Hosting the Craft Group Ladies & Other Things . . . . . .

Greetings lovely friends & readers

 I picked my first Jug of Lilacs last weekend - their fragrance filled the house & made me so happy  💜.  My tree is not prolific & I generally only get 2 pickings a year but I do enjoy them so much.

It was my turn to host the craft group ladies last Monday.  Gail had rescued this large box of glasses (some of them crystal) from the Op-shop where she works.  They were due to be binned but she thought we could make candles in them.  I provided the soy wax & the wicks but the ladies provided their own fragrance oil & some of them chose to place small decorations in the tops just before they set.  

My photography was poor that day but here they are still setting properly & the wicks needed trimming down.  The fragrances were mainly rose & lavender - just soft & gentle.

I decided to make a white chocolate cheesecake for our morning tea.  We'd discussed this when we were together in Melbourne & we'd eaten cheesecake at a cafe.  * here * is the recipe I used (but I used round wine biscuits instead of gingernuts for the base).  It was absolutely decadent & lovely.  

I also made a raspberry coulis to pour over the top which turned out just perfect - * here * is the recipe I used for that.  Adding the lemon juice to the raspberries just gives it that "bite"  - honestly this was so delicious.  

Before the ladies came I gave my outdoor chairs a good scrub, washed the cushions & did some sewing repair work on them.  I also washed the wall of my house where I like to sit the chairs.  The days are getting nicer now & I enjoy sitting out there with a cuppa.

Fast forward 24 hours later & you can see how well that's working out for me friends .  .  .  .  .  .    😖

The wool blanket stockings that I made back in * this post * have all been filled with festive choccies, a candy-cane, a balloon & blowing bubbles.  

For the larger sized Adult ones I made matching wool blanket lavender hearts, a knitted washcloth & soap, a choccy Santa & a candy-cane.  These have all been delivered to the charity that I donate them to.  

I purchased this solar water feature from Temu several weeks ago.  I had this rustic looking pot I wanted to float it in but the pot had a hole in the base.  I managed to fill it with a large blob of ready-mix concrete & it set well.  

It has different nozzles to get differing effects but if I put the larger nozzle on the water goes up & outside the perimeter of the bowl so for now I've just got it on the smallest setting. I love having moving water in my garden areas.

The Mr came in quickly yesterday at noon & changed his t-shirt for a clean one, accidentally leaving his drawer open.  Madam Pip was out in the garden but I swear she can hear the-sound-of-a-drawer-being-left-open from a great distance as she wasted no time at all sneaking in & tucking herself away in it !!! 

Yesterday I mowed around the house by hand & youngest son mowed the big lawn on the ride-on.  I noticed how pretty the Shimidsu Sakura was looking in full bloom - the winds will come soon & scatter the petals everywhere & it will look like confetti.

I saw this verse on Instagram - just loved it & wanted to share it  💙

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead dear friends,

Thank you as always, for your ever-welcome visits here today,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,

 

Some Sewing (A Little) & Some Gardening (A Lot) . . . . . . . .

Greetings lovely friends & readers

And Welcome to October  💚

The Magnolia tree out from my dining room window, taken last week.  The winds have blown most of the blooms off the tree now.

 

There has been a teeny bit of sewing completed here at Threadbear HQ - this Christmas bunting kitset was finished last week.  It's based on a pattern by Bird Brain Designs but 'tis the season have kitted it & changed it a little.   

(I should note here that I began stitching this in January so its taken me a few months)

It's meant to have 16 square flags but I decided by No 10 that I'd had enough & felt it was long enough anyway.  

My other completion was this tiny mouse kitset, again purchased from 'tis the season.  She only measures 5 inches tall so was a tiny fiddly wee girl to stitch up.

And her felt teddy was only 1.5 inches ... can you imagine trying to stuff that teeny body - very nearly sent me cross eyed  👀!!

I had barely unpacked my suitcase from my Melbourne trip when I began seed sowing as my moon gardening calendar told me it was the perfect time.

  I sowed sunflowers, hollyhocks, achillea & giant zinnias.  My photos show right after planting (top left) & then (top right) just yesterday - they've grown so much that this morning I planted the sunflowers outside as I've had them hardening off on my deck.  

 The warmer milder weather we've had is making everything burst into bloom.

Dark purple "bluebells" & then pale mauve "bluebells".  The wisteria is especially prolific this year for some reason - it can be inclined to sulk the odd year.  I keep it well contained as they can be rampant.  

After clearing everything away for the Painters last May I've begun hauling things out & giving them a scrub.  My old pram is looking very rusty but I love it with a red geranium sat in it. 

My chair planter needed a rust treatment & then another coat of coastal green paint.  I've treated it to a new basket liner & some white petunias.  

 My green birdcage needed the same treatment.  I use * this * spray anti rust gel as its all about ease of use for me these days.

