Slow Stitching Teddy Panel, and Lunch with Friends

 I've been sitting doing some slow stitching this afternoon, on a rather dreary day.  It's grey outside, and showery.  Not that it matters, I'm nice and cozy inside, happily big quilt stitching one of my two teddy bear cushion panels.  And I've finished.  Gemma gave Teddy the once over.  I wonder if she noticed the little brown bird in the tree?  These will be made into cushions for foster kids when they are completed.

Is that a birdie?

First panel done

I enjoyed a lunch with three old friends during the week.  Robyn and I drove down from Levin, and Trish and Shirley drove up from Waikanae, we met at a cafe in Otaki.  I met these friends at a social group way back in the 70s.    We used to meet up as couples, but sadly,  one by one, the husbands passed away - in later years it was a standing joke that my Robin was "the last man standing".  So we go back a long way, and try to get together every three months or so.  

Shirley, Robyn, Jenny and Trish

Our lunches were very nice, I enjoyed some delicious chicken liver pate.  I used to make pate years ago, I told them all, cooking up the chicken livers, putting them through the blender, and smoothing the mixture out into a small ramekin with a topping.  I thought I was so clever, and keeping up with the trends back then, but I don't think I could deal with chicken livers these days.

Lunch at Reds Cafe

Teddies, and a Giant Moa

 At our last Sew Wot get-together, Heather had a table of free stuff she wanted gone.  I swooped on two teddy bear cushion panels that took my fancy.  Just the thing for a couple of cushions for kids in care, I thought. These are now layered with batting, and pinned up, ready for me to do big stitch quilting around the motifs.  

Two cushion panels from Heather, ready for quilting

I've made a start of Father Teddy sitting on the window seat, reading his book.

Father Ted

I've also hand stitched a label on two secret quilts I've recently finished.  These are secret because the recipients don't know I've been making them, and they are due to be passing by, and meeting up with me shortly.  I'll be pleased to gift them at last, then all will be revealed.

Stitching on simple labels 

I met my daughter for lunch the other day at Sanson, a distance of 50km from home.  We were trying The Wool Shed Cafe, neither of had been there for quite some time.

In the grounds was a statue of a large moa.  These huge flightless birds  used to roam New Zealand and there were other smaller varieties as well.  The moas became extinct between the 14th and 15th centuries, after the Maori people arrived and settled in New Zealand.  Evolving in isolation without predators, the birds were ill adapted to human hunting, habitat burning, and introduced predators like the Polynesian dog.

Giant Moa

Our lunches were nice, the coffee was great, and as usual there was plenty of news to catch up on.  Nicky had brought me down a bag of the last of her feijoas, and a pumpkin/sweet potato pie from GD Emma, and I had some things to pass on to SIL Robert and granddaughter Megan from Robin's shed.  The day was beautiful indeed, sunny with a clear blue sky and reasonably warm for the time of year.  

Today is the shortest day of the year here in New Zealand, which of course means we have the longest night.  On the other hand, from tomorrow it will slowly but surely be counting down till Summer, so that's got to be good!

Teddy Bear Cushions

 I've been slowly hand quilting these three panels of teddy bears sitting around enjoying watermelon in the sunshine.  This fabric panel was looking for a good home at one of our Sew Wot meetings so I took it home.  The quilting had already been started so I worked on it off and on, a little time here and there when the mood struck me.  The idea was to finish the quilting then make three cushions for donation.

Three teddy bear panels quilted

Planning ahead, I had three cushion inners ready and waiting for this project.  A quick look through my stash to see what to use for the cushion fabric - plan A was discarded as there wasn't enough fabric in the piece I was considering.  Plan B was some left over backing fabric from an earlier project.  So I measured, cut and stitched till the cushions were done.

Three teddy cushions

I'm quite pleased with how they turned out, and should make some little girls happy, I hope.  I met up with Fleur for coffee last week, she is the co-ordinator of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in this area.  Together with the cushions I handed over some pencil pouches with coloured pencils, a couple of bags of marbles, and some toiletries for her to pass on to the children.  With Christmas fast approaching, she was very grateful for these small gifts to pass on to the children.  

Finishing up the pencil pouches

And talking about Christmas, I think it's time to get a few Christmas quilts out for display.  One day this week, hopefully.  

Embellishing Cushions

 I recently made my daughter a special quilt for her 60th birthday, pink and green nine patches, as requested.  And with extra blocks, added two cushions as well.

Nicky's 60th birthday quilt

Plus two cushions made with spare blocks

Nicky asked if I had any of the green ric rac left as she wanted to embellish the cushions.  Over the last couple of months she has been busy hand stitching all sorts of bits and pieces to her cushions, and sending me photos of her work.  She has recently met up with a group of stitchers and enjoys going to the get togethers, getting encouragement and ideas.  At last she had finished adding all sorts of bits and pieces, and the results are so pretty

Nicky's embellished cushions

Nicky has certainly done a wonderful job, what a difference it made, turning these rather plain cushions into little works of art.  She told me she  enjoyed the time spent hand stitching each pretty bit of lace, trim and hand embroidery to make these cushions her own.  I am so proud of her, she is so very creative indeed.

