The Quiltery

Potted colour

2012-01-23T21:37:00.001+13:00

A gift for a friend, thanks for something generous she did for me. I planted these petunias in an old copper kettle. Very pretty.

And another block on my star BOM. This is block 7 on the pattern. I skipped ahead because I was impatient to use the green.

Making a list, crossing things off

2012-01-12T17:29:00.000+13:00

A couple of months back I scribbled a list of UFOs on a piece of paper and it was alarmingly long. I thought I would only have a few, or maybe 6, because about 18 months ago I donated a lot of tops to various groups making quilts for charity. Alas there were 13 projects on the list. And to be pedantic there are now finished tops on this list because they are "out of sight and out of mind" down with the quilting machine.

Now it seems like time to do something about the list so I started assessing some of the projects. I decided I was never really going to make pink shopping bags (using up the fabric leftover from a Christmas gift to my sister 2 or 3 years ago) so I filed the pattern, put the fabric back into stash and crossed the project off my list. One down!

Assessing projects turned out to be very worth while. It turned out one of the tops was actually finished... so off to quilting with it, and it is off my list. Two down!

Then I came to the quilt described on my list as "Blue/lime panel" with a note "covert to bag". I dragged it out, decided that it didn't really need to be a wall hanging displaying my ability to quilt different textures on different areas of a panel that I had stitched different sized borders on. So before I could fold the fabric back up I found my favourite bag pattern and CUT IT UP. I added some of my own hand-dyed fabric for lining, and used 95% of the panel. This is the result.

That makes three down! Only 10 to go - if only they could all be so easy.

Progress and something to make you smile

2012-01-11T13:44:00.000+13:00

I have made some progress on the forgotten star quilt. These are the next two blocks. They are interesting blocks to make. 3 down, 10 to go!

Last year I participated in a Quilters Christmas Stocking Swap and one of the gifts in my stocking was this pansy pincushion made from felt. It makes me smile, it has such a cheerful look.

How did this happen?

2012-01-07T19:29:00.002+13:00

Whilst I've been on holiday I've attempted to do some tidying up. In the process I found an interesting bag in the back of my quilt cupboard, neatly packed with fabric and some printed intructions. It puzzled me for a while until I unpacked enough of it to realise it was fabric for a queen sized quilt. I bought this fabric around the time we moved house, which was a little over 3 years ago. This wasn't a simple kit purchase, oh no. This involved trips to quilt stores in Wanganui, Upper Hutt and Wellington, and I had to print out the instructions from a Blog over the course of a year. How could I forget this? How indeed?

About a year ago my friend Sarah (who accompanied me on the Wellington trip) asked me... "Don't you have another quilt that you're making, remember, we bought fabric in Wellington?", and I said "NO" because I couldn't remember what she was talking about. Now I do!

This project is now top of my list for 2012

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T22:38:00.003+13:00

May 2012 bring all that you dream of.

Journal quilts

2011-06-06T16:13:00.001+12:00

Journal collage, a set on Flickr.

It's fun to look at my journal quilts in a group

Long Weekend Journal

2011-06-06T15:49:00.005+12:00

The long weekend has been a very welcome and relaxing break. My quilt group met on Saturday and we gave me a chance to return to a project that has been on the back burner for a while, a scrappy flannel quilt. I'm pleased to say it is now a top, and the bulk of my flannel scraps are history. Today is a very grey day so I'll wait for a better opportunity to take a picture.

I've also been able to get up to date with my journals, making last week's "Pink Flower" using a technique from the free tutorials at the Three Creative Studios website.

Journals - Weeks 19, 20 and 21

2011-05-31T19:48:00.007+12:00

Here we go. Week 19 is Red Squares, made using a technique from Pam Watts in "A Beginners Guide to Machine Embroidery".

Week 20, Anyone for Tea, uses the same piece of embroidery as Red Squares to make a tea cup and I appliqued this on a lush piece of blue velvet for contrast, then mounted it on some pretty blue batik.

Week 21, is some very simple fabric weaving with sari silk strips (I had originally planned to knit these, at the encouragement of an enthusiastic vendor, but that turned out to be very hard)

Christmas Preparations

2011-05-29T17:21:00.009+12:00

The year is racing by and May is nearly gone so it is already time to share the month's Christmas gift preparations.

I made this tissue box cover using the tutorial from Pink Penguin. It's an easy tutorial to follow, and I wouldn't mind one of these for myself. The lining is neatly finished so that it is reversible.

My favourite Christmas project so far has been to make a stocking for an exchange I am taking part in. I was assigned a partner, and we each made a stocking for each other. The really fun thing is that we have already swapped stockings, in fact we did this at the end of March, and now every month we make or buy a small gift, wrap it and mail it, to be placed in the stocking and not opened until Christmas.

This is the stocking I made for my partner Lorraine

And this is the stocking she made for me. Isn't it beautiful?

I especially love the piece of tatting that is stitched onto this and the way that Lorraine has used some pretty gold buttons and charms as embellishments because I said I liked metallic buttons. This stocking has such a feels of an old fashioned Christmas. I'm so lucky.

Week 18 Journal - Conduit

2011-05-11T20:51:00.006+12:00

This is one journal quilt which I love. It was made using the gentle curves technique that Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer taught in her recent class... I think I might wear out Jeannette's name soon because I use it so often, usually along with the superlatives "fabulous" or "fantastic".

I'm beginning feel the pinch of time with these journals as they seem to take all my available quilting time, but leave me wanting to do more. Often they seem unfinished to me, but I have to make the decision to stop working on one and move on in order keep meeting the challenge of creating something weekly. It's an interesting conflict.

Journal Quilts - Weeks 15, 16 and 17

2011-05-01T17:20:00.010+12:00

Catch up time.

Week 15 - Paper Bag Face

A recent visit to the local embroiders group inspired me to try this technique of stitching on a crumpled bag with old wool/yarn. The stitched piece is then painted, and I stamped mine and edged it with gold pen, and gold machine stitching. The other two layers of the "quilt" are iron on stabilizer.

Week 16 - Screen Printed #

This is my first ever piece of screen printing! At Symposium I did a three day class with Jeannette DeNicolis Meyer to learn screen printing using thickened dyes, fabric paints and thiox to discharge the colour from dark fabrics. I had so much fun. In preparation for the class I had been to a fabric dyeing class locally, so that I would have some coloured fabrics as a base for printing on.

Jeannette was an incredible tutor, very knowledgeable and great at communicating her knowledge to complete beginners. You can see her amazing work at her website www.jdmeyer.com/

Week 17 - Origami Squares

I was lucky enough to spend another two days learning from Jeannette when I returned from Symposium. Our quilt guild just had a class where she taught art quilt construction techniques for 2 days. I loved learning to fold these origami squares.

Queenstown trip

2011-04-28T18:25:00.004+12:00

Queenstown was beautiful. Cold, but beautiful. The constant topic of conversation at the "Remarkable Symposium" was how many layers of clothing we were wearing to keep warm.

I had fantastic classes and got to meet up with Marina from Maisie and the Boys. These hexagons from the exhibition are for Marina who was stitching hexagons on her trip around NZ. I love the jewel colours on black.

Top to bottom:
Helen Marshall - Aurora Floriferous
??
Marg Hurst - In My Retirement

Week 14 journal - Making Faces 2

2011-04-13T21:00:00.004+12:00

This is stitched on heavy lutrador that I first printed with images and then painted. The images mostly disappeared with the painting.

I would like to make "pretty" faces... I think it's going to take some work.

Catching up on posting journal quilts - Weeks 11, 12 & 13

2011-04-10T20:47:00.007+12:00

Week 11 - Happy Village... cut from a larger piece started some years ago when Karen Eckmeier came to town to give a lecture about her techniques.

Week 12 - Bojagi... the centre panel was made in a Korean needlework class organised by our local Embroidery Guild and Patchwork Club.

Week 13 - Precious Metals... playing with bits and pieces

Week 9 Journal - funny face & Week 10 - what's on my desk

2011-03-09T20:35:00.007+13:00

Last week was so buy that I needed a quick solution for the journal quilt. I had this face that I had made in a class with Griet Lombard last year. It was headed for the orphan block pile so a little bit of quick quilting and a free motion zig-zag finish turned it into a journal.

This week seems to be all about what's on my desk. At work it's a back log of work, at home it's piles of scrap fabric left over from making Christchurch earthquake quilts. I made this improvisational piece using some of those scraps.

Christmas progress

2011-02-26T14:28:00.005+13:00

The inspiration for my February project comes from Marina at Maisie and the Boys who was my secret Santa in a 2010 Christmas exchange. One of the gifts she made and gave to me was a gorgeous little scissor keeper or sewing case, and I liked it so much I decided to make some to give too. I put together a couple of these in one night, and tucked some sewing goodies in. They look cute and and are really handy - just what I need in my gift stash. Thanks Marina.

FYI - This pattern is in Patchwork & Stitching magazine Vol 7 No 5

Christchurch Earthquake and Week 8 Journal - X

2011-02-25T22:52:00.008+13:00

Speech by Prime Minister John Key after the Christchurch earthquake 23 February, 2011

'New Zealanders have woken to a tragedy unfolding in the great city of Christchurch.
The earthquake that struck the Canterbury region at ten to one yesterday has wreaked death and destruction on a dreadful scale.
There is no reason that can make sense of this event.
No words that can spare our pain.
We are witnessing the havoc caused by a violent and ruthless act of nature.
Many people have lost their lives. Families have lost their cherished loved ones. Mates have lost their mates.
These deaths are the greatest loss.
They remind us that buildings are just buildings, roads just roads, but our people are irreplaceable.

