Today my post will be sewing related I promise just had get a few holiday shots in....

I have a finish for September.... back at the start of August Jenny of Elefantz blog suggested a challenge to make a sewing machine cover which is something that has been on my to do list for many years, so I designed one for my darling Lizzie.....

I borrowed the flower and bird from a lovely quilt design in Homespun Vol 10- No8 by Kellie Wulfsohn from Don't Look Now which is a fun blog to have a peek at... I used the buttonhole stitch on Lizzie(my Bernina 440 QE) with a varigated thread and I was very pleased with the end result, could be the start of something big maybe instead of needle turning my applique quilts I can do them on the machine, much quicker to make......

Then I needed a little sewing bag to cart my sewing around in my handbag so I whipped up this little purse from Jennifer Knol, it was nice and quick to make.....

It has a cute little Ladybug button to keep it closed

This is my cross-stitch that I carted around  during my travels, good idea when you have to sit in airports and planes waiting to travel... I pre-threaded my needles so I wouldn't need my scissors.......

Now I have some exciting news to tell you I have only three sleeps until I fly to Adelaide for the Beating Around the Bush convention.......

I am going there with my SIL Chris and two stitching girl-friends, Sharon and Melissa, we booked this in December last year so we are all very excited that it is finally here.....

happy holidays

Here are some more photos from our holiday.....

this is a view from the road that goes up over the mountains out to Wanaka, looking back towards Qtn...

here are some farmed Deer in their paddock..... look at those mountains behind them...

and this is the lake at Wanaka about an hour's drive from Queenstown, beautiful with the snow topped mountains in the background

Victoria enjoying the sun and veiws out at Jack's Point.....(Qtn behind hill on the left)

we had a delicious lunch there.....

this is one of the ski runs at Coronet Peak, just 5 minutes from Qtn...

While we were over visiting Vic it was her birthday and she wanted to go horse riding so we drove out to Glenorchy about 1 hour from Qtn, it was a very pretty drive along beside Lake Wakatipu....

Here's our girl getting ready to get on her horse with some help....

Vic getting buckled up...

Off we go......that's my back....I don't really look like I'm holding on for dear life...do I???? we did this for two hours.... and yes it was interesting getting off...lol

 we rode along this track to the Willows in the distance then turned left and rode along the edge of the river for a while then we crossed the river a few times.... yes through the freezing water.... it was lots of fun but I am not sure I'd do it again...... think I'm over horses but where we rode was so beautiful it was at the foot of those mountains.....

Lastly these are some pictures of the gardens in Christchurch... it was a lovely place to visit....

NZ holiday

      At last I am getting to my blog, we had a wonderful holiday in New Zealand but I managed to pick up a virus or something and have had a really sore throat and felt terrible since we arrived home, I am coming good now though.

Here are some photos of beautiful Queenstown and surrounding areas.....

this is a shot from the mountain at the back of Qtn, every view was postcard perfect

"The Remarkables" were amazing, they take my breath away everytime I look at them...

Here is Stephen and Victoria at the memorial arch near the botanical gardens....

Victoria and I with Lake Wakatipu behind us...

Another view of Lake Wakatipu from the wharf, that's the Earnslaw on the left, beautiful old boat from the past...

More pics in the next post.....

happy holidays

Well there is only 3 sleeps to go until we fly to Queenstown NZ to visit our daughter and oh boy am I excited.... we have a night in Christchurch on the way there and on the way home again..... we will be with Victoria for 6 nights she is going to stay with us in our apartment which will be lots of fun..... it's her birthday while we are there.... I have packed some stitching to do and I will be taking lots of photos..... so up, up and away.... talk to you soon.