Spinning Demo at Coffee Morning

The chill winter winds didn’t keep the lively bunch of ladies away from the Cancer Society Coffee Morning today.  Our guest speaker was Audrey, who talked to us about fleece and spinning.  In the old days, a spinner had to know a friendly farmer to get a fleece to spin.  Not so these days, all sorts of different wools, mixes, and even silk and linen is available for the home spinner to purchase.  There was a sample of  Gotland wool, the type of wool used to make the Magic Elven cloaks  in THe Lord of the Rings films.  These rare and unusual grey 'Stansborough Gotland' sheep, are the only flock of their kind in the world and produce fibre which is strong, soft and lustrous. Audrey passed around different varieties of wool for us to see and touch, including this long length of felting.

Audrey with her felting

Bags of different fibres available today

I was very interested to watch one of the ladies demonstrate a Ply Pull.  This handy little device makes yard without actually using a spinning wheel.

Using a Ply Pull

Audrey then did a spinning demonstration, and related how relaxing sitting at a spinning wheel can be.  It takes a bit of time to work out how to get the wool coming through nice and even but practice makes perfect, we were told.

Spinning demonstration

And wonder of wonders – who would know there was such a thing as an electric spinning wheel?  Not me, that’s for sure.  These electric machines take up a lot less room, and are handy for people who can not use the foot pedals on a standard spinning wheel.

Electric spinning machine

We had a nice morning tea, and I bought a raffle ticket for a bread-maker and a basket of goodies.  Then I checked out the sales table and  found a jar of home made marmalade waiting for me to buy it and take it home.  It was a very pleasant get-together, as always. 

At last – new cushions

I had been meaning to get these cushions done for quite some time.  I had the fabric sitting there patiently waiting, a left over piece of the sitting room curtain fabric.  And I had already purchased the cushion inners, and a reel of matching green thread.  So all I had to do was just “get on with it”.

Once I started, it really didn’t take too long at all.  Just measure, slice the fabric with my rotary cutter, and pin it all together.  Have to admit that I’m a great pinner, more is always better in my book.  I know some sewers who hardly pin at all, but that’s not my way.  There, all done, and Muffy has given the new cushions her seal of approval.

Two cushions and a cat

They weren’t in the least bit fancy.  No zips, piping, or ruffles, just quite plain with a deep folded over flap opening in the back, if you know what I mean.  And I can’t say, like they do on TV,  that nothing was hurt in the making of these cushions.  Just look what happened to my handy green plastic point turner which I used while trying to get those corners to behave.

   Oh dear, the point broke off

This handy implement was from my KnitWit sewing days, and would not be available now, I imagine.  Wonder how many of you did this kind of stretch sewing all those years ago?  Then I discovered patchwork and quilting and haven’t looked back.

Scatterdays - M

Today Scatterdays are featuring the letter “M”.  The categories are sport, foreign, animal, and a modern quilt.  Mmm, let’s see what I can do with these categories.

Sport – Miniature Golf.  Those who know me, are only too aware that I am not in the least bit sporty.  In fact, my hubby often comments that he wishes I would sit down in front of the TV and watch rugby games with him, to keep him company.  Sadly  for him, it is just not my thing at all.  But I have played some rounds of miniature golf in my life, usually with a group of friends when we have been out for the day.  Guess my friends who organise these  outings are not aware how much I really dislike this game, and just join in to “go with the flow”. Can’t really be a bad sport when someone else has organised a fun outing for us all, can I?

 

Miniature Golf Course

Foreign – Monarchs of Britain.  My handy little book, “Kings and Queens, an illustrated guide to British Monarchs” was purchased in the “foreign” country of Great Britain during our Big OE in 2008, from the Royal Mews Shop.  This lovely shop just around the corner from Buckingham Palace offers a wide range of exclusive gift items inspired by the Royal Mews and works of art in the Royal Collection. I have used my little book extensively while watching history programmes on TV, and it helps me sort out exactly who is who in the royal line.  Information begins with the ancient British chiefs, the Roman rulers, and the royal houses of Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales.  It shows the genealogical charts for the different royal houses, and is full of all sorts of fascinating facts.  With 8 Edwards, 8 Henrys, 6 Georges, 4 Williams, 3 Richards, and a smattering of Charles, James, and Marys, my tiny book has been well worth the 4 pound 99 pence I paid for it.  In fact, it has been one of my best buys of our trip.  You can tell I’m a bit of a British  royal history fan!

