Off to the Quilt Show

I had to make sure I was up bright and early on Sunday morning, because I was going to a quilt show, how exciting!  My quilt club had hired a mini bus  and 11 of us climbed aboard, settled down, and we headed south to Otaihanga to Southward Car Museum.  The morning started off well when the bag of lollies was passed around.  "Lollies at this time of the morning?", someone asked.  And why not!

We've arrived, and that's our little bus in front

The ladies taking our entry fee warmly welcomed us, and then we checked out the raffles.  I do love those gift baskets full of quilting goodies, maybe I'll win one of these, that would be so nice.  We admired all the Community quilts that the Kapiti Coast Quilters make, and then headed inside to the adjacent hall to see the exhibition.  Where to start?  I wandered up one way and back the other.  Here are a few quilts which took my fancy.

"Lulu the Elephant" was stitched and beautifully machine quilted by Sue Elliot.  Such a beauty and I loved the intricate machine quilting, this is not something I am capable of doing myself.

Lulu the Elephant

I do love big, beautiful bed quilts.  "Bedroom Garden" was made in Kaffe's World class by Belinda Nixon and Felicity Neate, and quilted by Bobby Duncan.  Just look at all those lovely fabrics.

Bedroom Garden

I rather liked this quilt, titled "No Dogs on the Bed", possibly because I've stitched something similar.  But then, who doesn't love cats?  This was made by Pat Webster, using Kaffe Fassett fabrics, and quilted by Suzanne Sage.

No Dogs on the Bed

After wandering around a while, I took myself upstairs to the cafe for morning tea.  The cafe looked down onto the car collection in the museum.  We had visited the museum in earlier years and there are lots of interesting cars on display.

Bright and shiny cars on display

Downstairs again, and I checked out some of the many vendors.  Although there was lots of lovely fabric on display, I only like to purchase for particular projects these days.  

Ladies checking out some of the vendors

So I was very restrained but fell in love with this gorgeous  printed panel full of native wildlife.  I have plans for this.

My only purchase of the day

We all met up again upstairs in the cafe at lunch time and I was thrilled to win one of the raffles from our little group.  There were some pretty floral fat quarters, and two lovely hand made greetings cards, many thanks to Sandra and Lois for organising this.  I've yet to hear if I won one of those lovely quilters gift baskets from the show, so I guess I haven't.

My raffle prize.

Downstairs again, and one last look around the quilts.  There were several ladies gathered around this gorgeous wall hanging, so I stopped to have a look too.  "Bygone Era" was Di Barnden's way of show casing her collection of doilies set between Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  Such a beautiful setting and this was my favourite quilt in the show.

Bygone Era

Thanks so much for the friendly blog reader who approached me to say hello, so nice to meet you.  And I also caught up with several members of my former quilt club, Pinestream Quilters, of Upper Hutt.  Seems that  several of these ladies have moved north from Upper Hutt, and have joined the  Kapiti  Coast Quilters. 

We were all getting a little weary by this stage so agreed to leave a little earlier than planned.  But first the friendly bus driver had a very important job to do, we asked him to take a photo of us all.

A happy bunch of quilters

I have to say that some of the ladies had more shopping than others.  We climbed aboard the bus, the bags of shopping were tucked away safely, and we traveled north back to Levin.  It was a lovely day, and thankfully my back wasn't too bad after all that standing around.  Thanks so much to the committee for organising our day out for the members.

How many RSC Projects? And a special birthday.

 I thought it was time for an update on the collapsed wardrobe fittings.  You may remember that I had to get a workman around when the wardrobe rails came away from the wall and had to be replaced.  But first I had to take everything out of the wardrobes.  The back bedroom/sewing room wardrobe was the most difficult, with everything from winter coats, crates full of whatever, and innumerable bags of projects.  So much stuff!  And it all spent quite a bit of time on the floor of my sewing room.  It wasn't easy, but I managed to still sit and stitch at my sewing machine, surrounded by all that clutter.

There are piles of it

Where to start?  I really wanted to check through those crates and  bags so I knew what was there before putting them all back in the wardrobe.  I started with the multitude of jackets, I had forgotten that Robin had so many tucked away.  Six were donated to the lady who deals with refugee families, and she was delighted to take the men's jackets off my hands.  A couple more were donated to the Op Shop, and Grandparents raising Grandchildren were happy to take two bright yellow vinyl rain jackets for their older boys.  Plus  I sold an oilskin, warmly lined sleeveless vest, practically new,  from Robin's 4 wheel driving off road club days.  It had been many years since he had belonged to that club, and we had  certainly enjoyed some fun trips driving up in the hills with the group.

