March 30th

Hello there friends, let me see if I can remember how to use this thing ... it seems like such a long time since I've written. And it is actually a while - just over a month!

I have been super focused on hand quilting Lily Rosenberry, I'm pushing hard to get it finished, and I feel like I just may be able to get it done. As soon as I'm done on the computer this evening, I'll get right back to it:

All the corners are done now, and I have only about one third of the last side to do between the blocks and the applique border. And then I'll do the final lines to the edge of the quilt, you can see a couple marked on the left of the picture above. Fingers crossed! I even had to order another reel of YLI taupe hand quilting thread. And that wasn't easy to find at all!

In other news I now have the pattern for one of the next quilts I'd like to make in my hot little hands:

I have admired this quilt for a LONG time, and know that I'll just love it! You'd think I'd have had enough of little berries, but apparently not, and I have a lot ahead of me. There will be no pressure with this project, and I will have a couple on the go for a little while.

Also during this past month's absence, my extended family and I went on a Pacific Island cruise. We had the very best time - please enjoy this selection of pictures, I'll just throw them up here (oops, they've come up in reverse order, but I'm sure you won't mind!):

Alrighty, I'm going to head back to the quilt hoop and get some more stitches in - I hope I don't abandon the blog for a month before posting again. I thought about it often, and then the thought would drift out of my mind. Does that happen to anyone else?

Chatter soon friends! xox

This past month ...

Whew! I didn't mean to let almost a whole month pass by before I posted here, but that's what happened! The first two weeks are easily explainable, my parents and I travelled to New Zealand on a RC cruise. It was just lovely, and I'll share some pictures:

We flew to Sydney the day before, so we were able to explore. There was a ship in port, but it wasn't our ride, this one was pretty fancy:

We always stay in The Rocks, so on the day we simply have to drag our bags across the road to the overseas passenger terminal. This means that there's always lots to see, and the view from the roof of our hotel is pretty spectacular:

On Wednesday 21st, was our day to board, and this is our chariot. Though this picture was taken in NZ (I think Wellington) as I forgot to take one on boarding day.

We've travelled on the Ovation before, and always love it <3

This was my room, a balcony cabin on deck 8, my parents had the room next door, so we had the balcony opened up between them, and also the adjoining door unlocked, it always makes it feel more spacious.

Day two at sea and a lovely lunch at Jamie Oliver's Italian - a tradition now, we always enjoy it so much!

I'll share a sprinkling of my many many photos, and try to recall where I took them ...

Our first stop - Picton NZ. So pretty, and I may or may not have bought a long necklace of the most lovely pearls from a darling jewellery store here. Can't prove anything ;-)

Two days later in Wellington NZ, we jumped on the gorgeous vintage hop-on hop-off tram and toured around the CBD.

The driver narrated as we travelled around, and we learned all about rebuilding efforts in the city, I have so many picutres if you're interested. And I was fascinated also by the beautiful interior of the tram, which we learned was about 100 years old.

The next day in Dunedin, also such a beautiful place. This is the train station - stunning in person. While in Dunedin, we stumbled across the most darling vintage store - Two Squirrels Vintage. I could have purchased every single thing in the store, but settled on this beautiful vintage apron and sweet little set of beads:

On our way home we travelled through Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound, all simply stunning!

And on the last sea day while heading home, we did a fascinating tour of the kitchens and a yummy brunch. We definitely never went hungry.

Before we knew it, it was time to start heading home - it was a long day travelling and I was really glad to finally be able to sink into bed. The next morning I didn't feel right, and took 'that' test, and sure enough was positive. First time ever for me. Next minute I received a message from Mum having had the same result.

The past two weeks have been spent largely resting, and with very little energy, I'm just now starting to feel like I'm getting back to some normality. In moments with energy, I've been baking - Pantry Mama's Sourdough Discard Loaves, one with rye, and one white:

I've been painting heads for my Etsy store, this is the second lot I painted for orders after I got home:

And for the last picture of the day, a little fabric delivery that arrived while I was away:

Darling fabrics that I'll be able to use in my Morrell quilt when I get back to it. And speaking of quilts, this past month I've done virtually no stitching - the only thing I've really had energy to work on since I've been home is a little hand quilting. I hope to remedy that soon, as I'd love to get a quilt made for the new grandbaby that will be here before we know it!

Well, that's been my month, apologies for the radio silence, here's hoping I have the energy to get back to my posting schedule going forward! Chatter soon xox

Puppies are delightful time wasters!

So, I asked the hubster this week if he had any idea how busy a puppy would keep me. He said yes, but I'm not sure I believe him. Wow, they're such delightful time wasters :-) Little Rowley has gone from a shy little guy to a ball of energy resembling a baby shark! He's grown so much already too, and he moves so fast I haven't managed to take any good pictures of him, hopefully next week.

