Stonestead 5th Annual Out Door Quilt Festival

The sun was shining, the quilts were wafting in the breeze, and happy quilters were everywhere.  My friend Kathryn had come to look at the quilts with me and Robin dropped us off while he went to find somewhere to park the car.  Robin and I had recently moved out of the area but maybe I would meet up with some former Pinestream Quilters, I hoped.

Some of the quilts on display

The happy smiling faces of fellow quilters Beverley and Bridget greeted us and handed out the catalogues.  And look, they are busy stitching away too.  The quilt show was free but a gold coin collection was being made on behalf of Te Omanga Hospice.

Beverley and Bridget

Catalogues in hand, Kathryn and I wandered along the rows and admired the quilts.  With 60+ on display, I couldn’t photograph them all, but here are some of my favourites.  “Emanon” is a Stained Glass Stack and Whack design, and was made by my former “Stitching Monday” member, Joyce.  And the edge of that lovely Drunkard’s Path just showing in the photo was also made by Joyce.  That one is a Friendship Quilt and I, together with members of the Friday Stitchers, made some of the blocks for Joyce.

Stained Glass Stack and Whack quilt by Joyce

This was rather nice - “Lilies in Retreat” was made from an Adrienne Walker kit, a gift from Jill’s husband, and made at a quilting retreat.  I particularly liked the assortment of black fabrics used in the background, so much more interesting that just using one solid black, as I would probably have done.

Lilies in Retreat, made by Jill

We hadn’t gone very far along the lines of quilts when a lady approached me.  “Are you Jenny?”, she asked.  It’s a long story, but Felicity who comes from Norsewood, and her friend Marie who lives in Ashburton belong to the Kiwi Quilter Internet group, as I do.  Last year I had mentioned on KQ list that we were having a caravan holiday touring around the South Island for 3 months, and Marie kindly invited us to her home for a meal.  Since then both Marie and Felicity have been reading my quilt blog.  Thanks so much Felicity for making yourself known to me, and thanks again to Marie for a wonderful evening.  All this goes to show how sharing and caring quilters are!

It was lovely to meet you, Felicity

Very graphic and stylish, “Not a Traditional Double Wedding Ring” was a wedding quilt for Yvonne’s daughter.

Wedding quilt made for Yvonne’s daughter

Quilt novel author Jennifer Chiaverini of Elm Creek fame designed the pattern for “Silvia’s Bridal Sampler”.  (Yes, I’m a fan of her books too).  This lovely quilt was made by Jenny H.

  

Silvia’s Bridal Sampler stitched by Jenny H

Made in soft colours with lots of trademark Bronwyn Hayes stitcheries, this pretty quilt “Quilting Friendship” was made  by Janet

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Janet’s Quilting Friendship

It’s highly unlikely that I will ever make a hexagon quilt, but I was in awe if all the work which went into making “Hexagons for Sue and Kevin”.  “That’s all done by hand”, I told Kathryn, “all hand pieced and hand quilted”.  Made with 15,343 hexies, it really is a labour of love.

Hexagon quilt lovingly stitched by Sue

The hot sun was taking it’s toll, so we wandered over to the adjacent Stonestead Tea Rooms to find Robin chatting with a group of caravan friends from the Wainuiomata Caravan Club.  They were having a weekend rally close by and popped in to view the quilt show.  We happily took over their table with the shady sun umbrella as they got up to leave.  Now, how about a nice Devonshire Tea – or coffee, in our case?

Kathryn and Robin ready to eat their scones

It was a lovely morning spent admiring all the quilts.  With all my quilting stuff packed away with the furniture in the lock-up unit while our new home is being built, I have been certainly been suffering from withdrawal symptoms.  It was great to chat with local quilters, and a special “hello” to fellow bloggers June, Jenny H and Julz.  And congratulations to Yvonne from Sawmillers and all the helpers for organizing such a wonderful quilty day.

Almost finished

While we are living in the caravan, awaiting the build of our new home, I haven’t had access to my sewing machine for such a long time.  But I haven’t been completely idle,  I’ve been getting on with my knitting from time to time.  Although I’m not a fast knitter, by any means, it’s good to have a little something on the go for when I’m feeling in the mood.  So I’m pleased that my current knitting project is “almost finished”. 

Little toddler’s jumper

I’m just knitting the last few rows on the collar, then it’s done.  Just as well, as that’s the last of my wool.  Then of course I’ve got the job of  stitching it up,  and sewing a few buttons on the neck opening band.

Our new home is “almost finished” too.  We have been up country on holiday in our caravan for a couple of weeks so haven’t been able to check up on progress till just recently.   The inside plastering has just been finished, and the painters are due in early next week.  There’s about 3-4 weeks still to go, we understand.

It’s almost finished too

The Best Dressed Caravan

And the award for the “Best Dressed Caravan” goes to…….

Geoff and Eileen’s caravan decorated with several of these very appropriate cushions!  Aren’t they great!  They were gifts from their daughter Helen, and look so nice on the caravan settee.

Caravan cushions

And as a little extra, Helen found a length of bunting that matched the cushions, and duly presented this to her parents for Christmas.

