What's on the Table

 Christmas is almost here so I need to put something festive on the dining table.  Sometimes I use a quilt, but this year I decided on my Christmas tablecloth.  Just a simple one really, made by yours truly.  Somewhere or other I had purchased a pretty piece of Christmas fabric, featuring small panels of Christmas trees and  wreaths, and some musical notes scattered though some of the designs.  Wonder is it is "real" music, Christmas carols perhaps?   Much too pretty to cut up, I decided, so I simply hemmed around the edges and soon turned it into a tablecloth.  Don't ask me when I made it - I've searched the blog but couldn't see any mention of it.

Tis the season of Christmas

We're in countdown mode now, Christmas will be here in just a few more days.

Memory Tablecloth

 Memory tablecloths, and memory quilts, seem to be my thing, as I've made several over the years.  My latest one was to commemorate a trip away up to the far north.  Robin and I had been planning to go there next Christmas/New Year, but with losing him,  that would not be happening.  So when I saw the "North of the North" coach trip advertised, I decided to be brave and go on my own.  

Bay Tours Coach

My bag was packed, and I included blocks I'd stitched for my memory tablecloth plus a Micron marking pen.  My blocks were from fabric  featuring New Zealand designs, mostly batiks with a few prints, and a centre white square to write on.

Ready to go on holiday

Those blocks traveled to the top of the North Island with me and back.  It was fun to get them out at the various hotels we stayed at and write where I had been, and what attractions had been visited.  Special places were walking the track down to Cape Reinga, the Hole in the Rock cruise, and visiting the magnificent Tane Mahuta Kauri tree again.

Writing messages on each block

Once home again I stitched the blocks together, added a pale green border, and pinned it with backing, no batting required for a tablecloth.  Then sat down over several days doing the quilting, and finally the binding and label.  

The label on the back

All finished

So now it's having a turn on the dining table.  It's always fun to read the messages again.  And I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

My new tablecloth on the dining table

What's on the Table

What's on the table at the moment is a pin wheel quilt documenting our 3 month long trip to England in 2008.  Such a long trip  took a bit of planning for me and Robin, and I took along a big pile of half square triangles, one side patterned and one side plain, together with my  Micron archival pen for people to sign blocks for me as we travelled around.  The first block was signed by our travel agent Petra, wishing us "Bon Voyage".

My 2008 UK Holiday tablecloth

Several blocks were signed on our flights to Singapore, where we had a stop over for several days.  You know you are in foreign country when the breakfast buffet menu offers such delicacies as pickled lettuce, braised peanuts and mee gorang.  It was such a thrill to see the Merlion, having a ride on the newly opened Singapore Flyer, and enjoying a day trip to Santosa Island.  Then it was on to London.

The Singapore Flyer was so new our travel agent was unaware it was up and running

Our eight days in London was spent in a frenzy of sightseeing.  Buckingham Palace was open so we quickly snapped up tickets for that, and we enjoyed a tour through Hampton Court.  Both buildings are so full of English Royal history, which I love with a passion.

Buckingham Palace

The next week was a complete change of pace when we explored the Llangollen Canal onboard narrowboat Gypsy Rover, owned by our friends Dot and Derek.  Leaving the canal behind, we picked up a rental car and went exploring.  

We travelled around England, staying at B&Bs and starting each day with a "full English breakfast".  We visited castles and  cathedrals, and attractions along the way which were on our "must see" list, such as Stone Henge, Avebury Stone Circle  and Hastings where the 1066 battle took place.  

Avebury Stone Circle

There were train rides, boat rides, everywhere we went my HSTs were signed.  During a visit to Canterbury Cathedral to see the shrine to Thomas Beckett who was murdered in the name of Henry 11, my HST was signed by Revd Jacky who wrote "May God bless this precious work with his love".  I was so thrilled with that lovely message.

 Canterbury Cathedral

The blocks were assembled on our return home into a tablecloth.  It's always so nice to read the messages and relive that wonderful trip.

Many happy memories

What's on the Table?

 There is a pretty hand embroidered tablecloth gracing the table this time.  Lovely floral embroidery worked on linen.  I collected this pretty cloth from my MILs linen cupboard after she had passed away.  I really didn't want it to end up in an Op shop and wanted to give it a good home.

