It's only a few days until the New Year and I have been thinking about embarking on a year of stash reduction. It's a great way to make space for new acquisitions and an incentive to get creative about the use of what is already there.Feeling sure that there must be some rules for this sort of thing, I googled it. I found...

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While I am not overly keen on knowing the gender of an unborn child, I would like to know what fabric to use for the next quilt. I'd love to be tucking into the pinks and yellows, but maybe, the blues and greens would be more appropriate? Note: My Dearest is certain he wants to know, so it looks like we might have...

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I thought I'd share my last minute flurry of Christmas Gifting and Baking. Today saw me at the kitchen bench making Christmas cake and another batch of mustard. I am pretty good at leaving things until the last minute and so treasure the things that I know I can get done quickly. If you are like me and put off making a Christmas...

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I signed up for a quilt block swap earlier this year. We were to be making a block a month and sending it on. The blocks varied from month to month and so did my ability to keep up. Fortunately, there were no blocks assigned for December and so yesterday saw me posting off my last 3 blocks for the year. To Samantha,...

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Every year my side of the family converges in Wellington for Christmas dinner. It's a big event and this year, bigger than usual. With 19 guests, my gift making has gone into overdrive or at least my panicking has. Friday and Saturday nights saw me cutting and gluing book marks based on this tutorial from How About Orange. I figure those that are...

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Yesterday, when the sun was shining, E and I were able to get in the first crop of rhubarb. The leaves were getting bigger and bigger, threatening to take over. After a bit of taste testing, Little e decided that rhubarb is not her favourite food.Today, the weather is not so good, we are inside enjoying fresh rhubarb cake. ...

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The build up to Christmas is a time of lists. There are the fantastical rolls that Santa holds on the front of cookie boxes and then there are the everyday lists of things to be done before Christmas. I'm getting good at making the lists, not so good at ticking them off.I have been making Christmas lists for a long time. As a...

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By the look of this jaunty fellow, you should be able to work just what is in the box. Our Christmas tree goes up tonight. A friend mentioned that his kids find putting up the Christmas tree to be up there with Christmas day itself. I would have to agree. I found this treasure at a local jumble sale. I have wanted on...

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I have been tagged by the lovely Janelle of Heart Felt for the book tag. So here goes:Go to the closest book to you, not necessarily the book you have just read, or your favorite, but the closest. Turn to page 56 and copy out the 5th line, followed by the next 2 to 5 lines.“How did I think it would feel, when...

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When my father passed me some zucchini seedlings in early October, I was a bit skeptical. Now, I'm convinced as we have a steady flow of one ready every few days. Then there are those we miss and they go to Zucchini Heaven. Zucchinis always seamed to be something that was ready around late January. This year we've beaten the target with some...

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As I promised before, here are the quilts from the Bend the Rules Sewing Quilt Swap. The title's a bit of a mouthful, but you get the idea.The first one was made by Zoe. Little e has already adopted it as her newest bottle venue, pulling the quilt and a cushion onto the floor when she deems it to be bottle time.The second...

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e have just returned home from a family trip to Auckland and further afield. We drove 780 km and made it home in time for tea. The trip was helped by a unexpectedly early start on the road and my mother's offer to cook us dinner when we got home. We caught up with lots of friends, though not those with babies, due...

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After finding the selection of “girls” t-shirts a disappointing, I have taken matters in to my own hands. Sure pink, lavender and white are nice now and then, but sometimes a girl needs more choice. I proudly present little e's dollied up T-shirts. Hopefully they will end off the inevitable “What a lovely young man” comments you get when not wearing pink. The...

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I will be posting this wonderful quilt to Zoe tomorrow. I signed up to the Bend-the-Rules – Sewing Swap sometime in September. Zoe's fabric turned up and I was ready to get stuck into it. She sent a few Jitterbug prints and co-ordinating plains. I will show you the whole thing when it has arrived, but for now here's just a glimpse. At...

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I can now confirm that it is possible to burn microwave popcorn. My husband likened it to burning water – verging on impossible. But it is possible. I have seen it with my own eyes and unfortunately tasted it too. Fortunately, I haven't completely lost my touch and managed to make some carrot and orange cupcakes. I used some of the many many...

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Yes I'm still here. I have been swept off my feet recently with various things. Please bear with me while I take a bit of a breather. I suspect, it should be all under control in a fortnight or so. ...

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The “Days of the Week” quilt is now officially finished. I finished the binding and label today. I had been contemplating free motion quilting but chickened out. The most of this is straight lines with a few areas of free motion to the stripes. The year started with me vowing to empty the WISP box. By June, I had modified this to –...

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I happened across this gem at a church fair a few weeks ago. It looks like it has seen some love in its time and possibly a few children trying to sit in it. The covering was falling apart with unraveling stitches and some rips. Little e, my daughter, was stoked with it, so I set out to make it better. Of course,...

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Today we had a picnic at the Japanese Memorial Gardens. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom but all little e was interested in was finding the chickens. It may seem strange that there is a Japanese Memorial in rural New Zealand. It turns out that this area has a checkered past. The garden is stunning at the moment, in a very peaceful...

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The garden beds are ready to go, so I am sitting with my feet up and trying to sort out what to plant. Any ideas?Last summer I was given a care package from a keen gardener. She had put in some of the tastiest tomatoes I've had in long time. I am on the look out for some Black Russian seedlings to get...

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It's been a slow week at Casa Seven Stitches. Little e is getting over tonsillitis and my dearest and I are falling in her wake with various colds. Though, I have been able to get some binding done and a quilt finished during one of her really long sleeps.I think little kids should be issued flags. Ones that go up in the morning...

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My Strawberry swap from Karen arrived safe and well. The box was filled with strawberry plates, buttons, recipe, a fabric bag and this wonderful table center. I think I will put that aside for Christmas. There was more in the box, but little e has whisked away the knitted strawberry and I haven't the heart to wake her while searching her room. While...

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It has almost become a Friday ritual, packing up little e in the afternoon and carting her off to all the thrift stores, making my way North to pick up my husband from work. If I'm really organised I can take in 2 Salvation Army stores before their 4:30 close. I usually get waylaid in the first and have to pry little e...

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As Gabes has so thoughtfully shared her first knits, I thought I should share mine. My first knits for my Barbie. My Gran patiently talked me through them. There was a book at our local library that I might as well have had on permanent loan from ages 8 to 11. I would pore over it for hours each time I got it...

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I have been suffering blogging inertia. I had one really frustrating night when Blogger refused to accept my post. It appears that it had issues with pasting things from Open Office. Is this giving anyone else grief? My dearest pointed out that I was over an hour each night on the computer. I thought he was exaggerating until I timed myself. I have...

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