Chookshed Challenge Number 9

 May has been a difficult month for stitching, what with catching Covid and two caravan trips away.  But I've persevered and almost finished May's Challenge, which is number 9.  On my list this was a whole bunch of house blocks I has stitched up quite some time ago, and left sitting, all lonely and waiting......  These were made from 2.5in strips, using what I had to hand.

Something I prepared much earlier - plenty of house blocks

By the middle of the month I had stitched three rows, so that was a good start.  And today, I have finished the quilt top, so I'm pleased about that.

Quilt top finished

The top needs a border, just to finish it off, so I'll probably need to purchase some suitable fabric.  And there are nine remaining blocks, enough to make a little baby quilt.

Anzac Day in Sanson

 Anzac Day unites Kiwis everywhere, both home and abroad, remembering those service men and women who fought to protect us during times of war, often paying the ultimate sacrifice.  We are on a weekend caravan club rally at Mt Lees Scenic Reserve, and four of us drove down to Sanson to attend the Anzac Day service this morning.  The first part of the service was held by the War Memorial, and the band came marching towards us.

An elderly gentleman who seemed to have mobility problems stood and bravely played the Last Post - I spoke to him later and told him how wonderful it was to hear.  Several wreaths were laid on the memorial then people were invited to add their poppies.   The final part of the service was held indoors, followed  by a very welcome cuppa and lovely morning tea.  

One of the wreaths was from the "Woolly Blessings" so I was keen to find out a little about this group.  Seems it is a group of ladies who meet weekly to knit and crochet in the local church hall, and I was very welcome to join them, they assured me.  What a shame I'm not a local, they seem such a lovely friendly group of ladies.  Their wreath was make from knitted poppies, and had the name of the group done in cross stitch.  Well worth sharing with you all, I thought.

Made with love from the Woolly Blessings

Lest We Forget

Sew Wot Tuesday

 After missing the previous get-together because of getting Covid, it was lovely to catch up again this Tuesday.  Sandra was our hostess today.  Everyone arrived, and we settled down, chatting away.  There were magazines to look through and take home, and plenty of Show and Tell, lots of knitting to start with.  I had taken along the blue jacket I had made for baby Jack, and Helen had knitted a lovely shaded blue and brown little vest.

Baby knitting by me and Helen

Sandra had knitted this pretty pink cardigan

This interesting design was knitted by Heather

Carol had made an assortment of knitted toys band wooly hats

There were a couple of quilts too.  I had taken along two recent finishes, Dorothy's Nine Patches and my horse panel quilt.

My two recent finishes

Sandra had finished a donation quilt, such an interesting design.

And a donation quilt from Heather too

Helen had found a long forgotten interesting panel in her stash.  This was for "board" games, all finished now, and she just needs to get some counters to go with them.

Snakes and Ladders, and Checkers

Morning Tea was served, and Sandra's grand-daughter helped with getting the orders for hot drinks, and passing plates of goodies around.  We certainly do so enjoy our delicious morning teas.

Morning Tea is served

Helen was having a clean out and had brought along some flannel pieces looking for a new home.  I gladly took them home to use as backings for my children's donation quilts.

Cozy flannel pieces

Many thanks to Sandra for her hospitality, we all had a lovely morning.  And we will do it all again in two weeks time.

Knitting for Jack, and Happy Birthday Gemma

 There's a new baby in the extended family.  Robin's siter Kaye recently became a grandmother for the first time, when baby Jack arrived.  That was exciting news, making Jack our great nephew, I think.  I had already sent the new Mum and baby a colourful baby quilt, and then decided to knit him something.  Time was moving on, and babies grow so quickly, don't they.

I decided to knit the cozy little Jessie Jacket, designed by Kiwi Stitch and Knit Co..  This is knitted in a combination of stocking stitch and garter stitch, and has a little rolled edge collar.

What was really interesting about this pattern is that it was knitted in one piece, starting at the lower back, up the sleeves, then down each front.  I had never seen a pattern like this before, and it was surprisingly easy to knit.

Knitted in one piece

I really enjoyed knitting this little jacket, and will probably knit it again.  Perhaps for one of my great grandies, if and when they arrive.  Then again, it's always a good idea to have a little something tucked away, just in case, isn't it.

And....... our beautiful Birman Gemma turned 6 this week, goodness, aren't the years flying by.  We celebrated her birthday with a piece of cake each for us, and a new toy for her.  She likes soft toys which bounce, and often tears around the house in the evenings when we throw the ball.  

