Sorry I have not done much on here, but I have been very ill with my MS, BUT I am now on the way to getting better.
I have also been busy doing a Christmas stocking, but as you all know you should never try and cut and sew while your brain is not working well. I cut the sock out FORGETTING to add the seam allowance, so I now have a skinny sock to send to my swappie over in USA somewhere, oh well at least it is a stocking of somekind :)
We also have been getting ground ready to recive a 'granny' flat on the site next to us (which also does not help my MS) but it does mean I have somewhere for people to stay when they come and visit me.
Well I just have to get the last things added to my box of goodies and it will be on its way, so the sooner I get of this computer the sooner I can get it on its way.

OK SPRING WAS HERE.

Spring was here but mmmm then the snow came back. Hubby and me only just got home over the mountain befor the raod was closed due to snow. It was the first time in YEARS hubby and me had driven in snow. (And I do mean years as the last time for me was 25yrs ago when I lived in the UK)

Somewhere in the backround there is a mountain or two.

SPRING IS HERE

Sorry the pic is a little out of focus but as you can see I have daffs out in my garden and this one is a triple one, it lasted over a week inside along with some others I had cut.

I only had one plain yellow, the rest were this loverly white and orange colour.

Sorry I have not done anything here but not only have I been ill but my kids have got me onto facebook.
A mother has to keep track of her kids in one way or another.
On the quilting side I have been trying to do a stack and whack, have most of it cut out and some of it sewn up but because of illness I have not even done much sewing.
Just hope things start to get better soon.

As promised here are the pics of oldest daughters quilt I have done for her. OK it might not be everyone's cup of tea but she just LOVES it lol. It has sculls and pirate things quilted onto it as well as just ditch sewing around a few blocks.

Well oldest kids quilt is now finished, and will soon be on its way down to her in the South Island.
Have got photo's taken, but need to find the lead, so I can upload them to the computer. Why is it when you put something away safe, you can never find it when you need it!!!

Anyways photo's will be here soon.

No I have not falling off the planet yet, but I have been busy sewing and quilting.
I have been doing a quilt for my oldest daughter. Have nearly got the quilting done on it and once it has got the binding on I will be able to get a photo of it and put it up for all to see.
I have no photo's of it yet as the pattern and fabric are a surprise, so you will all see it the same time she does.

I have got the last part of my goose tracks quilt cut out, just have to sew it all together on the machine once I have dug it out from under the pile of fabric hiding it.

Weatherman/lady says we have another cold snap heading our way again, so I thing I will just stay in the warm and sew for a few more weeks. When does summer start again?

Here is the lastest photo of my foolish goose tracks bom quilt I am making.

Now to sit and wait like a good little girl for the next instalment.

Here is the finished quilt. I have now found out that the pattern is about 10 years old, and I had got all of the blocks put together and partly quilted.
Well we all know about that thing called 'real life' well it got in the way so it got put to one side.
So don't worry even those UFO's we have deep down, way back in the back of the cupboard will sometime see the light of day again. OK might not be this year, but there's hope for them yet.

It has been FINISHED.....

The 8 year old UFO has now been turned into a quilt.
I had to take off the outer border as the backing had moved and I would not have been able to fit it. But it looks just as great without the small border as the binding was in the same fabric.

Photos to come once I have them downloaded from my camera.

Well I have finished quilting the blocks and now it is time for the binding.

I only had one problem and that was, I ran out of Cotton I was using to quilt the darker parts of the blocks, so the border has been left un-quilted.

Once I have it washed and finished I will post a photo of it here, until then, happy quilting :)

Good news

I have found the binding and some extra fabric if needed.

Now I just have to finish quilting the last 3 blocks and the borders. But what to do on the borders will be the next problem.

Here are some photo's of the 8 year old UFO I have been working on, while I wait for the next instalment of the BOM's I amd working on.

It has spent the last 5 years at the end of our bed partly quilted, and the other day it got a tad cool so we pulled it up over us for extra warmth. So I thought it was a good time to try and get it finished.

Now if only I can remember where I put the binding!!!

I have at last taken a photo of last months block for the goose tracks BOM I am doing.
Due to some hiccups I have had to wait for the next part, but if all goes well the next instalment should be out tomorrow.

I think life has got back to normal now.......but just what is normal no one ever knows.

For the last week I have been working on a UFO that is over 8 years old, and for the last 5 years has been sitting at the end of my bed. It is sprayed and pinned basted and had been partly quilted, and still held together.
The hardest part was finding the thread I had been using to quilt it, or should I say threads as I was doing two different ones. A pale green/blue/pink/yellow on the light parts and a darker red/pink/yellow/orange on the darker areas.

The BOM I am doing has been delayed this month so I will just have to UFO sew until it comes out.

Will add photos as soon as I get some done.

Well I have not been online much for the last 2 weeks as I have had my sister and her kid here from the UK. Our mum has not been to well so she came over for a visit. Here is a pic of them at the zoo.

OOOOPPPPSSSSS wrong photo sorry.

I went fishing over the Easter weekend with my hubby and stepson.

Guess who got the big fish 'ME'

My stepson only got the tiny ones but he don't mind that I got the big one.

But he did say he will get some stick from his mate when he tells him that his stepmother got a bigger fish than him.

This mullet will go for bait so hope-fully stepson will be able to get the big one later.

Here is my house arriving in its new home, it has been there since Dec. 2005.

Somewhere under there is a wheel base so it can be moved if needed to be.

Lots have been added on to the outside like a deck and carport roof, plus lots of flower pots and plants have been added.

No the caravan next to it is not ours but it is on the site nextdoor to mine.

THE TOTAL COUNT IS 134 QUILT

All the quilts are in now and everyone is overjoyed at the amount that have been made.

