1 a MONTH CLUB MAY

The decoration for May is a golden pear, this one went together just as planned and as I liked it so much I made an extra one for myself.  One side of the front of the pear is glitter felt and the other wool felt with beading.'Sadly because of lockdown they are still here along with the April ones and hopefully  they can be collected now restrictions have been eased..

New Zealand has been fortunate in not being hit hard by the covid 19, but it has meant weeks of life within one's bubble. Seniors over 70 years of age were first asked to restrict themselves to staying home and staying safe and as our church congregation are mostly  elderly  services stopped before the country went into lockdown. Our minister organised a phone roster so that no one was left with out a contact and someone to check on them and I with the help of contributions from him and another church member have been able to email a weekly newsletter, last Sundays was number 8, now we have two weeks wait and hopefully we can meet again.

The Easter tree did not last long, Kaytu took the decorations from the lower parts of the tree and I managed to rescue them before any damage was done, not to be put off she then decided to climb the tree to get the rest, at that stage I took them all down. now i am wondering how I can train a very determine cat to let me have something on my little tree. Just think the fun she could have with the big tree at Christmas  time!!

 Shopped for groceries this week, life is slowly going back to normal.

Keep well and keep safe

Under attack

I am not sure how long my Easter tree will remain, as it is under attack from Kaytu, she has already removed several decorations which fortunately were rescued before any damage was done, then last night there was an attempt to climb the tree, she was behind it and thought I could not see what she was doing. A very mischievous young cat but makes up for it being the one who also likes to cuddle up on my lap and purr. 

So different from her sister, after leaving home and being away for some time Tuppence has come back she is a very pretty tabby and smaller, very quiet and shy by nature and likes to settle to sleep on the other chair beside me... and we are enjoying the quiet life that being isolate brings.

Have been keeping up the stitching on the 1. a month club decorations and am a couple of months ahead. Peppermint Purple's SAL is up to date, but no photo. and my Wednesday piece is making good progress, think Fiona is about a row ahead of me.  I an several rows further on than this photo shows.   This is the third time I have stitched this mat, an easy piece to work on as once started no pattern is needed, just needle thread and scissors.

Hope everyone is keeping well in this very worrying time.

1 a MONTH CLUB- APRIL

April's decorations are all sitting here, who knows when they will be collected, I've been house bound for a couple of weeks now. I planned this one to be an egg shape to commemorate the link between Christmas and Easter.... however Covid 19 has meant no one got their decoration before Easter.
Today has been very enjoyable, stated with a church service on line, followed by the Royal New Zealand Ballet... Midsummer Night Dream on line... it was wonderful.   A long phone call from a cousin and time to catch up ...that sent me on a family tree search to answer one of her questions.
Then tonight on TV I will watch the film , Good Christopher Robin.
My planned photo of my Easter posy and my Easter tree will have to be on tomorrow’s things to do and I will share later in the week
 Hope you are all enjoying  the holiday break and  keeping well

MORE FELT LETTERS

When I did felt letters for the girls at Christmas I followed it up with a letter for Jan as she felt missed out! She also commented it would be nice to have the other letters to make up her name and be able to have them hanging above her desk. It was her birthday this week so I stitched the A and the N  with grey bunnies for her, they are all made from the same shade of felt even though these later photos look different.

 I hope everyone is staying sake and well in these difficult times.being in shut down is not a problem here there is so much I want to get stitched. This afternoons project will be owls.

1 a MONTH CLUB MARCH

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

This reference to Christmas stockings is from 1823  And was written by Clement Clarke Moore in his poem  The Night Before Christmas.

I don’t know if it was a Christmas stocking or sack but my earliest memory was my third Christmas and what ever was hanging on the back of one of the dining room chairs for me had a doll sticking out, I was fortunate it was before the war and I got a sleeping doll. Other memories are that there was always an orange in the bottom of the sack (pillow case) Do you have special memories of Christmases past ?

I had some Christmas fabric that said to me mini Christmas stockings, and I wanted a toy sticking out the top I tried some of the animals I had made for Caitlin and Ronan's tree  and loved the way the elephant's trunk hung over the edge of the stocking, so toy elephants it was.  The decorations on the stocking are very tiny jingle bells these are taken off Christmas earrings from the $2 shop.