Two crates were quickly replaced  in the wardrobe, one with batting, and the other holding quilt backings, flannels and fleece.  That was easy, but what about these other crates?  I pulled everything out and looked in the various bags, finding some long forgotten projects tucked away.  One crate now contains groups of fabrics, not yet started - you know how we often have ideas for future projects and gather things together.

Projects not yet started

Into another crate went another lot of bags, these contained block sets waiting to be constructed.  Most of these are Rainbow Scrap Challenge  (RSC) monthly blocks from previous years - Happy blocks, framed four patches, Hollow nines, string pieced blocks.  Also some appliqued scotty dogs, and another bag of appliqued butterflies I had worked on.  It was so easy to stitch these blocks each month, and then they got left.

A whole lot of RSC block sets

There were plenty of  finished quilt tops in various places  these are now residing on the spare chair in front of the wardrobe.  A couple are pinned up, ready to quilt, others have the backing folded up with them, and I had planned ahead and  made the bindings for several of these quilt tops too.  

Waiting to be quilted

You may remember that I have often stitched simple draw string bags for kids in foster care.  I found a bag full of bits and pieces to turn into bags, colourful kids fabrics and linings, pigs, monsters, lots of novelty fabrics here.  There are probably enough for about 20 small bags here.

A bag full of bag makings

So..... where to from here?  I've decided I'm not going to count up all these projects waiting for me, I really don't want to know the answer.  First of all I'm going to make three children's quilts for a special family, more about that later when I've finished them.  I've still got a quilt to make for my  great niece from her beloved Pop's clothes - I made one for her brother earlier in the year.  And I have two big bed quilts of my own I'd like to finish one day.

After the three special quilts are done I've decided that I'll start on this bag, the first one pulled from the crates and examined.  It contains string pieced blocks, and chickens, both long forgotten.  And I'll leave the bag full of draw string bag pieces out and work on two or three regularly in between other projects.  

Chickens and string pieced blocks

Then I think I'll alternate between machine quilting and piecing blocks together.  Guess the point is not to get too stressed out about it all.  

I did sell some special fabric online.  Who can remember the pretty Flower Fairy range from many years ago?  I purchased some to make my granddaughters a quilt, but they were both much more interested in horses than fairies.  I also had two Laurel Birch fancy cat panels, that was snapped up too.  And as I find it too difficult to take my heavy Bernina to classes these day, I was happy to let my Bernina trolly case go to a new home.    So at last the repair and tidy up of the wardrobe is complete, thank goodness, it has certainly been a bit of a challenge.

Yesterday was my beloved Robin's birthday, he would have been 78.  That was a sad day for me, and yes, there were tears shed.  As everyone knows after a death, there is a year of "firsts".  First Christmas, first birthday without him, and then my birthday and our wedding anniversary to come.  Friends have been kind and thoughtful with messages, so that was very nice.  It's not the same without you, Robin.

NIcky's BIrthday Quilt

 My secret sewing is completed, I've finished and gifted the birthday quilt to my daughter Nicky for her 60th birthday.  Nicky had quite specific ideas for her birthday quilt, nothing sharp and spiky such as stars, she wanted 9 patches.  And in pinks and greens.  I could do that for her.  I had started the quilt some time ago, gathering up fabrics in the required colours, cutting and assembling the nine patch blocks.  In between times of course I stitched away at other projects and challenges.

Slowly the blocks were completed.  I stitched pink nine patches with a centre green square, and green nine patches with a pink centre square.  Webbing them together, I assembled the top.  What about the border, I pondered, and decided on a curvy ric rac with appliqued flowers and leaves.  That was a bit of a disaster, I didn't have enough ric rac!  All those curves were using up much more of the trim than I had calculated.  There was nothing for it but to drive down to Pete's Emporium in Porirua and hope they still had it in stock.  Luckily they did, so I purchased some more, and stopped off at a local cafe for a coffee and cheese roll as a reward, and thanking my lucky stars it all worked out.

I'd run out of this

Then I set to work on the borders, cutting out flowers and leaves, and then machine appliqueing them in place.  Gemma checked them out for me, she is such a big help.

Mmm, what's this, flowers and leaves.

The applique took me quite a while, then at last the top was finished and I dropped it around to get it commercially quilted.  But there was a problem, Deborah wasn't happy with the ric rac on the borders and was worried that the foot on her long arm would get tangled up on it.  The weeks were ticking by, and I was getting concerned about the timing.  Luckily Jacqui took the job on for me instead, and sketched out what she planned to do in the blocks, sashings and borders, all free hand guided quilting.