I'm not sure who worked on this cloth.  As far as I know, Robin's mum Bonnie didn't do needlework.  I suspect it may have been passed down from her own mother, Robin's grandmother.  Bonnie already had some things from her mother, pretty plates and cutlery.  Whoever made it, I'm delighted to give it a new home, and enjoy using it, especially as it seems likely there is a family connection.

Embroidered table cloth

What's on the Table

 This tablecloth dates back to 2012 when we traveled to the South Island with three other caravans for a three month trip.  I took along some pre sewn  rail fence blocks made up of strips of New Zealand inspired fabrics alternating with pale grey and my Micron ink pen. 

Table cloth documenting our mammoth South Island trip

 Our old cat Muffy was 16 years old back then and we had always placed her in a cattery when we traveled.  But I worried that at her age she might die while we were away, so we took her on  her very first caravan trip, and what a long one it was.  Although she was very unsettled during the ferry trip, she settled down surprising well.  Within a week of being on the road she was reasonably comfortable with the big change in her life.

And here we all were, full of excitement,  traveling down on the Inter Islander Ferry with our friends. Sadly, Robin and Geoff C are no longer with us.

Robin, Jenny, Dot, Pauline, Eileen, Geoff T, Derek, Geoff C, way back in 2012

And what a time we had,  Each  night I would get my Micro pen out and write down, where we stayed, the places we explored, and special sights we had seen.  The writing has faded now over all these years, but the memories are still there.

Writing on the blocks each night

We drove down the east coast,  stopping at all sorts of interesting places and reached Invercargill.  This was quite memorable for our old cat Muffy, as she found some cat nip growing where we were parking up overnight and rolled on the warm concrete in ecstasy!

I think Muffy overdosed on cat nip

We traveled back through Central Otago, and over to the West Coast, back over to Picton, and finally taking the ferry back to Wellington. The scenery of the South Island of New Zealand can only be described in superlatives, such as majestic, stunning, and sensational. With vistas of mountains, rugged peaks, glaciers, rain forests, fiords, rivers, lakes, hot mineral springs, wild coastlines, streams and estuaries, and rolling farmland, each day brought us more wonderful views to marvel over. Each of these wonderful places was faithfully recorded on the rail fence blocks, and the memories will live on each time I use my  table cloth, completed in June 2012.  Eileen had donated me the colourful kiwi fabric which I used for the backing, border and binding.  I think her original intention was to use this fabric to make something for her grandchildren, which never happened.

Completed in June 2012

Our Toyota Land Cruiser towed the caravan 3973km around the South Island, and then we drove a staggering 3413km without the caravan on the back,  tiki touring around.  A grand total of 7386kms for the trip, and we used 1417 litres of diesel.  And all this travelling cost us $2292.17 and our fuel consumption averaged out at approx 18 litres per 100 kilometres.  Goodness knows what the cost of the fuel would be these days, 14 years later.

What's on the Table?

Another tablecloth, another story.  This tablecloth was purchased as a kit, way back in the mists of time.  So long ago I can't even remember where and when I bought it.  I thought it was lovely, the design was marked on the linen fabric, the lace edging was attached, and all the threads were ready and waiting.  But, I'm not really an embroiderer, and long ago I decided that I really didn't like working with stranded threads.  So the kit sat, lonely and forgotten, and I seem to remember it was discovered when we moved homes from the Hutt Valley to here in in Levin.

Several years ago I asked my daughter Nicky  if she was interested and would take it off my hands.  Yes, she said, took it away, and out of sight, out of mind, I forgot about it again.  I presumed that she would perhaps stitch it and keep it for herself.  She diligently stitched away, and presented it back to me a while ago as a birthday gift, or maybe Christmas.    I was speechless

 Hand embroidered by my daughter Nicky

There is such a lot of work in this, it must have taken her ages.  I really appreciate each and every one of those stitches she made, this gift is so beautiful.

What's on the Table?

 What's on the table today?  It's one of my "holiday" tableclothes which was started during our 2018 summer caravan trip touring the South Island. 

