Sew Wot Tuesday

 This week we met at Carol's home, just a short drive away for me, everyone was there except Sandra who could not make it this time.  We had hardly settled down and then the Show and Tell came thick and fast.  First up was Helen, who had completed her Kiwi Block of the Month quilt, and her task for the morning was to stitch the binding down.  This is a lovely quilt, make with beautiful batiks, and lots of Kiwi elements to spot, such as the lizards frollicking around and a pukeko and her chick at the bottom.

 

Helen's Batik beauty

Jude had been busy and had two things to show us.  First was her sewing machine cover, which had been hanging around for a while, so she was pleased to get it finished.

Sewing machine cover

And we all loved this fabulous Plus quilt, stitched in shades of grey and pops of yellow.  Very nice indeed.

Jude's Plus quilt

Remember those mini blocks we made a swapped recently?  Mary has made hers into a small table runner, adding some of her lovely crochet between the blocks, such a great idea.

Mary's table runner

Heather had finished knitting a tiny little vest for the Neo Natal ward, the wool was so nice and soft.  The buttons on the shoulders are to allow for any tubes which may be necessary for the tiny baby, and Heather had decided to add multi coloured buttons for added interest.

Heather's tiny baby vest

And Carol showed us the kit she was working on, this was a gift from her sister, she may or may not add extra borders, we will have to wait and see.

Carols quilt top

While Helen was stitching her binding, the rest of us were knitting away, mostly socks it seemed, although I was working on a baby jumper which had been put aside for a little while.  And then it was morning tea time, mmm, so delicious.  All nicely set out on a Holly Hobble quilt made with pretty 1930s fabrics.  

Morning tea is served

Thanks so much Carol, we all had a lovely time.  And we get to do it all again in two weeks time.

Stitching Yellow

Yellow is the RSC colour of the month, and I've done a little  stitching for my  block sets.  Not much yellow at all in my bag of 2.5in squares to make my framed four patches, but it just had to do.  I'm using those squares up, not cutting new ones.  And I cut some yellow strips for my black and white blocks.

Yellow RSC blocks

I enjoyed a lunch out with friends this week, I have known these ladies for over 40 years, so we go back a while.  Robin and I have been meeting up with Shirley and Robyn about every three months for lunch.  Their husbands have passed away, and I joked that "Robin was the last man standing" in our group last time we met last November.  Little did I know that his time was drawing near, and we only had 8 days left together.  This time, Trish joined us for lunch as well.

Trish, Jenny, Shirley and Robyn

We enjoyed a tasty lunch, reminisced about our younger days, and put the world to rights.  Trish had brought along some lovely apples off her tree for us all, and while decluttering had found several candles to pass on to me.  I had told her that I was lighting a candle in the evenings for Robin.

She had also brought along some photos from our SLG days.  I said I'd look at them when I was home, just in case I got tearful seeing them.  What a treasure trove of memories.  This one was taken in the 80s I think, not long after we were married.  We all had dark hair back then

Jim, Trish, Jenny and Robin out for a bush walk

This was taken at in 1994 at a Vice Versa party

Such a lot of special memories in the envelope of old photos.

Pink Socks and Blackberries

My pink socks have been a long drawn out project.  I received this lovely skein of sock wool from my daughter for Christmas 2023.

 Christmas gift from Nicky

I didn't cast these on till mid way through the year and the socks traveled with us down to the South Island in August when we went to celebrate my son Michaels's 60th birthday.  The trip across Cook Strait takes three hours so after something to eat in the cafe there is always time for a little knitting.

Knitting onboard the ferry

As I always seem to have more than one knitting project on the go, these socks were neglected for a while.  Then my daughter purchased some sock yarn in the Op Shop, asked for a copy of my pattern, and within a couple of weeks she had knitted her first pair of socks!  That really spurred me on to finish my own.  