Today all New Zealanders grieve for you Christchurch.
To all those who woke up in Christchurch today feeling lucky to be alive, we know that you too are shocked, unnerved and grieving.
We know that your loss is sharpened by fear.
Our minds go to the mothers and fathers comforting children struck by anxiety and disbelief.
They go to the elderly, infirm and isolated who experienced this event alone and who remain blunted by shock.
And they go to each and every Cantabrian who has stoically endured six months of aftershocks, only to be hit by the biggest shock of all.

On behalf of New Zealand let me say to all of you: We feel your pain, as only a small nation can, for none of us feel removed from this event....'
...New Zealand will walk this journey with you. We will be there every step of the way.
Christchurch; this is not your test, this is New Zealand’s test.
I promise we will meet this test...
...We pay tribute to the hundreds of search and rescue workers, emergency personnel, medical professionals and each and every person who is contributing to this effort.
You are heroes amongst us...
...We will rise to these challenges.
We will rebuild this city resolutely, and with the conviction that this is what it is to be a Cantabrian, what it is to be a New Zealander.
We are a country of pioneers. Whether we came by waka, sailboat, or aeroplane, we came with the conviction that we could build a new life in this country.
That great pioneering spirit will come to the fore in Christchurch over the coming months and years.
Though lost lives will never be replaced, and though your city will never look the same again, you will rebuild your city, you will rebuild your lives, you will overcome...

Not a huge amount of meaning went into this weeks journal when I was organised and made it last Sunday. Now though it will always be a reminder of the week of the crippling Christchurch Earthquake.

I made this after working on a couple of blocks for a group project at 15 Minutes Play. I liked them and thought I could see a journal in them. I hand stitched - I wont call it quilting cos it's more like tacking really ;o) but I love the effect.

Thanks to Kiwiwise for the flag image.

Week 7 journal - leaves

2011-02-20T17:31:00.007+13:00

This week I wanted to make something acheivable rather than challenging. I flicked through some Quilting Arts magazines and found a picture of a cushion by Linda and Laura Kemshell whichI was sure I could adapt to the journal format.

I used some hand dyed fabric from the workshop I went to last year, stitched the leaves and then painted them. Once they were dry I stippled the background. I always love stitching leaves.

This week I've been working on some gifts for Christmas throughout the year, and a couple of stitchery projects. I'll share these soon. I'm enjoying spending more time on my quilting and sewing this year than I have in the recent past.

While doing some blog hopping I found this great film thanks to Jill at Life and Times of Jill

Week 6 journal - absent friends

2011-02-12T14:19:00.006+13:00

This is the first week that I've struggled to pull off my journal quilt. I think it's because I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to make from the outset other than to use the photo, and everything I did seemed to be wrong. I had all these loose ideas about family and the fact that this is a picture of my grandfather with his adoptive parents. I wanted to contrast their serious expressions was cute words about love but what I was doing with it wasn't coming together. I had painted the background, over painted it, covered it with organza to hide the paint, but the organza was too shiny so I stitched on some fabric strips and they were too bright. Nothing was working.

I had lunch mid-week with two lovely local bloggers - Carole and Lynette - and they gave me some great advice, which included "keep going" and "keep adding". So I persevered with it, rethought a couple ideas, added gesso (lovely gesso, covers a multitude of sins). A hunt through my paper treasures box produced the image of the lady in the hat and it reminded me of a photo I have, which is supposedly my grandad's birth mother. I already had the pieces of champagne bottle foil stitched on so the Robert Burns poem "Toasting Absent Friends" tied it altogether nicely.

I'm certainly happy with the way the emotional loose ends are tied up, and am more happy with it visually than I was with the mid-week version, but I'd really like constuctive feedback on it because it was such a challenging process.

A Toast to Absent Friends

"to absent friends
to those we have met
to those we have yet to meet
to those who have left us for a while
and to those who have left us forever

let us lift our glasses
and drink a toast
that they may abide in our hearts forever

to absent friends"

Week 5 journal - creams

2011-02-05T21:27:00.011+13:00

This looks modest but I'm really pleased with it. I've never managed to successfully make a piece in creams before, colour always sneaks up on me and overwhelms it.

Originally I was planning to use this as a background for some handstitched flowers, but because I like the creaminess I'm leaving it as it is. The free motion zig-zag is a new to me and it's quick and easy, and really effective. This would be a great technique for backgrounds for lots of different things.

Week 4 journal - Sophie and Rua

2011-01-28T19:28:00.006+13:00

Meet Sophie and Rua, Morepork chicks thrown out of the nest by their parents because recent warm weather has made it tough work to care for them. When I saw this story and the accompanying photo in our morning paper it immediately spoke to me for a journal quilt. The two chicks featured are being cared for by Department of Conservation staff who are taking them home at night time to keep up the demanding feeding schedule. They had been named Sophie and Rua.

Christmas progress

2011-01-26T18:21:00.006+13:00

Yesterday was the 25th and I didn't get a chance to post on my first months progress with making Christmas things. I got caught up moving furniture between rooms last night. We have decided to swap our lounge and bedroom around and had to do yesterday because the TV company come to recable today.

My big finish for the Christmas stash this month has been these lavender bags using some op-shop linen. These turned out really pretty, and and the gift drawer smells lovely too.

My other Christmas project is these little stitcheries. Such cute patterns, and I've a had a lovely time sitting in front of the TV stitching these. The will become... something larger but I'll post about that later on.

I've made a stocking for a swap too but I can't show that until it has been swapped.

Week 3 journal - making faces

2011-01-21T17:35:00.003+13:00

This week I wanted to try stitching a face in the style of Terri Stegmiller. You can see her beautiful journals and other amazing work on flickr here. I sketched on paper first, so that I had an idea of what I wanted to stitch and then tried to translate it with free motion stitching. While the sketch helped with the overall size and general idea of the image, the two aren't exactly alike.

I learned not to stitch to many lines. This image is to heavily stitched, and that happened really quickly. I also learned that once the eyes are wonky it's kind of hard to fix!! I had fun making this and finding the pretty fabrics for the askew borders. I think I'll try this again sometime. Thanks for the inspiration Terri.

Week 2 journal

2011-01-14T18:38:00.005+13:00

I've been tidying up over the last couple of days. I can shut the cupboard door now which is real progress. This journal quilt was made with scraps that I found during that process. I used a basic collage process so there are lots of raw edges. I'm not sure I like it - it didn't turn out as I had planned, though I am pleased with the effect of the ribbon binding.

One of these things is not like the other

2011-01-11T23:21:00.004+13:00

A Christmas stitchery

A couple of diary covers, from bits and pieces found in my journal quilt box.

Bag holders made from old flour sacks... these were lovely to work with.

I've been stitching

2011-01-07T23:52:00.006+13:00

Vicki at 3 Creative Studios is running a Journal Quilt Challenge. It sounds like so much fun I thought I'd have a play tonight and see how I got on.

I love this format because it allows me to play with all the colours I love, without having to live with a giant quilt made from them.

Happy New Year

2011-01-02T13:40:00.006+13:00

And so in the blink of an eye we have rolled into 2011. The New Year is always a time to reflect back on the year that has been, to celebrate its passing, and all you’ve accomplished, and to look forward to what you want to achieve in the coming year.

I am one of those odd people who feels more Christmassy after Christmas Day. I suspect this is because I am on holiday. So combining my New Year refections with my festive feelings, I have decided I will be organised with my Christmas gift giving this year, and in particular I will be organised with my Christmas gift making.

To kick this off I made lavender bags yesterday. I found a great tutorial online and did some trial runs. We visited a lavender farm on Friday when we were out for a picnic and bought lavender. It was such a beautiful sight, the bushes in full bloom in the late afternoon soon. The owner was telling me that they stay open until 9pm at this time of year because people love to come and see the lavender at sunset.

I enjoyed my Christmas swaps*** so much in 2010 that I have joined a Christmas Stocking Swap through Southern Cross Quilters... this one is going to be so much fun because you make your partner a stocking, and then each month you send gifts to put in the stocking until Christmas. Isn't that cute?

***I found the blog of Carol, the recipient of my Christmas parcel. She has a picture of her present - I forgot to take one - here.

I have also found Allie's Blog and she is organising Christmas Through The Year, a series of monthly projects to get everyone stitching present early for Christmas. Check it out and join in.

A WIP and a Finish

2010-12-30T13:22:00.003+13:00

I've spent some time on a Work in Progress this week, Double Delight from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville website. This was last year's mystery quilt so I'm a bit slow, but I'm over half way now. I love these quilts with lots of little pieces.

And this is the baby quilt I finished up before Christmas for my friend Melissa's second little boy Christopher. With the exception of the green, these are my own hand dyed fabrics.

We are enjoying a very relaxing Christmas holiday here at The Quiltery, good books, stitching, holiday food... and some very chilled out pets.
Cheers for now!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T16:03:00.005+13:00

I hope all my quilting frinds are enjoying a lovely Christmas. I took part in a couple of swaps this year that have added to the fun of Christmas Day.

The first swap I joined was a "secret" swap organised by Maree - each person was assigned someone to send a Christmas parcel to, and they received a parcel from a third person but no one knew who was who until today. There was a list of 5 things that had to be included in the gift - something handmade, something smelly, something to eat, something Christmassy, something for the studio. My parcel came from Marina at Maisie and the Boys and she has really spoilt me. This parcel contained the most beautiful Christmas wallhanging, a very cute scissor keeper (I think I might have to work out how to make these), a cup cake pin cushion, chocolates, a magazine (this is next on my to do list with a cup of coffee).