One step closer, quilt top and backing

I got the quilt back in time, and got on with the binding, stitching it on by machine, then turning it to the back and hand stitching it down.  I really enjoy this part, knowing I'm almost at the finish line.

Binding time

I used a pretty doiley for the label

So here it is, all finished.  I'm thrilled with it, and Jacqui did such wonderful quilting, it really makes the quilt come alive.  It's  on my bed while I took some photos before it was packed up and given to my daughter.  There were spare blocks so I made two cushions as well.

Not too bad, she's thinking

Last week the quilt was packed up into a bag, and traveled with me on the bus to Palmerston North.  These twice weekly off peak buses are great, and are free to oldies like me.  I really appreciate them as it saves me driving up there.    Nicky had taken her birthday week off work and met me at the bus terminal.

Birthday gift for Nicky

She had a quick peek in the blue bag, then put the bag in her boot to take back home.  Morning tea was first on the agenda, I was looking forward to a coffee by this stage,  then a little shopping to get some necessary items, and before we knew, it was time for lunch.  This was a "new to me" place that Nicky sometimes goes to.  I enjoyed some yummy prawns, and another cup of coffee.

My lunch

By this stage it was time for her to drop me back to get the bus home.  It was a lovely day out, catching up with my daughter and delivering her gift, spending time together and enjoying a tasty lunch.

What's on the Table

What's on the table at the moment is a pin wheel quilt documenting our 3 month long trip to England in 2008.  Such a long trip  took a bit of planning for me and Robin, and I took along a big pile of half square triangles, one side patterned and one side plain, together with my  Micron archival pen for people to sign blocks for me as we travelled around.  The first block was signed by our travel agent Petra, wishing us "Bon Voyage".

My 2008 UK Holiday tablecloth

Several blocks were signed on our flights to Singapore, where we had a stop over for several days.  You know you are in foreign country when the breakfast buffet menu offers such delicacies as pickled lettuce, braised peanuts and mee gorang.  It was such a thrill to see the Merlion, having a ride on the newly opened Singapore Flyer, and enjoying a day trip to Santosa Island.  Then it was on to London.

The Singapore Flyer was so new our travel agent was unaware it was up and running

Our eight days in London was spent in a frenzy of sightseeing.  Buckingham Palace was open so we quickly snapped up tickets for that, and we enjoyed a tour through Hampton Court.  Both buildings are so full of English Royal history, which I love with a passion.

Buckingham Palace

The next week was a complete change of pace when we explored the Llangollen Canal onboard narrowboat Gypsy Rover, owned by our friends Dot and Derek.  Leaving the canal behind, we picked up a rental car and went exploring.  

We travelled around England, staying at B&Bs and starting each day with a "full English breakfast".  We visited castles and  cathedrals, and attractions along the way which were on our "must see" list, such as Stone Henge, Avebury Stone Circle  and Hastings where the 1066 battle took place.  

Avebury Stone Circle

There were train rides, boat rides, everywhere we went my HSTs were signed.  During a visit to Canterbury Cathedral to see the shrine to Thomas Beckett who was murdered in the name of Henry 11, my HST was signed by Revd Jacky who wrote "May God bless this precious work with his love".  I was so thrilled with that lovely message.

 Canterbury Cathedral

The blocks were assembled on our return home into a tablecloth.  It's always so nice to read the messages and relive that wonderful trip.

Many happy memories

Wooly Socks and Daffodil Day

 It's just as well that I have finished a couple of pair of woolly socks recently, as Winter has returned with a vengeance.  After weeks of fine, calm, sunny but cool days we now have wind, rain and cold temperatures.  Spring may be just around the corner, but our Spring weather is often fickle and rather changeable.

My two pair of nice, thick, wooly socks used up some remaining sock yarn.  The dark pair was knitted using double knit navy wool, and the rest of coloured sock yarn I had left over from knitting myself a pair of 4ply socks.  (I made the feet in these 4ply socks too long so I need to shorten them and reknit the toes).    The lighter pair used some of the hand spun wool I received from my late friend Merilyn, plus the remains of 4ply sock yarn I had knitted for my grand-daughter.  These socks have been finished a little while now,  but took a while for me to sew the side seam up.

Two pairs of woolly socks

And then I couldn't help myself, and just had to cast another pair on.  I'm in  no hurry for these, but do like to have a pair on the go for when I want some simple knitting.  These are also knitted using some more of Merilyn's hand spun yarn, and left over sock yarn.  It is nice to knit away with Merilyn's wool and reflect on all the lovely times I had with my life long friend.

