Purple Haze

 My purple clam shells are finally finished.  This quilt started way back in May 1993 when I attended the 5th National Patchwork and Quilting Symposium in Upper Hutt.  This was a very exciting time for New Zealand quilters.  Big name American quilters like Caryl Bryer Fallert and Ruth McDowell were taking classes, along with Australian and New Zealand tutors.  Sadly, I can't remember the name of the tutor I had for the clam shell class.   We were shown how to cut out the clam shell shapes with an acyclic shape and a small rotary cutter, and how to stitch them in rows.  I had selected a range of purple fabrics, and wanted to arrange my rows in  lights and darks.  I got this far, and then it got put away, lost and forgotten for many years.

I made a start way back when

The  bag of purple clamshells finally surfaced and I decided to  just get on and get it finished.  Needed lots of pins to get those curved pieces in place before I stitched.  This must be why the project got put aside, presumably.  But I persevered, and slowly, row by row, the clamshells were stitched in place.

I needed plenty of pins

In between times, I had lots of other stitching taking place.  The monthly Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks to make in the nominated colour of the month, the monthly Chook Shed Challenge, donation quilts, and knitting to do.  But I pushed on with the clam shells, finally completed the top, and added a light border.  As for the quilting, what to do?  Big stitch hand quilting, I decided, was the way to go, and I used a variegated pastel thread.  I don't do a lot of hand quilting, but really enjoyed working on this quilt.

Big Stitch hand quilting

Stitching the binding down, and adding a label is always the best part, in my view.

Binding time

Finally, I added a hanging sleeve, and there she is all done, hanging over the sofa.  What's 32 years in the scheme of things between starting and finishing?

Purple Haze, 32 years in the making

Hand Stitching

I've been busy doing a little hand stitching lately.   On Saturday I attended a stitch-in day, organized by my quilt club.  The weather was miserable, wet and drizzly, but the hall was nice and toasty with the heat pumps working hard.  Others were machining away, but I don't like to take my sewing machine away from home theses days, it is just so heavy for me to load into the car and take it out at the other end.  So I make sure I have plenty of hand work instead.  Yesterday I starting  hand stitching the binding down on one of the big quilts I had commercially quilted a while ago ago.  I didn't get it all stitched down, but I've made a good start on it.  

Binding time

Eight ladies braved the wet and cold conditions to come and stitch for a while.  We stopped for a mid morning cuppa, and a lunch break.  It's always nice to stitch with company, isn't it.  By 2.00pm we all decided to pack up and head home.

Today, Sunday, I decided to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  I'd found a Jamie Oliver recipe, knew I had some frozen blueberries in the freezer, so whipped them up.  It was a nice simple recipe and I served them with whipped cream, extra blueberries and a drizzle of genuine maple syrup, all the way from Canada.  They didn't turn out perfectly round, but I must say they were absolutely delicious!

Blueberry pancakes for Sunday breakfast

I've been stitching away on a quilt label today, almost there.  I had just written the info with my pigma pen, but decided to stitch over the words.  Then I can attach it to the backing and share a photo of my completed quilt.  

Stitching a quilt label

As for my socks, they have come to a bit of a standstill.  I'm up to the heels, but need to spend a bit of time, sitting quietly on my own, while I read the pattern and mark off each row.  I've knitted heels plenty of times, but really need to concentrate.

Perhaps you remember the oven mitts I completed recently?  I posted them to my granddaughter Megan last week and received a thank you snap chat.

Thank you from Megan

My daughter Nicky has asked if I can make her oven mitts for her birthday, so I'm not finished with them yet.  That's next on my list to do.

This took a long time

Finally, a finish.  This strippy boy’s quilt was made from donated fabrics from my elderly neighbour’s Dorothy’s stash which I received some time ago.  Dorothy’s quilting had slowed down over the years, but she had collected a huge stash of fabrics, with many suitable for children.  For this project I selected two WOF 1/4 yard pieces in navy to start with, one with areoplanes and helicopters,  and the other featuring construction machines,  plus some red and cream solids to make a strippy quilt.  The completed quilt top was pinned up ready for machine quilting a year ago, and then it sat patiently folded up over a chair in my sewing room.

Pinned up on the patio table

And there it sat, and sat and sat.  Till finally a year later I thought, why don’t I just get this quilted!  So I settled down to work, completed the quilting, and applied the binding strip.

Finally getting it done

I always enjoy hand stitching the binding down, this usually takes me several days, off and on, but I don't really mind as I find it quite a restful sort of job.  The pretty red and navy spotted backing was donated to me as well, and went perfectly with the quilt top, I thought.  I love the binding clips, after years of using pins for this job I finally bought some clips to use, no pricked fingers now.

Binding time

As I said earlier, this has taken a long time from start to completion.  But now it is finished and will be donated shortly to keep some little boy warm and cozy.

Ready for donation

Binding, do you love it or hate it?

I’m in the “I love hand stitching the binding down” camp, and that's what I've been doing on this warm Autumn day.  This pleasant task signifies the end of the quilt making process, and I must say that I rather like those dinky little binding clips. 