One of the little extras in this parcel is an old wooden cotton reel. What Marina couldn't have known is that I am collecting these to fill a vase, and she even sent my favourite brand, Sylko. One of the things of love about these old threads is that the colours have names. Marina sent "Coral Pink" which I will add to my collection below.

I had had so much fun putting together my first swap that when Kiwi Quilts announced a Christmas Swap I signed up for that too. This one was a little easier - a quilty item, fabric and something Christmassy, and it only had to be posted in New Zealand. My lovely partner was Elaine and she must have had some sort of sixth sense because she she sent an enormous pin cushion with pockets, and tucked into one of this was a beautiful pair of scissors with a tiny little version of version cushion attached. I must have said a dozen times this year "I love pincushions". The chocolates in the parcel even had 2 Golden Retreiver puppies on - now my boys are well into middle age but she couldn't have chosen a more appropriate image. And she popped it all in a stocking, which is wonderful because I've been looking at stockings lately... theres a 2011 swap you see ;o)

My friend Carolyn popped in yesterday and surprised me with a gift. She has made this clever little folder which contains an ironing mat and cutting board.

In receving all these lovely things I am, as always, overwhelmed by the cleverness of other people! Everyone's work is so beautiful and it is such a pleasure to receive.

On a non-quilty note we had the most delicious asparagus at lunch today.

Merry Christmas everyone.

12 x 12

2010-11-30T20:30:00.004+13:00

Kiwi Quilters is running a 12 x 12 challenge after the success of the 12 x 12 quilt exhibition at the Hamilton Quilt Show. The original 12 x 12 quilters are publishing a book next year and their work - here - is fantastic.

The November theme was "home". I wanted to use an old embroidered piece to convey happy images of cottage living - reflecting the fact that we are now past the horrors of the major renovation work on our cottage. I do have to say that our house, and more particularly our garden look nothing like this pretty stitched scene!!

I did intend to stitch it in a grid, like Philippa Doyle my inspiration for incorporating embroideries into quilts... but I whimped out. I might still do it if only I can get brave enough.

Isn't this pretty?

2010-11-28T21:35:00.003+13:00

This makes me feel like Christmas is coming.

I know Christmas is on the way because today I packed up my parcel for the bloggers Christmas swap. It's a secret swap so I can't say who it is going to, except that it is going to the cutest address that a quilter ever had!

How do we mourn?

2010-11-27T16:52:00.005+13:00

New Zealand is in mourning for the 29 miners who lost their lives at the Pike River Mine this week. At times I have wondered if we know how to mourn.

This is in several places on the internet. It moved me.

The church bells rang 29 times
so we knew it was final and the end of the line.
Now 29 miners are at Heavens gate
with coal silt dirty faces asking is it too late?
When God replies with half a grin
"no my children, come on in"
They place their mining lights gently down on Heavens floor,
when God said
"job well done- leave your boots at the door"

Repost in memory of the 29 miners that died at Pike River Mine

At the U2 concert in Auckland Bono says "People deal with grief in all kinds of ways... anger, sorrow, silence, in Ireland we sing".

Flags fly at half mast... on Government buildings, at the occassional private home, and at McDonalds. Some of the flags are ratty tatty old things - we're not big flag flyers and some of the flags come out of the cupboard just to fly at half mast.

Councils around the country have Condolence Books for people to sign. These will be consolidated in January and sent the Mayor of Grey District.

Shirley Goodwin is organising quilts for the victims families.

Wednesday, Prime Minister John Key says that national memorial services are usually held at the nearest large centre and so in this case that will probably be Christchurch. I cringed. On Thursday he announces that after discussions with the Grey District Council the service will be held in Greymouth and I feel hugely proud of and relieved for the people of the Coast.

I hope all of this helps people.

Many colours

2010-11-14T15:02:00.003+13:00

These lovely coloured fabrics are the result of a fabric dying class at Village Books and Crafts last weekend, and the pink-orange-yellow lot I did at home yesterday.

I learned several things. Firstly, when combining two colours of dye I need to mix them together more before adding the fabric so that I get more even colour. Secondly, I dont have a lot of confidence in zip-lock plastic bags. I was very apprehensive about squishing the fabric, dye, water/soda ash solution in the bag, having nightmarish images of bright orange solution woushing all over the room, and all over me. I think I might try another batch using some kind of plastic container instead. Thirdly, I learned that if you are going to re-use your zip-lock plastic bags it is important that after you wash and try them you must turn them back in the right way before filling with another batch of dye solution - ask me how I discovered this.

I also learned that I love scarlet. Scarlet is the fabric on the far right in the middle photo. I think I will need to do more with scarlet.

I'm in the mood for a little Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice...

Such a dazzling coat of colours
How I love my coat of many colours

It was red and yellow and green and brown
And scarlet and black and ochre and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve
And cream and crimson and silver and rose
And azure and lemon and russet and grey
And purple and white and pink and orange
And red and yellow and green and brown and
Scarlet and black and ochre and peach
And ruby and olive and violet and fawn
And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve
And cream and crimson and silver and rose
And azure and lemon and russet and grey
And purple and white and pink and orange
And blue

Bloggers Quilt Festival

2010-10-30T13:02:00.009+13:00

Amy is hosting her Fourth Annual Bloggers Quilt Festival.

The quilt I've chosen for the festival is one I made as part of an online class with Tonya at Lazy Gal Quilting. This is the first quilt I've designed from scratch, I had so much fun doing it and it brings me great joy each Christmas when I hung it up.
Tonya had us choose a Christmas carol and extract elements about the holidays that we liked and turning them into a design, and then we used her tutorials to piece the various elements. I love the two colour combinations of purple and orange, and raspberry and lime, so it was a double the fun to put them together. Because it was my world I got to put New Zealand at the centre, and then I used a little old scrap to make Australia and put it off to left - VBG!! Making this quilt has given me a lot more confidence

Do check out the link above to Tonya's website, she's very talented and has lot's of tips and tricks to teach. I'm off to check out all the other quilts in the festival.

Pinehaven Quilt Show

2010-10-15T22:51:00.005+13:00

The Pinehaven Quilters Show was at the Expressions Gallery and the quilts just looked stunning in this setting.

Postcards and more show pics

2010-10-12T20:14:00.008+13:00

I took part in a spring postcard swap this month which was a lot of fun. I made friends with the man at the local stamp shop because I wanted to have my postcards hand franked, rather than subjecting them to the rigours of NZ Post's machines. Well the stamp man was not only very helpful, but he took a liking to my postcards and paid me to make him two, so I'm grinning from ear to ear.

More pictures from the Wellington Quilters Show at the weekend... these from the "less colourful section" as you can see.

You can see that these two quilts both have ribbons so the judges were more won over by their creaminess than I was. Though I was impressed with the judging for quilting. The awards for excellence in machine quilting (above) and professional longarm (which I didn't photograph) both went to quilts with simple quilting which connected well with the quilt. That didn't seem to be the case with some quilts where the quilting didn't seem to tie into the quilt.

One of the most exciting part of the show was seeing a Phillippa Doyle quilt with old doillies in, and another quilt inspired by her work. My photos didn't turn out very well unfortunately. I will have to change the settings on the camera before the next show.

Wellington Quilters Show

2010-10-11T21:28:00.002+13:00

DH and I drove to Wellington on Saturday for a quilt-y day. The first show was Wellington Quilters. There was a lot of colour on show and I enjoyed seeing quite a few scrappy quilts exhibited, wondering if this is a sign of the economic times, or perhaps I'm just noticing them because that is what I like at the moment.

There was also a creamy section but Blogger is on the go-slow that might have to wait for another day. In the mean time I'll save the bright colours.

Sunny Weekend

2010-10-03T14:01:00.004+13:00

We have had more than our fair share of rain but this weekend the sun is shining which makes everything feels good in the world. Yesterday was our monthly quilting day and I made good progress quilting the cot quilt I am making for a work friend.

These are the green inchies from last year's swap, mounted on canvas. The flash really picks up the gold paint, it's not quite that bold. This is hanging over my sewing desk now and I'm really enjoying seeing it there.

All this progress makes me feeling like baking something yummy to celebrate!

Remarkable Symposium

2010-09-10T19:57:00.002+12:00

The Symposium book came in the mail today. I excited and confused. There are so many classes to choose from, though my registration number is rather high so I probably need to be realistic about my options.

My goals for the weekend are to tidy up the sewing room and finish my inchy project... and ponder the symposium classes a little.

Textile Weekend in Palmy

2010-08-30T20:15:00.006+12:00

Palmy has had a busy textiles weekend. Rose City Quilters had their 2-yearly show, we had a great Fabricabrac and the SIX show at Taylor Jensen.

Because I haven't been going to Rose City Quilters lots of the quilts were new to me and I really enjoyed the show. I loved this quilt made by Tricia Sanders. It didn't photograph all that well which is a shame. It was made with a waterfall of curtain fabrics, and other curtain fabric leftovers. The textures were very effective.

I bought some great bargains at Fabricabrac. Some lovely silks "just because" and some retro fabrics both for projects that are still just in my mind.

The SIX show at Taylor Jensen was fabulous. Six very talented textile artists each made thirty 6x12 inch quilts. These look stunning displayed in the gallery. This exhibit runs for a few weeks so I will be going back to have another look at this. If only every weekend could be like this.

I got very motivated by all these lovely things to look at and I come home and finished sewing a small top - a baby quilt for a colleague, which now needs quilting.

What a neglected little blog

2010-08-22T15:35:00.004+12:00

No reason, all sorts of reasons, computer problems... but here I am.

