And the Dice Rolls Four

It’s been absolutely ages since I “rolled the dice” to see which of my UFOs I would get to work on for the week.  Or, make that a day or two, as once again, we had things happening this week, followed by a weekend away attending a caravan club rally.  As you can see, it’s all go at our place.  So what is number four on my List of Six UFOs?  I’d forgotten, so had to check the list to refresh my memory, and discovered that it is my Soul Searching quilt.  Not too much to do on this project, so if I knuckle down, I may well get it all done before the weekend.

You may remember that I had completed the top earlier, after reducing it from twelve blocks to nine blocks,  read about it here.

Nine big blocks in my Soul Searching quilt top

The three pastel blocks which were removed were then stitched together as part of the quilt backing.  So I just had to finish  piecing the backing to make it large enough – now completed.

The start of the pieced backing

It’s good to get this done, and the next step will be to take it to get commercially quilted – this quilt is too big for me to handle at home.  And I’ve been planning ahead, and made some scrappy black binding for when the quilt comes back home to me.

Binding all ready to use

Town and Country Quilters April Club Night

The weather had turned wintry, the temperatures had plummeted, meaning the the numbers were down a little at our evening Club Night.  But plenty of keen quilters put their coats on, braved the elements and came along.

I love the Show and Tell component of the meeting, always the highlight, I feel.  It’s so nice to see what the members have been working on, and to come away with new ideas.  I was in the queue too waiting to have my moment on the stage, so didn’t have time to take notes as to who had made what,  I’m sorry to say.    Here are a few snaps of the quilts hanging in the Supper Room.

A statement on Elephant conservation

Butterfly quilt

My quilt/tablecloth commemorating our South Island caravan trip.

Amazing hydrangea quilt

Instead of a speaker this month we had presentations from the three local quilt shops, we are so fortunate to have three passionate quilt shops in our local area.  It was gadget night, and what a variety there was, each shop owner brought along completely different items to show and explain.  There was everything from rulers, stencils, frames for FMQ, an amazing super slim light box and photo fabric to use in the printer.  Lots of useful low key items too, such as spray starch, iron cleaner, (I definitely need a bottle of that), double eyed needles, (who would have known they exist) and the good old Hera marker which has been around for a while, but another item I could well use. 

It was a very interesting night indeed, and well worth braving the conditions to attend.

Poroporo Wreath

At last, another finish on the series of New Zealand botanical blocks I am slowly stitching.  These are a series of applique blocks designed by Jenny Hunter and printed in the New Zealand Quilter Magazine some years ago.  I decided to change the applique patterns to stitcheries – and I am treating this as my “slow stitching project ” for the year.

Poroporo Wreath

The Poroporo is a flowering bush and is closely related to potatoes, tomatoes, tamarillos and egg plants.  The Maori people ate the golden fruit and the leaves were used medicinally.  When the European settlers arrived, they named the plant bullibull, and made jam from the berries.

Poroporo bush

So that’s number four of the set of nine stitched – which design will I choose next, I wonder?

Two sets of Place Mats

I had my first finish of the year a couple of weeks ago using my New Zealand themed fabrics to make a memory table cloth, see link here.  But I still had lots of NZ fabrics left, just hanging about, as it tends to do.  I’m pleased to say that I’ve used up a couple more pieces, and have just finished stitching two sets of placemats to use in our caravan.

Two sets of placemats

The top set features the last remaining piece of the fabric featuring the Stitchbird.  And I’m pleased that I had just enough of the cream/brown fabric that I used for the borders and binding, so that’s another piece gone from the stash.  There was enough of the backing fabric to use oh both sets of placemats, so that’s good too. 

The set of green placements were in the “use it all up” category too.  The feature fabric showcases the Kereru, or native pigeon, all set to eat some of those succulent and juicy Puriri berries.  The green leafy batik was a piece left over from my daughter’s 50th birthday quilt, and I found a strip of dark green long enough to do the binding.  Even the cotton batting was cobbled together from small pieces.

So that made me a happy quilter indeed.  As well as two sets of pretty placemats, I’ve also used up several bits and strips which have been hanging about for ages.

But I still have quite a bit of New Zealand fabric left over.  I’m going to roll it all up in a bundle and put it away for a while – who knows when inspiration may strike again?

I still have these  NZ themed fabrics

No News is Good News.

Several weeks ago it was time for my annual mammogram, I am on a yearly call up since my brush with BC a couple of years ago.  Displayed around the changing rooms were several entrants in the local decorated bra competition, Bra Artz.  They certainly brought smiles to the face as we went to slip into our fetching hospital gowns.