My well thumbed book of British Monarchs

Animal – Muffy.  I can’t really go past our much loved Seal Point Birman Muffy, can I?  She is now 17 years old, and comes away on caravan trips with us.  Sadly, we have just learned that she has kidney troubles, not uncommon with older cats, but we hope she will still be with us for quite some time.

 

Muffy on the caravan bed

There is a lovely legend about this breed.  Originally, the guardians of the temple of Lao-Tsun were yellow eyed cats with long hair. The golden goddess of the temple, Tsun-Kyan-Kse, had deep blue eyes. The head priest, Mun-Ha, had as his companion a beautiful cat named Sinh.  One day the  temple was attacked and Mun-Ha was killed. At the moment of his death, Sinh placed his feet on his master and faced the goddess. The cat's white fur took on a golden cast, his eyes turned as blue as the eyes of the goddess, and his paws, legs and tail became the colour of earth. However, his paws, where they touched the priest, remained white as a symbol of purity. All the other temple cats became similarly coloured.  Seven days later, Sinh died, taking the soul of Mun-Ha to paradise.

Modern Quilts.  Just what is  a “Modern quilt”?  It seems to be defined by the use of colour, bold patterns, negative space, solids and the dramatic, minimalist flair.  The quilting could be traditional stippling, clean straight lines or a very “free” have fun, quilt as you go style.  Modern quilters work in different styles and define modern quilting in different ways, but several characteristics often appear -  the use of bold colours and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid colour, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work.  Here in New Zealand, the modern quilt movement seems to have quite a following, with the formation of the Auckland Modern Quilt Guild.  There could well be other groups throughout the country.

Am I a “modern” quilter?  No, I don’t think so, which means that I have not made a quilt in this style.  But taking the word “modern” to mean instead “newest and most recently completed”, I can show my “Angels to Watch Over You”  quilt.  A Susan Claire design, it is a combination of angel stitchery blocks and appliquéd stars.  I made in anticipation for when one of my grand-daughters present me with a great-grand-daughter.  They were not too impressed when I told them that!

“Angels to Watch Over You”

That’s all from me this time.  Perhaps you would like to check what the other bloggers are doing with the letter “M”.  You can find their links on the side bar of Cinzia’s blog.

Down at the Station

Down at the station – that’s where Krazy Cow quilt shop is situated, the quilt shop has taken over  the former Levin Railway Station.  Trains rush past without stopping,  except for the early morning and evening commuter train.  I called into the Krazy Cow again today to take part in the Thursday stitching group.

Krazy Cow, in the former Levin Railway Station

Luchelle had brought in her raggy Christmas wreath to show us.  Strips of Christmas fabric are ripped, one end is knotted, then stuck into a slit in the wreath.  It looks great, perhaps I will have a go at making one before the Christmas season.

Raggy Christmas Wreath

I had taken my Christmas Stars quilt in to get a bit of machine quilting advice.  So far I have quilted in the ditch around each block, then quilted through each star, but wasn’t sure how to complete it.  The advice was to stitch a large stipple in the other blocks, then Luchelle and I will get together to decide on how to tackle the borders.  Sounds good to me, I’ll just have to get busy quilting now.

My Christmas Stars quilt

Ann is quite a new quilter and has really been bitten by the quilting bug.  After making a lovely cot quilt, she is ready to tackle a table runner for her daughter, to be made from a great selection of batik fabrics.  But first she needed a couple of lessons on how to use a rotary cutter safely. (I remember when I first started quilting, the teacher warned us never to cut towards us, as we could sever an artery.  That's something I’ve never forgotten, as those blades are really sharp.)   With her strips cut out, Ann then got started on piecing the table runner.

