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Saturday, October 8, 2011

Kiwiana in the Caravan

I’m doing my bit to bring a little Kiwiana into the caravan.  I’ve been busy stitching away, trying to use up some left over pieces of New Zealand fabric.  Several years ago I made four quilt tops out of these sorts of fabrics.  These were then given away as gifts to my English quilting pen-friends during our UK trip in 2008.  Now at last I have my own  Kiwi inspired top, which I turned into a tablecloth for our caravan.  I think that those New Zealand prints all go so well together, with the black sashing.  There is a mixture of flora and fauna fabrics, and Maori designs.
DSCF7604 Caravan tablecloth
Hanging on the wall is my little kiwi wall-hanging.  This was made with a hand painted panel purchased from a market during a trip to the South Island.  I added borders in a burgundy fabric to tie it in with the soft furnishings.  Just a little machine quilting was needed to to finish it off, and here it is, my very own “golden kiwi”. 
DSCF1901 Kiwi wall-hanging in caravan
And hanging over the door is another tiny quilt with a New Zealand flavour.  The tree and flax panels were appliquéd onto a cream New Zealand fabric.  Can you see my kiwis up there on the ledge?
 DSCF7600New Zealand bush scene, where the kiwis like to hide
So that is my little bit of Kiwiana flavour in the caravan.    We are currently on our way to Hamilton to get some repairs done on the caravan, and staying at Turangi overnight. Just over the fence are 100 free range chickens, and they are delightful to watch as the go about their business. They scratch in the dirt, peck at the grass, and just enjoying being chickens the way they should be, instead of being cooped up in cages all their lives.  The owners showed us around the hen house, and we bought a dozen freshly laid free range eggs, still warm from the nesting boxes.  You can’t get much fresher than that, can you?
DSCF7646 Chickens at their self feeders
DSCF7649 In the nesting box
Both Robin and I feel that everyone should be proud of the country they live in.  New Zealand is often referred to as Godzone,  a running together of the words “God’s Own Country”.  You can follow our trip to Hamilton and back and catch up with our sightseeing adventures on our other blog: www.romanyrambler.blogspot.com

2 comments:

June said...

Oh Jenny you make me so envious! I love the idea of touring around the country, stopping at whatever takes your fancy - thank you for sharing all this with us. When I win lotto that's what I shall do - and I shall print off your two blogs to find good places to visit!

Lis Harwood said...

Great to see all that Kiwiana. You're right to be proud of the country you live in. Somehow things have gone wrong in England and it's not correct to promote Englishness, it's all very weird. I don't mind being British or a UK Citizen but I would love to be English and proud without any hassle.