Next weekend this is happening in Palmy and I'm going be there shopping:About a month ago Altrusa held a similar sale and I bought a giant bag full of old wooden cotton reels for less than $5. I now have a vase full sitting in the lounge and they look great. I love the names that the thread colours have - dark lovebird, festive orange, frost green, reseda, magenta.
I'm hoping to find exciting bargains at this sale too.

Winter Projects

2009-06-14T18:42:00.010+12:00

I've been making green "inchies" for a swap with an online group. These are my finished sets ready to send. I knitted little squares for the ones in the centre.

DH has been busy making this planter from old totara fence strainers and an engine sump tray. It is for a recycled garden art show organised by our local "Urban Care" group.

Even the plant is recycled. It is one of those very hardy things that gets moved round the garden and always seems to be happy. I had to remove several snails before we delivered it to the arts centre.

Have a happy week!

Long Weekend

2009-06-01T17:11:00.012+12:00

We've had a productive long weekend.

Firstly I made this apron for Helen who is teaching a baking class at night school. This is the very cute *Apron In An Hour* pattern at Fapritopia. I used an old kiwiana tablecloth and a pretty stripe.

We drove to Utiku to the Wool Company which I love because they sell great New Zealand made woollen clothing and knitting yarn. I bought some wool to make a scarf for me and a ready-made scarf for Roy. The drive was very pretty because there is just the first snow on the hills.

We stopped at Sugar Plum Cafe - on State Highway 1 just past the Marton turn off - for lunch. Three cheese and spinach tart for me, tart nicoisse for Roy, and we shared the tamarillo cake! Divine. On the way home we stopped again for coffee - the sun way low in the sky making it hard to drive... and the feijoa friands were really good!

Today we replaced the letterbox. Our letterbox has been a sorepoint since we moved into the house six months ago, but it has been rather low on our priority list with all that has been happening. The trouble was, that when you opened the letter box to take the mail out, the whole fence wobbled and generally behaved as if it were about to fall down - which it was because it was only attached in 2 places. When it came time to tackle the letterbox we didn't want spent a fortune (some are $180) and preferred one that was made locally. We tracked down a man who makes letterboxes here in town from left over timber for $40.

The old, and the new:

Seeing this last photo makes me realise that now there is the fence post to mend, the fence to paint, some planting to do... Still, it has been a very productive weekend.

Autumn and New Links

2009-05-10T14:03:00.003+12:00

Autumn has arrived in our little corner of the world though you can be barely tell from this photo from my window - not my garden, this is my neighbour's handiwork. We have had some of the frosted glass in our windorws replaced we plain glass and it has opened up our views of the the neighbouhood enormously.

The dogs are enjoying pretty walks around the surounding streets:

We are enjoying feijoa muffins. I love the gritty feeling feijoas have. My boss just bought in a big bag for me on Friday so it must be time I made another batch of these.

Allyson Gofton came to our library to speak and promote her new book "Bake" on Thursday. She talked about the emotional wellbeing that baking promotes, the sense of home that it creates. She was fantastic - she spoke for an hour and I could have listened for another hour.

Just recently I've found some great New Zealand blogs that I enjoy so I've added a "Close to Home" section to the sidebar. I used to think it didn't matter where blogs were from, the internet connects us all (and all that...) but I when I found these blogs I really liked the idea of connecting with local people. So check them out.

Favourite Quilt

2009-04-19T13:59:00.005+12:00

Park City Girl is having a blogger quilt show of favourite quilts. I *think* this has to be my favourite. It's a "Saturday Sampler" from a quilt store which took me several years to get around to finishing. I had loved some of the blocks, hated others, loved the setting fabrics but hated the way the orignal setting came together... Eventually I decided to give it to my friend Sarah for her birthday and got on with finishing it in this simple setting. That's when I fell in love with it - I don't know why, I think it's just pretty fabrics and simple.

And Sarah? I finished this quilt and gave it to her

Life Gets in the Way

2009-03-29T16:05:00.003+13:00

I wish I could spend all my time quilting and creating, but sometimes life gets in the way. Over the last 6-8 weeks my job has been causing me to feel extremely stressed, which in turn made me feel somewhat depressed because I like to be in control. Last weekend, dertermined to do something for myself I made time to work on my journal quilt for March. This is the result.

I did a fabric dying class recently and made these fabrics. The background was my "spill cloth", which I threw into a bag of leftover orange and pink dye at the end for the process. I spilled quite alot during the class so I got a very piece of fabric. It seemed the perfect busy background for this little quilt.

Here's hoping April will reflect a more relaxed attitude.

Valentine Surprise

2009-03-01T19:18:00.005+13:00

Last weekend we attended a family wedding in beachside Paraparaumu. That sounds like it should have been lovely, but the reality was something less than storybook. Not that the wedding itself didn't go well, it was just that the family experience was in contrast to the romantic public display.

This presented a creative challenge for me - my journal theme for February was, of course, LOVE and I didn't want my cynacism after the bad experience to overwhelm the journal. I did want to somehow capture the sense of things not being quite as they seem. My journal is called "Surprise Valentine"...The background is paper fabric, made using lost of postage stamps and envelop fragments, all colourwashed in light red. I just learned how to make this in a class I started. Once this was dry I added Valentines "rub ons" with cute greeting card type messages, and the lovely couple in the bottom right. Then I stitched and added the mesh heart, and pocket.

The "surprise" or contrast element is the postcard. Isn't it a pretty Valentine? It's not really. It is a postcard my Mum sent me many years ago. Mum was not a writer and the message starts:

"Dear Lisa, You kow how I hate writing on post cards but this one I picked up on floor in shopping mall and it would have been a shame to not use it."

This is the back - stamped calico, colourwashed with red paint.

I think it still some kind of binding to finish and border it, and maybe some more stitching, but for now it's done. And I had fun making it even it I didn't enjoy the wedding that got me started on it.

Ta dah - Last One Done

2009-01-19T17:28:00.005+13:00

I just got this one finished today, my last day of holidays. This is the October journal.

Theme - "Symbols/Movement". The little triangle are off cuts from making flying geese for a yearquilt (where you choose a fabric to symbolise each day of the year), some mine, some from friends.

The technique was "Stamping & rubbing plates" - the blue fabric is one I tried a paint stick on using the bottom of my slipper as texture. The light border has some random dabs of white paint (just to make it fit the criteria really!)

Back to work tomorrow. I don't know that I've acheived a lot in my month off, but have got the journals finished, started Bonnie's mystery (and got all my pieces organised in my drawer so I can just sit down and sew in the evening without having to work out where I am up to), and the puttying and sanding of the house is done so it is ready to paint.

Off to make dinner!

Another Finished Journal

2009-01-13T17:12:00.001+13:00

One more down, one more to go. This is November - theme water:

Last Year's Journal Quilts

2009-01-12T13:52:00.007+13:00

I'm still finishing up my journal quilts from last year. I got behind with posting, and making these when we moved house. Now I'm catching up and only have October and November to finish.

July - "solvy" - my friend Helen came over for a quilting evening and taught me how to make leaves with solvy:

August - "Blooms" - I had a lot fun with this, and it was good to have some handwork to do because I had to pack up my sewing stuff to get the house tidy for sale:

September - "man and environment" - I couldn't think past the home envirnoment so made a very simple house using curtain and upholstry fabric samples. The words and from the 1941 plans for our new house which I scanned and printed onto lutrador:
Lastly for now, December - "family" - a photo of my Mum holding my eldest brother:

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T17:58:00.004+13:00

I'm so pleased to be finished with 2008 and into a new year. To celebrate I decided to do Bonnie's New Year's Eve Mystery Quilt. Gave me a great excuse for a fabric shopping trip :o) Clue one has kept my pretty busy today - cutting, sewing, pressing, cutting, sewing... 120 blocks takes awhile. I think I'm 2/3rds of the way there. Bonnie is posting clues daily. Could be a challenge to keep up this pace every day, but I'm going to try.

My fabric choices look quite Christmas-like in the photo, so I've added photos of our tree and cake (which DH is currently devouring 'cos I don't eat fruit cake). I swapped green for Bonnie's indigo cos it just seemed to work. I didn't put include my background fabric in the photo - it is scrappy creams and beiges, the only useful thing in my stash.

Back to the sewing now!

Fun with BOM

2008-09-13T16:21:00.009+12:00

I've been shopping again and chosen all the fabrics for Judy's Star BOM. I hadn't meant for it to take so long to get around to doing this. Life seems to have gotten in the way a bit - with all the hassles at work, and then deciding to put our house on the market because we found something else we want to buy (and it's a project!!!).

I started by making Block 3! I once read somewhere that if you get behind with a monthly project, the thing to do is to make the current block and work backwards on the ones you missed. So make Block 3 now, work on Block 2 when I can, make Block 4 once it is available, then make Block 1. That way you don't feel like you are constantly 3 months behind. It sounded like a good plan to me so I'm trying it.

I'm pleased with the way the colours worked out in this one. The number 7 fabric is quite light but I think that it will work in the big picture.

Progress with fabrics

2008-07-21T22:49:00.003+12:00

I had a day off work on Friday and used the long weekend to do some quilt shopping for the Star BOM that Judy is doing on her blog (check it out here)

These are fabrics 1-4 from left to right. (I chose 2 different prints for the third fabric - one for the sashing and the other for the borders.)

I found the hardest thing was the background fabric. In the end I chose this solid, chalky coloured plain because it seemed to be the only fabric that was the right colour. I've had this problem before. I wonder whether the importers here choose to buy in all the "wow" fabrics - with fabulous prints - overlooking the basics that are needed to support these fabrics.

My next expedition will be to find the four contrasting fabrics. I had to put that off because on Friday the quilt shop was filled with the sound of a drummer rehearsing nearby. It felt like the sound was inside my head so I called it a day with this bundle and will look out for the other fabrics over the next week or so.

