Some finishes

A little catch up of the finishes in the past month..........first was the butterfly to complete the hungry caterpillar felt set I had made for Jan, yes I had it ready for the start of the school year this is the second time I have made this set I had previously made it for Finn a few years ago.

January also saw the updating of the computer with a new hard drive being installed and with programmes also being updated changes came into being that are beyond my control one of these is the way the post is shown as I write it I have no idea how the layout looks as photos are shown here by some weid wording and not a picture and there is no spell check!! A fun project completed was more props for the box room for the dolls

The crotched blanket is perle 12 cotton next up I need to make a bed to put it on. This embroidered mat is the first in a series, Fiona and I have set ourselves a stitching project for the year of looking at hems and edges for Count thread work, this tiny mat with danish points and rows of foursided stitch is 15cm square and stitched on 40 count permin linen.Working on the fine linen means making changes to the thread I have use before for this hem on a course linen

Lastly something different, I enjoyed gathering some little treasurers from the garden to make a Tussie mussie posy for a lady who resently went to live in a rest home. Was delighted with the selection I could find among the weeds and grasses that have taken over so much of my garden,heartease violas, Cecil Brunner(Sweet heart) roses Harebells, miniature agapanthus, rock cyclamen and migonette all held in place on a head of tiny hydranga flowers edges with Ivy leaves. I have been reminded of the posy bowls we made when I first worked in as a florist in Christchurch, we has one lady who each week would bring little treasures from her garden, flowers not seen at the big flower market and these added delight to any posy bowl. The idea of a posy bowl was that it could be turned around and there would be a different grouping of flowers to be enjoyed. Later the front view arrangements then became more popular and more artistic. I googled Posy Bowls and was delighted to see what todays florists are producing there were some truly lovely arrangements in the true posy bowl style. Here is my Tussie Mussie I would love to be able to make and share more of them

Yes I'm Still Here

the gnome tree.

 The good news is the computer is up and running again, the hard drive has been replaced,  programmes updated and am still finding my way round the changes but its better than trying to blog on the iPad which was quite limiting.

I had surgery just before Christmas and now have a pacemaker which I hope will keep my heart in check, this had meant a three day trip up to Hamilton for myself and Jan,

 Christmas was spent with Jan and family and as always, the house had  a true Christmas mood with all the decorations.  I did  to get a photo of the gnome tree but  its a bit hard to see them all, the pink tree is her newest addition, she had not one but several trees in her living room.

 Barryn, Jackie and children came up after Christmas and stayed  several days with me, I did not have to do anything but enjoy their company, 

 We had an early celebration for Eve's birthday  who was turning 5 on the 5th of January  I had the fun od creating a cake topper again this year and with an excess of black fondant here what better than a black cat. The cake has the fifth                                            candle hiding behind the cat.

 A last minute addition to the birthday gift I made her a rainbow dress for her Barbie doll, here modeled by the barbie I use to fit dresses on,  madly sewed a sequin and bead into the centre of every flower but one little girl' s delight in the dress made it all worth while. There is enough of the same material to make Poppy a dress too, that's when I can face stitching all the sequins on.

My dolls have not been neglected no new dresses but I have been working on a box room to use for photographs. This will have removeable walls so I can change the decor. Not finished however Rosie seems to like the window seat, and wants me to hurry up with the cushions.

Plans for 2024 include-

An  embroidery project exploring edges for count thread mats, I have started and hope to share the first one soon.

 Photo book of the Adventures of Poppy for Eve, she has helped with some ideas.

For Finn he would like a board game ( I had made one for Eve's birthday present  and one for Ronan for Christmas) and we spent time making plans for how it should look and rules for the game and what was needed It was interesting to see what a seven year old could plan I trust I will make something that comes up to expectation.