Are There Three French Hens on Day 3?

Welcome to Day Three of the 12 days of Christmas in July Blog Hop. Some  more wonderful blogs to hop to, and see what ideas they will give to you.

And to see the giveaway details again and all the blog hoppers, visit Sarah   here  at    this post   and there is a list  of  all the blogs to hop to.

Then visit Sarah here  at

 Confessions of a fabric addict 

each day to get the next steps.

The blogs to visit today, in no particular order of where they are…

Amy will be at

 Swimming in a Sea of Estrogen 

and her sewing is all done!!! A fab project, and I will be sewing some of these for sure.

Next is   Joanne,in Northern Ohio, and at

  Everyone Deserves a Quilt

you will find a neat  tutorial, No, I am not telling what it is, as the 16th might not have arrived up North quite yet.

And the third blogger  for today is Cheryl in Illinois. She has been extra busy so make sure you hop over and visit at

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting

According to the Christmas Carol, day 3 had 3 French Hens. I couldn’t find one, far less a French one, but found a photo from several years ago.My dear friend Maryann always had  a rooster or two, hens, white and brown,  and some special fluffy legged ones. Maybe they were Pekins.  This was Mrs White Hen, and I was looking after her and her eggs, soon to be hatched, when Maryann and Guy were away for a few days. All went well, until one egg was left and Mrs W,H. abandoned it.   I took the egg inside, kept it warm, and in due time,another wee chick hatched out.

Quotation of the day, author unknown

“ The rooster may crow the loudest,

but the hen delivers the eggs”

Greetings  from Jean.

Two Turtle Doves flew in from the cold

Welcome to Day 2 of the 12 day blog hop. There are three more fab bloggers  to  meet, and here is  a more detailed list of the goodies, and how this fun hop  will continue. This is a little early for you in the North, but down here>>>>> we are already in the 15th day of July!!!

   This year there is something extra special!  The lovely folks over at    Free Spirit Fabrics     have donated not just one item for a giveaway, but THIRTEEN!  And it's pretty drool-worthy stuff, too - it's Tula Pink's new holiday line, Holiday Homies!!!   Look at those fabrics!!!

Sarah has six design rolls, six layer cakes, and one fat quarter bundle to give away - and here's how she's going to do it!

Visit each stop on the hop, including Sarah's, and leave a comment on each post for the day.  At the end of the hop, she'll do a giveaway for each day by putting everyone's name in the hat who commented that day (from all that day's hop-blogs), and draw a winner for that day.

There will be twelve winners, the design rolls  and the   layer cakes.  Then she'll put all the names from all the days in a hat and draw out a grand prize winner for the fat quarter bundle!

Only one prize per person, though - let's spread it around a bit!  So  make some spare  time to visit all the blogs and comment.  The giveaway is open to all, so international comments are welcome! Great news for any readers down below the equator, where winter mode sits on us with heavy snow, closure of many roads, 10,000 without power, and skiers revelling in the huge dump in their towns. Where else could you ski down the main street when all nearby roads are closed!!! The skimobiles waiting on the Ohakune Access Road, July 2017. Photo courtesy of the Internet.

And with a drum roll  or  the coo of the doves, here are today’s blog hoppers. The links are all in BLUE.

Hop down and visit  Grace at  

 Citymousequilter 

where I am sure you will find  another page of exciting things to do.

Second on the list is Vicki  in Minnesota, at 

 Vicki's Crafts and Quilting .

I had a sneak peek and a table runner with a very snowy theme is up there.

The third blogger  today is  Pam, and you will find her at  

Quilting Fun.

Her garden  is so full of goodies, garlic,  and berries, and then along comes  her quilting. Enjoy it all.

We continue to be in the cold, no more rain, but from our back door in the far distance I can see a peek of snow on the top of the ranges .Meantime, a memory of August 2011 at our place.

And near Masterton, in the Wairarapa, in July 2011, the Tararua Ranges with a good covering.

