Phew - So that was Christmas!!!!!

And how lovely it was:)

Presents were wrapped and around the new tree...

It had all just got too exhausting for Pippa on Christmas Eve and those stockings were just so comfy!

Could be cos we had been flat out trying to finish this for a Christmas day present!!!!! I think she thought she was camouflaged!!!!!!

FInished, bound and quilted before midnight!

And the jandal buttons on top of the tree were just perfect. This present was for the Canadian mum of my brother-in-law who is over for the summer, and who I was buying for in our family Christmas present "draw". Having been to her house I know it is decorated in black and white, and prior to doing our Christmas "draw" peeps were asked to give three words that meant something to them. Carol put down New Zealand, family and 'Kiwi' (the name of her very precious dog). So.......

I made Kiwi her own snuggly polar fleece blankie complete with her appliqued name and pawprint. And if you look closely inside the pawprint I have cut out the shape of the kiwi bird. Carol thought that was kinda neat, and thinks Kiwi (the dog) is going to love her snuggly blanket.

Rugby jerseys I made for each of my nieces and nephews. Next year is the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand so the idea is that our families will be able to get together to watch some of the All Black games on TV and the kids can wear their shirts!!! The red ones are for my Canadian brother-in-laws family! I appliqued all the letters.

My ingenious presentation of a clothing voucher for Mal!!!

Sam's Christmas Eve revelry caught up with him just after lunch - these young 'uns - no stamina!!!!

Mal enjoying the fruits of his (and other peeps) Christmas cracker treats!

My clever husbands work - he made this for his brothers present. They had it hanging on the shed wall before we left - his brother said if he was a girl he would have shed a tear - how touching!!!!!!!

Boxing Day we had all the troops at our place. It was a glorious day weather wise so peeps were in and out of the pool. Food and drink flowed, great conversation and just a lovely fun time with family and friends.

SO from my family (minus my gorgeous Emma in Canada - love you EM) hope you and your family had a special Christmas with lots of love and magical moments.
Ciao,

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....sort of!

Oh goodness - can't believe it's Christmas Eve! I really feel that somewhere I've lost about 25 days along the line....not very organised at the moment....mmmmm
Anyway - here is my Kiwiana Christmas tree - 

We formed it from chicken wire - that took a wee bit of figuring to get a nice cone shape

Oops that photo is a little blurry - lets try this one - 

I love it when the lights go on - then it's like an underwater scene when you can imagine those really spooky fish that live waaaaaay down deep and have those neon phosphorescent bits in their bodies are swimming around. ANYWAY I'm drifting here!!! Once we had our shape I had the rather long task of "decorating" with my theme of ocean and land -

...starfish, paua shell flowers that I made...

... shells we had picked up on our family holiday in January...
and Pohutukawa flowers, woven flax flowers, little mussel shell decorations I glued onto old curtain loops. It took me a few days to get it all together but it really looks so much better in real life. Now I need to work on an angel for the top that completes it all.
Then I have a wall "tree" that actually hangs all year round and I decorate to a seasonal theme.

I love the decorations on this one - I've been adding a couple of new ones each year all on a summery, beachy, New Zealand theme...

Jandals feature quite a lot...

...as do surfboards. There's a Pukeko - a native bird of New Zealand, and you can see our Pohutukawa - both new decorations Vince gave me earlier this year...

...check out the kiwi lying on the beach sunbathing.....

And at the top an angel made from rolled up paper. The owl - or morepork - is one I received in the NZ handmade decoration swap.
I have one other tree that is in our dining room that is s-l-o-w-l-y coming together but may not quite get together this year ... will see if I can add a photo before tomorrow. But I think it will still be a work in progress.
RIght I really need to get myself off to the supermarket and think "food".
Hope you are all way further ahead than I am in Christmas shopping!!!!!
CIao

Hugs n Kisses

Yes they can be for you guys but it's actually this oh so snuggly baby wrap

... finished on Thursday for a friend to give to a school colleague who was having a baby shower on Friday. Must say I loved it cos of its funky brightness and the fabric was just soooo snuggly. It was a remnant I picked up at good ol' Spotlight so I have no idea what it is unfortunately.

As I was making it I couldn't resist stroking it!!!! Wouldn't mind snuggling up to it myself. Hope the new mum-to-be liked it:)
Finally worked out what my Christmas card design is, and actually made four last night. Rate of production is waaaay slow so may be sending out New Years cards if I don't get a move along!!!!
Ciao

I DO like Wonkiness, Sam I Am!

