I Love a Man in Uniform

“What’s this?”, I wondered, as I parked the car outside Stonestead Tea House.  A bright red fire engine was just along the road.   I hoped that Kevin hadn’t had a fire in the kitchen as he cooked up a batch of scones for his Devonshire Teas.

Fire engine at the ready

It wasn’t the Tea House on fire, but a car which had caught fire.  I don’t know the full story, but when I came along the firemen were busy peering underneath the car.  It looked like the fire had been extinguished by this stage, and the firemen were no doubt checking for any smoulders, or maybe leaking fuel lines.  An ambulance arrived shortly afterwards, so presumably one of the passengers was in need of medical attention.  What a fright it must be to have your car catch fire as you drive merrily along.

Checking under the car

After all this excitement I left the men in uniform behind and joined the other members of the Stonestead Stitchers upstairs in the Tea House.  Everyone was quite busy with their various projects.  Therese had brought along an Advent Calendar quilt which she had just finished.

Therese’s Advent quilt

There was a bit of a production line going on with this pattern, as Amanda had brought her sewing machine along and was busy finishing up  her version.  Amanda is a keen new quilter, with a couple of projects already completed so far.

Amanda working on her Advent Calendar

I had taken a unwanted items along (after yet another tidy up) to see if any of the ladies were interested.  Ruth put her hand up for my little basket, and put it to use straight away, storing her embroidered Christmas decoration project inside. 

Ruth and her Christmas decoration

Carol had just started stitching her cross stitch Poppy, a lovely little design from The Country Diary Cross Stitch book.   This lovely little book has lots of very pretty botanical designs.  And Liz was another who was also working diligently away, on her Indian Garden tapestry.

Just started – Carol’s poppy

I just love Bridget’s pretty little stitcheries from Chickadee Hollow Designs.  These came pre-printed and colour shaded to add depth to the stitcheries.  She is contemplating how best to put them together, or perhaps just make them separate little hangings.

Bridget’s stitcheries

Cheryl is always busy and had two things to show us.  She had completed her lovely Christmas stitchery wall hanging, complete with three different Santas.

Cheryl’s Christmas wall hanging

Her other project took us by surprise – it looked a bit scary, rather like a version of ET.  I had a look at the pattern, and it will be a pretty doll called Amelia Pippin when completed.

Amelia Pippin and her green legs

Yvonne, from the adjacent Sawmillers shop came upstairs to show us a lovely hexagon quilt, You can just see her fingers holding up the quilt top.  This design will be offered as a class in the New Year.  Whirligig blocks made from diamond pieces with a hexagon centre are appliquéd in the centre of each large hexagon.

  

  Yvonne holding a new class sample

And what about me?  I did a little stitching on a cushion cover, and all the ladies were very interested to hear about our impending move to Levin.  It was great to catch up with everyone again, then I had to hurry home as I had a very busy afternoon planned with yet more cleaning.   I’m well pleased with my afternoon’s work – I’ve cleaned out the cupboards under the bathroom vanity unit.  Lots of old medicines and such like got tossed in the bin, the remainder has been sorted and tidied, and the shelves have been washed clean.  That’s another job crossed off the long list.

Back with the Stonestead girls again

It hardly seems two weeks, but here it is again, time for the Stonestead Stitchers get-together again.  But first I called in to see Yvonne next door at Sawmillers Quiltery.  Bailey and Poppy were there to keep an eye on who was coming into the shop.  They looked so cute, all cuddled up together on a chilly morning.  That’s Bailey on the top layer, little Poppy is all cuddled up on the bottom of the basket.

Bailey and Poppy at Sawmillers Quiltery

There was a nice little group there today, all very busy, and talkative too, as usual, and all doing different things.  It’s a long time since I’ve made a stained glass quilt, and I would probably have trouble remembering how to go about it these days.  Not so for Dorothy, she has not long finished a class on her lovely Iris stained glass wall hanging and brought it along to show us all.  With just the binding and hanging sleeve to stitch down, it is almost finished.  No, she doesn’t want to be seen, she told me, as she hid her face behind the quilt.  Hasn’t she done a lovely job?

