The Little things...!!!

The day did not start to well this morning and I got to the museum in a rush .... where I then had to wait for a college group who were booked in for 10am ... but did not arrive for another 40 minutes, but all went well in the end... I came home and decided to check the emails and blogs ...and "Voila" there on DD blog was this following missive so I thought I would copy it for you all..... so the next time things don't go to plan  just stop and think on it.

Why people survived 9/11 in NY  ......

As you might remember, the head of a company survived

9/11 because his son started kindergarten.

 

Another fellow was alive because it was

His turn to bring donuts.

 

One woman was late because her

Alarm clock didn't go off in time.

 

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike

Because of an auto accident.

 

One of them

Missed his bus.

 

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take

Time to change.

 

One's

Car wouldn't start.

 

One couldn't

Get a taxi.

 

The one that struck me was the man

Who put on a new pair of shoes that morning,

Took the various means to get to work

But before he got there, he developed

a blister on his foot.

 

He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid.

That is why he is alive today..

Now when I am -- Stuck in traffic ,

Miss an elevator, --  Turn back to answer a ringing telephone ...

All the little things that annoy me.

I think to myself, this is exactly where

God wants me to be at this very moment..

 

Next time your morning seems to be going wrong ,

 

You can't seem to find the car keys,

You hit every traffic light,

Don't get mad or frustrated;

It May be just that

God is at work watching over you.

May God continue to bless you

With all those annoying little things

And may you remember their possible purpose.

 

Sewing, sewing,sewing

Life has been just one long sewing time lately ...lovely !!

After my visit to the Hamilton Craft and Quilt Show I got enthused and started on some of my UFO's .
I have made a gift for a friend for her birthday ... but has to be a secrete at present as her birthday is awhile away and she will read my blog before the day.
We have started classes at Embroidery guild and my "Corn Pad " cushion cover is coming along.

This weekend just gone I went along to the Waikato and Bay of Plenty Embroidery Guild Retreat at Tui Ridge

Where Your Adventure Begins!

Nestled in 170 hectares of beautiful New Zealand forest, with commanding views of Lake Rotorua, Mt. Tarawera, Mokoia Island and the surrounding countryside.Tui Ridge Park offers you the very best activities and facilities! Ideally suited for school, church groups, clubs, corporations for team building or families who want to simply "get away from it all".

They have some great facilities, the complex belongs to the SDA Church ... so there is no drinking on site and all food is vegetarian, but a few days with no wine is fine ....the food we had was good and nourishing and plenty of it ... everyone of the 50 of us took plates for morning and afternoon teas, wow !! what a selection, was hard to choose each time.

I took a class called "Same Both Sides" this was taken by Peta McMillan of Whakatane
This class meant you did the stitching so each side was identical to the other, easy some may say "Oh yes!" the small section of stitching in the picture took a day and a half.
The left hand side picture is front and right is back

How do I know ? well the strands left are on the back of work. To say the least getting your brain around this technique was a bit mind blowing .. but once you got the concept into your brain all went well.... must admit by about lunch time on first day I was  beginning to think seriously about why had I taken this class ??
 I defy anyone to try and do a cross stitch so it looks the same on the front and back ... if you try please let me know how you got on.
 Just a small clue to the cross stitching it takes 4 rounds of sewing to achieve it.

I am sure these ladies of my group were saying  " Do you think we could make a run for it at morning tea"

Me..... I am determined that I will finish this piece in the next week ... so watch this space ... for if it goes away into the UFO's I am sure it will not see the light of day again.

Whoops !! forgot these pictures

At the Quilt show there was some entries of one of our club members Shirley Sparkes... she did not win anything with them but very eye catching they were...

This entry was woven fabric along the bottom section.

This one was called the night sky.

Long time no see ... or blog

It seems to be ages since I did any blogging, but I have done lots of things so will show some pictures...
I have started a class at Embroidery Guild  " Corn Pad embroidery " by Sue Thompson... so here are  some pictures .... A Corn pad is exactly what you use to make the raised embroidery ... the ladies of Guild  are walking to all the pharmacies to find corn pads ...I bet the pharmacist's are thinking that everyone in Rotorua  has foot problems.

It is stitched with a cotton  thread about as thick as crochet cotton, and it is very forgiving so if you make a mistake you just add another french knot to cover it up.... mostly it is used to make cushion covers or bags but some pictures and other items have been produced. At present I am making a cushion cover but will try a bag at a later date.








I also spent the day at Hamilton Craft and Quilting show.... where there were the most amazing quilts ... some from Australia and some from New Zealnd....
a few pictures .... to follow... sorry have lost the paper on which I wrote who did what and how and why !! so just some eye candy for you.
I did not buy a great deal did not really see anything I could not live without ... a few fat quarters of fabric that appealed to me , some needles and a couple of pieces of linen in colours that we do not see here ( from Australia)

This quilt was amazing it was all appliqued and over stitched by machine hundreds of pieces of fabric to make all the shading ...unbelievable... if you look closely in the back ground you will see buildings done in the quilting ...  this was just stitching on the back ground ... Wow there are some extremely clever people in this world.

Things are bright and beautiful

Every thing is looking bright and beautiful on my doorstep in the sunshine  daffodils and polyanthus in baskets
I am feeling good my ribs are healing well, movement is still a bit restricted, but most things are possible as long as I do not bend down forward... driving is good as you are restricted on movement once strapped in the car.
I have not been swimming as such ...just dipping in the lovely hot water...oh makes me feel like a trip right now.

Yesterday ( Sunday ) was grandson Ben's 8th Birthday Party today the 5th is his birthday  ... the old adage how time flies is on my tongue of course. 

 I guess it is the sign of the times that he had so many cards containing money ... children have so much in the way of toys and things it is difficult to buy for them also because times have changed so much on what 8 yr olds do and want now. 

When I think back to his Mother and Uncle what they were doing at 8yrs old ... those things have nothing in common with today's kids .. technology has changed everything in the world , when I think of the changes that I have seen in my life time it must have been really confusing for my Grandparents for they saw twice the amount of change in their lifetime.

Wednesday last I went to Tauranga with my friend Prue  to see the Tauranga Embroiderers Guild Exhibition, oh my what some wonderful work, some of it is going on the to do list for our guild ... and somethings I will just dream about and admire from a far... mainly because I do not have enough years left in my life time to do all the wonderful things I want to make.

These "Humbugs done in canvas work were so lovely , also this white work done with cord was amazing ( this is one on the list)

Also these Red Christmas decorations  just polystyrene cones covered in  red fabric with gold thread embroidery on them...I was thinking so easy so simple and so effective. I have also seen these done in black with silver thread decoration also very effective.

There are a couple of blogger friends  who have had hospital procedures carried out in the last week and also a couple of my friends here in Rotorua so I send my hugs to enfold you all and hope you will all be up and about and partaking of  a lightly boiled egg soon.