Time to catch up...

I made some journal covers... the first one was a bit small, so I gave it to Reuben, the third one was just right. It's for our business coach, John O'Connell.....

We had a big snow dump on the weekend so we went out to Coalgate to enjoy the snow. Here is our cottage looking beautiful.....
And here (drum roll please) is my Orange Crush quilt, which I call Chatharsis....

I got up at 5.30 to finish this quilt top. I've been working on it for a while, and I wanted to steal some time for me to finish it. I'm calling my quilt "Catharsis" because I used all the scraps from the various bits of my journey over the last few months. I had the pink from the "It's ok to be feminine" quilt, and the orange and grey from the "Keep with the process bag" and some other stuff too. I ended up using all the greys from the "Grey day" quilt too. I resisted using them at first, but then I found that as I did, the colours blended together, and I made peace with myself over that part of the journey. It's kind of hard to explain, but Catharsis is a process of finding healing by making things, and it certainly works for me! The result is a very striking quilt, full of precious pieces. I'm absolutely thrilled with it. Here are the lessons I learnt as I worked...

• You have to look again at the hard places and see how they fit in the big picture.
• You need to develop new skills to make progress.
• You have to make peace with your fears.
• You have to make peace with your past.
• Nothing is wasted, even the ugly bits.
• You need to use all the pieces you have to make a whole picture.
• No point hanging on to old stuff, it can suit a whole different purpose in its new role.
• You have to have faith in the designer.
• It doesn't matter if others are future on that you, as long as you keep on with the process.
• You can cheer the others on, but nothing beats doing it yourself.
• One day all the lessons you've learnt will come together and make sense.
• Not till the end will you see the whole picture.
• Others can have exactly the same instructions and end up with a completely different result. That's ok.

A wife of noble character...

I guess that most people who read their bibles or go to Church know about the Proverbs 31 woman! Currently i am redefining who I am. I have been supporting David in his painting business for the last 16 years, and working in it doing whatever necessary for the last 20 months. But now I am steping up to the mark and am doing operations - running jobs, pricing work, sorting out guys. Its a new step for me (as I learn to delegate and juggle the home responsibilities to David who is stepping out). I am encouraged by reading this this morning. It isreally something to aspire to, and who would believe it was in the Bible so long ago. I am working towards being a measure of this woman. Please God help me.

10 [b]Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies.
11 Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.
12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
13 She finds wool and flax and busily spins it.
14 She is like a merchant’s ship, bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls.
16 She goes to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She is energetic and strong, a hard worker.
18 She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night.
19 Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.
20 She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.
21 She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm[c] clothes.
22 She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns.
23 Her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders.
24 She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
26 When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.
27 She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness.
28 Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:
29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised.
31 Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

Lorcan's Quilt

This is the quilt i did a few months ago for the cutest little Irish baby you ever saw! It was my first ever attempt at turned applique, but I forgot to take a photo. John kindly sent this through to me - thanks John. Its not too bad from a distance. It was supposed to be for a boy or girl, but it looked a bit girly! I'm hopeless at doing the unisex thing - either one or the other suits me. If you click on the photo you see the applique - don't look too closely though!!

Step four!

Hurray step four is done! I have caught up. They look great, I'm so happy with them - can't wait for the next step.

Rebranding!

From this... 11th Christchurch Boys Brigade....
to this... Opawa ICONZ! don't they look great! We are excited about the new change and the service went well this morning.

Step 3

I have done Step Three! Hurray :) I was so behind, but now only one behind!! Some simple sewing was just what I needed this week. I have not been sleeping, so got up early and cut the triangles and then it was easy to sew together.

Courage...

Reuben...

Here's my wee darling in recovery. Isn't he so cute?

Mystery Quilt...

I've just come back from taking Roo to the hospital for his MRI. He's lying on the sofa recovering from the general anaesthetic! Here's some picture from the weekend. I went to Kaikoura with three others and we made a mystery quilt. That's my best friend, Shenleigh in the photo. Actually it was very hard work, but the result speaks for itself. There was A LOT of sewing and cutting for one weekend! I made it for David and he actually likes it (surprise surprise) which is a bonus!!

Drugs and Alcohol

Yesterday I spend four hours learning about drugs and alcohol in the workforce. I learnt many horrifying facts.

1. On any given day 10% of your staff will fail a random drug test.
2. On any given day 10-15% of your job applicants will fail a drug test.
3. After a fatal accident at a Christchurch workplace, 50% of their workforce failed the test.
4. All of the high schools in New Zealand have a P problem.

I also watched this video. Enjoy....

Weekends...