Stained glass quilt

Ruth had brought along photos of a group project that she took part in with the Upper Hutt Embroiderers Guild.  Thirty ladies took part, and they were each given a photo of part of a larger picture to embroider, then all the parts were stitched back together.  Hope I’m making sense here and that you can visualise what I’m trying to get across.  The scene seems to be local, Ruth thinks, and the finished project will be taken and displayed at the upcoming Guild Conference to be held in Nelson.  Apologies for my photo, as I couldn’t get away from the overhead lights.  Ruth’s piece is the top photo, and the bottom photo shows all the different segments stitched together. 

Embroidered native scene

Vicki Ann makes cards, and she has a very impressive folder with photos of all the cards and boxes she has made.  She is going to give  Carol some “one on one tuition” to help her complete her baby card that she is making, with the pretty pink cross stitch panel that she has made to go in it. Perhaps we will get to see Carol’s finished card next time?

Vicki Ann’s folder of cards

Making bags has been taking up a fair bit of Caroline’s time lately.  She is planning an overseas trip and is taking some of these lovely bags along as gifts, some with a New Zealand theme too.  The sheep bag really has a Kiwi flavour, and the bunch of green fabric featuring kiwi fruit is next in line to be turned into another bag too.

  

Caroline and her lovely bags

Cheryl is always busy and has many projects on the go.  She brought along a few more stuffed animals to show us, a .lion, a mouse, and no, not a rhino she said, its a dinosaur.  These animals will be tucked away in her “granny box” till they are required sometime in the future.  She also brought along a quilt top made in a recent Kathy Doughty class.   It starts off with a square block in the centre, then seems to go around and around in a spiral.  Quite an interesting design, I thought.

 

Cheryl with some more animals

 Cheryl’s quilt top made in a class

As for me, I spent most of my time stitching away at a label, can’t show it yet as it’s for a yet to be given gift.  It was nice to catch up with the ladies again, and spend a few hours in their company.  We all enjoyed our “Devonshire Teas” for lunch too, hand delivered up the stairs by Kevin.

Back with the Stonestead Stitchers again

It’s been quite a while, but I finally met up the the fortnightly group, the Stonestead Stitchers again.  After returning from our long caravan holiday in the South Island, I am once again getting involved with the various groups I previously enjoyed meeting with.  But first, I popped in to see Yvonne at the adjacent Sawmillers Quiltery to say hello.  Yvonne is very welcoming and this pretty little shop always has something new on offer, fabrics of course, and interesting classes.

Sawmillers Quiltery

Lots of goodies inside

This group meet upstairs at the Stonestead Tea House to stitch and chat and as usual, there was plenty going on.  Caroline brought along a table runner she had just completed at a class with Sawmillers Quiltery – it is made in nice bright colours featuring chickens in the centre of the stars.

Caroline’s table runner

She had been busy knitting too, and showed us this cute little dinosaur coat made for the family Jack Russell Ellie.  It comes complete with spikes along the back, and yes, Ellie does enjoy wearing winter coats, we were told.

Ellie the dog’s knitted coat

Knitting book for dogs

I had seen Dorothy working on her pretty hexagon “Nana’s Garden” quilt over the previous months, and with just the binding to stitch down she brought the almost completed quilt along to show us.  This has been beautifully machine quilted by Sue B, and Dorothy is planning to hang the quilt up in her home.

  Dorothy with her Hexagon quilt

Close up of the quilting

There was a whole lot of cross stitch going on.  Carol had completed a pretty little flower kit which came complete with a frame, and was finishing off a pink cross stitch to put into a baby greeting card.  Ruth had picked up a “just started” cross stitch pin cushion kit at her embroidery guild’s sales table and was having fun working on that.

Carol’s pretty pink cross stitch projects

Ruth’s pin cushion

Beverly was another doing cross stitch, and showed us this beautiful sampler she had stitched for her daughter – she was determined to hide and only allowed her fingers to show.

