Angel in Disguise?

Our brother, Norman, has been visiting from Christchurch.

He asked if there was any jobs we would like him to do for us.

We had some hedge plants that needed weeding and could he do that for us.

Well, yes, he could, but he did not just stop there, he went along the whole length of the hedge carefully pulling out any form of vegetation that was not worthy of existence and everything looks a whole lot better.

It really was a labour of love.  I am sure only an angel could fulfill such an arduous task.

This is not the first time our brothers have appeared as angels in disguise.  In May brother Alan was here with Norman and they pulled out a tree for us.  You can read about it here.

Favourite things

 Claudia at Mocking Bird Hill Cottage is asking us to share our favourite things and one of my favourite things in life is having a cat sleep on my lap in the evenings.

CiCi loves to sleep on my lap, preferably with her back to me.

It took a long time to persuade her that this was an okay thing to do but now she has got there it is a very pleasant addition to evenings at our place.

For readers who don't know, CiCi was a stray that was hanging around our place when we moved here.

It took a long time to coax her into our lives but now she has decided we are okay as an adoptive family and has established her own little routine in our lives.

Can you remember..................

Can you remember the days before the Year 2000 when there was international concern about whether our computers were all going to crash and die at the turn of the century?

I was office manager for a government department in Sydney, Australia at the time and contingency plans were the item of the day just in case everything fell over.

In the end all was well and we were saved from a crisis that does not bear thinking about.

In the quilting world someone thought up this idea that it would be nice to do a swap so that participants ended up with 2,000 pieces of fabric to commemorate the Year 2000.

I participated in two of these swaps - one for 2.5 inch squares and the other for 3.5 squares.

Postmen in many countries must have been kept quite busy with little packages containing 20/30 pieces of quilting fabric as they circulated the world.

Most people sent some sort of fabric square to identify their set of blocks and I probably have enough of the these squares to make a quilt on their own.

It is now 2012 and these 4,000 squares of fabric have been patiently waiting for me to do something with them.  They even survived a relocation from Australia to New Zealand.  I left lots behind but not my Y2K squares.

                                                                                                                  
Yesterday I looked at my stash of squares once more and this time I took the plunge and started to make something with them.
I laid them out in rows and added a square of red to the end of each row.

Result - one granny square!

Just a very, very small beginning but I have over 20 little stacks made up to continue the process and so finally, finally I am starting to use some of my Y2K stash.

It has to be said that I could make a LOT of granny squares from the stash but at least I have made a start.

Nearly there..........

I think I am nearly done with cupcakes and polka dots.

I made another reversible apron using most of what was left of these fabrics, but I have to admit there is still a remainder lurking in my stash.  I think I will have to find a scrappy quilt project to add it too.

I am also done with making aprons for the moment.  It has been fun, but time to move on to other things.

I am just as happy with the result of this one and like the different look I was able to give this to my previous effort.

This is the reverse side.  I was able to include shallow pockets across the bottom of the skirt and was quite pleased with how they turned out.

I must give credit to Rob Merrett of The Perfect Apron for the inspiration for this creation.

Thanks for popping by to take a look.

A few of my favourite things

Mockingbird Hill Cottage is asking people to share a few of their favourite things.

I live in the southern hemisphere and so we are coming into spring.

One of my favourite things at this time of year is to see all the new growth as the perennial plants come back into flower.

We were very fortunate to buy a property that had a lot of well established plants and we reap the benefit year after year.

Never get tired of seeing just some of the bounty of favourite things that keep coming back.

More about cupcakes and polka dots

After completing my cupcake and polka dot quilt what was I to do with what was left.

An apron project had been suggested so here it is.

Because I was making the apron with pieced fabric I needed a lining to cover the raw edges of the seams.

In the process of creating a lining it occurred to me that maybe I could make the apron reversible - like two for the price of one.

So this was the result.

The fabric for the reverse is quilters muslin and is more creamy in appearance than the photo shows.

The polka dot fabric is nearly finished but there is more to come with the cupcake fabric.  The story will continue.......

Secret Project

A secret project has been happening at our place.

Today I stitched the last row in place and thought I would take a picture or two (without giving the game away) to put on my blog.

No sooner had I laid the quilt out on my bed than Kaiser was there in want of a fuss.  It is uncanny that the cats in our house always seem to know that there is a new quilt in the house that needs to be christened by them.

In the end I was able to take a picture of just a very small part of the quilt.

I have enjoyed piecing the blocks and rows together and it was a relief when they finally fitted together just like the pattern said they would.