 Meet latest love of my life thinks she should have all the attention……..meet Kaytu  5 months old, one of three kittens born to a stray cat under my house , the other two have since moved off and she has moved in. Originally name Katy the second after my big grey cat that we had for many years her name became K2 .. Kaytu. Like her namesake she loves being on ones lap and has a loud purr. I am enjoying having a cat again. To get my attention at the start, she was a little thief! First a skein of embroidery thread, that did not surprise me and the thread was rescued as needed for my Peppermint purple SAL , next I found a wooden embroidery frame outside on the back porch, and then  caught in the act of trying to take  small piece of linen from the stash basket she came back and took a piece of green silk fabric., which was later  rescued from the back garden.  Now she is happy to leave the stitching things to me and curl up on my lap and purr while I stitch.

Another joint project for Caitlin and I was making these felt Bunnies to share with the other members of the play group she and   Ronan go to, as part of  an activity letting the littlies feel different textures. ‘                                                                                 

Next up will be deciding what to make for the three littlies for Easter. I will keep you posted, off now to get some stitching time. 

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS..........

I decide to do a valentine’s posting of some of the hearts I have stitched since I started blogging I have however there is , a problem as the photos wont stay were I want them, so I invite you to enjoy them as they are.

This blackwork heart has a pocket on the back to hold a pair of scissors, a favourite design i have stitched several times in different colours, some of the others are further down!!!!!! ( and wont come up as much as I try!)

The pulled thread heart on the needle book was stitched then added to the cross stitch background.  The little scissor fob hearts on the right are on hand died linen using raspberry tea bags. Different variations of these have been stitched over the years some with bullion stitch roses like the ones below below. 

This one is a Reticello stitched rose on a hardanger heart.

and here are the rebels that wont sit and stay were I want them , background stitching is black work

I have enjoyed stitching different blackwork designs over the years, it all started with a blackwork Owl way back in 1982 and today I am stitching Peppermint purple's blackwork SAL with Caitlin on Sunday afternoons. here is the first week completed.

Hope your week is going well with lots of stitching time.

1 a MONTH CLUB -FEBRUARY

This month's decoration is a heart, it could be hung up and enjoyed for Valentines Day then put away till Christmas or given as a Valentine gift to a friend. One I know is going to be given away attached to a wedding present.

I have been able to get some extra stitching done during January and have a couple of months decoration already done.

February start with a guild work day,  the project for the day was felt letters, Caitlin and I worked together on one for Ronan,I had stitched the Winnie the Pooh ready  and so she managed to finish her letter on the day,

and this one is Heather's work in progress I expect we will have several finished and on the show and tell table at the guild meeting later in the month.

Thanks to Rhona's sharing on her blog Tangled Threads I learnt about Peppermint Purples free blackwork SAL and yes I have started almost caught up the first month in two nights stitching. no photo yet but will share later, Now several of the guild members who saw my stitching at the work day have joined too.

Lots of stitching planned for this month, however this morning the weeds in the garden call.

1 A MONTH ....JANUARY

I have launched the “1   a Month Club”  and the first   decoration is a mouse holding a Christmas wreath, here are five of them all lined up ready for collection . They were fun to stitch and I love how they all are  a little different in their expressions.

The “1 a month club” is limited to five friends who  are prepared to buy a Christmas decoration each month for ten months, this fund raiser is instead of my doing a stall at the church fair, and allowing me to make decorations  that are not so cost limiting. As before the funds raised will go to St Andrews Church.

I have no shortage of ideas I want to create, so for me this will be a real fun project and keeping it to just five it will not feel like doing a mass produced production line. ( The five will occasionally be 6  when I want one for myself) There will possible be a basket of small decorations for sale later in the year, and I have just received another packet of Christmas buttons from Desley in Australia  to give inspiration.                                                          Thank you Desley  for you generous gift.