Ann working with her lovely Batik fabrics

The door bell rang as customers popped in, including my friend Robyn, and her friend visiting  from Dunedin.  Needless to say we had plenty to chat about, and Robyn’s friend (sorry, although introduced, I can’t remember her name) was after a few fabrics to take to a Gloria Loughman landscape class.  So Robyn and I had to add our input too, of course.

Another customer called in to show her recently completed Kombi Van quilt.  Janice made this beauty for her nephew who will be using this quilt in his own Kombi van when he goes away on camping trips.

Kombi van quilt

Shop owner Trish was working on a very interesting quilt on her long arm machine.  The panels features a selection of rather posh cocktails of all sorts with their descriptions, and was stitched by a non drinker, I was told.  And why not – a bit like having a drink when you are not drinking, just like a Claytons.  

Trish working on the Cocktail quilt

I usually seem to pick up a quilting tip or two from the very knowledgeable Luchelle at these stitching mornings at Krazy Cow.  Not to mention a delicious coffee from the Coffee Cart to enjoy with my lunch.  Thanks ladies, it was fun again, as usual.   

More Secret Sewing

The weather has been rather wet in my part of the world over the weekend.  Not that I’m complaining, it’s just the right sort of conditions to spend some time in my sewing room.  And I’ve been busy doing some more secret sewing.  There are a few of these little cuties involved.

Hello Teddy

And I’ve been using some of my sewing themed fabrics which I had tucked away for a rainy day.

Sewing themed fabric

As well, I’ve thrown in a few floral fabrics and ribbons into the mix too.

I’ve added these as well

Wonder if you can guess what I’ve been up to?  It goes without saying that secret sewing is all about stitching gifts for friends – my quilting pen friends in this case.  When I have mailed out the last birthday gift I’ll share a photo or two of what I’ve been stitching.  I wouldn’t want to spoil their surprise now, would I!

I’ve also been busy in the kitchen over the last few days, the wet weather encouraged me to make two pots of soup, pumpkin, with a little curry and bacon for a lift, and broccoli and cheese.  I love making soup in the winter, there is nothing more comforting that a nice big pot of soup simmering away on the stove top.  And I’ve purchased some nice meaty bacon bones for yet another pot of soup, this time with split peas, barley and lots of vegetables.  My baking morning wasn’t quite so successful when I decided to whip up a batch of cream puffs (choux pastry) for visitors.  I’ve made these quite successfully in the past, but this time they were an out and out failure.  Never mind, I’ll give that recipe another try shortly and keep my fingers crossed for better results.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend, and spending time doing what you enjoy too.

Stitching Day at Krazy Cow

I enjoyed another stitching day at Krazy Cow today.  I had intended to get out some machining to do, but ran out of time to sort through my extensive UFO pile.  So in the end I didn’t take my sewing machine with me.  My light box got an outing instead and I spent some time tracing off a stitchery pattern.  Then of course I had my old faithful Christmas stitchery to work on.

New quilter Helen attended the stitching day for the first time with a very striking pink and lime green quilt with a colourful ladybird feature fabric.    Not only was this her first quilt, but she had put it together all by herself, and had started straight line machine quilting.  She had the binding stitched on by the end of the day, and just had to hand stitch it down on the back.  A wonderful effort for a first quilt indeed.  This pretty quilt is a gift for Helen’s little grand-daughter. 

Helen and her first quilt

Ann had been busy practising her free motion machine quilting at home all week.  Our teacher Luchelle had even more tips to give, so I pricked my ears up too.  Even though I have been quilting for some time, I am certainly no expert.  One tip I picked up was to bring the bobbin thread up to the top, something that I never seem to do.   Luchelle also gave us some tips on applying quilt binding that I did not know about. 

Luchelle demonstrating machine quilting to Ann

Customers wandered in to the shop, and down to the classroom area to see what everyone was doing.  I bought my self a new Clover “quick-unpick”, and a delicious coffee to have with my home packed lunch.  There is nothing nicer than the smell of freshly brewed coffee, is there.  After lunch Luchelle showed us a couple of her art quilts, constructed of tiny pieces of fabrics and lace glued down then held in place with  free motion machine quilting. 