I was soon up to the toes, that didn't take long, then sewing up the side seams.  Several have asked if the side seams make the socks uncomfortable to wear.  They run along the side/top of the foot and up the side of the leg, not under the sole, and I don't have any discomfort at all.  The weather is still nice and summery here, so I will tuck them away in my sock drawer to wear a little later.

Finally finished, that took a while

And just so you know, I've two pair of triple knit socks, my blue jumper, a baby's jumper, and a kitten blanket for the SPCA, all cast on and waiting their turns.  Plus all the quilting projects as well. No wonder I have trouble completing things, there is too much on the go!  

I was at a meeting last week and one of the ladies had brought along several bags of frozen blackberries to give away.  I gratefully took one, and made some blackberry crumble.  It was delicious, and I froze a couple of portions for later.

Blackberry crumble for dessert

Sew Wot Tuesday

 Our Sew Wot Tuesday was held out in the country, at Helen's rural property.  Ruby, the large rottweiler greeted us as we parked our cars, and Helen came down to greet us and help with bags.  Climbing up the steep internal staircase was a challenge for me, a sign that I'm getting older.  No doubt Helen runs up and down these stairs with no trouble at all.   It was lovely to meet up again with everyone, with one absence this time. 

There was plenty of show and tell this time.  Heather had some pretty baby knitting to show us, her grandson and his wife are expecting a baby.  But.... they just found out that it was not one baby, but twins!  How exciting is that.  Heather is now knitting extra fast to make two of everything.  Helen handed her several pairs of booties that she had made and entered into the recent craft show, they will certainly come in handy for the twins.

Heather's baby knitting

Jude had such a pretty finish.  She had stitched this lovely Kaffe Fasset quilt top as a Block of the Month, these colours are gorgeous.

Jude's pretty Kaffe Fasset top

Helen had really been busy, as she had three things to show us.  First was her lovely black and white with just a touch of colour hand pieced quilt, which she had commercially quilted, she is keeping this beauty for her own bed.

Helen's black and white quilt

Next was an Ohio Star quilt top, ready to go and get quilted.  The on point stars are bordered in a narrow stripe, and I do like the dark blue background.  I never think of working with darker backgrounds myself, generally stick with cream or white, I think I need to branch out more, but Helen's choice certainly makes the stars pop.

Ohio Stars

And lastly, she had knitted a cozy vest for one of her grandsons.  This pattern is a family favourite and Helen has knitted it several times for the growing boys.  Nice and cozy with a hood and plenty of pockets to put their treasures in.

A cozy green vest for Helen's grandson

I had taken along my rope basket, made as a Christmas swap by a quilt club member using my choice of fabrics.  None of the other Sew Wots had stitched anything like this before and were interested to have a close look to see how it was done.  

My rope basket and coasters

Helen had been having a clean out and had a few things which needed a new home.  She asked me if I was still making draw string bags for Foster Hope.  Yes I am, I said, and she presented me with a nice pile of lining fabrics, very useful indeed, as I always line the bags.  Thanks so much, Helen.

Lining fabrics for draw string bags

We were all busy knitting away at our various projects, and chatting away too, as we do.  Then it was time for morning tea, we never go hungry, do we.  Those carrot cake muffins were particularly delicious, and we got to try the recipe of Helen's prize winning chocolate chip biscuits too.

Morning tea is served

We had a lovely morning, as we always do.  Thanks so much for being the hostess, Helen.

A little more Blue

 I've finished the last of the blue sewing for RSC this month.    I'm on a quest to use up the last remaining few selvedge strips this year and found a small handful of blue ones.  So, another double handed oven mitt was created.   Just like the pink  ones I stitched last month, there were just enough strips to use on the top of the pockets, and I used dark blue fabric for the rest.  Insulbrite and toweling in the middle, and hessian (sacking) on the back.

Blue for February

So that is two oven mitts I've made so far, and I have selvedges in several colours to use up during the year.  I'm quite pleased with how these are turning out, and will probably keep them for gifts, my daughter and two granddaughters are all keen cooks.

