Op Shop Show Off - Gifts From Friends

Every now and again a friend will gift you the most precious gift

Gifts from two precious friends

"Our Empire's Little Princess" cup and saucer set found amongst a Mother in laws possessions and kept aside for me 

and 

Althorp Castle tea towel, gifted to me knowing how much of an Anglophile and Royalist I am 

So grateful to my friends for thinking of me and gifting me additions to my collection

Op Shop Show Off - A Good Day For Bargains

 Homemade 'Umbrella Swift' $3

 Crown Lynn pie dish $10 

It would seem anything that is 'made in NZ' has a 1000% profit margin these days  

Meakin and Spode 

together making a cute gravy boat 

$2

Taking Stock OR What I'm Doing Right Now - The Christchurch Edition

Reading: The Story Of The Trapp Family Singers - thank you Simone for the recommendation 

Admiring: The gorgeous quilt on the bed I'm sleeping in

Wanting: to pack the quilt into my suitcase and take it home

Feeling: Relaxed and happy in this colourful home of love 

Enjoying: my time with my gorgeous friend and her family

Considering: how blessed I am to receive 'scraps' from this sewing room

Noticing: A hole in the gate/fence 

Bookmarking: Vintage inspired wrist warmers

Making : crocheting my mood blanket squares 

Drinking : wine from a magic wine glass (it 'magically' kept re filling)
Feeling: loved and looked after

Cooking: (eating) Tomato Soup and Heart shaped scones on Valentines Day
Buying: Vintage crochet cottons and scissors
Needing: More scissors, my children keep 'borrowing' mine

Wishing: the tannery buildings down the road from me were as cool as these tannery buildings
Playing: Ladies who brunch and shop 
Smelling: an array of delicious herbal teas in the Apothecary
Giggling: I may not know what he says .. .. .. but I know where he lives 

Deciding: The Christchurch earthquakes are creating a new Christchurch. While a lot of the past has been lost, it is exciting to see a new future building on heritage.

Opening: the capsules which contains my dinner 

Marvelling: at the pneumatic system which delivered the capsule

Liking: this restaurant and its magic bookshelf and pneumatic menu

Wearing: Custom made Liberty by this talented lady (seated to my right!)

Thinking: How blessed I am to call these girls friends
Getting: lots of hugs 

Looking: at what once was
Hoping: decisions are made soon
Knowing: my Christchurch will never be my children's Christchurch
Pondering: Grief 

Watching: The world go by as we sit and eat our ice creams opposite the Cathedral

Loving: CHRISTCHURCH 

Waiting: for my plane which is 90 minutes delayed
Wondering: why my plane down here and my plane home were both delayed due to engine failure !

If you want a list you can get it from Pip at Meet Me At Mike's too!  

Crochet . . . and a new project (or two)

I'm on a roll with finishing projects at the moment .. .. .. and starting new ones

With Christmas as a deadline I had no excuses not to finish this wee op shop gem

My Aunt who donates her time to the local church op shop sent me a rather large bag of wool from her shop.  

Bits n bobs left over from projects.

Granny squares using the flecked grey as the main colour with one burst of colour round 

Running out of flecked grey right at the end 

My friend LOVED her op shop wool crochet blanket (even sleeping with it Christmas night!)

And I LOVE how all those unwanted bits n bobs came together to make a gift.

Balls of wool purchased in the Boxing Day sales 

A new summer crochet is project planned

(ummmm they weren't actually on sale, but that doesn't matter - right?!)

Hookin in the sun first thing in the morning 

*note the pj's still on - yes I am in holiday mode

Hookin whilst catching up with Coronation Street on demand 

Hookin whilst some rubbish is on the tv .. .. ..

There is also my Crochet Mood Blanket to keep me hookin throughout the year

Linking in with the lovely Max at Op Shop Show Off

And the lovely Leonie at Show and Tell

Be Still My Beating Heart - Op Show Show Off

The Motueka recycling centre is a place where I could spend HOURS (without my children) and I could get lost in piles and piles after shelves and shelves of recycled goodness.

Imagine my pure delight when searching through the crockery not only did I find a complete Crown Lynn dinnerset, but I was then charged $15 for the entire set!
Be still my beating heart.
I paid the $15 and I almost ran out of the centre before the man could see my pure delight all over my face.

My new to me Crown Lynn dinnerset safe and sound having travelled from Motueka to Auckland via Air NZ carry on luggage.

Modern 'Op Shopped' Rose Garden

 Last week I forced myself (or my health forced me) to take two days off and just be gentle.   

During the warmth of the afternoon sun I curled up under a quilt on my outside couch with a cup of tea and hand stitched the binding on this my latest quilt make "Modern Op-Shopped Rose Garden".

In the evenings after a long relaxing candlelit bath, I would emerge, snuggling once more under my quilt, armed with another cup of tea, hot water bottle and a book.

Lost in the 1880's in the small coal mining settlement of Denniston (NZ), I enjoyed the respite, feeling ready to face the weekend, and the week ahead.

Modern Rose Garden quilt pattern from Carolina Patchwork
Op Shopped sheets and pillow cases from my stash
Book The Denniston Rose

To Christchurch With Love

One Friday night

Two girlfriends

An op-shopped woollen blanket

Ribbon, Hexies and Hearts

7 Hot Water Bottle Covers

for the 

Hottie Project

Linking in with the talented Juliet of Tartan Kiwi for Matariki Crafting

Be sure to check out and encourage the other linkers as there has been some amazing projects over the season of Matarki Crafting 

Family Treasures

My Grandparents were such loving kind people and I have the best childhood memories of spending holidays with them so these family treasures gifted to me for my 40th Birthday mean so much and more

3 new to me table cloths

2 hand embroidered by my Grandmother

Handwritten recipe book 

So many happy memories come flooding back seeing my Grandparents handwriting

Birthday flowers and Grandmas table cloth

My birthday teapot cup and saucer and some crochet 

Birthday flowers and Grandmas tablecloth

Linking in with Max at Blackbird has spoken with Op-Shop Show Off - even though these were gifted to me 

Neglecting Ugly Fabric

A while ago a friend gave me a BIG bag of material (ugly material) and asked me if I'd make her a quilt.

Honestly I looked at the bag of material (ugly material) and put it to one side - neglected - 

The bag of material sat there for months (4 to be exact) until the other week when I looked at it again and wondered what on earth I could do with this ugly fabric.

Using a free quilt pattern Wildflowers (found at Henry Glass & Co)

I started cutting up the fabric wondering how I'd ever make something my friend would like

And again the cut up fabric sat there - neglected - 

Yesterday I realised I'd been neglecting a couple of things in life

I cancelled all my plans, I stayed at home and had a BREADS day

Breath

Relax

Exercise

Ask For Help

Distract

Self Talk

I didn't get it all right, but I did focus on a couple of neglected things including the ugly quilt

This morning I emailed my friend a photo of the finished "ugly" quilt

Her reply

"OMG it is soooooooooo pretty I LOVE it"

Lessons learned many