“Mannequin” art quilt

Another lovely morning spent at Krazy Cow, then we spent the afternoon trying to find ourselves a new doctor.  Seems that doctors are in short supply in our new home town, and we will probably have to go on a waiting list, and keep visiting our previous doctor back in the Hutt Valley for a while.  We will just have to keep our fingers crossed.

Back where she Belongs

My Holly Hobble is back where she belongs, hanging out in the laundry in our new home.  To tell the truth, it’s not really a laundry – rather just a corner in the garage.  But the tub and washing machine fit snugly side by side, and Holly now watches over the laundry activities once again.  After several months packed away in a plastic crate, she is sure to be happy to see the light of day again.

“Washday”

This little wall-hanging was made in a class taught at Thimbles and Threads quilt shop way back in 1994.  Holly has been very busy, hanging out her little quilt, a pair of long pantaloons and her apron with her tiny wooden pegs on the clothesline.  I didn’t realise that this was a hand appliqué class, and stitched my pieces down with machine blanket stitch.  Goodness knows what the tutor thought of that - it’s a wonder I wasn’t thrown out of the class!

Happy Mothers Day

Yesterday was Mothers Day.  It is celebrated at different times throughout the world, I understand.  But here in New Zealand our day is the second Sunday in May.  We had a quiet morning at home, and I got to open the gift which my daughter Nicky had delivered several weeks ago when she called in on the way to her home in the country.  It was in a pretty little gift box tied up in ribbon.

Gift box – wonder what’s inside?

Inside was a selection of hand made soap, all smelling rather wonderful.  And very special too, because I know that Nicky had made them herself.

Hand made soap

We then drove down to Waikanae to take Robin’s mother out for lunch.  She is the last one of this generation left in our family, and will be 90 next birthday.  Melt Cafe was very busy indeed doing a roaring business on this special day as family groups with their Mums in tow, sadly many on walkers as was Robin’s Mum,  arrived for their celebratory lunches.  Bottles of wine arrived at the various tables, the waiting staff deftly delivered plates of food, then coffees, and gifts were given to some lucky Mums.

Robin and his Mum

After opening her own gift, we then all got on with the serious business of studying the menu. Whitebait and Bluff oysters sounded great – but were so expensive, so we sadly passed them by. Our choices were finally made, and we sat back and waited expectantly for our lunch to arrive.  And we weren’t disappointed.  We tucked into an omelette filled with smoked chicken for Bonnie, Eggs Benedict with  Marlborough salmon for me, and burger and chips for Robin.

I had a phone call from both my son and daughter in the evening, and spoke to the grand-daughters as well, so that was nice.  My son Michael has been very consistent for many years in his views that Mother's Day is a load of commercial clap-trap and he is not taking part in it at all.  But he has a new lady in his life now who is rather appalled by his views, so who knows, I may finally get a card and a gift next year!  But as every Mum knows, it’s not about the presents at all, but about being remembered on this special day.  Hope everyone else had a nice day with their families.  

Scatterdays V

Scatterdays this time are brought to you by the letter “V”.  The categories are colour, pointy, weather, and a vibrant quilt.  Now, the letter V is not the easiest to work with, but I came up with these thoughts.

Colour -  Viridian:  Viridian is a blue-green colour.  The name is from the Latin word viridis, meaning green, and the first recorded use of viridian as a colour name in English was in the 1860s. 

 

I just happened to have a fat quarter of this blue-green fabric in my stash.  And all this time I wasn’t aware what the colour was called!

Viridian and white fabric

Pointy – Versailles – La Galerie des Glaces:  The Palace of Versailles was the official residence of the Kings of France from 1682 until 1790.  The beautiful Hall of Mirrors is the central gallery of the Palace of Versailles and is renowned as being one of the most famous rooms in the world. 17 large chandeliers and 26 smaller ones, each  made of solid silver are hung in this remarkable hall - there would be plenty of pointy bits in all these lovely chandeliers. 

