And the Winners are……..

I went back in the daytime to take photos of the other major winners in my club, Pinestream Quilters Exhibition. Best in Show was Jenny Hall, (see earlier blog) who also took out the award for Best First Time Exhibitor. Well done, Jenny. Now, where did I put my notebook? The other awards went to:

“Welsh Traditions”, by Heather Harding, won two awards. Best Hand Quilting, and Best Traditional Wall Quilt. Heather’s quilt “celebrates the traditions that have been established and practised by women for centuries”.

“ Welsh Traditions”, by Heather Harding

The low lighting in the gallery did not make for a good photo, so I zoomed in on the central motif to show just how wonderful Heather’s hand quilting is. Heather is one of those remarkable quilters who win awards for both hand and machine quilting.

Centre of Heather’s quilt

“Rhythm and Blues”, by Gaye Downes, won Best Use of Colour. This quilt was inspired by the book, Spectacular Quilts. The lovely turquoise fabrics made this quilt glow.

“Rhythm and Blues”, by Gaye Downes

“Shanes Journey through the Stars”, by Fay McGregor, won Best Innovative Bed Quilt. This was made for her son’s 18th birthday and showcases fabric in the many different varieties of stars relating to hobbies and interests, such as bikes, music, and sports.

“Shane’s Journey through the Stars”, by Fay McGregor

“The Road to Cork”, by Gael O’Donnel, won Best Traditional Bed Quilt, and was made for her oldest son‘s 21st birthday. Made of lovely subdued colours which did not photograph particularly well in the low lighting.

“The Road to Cork”, by Gael O’Donnel

“Keeping it Green”, by Margaret Rogerson, won Best Innovative Wall Quilt. Margaret made the wall hanging to celebrate the purchase of her new home.

“Keeping it Green”, by Margaret Rogerson

“Bozinga”, by Jo den Harder won Best Machine Quilting. This stunning quilt with flowers and stars was made to celebrate a new home. I had seen Jo working on this quilt and just love the intricate design of the blocks.

“Bozinga”, by Jo den Harder

And……last but not least, the President’s Award went to “Vriendchap voon Altyd”, Friendship for Ever, by Petronella Lazet-Polman. Made for a very dear friend who returned to the Netherlands after spending several years living in New Zealand.

“Vriendchap voon Altyd”, by Petronella Lazet-Polman

These are the quilts which took home the awards, but there are many other lovely quilts on display as well. The quilters in our club are very talented and I am sure that you would like to see some of the others as well. I will be back to the gallery with my trusty camera snapping more beautiful quilts before too long.

Muffy’s looking after me

I’m feeling rather poorly today with one of those throats that went from prickly to very sore and a hacking cough in a matter of hours. So I’m having a day off work, not doing too much at all. No housework, not even any sewing. Muffy has been looking after me. She loves to have someone at home during the day.

Are you writing about me?

What I have been doing, after checking the emails, it write a few letters to overseas pen friends. I mentioned this at work last week, and the reaction was interesting. “No one writes letters these days”, I was told, “with emails and texting”. Well I certainly do write letters, and my pen friends appreciate receiving them. Nice newsy letters full of what we have been getting up to over the last few months. I love to get letters too, it is something that can be read and savoured, and re-read again when you get around to replying. Emails have their place, and as for texting, I just can’t get the hang of it! And they don’t spell the words properly. Give me a real letter any day.

Best in Show

The Official Opening on our quilt show on Friday evening was quite an occasion. We mixed and mingled over wine and cheese. Important people made speeches, the awards were given out, and the quilt show was officially opened. Only then were we allowed to enter the gallery and finally see all the quilts hung on the wall. What a beautiful riot of colour they made, as we all crowded around to see who had made what, and check out those winning quilts. “Best in Show” went to Jenny, (no, not me) whose prizewinning quilt was composed of the New York Beauty block in reds, greys and blacks, with an intricate pieced inner border. I met Jenny some years ago when we took part in a Christmas Stocking swap together. She is thrilled with her win, and it is richly deserved, great work, Jenny!