While I was piecing the secret project together I sewed together pre-cut pieces of cupcake and polka dot fabric at the beginning and end of each block and row and at the end I had accumulated quite a number of new blocks for the next project.

I am not quite finished with cupcakes and polka dots, yet!

Better than yesterday

The winds have not abated so going outdoors for more pictures was not an option.

Fortunately we have a makeshift design board that was big enough for me to pin the quilt top too and photos have been taken.

Linda has said she will quilt it for me so I am expecting it to look rather special when she has finished working on it.

These cup cake blocks which go down the centre of the quilt look a bit lost at the moment but I feel sure Linda has a secret way to make them pop and give them the prominence they should have.

More about cupcakes and polka dots

On 27th September I wrote about buying fabric for a cupcake and polka dot scrappy quilt inspired by fabric scraps that had been given to me.

Maybe these fabrics should have gone to the bottom of my unfinished projects pile but I kept thinking about them and decided to take the plunge and make them up.

I have been using lots of the polka dot pieces along the way but the original cupcake fabric somehow got lost in the midst of the project so I guess I will have to keep going until that is used as well.

This quilt top is finished but I do believe that there is enough fabric left for another quilt with a similar theme.  Oh the dilemmas of a quilting life.

I took the quilt top outside to photograph but it was too windy to get a good result so I will have to try again tomorrow, that is, if the forecast rain does not come too quickly.

Another scrappy quilt

Trying to de stash can be a challenge but while there are scraps to hand we will continue.

I was reading Pleasant Homes blog and she was saying that sometimes she likes to make a scrappy quilt without using a pattern.

She starts with a couple of small rectangular pieces, joins them together and then sews irregular strips in log cabin fashion until the blocks are approximately the size she wants. They are then trimmed to the same size and sewn together - no sashings, no borders.

I thought I would like to try the idea but instead of starting with a couple of rectangular pieces I wanted to use some orphan blocks I had made called Boston Squares.

If you follow the link you will see there is an easy way to make these triangle blocks without actually having to start with triangle shaped pieces.

I had been practicing the principle but had not used the blocks so decided to use them as centre pieces for my scrappy project.

I enjoyed the project and even got to machine quilt it as well.

We have a friend who has taken on sole custody of her grand daughter and think that this would make a nice scrappy I Spy quilt for them to share and enjoy together.

Midnight Madness

For a number of years now, sister Linda has hosted Midnight Madness quilting nights for the Taupo Quiltmakers.

The finished quilt is a mystery to the participants and they cannot resist plying Linda with questions in the hope that they might get some idea of the outcome. So far Linda has been successful in keeping the outcome a secret.

When the ladies have completed the first block component of their quilts Linda reveals a finished quilt she has made herself so the ladies can at last know the outcome.  They have never been disappointed and have a lot of fun on the road to discovery.

This year Linda chose a scrappy quilt Stars and Strings and I made up a sample quilt using Kiwiana scraps.  Linda machine quilted it giving the scrappy blocks a corrugated effect - very striking.

One of the things I love about this block is the different images you can get depending on how you look at it.

To the left we have a definite starry block

 or you can see intersecting diamond shapes

or a squarish shape like this.

I really enjoyed working on this project and if you like to pop across to Linda's blog you can see the different results from the actual Midnight Madness evening.

Don't forget to scroll down and look at Linda's own version of this quilt and the wonderful quilting she has done in the star part of the blocks.

Cup cakes and polka dots

Recently I was sorting through my scrap stash and thought these fabrics went well together.

It thought they would make a nice quilt and I could call it Cup Cakes and Polka Dots.

Only problem there was not enough fabric to make a quilt so what's a girl to do?

Go shopping, of course!

In this case, on line to The Fat Quarter Shop.

In no time at all the postman popped a package in my letter box and now I have lots of fabric to go with my small scrap stash.

The packaging from The Fat Quarter Shop was so nice I did not even take the fabric out for a week or more - I just enjoyed looking at it.

A bit of a dilemma when you are trying to reduct your scrap stash and you end up buying  more fabric in the process - nice fun, though!

In case you were wondering.................

On the 5th September I wrote about the Ugly Duckling challenge I was participating in.

The other side of the coin was me handing in my ugly fabric which is featured to the left.

On Thursday night the results of the challenge were revealed.

There was a mixture of results - place mats, a handbag, an arm chair sewing caddy, a covered coat hanger, the apron I made and, of course,  the result of my own piece of fabric -

a table runner.

I really admire the way Janet picked out the colours from my fabric and matched them to red, green and black - it was more than I could have done.

A fun exercise - I enjoyed participating.

More Stitching

There seems to be no end to the possibilities of quilt projects from our stash of fabrics on hand.