Binding time

This quilt top had been finished for a while, and I recently discovered it all rolled up with the already prepared backing and binding.  It was constructed similar to Happy Blocks, the piece of delightful frog fabric was cut into squares and framed in different colours.  Time to get it out and complete it, I thought.  Pinning the layers together was the next step, done outside on the patio table.

All pinned up

Machine quilting was next.  In the ditch between the blocks and borders and around the frogs, then finished with serpentine stitch on the diagonal.  This took me a couple of weeks to complete, making sure I took plenty of breaks to look after my back.

Machine quilting

There, all done.  It looks quite cute and colourful, I think.  Someone is sure to love it.

It’s interesting that this little quilt for donation is made up of several pieces of donated fabric.  The cute kissy kissy frogs and the lime green border fabrics were in one of our Sew Wots donation fabric piles looking for a new home.  I really liked these fabrics so they came home with me.  And the spriggy backing fabric came from my elderly neighbour’s stash when she moved out.

Borders, Bindings, and Physio

I’m getting there with my baby quilt, using up some of those multitude of flag blocks I made a while ago.  This week I’ve been assembling the blocks, adding borders  and making some scrappy binding.  I keep pieces of leftover binding in a basket, and found a length of pink which will go nicely.  Being Murphy’s Law, not nearly long enough of course,.  But I could work with that,  I chopped it into smaller lengths and added various pieces of pink to make it a long scrappy binding..

Dark blue floral borders

The weekly physio sessions are ongoing, and Robin’s knee is continuing to show small gains each time with flexibility.  I drive him down for his appointment, then have a plan to fill in the hour while I wait.  He certainly doesn't want me in there with him while he is put through his paces, and other patients are doing exercises as well, so their privacy must be respected.  The hospital café is open, so I order a coffee, sip away and catch up on some quilting posts.

Morning coffee time

Then I make my way back to the Physio Department, sit in the waiting room out of sight of the exercise class, and do a few rows of knitting.  This lovely batik bag was a gift from  Jean who blogs at All Points of the Compass several years ago to cheer me up while I was undergoing radiation treatment.  I look upon it as my “hospital bag” and use it to take documents, knitting, phone, camera, book, or anything else I might need during my hospital appointments.  Or in this case, being Robin’s support person and driver.  Many thanks Jean, I love my batik hospital bag!  As you can see, I’ve just started a new knitting project – my socks are almost at the toe stage so I have to read the pattern carefully and count rows, it’s better to do that at home.

A few rows of hospital knitting

When we return home from the physio class, Robin needs to sit a while with the icepack wrapped around his knee.  That knee certainly knows it has had a workout.

So what else have we been doing?  Our local strawberry farm “Shirley’s” are now picking the first of their crop.  We came back with two large punnets, one to eat now, and the other one Robin hulled, halved, and froze.  Shirley’s now has a “real fruit ice-cream” cart, so I’m sure we will buy one of these each next time we come calling.  We like to have strawberries for breakfast with our cereal, and strawberries for dessert too occasionally.

Freshly picked strawberries for breakfast

Robin was the BBQ king on Saturday night, and cooked a rolled stuffed lamb shoulder, it was a good size so I’m guessing it was actually a hogget (next size up from lamb).  All that tasty stuffing was trying to escape!  There's nothing like a roast on the BBQ,  it smelt and tasted delicious. The probe tells us when the meat is cooked, somehow or other it magically relates this information to Robin’s cell phone.  How does that work, I wonder, but I’m sure there is a logical explanation.

BBQ lamb roast for dinner

So that’s what has been happening at our place this week.  I’m still the designated driver so things are a bit busy for me, out and about with appointments and shopping.  I’m sure Robin can hardly wait to be cleared to drive again.

Blue for a Boy

I spent a lovely hour or so outside today under our Archgola finishing the hand stitching on  the binding on a baby quilt.  It was nice and warm, the sun was shining and the birds were chirping.  Gemma was outside with me, watching those birds intently who were perched up on the neighbour's  roof, no doubt wishing she could get closer to them and show them who was the boss!  It certainly was a delightful slow stitching Sunday.

The quilt started like this, using up some leftover flannel to make some easy Cobblestone blocks.  Gemma found them nice and cozy too when I was arranging them on my “design bed”.  .

In the beginning

I stitched the quilt blocks together, pinned the layers and then did the machine quilting between other projects.

Pinning the layers

I always enjoy the final stage, hand stitching the binding down.  Such a nice job this is, especially on a lovely day when I can enjoy the sunshine and fresh air while finishing off this last stage of the quilt.

 

Binding time

With fleece on the back of the flannel top, this is a nice cozy little cot quilt indeed.  Another one for the donation box.

All finished

It’s not Finished till the Binding’s Done

This is a cute little boys quilt made from pictures cut from a small panel and framed.  The top was constructed “leader and ender” style, and it was layered and pinned, ready for machine quilting.  The binding was made, and I was set to go onto the next step.

Ready to start quilting

I stitched in the ditch around the plain sashing and used simple Serpentine stitch in the diagonal quilting lines, extending them right through to the borders.

