Kiwi Blocks done

 My stitchery kiwi blocks are finally finished, just in time for the Chookshed Challenge in May.  I purchased a kit from Millie Mac Studios comprising of printed panels and stranded cottons.  These were a bit small for what I had in mind, and I'd rather work in Perle number 5 rather than the embroidery threads.  So I got the patterns printed larger, and sent the original kit up to my daughter to stitch at her leisure.

The designs show Mr Kiwi sporting his Christmas cap enjoying a variety of Kiwi Christmas activities.  Cooking on a BBQ,  and over a fire beside his Combi van, decorating a tree for Christmas, and delivering a sack full of Christmas gifts.

What to do with the stitcheries?  I didn't really want to make a wall hanging with them, and decided on place mats to use in the caravan.  The first two I bordered in a New Zealand tree design, and thought I could use this set  year round.

Kiwi busy cooking his dinner

Pohutukawa flowers border the second two blocks, and the embroidered designs are a little larger on these two.  I'll use this set over Christmas.  This tree is often called the New Zealand Christmas Tree as it flowers over the Summer.

Christmas Tree and a sack of gifts on top of a fine looking ram

It's always good to have a finish, and I'm certainly enjoying taking part in the  Chookshed Challenge.  It's been fun listing my UFOs for the year, and this was number 5 which was selected this month.

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.

Place Mats finished

I’m pleased to say that my set of placemats for the caravan are now finished.  The stitchery portion had been completed a while ago.   After machine quilting, the final job was to hand stitch the binding down.  I always enjoy this last part, and stitched away sitting outside on the patio in the warm Autumn sunshine.  These place mats will be used on our table during our next caravan trip away.

Place mats all done

This great outdoorsy design is from Stitcher’s Revolution Camping Adventures, and I thought it was just right to use in the caravan.   Now I’m deciding which transfer to use on an apron for the caravan, there are several to choose from.

I Love Camping

I've enjoyed the slow stitching on my current project from Stitcher’s Revolution Camping Adventures, the iron on transfer is called “I Love Camping”.  This will be the middle section of  a pair of place mats to use in our caravan.  Featuring a cup of coffee, trees in the forest and the full moon rising over the mountains, it was very enjoyable to stitch.

Then they were trimmed to size, and borders added which features a leafy print.  I’ve had a rummage through my batting offcuts and will be stitching together two small franken-battings to suit.  And with some backing fabric at the ready, these two small pieces will soon be pinned up ready for quilting.  I did contemplate hand quilting, but no, it will be a simple job to machine quilt these two place mats, I decided.

Borders added

Gemma deserved a treat last night, so I put some of her little crunchies inside her mouse and called her over.  That was exciting, she could hardly wait to bat that little mouse around with her paw, and gobble up the treats as they fell out of the holes.

Gemma and her little mouse toy

What happened in April

Looking back, it  seems that April has been a very productive month.  Mind you, we have all been in Level 4 Lockdown here in New Zealand, just moving to Level 3 with similar restrictions, so hardly any tripping around at all.  I remember that I often used to comment on my lack of stitching endeavours, saying something like “not much time for sewing as we will be away in the caravan this weekend etc”.  Well, during Lockdown that hasn’t happened for a while and all weekends lately have been spent at home, including Easter and Anzac weekends.  So….. a quick recap of the month.

First up was number 4 on my list.  I completed an apron and placemats, using caravan themed fabric I had received a birthday or two ago.  Wonder when we will get to go away for a caravan trip again, could well be some time, I think.

For the caravan

Then I assembled my “Under the Sea”  Block of the Month stitchery designed by Willowberry Designs in 2010.  These blocks had been hanging around much too long so I am  really pleased they have seen the light of day again.  The layers are all safety  pinned together now, so I’ll be ready to get on with the machine quilting soon when number 5 of the dice roll comes around again.

Under the Sea

Tane Mahuta was number 6 on my list.  Inspired by the Tiny Tree stitch-along by Temecula Quilt Co  the idea for this project evolved and grew.  Using two New Zealand batik designs, kowhai tree and ferns, I decided to make the blocks a little bigger and stitched pinwheel blocks instead of the multiple block designs which were offered.  I like to imagine the two fabrics show sunlight filtering down through the branches of this magnificent tree.  My little wall hanging is a tribute  to Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest, which is New Zealand’s largest known living kauri tree.  Growing in the Waipoua Forest of Northland, New Zealand it is  estimated to be between 1,250 and 2,500 years old.

Tane Mahuta

Christmas Coins tablecloth was not on my list at all, but soon became my next finish.  All the Christmas coins were small scraps and strips hanging around, some longer than others, wider strips, and narrow ones too. Originally this started as a leader and ender project, just sewing strips together while I was working on something else.  Why not just keep working and finish it, I thought, so I did.

Christmas Coins

After reading about making covers to put on the handles of supermarket trollies, thanks to Cynthia Cynthia, on her blog “Quilting is more fun than housework”, read about it here,  I just had to have a go myself.  They didn't take too long to make, and I chopped up and used an existing small table topper.  Luckily I had some Velcro tucked away to use for the fastenings. It seems a great idea to use these, take them home to wash, and pack away till the next visit,  not only protecting us from Covid 19 but also from coughs, colds and other germs.