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

Beanies and Donations

 I've been (slowly) knitting beanies using some donated wool from a group which does knitting and sewing for those in need.  Beanies for men were needed so from the big box of wool I chose some brown and a smaller ball of cream.  This group does good work for the community but the day of the week they meet doesn't suit me so I've decided not to join them after all.  But of course I needed to pop in and return the beanies to them.  I managed to get three large and one child's beanies out of the wool I had, with just a tiny bit left over.  So I'm really pleased with that.  

Beanies for donation

I've also donated the remaining two unicorn cushions I made earlier, these are going to Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, and I'm sure a couple of young girls will enjoy them.  The drop off point is a wool shop in Paraparaumu Beach, which worked out well, as we were traveling down to the area to meet friends for lunch.

These two will be finding new homes

We met our friends at Club Vista, a place we hadn't visited before.  The lovely big windows in the restaurant have a great view over the Returned Services Memorial and Kapiti Island in the background.

Club Vista and the views from the 1st floor restaurant windows

We enjoyed a wonderful meal with our friends, a great lunch, and it's always so nice to have a good catch up with old friends.

Stitched Sewing Bird for Kate

 My great niece Kate is turning 25 and having a get together to celebrate this milestone with friends and family.  Sadly we are unable to travel up to Hastings to join in the fun, as we had planned.  My son Michael turns 60 this month (gulp, how did that happen?) and we will be having a short caravan trip  down to the South Island to see him.  

I made Kate a cushion for her birthday and sent it up by mail.  She received it the following day, that was really quick, I though.  Kate likes blue, and she is one of those clever girls who can stitch hexagons together with ease - I'm sure I couldn't do that.  

The cushion features a pretty little stitchery of a sewing bird, which I had done some time ago.  It was sitting waiting patiently to be made into something and I'm sure it is one of  Michelle Ridgeway's lovely designs.

Happy Birthday to Kate

Christchurch - Earthquake City

We have moved on to Christchurch, mainly to catch up with my son Michael, and also to see what changes had been made since our last time here in 2018, when the city was still in recovery mode.  On February 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused severe damage in Christchurch and Lyttleton, killing 185 people and injuring several thousand.  This earthquake occurred on a shallow fault line close to the city, and the shaking was particularly destructive.  The earthquake brought down many buildings damaged in the previous earthquake in September, especially older brick and mortar buildings,  and two-thirds of the buildings in the central business district were subsequently demolished.  Many residential properties were so badly damaged that they were levelled, and roads and water pipes also suffered substantial damage.   The Anglican Christchurch Cathedral in the centre of the city was another casualty, and after years of wrangling, the work has only just begun on the repairs.

Work has finally begun on the Christchurch Cathedral

We arranged to meet up with my son Michael for lunch  at the interesting café/restaurant/wedding venue, The Sign of the Takahe, which I had heard about.  It was so nice to see him again, and as you can imagine, there was plenty to chat about. He mentioned he can’t believe he will be turning 60 in another couple of years.  To be truthful, I can hardly believe I’ll be turning 80 two months after  he turns 60!

It was interesting to find out about this building, which looks just like a small castle.  Built in the Gothic Revival style by Harry Ell, it is one of four historic rest houses constructed for those walking the scenic tracks in Port Hills.  With a beautiful medieval style interior built to impress, even a set of armour standing by, and lovely gardens, no wonder this building is much in demand as a wedding venue.  The other three buildings in this chain of rest houses are The Sign of the Kiwi, The Sign of the Bellbird, and the Sign of the Packhorse.

Sign of the Takahe building

As we had been  so impressed with the beautiful Sign of the Takahe building, we decided to visit another of the Harry Ell’s rest houses the following day.  This time, The Sign of the Kiwi, high up on Summit Road, now another café.  Up and up we drove, wondering if we would ever reach the summit.  We finally arrived, and  walked up the steps into another beautiful stone building – there were plenty of customers inside.  This café advertises “The best date scones in town” and the certainly were.

“Rest a Whyle”  inside the Rest House

The views up so high on Summit Road are amazing.  There were scores of crazy cyclists around, zipping down the road by the café, and then along the cycle tracks in the hills.  Some of these cyclists stop off at The Sign of the Kiwi Rest house for a cool drink, ice-cream, and comfort stop, so the vision of Harry Ell is alive and well.  That’s two Rest houses we have tracked down, perhaps we will try and find the other two next time we stay in Christchurch.

View from the top

I’ve been working on my knitting over the last couple of evenings since I had to unravel the back of the jacket I was working on.  Now I have finished the rib band and have just started on the stocking stitch, so that makes me happy.  That’s a good start.

Starting over

Another thing which makes me happy is that cherries are still available, and so much more reasonably priced than the ones I purchased just before Christmas.  I love cherries, Robin doesn't so I get to eat them all!  They seem like such a luxury item to me, and I usually have a small helping most days, yummy.