Quotation of the day, author unknown

“ Live life like a quilt, 

and  show those true colours

that  give warmth and love”

Greetings from Jean

Not A Partridge in a Pear Tree

Hi Readers, North and South, and everywhere else  …
Starting on 14th July, Northern  time zone , Sarah over a 
 Confessions of a Fabric Addict
is again hosting a wonderful event, the 12  Days of Christmas in July Blog Hop. Join in to see inspiration galore, with new bloggers each day showing some goodies to make, quilty,  Christmassy, or  otherwise. Sarah has a quilt-along, and at the finish line, you will have a quilt all made. As well, there are giveaways. Will this tempt you even more? Visit a blog, leave a comment, and each day  a name will be drawn, and at the end one grand winner. This is international as well, so come on in and join the fun.
Come and see my suggestions on 22nd July, again Northern time zone, and the finish is on a very auspicious day, 25th July, my birthday.
To start the ball rolling here are the first three blog hoppers and a link to their blog.
Come and see Carole at    From My Carolina Home
Next on the list is Sharon  at VROOMANS QUILTS
And the third blogger is Brandy over at Pampered Pettit.
And not like here in New Zealand, where roads are closed with snow, and 9,500 homes  are without power in the central North Island area,  and travel is very restricted  in so many areas, you do not have to travel to be in the hop… We had no snow, the power stayed on, no trees down at our place, and the fires kept everyone cosy and warm.
The fire in our lounge, with Poppy all stretched out in prime position.


The fire when we were camping in Pureora Park. 5 a.m. on a very cold morning!!!

And the heap of cut and split wood, almost all gone now!!!

Quotation of the day, author unknown

“ Be like a Boy Scout,

and prepare for anything and everything”

Greetings from Jean.

It was a Wet and Windy Sunday!!!

Two weeks ago, I put in a bid on  an item in the online trading called Trade Me. I won. This morning, in the rain,  at the suggested time, and the right address, we met Barry and Alex,  then Anne arrived.   The very heavy item  was loaded onto Barry’s trailer,  all hands needed here, the other  heavy parts were put in the back of our wagon,we talked, Barry suggested that the ladies all retire for coffee, and he would continue to our place, and have it unloaded,put together, and all ready to be used by the time we three arrived back home.

Can you guess what it is????????

My dream for some time has to have a long arm quilting machine. I have one. A Gammill  Professional Decorative Quilter. The lady who lives nearby is moving and this was surplus.I am so happy, you should see my smile at your place. The machine will need some of Barry’s TLC, the rollers have leaders, there is a converter as it is 110Voltage, and in NZ we have 240V for power. The table is Australian Jarrah, and there are pantographs as well as a laser light.

Unloading in the drizzle.It was cold!!!

Until it is running,  and all  assembled with  the rollers,  the machine is strapped to the table for safety.

Because this is so special, and too good/precious/wonderful/ ( I’m lost for words)  to keep all to myself,  I am planning to share it with family and friends. They have been invited to come and actually quilt their quilts on it.So if you see a sudden display of “quilted” quilts down here, they might have been in the garage, having some stitching done.  My station wagon had a hissy fit when  I told it “ You are outside in the cold for some time”!!! And Hugh shook his head in dismay!!!

Quotation of the day, author unknown.

“ The possibility that a dream will come true,

makes every day so worthwhile”

Greetings from Jean.

A Few Finishes!!!

ETNZ, Emirates Team New Zealand has won the America’s Cup. Huge jubilation throughout all our land, well done and so many thanks to the sponsors, the team, crew, shore crew, boat builders and supporters.

New Zealand will host the next America’s Cup series here, and we look forward to a new venue, closer to home, and exciting racing again.

Down here, the few… or many… things that have been languishing are finished at last. A table runner and 6 place mats, from the pattern and fabric, courtesy of  EvaPaige Quilt Design , a kit that I won some time ago.

I finished them all with a flange binding , and this will be a birthday gift for a friend, they are renovating a small cottage not far away from us. All done in time for 21st July.