Bunting to match the cushions

Geoff and Eileen, together with their caravan cushions, were part of our group of caravan buddies who joined us as we travelled around the lower North Island on our recent Caravan Safari Tour.  We visited all sorts of interesting places, and stayed at, amongst other places,  a beach, a golf club, a farm, behind the National Army Museum, and a Domain overlooking a cemetery.  All good fun.  Do check out our caravan adventures (if you would like to see what we got up to) on www.romanyrambler.blogspot.com

The Herb Farm

While camping at the very pretty Ashhurst Domain for a couple of days, we visited the nearby Herb Farm.   Started by Lynn Kirkland 20 years ago,  the bare paddocks have been developed into the wonderful herb garden it is today.  The company manufactures 100% natural skincare and healthcare products which are sold throughout New Zealand.  My daughter Nicky works here and just loves her job with the Herb Farm.  After  working in various areas of the business including accounts and  labelling she now heads the manufacturing department.

Herb Farm gardens

Nicky took time from her busy day and joined us and our caravan friends for lunch at the Herb Farm Cafe.  I bravely decided to try something new and tried Eggs Benedict for the very first time.  Very tasty, but oh, so rich!  A song thrush kept us entertained as he hopped around from chair to chair looking for titbits. 

Song thrush inside the cafe

The ladies in our group took time to look around the adjacent shop and try some of the tester pots. I just love the smell of lavender and came away with a couple of lavender products – I’ll be trying a little lavender spray on my pillow tonight to see if it lulls me into sweet scented sleep!

Housework – caravan style

Housework doesn’t take too long when you are travelling around in a caravan.  Once the bed is made, and the dishes are done, you are almost  there.  The bathroom got a quick going over.  No laundry today (I did it yesterday)  but just look at that floor!  There is dried grass tracked in from outside, and bits of fluff all over the floor.  Luckily we are on a power site yesterday at the Rangiwahia Domain (that’s a bonus in the middle of nowhere)  so out came the vacuum cleaner from under the bed.  Let’s do it early, we decided, before the day gets too hot - Robin helped too.  There, all done!

Muffy needs a bit of a comb through, she is really feeling the heat with all that hair.  She loves to get groomed, and lies completely at ease as I have her lying on her back,  head down and legs in the air.  Then she gets put on one side, then on the other.  As I’m busy combing her coat, she helps by licking any bits that she can reach.

Combing Muffy

There now, the caravan is tidy – till we bring some more bits of grass in from outside.  Muffy has been groomed and will be feeling a little cooler now some of her loose hair has been combed out.  And we have been staying at a lovely peaceful bit of rural paradise.  All’s well in our world!

Junk and Disorderly

That's what the sign on the letter box said, in the middle of rural Rangiwahia.  We were on a caravan safari with our group of friends and stayed for a couple of nights at the Rangiwahia Domain.

Jim and Bridgette teach school classes on wearable art and recycled art workshops, and how to make giant puppets using willow grown on the property and covered in paper.   Their emphasis is on recycling, the environment and having fun.  They kindly gave us a tour through their  workshop at the Old Dairy Factory, which is a treasure trove of puppets hanging from the ceiling, materials ready to be made into something wonderful, and lengths of willow to be woven into the skeleton of the next puppet creation.

Giant puppets and recyclables ready to be used

Bridgette showed me a huge hand bag made from strips of plastic knitted together.  This was worn as an entry in WOW one year, and certainly shows what can be achieved using recycled materials.

World of Wearable Art entry

This outfit was made by a Feilding High School pupil and came complete with moulded leg and arm pieces, plus a hat.  The fabrics were lengths of curtain samples acquired from a local shop.  This is another example that the materials for art works do not have to be new and expensive, in fact, anything goes.

Wearable art made by high school pupil

Thanks very much to Jim and Bridgette for showing us around, and explaining what they do.  They are full of enthusiasm for their work,  and have taught creative art to children in many countries overseas.  When  it was time for them to return back to New Zealand they did it in style in their beautifully painted Daf truck, showing the route they took.  It  was a pleasure to meet this enthusiastic and talented couple.

Map showing the long way home

The Queen’s Scarf and the Amazons

Our caravan safari was planned to include a visit to the National Army War  Museum in Waiouru.  I’m always on the lookout for interesting “women’s” type exhibitions to report on and came across these two which were quite new to me.

“The Queen’s Scarf” on display was one of eight woollen scarves personally hand knitted by Queen Victoria.    Four went to Imperial troops, and four to Colonial, one each going to soldiers from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.   These were awarded for an act of bravery during the Anglo-Boer War, and came with a gold star and clasp, ordered by King Edward 7th. Trooper Henry Coutts of the 1st New Zealand Contingent was one of the lucky eight soldiers chosen.  He presented his scarf to the New Zealand Government in 1913, and it was displayed in the General Assembly Library before being presented to  the Army Museum. 

  Scarf knitted by Queen Victoria

During WW1 women joined both the Khaki Girls Brigade and the Women’s Volunteer Corps and both groups were known colloquially as Amazons, dressing in full military uniforms.  They were fully behind the war effort and demanded donations in the streets, often stopping cyclists and horse traffic to get money.  They also sought donations of horses, saddles and bridles and knitted items to send overseas to the troops.  The Amazons organised patriotic processions and meetings with bands playing.  Halls were embellished with flags, banners and bunting, and donors were given token patriotic ribbons and medalettes.  This fund raising work proved popular with women as it provided an opportunity to get involved with the war effort and was a release from tedious social etiquette of the time.  I must admit I had never heard of this energetic group of women and was very interested to read of their endeavours.

An Amazon requesting donations

Our caravan safari is now into it’s last few days, and we have travelled far and wide and been to some very interesting stopovers.  You can check up on our adventures on our travel blog at www.romanyrambler.blogspot.com