I'm getting excited about making this quilt.

A New BOM

2008-07-08T18:36:00.003+12:00

Judy over at Patchwork Times is running a BOM which is really beautiful so I'm going to make it. Check it out if you a looking for new project. I have no fabrics in my stash so I'm going to have to shop. Yay!

Orange

2008-07-02T13:42:00.007+12:00

There's a bit of an orange theme to this post. Sandy saw my blog with the recycled bags and sent me a tablecloth. I used it to make this bright bag, and still have lots of the border print to use in some others.

I'm really enjoying having these bags to use. They are so much nicer to carry than plastic ones, and they hold lots! I have 6 this style now which are great for big grocery shops. I've made a couple of others that are based on a plastic supermarket bag and these are good if you're carrying stuff for a longer period of time - they just seem to enclose everything really well.

The other touch of orange is my finished Orange Crush top. I had a bit of a panic with the borders because I didn't have enough red and the store I bought it from had sold out. I was so pleased to find it at another store while helping a friend choose borders. The quilt is big, so doesn't quite fit on the clothesline, but you get the idea. The pieced border has really big impact "in person" though it's not so strong in the photo. You can see the variety of scrappy fabrics in the close up.

Now I need to find another big project to work on :o)

Shortest Day

2008-06-22T18:37:00.000+12:00

Yesterday was the shortest day. It seemed quite long to me but that is because I was fretting over some things that are happening at work, and trying to decide how to deal with them. I hate those situations where people behave badly and force you to either let them have their way (walk all over you) or fight a battle you don't want to be in. I'll have some interesting negotiations coming up this week. We drove to the beach to distract me...

Today I've been doing quilt-therapy. These little ones are 18 inches square for a neo-natal which put out a call for quilts through one of the on-line quilting groups I belong to. They take very little fabric, use up left over batting and are easy to quilt. Perfect for a rainy day like today. At the beginning of this year I made a very lofty goal to donate 4 quilts to another charity but I haven't made a lot of progress. With these 2 complete I feel that I've made a start at doing something to help someone else.

Little Bits

2008-06-15T11:45:00.003+12:00

I've done quite a bit of quilting this past week. As well as putting together the pieced borders for my Orange Crush quilt I've worked on some little pieces, so I have pictures to share.

This first if my June journal quilt. The technique for the month was "metal foils or wires". I got the idea for this from a Christmas embroidery design by Bronwyn Hayes. The hats her ladies wore got me thinking about some metal foil I had saved from a champagne bottle which would make a perfect crown. Her figures were too small so I sketched a larger version and then kept drawing my own and changing the shapes so that the applique would work. It looks really simple, and now it seems surprising that I stitched every night for a week to finish it. I almost exhausted my bead collection on the jewellery - clearly I need a much bigger selection :o)

Next is a very simple landscape using Karen Eckmeier's techniques. This was so quick to put together using little scraps.

Lastly a favourite photo my grandad and niece, printed on fabric and embellished. This one has got all sorts of techniques in it. I used part of an old tablecloth behind the photo with added fabric paint to enhance the colour of leaves. The flowers are bonded and painted plastic bags with centres made from Cherry Ripe wrappers and these are sitting on stamped silk scraps, with loopy ribbon leaves. For the mesh at bottom I used solvy over yarns and organza (this was intended to be the background for the flowers but it didn't work that way).

My next project is to get those borders on the Orange Crush quilt and get it finished. Today is a beautiful sunny day and I should be in the garden but I really want to get this one done (and the leftovers tidied away).

Crushing is done

2008-06-08T12:01:00.005+12:00

Yesterday was our monthly quilting day so I was able to get my Orange Crush mystery quilt together.I have to say I'm not thrilled with it. I spent a short time thinking about what I could do to make it "work" a little better but then decided to cut my losses and just get it together. I hate to let partly made projects sit if I'm not happy with them because I spend too long thinking about what do with them and how to make them better. Now that I see Sandy's quilt with a much more subtle accent colour (my blue) I think I should have gone with something a little less bold. Oh well, that's what happens with mystery quilts. The ladies I was with yesterday thought it would make a great picnic quilt - nothing would show because there are so many different scraps in there.

We're off to lunch now for DH's birthday. It's a lovely day after stormy weather yesterday so we will find a nice place in the sun.

More of autumn

2008-06-02T17:01:00.003+12:00

I've finished all the Orange Crush blocks. I still have lots of fabric left so I'm hoping that Bonnie has a setting planned to use that up and pull it all together to make it look stunning.

I've also been working on my next journal quilt. Also the stitchery BOM from Capricorn Quilts - I'm a few months behind on this one so it's time to get back into it.

The autumn photos are for Sandy as inspiration for her leaves quilt. The trees are really starting to be past their best now - a bit much wind and last night it rained hard so they all lost more leaves. I love autumn.

Doing the Orange Crush - Part 2

2008-06-01T14:55:00.005+12:00

The whole blocks are finished and now it is on to the half blocks. I have laid these out in the setting that would seem "obvious" and they look ghastly. I'm hoping Clue 6 will contain a miracle that completely changes the way it looks - LOL. I still love my feature fabrics, but they all just seem to blur into one when I alternate the blocks. That the "joy" of mystery quilts I suppose :o)

Doing the Orange Crush

2008-06-01T11:53:00.003+12:00

Today I'm working on Clue 5 of the Orange Crush mystery. I'm excited because I get to use my orange and blue,which is actually 5 different blues because I fell in love with them all and couldn't narrow it down to just one.

Don't they look awful on the ironing board cover?

Autumn at last

2008-05-31T18:52:00.008+12:00

Here's the autumn colour I promised Sandy

These have been a while coming due mostly to a bout of shingles which slowed me down. I took these photos on a walk through the Victoria Esplanade. The sun kept moving into cloud so the light wasn't good for all of them, but I think the colours show quite well.

Cos I'm on catch up with pics here is my May journal. The technique for the month was *recycling*. I have been making lots of tote bags lately to use instead of plastic bags so it was easy to choose a theme. I made the letters for "Ban the Bag" by fusing several layers of plastic bag together. They come out with a nice wrinkled texture and so I hand stitched them down. The "Take a Tote" letters are made from junk mail, layered onto computer paper and painted with ModPodge. The binding is another plastic bag which I sewed on and then shredded to give the frilly look. It was a lot of fun putting this one together.

It's Queen's Birthday Weekend here so I'm planning to get lots done and having lots of pictures to post to make up for being silent so long :o)

Recycling

2008-04-27T18:57:00.004+12:00

My friend Helen came up with an idea a couple of weeks ago that the two of us should make bags from recycled fabric. We set aside a Saturday and spent the morning exploring the Red Cross, Salvation Army and Hospice stores. Helen fell in love with denim and chambray shirts for her bags, and I found tablecloths and scarves for mine.

This first bag is made from a small souvenir tablecloth and lined with homespun. The front:

The back:

The lining:

This bag is made from leftover fabric from an earlier bag project and lined with a 50 cent silk scarf.

It's challenging working with these fabrics because you have to make the pattern fit the fabric. Both bags turned out smaller than I planned and the designs changed along the way.

My April Journal Quilt was from another silk scarf bought on the same shopping trip. I wasn't happy with the first try so recycled it into this. It now has lots more texture (one of the themes for the month). I think some beads down the panel on the left would be good.

This weekend I also finished the Split 4 Patches for Bonnie's Orange Crush mystery. I cut far too many big triangles so now I've got lots ready for another project. Roll on clue 3.

Weekend catch up

2008-04-20T17:49:00.004+12:00

Sandy at Comforter Quilts is working on an autumn quilt called Third Week in October and she is looking for autumn inspiration. It's still quite green here but this vine on the drive way is starting to colour nicely.

The border are on the Bargello Quilt and I love how it turned out. I think I'm going to call it "Bonnie's Bargello Quiltville Cat Quilt" because when making this quilt from Bonnie's Quiltville site I finally cut up some "precious" cat quilt which I had bought in bulk and never found the perfect pattern for.

This next pic is my first attempt at an April Journal Quilt. The techniques for the month are "painting on visofix" and "texture". This is a hand-dyed silk scarf that I bought at the op shop for 50 cents. The two pink flowers on the left are painted on visofix, ironed on and quite roughly stitched with gold thread. I have quilted to the background of the top (blue) section but the bottom (green) section is unquilted to give different textures.

I'm not all that fussed with the effect of the paint on visofix. I've seen other people do it and get great texture but this is quite smooth. I think I will have another try at this one.

I have a busy week planned at work this week with lots of visits to promote the community awards we run. I'm looking forward to being out of the office. Hopefully tomorrow the ruler I ordered for the Orange Crush mystery will arrive and I will be able to make a start on step 2.

Have a good week everyone.

Catching Up

2008-04-12T18:31:00.003+12:00

Now that I have a lovely new camera I can catch up with sharing pics of some of my projects.

This is my March Journal quilt. The technique for the month was *abstract from photo* and the theme was *reflections and memories*. Our clocktower won an achitectural award in March so I chose to try and abstract a photo taken last year when the new lights were officially turned on for the first time after a major refurbishment (to earthquake proof the tower). The clocktower is actually white and very solid looking but I chose to just use the colours of the lights. The shiny patches are angelina which is a bit more subtle in real life and is meant to be rain in the sky and puddles on the ground.

This one is my first village quilt after hearing Karen Eckmeier (check out her website here) speak in February. Another village is in progress and nearly finished, and I'm even more pleased with it because I changed some of the techniques.

Thanks for looking!