Beverley’s beautiful sampler

Two of the ladies were stitching away on their tapestries.  Mary had forgotten all about her very pretty bargello tapestry.  Now rediscovered, she is stitching diligently to get it finished, while Liz was working on her Jacobean design tapestry.

Mary working on her bargello tapestry

Liz and her Jacobean tapestry

Bridget has been making “Stack and Whack” blocks from a lovely range of Amy Butler fabrics and spent time with her cutter and board squaring them all up.

Stack and Whack blocks

Cheryl had a new family, she told us, then proceeded to pull a whole lot of soft toys out of her bag.  She had made a giraffe, monster, caterpillar and dinosaur and was working on a lion.  What a great collection – and that cute giraffe was my favourite.

Cheryl’s been very busy

The ladies were keen to hear about our trip away, and it was nice to be so warmly welcomed back.  While we were stitching and chatting  Kevin was downstairs in the cafe kitchen whipping up scones for our lunches and delivered the trays upstairs to us. It may have been grey and cold outside, but it was another warm fun filled day with the Stonestead Stitchers.

August Stonestead Stitchers

We had a good group gather as we met upstairs in the Stonestead Tea House for our fortnightly meeting.  We pushed two tables together and moved chairs around to give us plenty of room.  As it was a nice morning, there were plenty of other customers sitting outside enjoying their tea and scones in the sunshine.   Several of our group brought along finished items for our “Show and Tell”.   Vicki had not attended the group for some time so the regulars were pleased to welcome her back.  She brought along a lovely bright child’s quilt she had just finished.

Vicki’s quilt

Vicki had used a lovely ABC print to back her quilt and stitched together some of the left over fabric to make a set of soft baby blocks.  What a great gift this set of blocks and the quilt will make for a new baby.

Baby blocks

Vicki-Ann brought along a big bag containing several UFOs with the hope of getting them all completed. Ambitious - but that never happens, does it?  She worked away stitching some binding onto a pot holder, and had bags of prepared fabric petals to make into flower brooches.  She proudly showed us one of her completed brooches, nicely finished off with a flower button.

Vicki-Ann’s flower brooch

I was very taken with her beautifully beaded velvet glasses case, featuring the New Zealand pohutakawa flowers.  This was made by Caroline Mitchell.  Sadly this talented designer has passed away with cancer, but her family are carrying on with her business with the aim to “emulate her creativity and passion”.

Beaded glasses case

I remember Ruth stitching away at her bright island inspired wall-hanging when I first joined this group, then she put it aside to work on other projects.  As there was not much left to do on it, Ruth said, she set to and soon had it all completed.  This is a Jennifer Pudney kitset, called Island Dreamers, and is stitched on felt.

Island Dreamers

Mary’s Christmas Angel wall-hanging in country colours is finished too, in lots of time for Christmas.  The black plaid fabrics are brightened up with the felt flowers, hearts and stars.  Here is Mary hiding her face as she trying to be incognito behind her little angel.

Mary’s Christmas Angel

Cheryl was busy hand quilting her Christmas quilt, but also had something finished to show us.  She had made two soft kiddie’s books out of fabric panels, the Flopsy Bunnies, and ABC New Zealand.  Perhaps she has made them for future grandchildren?  Not just yet, she assured me, her girls are much too young.

Two fabric books

ABC New Zealand book

At the conclusion of our stitching time I popped over to the adjacent Sawmiller’s Quiltery to see what was new.  Lots of wonderful fabrics of course, and class samples on display.  A large display of novelty buttons caught my eye and I just had to buy a packet of sewing themed buttons.  And yes, I have just the project to use them on – a gift for a friend so it will have to stay a secret at this stage.

A collection of sewing themed buttons

Stitching in the Sunshine

I enjoyed a lovely few hours yesterday stitching in the sunshine with a group of like minded ladies up at Sawmillers Quiltery.  This was my first visit to this friendly group, and I was warmly welcomed.  So you can be sure that I will put the fortnightly meetings on my calendar.  Lunch was a delicious “Devonshire Tea”, (or coffee, in my case)  made on the premises and personally delivered to our tables by Kevin.

