Sweet Mary

I bought this truly vintage style bird box from Perry Davies at the Porangahau Fair last Sunday. Perry makes these very individual boxes from "found" pieces of wood, coat hooks, letter box numbers, bits of old tin... anything really. Of course its for me to admire and for the birds to go elsewhere - whats wrong with a nice tall tree! Perry lives in Onga Onga (Hawkes Bay) and you can contact him by email: perrydavies@xtra.co.nz

Now and Then (see left) in McHardy Street, Havelock North had a sale last week and just look at the gorgeous goodies that I found there. Juliet told me that the cushion fabric came from her husbands grandmother which pleased me a lot - I like stories like that. So, three perfectly vintage cushions that I will treasure and a bargain bag of beautiful fabrics.

The one and only peony that bloomed in our spring garden and what a beauty it is. I couldn't find a really pretty flowery bag for the summer and couldn't afford the ones online at Cath Kidston so I made my own using some of my precious CK stash. For some reason I decided to use a pattern - the instructions just about drove me mad. I kept reading each point and then re-reading and still thought it didn't make sense. Anyway, after a day of determination (and a lot of cursing) I finally finished the bag and I am delighted with it - roll on sunny days.

I was writing an email this morning and mentioned the gorgeous view outside my window so decided to put that view up on my blog for everyone to enjoy. There can hardly be a better sight to behold than the early days of spring and the promise of the warm days to come. This tree has the most wonderful shape, spreading out out from the ground from at least a dozen branches and is covered in soft white blooms that open from pale pink buds. I leaned out the window to get this photo and to let you see the under planting but just missed getting the fluffy baby in the shot who was very busy following a black bird. Just following, thats all. Recently I fiddled around with these squares of Cath Kidston fabric, vintage lace and red cotton thread. Putting all together with the idea of making a cushion cover - the idea being that it would be my twist on the popular Union Jack cushions on a lot of the English blogs. I love it! So, this one is for me and I will work on a few more for my Sweet Mar...

A bit of late night sewing the week before running my Sweet Mary stall at the Pukeora Estate . It was a four day event with a very pretty but slightly tiring drive to and fro each day. When packing up I always wonder if I will have enough and what item will be the "favourite" this time. These red check tea towels decorated with vintage cream lace and appliqued fabric hearts turned out to be the winner. Its an unusual venue - stall holders set up in a series of rooms and corridors. It was a first time for me and I was a late booking so there wasn't much choice. So, although I enjoyed myself I think my spot was a bit out of the way and some people had trouble finding me. If I go back next year I would have to be somewhere more prominent. But I did meet some lovely people and as always I came home with a list of "good ideas". Pukeora Estate sits on top of a hill so the views of the valley below are truly amazing. I will be at the Porangahau Spring Fair on septe...