Another pair on the go

I really do prefer to wear these 12ply socks myself, much more than the lighter 4ply socks, I like the way they fit my foot and over the heel, and they are lovely and warm in the winter.  

And just so you don't think socks are the only thing I knit..........  I have a multi coloured baby cardigan, and a brown hand spun baby jumper on the needles.  Plus a blue jumper for me, which I really must get on with.  This blue jumper was started for me to work on during  our long summer South Island caravan trip, which sadly never happened when Robin passed away.  So it has been languishing in it's bag for quite a while now.  I've decided I can face it again so I'll have to get on with it.

Friday was Daffodil Day, a fund raiser for the Cancer Society.  I stopped in the mall at the stand and came away with a bunch of daffodils, a packet of white chocolate and macadamia biscuits specially made for the Cancer Society fund raiser (cookies to some of you) and a raffle ticket in a huge gift basket.  The Cancer Society advertising slogan this year was reminding everyone that one of three of us will get cancer in our lifetime.  I'm one of three myself, twice sadly, so I was more than happy to donate to such a good cause.

A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies, and Elvis

Kaleidoscope, such  a lovely name for a group of butterflies, although I quite like the alternative name Flutter as well.  I've just put a top together featuring butterfly blocks.  This completion ticks two boxes this month, first for the Chookshed Challenge, as butterflies was on my list for number seven.  Plus, I made the blocks as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, way back in 2022.

I know I've mentioned my former neighbour Dorothy many times.  I received a whole lot of her fabrics when she moved away, including a great pile of her beloved butterfly fabrics.  I stitched four blocks sets using her butterflies in 2022, and still have a lot of fabric left, enough for several more butterfly quilts, I imagine. 

All these still waiting for me

I assembled the butterfly blocks together over the last week or so, choosing purples, blacks and pink, using spotty neutral fabric for the sashings and border.  There are still enough of these blocks in blues, yellows and tan for another single bed quilt.

Lots of pretty butterflies

Then today, I laid it down on the carpet and pinned the layers together.  That's always hard on my back, but the weather wasn't nice enough for me to pin it up outside on the patio table.  Gemma gave it the once over and decided she would quite like to catch a fluttering butterfly outside one day.  She has been known to catch a moth occasionally.

Mmm, just look at those butterflies, but they are not all a flutter, are they, she's thinking.

And look what I received in the mail this week, Elvis is saying hello to me.  My daughter's friend Heather is having an extensive USA trip, and went to Gracelands.  She knows I'm a great Elvis fan so sent me this postcard, how kind is that!  "Elvis says Hi", she wrote on the back.  I'm sure if he was still around he would know I was one of his greatest fans, I've been smitten since I heard him singing "Love me Tender", and that's going back a long time now.

Elvis says "Hi"

Sew Wot Tuesday

 I was the hostess this time for Sew Wot Tuesday, and it was lovely to welcome everyone to my home for the morning.  Heather had just celebrated her birthday so there were lots of gifts waiting for her to open.  It was such fun seeing what was in those parcels, There was wool, smellies, a set of coffee mugs, and she was thrilled to receive a pair of hand knitted socks!  Plus a home grown lemon tree from Helen.

Birthday gifts for Heather

Heather had been knitting up a storm to bring along for Show and Tell.  There were two hooded sleeveless jumpers for when the great great grandbabies get a little bigger.  They have so many baby knits that Heather was planning ahead.  Plus a nice little cream and blue jumper.

Heather's knitting

And Carol had brought along a whole swag of knitted toys to be donated to the Neo Natal Hospital Unit.  Don't they look cute.

Carol's knitted toys

Mary had some knitting to show us too.  A cozy pair of bed socks, and a pair of 4ply socks, still works in progress she said, as they needed stitching up.

Mary's socks

And this cute little pink baby singlet was knitted by Helen, she completed sewing it up on the morning.

Pretty pink baby singlet knitted by Helen

I showed my recently completed boy's donation quilt.  Plus my completed secret sewing project but I can't show it here yet until it was been gifted.

My boy's donation quilt

Morning tea was served, including corn and bacon savouries, a recipe which harks back to when my children were teens, so that is going back a good few years!  The Eat-a-Lots certainly enjoy their morning teas.

Morning tea

Helen had kindly brought along some seedlings from her garden to share.  I don't have a veggie garden so took some cauliflower plants and planted them in  my rhubarb patch.  Hopefully they will grow.

Trying my luck with caulies

We had a lovely morning with the knitting needles click clacking away, socks, baby singlets, a scarf and a man's jumper being worked on.  Plus plenty of chatter too of course.  Gemma walked around and checked out everyone's bags, just in case there was something for her.  It was so nice to be the hostess again.