Gee - where has the week gone!!! Or should I say week and a half? 
Phew - party partied...check.
Quilt completed....mmmm... not quite check.
BUT I have started to get the hang of this wonky business...

My wonky blocks got much better as I got going and a little less constrained.

The top finished but lacking something to make it "zing" and personal...

Yippee!!! Sam I Am added exactly the touch this quilt needed for my own "Sam I Am".

My own Sam is so not able to be fitted into any boxes, so not straight and linear, and has  a certain quirkiness to him. 
This quilt fits my "Sam I am".
And he loved it when he saw it on the night of the party. The backing is still in a state of construction as I had a sudden WOW moment.... watch this space.
Must show you the cakes.....

Doesn't Sam's cake even look like a Suess cake? We are lucky we have an Aunty Louise who is a fab cake creater:)
And where was I for a good part of the evening when I wasn't M.C. for the evening...

And my chosen alter ego for evening of Cheryl West from "Outrageous Fortunes" (a NZ TV programme) went down soooooo well....right from the start when I broke a bottle - totally unplanned of course!!!!
RIght, another quilt to construct awaits and I really do need to try to get this backing finished.
Ciao,

First Christmas jingles

I know it's still November but my bestus quilting buddy Sam and I had our Christmas early this year as she will be in New York (envious sigh inserted here) on the magical day. Add to that the fact that last year we actually didn't connect until March and had a combined Christmas/my birthday celebration!!!!!!!
SO two weekends ago we had a lovely day celebrating.
I drove up at the crack of dawn to Auckland as I had a secret mission re jobs for next year... but Sam and I managed to crack open our pressies before I headed off into the city for that!

Inside these three tins (which at the time were wrapped and looking way more gorgeous) were.....

...the 'winter warmers' themed tin. I stopped drinking coffee about 5 months ago in the hope it might help with my migraines, and chai lattes are my treat... and I have coveted this snowman pattern to make up for a very special friend so what a super gift:) Then -

...the "quilting" tin. 1930's fabrics to help me finish the never-ending Wedding Ring quilt that I actually was working on the last time I was at Sam's house but ran short of certain colourways of fabrics. And Sam keeps telling me she is sure I can come up with clever ways of using yo-yos hence the heart shaped yo-yo maker!!!!! Then -

...the "Kiwiana" themed tin. Scrummy coloured felt cos I am making felt ornaments for some projects for Christmas, a Buzzy Bee dangle and 

the cutest caravan dingles (since Emma & Jen stayed in a little yellow caravan when they were over from Canada it has become a bit of a 'thing' with us all) 
 OH and not in the photo cos I had already snaffled it out was the most fab silver charm for my Pandora bracelet of a caravan. Spoilt. Plus ...

... plenty of Kiwiana themed wrapping paper to keep me going for a wee while.
Great pressie and so much thought in it - thanks Sam:)
Meanwhile, I had been working like a wee beaver the day before (yes, as usual I kept to my usual last minute deadline) on completing Sam's gifts although one of them we were going to pick up in Auckland later that morning.
Sam has recently heard she will head off to university next year to do a years training to become a teacher so I had a few teachery bits and bobs for her along with ....

...her very own banner to hang in her teaching office space when she has her first classroom. I appliqued the letters onto various schoolish fabrics I had and then backed it all in a sewing themed fabric that had tape measures on it so it still related to our quilty connection.

Sam and I also have a 'heart' collection and I try to make a heart to give to her for each celebration. I had an idea the night before but had to adapt it at a little after midnight when I was outside in the dark searching for a shell and could only find a large one that wasn't quite right. Onto Plan B.....

And to go with that 'Love" a Pohutukawa angel.
To add to these we headed over to Albany on our way to Calico Christmas - the Auckland Quilt Guild's annual exhibition - to pick up the final part of the present - a rimu cotton reel holder that I had bought off Trade Me (like eBay) which was absolutely in fab condition. AND exactly what Sam had wanted:) On this adventure we discovered a gorgeous wee settlement with a quaint cafe so celebrated lunch before embarking on the quilt show which, as always, was a great exhibition and interesting merchants to browse (although had to be very restrained). 
WIll share some photos of the show tomorrow.
SO lovely to have the first hit of Christmas - has certainly put me in the mood even though it's only November:)
Ciao