Orange Crush in Person

2008-04-08T18:57:00.004+12:00

These are my fabrics for Bonnie's *Orange Crush* mystery quilt. I had such a lot of fun choosing these fabrics. The blues are for the accent - I bought several because I couldn't narrow it down to just one choice.

The scrappy 4 patches look quite co-ordinated here but they are actually just a mix of scraps. The only effort I made to match them was to include some dark browns and blacks in the last few strips.

I'm looking forward to the next clue :o)

Look - pictures!!

2008-04-07T22:32:00.005+12:00

As you can see I haven't got the hang of cropping images on the new camera software yet but here is the bargello quilt. So far it only has 2 outside borders on because I miscalculated the fabric I needed and I was short by 7 inches which is kind of crazy!!!

Thinking I was being smart I scanned a piece of fabric and phoned the store to get their email address so I could order more, only to be told they don't have email and could I "just post a piece down". I will just have to be patient and wait for it to come.

Doing the Orange Crush

2008-04-06T15:11:00.003+12:00

I'm working on Bonnie's *Orange Crush* mystery quilt. I couldn't resist! Last weekend DH and I went on a shopping trip to the big smoke in search of fabric. I bought the most beautiful fabrics. The shop staff were really understanding - they left me alone to play until I found the perfect matches which was just what I needed. I wasn't going to use Bonnie's colours until I saw the range of oranges in the store and fell in love with them.

I have made all 150 scrappy little 4 patches. I think I might make some extras though so that I have a better mix of fabrics and colours (and cos they are so much fun to whiz up).

While I was at the store I also bought some very funky fabric for the borders of my scrappy Bargello quilt. The best part was that I chose fabric that was completely the opposite of what I had in mind. Instead of something quite solid to try and subdue the piecing I went with a wild print that just makes it buzz even more. Getting these on is going to be my very next project.

Daylight Savings finished overnight thank goodness. I'm convinced that shorter evenings will mean more quilting - LOL

Tired

2008-03-18T21:37:00.004+13:00

I'm really tired at the moment. It's partly because work is busy - there are lots of events coming up and none are going as smoothly as they should. In particular those ones where there are lots of people involved - "too many cooks spoil..." etc etc. I think the other reason is because it is so dark in the mornings now that getting up is really hard work. This is the first year that we have had extended dates for Daylight Savings. Normally we would have wound the clock back by now but we still have another 3 weeks to go. It is hard to get out of bed when it is still grey out the window. What a silly idea. I wont even mention the problems it caused with Outlook calendars. There's a patch, but it's only so good.

My weekend was lovely though and I put the borders onto the Jelly Roll quilt from the 60 degree ruler class last month. I love the blue fabric (it's Moda Shangri La) - it's got depth for a light colour.
I'm off for an early night!
Lisa

Who makes my day

2008-03-16T07:30:00.003+13:00

My blog has been so quiet that I missed seeing that I have been awarded the You Make My Day Award by Mary over at Stitches and Ditches

How exciting! Thank you Mary!!!!

The rules for the "You Make My Day" award, are to re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know through an email or posting to their blog so they can pass it on.

I'm not sure that it's going to be easy to choose just 10, but I'm willing to give it a try. So I would like to award the following people:

This is when you realise that you don't always know the names of people whose blogs you visit. Chooky Blue - she quilts, she stitches, she bakes...

Corry at Dutch Quilter - because her blog is beautiful, as are her senses of colour and design

Queen Helen of Quiltland - Helen writes really dry, witty observations about quilting and the quilting community and I love her blog.

Rene at Fembellish - for her fabulous tutorials and arty ideas (which I must try more of)

Sandy at Comforter Quilts - 'cos she's my friend :o)

Tonya at Lazy Gal Quilting - she has a great sense of colour and design, freely teaches others, she's funny, she lives in Paris so her blog is littered with gorgeous photos... what more could you want in a blog? Especially check out her tutorials on making letters!

Kim of Kim's Big Quilting Adventure - Kim's blog is a really good read, and she makes great quilts

Tracy at 'Tis the Gift - Tracy shares her gentle spirit and her journey adopting her son from China

Finn from Pieces from my Scrapbag - I love Finn's blog because reading it makes you feel like you have visited an old friend

Nancy at Not So Fancy Nancy - colour, glorious colour - across a range of crafts, not just quilting

Thank you guys for making my day with your great blogs!

Lisa

A better picture

2008-03-15T09:41:00.001+13:00

That photo really doesn't show much does it? Here's another one, this time from the scanner.

I'm Still Here

2008-03-15T09:16:00.003+13:00

It has been a while hasn't it. The camera problem is still... well a problem. Mostly because just after the camera broke, the washing machine broke and died. That had to be a priority to replace. So the camera has had to wait. I took a couple of little projects to work though, and photographed them so that I would have something to show.

This is my February journal. It's called Long Hot Summer. The technique for Feb was collage or layering with scraps. I had no ideas for this, so I decided to just "play". I made a background sewing strips of black and dark blue marbles and batiks and I sliced and resewed these. Onto that I ironed lots of leftovers from applique projects - those shapes that are left with steam-a-seam on after you cut out your applique pieces. I just kept sticking and ironing these on until I had a colourful busy piece. At this point I was back to square one - no ideas about what to do next - so I left if lying on my desk for a few days. One evening when I strolled into the quiltery a spiral design of the background black caught my eye, so I started to work with that. I cut felt pieces to give texture to the black, beaded, couched, stitched (hand stitched even!!!) with lovely hand dyed threads that have been lurking in my drawer ever since I fell in love with them at a show... and eventually along came *Long Hot Summer* The centre spiral is copper wire with orange beads that move around (DH says it's like a round abacus).

I had lots of fun with this and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I used lots of scraps - the fabric, the felt, the yarn around the edge - so the technique is covered. It has some good texture and dimension (though it might not show in the pic cos it's not great quality), which is a step up from my usual attempts at arty projects which tend to be quite flat.

The weekend looks like being very relaxing... the borders of the Jelly Roll quilt beckon and the garden needs some weeding.

Cheers

A post with no pictures

2008-02-10T10:55:00.000+13:00

I'm so frustrated not to be able to post some pictures today because I have quilty things to show you all. It seems our camera didn't like its last trip to the river. The dogs kept swimming and then shaking sand everywhere so I think there might be some in the camera making it unhappy. Between that and the problem with the battery cover not closing properly I think it might be time to look for a new one.

I have finished the first two blocks of the *Quilters Blessings* stitchery from Capricorn Quilts I'm doing mine in an antique mauve colour but you will just have to imagine that until I sort the camera problem out.

I have made up the first 1/4 panel of Bonnie's Superbowl Bargello quilt. This picture on
Bonnie's page convinced me to do it. I don't know who Debbie P is but I love her colour choices. I tried to choose strong colours from my stash for my version, and used some batiks which should really make it zing.

And yesterday I spent the day in Wanganui at a quilt class with a really lovely group of ladies. The tutor, Chris, taught us how to use 60 degree rulers to hexagon shapes from Jelly Rolls. I have the top laid out ready to sew into rows. I haven't enjoyed a class so much in a long time. Everyone was so friendly and there was lots of laughter. The Jelly Roll was fun to use. So easy to have 40 fabrics pre-cut and chosen so that you can just start sewing.

Driving over to Wanganui really made me realise how dry it is this summer. Our normally green hills are almost white. We have some cloud today but I'm not sure whether it will turn into any rain. We are lucky not to have any water restrictions.

If you've read this far... thanks for sticking with me during my lack of pictures.
I'm off to work on the Jelly Roll quilt some more.

A little finish

2008-01-26T18:13:00.000+13:00

I forgot to post a picture of my last holiday "finish" so here it is...

It's a Hatched and Patched design that has been a UFO for a long time because I was a bit scared of making the angel, doing the embroidery and making the puffs for the flowers. I managed it in the end though :o) and I really enjoyed doing the handstitching - so much so that I've started browsing at stitchery designs for another project. Typically I'm really taken by big projects like *A Quilters Journey*. I'm not sure about committing to something that big and costly because I need really good instructions when I'm doing something new and I want to make sure that's what I'm getting. If anyone has any favourite patterns I designers I'd love to hear about them.

Happy weekend everyone!

Quilting not piecing

2008-01-18T12:42:00.000+13:00

Now that my holidays are nearly over I'm wondering what exactly I got done on the quilting front. Along with the various piecing projects I have quilted two quilts on the Gammill which I'm very happy about. DH does all our business quilting and I just don't seem to get a lot of time to use the machine. This might change now that we have zippered leaders and quilts can come on and off in a flash! Anyway the quilts...

*Joy* is just stippled in all the background areas. When I quilt on my machine I'm very fond of stitching wiggly lines all over everything (cos it's easy). I wanted to do something completely different on this one so stippling was it. I found the stripe at a new (to me) quilt shop for the binding and just love the effect of it.

This second one is a little Shooting Star quilt and I did my first ever pantograph on it. I love making this scrappy pattern from Quilters Cache and I've made several quilts like this. They make great gifts.

If I am going to get anything more done these holidays I had better get off the computer - I get so distracted by all the lovely pictures on the blogs I read.

Class Project

2008-01-08T14:49:00.001+13:00

I have been part of Tonya's winter/holiday class and now have a completed flimsy to show for it...

You can see what the others in the class have been doing here. There's some really creative stuff.

A New Year Project

2008-01-05T16:33:00.001+13:00

Happy 2008! I haven't quite decided what my plans or goals are for this new year, but when I saw a journal quilt challenge mentioned on one of my Yahoo groups I *had* to join up. I think I've joined so many things lately that I've forgotten what half of them are. Anyway the journal quilt challenge seems like it will be a lot of fun and I have made my first quilt.