Ooops, Blogger wont let me turn the photo

 I prepared little blocks using New Zealand designed fabrics, with plain cream to write messages on.  Each evening after our adventures, I wrote where we stayed, and places of interest that we visited. 

 

These are the blocks I prepared for our trip

While we were travelling around I started stitching the New Zealand floral wreath blocks.  I can remember sitting outside under the caravan awning, stitching away, a very pleasant way to pass the time for an hour or two after we had comnpleted our sightseeing for the day.

My first block stitched during our South Island holiday.

We had wonderful trip and this tablecloth is full of memories.

Plenty of Slow Stitching Here

I was thrilled with the birthday gift I received from my daughter Nicky.  Several years ago I had purchased  a partially completed embroidered tablecloth with unused threads from a fabric fair. That would be a good project to finish, I thought.  But…… time went by and I didn't do a single stitch, so asked my daughter Nicky if she could complete it for me – sometime.  Out of sight, out of mind, and I truly had forgotten all about it.  We got together for a birthday lunch on Thursday and Nicky presented me with a parcel, it was the completed tablecloth!

Opening the parcel

The amount of stitching she completed was phenomenal, finishing the cross stitch and very close stitching in the figures.  There are big burly Scots in the Highland Games, girls dancing, and kilted gentlemen playing the bagpipes.  And as well, she taught herself how to crochet the pretty lace edging from tutorials off the internet.  I am so proud of her – it really was a big ask.  Nicky told me she was determined to finish it for this birthday.

Such a lot of work in this

My birthday was today, Sunday, so Robin and I discussed options on how to celebrate.  Out for an evening meal, or perhaps lunch?  In the end we decided on a Birthday Breakfast and went to a “new to us” café, Gorge, in Otaki.

Gorge Café

There was an interesting feature wall inside the café, driftwood from the local beach.

Wall art

The café menu had us pondering for a while, perhaps I’ll have the hot cakes and fruit?  But a little further down I saw kippers on the menu, that will do me, I thought.  Robin couldn't go past the Big Breakfast.

That looks nice

The kippers were advertised as locally caught, but I was sure that we don’t have herrings in our waters.  So I checked with the serving staff to find out.  Yes, the fish, Kawhai,  was caught at Waikanae Beach, then smoked.  I had tried “real” kippers in Scotland at a B&B while travelling around the UK, and this Kiwi version was just as tasty. 

I asked the young staff member if she would mind taking our photo and handed her my camera. Click, click, click she went, then handed it back.  But……on checking there were no photos there at all.  Rather than call her back and maybe embarrass her, we each took a snap of the other.  This reminded me of another occasion when we were out and another young lady had no idea how to work a camera.  She had to sent an older staff member over to our table who had no trouble at all.

Finishing off our breakfasts

I’ve had a lovely day today, breakfast out, phone calls and messages from friends and family, and no cooking all day!  That’s always a bonus, isn't it.

Family Birthday Lunch

My birthday is coming up fast (during the weekend) and my daughter Nicky suggested we meet for lunch up in Feilding.  What a good idea we thought, and drove up on Thursday.  We were meeting in  Delish Café,  a new to us place, and they certainly were busy.  We were a little early grabbed a table, ordered a coffee each, and waited for the family to arrive.

Lunch time

It was so nice that both grand-daughters could meet us for lunch as well.  Megan took a couple of hours off from work, and Emma had the whole day off, because it was her birthday.  She had spent the morning riding her horse at the beach with friends, then rushed home to come and meet up with us.

Megan and birthday girl Emma

The meals were very tasty, and then Nicky presented me with my birthday gift.  What was inside, I wondered?

There’s a gift inside

Inside the bag was a long forgotten treasure.  Some years ago I went to the Altrusa fabric fair and purchased a linen tablecloth and threads, for a very reasonable price.  This had been partially completed and I presumed I would finish it up in no time at all.  That didn’t happen,and after languishing in a bag for quite some time I passed it over to Nicky to see if she would be interested in completing it for me.  All this happened so long ago I had completely forgotten all about it.  She has been stitching away these last few months, to get it finished in time for my birthday.  Not only that, Nicky has recently taught herself to crochet and made the lovely tablecloth edging as well.