Stitching time has been scarce, and I'm kind of not feeling like it anyway, so I've only really put a few hand quilting stitches into Lily Rosenberry.

It's definitely not going to be finished any time soon, but every stitch is one stitch closer to completion right?

And I painted up some more coloured Elf heads for the mmmCrafts Twas the Night elves ornament pattern. Some for stock, and some to go to a new home. I love that they've been so well received in my Etsy store.

Last week I also promised to share some more holiday snaps etc. First up the items I purchased at the quilt store while were in Kona:

I was absolutely happy to purchase some souvenir style fabric, and given our location, I was thrilled to buy some Hawaiian applique patterns - a kit, a book, and a pattern. They'll go on the long list of things to do, but when I finally get to them it will be a wonderful reminder of our trip.

We stayed in the Hilton Gardens Hotel Waikiki Beach. We didn't do bunches of research about our hotel, and hadn't specifically asked for a view, so we were pleasantly surprised when we were able to see the beach from our suite. It was a great place to stay, we had a two bedroom suite with a lounge, little kitchen area and huge bathroom. We were so very lucky.

It was absolutely on our bucket list to visit Pearl Harbour, and I'm so glad I've checked it off my list of things to do in this life. There really aren't words to adequately describe the memorial, and it's hard to imagine the chaos and horror endured all those years ago.

This far away picture is of the Hula Kahiko dancer statues outside the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Our tour guide pointed them out to us, and I found them fascinating. Also, aren't the tropical gardens just lovely. There were so many things to see, and I just wasn't fast enough with my camera. I feel like there will be another trip to Hawaii in our future, we just didn't have enough time to see all the things we wanted.

So that's all I'll share for today - I'm catching up with Amy on Sunday, so I'll check her phone and see if she has any pictures to share with me - she's always so much better getting the happy snaps. Hope you all have a great weekend, and I'll chatter soon! xox

A month disappeared, just like that!

Hello friends, I know it's been a while since I checked in. I promise I have a really good reason. I've been off on holidays again, it's naughty that I didn't tell you all about it, but there are folks that say it's not a great idea to advertise when you're not going to be around. So I took that advice, even though my boys were still at home, you just never know who's reading along - best to play it safe.

Anyway, that out of the way, I'll fill you in. I went on yet another cruise - how lucky am I? This time it was like a girls trip with my Dad along as chaperone. My Mum, myself, Amy, Mary and Dad spent a night in Brisbane before cruising for 17 nights to Hawaii, then some time in Hawaii before flying back to Sydney and then home. We were away for just over three weeks, and we had a wonderful time.

Our chariot for the journey. We had adjoining balcony cabins, which was just wonderful.

I always love the art and sculptures on board, this piece was just mesmerising. We saw it every day when we walked by to have breakfast in the 270 lounge.

Our first island visit was Papeete in Tahiti, we spent a little time shopping, and then we caught a local cab looking for a nice beach and were recommended to Parc Vaira'i. This was a revelation, not busy at all (places can be super busy when a cruise ship comes in) and we had a lovely time in the warm water.

Our next stop for two days was Moorea in Tahiti:

Here we tendered ashore, and organised a tour with Captain Taina - on the way to a private island and beach we swam with stingrays and sharks. It was an amazing experience. I will confess that while I was the second person from our boat into the water, when those stingrays came near me, I was out of there! I don't mind admitting I was first back in the boat! Amy did so much better than me, she's so brave, and even came back for another go the second day we were in Moorea. 

Back again at sea, our next stop was in Kona Hawaii where I managed to find a quilt store:

I was fascinated to find they had a fabric cutting machine. I'd never seen such a thing before!

The store is called Quilt Passions, I did a little shopping with a local theme. I haven't remembered to take pictures of my purchases, so I'll save that for next time.

Our final stop on the cruise was in Honolulu Hawaii, where we spent time shopping and being tourists. Though I've been to the USA many times, I've never been to Hawaii, and I loved it! I'll share some more pictures next week, I haven't downloaded very many from the cloud yet, and even though we've been home for a week now, I just don't seem to be able to get back into normal life yet!

After we got home from the big trip, I had another exciting thing waiting for me. On Friday we went and picked up a new member for our family:

Meet little Rowley! He's a Rough Collie (like Lassie but our sweet baby is a tri-colour). In this picture he's 11 weeks old on the day we collected him.

This pic is from just a couple of days ago - he's starting to settle in. He's such a sweet boy! For the first couple of days he was so nervous and trembly, but now he's doing zoomies in the yard, running off with shoes when I'm not looking and generally stealing our hearts!

I'm having to remember to keep our bedroom and the sewing room doors shut, not sure what he's capable of as a little puppy with baby shark teeth! This is going to be a fun adventure as he grows - I'm sure you'll be seeing more of him!

So, I've filled you in on the last month - I promise to share some more photos next week - there are so many! Hopefully I will find some sewing mojo and have some stitching to share with you also - chatter soon! xox