This weekend I've finished the bag. I brought the kit from Grandmother's garden when they were in Christchurch. It is a HUGE bag and Chrissy is worried I might use it as an everyday bag (not cool at all apparently!!) but no, it will be a great bag to stuff projects into!
I am a magpie. Here are the treasures we got from the St Martins Church fair on Saturday. The large tin with the dog on is for James and also the suitcase, he's been wanting something to transport his art stuff! The other bits and bobs will find homes somewhere (much to David's disgust!). So much happiness for so little money!

First day at new school...

Here is the little lad happy as can be. He didn't even want me to stay with him so off home i came. It is just so lovely to be able to walk to school again, especially through the crisp morning air. I've really missed that.

This is so cool...

I borrowed this picture from Bonnie (Quiltville)'s Amazon page.... Been doing that this week!

Patchwork as therapy!

I have to say that life has been a bit tough lately one way or another, which culminated this week in a melt-down from me! I have come back to Coalgate with the boys and engaged in some mindless sewing. The boys have been watching movies and playing with the lego. Apparently Winston Churchill used to lay bricks when he was depressed, well sewing simple seams helps me! Here are three, yes three tops I've made this week. The one on the left is just three inch strips pieced - the fabric is so pretty that it seemed a shame to do anything too fancy with it! Its is theraputic I think to be creating something, something that you can look at later and enjoy. It helps me anyway... along with chocolate, wine and some peace and quiet. Unfortunately I forgot to authorise all the wages last night for our staff and so they will all be supremely grumpy (justifiably) with me. I've been reading "Don't sweat the small stuff" and so today I'm telling myself that 100 years from now it won't matter, actually to be honest next week it won't matter, so I'm trying not to get too stressed about it!

School Holidays

I took five kids to Coalgate. At Coalgate we have built a cottage, it is 45 minutes from our home in Christchurch, but the life style is light years away from our frantic life here! I took a 14 year old, a 13 year old, two 12 year olds and a six year old. We made stuff, we sat by the river, we lit a huge fire and cooked marshmallows. We watched movies and tv and generally hung out. It was good, tiring but good. What was I thinking? Motivated 5 kids to get organised was a mission!!

Yes I am sewing!!

This weekend I've started the quilt for David. I'm making it out of his old shirts. I hope he likes it. I'm also making some progress on the wall hanging for my brother. I'm hoping to visit him in June so it would be cool to take it with me. The kids and I are going to be in Coalgate most of next week so hopefully I should get heaps done! I want to make another one for another little boy too. Nothing like being ambitious!

ANZAC Day

Yes we were in the City at 6am to join the ANZAC day parade. Here are the photos to prove it!

Here are some of my lovely BB Boys in their uniforms waiting to march in the parade. It is actually really great to get up early and remember all the young men who went off to war for us. The BB Boys love going (plus I take them to McDonalds afterwards!!!). Its that thing again of being a little part of something big.

Orange Squash!

Here is my 142 blocks for step two of the orange squash quilt. they look great, shame they don't match the first 150 blocks!! I'm hoping this will all come together although I am having doubts about my ability to choose colours.

They have arrived!!!

The first three designs by Chrissy for her Candy! land T-shirts! Well done Chrissy, you are an absolute Champion. I love you honey xxxx

ps the t-shirts are $25 each if anyone wants to buy one!!!

Reuben's last day....

Here is the very large cake I made Reuben for his last day of Hillview! All the children really enjoyed it. They made him cards which was very cool.

Chocolate Cake

8 oz (225 gm) soft butter
2 c sugar
2t baking soda
2 C milk
3 eggs
3 C flour
¾ C Cocoa
1 t salt
1 ½ t vanilla
1 T vinegar

Soften butter. Sift in dry ingredients. Add milk and vanilla. Beat 2 minutes, add eggs and vinegar and beat until well mixed. Divide between lined well greased tins. Either 4 x 19cm tins, 2 x 23cm tins or 3 ring tins. Bake at 180 deg.C for 45-75 minutes.

For girls only...

I don't think any guys will be reading this blog. Why is it girls that the one weekend in living memory that you get to go away with your husband, that you WILL get your period? Why? does this just happen to me?

Another week, another cycle ride!

100 km, 2 hours 45 minutes!

What can I say? He's just so fast! This weekend the Grape Ride in Blenheim. David is to happy with his time, I am so happy he got in safely!!

We are having a lovely time with our Cuzzies! Blenheim weather is mild, the country side is great and our children are in Christchurch - its all win win!!

