Quilt Show in Hastings

 How wonderful to have a quilt show in Hastings to check out during my weekend trip away, put on by Wine Country Quilts.  I had a free day on Saturday before the family birthday, put the address into the Sat Nav, and after a little hiccough, finally saw the sign.  Did you know I'm somewhat navigationally challenged while driving? 

This must be the right place

After paying my $8 entry fee, and buying raffle tickets, I entered the door.  Wow, it all looked wonderful.  I love seeing big bed quilts, and there were plenty of those on display.

Where to start?  I'm pleased I had my walking stick with me as I slowly wandered around, walking slowly is hard on my back.  Here are some quilts which took my eye.

"Catfish" by Linda McAdams, applique, painting, lace making

There's something about the timeless designs of William Morris.  Sandra Vinden created "Arts and Crafts Revival" in this simple design which showcases this lovely fabric line.

"Arts and Crafts Revival"

This large tee shirt quilt had a lot of interest.  Linda Ralph pieced "Those Days, 40 plus years of Concerts".    You could imagine all the memories this quilt holds.

Tee shirt quilt full of memories

I had seen versions of this intricate design on blogland recently so it was great one in real life.  Lyn Churcher stitched "Colour my World" as a BOM and machine quilted it herself.  I'm most impressed and don't think I could tackle anything like this.

Colour my World

I liked the simplicity of this one, made from men's shirts, complete with labels.  Sorry, but I didn't get the maker's name this time, and I'm not sure if it was made as a memory quilt.

Made from men's shirts

And we have to have a Kiwi to finish off with, don't we.  This one was so pretty.  Leanne Kenah, guest exhibitor, stitched "Le Fleur Kiwi"  using thread painting over fabric applique, and then machine quilted it.  This pretty piece included part of a doily made  by her grandmother.

Le Fleur Kiwi

I didn't really check out the merchants area, nothing I really wanted at the time.  Sadly, I shed a few tears when a well meaning quilter approached me, she  was formerly from Levin but had moved away and recognised me.  "Hello", she said, "You travel around in your caravan with your cat, don't you".  "Not any more", I replied and promptly burst into tears.  Dear me, that comment was a trigger, and I'm sure that will continue to happen from time to time.  I do hope I didn't embarrass her too much.

The family birthday celebrations were on Saturday evening, and the following morning I had a cup of tea, no breakfast available at this motel, and packed up for the drive home.  I encountered quite a bit of heavy fog driving out of Hastings on Sunday morning.  Or was it mist, I really don't know the difference.  Time for a spot of morning tea a little later and I turned off the road into Norsewood and I ordered a cup of coffee and a date scone at the cafe.

Cafe at Norsewood

On the 15th September 1872 the sailing ship Hovding arrived at Napier with 483 new settlers from Norway.  A few days later the men trekked through the heavy bush to reach the area now known as Norsewood. That would have been very hard going for them indeed.   Families followed and the community became established, and over the years many more Scandinavian settlers arrived.  This family of three happy trolls, father Norvirke, mother Margit and son Ormvah are sitting in the sun to welcome travelers.  Norsewood trolls are very happy creatures, not like those other trolls which hide under bridges ready to eat you up!

Happy family of Trolls

I made it home safe and sound although the muscles on my side were still very painful.  Time to collect Gemma and settle down after our trip away.  Sadly, no phone call came through to tell me I had won the raffle.

The Birthday Quilt

I've been working hard to get a birthday quilt finished.  It all started with a bag of shirts I received from my niece Lisa when my brother-in-law Dennis passed away.  Dennis was  my late sister Kathleen's husband, and I started to make a quilt for their grandson Adam, in memory of his Poppa.  Just a simple four patch, I decided, with red and black frames.  Then my beloved Robin passed away late last year, and this got put on the back burner.

Making a start

The birthday invitation to Adam's 30th birthday in March gave me a bit of a shake up.  Goodness me, perhaps I can get this finished in time for the birthday.  So I worked away, stitching the blocks together.

Hard at work

Gemma is helping while I added the borders

The top was finally done, but being too big for me to comfortably handle, I needed to send it away to get commercially quilted.  Would it get done in time?  Of course it did!   While it was away, I got the binding prepared, and the label.  And here it is, all finished in plenty of time.  Deborah used a leaf quilting pattern, you can glimpse it in the black border.

All done, ready for Adam

Two extra blocks made a couple of cushions

Gemma a had a trip away as well, to the cattery.  She wasn't at all impressed and did a bit of hissing when she arrived.  "Don't worry", the owner told me, "I'll spend a bit of time with her to help settle her down".  As a former traveling caravan cat, she hardly ever went to a cattery, but now there is no option.

She is not at all happy

The drive up to Hastings was difficult, as I haven't really done long journeys on my own.  Obviously, I was a bit nervous, rather tense and ended up with a sore muscle on my side!  I drove through  drizzly rain, and the never ending road cones on the side of the road.  But where were the workers, I wondered?  The road cones are set out, together with the signs to reduce speed, with not a single worker on the road side in sight.  My little car behaved well on the trip, and as a bonus, I had discovered some petrol vouchers tucked away in the caravan when I cleared it out, so that filled the tank for me.  After a couple of stops along the way I finally pulled into the motel, pleased to have arrived.  It wasn't the best motel I've stayed at, but I guess you get what you pay for.

My home for the next two nights

Adam was having his birthday celebrations at home on Saturday evening, nice company and a home cooked meal, together with a birthday cake.  I'm pleased to say that he seemed very pleased with his 30th birthday quilt, and recognised the fabrics as his Poppa's shirts.

Adam and his sister Kate

Happy Birthday Adam

It was a very pleasant evening indeed and I'm pleased that I made the effort to make trip up by myself.  My niece Lisa presented me with this lovely quilting fridge magnet, those words are so true.

A gift from Lisa