 

 

We visited Versailles on a “whistle-stop” European tour in 1999.  You know the type, six countries in eight days, rush, rush, in and out of the coach while you are trying to catch your breath.  Versailles was amazing, we did not realise just how huge it was until we were there.  At the gates were hawkers holding out long books of postcards trailing to the ground for the tourists to buy.  So we did – lots of lovely pictures to bring back memories of our trip.

  Books of French Postcards

Weather – Vanes:  We haven’t got a weather vane, but if we did, we would probably want want just like this.  The company even do one with a kangaroo on top for our cousins across the Tasman.  Gubba On-line store states that every weather vane is made with care in New Zealand, sand cast using traditional methods, then powder coated.

Kiwi Weather Vane

Vibrant quilt:  That’s a bit hard, I don’t really consider my quilts as vibrant.  I’m more into  “pinks and greens” I suppose.  But I had a look through my photo collection, and the most colourful and vibrant one I could find was “There’s Music in the Stars”.  This was made as a 40th birthday gift for my son,the stars and flying geese are from graduated coliur range, and the alternate blocks features a music print.  This was subsequently returned to me (never used) when he moved house.  It has since found a new home with my  teenage great nephew. 

 

There’s Music in the Stars

That’s all from me this time.  Perhaps you would like to check what the other bloggers are doing with the letter “V”.  You can find their links on the side bar of Cinzia’s blog.

Stitching Day at Krazy Cow

I was so pleased to discover that the local quilt shop Krazy Cow has a weekly stitching day.  This lovely shop is in the old Railway Station, south end of Levin.  I attended my first stitching day there yesterday, joining two other ladies.  The numbers vary week by week, I was told, so I was happy to pick a quiet day for my introduction.

Krazy Cow quilt shop

Luchelle was on duty to help with anything the ladies needed, and she was kept busy offering help and friendly advice.  Jenny (not me, a new quilter), was planning to make an appliquéd elephant cot quilt and wasn’t quite sure of colour choices, and what went with what.  Jenny and Luchelle spent quite some time perusing the shelves, pulling various bolts of fabrics out and laying them on the table.  Luchelle explained to Jenny that a little contrast was needed to make the quilt “pop”.  The final choice was a selection of blues and greens with a white background, and red for the accent colour.  This will be an original design, so it will be interesting to watch Jenny’s progress.

Fabrics for elephant quilt

Ann was also working on cot quilts, and had two pieced tops with her.  One of them was laid out and safety pinned up ready for machine quilting.  Luchelle then helped Ann set her machine up ready for free motion quilting.  I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation.  “Drop the feed dogs”, Ann was instructed.  “Feed dogs?  I didn’t know I had any”, was her reply.  It wasn’t too long before Ann was trying her new skills on a practice piece so that she could get the hang of it, before she attempted her first lot of machine quilting on her cot quilt.

Ann’s teddy bear cot quilt

I wasn’t too sure what the day entailed, so just took some hand stitching along, plus my knitting bag.  First I got a mending job out of the way, and pinned up the hem on my blouse ready to re-stitch.  The blouse had elastic stitched into the hem, but I didn’t feel that was particularly flattering so I chopped it off.  Then I did some more work on my “Red Brolly” design Christmas stitchery.

Some more stitching added to this

Krazy Cow offers a commercial machine quilting service, and the owner was busy quilting a customer’s quilt, serving customers and making hot coffee as required.

Machine quilter in action

In between times I had a good look around the shop, there is a great selection of fabrics, notions and patterns on display.  I purchased some thread so I can get cracking and make new cushion covers for our new house.  And bought a lovely hot freshly brewed coffee to enjoy with my sandwiches for lunch.

The shop advertising says, “Take your time, enjoy your stay, have a chat, an espresso or hot chocolate and come back as often as you like. You will always be made to feel welcome”.  I can confirm that I was made very welcome indeed, and will certainly be returning regularly. 

Town and Country Quilters Club-night

I went along for my second meeting at my local quilt club last night, the Town and Country Quilters.  The club held their AGM last month, and the new committee was introduced to the meeting. 

Town and Country Quilters banner

Some of the members recently attended a table runner class organised by the club and brought along their completed runners for “Show and Tell”.  It is always interesting to see how different the same pattern looks in different colour palettes. I imagine the table runners were made to fit in with the decor at each particular home.

