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Sunday, January 10, 2021

Aotearoa Blooming

This wall hanging was actually completed just prior to Christmas, so I can claim it as a 2020 finish, just didn’t have time to blog about it during the Christmas rush.  Aotearoa Blooming features nine stitchery blocks, adapted from Jenny Hunter’s applique patterns, which were printed in the New Zealand Quilter magazine in the late 1990s. 

After bookmarking these patterns in the magazines for such a long time, I decided that I would prefer to do them as stitcheries.  The first of the prepared blocks came along on our 10 week South Island caravan holiday back in early 2018.  There is nothing nicer than sitting in a campsite, enjoying the fresh air and stitching away.  The first block completed was the Pururi Wreath.  I decided to use the same dark green thread in all the blocks, and it was my mission to call into several hand craft shops as we traveled around, looking for more of this particular colour perle thread.

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Pururi Wreath

This was always going to be a slow stitching project and I mainly stitched these blocks while away on caravan trips.  When all the stitcheries were finally completed, I assembled the quilt top, adding borders using cream fabric printed with New Zealand flowers for the borders.  Then I decided that as the blocks were all hand stitched, I should hand quilt this project as well.  So I did, stitching away from time to time, in-between other projects..  Finally, I was finished, added the binding, the hanging sleeve, and a label.  All done!

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Front and back

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Hanging in place

Aotearoa Blooming was a joy to stitch, one block at a time. Trees and flowers featured are puriri, puawananga clematis, poroporo, kowhai, pohutukawa, alpine buttercup, Chatham island forget-me-not, karaka, kotukutuku.  Many thanks to the very talented Jenny Hunter for her beautiful designs.

In case you are wondering, Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand, meaning “Land of the Long White Cloud”.


21 comments:

Gretchen Weaver said...

Beautiful! I can imagine you sitting under a tree, peacefully embroidering, savoring the warm air. How relaxing, happy stitching!

ButterZ said...

Just lovely Jenny. A great project to slowly work on.

Ivani said...

Such a smart idea. Aotearoa Blooming quilt is gorgeous and I love your embroidery blocks Jenny. Well done!!! Congrats for a lovely finish.
Happy Slow Sunday Stitching. Keep Safe.

Mayleen said...

Your wall hanging is beautiful! Thank you for explaining what the word Aotearoa means!

Maria said...

I remember seeing you stitch away on these blocks on your travels...
A beautiful wall hanging. Gorgeous stitching on the blocks and your hand quilting is lovelyperfect finish to the wall hanging.

Kim said...

Jenny, your Aotearoa Blooming quilt is stunning! So much time, effort and love has gone into each of the beautiful blocks. The flower fabric bordering the blocks is a lovely choice. Looking at this quilt I get a sense of many a joyful hour spent stitching this pretty whilst you were camping and enjoying the gorgeousness of the New Zealand scenery. Love the cross hatching quilting, too. Love the touch of the floral fabric on the back. Aotearoa Blooming is truly a spectacular quilt and I must say it looks perfect displayed on your loungeroom wall.

Julierose said...

That is a beautiful wall hanging--Amazing work you did making the blocks in embroideries instaed of piecing them out of cloth...hugs Julierose

CathieJ said...

I love that you have finally finished this piece. It is so very pretty.

Deb A said...

That is just beautiful! I love your hanging quilt rod. I really need to start hanging my quilts up.

The Cozy Quilter said...

Beautiful! Wonderful memories of your camping trips in those blocks.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

that is some very good embroidery - nice to see it up up on the wall now

Kathy S. said...

Such a gorgeous wall hanging! Congrats on your finish. :) Happy new year!

Quilter Kathy said...

So beautiful! And it has so many memories of your travels!
Congratulations on finishing... that's a lot of stitches!

Joanne in Massachusetts said...

Congratulations, a spectacular finish. It looks lovely on your wall...and Gemma sitting pretty as well.

Karrin Hurd said...

Beautiful stitching, and beautiful quilt! Great work! Happy Stitching!

Janice said...

How lovely it looks hanging above your couch. It must be so satisfying seeing it finished after all the work you put into it.

Jackie said...

So very pretty. I love how neatly you did all the stitching and hanging it where all can see it is marvelous.

God bless.

Deb said...

Your stitching is beautiful and the finished wall hanging is gorgeous.

Sarah said...

I agree there's nothing nicer than sitting outside and stitching! What a beautiful finish and it looks lovely hanging on the wall.

Birthe Marie said...

Wow! This wall hanging is so pretty!

Karen S said...

I remember you showing these as you stitched them in your travels. So lovely to see them all together and looking wonderful in the wall hanging.