Easy machine quilting

Then quiet time doing slow stitching, I enjoy sitting down hand stitching the binding down, especially when the weather is warm enough to sit outside on the patio..

Binding time

All finished.  This will be donated to Foster Hope to bring a little boy comfort and warmth.  It features tractors and trucks working on the farm.

Ready for donation

New Slow Stitching Project

Yes, I know, I’m plodding along with my apron stitchery, but that’s no reason not to trace off and prepare a new stitchery project.  I've decided I want to do this freebie from Stitch Doodles.

New pattern

Because I wanted to stitch something with a Spring vibe, I changed the words, and traced the pattern onto a very pale green fabric.  So far, I’ve made a small start. Sorry, but this didn't photograph terribly well, but I’m sure you get the idea.

I've made a start

I needed my helper to hold the skein of Perle 5 green thread while I plaited it, then it is easy to pull a length out as required -   I’ll be using some green on the flower stems of this design.  I mentioned to Robin how I used to plait my daughter Nicky’s long blond hair when she was a little girl.  Those were the days.

He helped reluctantly, I think he was busy watching sport on TV

The other bit of slow sewing I intended to do today was to hand stitch the back of the binding down on a little boy’s donation quilt.  That didn't happen, because it never got stitched on!  Never mind, there’s always tomorrow – or the next day.

Binding prepared

Binding Time

The pussy cat quilt was getting binding done, something I really enjoy.  But first, it had to be applied.  I always like to have the binding strip prepared ahead of time.

Then, an hour or so at a time, I sat comfortably in my recliner chair and hand stitched the the binding down.  I find this part very soothing, but I know some quilters don’t enjoy doing the binding at all.  And I do find those binding clips much easier to use than pins, no more stabbed fingers.

Who doesn’t enjoy hand stitching the binding down?

There – all finished.  Time for a photo shoot.

This started life as a small panel, goodness knows where I got it from.  Perhaps I purchased it, or maybe it was a gift.  I separated all the little cats, added sashing and stitched it back together as a leader and ender project.  I can certainly remember where I got the border fabric from.  Some years ago a co-worker was looking to get rid of some of her fabric, and knowing I was a quilter, brought a selection in for me to check out.  This blue floral was one of the fabrics I purchased.  The backing is a piece of sheeting.

The pussy cat cot quilt will be donated to Foster Hope, who look after children going into foster care.  I hope a little girl will love her pretty blue quilt and enjoy checking out all the different cats.

Knitting and Stitching in the Sunshine

Sunday morning looked promising, blue skies and sunshine, so I decided to spend a bit of time outside on the patio.  Perhaps a little knitting to start with, I thought.  My secret socks are coming along well, but no photo opportunities for them.  Instead I did some knitting on a pretty yellow baby beany, using some yarn gifted to me recently.

Another baby beany

My hand stitching consisted of stitching the binding down on a child’s donation quilt, so I happily sat outside and worked on that for a while.  But then the wind got up, and the temperatures dropped, so I moved back inside.  Spring weather is rather temperamental here in New Zealand.

Hand stitching the binding

I hope to have this job finished soon, then I can show you the front of the quilt.  The green and gold star fabric used on the back was a donation looking for a good home, brought along to the Sew Wots by Heather one morning.  Thanks so much Heather, it looks good on the back of this quilt.

It’s my Birthday

The year has rolled around and it’s my birthday again.  This weekend was spent with our caravan club buddies at Kaitoke   Regional Park in Upper Hutt.  Instead of birthday cake we supplied some lovely light sponges with fresh cream and jam for afternoon tea on Friday.

Happy Birthday to me

It was a long three day weekend and the park was full to bursting with hoards of happy campers.  Some in caravans and campervans like us, and lots of people in tents too.  The area is classified as a rain forest and the hills are covered in beautiful native trees.  Bird life is abundant and we saw plenty of kereru (native wood pigeons) flying around.

Our little camping area

There was a lot planned for this weekend away, and we all enjoyed lunch out at Aston Norwood Café just a short car trip away.  This establishment has beautiful gardens, and I loved the decorative bicycle in the entranceway.

Another highlight was an evening spent on the river bed when we toasted marshmallows over the embers of a fire.  Such good fun, and it was nice to see several family groups nearby all doing the same.  Mind you, the gusty wind was blowing the smoke all over the place, and we all  came away smelling of wood smoke!

Marshmallow time

Fans of the Lord of the Rings books and films will know about Rivendell, home of the Elves.  Peter Jackson did filming here in the Regional Park and the area has plenty of information panels and posts for visitors to view.

At Rivendell

Close by was a swing bridge – it’s been quite some time since we were last in this park so I was keen to cross over it again.  I’m fine with walking on a swing bridge, as long as others don't get silly and start to bounce on it.  Luckily that didn't happen, so I walked over it, holding on tightly of course, turned around and walked back.  There – I did it without any mishap!

Over the swing bridge

With such a lot going on over the weekend, I didn't get very much hand work done.  Except to start stitching the binding down on my New Zealand Botanical quilt.  It’s been ages since this project has come out to play, so I’m happy I’m up to this stage.

Binding time