Cake for us and Gemma's new toy

Mellow Yellow

 It's time for a little yellow sewing - according to the RSC rules, yellow is the colour of the month.  I'm stitching several Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects, so out came the bags.  First up were the pirate blocks.  These aren't going to be done in every colour of the rainbow.  Rather, I'm picking out several colours which are featured in  the pirate fabric, and so far have done green and red.  This month is yellow, and I have light and dark blue to go, when their turn arrives.  That was easy.  

Three pirate blocks

Also easy was the four patch framed blocks set I'm making.  There was only one four patch block in my bag which had a bit of yellow in it.  Plenty of others waiting in the wings, I noticed some pink and blue four patches patiently  waiting.  These small four patch blocks in mostly novelty children's fabrics were stitched up a couple of  years ago when I was sorting through some smaller squares.

Next up were Happy Blocks, featuring a little yellow.  These are fun to make, and easy peasy too.  There are bird houses, dots, flowers and cute little yellow bunnies.  I've actually got a set of both boys and girls Happy Blocks from 2023 RSC still to assemble.  Plus......how many more block sets tucked away?  Oh dear, they are all mounting up.

Happy Blocks and Framed Four Patch

Now we have tested clear from Covid, we have had a busy week.  My annual mammogram had to be rescheduled from when I was in home lock down, so I'm pleased I could get in so promptly.  I consider myself very fortunate to get these free annual mammograms, a follow up from having  breast cancer several years ago.  Here in New Zealand the free mammograms come to an end at age 69.  I opted for a private paid mammogram the following year, and after years of getting clear results, this was the the one which showed I had a problem.  Money well spent, and I was soon in the hospital system getting treatment.  

Off for my test

Inside the x-ray room I discovered a pretty little heart quilt on the wall, obviously made for a friend who had been diagnosed with  BC and loaned or donated to this facility.  Such a lovely though.

Hanging in the breast screening rooms

Chookshed Challenge mid April

 It's time to see how I've  been doing on the Chookshed Challenge for April.  The number chosen this month is number 9, which in my case is my House Blocks from some years ago.  I've looked back through earlier blogs and just can't find any mention of these, probably made back in the mists of time.  These were made from 2.5 inch strips with flip and sew roofs and are my own design.    There are heaps of them of all colours, just made from strips, and they have  been hiding in a basket all this time.

House blocks

I also made a few pieced tree blocks, for some added interest.  Plus a handful of green strips I had cut for a long ago mystery quilt, which didn't happen.  These will be added to the bottom of each block.

Tree blocks

I'm a bit late starting this project this month.  We were away on a 10 day caravan trip over Easter, and sadly we both  returned home with Covid.  The next two weeks were spent coughing, sleeping, and not doing very much at all.  You know you are not well when the highlight of your day is going to bed for an afternoon nap.   But we are slowly coming right, and I've done a little sewing this week.  I've assembled three rows so far, so that's not a  bad start, all things considered.

Three strips assembled so far

I'll keep working away assembling these rows, with the aim to have a quilt top by the end of the month.  But if I can't achieve that, it won't really matter, will it, I'll just do the best I can.

Dorothy's Nine Patches

This month the RSC colour has changed to yellow, but I'm not quite finished with purple yet.  I decided if I didn't keep plodding away on this project, it would be put away, out of sight, and forgotten about.  I know I've mentioned my former neighbour Dorothy many times, and the fact that when she moved away to go into a rest home her daughter gave me a couple of boxes of quilting fabrics.  Tucked in the bottom of one of the boxes were a pile of nine patch blocks.  I  assembled these blocks using white sashing, left over coloured squares for the corner stones, and some of Dorothy's purple floral fabric for the borders.

On the design bed

Prior to our Easter trip I had pinned the quilt layers together, and had done about half of the machine quilting.  We had a lovely ten days away in our caravan, but sadly we contacted Covid on the last day or two and brought it home with us.  For the first week home from our trip I was too fatigued to do much at all.  You know you are not well when the highlight of your day is taking an afternoon nap! And we needed to take ourselves off to bed by 8.00pm most nights, so we were really feeling sorry for ourselves.  

By week two I was starting to feel a little brighter and managed a little machine quilting each day.  That is, when Gemma decided I could!  After all, wasn't that nice warm quilt sitting on the sewing cabinet just for her to cuddle up on?