Caitlin and I plan to have Sunday afternoon as stitching time together and first up will be a new set of needlework accessories  on a woodland theme  and not limiting the techniques we will use. I need to share as much as I can with her while I still can, Now 22 years old, she first started stitching with me at the age of 5 and has continued to stitch over the years with her main love being blackwork embroidery time to branch out !. Not sure if I can manage weekly updates on our progress but will try.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVE

Eve my littlest grand daughter is 1 year old,  her birthday gift was the bird book I shared a while back

and last week I made a special card the number and bunny can be removed from the card as I know little hands like to have things to hold.

Still taking things quietly so that means plenty of stitching time back in a few days to share the launch of the One a Month Club.

 I am unable to reply to the comment as the email link does not work but here is the information

the Bird house is a Noialand design her patterns are for sale and are great to follow here is the link 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/599140200/bird-house-activity-book-soft-book   she has other delightful activity books too.

CATCHING UP

I did not get to send Christmas Greetings on my blog, an unexpected trip to hospital put a stop to that, home now and feeling quite ok again. Hope everyone’s Christmas was truly blessed.
 Last gifts to show you are the Winnie the Pooh mobile made for little Ronan, who is too young to enjoy opening gifts but loved the paper and the noise it makes.

and the Counting caterpillar for Finn

and for  Jan and the older grand daughters....  I made the ones for the girls first and when

Jan saw them she wanted one too..... I think I would like to make one for myself as well.

As I have mentioned before my new fund raising idea for 2020 is a "One a month Club" The first set of decorations are all complete, waiting for photos to be taken I will be back in the new year to share them with you.

To all My best wishes for the coming year, 

A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS COLLECTION

Yesterday I put all the decorations that Caitlin and I had made for our "Child's Christmas Collection"  on my little tree. Thrilled with the result, this year it will stay here for Christmas as Ronan is far too little to know what Christmas trees are all about, but after that it will  belong to Caitlin  and Ronan as a set that he will be able to put on a tree. Need to add one more to make the set the planned 18, as I have rejected one that looked out of place with the rest of the set, so think the last one will be a penguin. Some of these have been inspired by what we found on pinterest others are my own designs, all have been fun to make 

Do I have a favourite ?      Do you ?

NUTCRACKERS

Shown here is the work in progress for some Christmas decorations, to me these were limited edition, as I only planned to make four. The Nutcrackers was inspired by some needle felted ones I saw on Pinterest,  mine however are made with craft felt and once completed with their hats on are 5 inches tall.

To keep their shape they are made over a  cardboard shape that has wadding sandwiched inside, also a large bead glue on to this to make the nose shape. Fiona found me a feather boa in the $2 shop so I have more than enough white feathers, buttons are metal paper studs from the scrap booking collection and a collection of braids I had been given had just what was needed.

Each took on their own character as they were put together, which added to the fun.

I made them for Fiona, Maree and myself (the Wednesday stitching group) and the fourth one as my gift for the Embroidery Guild Christmas party exchange of gifts. It was also testing out an idea I had for next year.

My fund Raising idea for next year is  One a month club, limited to five members who each agree to buy one decoration a month  for ten months, I had no problem signing up 5 people and also no problem finding ideas. By the time I stitch one first to work out the finer details of the design its six to make each time and that' s enjoyable (or so I think) I will share on my blog and on Instagram each month,  the new decoration.

Eve's stocking is all finished, once I had competed the front Maree stitched it together for me, I no longer have a sewing machine and its only very occasionally that I miss it. 

After the arrival of the new felt supplies I made the mobile for Eve, when they were visiting at the end of October I had some ideas of what I would like to make and left the final selection to Jackie as what she would like for her daughter,and  a bright coloured owl on the moon with pink and silver starsit was to be. Any movement and the stars made with the glitter felt really sparkle.

Caitlin stitched with me yesterday and we added more animals to her tree collection, at this stage we have 11 completed, three more started and hope to have 20 by Christmas time. Caitlin stitched the little deer and I made the bird and the lion.

To finish here is an idea for a Festive desert, I made it for the guild Christmas party no cooking needed... 2 packets of mini cream puffs, some chocolate leaves, easy and fun to do in advance, white icing piped to hold all on place and a few fresh berries to finish.

Am off to do a little Blog hopping and catch up on everyone's news.