My cucumber & courgette plants were looking a bit sad in my veggie garden & I felt they needed some protection over them.  I found some old wire baskets with missing chains & laced plastic over them securing with yarn, to make 

little hothouses.  I made up 5 altogether.

This project would've taken considerably less time had a certain furry creature NOT kept running off with my ball of wool 😖

I have this area to the left of my deck steps that is always untidy - nothing will grow there due to it being where I mix sprays etc.  

The hose is here & it often becomes a dumping ground for various outdoor paraphernalia.  

I decided to edge it & lay mulch to try to tidy it up.  I used a rope to get my shaping right & then dug the lawn to begin laying my bricks.  It is at this stage (top right) that I began to doubt my sanity ... the ground was rock hard & so difficult to dig. 

Three days later,  my bricks are finished & I've laid old meal bags down to stop any weed growth.  I purchased some bags of mulch last Friday & was able to finish the area with a couple of stepping stones to get to my hose on the wall.  I'm really pleased with how this turned out & a few pots would look nice sitting here if I choose to do this.

And at the far end of it the Clematis is in full bloom 💓

The last two weeks have been school holidays here in New Zealand & I had Sid some days.  We made banana bread, mars bar slice & went to the movies, played football at the Domain & did colouring in ... Granny forgot to pick up her camera most of the time cos she was tired !! 😉

Thank you as always dear friends, for your ever-welcome visits here today,

Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week ... remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,

Trip to Melbourne ~ Part Two ~ The Quilt Fair

 Greetings lovely friends & readers

The main reason for our Melbourne trip was to attend the annual Craft & Quilt Fair held in the Melbourne Convention Centre.  We knew to take Tram 96 down to South Wharf.  I was so excited I had barely slept the night before. 

Another highlight of this day was that I knew my friend Sue would be attending to help run her Guild stand at the Fair.  Sue & I have not met up since I drove to Auckland to see her in this post 18 months ago & I was very excited to see her again.  

After I got back to the Hotel I found a beautifully wrapped package hidden in my handbag, Sue had slipped it in when I wasn't looking.  Inside was a gorgeous St Leonards Tea-towel (this is where Sue lives) & the sweetest Christmas hoop that she had made using Barb's wooden buttons.  So very kind of Sue.

Here is a fun photo of us all enjoying a coffee break.

One of the stalls we all found most interesting was Patchwork Ninja & we watched a good demonstration of his tools & techniques - he was a very good speaker.

Two of the bags that fascinated me on his stall - left hand side was all woven fabric lengths & the right hand one is made using a shrinking interfacing ... called a Shibori technique. 

I purchased a metre of this but have yet to do anything with it.



We spent a good deal of time looking at all the quilts but in hindsight I could easily have gone back a second day as your head starts to spin after awhile.  This is where taking photos is a good idea because you can look back at them but my photos really do NoT do justice to the amazing workmanship that was on display. 

Click on the pictures to enlarge them & get a better view.

These smaller size wall quilts were all down one end & this was the theme for them for 2026.

I loved the rusty Suffolk puffs & they made me think of you & your rusting work Lin.

These 2 pieces were created using Grandmother's apron, a stained tablecloth that served the Sunday roasts, & bags that carried home the weekly grocery shopping.  Incredible talent.

This large quilt really caught my eye - I loved the simplicity of the timeless red & white theme & I loved the prairie points & yo-yo's in it.   

This lady had taken some Redwork embroidery panels she'd made in 2023, & then fashioned them into a quilt - I really loved it (& she was a first time entrant too)

" If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun "

This one also really appealed (apologies my photos are rather dull) ... a lady had taken vintage flour sacks, coffee bean bags & doilies & made into this stunning quilt. 

Just amazing ... I loved it so much 💓

Last week I came across this YouTube video  

It is only 14 minutes long & features lots of the quilts should you be interested - I found it easier than my photos to view & does more justice to the stunning quilts. 

Gail & I declared this stall to be our favorite ... Miss Rose, Sister Violet.  Purchases were made from here ... everything was just beautiful.  

This quilt was hanging on the side wall of their stall ... hard to read the writing but it says "dear world she murmured, you are very lovely & I am glad to be alive in you"   Exquisite ❤

Well dear friends - I could easily fill another post with my photos but I won't as I have overloaded you enough. 

Each day when we walked down from our Hotel I could smell this wonderful fragrance wafting up the street & on the last day I said to the girls ... I am going to find out where that is coming from  .  .  .  .

We found this delightful little store tucked away called Perfect Potion - she had a diffuser going in the doorway, hence the fragrance wafting down the street.  

I was able to purchase the oil she was burning - it's called Soul Comfort.  I think we all need a little comfort for our souls at times ... it's burning as I type this & reminds me so much of my trip.  

Thank you all so very much for staying with me through 2 lengthy posts.

Wishing you all a wonderful rest-of-the-week,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,