog and would like to share in my sunshine, feel free to treat yourself!!

Carole :)

a bit of fun...

enjoy your day...

Carole :)

Let me introduce you to.....

This is Miss Maude.

Let me introduce you.

Miss Maude is a House Mouse, and a very hard-working house mouse at that!

She won't be seen without her pearls, and likes to wear a pretty apron as she finds it always serves to brighten up her mousey-brown colourings :) (and makes her look good in the kitchen!)

Miss Maude the House Mouse is a mystery

block of the month project.

I haven't been working on a quilt for a few months now and have been looking for a new project. Seeing I enjoy a little embroidery I decided I wanted to work on something that included some. However, seeing I am also in the final 5 weeks of my degree, and the work load will increase dramatically I decided I would make a wall warmer (aka a wall hanging).

I decided to design my own, and it will come to you over the next few months. It will include 6 different stitcheries of Miss Maude and a layout to put all your blocks together to make your wall warmer.

I have decided that if you would like to take a mystical magical mousey ride with me, the patterns will be available through my Etsy store, (see Etsy link on the side bar or click here).

Each Miss Maude kit with include a piece of calico or quilters muslin, a piece of Pellon, the instructions and the Miss Maude pattern, plus a little something extra with each different pattern.

You can choose to follow me, and make a wall warmer, or you can retreat to your very own mouse hole and do you very own thing. Whether you follow me, and your project is a complete surprise, or do your own thing, your finished project will be unique to you. It will be a great way to use up scraps from your recent projects or from your stash.

I will give you all the basics to start, and any help you need along the way.

Miss Maude takes time to smell the flowers - Block 1

Block 1 will be available later today.

Carole :)

These patterns are designed by the team at Madness and Mess

for your enjoyment. :)

Please respect our copyright

A taste of the good old days...

nice labels too!

Hope you all had a nice weekend!

Carole :)

Miss Maude is coming......

Watch this space......

Miss Maude the House Mouse is coming.....

Carole :)

I'm home!

Just want to say thanks for all the kind wishes!

I am home, the op went much better than expected

big sigh of relief!

Just need to spend some down time while I nurse a few stitches....

Speaking of stitches,

Perhaps a little stitching is in order?

Carole :)

A blogging mini-break

Unfortunately I have to go into hospital today for an op,

and so will be taking a small blogging mini-break - just till I'm up and about again!

Have any of you read the latest New Zealand Quilter magazine?

It's the one with my article in :))

I'll see you all again soon, as I will have some exciting stitching news to share with you!

Carole :)

A day out in Wellington

Fibre Flair

On Saturday my friend Christine picked me up and we went to Wellington for the day. Christine wanted to visit some scrap-booking stores for supplies and although I'm not into scrap-booking, I was more than happy to follow along and look at everything!

Our first stop was at Waikanae at Sister Act, which was full of delightful crafty bits, BUT just round the corner was Fibre Flair, a quilting store! How convenient is that??

Lovely Living

But also at the Waikanae Shopping Mall was this wee shop, Lovely Living. It was owned by a very friendly girl called Jacoline, who was busy stitching as we browsed, and it had the loveliest selection of gifts, many of them hand-made. She also had a lovely bunting hanging outside which immediately caught my eye.

Lovely Living

Then it was off to The Craft House, 47 - 53 Hutt Road, Thorndon which was full of all sorts of exciting bits and bobs for scrap-bookers. They also ran crafting birthday parties for children, and stocked the largest selection of papers that I've ever seen!

Craft House

And we went to several other stores, where I got a little engaged with looking at everything and completely forgot to take any pics! Sorry!

But this was worth remembering, we stopped for a quick break at Bordeaux Bakery, the coffee arrived cold, but this little number was worth it!

Hope you all had a fab weekend!

Carole :)

A milestone and some additions

Amazing!

This happens to be my 501st blog post!

I never imagined that I would still be blogging 500 posts later when I started this, I never imagined that I would have had as much to share with you, or that all you lovely "blicks" (blogging chicks) would be as interested as you have been in reading my blog posts!

--Thankyou--

I wonder if I can make another 500?

Any way, I have been making some slow progress with my stitchery,

A button here,

a french knot there.

I think it may take a lot longer to fill up this piece of linen than I anticipated, but it is slowly filling with memories...

Getting back to the blog posts.....

I think the friendships have kept me blogging!

What's kept you blogging?

Thanks :)

Carole

It's amazing what turns up when you're least expecting it...

from a pile of old metal buttons,

there is a passing interest

to sort through them,

to feel what they are made of

to think about where they have come from

wonder about what kind of garment they were on

but

there's always a special one,

one you want to keep,

one you weren't expecting

what a lovely surprise!

what's the nicest surprise you've had today?

Carole :)

my garden advisors!

Today when I went out into the garden to check on how the pumpkins

were progressing, my garden advisor came too.

In the above photo, if Buddy could talk, what do you think he would say?

I reckon he's about to accuse me of something!

When I work out there I am usually accompanied by Buddy, Wednesday or Shelby.

Buddy and Wednesday seem to be content to sit and watch the comings and goings, while Shelby likes to sniff everything and eat random spiders, slaters and in fact anything which moves!

Quite disgusting really! LOL

At the moment I am trying to tame a jungle :)

and I have 9 lovely pumpkins which are nearing harvest.

Carole :)

needles and thread

I have a small amount of no5 perle cotton which I bought for $1.00 in a second hand

shop a while back. One of those purchases you buy because you know that one day you'll be looking for exactly that thing! LOL I considered my purchase a bargain, a find in a thousand.

I'm sure it was being used by someone on a project, guess I'll never know.

There were several colours and they were a bit of a tangle.

They are lovely to use, and deserve to be used on a special project.

My stitchery!

I'm adding a small piece of lace my Lace Merchant Nathalie sent me. It's old, and

very fine, and seemed just the perfect accompaniment.

What do you like most with old lace?

Carole :)

buttons

Hunting for something to add to my stitchery, I found some old fabric

covered buttons of my grandmothers.

Don't you think it fits perfectly? It could have been made specially!

What is it about buttons that makes them so desirable?

Carole :D

My hard drive is home again!!

How have you all been, while I've been away?
My hard drive is home!! Devoid of any signs of life, it's been repaired and over-hauled, and is new and it is empty....
But it means I can tend my blog again,
and I've missed you all, our wee chats and your lovely comments.

But I'm back, and there will be more photos, and more chatting, and I'll be trying to catch up!

Watch this space! LOL

Carole :)

like stitcheries??

My hard drive is still away from home, :(

But in the mean time, I know a lot of you loved the stitchery quilts I made from Leanne's patterns.

Well the great news is that she is coming to NZ to teach a class in the South Island and a class in the North Island.

Above are the details if you are interested in attending the class in the North Island. It will be at Taupo. I am hoping you can click on the image to enlarge it and read it.

Carole :)

A brief technical glitch

Oh dear, we at Madness and Mess are suffering a wee bit of a technical malfunction!

I have had a bit of a falling out with the hard drive , and it went into melt down phase.

I am hoping things will resume to "normal", once Easter hols are over, and the repair man, to whom I shall pay large sums of money, has restored all my lubbly photos and all other very important stuff.

Please come back and visit soon....

Meanwhile, 

Have a fantastic Easter, and drive safely if you are on the roads!

Carole :)