I made a sunflower because the theme was *seasons* and we just grew a giant sunflower this summer. It also allowed me to use a couple of the optional techniques - metallic thread and bobbin thread. This is pretty much the same as my bigger sunflowers quilt that I posted a while back, but I was able to correct the leaf shape with this one which has made me happier :o)

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T09:44:00.001+13:00

Merry Christmas! I have 3 Christmas quilts hanging on the walls this year and thought I'd share. Bethlehem was started and finished last Christmas (although I see I still haven't sewn the trumpets on for the angels) but the other two are older projects that I just finished in time to hang yesterday.

Enjoy this special day.

Christmas Quilts

2007-12-23T14:11:00.001+13:00

I am so pleased to have finished work for the year, and to have given away my last two quilts, this time to two of my colleagues.

The pattern for Random Ohio Stars comes from Bonnie. This is the first of her quilts that I have finished, though there a couple in progress including another Ohio Star which my little group have been working on as a swap for about 2 years. Thank you Bonnie for your inspiration and generosity in sharing your designs. For the backing idea I have to thank Mary. I didn't offset the pieces enough, but will know better next time. This is a great way to make quilt backings when you don't have enough of any one fabric and want something a bit different.

The centre blocks in the baby quilt are taken from a panel, and I had lots of fun choosing the bright fabrics to go with it. It is actually much brighter than the photo suggest. The little black and white border was a real challenge 'cos the print wasn't exactly straight but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Giving away lots of quilts this year has been lots of fun, and I've really reduced the pile of unquilted tops. I wonder what I should aim for in 2008!

Choose Day Challenge

2007-11-17T16:57:00.000+13:00

Cat over at Stone House Quilters has set up a challenge to make a small quilt each month based on a word that she will "choose" at random from a list. I seem to be in "sign up" mode at the moment so I have signed up, and hope to make several small pieces that will be added into a bigger project which plays with different techniques and styles.

The first month's word is... CONNECTION... I've been playing today and this is what I've come up withThe colours are not as bright as they look in the photo, and the blues and purples are bluer in real life. The CONNECTION is that this piece is meant to connect together the oranges and purples that I want to use together for the bigger project. It needs lots of quilting to add texture (I'm not sure whether I'll do that while it's small like this or once the various parts are together) and maybe I'll add some of the big copper coloured glass beads I bought at the Hamilton show.

Two sides of the same quilt

2007-11-13T19:02:00.000+13:00

This is a baby quilt I made for a workmate for her new grand daughter. The pics are the front and back of the quilt respectively.

My quilting friends politely say that it is "over achieving" to piece both the back and the front but I have a good excuse. She was paying for the fabric, and I had seriously miscalculated the the amount of fabric I needed (I think I converted it from inches to metrics twice!!!) so piecing the back used it all up.

I have joined Tonya's winter/Christmas class to challenge myself to make a quilt without a pattern - I'm excited but apprehensive because I'm not exactly overflowing with ideas but I guess that is the point of taking the class. Right? You can check it out on her website.

I Have Been Quilting

2007-11-03T14:06:00.001+13:00

I've been looking at Bonnie's blog and feeling like I get no quilting done compared to her but I have done a few things lately.

The top picture is is Mystery Quilt 11 from the Quilt Mystery group, and will be my first Quilt of Valour once it is finished.

The sampler is the 2004 "Saturday Sampler" from the now closed Quilters Cabin. It has been a UFO for a long time because I have had trouble getting the right borders. The first borders were pieced and then sat for a year (or 2) before being taken off. Some of the fabric ended up on the border of Sam's birthday quilt, which you can see here.

Last is the red sampler made from blocks my friend Helen made a few years ago in the "Saturday Sampler" programme at the Cloth Shop. She hates them! I love them! Once DH has quilted it, we will choose a charity to give it to.

And now I should go and do some more quilting instead of sitting at this computer - I'm sure the computer is to blame for me not being able to keep up with Bonnie - VBG.

Hamilton Trip Part 2

2007-10-22T10:42:00.001+13:00

The purpose of the Hamilton was of course to attend the Craft and Quilt Fair to get inspiration from the quilt show and the merchants, and to shop :o)

I actually didn't take a lot of pictures, I think I was enjoying looking too much, but these were two of my favourite quilts.

The squares are made with the chenelle technique, using different colours for the underneath layers. The effect was incredible and made it look like the top fabrics were different. I think you should be able to see what I mean in this close-up.

The 2nd quilt was called "Rhubarb". I loved the bright colours and strong shapes.

The other highlight of the trip was the chance to visit my favourite quilt shop, Grandmothers Garden at Gordonton. At this shop it is not just the fabric that makes the visit worthwhile, though there is certainly plenty of that. Hazel who owns the shop is an enthusiastic cook, and when there are big events on she serves homemade scones with jam and cream, and cups of tea in beautiful china cups and saucers. These are served free throughout the day, and her scones are just divine. We visited 3 times (once a day for the 3 days were there) and were lucky enough to also partake of Hazel's vegetable soup on the Friday night. This shop is a joy to visit - it is busy and vibrant, the staff are lively and helpful and there are inspiring quilts everywhere. The only fault I can find with Grandmothers Garden is that it is not closer to where I live! Mind you, I bought quite a good selection of their fabric home, so it feels a little bit like I am there anyway!!!

Hamilton Trip

2007-10-22T09:59:00.000+13:00

At the end of September we drove to Hamilton for the Craft and Quilt Fair (more about that later). We were lucky enough to have some beautiful weather for the drive up through the Desert Road so we took some photos that I thought I would share.

Just a week after our trip Ruapehu erupted! Only a "minor" eruption - it blew large rocks up to 2 km from the crater.

We stopped at Tokoroa because I had read about a quilt shop there (it helps to have a book called "The Crafty Girls Road Trip Guide" because you can read about quilt shops everywhere you go).

The quilt shop had a fabulous selection of Christmas fabric which I just had to indulge in (!!!), and I found a really cute baby panel which will make a quilt for a colleague. But possibly even better than the quilt shop (oh okay, maybe just as good as the quilt shop) were the Talking Poles - Tokoroa's version of totem poles. The town has been holding and an carving symposium for several years, and these poles are the outcome of it. They are a great symbol for the town which has been built up around the forestry industry. I especially liked the one with leaves and flowers on, and have some ideas for a wallhanging based on this.

Quiet but quilting

2007-09-04T22:15:00.002+12:00

This quilt is going in the mail to my friend Sandy tomorrow (I hope she hasn't found my blog or this will really ruin the surprise). Sandy and I both participated in a swap several years ago where each participant chose the block they wanted to receive and the others made it for her on her birthday. This quilt is made from Sandy's blocks - she gave them to me because I was looking for quick quilt ideas to make into samples for the quilting business. Finally, 2 years later, I've turned those blocks into a quilt which is going back to Sandy for her birthday.

The Sunflowers are now hanging in the hallway. I wont say they are finished because when I walk past them I see places where I could do some more stitching but I'm trying to take a "wait and see" approach.

The last picture is the layout of a baby quilt I'm making for a friend at work who is about to become a grandma to a little girl. The border fabric is pink, purple, orange and lime with hearts and flowers - very girly, and something of a challenge to work with, but I'm hoping it will all come together.

Birthday Quilt done

2007-07-07T12:17:00.001+12:00

At the beginning of this year I decided that instead of buying birthday gifts I would give people quilts. It wasn't a decision to make them all quilts, instead I would use tops from my stash that were sitting waiting to be quilted. Some of these tops have been waiting a long time to be quilted so this was just the motivation I needed to make sure they got finished, and I could find homes for some of the ones that I had made "just because" with no particular recipient, or use, in mind.

This week I finished this Lone Star for my sister for her birthday on Sunday.

The good thing about using tops that you have already made, as opposed to making quilts as gifts, is that you don't feel any pressure to choose the perfect pattern and fabric, and make a perfect quilt. For example, this sister is very difficult to choose for. I have thought about making her a quilt for several years, but it's hard to pin down just what she likes, she doesn't have a favourite colour, her house doesn't have a particular style, and I could never picture her actually using a quilt because it just wouldn't be right. But going into my stash of tops it was easy to choose this one for her. She is an engineer, so the geometric design of the Lone Star will interest her, and she has just bought a natural coloured couch for her new apartment. Because I haven't painstakenly chosen the pattern and fabric just for her, it doesn't matter if this isn't absolutely the most perfect quilt for her cos I just feel really happy that is a nice present. And possibly most importantly the stash is reduced by one more!!

I had forgotten how snuggly

2007-06-16T19:19:00.000+12:00

... flannel quilts are.

Today we had a new customer drop off a quilt for quilting. It is a really country log cabin style quilt, with lovely big feature blocks in the middle, and it is flannel. She wasn't sure whether to put flannel on the back of the quilt, or ordinary cotton, because we had a cotton backing fabric that she really liked.

It took me a while to remember that our flannel quilt was tucked away in the trunk in the corner of our room, but whe I did I brought it out to show her. Well as soon as she touched the snuggly flannel quilt with flannel on the back she was sold on flannel.

And I was sold on the idea of putting this quilt back on the bed very soon. Winter has definitely made itself known over the last few weeks, and this quilt will make a difference at night.

The quilt was an attempt to use up my stash of flannel after making a couple of flannel quilts. It is a copy of quilt that Sam (Mum to Arnold the blogging Jack Russell) made, and I loved the design as soon as I saw it.

The funny thing is, that as soon as my friends heard I was making a scrappy flannel quilt they gave their own flannel scraps. This really added the variety in this quilt and I really appreciate their kindness. As you can probably guess, by the end of the project I still had lots of flannel scraps left! I've made a couple more scrappy flannel quilts, and I've shared the flannel with my friends, for yet more quilts. It's like a little stash that never ends.