Me with Nicky

This cloth is particularly special to me, not only because Nicky worked so hard to complete it for me, but also because I can claim some Scots blood in my veins. My Maternal grandfather came to New Zealand from Glasgow.

My beautiful tablecloth, hand stitched with love

I had a birthday gift for each of the girls, Emma’s birthday was on our lunch day, and Megan’s is in another week or so.  It was a lovely day out, and I’m so thrilled with my gift.

Christmas Caravan Rally

We had beautiful warm weather for our caravan club Christmas Rally, for the most part, anyway.  As often happens, the heavens opened and the rain came down on our last day.  But never mind, it didn't dampen the Christmas spirit.  Our caravan was decorated with the Christmas Cushions, and Santa Bear was perched on the corner of the sofa.

Christmas Cushions and Santa Bear

I found my Christmas Coins tablecloth, safely tucked away, and this was inspired by Jocelyn of https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/   I made this when I saw something similar on her blog some time ago, using small Christmas strips and scraps.  Originally this started as a leader and ender project, as I often do, just sewing strips together while I was working on something else. 

Christmas Coins tablecloth

Our last rally of the year was held at Rangiotu School.  The first school was built here in 1896 on 2 acres of land gifted by Enereta te Rangiotu. In 1996 the school, with a role of 24 pupils and four classrooms, was closed by the Government, along with a number of others through out New Zealand. The school and the land was then  passed back into Rangitāne ownership, and  now used for seminars, conferences and the like, and is also available for clubs like us to use from time to time.

Staying at Rangiotu School for the weekend

Although Father Christmas didn't come to visit, and no gifts were exchanged, we still had a great time.  We all gathered under the nice shady trees for morning teas and 4zees, and we had the use of a small hall for the evenings.  It was a bit of a squeeze, but we all managed to sit around the table  to eat our meal together on Saturday evening.  Some had been busy barbequing, others cooked in their vans, or brought cold salads over for their meal. The tables were decorated, bottles of bubbly were popped, glasses raised, and we wished each other well. Dessert was provided by the club, lovely locally grown strawberries and ice-cream, to finish off our meal.

Dinner time

Gemma seemed to enjoy her time away too.  She was keen to get outside and explore, so we took her safely under control on her harness and lead – we don’t let her run loose, while camping, both dogs and cats must be tethered and under control.   While we were sitting down outside with the others under the shady tree, she was investigating what she could find in the undergrowth, then settled down for a snooze.  Of course, she is very fond on relaxing in the caravan as well and makes herself comfortable on the bed or the sofa.

Afternoon nap time

The rain came down overnight, so we packed up in the rain on Sunday morning.  But not before we had our final morning tea, with delicious Christmas Mince Pies courtesy of the club.  Goodness me, we seem to have been eating all weekend and it was great to catch up with our caravan friends before we all head off in different directions over the holiday season.

Binding and Pinwheel USA Highlights

This is always my favourite part of a project, sitting quietly somewhere while I hand stitch the binding down on my pinwheel quilt/tablecloth.  Slow stitching at its best.

Finishing off the binding

It’s a nice sunny day today for an ourdoors photo shoot.

Front and back

There, it’s done.  Let’s see what it looks like on the table.  We can check out the messages while we are sitting here.

On the dining table

It’s fun to check out the messages on this.  We had a stop-over at New York on our return trip, the “city which never sleeps” is such an amazing place, but I’m sure you all know that.  Places we visited were Ground Zero, Times Square, Central Park, and we took a harbour trip and viewed Lady Liberty.  Then we boarded a coach for a a week long trip to Niagara Falls, (the falls were amazing) and invited all our fellow travelers to sign a block for me.  My pen friend Gail drove up from Orangeville, Canada to spend the day with us, it was so nice to meet up with her, and of course she signed a block too.  On our trip back we stopped at the such places as the Liberty Bell, Arlington National Cemetery, Lincoln Memorial, the Air and Space Museum, so we got a quick overview of USA history.  It was just a taste of this amazing country, but so very interesting.

Our trip on the harbour

This project may well have taken quite some time to completion, and I am pleased I went with Plan B and turned the blocks into a tablecloth.  Now we can enjoy the signed blocks, a much better option than having them tucked away as a quilt backing.  But its finished now, and as everyone knows “good things take time”.