Cherries at lunch time

On our last day in Christchurch we spent time with Michael again.  On the way out to his home we drove over the Memorial Ave flyover  which features a four-legged arch, curving gracefully 27m above ground level, with its two main beams crossing directly above the carriageway.   The design symbolises the Southern Alps and the braided rivers of the Canterbury Plains. 

Interesting arch over the bridge

I had a little gift for Michael – he  is a very keen photographer and I thought this cushion was just right for him.  Did he like it?  I hope so, he said he did.

A gift for Michael

After a very pleasant afternoon together it was time to say our goodbyes and head back to camp.  But not before another obligatory photo.

Here we are again

Our time at Christchurch has come to an end.  I’m happy that we spent some time with Michael, and visited some new to us places.  Tomorrow we pack up and get on the road again, driving south to Ashburton. 

A Little Christmas Show and Tell

Now that Christmas Day has been and gone, Merry Christmas everyone, I can now show some hand made Christmas gifts which I made for family members.  Firstly, a set of cushions I made or my horse mad grand-daughter Emma.  These were made from a set of panels donated to me.  I machine quilted around the outline of the horses, and around the circle, to make them stand out a little.  Emma’s life revolves around her horses, so I thought they would be right for her.

Emma’s horse cushions

Younger grand-daughter Megan is the proud owner of Gracie, her corgi.  When I saw this free stitchery pattern offered after Queen Elizabeth passed away, showing a corgi and the Union Jack flag, I just had to stitch it.  So a set of placemats came into being.

Royal corgis

I have been checking my photo files for the gifts I made for my daughter Nicky and sadly they have disappeared.She is a great lover of dark chocolate and and I stitched her a tea towel showing a bar of chocolate and the message “I could give up chocolate, but I’m no quitter!”  I also made her a double handed oven mitt featuring the chocolate fabric, and a big bar of choccie too, of course.  Take my word for it, I thought the items turned out very well indeed!

You are probably wondering how our South Island trip is coming along.  On Christmas Eve day we drove out to Mapua Wharf.  Originally a fruit shipping port, the old cool store buildings are now home to shops, galleries, and cafes and restaurants. The wharf was a hive of activity, splash, splash, with locals busy jumping into the water and climbing back up the ladder.  Teenagers, adults, and quite small kids were all having a great time.   Perched at the end of the wharf was a life like  sculpture a white heron, created by local man Arthur Hawke about 10 years  ago.  This is in memory of Hamish, who visited the Mapua Wharf each winter from the 1980s till 2010.

Mapua Wharf

We were determined to sample again some of the world famous fish and chips from the Smokehouse.  Our lunch was just as delicious as we remembered, and it certainly was very pleasant sitting there, eating our fish and chips out of the paper.  It was all very casual, just as we and the steady stream of customers like it.  The Smokehouse also specializes in smoked fish, and I purchased some salmon pate, smoked mackerel and a salmon and leek pie to take back to the caravan.  We noticed a couple of  panic buyers rushing in to purchase several packs of smoked salmon for their Christmas feasts.

Fish and chips on the wharf

While we were busy taking in the sights, Jan and a group had been out at the crack of dawn to go line fishing, and arrived back with five rather large snapper.  As non fisher folk we were most impressed.  We ate our meal out on the deck, delicious crumbed fish, salad and chips.  What a great way to end the day.  As an extra bonus, we were given a bag of  vacuum packed snapper to put in our caravan freezer for a later meal.

Jan and his son filleting the fish

Christmas Day dawned beautifully sunny and warm, just the sort of weather we would expect in sunny Nelson. 

Our home for Christmas

We prepared our traditional Christmas breakfast for everyone, croissants with ham and cheese, and took them into Kaye's house to heat through in her oven.  They were certainly delicious and we ate them together of the lovely large deck.

Ready to be heated through

Two  surprise family guests on Christmas morning, so the place was buzzing.  We all sat out on the large deck with cool drinks  and nibbled away on cheese, pate, smoked salmon, dip and crackers.  Jan’s younger brother and his wife were traveling across on the ferry so Christmas Dinner was held back till they arrived.  And what a spread it was.  The stars of the show were Kaye’s glazed ham, and Robin’s BBQed stuffed lamb shoulder.  And there was a great selection of salads too, plus freshly dug baby potatoes from Kaye’s garden.

Robin and Jan slicing the meat

Friends of the family arrived too, bringing extra food for the table, it was a veritable feast indeed.  And the desserts were just as delicious, trifle, meringues, ice cream cake, cheesecake, something to please all tastes.  The food was laid out, we served ourselves, and all ate outside on the roomy deck.

Dinner is ready

I was quite keen to watch King Charles Christmas very first Christmas speech, so Kaye turned the TV on for me at the appropriate time. 

The King's speech

What a wonderful Christmas Day we had with Kaye and Jan’s family and friends.