What else have I been doing?  I met up with a friend for lunch during the week, and sad to say I got a little lost finding the place.  As I tell people, I'm sometimes navigationally challenged, even when I've been somewhere before.  Robin used to do all the driving, and I just sat back and did some knitting, not really taking too much notice of where we were.  Luckily, I found the cafe at the end, parked up, and look, there is Trish in the car beside me!  She had only just arrived too, so that was good timing.

Harrisons Garden-world

Harrisons has a cafe attached and we debated where to sit, deciding on the indoor area.  There was plenty of space outside under sun umbrellas, but the morning had been rather drizzly, so we decided not to risk it and stayed indoors.  We had a nice lunch, and a good catch up.  Then we had a look around the shop.  Look what I spotted, the resident cat, tucked up nice and comfy in his basket.  Trish couldn't resist giving him a pat.

Hello, puss

I purchased some candles, as I'm lighting one each night for Robin, and wanted to have a few extra.  These sounded very nice, lavender and vanilla scented.  

After a pleasant time out, we said our goodbyes, and went on our way.  I was heading north, and Trish was driving south.  That pesky drizzle had stopped, and the sun had come out, so it was a pleasant drive home.

Christmas Jar Challenge

Last year mt quilt club announced a secret challenge.  We were to bring in some fabric in a jam jar, with our name under the lid so you didn't know who it belonged to.  The idea was for another club member to take your jar home, make whatever they liked from your fabric, adding one other fabric if necessary, and bring it back on the last club night of the year.  This is the anonymous jar I chose to take home, it had an interesting mix of colours inside.

Wonder what's in here?

Tucked inside was a lovely piece of linen type floral fabric.  As soon as I saw it, my mind was made up, I was going to make a tote bag.  My extra fabric was purchased, turquoise Grunge for the back, straps, and lining of the bag.  I started work on this project straight away, and this is what I came up with.

  Bag front

I used the pieces of fabrics provided, making an inside pocket on the lining, and using this pretty floral strip down the back of the bag.  And I must say, I'm rather pleased with how it all came together.

Back of the bag

It's just as well I finished this project in good time, as Robin passed away in late November and I didn't feel that I could attend the Christmas meeting.  This bag was dropped off to the recipient, and challenge was delivered to me last week, thanks to the Sew Wot girls involved.

I had filled my jar with New Zealand themed fabrics, and was thrilled with what I received back.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the club member would make me a rope basket.  Such a lot of work, and it was beautifully done.  Colleen had placed the beautiful native Tuis in the base of the basket.  The early settlers named these parson birds because of the white feathers at their throats.

My beautiful rope basket

Collen had also made me two lovely little coasters.  I think her creativity and skill is amazing indeed.

Rope basket and two coasters

In my view, the Christmas challenge was very sucessful.  I'm pleased with what I made although  it was a big responsibility making something really special from the jam jar fabrics.  And I'm over the moon with what I received back, thanks again to Colleen.

Valentine's Day

 Happy Valentine's Day.  Celebrated on 14th February, Valentine was a priest who defied the orders of the Emperor and secretly married couples to spare the husbands from war.  He was martyred in 270 CE.  This is my first Valentine's Day without Robin.  We always used to do something special, go out to dinner, or in later years, out to lunch.  Or just stay home and cook a special meal.  Whatever we decided to do, the day was celebrated together in our own quiet way.  

As a quilter, I only have one quilt with hearts.  This is "Hearts of Love", made for our 25th Anniversary.  I put it on our bed during the months of February, to celebrate Valentine's Day, and again in November, the month we were married.

Hearts of Love

So this year is quite different for me, but I celebrate our love each day, lighting a candle in the evening for him.  There is a photo of Robin beside the bed, and I say a few words to him each evening, and pat his pillow before I go to sleep.  Little rituals which seem to help in the dark times.  But we had 41 years of marriage, that certainly is worth celebrating, and remembering the good times, our travels  and adventures together.