Two covers for supermarket trolley handles

And lastly, I’ve assembled blocks from my supply of neutral string blocks.  I had stitched quite a few of these for  when I started on “Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll”, a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt.  Then I decided that Bonnie's quilt have too many little pieces for me to deal with, and the blocks were tucked away.  This is the second child’s donation quilt using these blocks, and this time I’m using teal blue sashing.

Neutral strings quilt top

What else has happened this month?  I’ve kept up to date with making blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects.  We celebrated both Easter and Anzac Day at home, and Gemma had a birthday, she is now two yeas old.  I’ve made a several different pots of soup, so comforting I always think,  tried some  new recipes for dinner, and done some baking.  Many thanks to the gift of a big bag of flour sent down from my daughter Nicky as none could be found on the supermarket shelves.   It’s certainly been a busy month!

Finished – Caravan Stitching

It’s Sunday, and I’m so pleased I finished my “roll the dice no 4” this week, which were a couple of items for the caravan, using caravan themed fabric.  I had been gifted two lengths of fabric a birthday or two ago, so was happy to finally get on and use them.   I’d decided to make placemats with the grey, and an apron with the blue.  Messy cooks like me need aprons, even away on caravan trips!

 

I had to piece the blue fabric to get the length I needed, and couldn’t match the pattern, but I’m OK with that.  It was soon cut out and I added some plain blue down both sides and also for the straps.  And here it is, all finished, having a photo opportunity out in the warm Autumn sunshine.

This fabric is covered with lots of colourful patchwork caravans (trailers) with the owners stitching away and exploring.  It is a happy looking print and I’ll certainly enjoy wearing my apron when we get away – whenever our Lockdown period ends.

The placemats were next, and took a little longer.  I had just enough of this piece of burgundy for the border, and used a plain grey for the binding.

Stitching the binding

Robin and Gemma joined me outside on the patio as I hand stitched the binding down.  It may be Autumn and the mornings can be a little chilly, but usually the afternoons are nice and warm, just right to sit outside if the weather is not too windy.

Keeping me company while I’m stitching

I had a small piece of fabric left to make a little bag for 4zees, other wise known as Happy Hour.  These small bags are just the right size for Robin when we are away at a caravan club rally.  Fitting in a couple of stubby size beer bottles, plus his glass,  it will be just the thing for joining our caravan buddies at our next rally.

Placemats and small bag

Actually, I made another set of placemats too, but these are for a gift later in the year so I won’t show them now.  Suffice to say they feature New Zealand Rainbow Trout -  my penfriend has a lakeside cabin and her hubby is a keen hunter and fisherman, so I'm hoping they will be well received when sent overseas later on.  All in all I’m quite pleased with my efforts this last week.  Wonder what number and project the dice will bring up next week?

Reflecting Back and Looking Forward

We are now back home from our Christmas/New Year holiday and it’s that time of year when quilters and crafters like to take stock of what we have achieved during the year.  Whether it’s been a little or a lot, each finish is special and something to celebrate.  I’ll never be in the league of some of the “super quilters” out there in blog-land, but I’m still happy with what I have done.

Lace cushion for niece’s 50th birthday and table cloth recording our South Island holiday

For the caravan, hand stitched native birds, and two sets placemats

Baby quilts

Winter wall-hanging and mats/blankets for the new kitten

Two piggy quilts

Then I had some big finishes, Soul Searching and Our Australian Adventures, both commercially quilted.

And last but certainly not least, I completed Alphabet Noel in time for Christmas.  These stitcheries were done over the previous two years, machine pieced and machine quilted with wonky stars.  I have to say that this was a most enjoyable stitchery project.

Alphabet Noel

I’m not as clever as it might appear - some of these projects had been already started and hanging around as UFOs for a while, so just needed finishing off, and others  were brand new.

What now?  As some of you know, I have been listing six projects at a time and throwing the dice to see which one I will work on each week.  I will continue doing that, but first I want to clear two long standing projects from my list, Animal ABC and Horse Quilt No 2, both which didn’t seem to have their numbers come up very much during the previous year.  I’ll be pleased to see the back of both of these two, so watch this space.

Then I will write a new list and continue from there.  It seems that there are still plenty of UFOs lurking about in bags and crates waiting to see the light of day, plus a few new projects I want to make.  I’m still working on my current stitchery project, the New Zealand Botanical designs, and once these blocks get completed the project will get swapped over to my List of Six to get made into a quilt.  And I really should make more of an effort to get on with my knitting.  As I often tell Robin, I’ll never run out of things to do.

New Zealand Bird of the Year

This in an annual competition ran by the Forest and Bird Society.  The votes have all been counted and the New Zealand Bird of the Year for 2018 is……….the kereru, or wood pigeon.   A large bird which crashes through the forest canopy in search of berries to eat.  The fate of many forests is linked to that of the kereru, as it's the only native bird big enough to swallow and disperse the large fruit of karaka, miro, tawa and taraire.

As some of you know, we are currently on holiday in our caravan.  And I just happen to have a couple of hand made items featuring the kereru.  Such as a set (of two) placemats with a New Zealand inspired print of the birds feeding on puriri berries. 

Then there is the little stitchery I did which is hanging on the wall – hand quilted too, I’m happy to report. This was finished earlier in the year.

So there we have it, my salute to the New Zealand Bird of the Year.  I seem to have a bit of a thing for our native birds, as I know there are a couple more  bird wall-hangings at home.