Then Laundry Day.This waited till some other things were all done, and finally it gets to hang for the photo shoot. Kiwi ingenuity here,  half round posts that are used on every farm nationwide, for the  uprights, ( Extra wadding inside to make them puff out )  , and baling twine, that was once used in Holland balers to wrap the hay bales. Now a modified version is there to hold the mini quilt. The Silver Fern, a symbol so often associated with New Zealanders overseas and at home, and the four stars, symbolising the Southern Cross. These are a  pattern of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, and are seen in the Southern Hemisphere. This is shown on the New Zealand flag. The bottom star,  Alpha Crucis, the brightest star in the Cross,  is the 14th brightest star  in the night sky.  Beta Crucis at the ( left) eastern tip, is a blue-white giant star, Gamma Crucis at the top is red-orange, and Delta Crucis at the (right) west tip is a blue-white  giant  star. A  faint  star, Epsilon Crucis, is just below the crossbar, and  at   570 light years away is the furthest  of these five stars from the earth. The stars also have other names, but these are the ones I am familiar with.

This home was in Christchurch during the devastating February 2011 earthquake, you can see the wonky chimney that was damaged.   There are pools and streams of mud,  silt and sand on the footpath and road  as a result of the  liquefaction . Soil behaves more like a liquid than a solid, and is squeezed onto the surface in huge amounts. Pools of this bubbled up and  made so many streets and pathways horrendously dangerous  and unable to be used. No power for so many, so homes had candles for lights, These are shining through the windows. One small shrub survived and is by the front door.If you click on a photo, these will show up.

As the Freefall QAL finished, Sandra of  mmm quilts had a family emergency, and their son-in-law died after a sporting accident. All our thoughts have been with  them both  , their daughter and grandson at this time.

Those of us who were in the QAL sent her a message by email.  Words are not much at a time like this, but were so appreciated, Heartfelt  care, love and sympathy from us all.

Quotation of the day,  from Gilbert Parker

“ Love knows not distance;

it hath no continent;

its eyes are for the stars.”

Greetings from Jean.

Testing, Testing!!!

Yesterday, panic of the highest degree, Open Live Writer did not post to my blog, an error, No Google advice, so I copied and pasted, then edited the photos.

This was the trial in Paint program for the quilting lines,In the end it didn’t work out.

No more, off for a rest. Not even a quote today!!!

Greetings from Jean

Freefall QAL, all done and dusted

The midnight oil, or a LED light was so handy late last night, as Thursday was our 15th June, and this was the special day for Sandra of   mmm quilts        .     In memory of her Dad, whose birthday was very special, she arranged for us intrepid quilters, a fantastic Quilt-along. A smaller version of her original leaf quilt, and so we began.

The fabrics, the instructions, the leaves,  cutting, trimming, matching points, sewing again,  and finally a flimsy.

I did so want an aerial shot, we set it all up, Boris had to supervise, the wind blew, the quilt was on the pavers too close to the house, so this is what we ended up with!!! Click on the photo to see where everyone is .

Last night, I managed to get that final seam on the flanged binding sewn, after 5 tries, readjusted, and moved it down a few inches, then bingo. Attached the blind stitch attachment, used the  Gutterman Sulky in the top, changing from Superior thread King Tut grey, that I used for the diagonal lines, with a  King Tut green in the bobbin.I had 2 spare  blocks, so did some trial lines, and 2 different sized bindings. In the end, I went with the original size of  1.5 inch and 1.75 inch, trimming the quilt a little  wider from the points.

This morning the Sky Gods didn’t shine for a photo shoot. Taken from Hugh’s Dad’s memorial Weeping Silver Pear  tree




Same tree, different view.

Against the New Zealand Flax, with Boris again supervising, or just looking for any  intruders hidden in the jungle.

Photo props, a broom and a floor mop in the corner triangle holders.

Finally, one last one, diagonal, like the quilting lines.

Thank you so much Sandra  of   mmm quilts
for this amazing challenge. We are all very privileged to be part of this, and it widens our blog friendship by miles.
Quotation of the day  from Ralph Marston

“ Start strong, stay strong, and finish strong,

by always remembering why

you’re doing it in the first place”

Greetings from Jean.