A while ago I was given some fabrics from a range by Moda called Harvest Home.

The fabrics have been patiently waiting for my attention and now, finally, I have found a project for them.

This is just the beginnings of a quilt for me and the name of the block is Granny Squares.

It gives the appearance of having been worked with triangles but the trick is in the trimming of the blocks when they are completed.

Each block takes me about 40 minutes to complete but I am enjoying the process.  The variety of fabrics within the range gives me lots to play with so that each one looks different but has a common border to give uniformity.

Let's hope it won't be too long before I can share the finished quilt.

Ugly Duckling Challenge

Our quilting group put out a challenge for those who were interested:-

From your fabric stash choose an ugly fat quarter, put it in a brown paper bag and hand it in on quilting night.

The co-ordinator numbers the bags and then hands them out to someone else in the swap.

You take the bag home and make something 'beautiful' out of the ugly fabric.

You have to use at least 50% of the ugly fabric in your project.

I dislike plaids, so guess what I got - a piece of plaid fabric featured in the centre of the image above.

I had several ideas in mind but finally settled on making an apron inspired by the vintage pattern pictured here.

From my stash I found a piece of rust red fabric and with a bit more searching found some broderie anglaise.

It has been a while since I embarked on a project like this but I did enjoy the process.

I added a pocket so that I could use more of the ugly fabric.  I did have some left but have definitely used more than 50%.

At the end of the day - an apron.

I hope the recipient will consider her ugly duckling to have been transformed into swan.

As a footnote - I really, really did not like the piece of fabric I handed in so I wonder if I will consider it had been appropriately transformed when it come homes to me.

Stacked and ready to go

Something warm and cosy about a stack of quilts.

This is only three quilts, I know, but with a special purpose in mind.

I have just put labels on them today and now they just need to be packed and sent off to our great-nephews.

We hope they get to treasure each having their own special quilt.

More musings from my bedroom window

Further to my entry about sights from my bedroom window I thought I would write about the rhododendron bush that catches my eye every day.

It has been growing amidst our hedge row and this will be the fourth summer we have lived here and up until now this shrub has been a sorry sight - producing a few buds but never coming to flower.

In my opinion, I thought it needed to be taken out, but as if to spite me this year it has come in to bloom with the loveliest of shades of yellow.

This morning I went to take some photos of the blooms and there in the midst was a bumble bee doing its business.

If it is good enough for the bumble bees then I think this shrub may well have given itself another life.

Another I Spy Quilt

On the 30th July I wrote about a book I reviewed for Taupo Quiltmakers, Quick and Easy Quilts for Kids.

I had made an I Spy quilt from one of the patterns but had in mind to do another from the same book.

This one is called Baby Bricks and is a fast and easy stitching project as long as you have a variety of fabrics to pull from your scrap bin.

Big enough to just cover a single bed it will be sent with the other I Spy quilt to our great nephews.

We hope they have lots of fun playing I Spy with their quilts.

That's what friends are for

Yesterday our Sweet Peas sewing group met at our place.

Trish came with a quilt that she made made a while ago and it needed to be washed.  However, the result of washing was not good, the quilt went all crinkly in the worst possible way.

She brought it along to the group to see if anything could be done to fix the problem.

Within a short space of time our friends had gathered around and helped her with the task of unpicking the stitching so that the top could be be removed from the backing.  All too soon she had her quilt top separated so that it could be stitched afresh and hopefully this time all will be well when her quilt is stitched together again.

Lovely to see the things that friends can do for each other when they gather together.

From my bedroom window

The view from my bedroom window may or may not appeal to some but it provides plenty of interest to me depending on the season and the weather.

The walnut tree to the right was recently pruned and a couple of days later the wren birds came to visit.  Probably 30 or more resting on the trees or hopping to the ground for food.  They could obviously see items of interest that I could not.

Sometimes the fantails will fly over the embankment and appear to be sailing on the wind as they chase insects that are tempting them in the air ways.

There are walking paths on both sides of the river and I often see walkers and/or cyclists making use of facilities to exercise along the river setting.  A great place for exercising dogs as well and is used as daily routine by some dog owners.

Other days it is not uncommon to see splashes in the river as fish rise to the surface and splash around before disappearing again.  Bird life abounds as well with a variety of ducks, geese and swans taking their turn in the river from time to time or flying overhead.

Most days the local kayaking business brings a group of would be kayakers to the river to try their hand at the sport.  They come all weathers and provide more interest for us above.

I am glad not to be confined to my bedroom but if I was it is nice to know that there is a range of activities that can be observed from my bedroom window.