One Golly, Two Cushions .................... & five Pumpkins!

Greetings dear friends & readers,

Goodness me ...... another shiny new month already !

- Welcome March -

Fay travelled over from Matamata when she heard I was closing my Cottage down as she wanted a golly for each of her grandchildren.

She bought her grandson the last remaining boy golly in my sale, but asked me if I would please make a girl golly for her grandaughter

Fays instructions were "a medium size girl golly, something bright & cheery"

 I knew exactly the pattern I would use ... Baby Annie Golly, by Angels in Disguise
Plus I already had the cheery red spot fabric that I thought would be perfect
In my sewing room I found this tiny teddy with a a stick up his jacksy - once I had removed the stick, he was perfect for a small toy to hold in Baby Annie's hand  

She is such a sweet pattern this girl & always makes me smile

I managed to finish the english paper pieced cushion that I wrote about in my last post

I made a button closure for the back & gave it a rather large size cushion inner ...... I like my cushions to be really plump & tightly stuffed

I felt deeply saddened when I read last month (on Instagram) of Rosalie Dekker's passing.  I had the immense pleasure of meeting Rosalie 7 years ago when my family paid for me to attend her stitching retreat at the base of Lake Taupo for my 50th birthday.

I remembered last week that we had stitched a redwork stitchery on handkerchief linen at one of her classes, so I hunted mine out.
Though it was complete I had never done anything with it. Rosalie had mounted hers on a canvas but I decided to make mine into a cushion (Yes another one!!)

I stitched a flange style cushion & once again, stuffed it with an oversized inner.
I remembered then that I had also completed a doll on my return from retreat ....a kit that came with our patterns to make a doll called Poppy

Poppys dress was also made using handkerchief linen ...... I removed her clothes & gently handwashed them to give her a freshen up
She now completes the little vignette on my two seater couch & NO Pippi .... this is Not a perfect resting spot for you!

One of the things I hoped to get to do this year was to attend the small crafty group that my friend Gail runs monthly ...... the numbers have dwindled to just 5 now & last year, I only managed to attend once.
Last Monday Gail decided "we" would make velvet pumpkins ...... it was a very pleasant morning indeed & at the end of it, I snapped a quick pic of all our pumpkin efforts

(Mine is the top left hand side one)

Though my photo doesn't do it justice, the velvet is actually a deep rich burgundy colour.


I love the feel of autumn in the air & took my morning tea out to the deck last Wednesday .... I had picked up my latest copy of Simply Vintage magazine as well as baked a Tan Finger Slice

Small treats but Oh So Very good for the soul !

After a summer of running around chasing each other, much hissing, spitting & bits of fur in the air ...... these two have decided they are friends again & have begun tucking up together in the evenings - another sure sign there is autumn in the air!

I love seeing them tucked up together - one part of each always has to be touching the other 
Though I often hear them running through the house about 4 in the morning (!!!), they generally will sleep like this for hours.

Thanks so much for your visits today dearest friends,
I hope the coming week is good & kind to you all
With much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x