Stonestead Stitchers today

It’s been a while since I’ve managed to get to get to one of the fortnightly get-togethers with the Stonestead Stitching ladies, what with one thing and another going on.  But at long last I made it today.   “We’ve missed you”, they said – isn’t that nice!  Seven of us attended today, and it seems that I may well have missed some interesting “finishes” from the ladies over the meetings I was unable to attend.  Never mind, we had a good catch up today.

Not everyone brought stitching along to do, but that’s OK, half the fun is socialising together, isn’t it?  Ruth was busy stitching, trying out some new embroidery designs.  She is attending a class on Elizabethan embroidery shortly and had borrowed several books full of beautiful examples of this type of work.  The books were passed around the table and duly admired.  We will be interested to see how Ruth gets on in her class and look forward to seeing her embroidery piece next time.

Vicki-Anne loves making dainty little flowers and had two “fascinators” to show us, one pretty in pink with netting, and the other a rather glamorous concoction of black and red. 

Vicki-Anne with her two fascinators

“Indian Garden”, the colourful Ehrman tapestry which Liz has been so diligently working on for a while, is not far from completion now.  The colours and designs are just lovely.

Liz’s lovely tapestry

Cheryl was telling us about the apron panels she had purchased – just a matter of cutting out the pieces and stitching them together, she said.  Although she thought she would line each apron as well.  Here she is having fun turning the apron straps right way out.

Cheryl and her apron straps

As for me, I took my sadly neglected knitting along and managed to get several rows done, in between chatting and eating our lunch.  I remember making a little jumper from this pattern for my son Michael so many years ago when he was just a toddler.  This blue version will get put away in the “baby box” for when the next generation comes along.

My knitting

It was great to catch up with everyone at Stonestead again, thanks for your friendly company, ladies.  . 

Stonestead Stitchers today

The weeks roll by and today was the two weekly get together of the Stonestead Stitchers.  I had missed the previous one as last time we were away in the caravan visiting my sister’s family in Hastings.  There was a good turn out, and the morning passed quickly with lots of chatter.  One or two of the talkers looked at their watches to check the time, and wonder where the morning had gone to, as they hadn’t yet  done a single stitch! 

Several of the ladies brought “Show and Tell”, with Cheryl taking the prize once again, for the most finished items.  She had help to hold up her “Scrawny Tawny Lion” quilt, which just needs the binding stitched down.

Tawny Scrawny Lion storybook quilt

Cheryl had made a couple of little gift bags to go with her lion quilt.  One of the bag is full of happy little knitted finger puppets, and the other bag contains the story book.  These will be put away in Cheryl’s Granny Box for the future, I’m sure.

Cheryl and Caroline had been very busy making a whole lot of Stable Bags with a Kiwiana flavour for gifts.  These two by Cheryl feature our native Saddleback birds on the right, and a lovely Maori inspired batik on the left.

Cheryl’s two Stable Bags

Caroline is off and away on an overseas trip and taking her bags with her as gifts.  I’m sure they will be much appreciated – there is a lot of work in making these great bags.  The fabric choices are pukekos, kiwifruit, sheep and buzzy bees.

Caroline’s bags

Liz was working on an Ehrman tapestry in a rich paisley design called Indian Garden.  This really belongs to younger sister Bridget but she is giving her a helping hand, she told me.  Ooops Liz, don’t swallow that needle you’re holding in your mouth!

Liz with the Indian Garden tapestry

Bridget meanwhile was working on some very pretty stitcheries from Chickadee Hollow Designs.  They are beautifully stitched and will be framed when completed.

Chickadee Hollow stitcheries

Some little boy will love to get the helicopter Longstitch picture that Therese was working on.  She’s not sure who it is for at this stage, perhaps she can start a granny box too.

Longstitch design

And what was I working on?  A “Secret Squirrel” present for someone or other that I can’t show just yet.  Never mind, I’ll just keep stitching away.

Stonestead Show and Tell

It was a fine but cool day yesterday when I made the short journey up to join the other Stonestead Stitchers yesterday.  Some customers were  enjoying their tea and scones “al fresco” in the wintery sunshine.  We hold our stitching get-togethers upstairs behind the windows which look over the courtyard in the cooler months, and in the summer we enjoy sitting outside in the extensive gardens under the sun umbrellas.

Stonestead Tea House

The ladies had been very busy as there was a whole lot of show and tell to enjoy.  Dorothy was pinning up a table runner she had stitched in shades of purple, ready for machine quilting.  This will be a Golden Wedding gift, and the background fabric with gold printing goes very nicely with this theme.

  

Table runner for a Golden Wedding gift

Close up of fabric selection

Rosemary’s ruffle scarf created lots of interest.  It was a wee bit tricky to knit, she said, but now she can’t wait to start another one.  It certainly looks interesting, and I’m wondering if I could manage to knit one.  I’m sure my grand-daughters would love one of these, I must find out what other colours the yarn comes in.

Rosemary and her ruffle scarf

Another interesting item of apparel was the fascinator made by Vicki Ann.  This dainty little head-dress would look just the thing worn at a wedding or a day at the races.  Made with hand fashioned fabric blooms, a whisper of lace and a feather or two, it is very pretty.

Fascinator made by Vicki Ann

Then the quilts came out of the bags.  Liz has finished her Christmas quilt in plenty of time for the big day and features both appliqué and piecing.  I just love Christmas quilts, and this one in country colours is wonderful.