The star quilt I donated has been quilted with bats, black thread was used on the front and orange on the back.

It looks great and I am so glad it will find a new home, if it had stayed with me I have no idea when it would have been finished.

This is not the final total

but so far my local quilt shop has collected 91 quilts.

All fabric, thread, batting, and time have been donated by lots of us quilters who live in the local area of Papakura, Auckland.

The cut off day is Saturday 28th March, so by next week we should know the total number of quilts that have been made and on there way to new homes over in Austraila.

See what you can do with a LOT of pins !!!!!

Most the seams are pinned together,so I can see how my BOM is going to look when it is all put together.

I had a little bit of time on my hands so I thought I wouls play with my blocks.

Me thinks this is going to be one very 'bright' quilt whwn it is done.

Well I have managed to finish my BOM part 3, for me the ironing of the blocks took longer than the sewing.

I still need to cut of all the dog ears but that will be done when I sew them all together at the end.

Now just how long do I have till the next part comes out?

Oh well, I have still got Hannah's quilt to keep me going.

The lastest update for the 'Fire quilts for Oz' is now 74 and still counting.

FIRE QUILTS UPDATE.

I went into my local quilt shop today and have found out we are up to 70 quilts finished, with another 15-20 being finished off. All will be packed up and sent of to Oz at the end of the month.

Here is the golden quilt kit I made up for the local quilt shop.
I did not get photos of the 3 kids quilts I made up, but the shop now says we are up to 55 quilts for fire victums over in Oz.
I'm sure all the quilts will be love by the people who will recive them.

I have been busy cutting and sewing my BOM for 'Burning the midnight oil'. I have been chain piecing it so I'm about halfway through it all.
Will post a pic when I have got them done.

News from my local quilt shop, says that so far, they have 42 quilts finished and are still counting. A lot still need to be finished off, as in bindings sewn down or lables added.
The shop is hopping to have about 70 quilts befor the 28th which is the deadline.

Today I went down to my local quilt shop, where they are having a 'quiltin bee' to try and get quilts finished for the fire victums over in Oz. I was unable to help this weekend as my MS is having a field day with my body, but it was great to see some of the quilts I had given or made for the fire quilts finished or having the bindings being put on.
I was told yesterday, the 14th, there were 38 people there helping out in one way or another, with another 12-15 people there today, the 15th, helping out.
All the quilts have to be finished and packed up befor the end of this month, when I know the total I will post it here.

I have taken 2 baby quilt tops and a kids quilt top back to my LQS, they are in need of borders, but that will be done at the weekend when the shop has a 'quiltin'. I did not get any photos of the quilt tops tho, but will try and take some at the weekend.

As promised, here is the photo of the last quilt I have just made. I had nothing to do with the colours or fabrics used, I just sewed them together.

As soon as I get the pic onto my computer, I will add the next quilt top I have done for the 'Quilts for Oz'.
This one is all shades of brown/baige in large rectangles, with a small border of narrow rectangles.

This quilt has now been quilted and will soon be on it's way to Oz. This photo does not show the quilting as I have yet to get a photo of it quilted, but the person who quilted it for us did a very good job. Just by looking at the quilt she could tell what had happened to it, and found a small bit of invisible thread that was the reason why it had shrank.

Well after lots of playing and moving of sqs, I got to the point where I could sew them together into this lovely top, once I have returned it back to the quilt shop, it will go of to someone else who will quilt it for us, and then it will be off to Oz for the fire victums.

Now what do you do when you get a kit of precut sqs and have to make a quilt out of them???

Watch this space and you will find out how I get on.

Well the rain has got here, but it is still very muggy and warm. But at least my plants will have a very good drink which I know some needed very much. Using the hose to water them every night becomes a bit of a boring job after a while.

Well I have got part 2 of the BOM done, when the quilt is finished the sqs will be on point and not like in the photo.

Now all I have to do is wait till 15th of next month for part 3.

This quilt top was one I made for my mum a few years ago.

It was quilted for me using invisable thread and a wool batting.

Well to make long story short, it got washed on a wool setting hung on the line to dry with a note saying 'DO NOT put in dryer'

Well you guessed it someone put it in the dryer so the invisable thread shank, so I got the lovely job of frog sewing it.

This quilt will be called 'From NZ with love' as it has NZ flowers on it.

Well my bingo winnings will be going to a good home, my local quilt shop is having a quiltathon to make quilts for the fire victims, so that this top that just needs a border put on it, will be soon finding a new home over in Oz.

The quilt is called 'bingo!' but it will have a note with it saying how the fabric for it was acquired.

Well I have part one done of the BoM. Now just how long do we have to wait till the next part comes out???? You know a girl can get real bad with drawl symptoms by having to wait so long between parts. I will just have to find something else to do, like jam making.

I have got my fabric to do this years BOM from http://burningthemidnightoilquilts.com/block-of-the-month-quilt/ . I am looking forward to doing it, I enjoyed doing the last one, but have still to hand sew on the tulips.

IT HAS GOT HERE AT LAST.

My Christmas stocking decided to take the long way round to get to me, but it has got here at last, and it has been worth waiting for.

It is a stocking that is reversible and has abbots on the top of it.

It was full of loverly things, 100 needles for all my needs, a hand made needles case to keep them all in and a handmade thimble.

There is also a quilt journal for me to record all my finished quilts and any ufo's I will get finished.

A little booklet of postcards, a bookmark from Sisters outdoor quilt show, some quilters tool ID tags, a Mapleleaf quilt guild pin/badge,and a nail file with quilt blocks on one side and the name of the shop on the other.

The fabric is great ,we do not get much Halloween fabrics here so I asked for some on my wish list. There is a full metre of one and 3 FQ's and also 3 labels for the back of my quilts.

I can not thank "Aunty" enough for my loverly stocking.