I'm off to check on the lamb shanks that have been slowly cooking for a couple of hours now - it really must be winter.

Sunflowers

2007-06-04T10:41:00.002+12:00

Well I have been quiet haven't I!!! Over a month since I last blogged. But I have been busy. I went to a 2 day class with Mary Transom to learn how to make this sunflower quilt and I've been working on it ever since. I've made some more progress since this pic - everything is actually sewn down now, and the borders are on, but I can't find the cable to download pics from the camera.

The only other thing I've been working on is the first row for a row quilt swap I signed up for. I left it to the last minute so had a big panic not knowing what I wanted. I finally chose an oriental theme, made some stars with geisha girls in the middle and deep teal, orange and purple points, and fired it in the mail a couple of days before the deadline.

Hidden Treasure

2007-05-01T19:22:00.001+12:00

Isn't funny what you find when you start tidying up?

I've been doing some reorganising of our photo files, and in the process I came across this picture of Amish blocks which I received in 2 different swaps a couple (or more) years ago.

When I saw the photo I was reminded of what striking blocks they were and how much I liked the quilt I made with them. A split second later I started to think "hold on, what quilt did I make with them?", followed by "and what did I do with it?".

Slowly the cogs started turning and the brain kicked into gear. It came back to me. I made two (yes 2) of the blocks into a bag to carry my cutting mat to classes and retreats. Here it is without the top binding or handles but you get the idea.

I felt a bit sad to think I didn't have a quilt made with these blogs, but then I realised the fun part - I still have 23 blocks sitting in my cupboard. Now if I just make 2 more, that will give me 25 and I'll have enough for a quilt. Maybe it's time I did something with this project. Now why do I feel like I'm been here before?

I'm off to find the actual blocks!

Dogs Day Out & ANZAC Day

2007-04-25T12:25:00.002+12:00

We've been having some lovely autumn weather of late - sunny days with not too much wind and it makes you feel happy the seasons are changing if though it means we are going into winter. Because we haven't had too much wind there are lots of lovely yellow and red leaves on the trees to make it all pretty.

At the weekend we took the dogs out to the river and spent the afternoon there. We had a picnic lunch, while they explored and ran off a lot of energy. They just love the water so they had a great time.

Today is ANZAC Day which commemorates the 1915 landing of New Zealand and Australian troops at Gallipoli. Gallipoli saw a massive loss of life, especially in the context of such new, small countries heading to war for mother England. More and more these days ANZAC Day has come to include remembrance not only of the original ANZACs but of all our soliders lost to war, and the sacrifices that have been made to give us the freedom we now enjoy.

Last night I decided I wanted to play at making a "sort of arty" poppy quilt. It is meant to be one of the poppies that the RSA sell in the lead up to ANZAC Day as a fundraiser rather than an actual poppy. I think it is getting there but I should have used narrower strips of fabric, and it needs more stitching to make up the poppy shape. It was interesting to play, and seeing as I am usually the first to comment that so called art quilts are "just strips and they aren't event straight" it is quite a way out of my normal style.

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."

Blogging

2007-04-14T18:59:00.001+12:00

I'm on a big learning curve about blogging right now, and I think I worked out how to add a photo to my profile which is why I'm posting this little pic of my Wonky Log Cabin.

I chose this picture because this is the one quilt that hangs on the wall in The Quiltery. You see, the quiltery isn't very large, and by the time you add two doors, two walls of windows a wardrobe and a couple of bookcase to a room you aren't left with a lot of wall space. I have my two favourite prints on the big wall which only leaves a 14 inch space for a quilt. So this little one fills the gap!

I made this just a couple of months ago. As is often the way, I didn't set out to make this particular quilt. I was going to make a log cabin, using dark and light homespuns for an Amish effect, and use up a chunk of my homespun fabrics. Just 6 blocks into the project I was feeling quite clever, because I was making such cute log cabin blocks - until I laid them out side by side and hit a problem. Where was my light and dark effect? I turned blocks, moved blocks, turned them again, and squinted, and then I could make out furrows - kind of. So I decided that I would just have accept that this quilt was going to need me to buy more fabric!

Resigned to having to go to the quilt shop I decided to sew some of the blocks together just so I was really committed to the project. And that is when the biggest problem of all showed itself. My "oh so cute" blocks were not the same size. Some were 3/4 of inch smaller than others. That was going to be a bit much difference to "fudge".

I played with the blocks to try and work out ways of saving the project and came up with the idea of cutting them in half diagonally, and resewing the dark halves together. Then I joined them haphazardly to create this wonky little wallhanging. I had just recently finished a project where I used curved piecing for the first time, so I was able to play with borders that weren't straight. I like the contrast of the very straight lines in the blocks and the skewed lines that frame it up.

After that long explanation, here's hoping I can post the picture in my profile!

Catching Up

2007-04-14T12:35:00.000+12:00

Yay it's the weekend again. I did manage to get lots acheived over the Easter break. In fact I did everything on my list except for one of the pillows, so I am pretty pleased with that.

We had a great trip to Wellington and especially enjoyed Pataka in Porirua. The quilt exhibition by Anna Prussing really inspired me to use more colour in my quilts. Photos werent allowed but I did take this one of DH.

You can see thumbnails of the exhibition on the Pataka website.

We had a great lunch at Kaizen, the cafe at Pataka, so the visit was a huge success all round. We visited The New Dowse in Lower Hutt too, but that was quite disappointing. Many of the supposedly interactive exhibitions were not working or had "don't touch" signs on and the overall impression was of an institution trying too hard to be clever and missing the mark.

My goal this weekend is to tidy up the Quiltery. I wonder what I can find to do to avoid it.

Borders?

2007-04-06T15:14:00.002+12:00

I've put the borders on my Year Quilt but I don't know whether it needs something more. Originally I had thought of wide black borders but it seemed too overpowering, so in a fit of indecision I put on a 2 1/2 inch border as a starting point. Now I'm wondering if it can stay like this, or whether it needs something else. And if so what?

Any ideas anyone?

Long Weekend

2007-04-05T15:30:00.001+12:00

Easter is a long weekend here, and I've taken today off as well to make it that bit longer.

I have a list of projects to work on, and the first one is this Batik Circles quilt which just needs to be bound. This was one of those quilts that went together nice and quickly, but then it sat at the quilting stage for about 10 months.

I'm going to put the borders on my Year Quilt, and maybe make some more mile-a-minute type blocks for the backing.

My Stash Log Cabin needs the borders sewing on, as does the Strippy Flannel and those two pillows need to be finished.

Seeing all those project written down makes me think that maybe, just maybe, I'm being a bit ambitious about how much I'm going to be able to achieve in a weekend. We also have plans to drive to Porirua for a quilt exhibition so I'm not actually going to be sewing the whole time. It will be interesting to see just how much gets done.

Quality Control - caught in action

2007-04-04T19:59:00.001+12:00

Here is the little quilt quality inspector caught in action on the job tonight. I think she particularly approved of this quilt because it is lovely warm flannel.

At the bottom of the stack is a strippy quilt which I put together at the weekend, and the blue and the red on top are hopefully the borders. If this goes together as planned it will have used up 95% of my flannel stash.

The quite small flannel stash has been fun. It has been lent out and passed from friend to friend so they can use what they need. They usually add some of their leftovers back in, so it has grown and changed.

Now all I have to do is persuade Tabitha to move and then I can make more of a dent in what is left.

Little Stash Quilts

2007-03-30T08:02:00.002+12:00

I'm making progress on the little quilts I'm making from my stash of deep red/maroon fabrics. These are going to be made into cushion covers for our bed, to match the summer quilt. I wanted to make 2 different designs because I think it suits the scrappy style. I'm not sure what borders the Birds in the Air one will get - that will be this weekend's project.

Soaring

2007-03-26T22:41:00.001+12:00

Last year for his birthday DH was given a gift voucher for a glider flight, and yesterday, after months of waiting and planning for the perfect flying conditions, he took his flight. I've got to admit it was the most beautiful day, just perfect for gliding and he spent a fabulous hour up in the air on the Kapiti Coast. This really is him getting into the front seat of the glider!

I got to stay firmly on the ground (thank goodness - see how close to the front of the plane the front seat is) from where I could study not just the gliders but also a large flock of ducks taking advantage of the great soaring conditions. It got me thinking about some of those quilt blocks with fabulous names like Birds in the Air and Flock of Birds, so tonight after work I put together one of these blocks.

Now if I just make another 3 blocks, I will have the centre of a cushion cover for one of the large cushions on our bed AND I will work my way through a little bit more of the deep red-maroon stash, more particularly those extra squares that I overcalculated when cutting the last project.

Thanking my lucky stars

2007-03-24T16:13:00.001+12:00

I'm just so happy to have managed to set up this blog, and upload a photo successfully - me and uploading photos have not mixed well in the past. What better quilt to have chosen than this one using the Lucky Stars pattern by Atkinson Designs.

I made this just over a year ago for the then 9 year old daughter of friend. When asked for a colour scheme she replied "purple and plue with a touch of pink" - you can tell her Mum is an artist!

In the picture you can't really see the detail of the different fabrics and they all blend together. There really are 12 very different batiks in there, sourced from 4 or 5 shops. Maybe I should have looked for a different border fabric and that would have had a bolder effect. I love batiks but dont find them easy to work with, often thinking as I'm piecing that they are too blotchy.

I had fun with the back of this quilt too and used up some fabrics from the stash that were never going to find a home anywhere else. Even some very ugly hand dyed fabric found a happy home in this back