Selection of table runners

There is a huge amount of work in this lovely Christmas Block of the Month quilt.  Each appliqué block is composed of many pieces, are beautifully embellished.  This will be a family heirloom, I’m sure.

Christmas BOM quilt

Close-up of reindeer block

Another interesting quilt was inspired by Greit Lombard’s “Block-a-Day” quilt which was featured in the New Zealand Quilter magazine.  This version is just as much work, with each block combining both hand and machine stitching, then joined together with feather stitch, and finished with a Suffolk Puff at each intersection.  This definitely required quite a close study to appreciate the different stitching in each block.

   Block-a-Day quilt

Seems there was a story behind this pretty pastel quilt.  It started off looking quite different, but the maker encountered a hiccough along the way, and it evolved into this design.  Nothing wrong with that at all, making the finished quilt original and rather unique.

Pretty pastel quilt

No speaker was arranged for this monthly meeting, and people were encouraged to spend some time over supper doing hand work.  Out came the knitting needles, some stitcheries, a little appliqué, and a binding or two stitched down.  There were plenty of books on offer at the club library, I must investigate this next month when hopefully I will be accepted as a fully fledged member.   This club seems to be very vibrant with friendly ladies, and I look forward to attending the monthly meetings, and getting to know the members.

Secret Sewing

I’ve been doing some secret sewing lately for a gift for a friend.  Some of it looked like this.    It is all made of strips, and included in this piece is a brown strip with jars of buttons, and a green strip with little golden bells.  Wonder what it is going to be?

Part of the secret sewing

Did you guess?  Here is my secret sewing, all finished – two double handed oven mitts with hessian backing.  One was done in mainly greens and the other in shades of lilac.

Two oven mitts

I made them for my friend Dot.  The green one is for Derek and Dot’s kitchen in their new house, and the lilac one will tone in  nicely with the colours of their motor-home.

I think she likes them!

As well as sewing these for Dot, I have been spending a little time at the sewing machine.  Nothing quilty, I’m sorry to say, just a whole lot of mending.  I’ve hemmed a new pair of fleecy winter trousers I purchased, I’m not short but I always need to chop several inches off the legs.  Then I fixed a blouse, a nightie, and mended Robin’s shorts.  Just little jobs, but they all took time.  I’ve got lots of things that I want to get on with, you wouldn’t believe how many UFOs and WIPs I have!

Helpful Hubby

We had quite a productive day today doing teamwork.  I told Robin where I wanted various pictures hung on the walls, and he measured distances, applied hooks to the wall, and used the level to make sure that they were hanging straight.  Some old favourites were released from their protective bubble wrap, and and now hanging on our bedroom walls.  It was good to see them again after all these months of being packed away.

Our wedding photo went up first, closely followed by my silk ribbon Fuchsia Sampler, my first and only time at stitching with silk ribbon.  I made this in a class at Thimbles and Threads back in 1995.  Although I am quite slow doing hand stitching it was a very enjoyable class, and was really pleased with the finished project.

Silk Ribbon Fuchsia Sampler

Now, who are these two little cuties hanging on the bedroom wall?  That’s my sister Kathleen on the left, and me on the right.  Big sister Kathleen was 4, and I was aged 3 when this photo was taken.  I was a blue eyed blond back then.

Sisters Kathleen and Jenny

Next up on the wall was my small “Pink and Grey Pussies”.  I did this little wall hanging at quilt night classes held at Taita College many years ago, so far back that I didn’t even put a date on the back.  This was the first time that I had used the “flip and sew” technique sewing the pieces over a numbered printed cotton pattern.  This made stitching these small pieces very simple and accurate.

Pink and Grey Pussies

After a couple more family photos went up on the walls, the next thing on my list was the tapestry picture which went up in my sewing room.  This pretty floral picture was stitched for me by my sister Kathleen for my 60th birthday. 

  Hanging in the sewing room

So that is a few more things up on the walls, but there are still more pictures and wall hangings to be found homes.  Guess we will be doing more teamwork over the next few days to get this job completed.