Christmas quilt made by Liz

Purple and green was the colour choice of Mary’s grand-daughter, and this is a stunning quilt with the wide polka dot border.  Mary’s grand-daughter will be sure to love it.

Mary’s quilt for her grand-daughter

Another quilt for a young lady was held up for us all to see.  Bridget made her “stack and whack” heart quilt in pinks and blacks for her fourteen year old niece.  This quilt also featured a polka dot border.  Mmmm, I just love that pattern.

Heart quilt made for Bridgett’s niece

Cheryl was whirring away on her sewing machine for a while, then did some more work on her Christmas stitchery.  This is just one of three designs on the panel, so there is quite a bit of stitching to go yet.

Cheryl’s Christmas stitchery

I meanwhile was stitching a hanging sleeve on a small quilt.  No photos of this yet, as it will be shown in my quilt club’s upcoming exhibition to be held in September.  I’m pleased I’ve got my entry finished in good time so I won’t need to be rushing around at the last minute.  It was another very enjoyable get together with the ladies at Stonestead, they are a very talented bunch.

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.

First day of Summer at Stonestead

Today is the first day of Summer and what a glorious day it was, so nice and warm that the Stonestead Stitchers sat outside in the lovely garden, instead of meeting upstairs as we had done over the colder months.  We dragged one of the large timber  picnic tables over to join two up together to give us a bit more room.  Luckily there were nice big sun umbrellas shading the tables, and Kevin from Stonestead also provides the much needed insect repellent.  Another quilting friend, Jenny H, came over to see what all the noisy chatter was about, and kindly took a group photo for us.

Stonestead Stitchers working in the garden

We all worked on our own individual projects, and the conversation ranged over all sorts of topics, Christmas of course, and family and food got a mention as well.  I was working on a Christmas project, and put the last few stitches in, I’m pleased to say, and will show it closer to the “big day”.  Ruth had brought along her lovely piece of Mountmellick embroidery.  This is a long term project and she is making good progress with it.  She hastened to add that she has also been working on other projects too.

Ruth’s Mountmellick embroidery

Dorothy was adding green hexagons down the side of her Grandmother’s Flower Garden blocks.  This popular pattern is made with in the English Paper Piecing method to ensure accuracy, and seems to be enjoying quite a revival lately. 

Dorothy’s pretty flower blocks

Pretty little gift boxes seemed to appear like magic from Vicki-Ann’s talented fingers.  She makes lovely cards too.

Vicki-Ann making gift boxes

Christmas must have been on Cheryl’s mind, as she had brought along two Christmas quilts to work on.  This lovely large Christmas quilt was a “block of the month” and Cheryl button hole stitched around all the appliqué blocks.  She has now machine quilted around the blocks, and still has hand quilting to do in each block.  It’s a big quilt, so that will keep her busy for a while, I expect.

Cheryl’s Christmas quilt

Cheryl had brought along another projects “just in case”.  She is making this Christmas wall hanging as a gift for her SIL, and just has the binding to complete.

Christmas wall hanging

Now it is December, we just have one more fortnightly meeting of the Stonestead Stitchers before Christmas is upon us.   Hope it is another lovely fine day so that we can enjoy sitting in the peaceful garden again.

Stonestead Stitchers meet again

Our happy group met up again for the fortnightly stitching group.  Some ladies make it each time, and others come as time and circumstances allow.  No matter, whoever is there makes for a happy group, full of chat and helpful advice.  Some ladies had long term projects on the go.  Mary was working away hand quilting her Christmas Welcome Banner, and Carol was stitching down the last few felt leaves on her little wall-hanging.  Dorothy decided to alter some of her Grandmother’s Flower Garden hexagons to add a contrasting hexie in the centre of each flower.  It was quite a bit of extra work to deconstruct the flower and change the centre, but she is really pleased with the finished result.

Dorothy’s Flower blocks

Ruth had something new to show us – she had recently attended a class on transfer dyeing ran by the local Embroiders Guild.  The design was transferred onto nylon fabric, and she is hand stitching around each design.  The embroidery will then have a border added and will end up as a cushion when the stitching is completed.  The colours are so fresh and pretty and we all look forward to seeing the completed project.

Made in a class on transfer dyeing

Vicki-Ann was getting ready for Christmas cooking with her newly completed Christmas oven mitt all ready to help her take the turkey out of the hot oven.  It is made with a cheery Christmas print, and finished off with lime green satin bias binding.

Vicki-Ann getting ready for Christmas

It was just a matter of stitching down the binding on a lovely bright kiddie’s quilt which Cheryl had brought along, and it was all done.  This fabric was sourced from a “specials” bin in the local curtain shop, so it was a very economical project indeed.  There are no immediate plans yet for this quilt, and it will get put away for sometime in the future.  It is such a bright and happy quilt that whoever gets it will be sure to love it.  Cheryl was making a matching changing mat too.

Cheryl’s cot quilt

At our last get-together Cheryl had showed us the top she and her SIL were making for a family wedding.  It has now been commercially quilted in an over-all pattern, the binding is stitched down, and the label added to the back.  “Mystic Magic” is all ready to be presented at the forthcoming wedding.

Cheryl with Mystic Magic

I didn’t have a great deal to show for my morning’s work, certainly nothing worthy of a photo.  I pinned down a quilt binding and started sewing it down, then some unpicking with my trusty “Quick Unpick”.  Where would we be without these handy little gadgets, I wonder?  Thanks for your company, ladies, it is always nice to sit and sew with you.