Time to move, Gemma

A quiet afternoon or two saw the pink binding hand stitched down, and there -  it's all done.  This will be a donation quilt.  With this project done and dusted, I can start thinking about RSC yellow next week.

All finished

Easter Weekend in Napier

 You know what it's like when you set off on holiday - you seem to have all the time in the world and then it's all over.  We were attending our caravan club rally in Napier, with plenty of plans, people to see, things to do, plus a little shopping.  It didn't all fall nicely into place though.  On my "must do list" was a visit to Skeinz, a local company which spins their own wool.  I had found a pretty 6ply cardigan pattern for myself and was after some yarn.   Of course there were several lovely colours available, but I couldn't resist this soft blue, nice and squishy in big 100gr balls.  Call me predictable but I really can't go past blue.

A new garment for me

My other purchase there was a ball of knitting cotton in a nice burgundy shade.  I'll be knitting a couple of cotton dishcloths for the caravan from this, our caravan upholstery is in this colourway.  Not that it really matters just for a dishcloth or two, but whatever makes me happy, I guess.

I can see a couple of dishcloths coming

My other purchase was a tea towel for the caravan, very cute I thought.

We had a busy five days in Napier, and had planned to meet up with my late sister's daughter Lisa and her adult children one day for lunch.  Sadly that didn't go as planned as Lisa was sick and the lunch date was cancelled.  But we slotted in a lunch with our caravan friends at Silky Oak, a wonderful chocolate cafe instead.

Robin enjoying his iced chocolate

We took our caravan buddies Helen and Owen to Birdwoods, a "new to them place".  There is a lovely little cottage on site and we had often mentioned this cutest little lolly shop to them.  Oh no, they said, we are not buying any lollies! And guess who walked out the door with a bag full, firmly clutched in his hands?   We were in need of a coffee after all this excitement, so went into the rather posh Birdwoods cafe.  We were escorted to our table, and a friendly young waitress came and took our order.  We noticed a group of ladies partaking in High Tea with the gorgeous tiered tray full of delectable morsels.  But when we inquired the cost per person, we gulped and decided no, it would have to be a really special occasion to warrant that price.

Jenny, Robin, Owen and Helen

Another morning we went to the local market.  What a crowd there was, families with kids, people with dogs and plenty of golden oldies like us.  My aim was to purchase some fresh seasons apples, found them easily enough.  Then we did some cheese tasting, and three lots of cheese jumped into our bag.  Some nice fresh bread rolls for our lunch, and some beef from the meat stall, and that was our lot.  We came away feeling quite pleased with our purchases.

Farmers Market

Our caravan club members shared Easter Buns for Afternoon Tea one day, and Easter Eggs another day.  And I'm pleased to report that the Easter Bunny tracked us down in the caravan to deliver a delicious Lindt Golden Bunny to us both.

One for him, and one for me

Gemma had a fine old time relaxing with us outside the caravan when the weather allowed, firmly contained with her harness and lead, of course.  She loves popping into any open lockers she can find, here she is checking out Owen's locker, which was handily left open.  

Wonder what is in here?

Napier City suffered a devastating earthquake in February 1931, with 256 deaths and many thousands injured.  The city was levelled, and fires burned in the city for 36 hours before finally dying out.  The sea floor and beach rose 2.7m and the present Napier Airport  stands on land which was once part of a lagoon.  When Napier was rebuilt, the streets were widened, services improved, and the building style used was Art Deco.  Napier has a world renowned collection of Art Deco buildings.

National Tobacco Company building in the Art Deco style

This row of houses, known as the Six Sisters, are among the few survivors of the 1931 earthquake.  They were built by an architect who wanted a two storey house for each of his daughters.   Some of the  houses are now owned by commercial businesses, with a few  reverting back into family homes.

The Six Sisters

 

As Monday afternoon wore on I started to feel unwell, coughing, sneezing, head aches, I was certainly coming down with something.  We left for home a day early, and after helping unpack the caravan, I fell into bed.  Youve guessed it, I had caught the dreaded Covid.  After several years of feeling rather smug that we had never succumbed, it had now caught up with us.  Robin tested positive a couple of days later, and neither of us feel quite so smug now.  To be honest, my ribs are so painful with all the coughing, not pleasant at all.  So we will be staying home for the next week or so, rearranging appointments, and resting up.