Some of the decorated bras on display

After the procedure was done I was told to get dressed and we went on our way.  “We’ll phone if we need you to come back”, I was told.  That seemed OK – when I had my “bad mammogram” a couple of years ago, I was ushered into an office and told the devastating news straight away.  So home I went, and waited, and waited.  No phone call came from the clinic for a recall, thank goodness,  but I expected a letter in the mail telling me everything was fine.  Then I read on the info sheet that this clinic does not send out the results after all, and Robin’s view was that no news is good news, and stop worrying.

Mmmm, easier said than done, isn’t it, especially as I am a cancer survivor, and a bit of a worrier to boot!  So today I phoned the clinic and spoke to one of the nurses about my worries.  She was very understanding and read me out all the medical jargon. Once she said that a copy of the report had been sent to my oncologist and GP,  (I would have known that if I’d stopped to think it through)  I realised that of course the report was OK as the specialist wouldn’t leave anything to chance.

So, with a big sigh of relief I can now put that particular worry behind me and get on with things – perhaps a little stitching.  I should know better at my age, don’t you think?

Sew Wot Tuesday

It was time for another Sew Wot Tuesday, which is always nice to attend, and Moira was our hostess for the morning.  There was such a lot of Show and Tell happening, so my camera was busy snapping away.  Mary had been busy making three quilts to take to her family on her up-coming Aussie trip.  First up was a rugby quilt for her 16 year old grand-son.  The panel was surrounded with various New Zealand themed fabrics – didn’t she do a great job!

Mary’s quilt for her grand-son

And then there were quilts for her brother-in-law and her sister.  BIL’s quilt was a masculine nine patch in browns and greens, and Mary’s sister’s quilt featured Moda sampler blocks set with bright alternate squares.

Two more quilts going to Australia

Moira showed us a lovely piece of Jacobean crewel work sent from her sister in England – such beautifully fine stitching.  Moira is looking for just the right frame for this treasure.

Crewel work

Heather B had also been busy and showed two bags she had made.  Her daughter had coloured in the panel and asked her Mum to make it into a bag for her.  Ad the second bag was made from gifted blocks from Moira.  It has a pretty  embroidered block on one side and a candle wick block on the other, finished off nicely with purple ric rack.

Heather Bs two bags

More gifted blocks came Heather’s way – quirky cat blocks in black and white this time.  We all loved the way she had put this together, adding the coloured squares to the sides.  This is going in her Granny Box she told us.  I know what she means, I have one of those boxes myself for future occasions!

Heather B’s cat quilt

We loved Carols’ pretty star quilt wall hanging – those little squares finish at 1 inch.  And then we heard the lovely story behind this quilt – and future ones.

Carol’s star wall hanging

Carols daughter had gifted her a birthday gift subscription and each month a wonderful box of quilting goodies arrives in the mail box.  The is the current month’s box, complete with fabrics, a pattern and other interesting tools and goodies.  What a wonderful gift to receive each month!

Carol’s monthly gift box

As usual, there was plenty of chatter going on, ladies were flipping through some magazines looking for a new home, and there was even a little work taking place.  I did a little on my latest botanical stitchery, Heather E was English PP, Mary concentrated on her latest knitting project, and Heather B worked on her Celtic Rose table runner.  (Not something I would attempt, with all that tricky bias binding to deal with.)

It was a lovely morning indeed, and many thanks to Moira for the feijoas from her tree which she shared with us.  So yummy, I really appreciate the bag of fruit I got to take home.

Easter Greetings

Wishing you all a happy and restful Easter, wherever you may be.  We are currently camping in rural Manawatu, and popped in to visit my daughter yesterday.  She surprised me with this lovely Easter gift.

Easter surprise gift from daughter Nicky

I’ve managed to spend some time doing a little stitching outside in the fresh air.   Here I am doing some hand quilting on my snowman Christmas panel, with one of the resident chickens keeping me company.

Hand quilting

There are plenty of farm animals to see and admire.  Just look at this handsome fellow – who gets regular brushing on his long locks, we were told.

Highland Cattle

I don’t know why, but I’ve always rather like pigs.  I walked over to see the pigs while they were getting fed, and the pig man helped me over the fence and through the gate to take some photos.  All the time explaining all I wanted to know (and more) about his beloved pigs and their breeding.

Big boar and sow

The farmer is a bit of a collector and we were invited to have a look through the large shed housing all his “stuff”.  Having a reputation of being a bit of a washerwoman I was intrigued by this collection of wash boards in the galvanized bucket, luckily a bit before my time.  But I did have a wringer washer when my children were young, like the one at the back of the photo.

Laundry paraphernalia

We are making the most of such lovely Easter weather, and the Easter Bunny found us and left a few marshmallow eggs in the cupboards.