Stitching group in the gardens

We are all  looking forward to  nice sunny weather on Sunday for the 3rd Annual Outdoor Quilt Festival.  This was postponed last week due to showery conditions, so everyone will have their fingers crossed for a better day this week.  The clotheslines are all installed in the garden.  It should be a great day, and I am really looking forward to it.

This is such a lovely setting.  Flowers are in bloom everywhere, and there are pretty doves cooing softly in the background.   In this photo you can see the Quiltery building behind the fence, and the clotheslines in place, waiting for those quilts!

Quilts in the Library

Our local library holds monthly “Creative Crafting” sessions on all sorts of subjects.  This is to promote the books they have on offer on these subjects, and to raise awareness of the different clubs and businesses in our community.  Quilting took centre stage this month with a presentation by Yvonne of Sawmillers Quiltery.  I couldn’t let a quilt related opportunity pass me by, so I joined the happy group of ladies sitting down waiting for the talk to begin.

  Announcing “Quilt Making”

The tables were draped with quilts, Baltimore blocks, and stitcheries.  Yvonne welcomed us all, and went on to explain what is involved in quilting from a beginner’s viewpoint.  Rotary cutters, boards, and rulers are all used these days, and she stressed the care needed while wielding one of these extremely sharp cutters. 

Quilts and blocks displayed

All the areas of quilting was covered, from choosing fabric, cutting out the pieces, and the difference between piecing and appliqué.  Several types of batting were passed around the group so the ladies could feel the different properties.

Yvonne talking about her quilts

Yvonne pointed out the huge range of patterns and styles of quilts available.  Foundation paper piecing is the way to ensure sharp points – something I haven’t tried myself.  If someone would rather do handwork, there is a lot of choice too, from simple stitcheries to the elegant and challenging Baltimore blocks. 

Cheryl’s foundation pieced Mariner’s Compass

A lot of discussion took place when it was mentioned that many quilters in the USA like to hang quilted banners outside their homes to commemorate the four seasons, Independence Day, Halloween, Christmas and other occasions.  It seems this practice is more common in some states than others, and we wondered if it might catch on here in New Zealand.

Hand quilted  Fairy Quilt

As Yvonne commented, “I’m preaching to the converted”, as many of the group at the presentation have already discovered the joys of patchwork and quilting.  But there were several ladies there too who were not yet quilters and came along to see what it is all about.  Let’s hope they are keen to take up our wonderful hobby as we could always do with more quilters in the world!

Christmas at Sawmiller’s Quiltery

Just a little way up the road from where I live is the delightful little shop, Sawmiller’s Quiltery.  There were some new red-work patterns in stock which I was quite keen to check out.  “Do you know what red-work is?”, I asked DH as I headed out the door.  “Of course I do”, he replied, “you made that red-work Santa”.  Isn’t he a clever quilter’s husband?  The shop looked very inviting, with quilts hung outside the shop.

Sawmiller’s Quiltery

Bailey and Poppy were on snooze duty in the shop.  With all this warm weather that we have been having lately, there was nothing better to do than snooze in the sunshine.  It was too hot for them in the basket, nice and comfy with their very own quilts made for them especially by Sue.  So much cooler on the floor.

Bailey and Poppy on snooze duty

There were lots of interesting things to check out in the shop, since my last visit.  The Christmas tree looked a picture decked out in ribbon bows and little quilt charms nestling amongst the branches.

Christmas Tree

Also in the Christmas theme were the beautiful Jim Shore angel figurines, with their patchwork decorations.  Any quilter would love one of these.  I have a tiny one of these sent to me several years ago from South Dakota, and she comes out every year at Christmas time.

Jim Shore figurines

As I was a little late checking out the red-work patterns, some of then had sold out.  I just had to take “Red-work Kitchen” home with me, featuring cups and saucers, jugs and plates.  I’m busy working on my current stitcheries at the moment, but this pattern will be all ready and waiting when I’m ready to start a new project.

My new pattern