Best in Show

Our quilts are hung in Expressions Gallery, Upper Hutt, and the exhibition will last for 4 weeks. I plan to make several trips back to the gallery and will take more photos in daylight conditions to show on the blog. So…… watch this space.

Tonight’s the Night

It’s a special night tonight for members of Pinestream Quilters. It is the opening preview of our 2010 Quilt Exhibition, “Celebrate”. The exhibition will be celebrating 21 years of Pinestream Quilters and featuring quilts which reflect significant moments in life. The categories range from first time exhibitor, traditional and innovative bed and wall quilts, best use of colour, machine and hand quilting, President’s choice, and Best in Show. So we are off to partake in the Wine and Cheese, followed by the Official Opening, and the Awards Ceremony. It promises to be a great evening.

Off to the Quilter

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to the quilter I go! I packed up my black and white quilt and the pieced backing and travelled over the hill to Wainuiomata to meet up with Long-arm quilter Julie. Julie lives on a rural property with bantam chooks running around. .

Cock-a-doodle-doo

Polly the dog was put inside the house and looked forlornly out of the window, she really wanted to join in the fun. Polly is the sort of dog that will lick you to death, Julie said. Oh look, there’s a quilt on the bed. Julie makes quilts for herself, as well as quilting them for others.

Polly wants to come and play

We went into the quilting studio and got down to business. I wanted some sort of swirly all over design on the quilt so we pondered over the pattern books. There were several nice possibilities and I finally narrowed it down to one. What colour thread did I want? Mmmm, that is always an interesting decision. Julie spread some black, white and green threads across the quilt. Then she brought out a variegated black and white spool. That’s the one, I decided. All decisions made, I left the quilt behind for Julie to work her magic on it. It should be completed in a couple of weeks.

My pumpkin bag and quilt top on the quilting machine

Almost done

I made the most of a day off work today, and really worked hard finishing the black and white quilt I’m making for my daughter. It needed a plain black border to finish it off. Laying the quilt top on the floor, I smoothed it out and carefully measured it. Three times as you do – once down the middle and then down the sides. Pinning those long strips took ages. I am a real “pinner”, I like to pin plenty and often. Once I had stitched the black strips to the long sides, I did it all again along the top and bottom.

Black border strip added

Then it was time to stitch the backing fabric. I had purchased many metres of white fabric with a small black spot – that should look good on the back, I thought. But……… all that fabric and it still wasn’t quite enough! Oh no, what to do? Luckily I had just enough of the lime green accent fabric to add a piece down the middle of the backing.

Backing fabric

There are a few loose threads that need snipping off and then I’ll give the quilt top and backing fabric a good press. I’ve arranged to get this quilt commercially quilted and will drop it off on Wednesday.

Santa’s new Clothes

At last my Santa has some nice new clothes to wear.  No more standing around in the “altogether” and looking sheepish, he really didn’t want anyone to see him like that.  With just his snowy white beard to keep the chills away he was really feeling the cold.  Finally he is respectably clothed, and ready to meet anyone who comes to call.  Santa started out a little flat, and looked like this.

A large amount of stuffing filled him up nicely.  With his arms stitched on he looked almost human.  Pity about the legs though, he doesn’t have any.  I drew a couple of dots for eyes, and sewed his dainty little nose on.  With the addition of his beard, he was really starting to look like Santa.  Now, what about those clothes?

Once I finally started stitching the clothes, it didn’t take too long at all.  The burgundy check Santa gown covers his ample figure quite nicely, and the outfit is set off with matching hat finished with a tassel.  He certainly looks a whole lot more like a Santa should, doesn’t he?  This Santa was designed by Margaret Hart of Primitive Hearts and was published in Homespun magazine.

I must tell you that Santa has been threatened with grievous bodily harm!  I had him standing beside the fire just to show him off before he gets packed away till Christmas.  The man of the house said to me, “A couple of tennis balls would be handy.  Then I could knock that Santa over”.  How cruel is that!