Orange Squash Mystery Quilt

These are my fabrics for the Orange Squash mystery quilt. I don't actually have enough of some of them, but I'm determined not to buy any for this quilt, so will see how I can fake it!!
Here are my 150 4-patch blocks in progress. They are all leftovers from other projects.
Actually I reserve judgement on whether this will work or not. Will have to wait and see!

Its officially autumn....

I've got socks on!!!

A Challenge to you all....

I just spent the evening putting things in an Album for Aunty Jean. I can't believe someone can get to 87 and not have a photo album! She is turning 87 on Thursday. I got her handful of photos and added a few more, I got four certificates she got in the 1930s for playing the piano. I got some of her birthday cards and some of her cards with Bible verses on and I put the whole mixture into an album. I put all the dead people (from the funeral cards) at the back!! It actually looks amazing and I managed to fill the whole album which I am stoked about. It took me the whole evening but it was worth it. I think everybody should have a photo album. I'm a big fan of them myself. I make them for my mum and dad and David's mum every Christmas. I make them for my kids and I make them for our family.

Life is full of ups and down, and its great to sit on the sofa for an hour under a quilt with one of the kids and look at photos and remember the fun times! Ian Grant says "Children need a past, a present and a future" and I agree. I take photos of my Boy's Brigade boys and make an album for them too. Their parents don't do it, and the boys LOVE to see how much they have grown! I take it to camp and they spend heaps of time looking at it.

It's important to take photos of the ordinary stuff too, because things change, but when you look at the photo it helps you remember. Digital cameras are great, and people take heaps of photos, but they don't print them out. I think that is a shame, print those photos people, stick them in albums. Technology changes so much, you could easily loose them when time marches on and you can't access them anymore because you have upgraded.

I challenge anybody reading to go and print their photos. Let me know how many you print. I would love to know! I will give a prize to the person who prints the most photos...

Fire in Hamilton...

This is a poignant picture of the firetruck from a terrible fire in Hamilton over the weekend. It is still burning and one died and six fire fighters are fighting for their lives in hospital.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Firefighting community at this sad time for them.

What I actually did this weekend was...

Quilt for Tara's baby....

• Tidy most of the house including the two messiest bedrooms. (One was so bad it made me want to cry!)


• Visited David's Aunty Jean


• Had coffee with Shenleigh


• Cooked a yummy dinner and had our friends over for dinner


• Purchased new hair clippers and cut David's hair!


• Baked three fruitcakes


• Baked 60 chocolate chips cookies


• Sewed binding on quilt for Lynley and finished it.


• Gone to church


• Backed, bound and finished quilt for Tara.


• Sewed some circles for the Japanese Folded Quilt


• Sewed 150 4-patch squares for Bonnie's Mystery quilt (when I've worked out how to put the link up I will!!


• Made a roast vege salad


• Went to the Park with the kids


• Gone to mum and dad's for tea


• As welll as all that I have done load after load after load of washing as our washing machine was fixed on friday after over three weeks of being broken!


• Folded laundry mountain created by all the washing

I'm pleased with what I achieved!!

Plans for the weekend....

This weekend I want to...

1. Finish binding Aunty Jean's quilt for her 87 birthday
2. Finish binding quilt for my cousin Lynley who is dying of cancer in Australia
3. Sew the gathering thread on the circles for the Japanese folded quilt.
4. Sew my squares for my Orange Squash mystery quilt.
5. I want to get up to 10000 words written on my book and get my house tidy.
6. I want to watch a dvd and eat some popcorn.

I'm going to be busy!! have a great weekend everyone :)

Need a laugh?

A man was riding his Harley beside a Sydney beach when suddenly the sky clouded above his head and in a booming voice, "The Lord said. " "Because you have TRIED to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish." The biker pulled over and said, "Build a bridge to New Zealand so I can ride over anytime I want." The Lord said; "Your request is materialistic, think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking, the supports required reaching the bottom of the Pacific and the concrete and steel it would take! It will nearly exhaust several natural resources. I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind."
The biker thought hard about it for a long time. Finally, he said, "Lord, I wish that I and all men could understand our wives. I want to know how she feels inside, what she's thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says nothing's wrong, and how I can make a woman truly happy".
The Lord replied; "You want two lanes or four on that bridge?

Boys Brigade

This is the boy's brigade prayer. It's amazing. I love to hear my boys praying this, it is amazing.

God our Father;
Thank you for life;
Thank you for health;
Thank you for every good gift;
Thank you for The Boys Brigade

Please help us to serve you
and act as you want us to act.
Please give us wisdom to do what is right;
Please give us courage to say what we believe;
May we always be willing to listen to your word;
May we always be willing to help others.

Please help us to be a good friend
Please help us to be honest in all we do
Please help us Jesus to be more like you.

Amen