Winter has finally hit us here in the good old S.A! I enjoy the crisp fresh air and dressing up warm with scarves and jackets. We are fortunate to have a wood- burning fireplace in our lounge and that keeps us happy and will hopefully create good memories for the kids. Our visitors also love coming here when the fire is going and I try spoil them with treats to warm their happy hearts and tummies. Anyway, one of the other things I love about winter is knitting and crocheting. I love the textured yarns/wools and the feeling of satisfaction one gains from a completed project. I belong to a "Prayer Shawl " group started by Petro Nel and am loving the idea of gifting cancer survivors and sufferers with our handmade items. I am now busy with a crocheted blanket for a close friend, Frans Lotter.

I have already purchased wool for a special person who's just been diagnosed with lung cancer. So will have to get cracking and finish this blankey.

I recently posted some pics and story of Maria who had such bad shingles. My mom has taught her to knit and we bought her needles and wool to knit herself a scarf. Well, she's doing well and the scarf is growing!! Its so encouraging to see how something like that can make a difference to a person's life.

There is a saying that I love and it says......."teach people how to fish......don't give them the fish.."

 Hello again all you special people.... reading my Blog! I just have to share what my mom is doing for my daughter Cheney! She's knitting her a square blanket in shocking pink and black yarn. She's using "Charity" double knit and will crochet around each square and then join them all to form a blanket! It's sooooo beautiful and each block is knitted in a different stitch.

Our South African winter is creeping in slowly but surely!! I just enjoy this time of the year because we can knit, crochet, stitch, cook and bake to our heart's content - without sweltering in the heat!
Once again I have tackled a few more projects and they are : knitting and crocheting for our prayer shawl group, quilting and cooking hot comfort food!


My mom, who has spent the past week here, got stuck in to some cooking and makes the most divine lasagne!

 I, on the other hand, love making curries and soup...

Inbetween the cooking, we are knitting, crocheting and quilting. Mom is busy teaching Maria how to knit as well. She's starting off with a basic scarf. So am curious as to see how far she got with her 'homework' tonight! Will share her progress in my next post. I am very concerned about Maria's slow recovery from her bad bout of shingles! My doctor said that was the worst he has ever seen and she's been booked off work for another 6 months, although she refuses to stay away from work, I have to accommodate her tiredness and pain! So for the days that she will not be coming in to work, she can at least keep herself busy at home knitting and creating something to alleviate the boredom! Once she masters the knitting, I will teach her to crochet.  She's always so calm and just gets on with the job. I admire her courage.

Today marks the start of a new life for my daughter. She is 20 yrs old. Wow!! What a journey we have travelled with her over the past 20 yrs. When she was 5 wks old she almost died in her cot and was diagnosed as a "cot death syndrome". The shock and trauma one suffers when you see your child lying motionless and blue. The fear of her not maybe waking up ever again is beyond any explanation, but today we celebrate her life! Thankyou Lord for the gift of having children. Thankyou Cheney for making our lives so colourful. You are a gem and loved by so many people!

Hello everybody!! Yes, I've been quiet for a reason!! Quilting, gardening and trying to run a home - smoothly. Anyway I have cut out 136x - 3 1/2" blocks for filling in between the bigger blocks. Such a rewarding task! I must add that this is the first time I have attempted a whole quilt using the "fold in technique". Its awkward at first and felt as if I had 10 thumbs but with some perseverence and lots of encouraging from Tiki Brophy quiltmaster, I managed to pull it off!! Yayyyy!!! Its all done!

So have a look and tell me what you think?

Busy joining all the blocks now. Just loving it!!

Some close up details to my Belle quilt!

Please take note....

I often tackle more than one project at a time and then add extra photographs to previous posts and more snippets of news, etc. So please scroll back to older posts - if you are following me - once in a while and update yourself on the "adventure of my life".

Well, its been a while, but I'm back in full swing! Sometimes we just have too much to do and the demands on a wife and mother are just huge at times. Anyway, this is for Margaret - from our Prayer Shawl Group and who quilts with Tiki. Thanks for the encouragement as far as my blog is concerned. I appreciate the kind words Margaret!

You may all ask what I've been doing the past few days, not so?......

Well, I've been busy with the furniture restoration and quilting in between. I had exactly ONE week to create a baby's quilt for a friend and handed it over to her at the Stork Tea yesterday. So, we can do whatever we set our minds to. I've proved it to myself over and over again. Sometimes much to my own detriment.

The start and planning of baby Annebeth's quilt :

 Upon completion of the quilt:

Close up :

Tell me what you think of the quilt. Your comments are always appreciated! Thankyou.


Now for the furniture that I have been working on......

Sometime ago my husband bought himself a large and comfy wingback chair and a gorgeous chaise longue for me. Something that I have always wanted for the aesthetic and historical beauty, but both items of furniture needed re-upholstering. I decided to paint the legs of both chairs and the lovely spindles on the chaise. Silver for the wingback's legs and antique ivory for the chaise. I will cover the wingback in a charcoal grey and the chaise in a stunning paisley pattern. Can't wait to show you.

 Before :

 Fabric I will cover the wingback with :

The chaise after I painted the legs and arm rest - before it gets its new covering. 

 Seems like it was attacked by somebody's cat and used as a scratching post! How people can be so careless.... I don't know!!

The fabric I hope to use on the chaise. What do you think of my choice?