The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady

Flowers

2012-02-11T16:30:00.000+13:00

It was our fifth wedding anniversary.

Hubby has never, never-not-ever bought me flowers before.

So these are extra special.

Especially because he's not here right now, so arranged them before he went.

Wow. Five whole years!

I've been experimenting.

2012-02-07T22:08:00.000+13:00

I volunteered to make a small wall hanging for my son's primary school. It will be auctioned off at the Opua Regatta (kinda like a gala day or a fete, held on the Opua Wharf to fund raise for the school) with some other art work.

Warning! Advert! Opua Regatta, 25th February, Opua Wharf, stalls, rides, fun and the annual dog swimming race!

So I thought I'd try something new. I'm sure that when you are making something with an aim and a deadline, you shouldn't experiment. But hey, I don't call myself The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady for nothing. I wanted a layer of organza in the shape of various plants on top of my background. Basically I wanted to applique organza, sounds like fun huh?

I learnt a heap about sewing organza real fast. I thought I'd share some tips with you to save you some sanity just in case you ever want to experiment.

Organza is slip, slip, slipperty. Pin the snot out of it. Use a smaller stitch length and a sharp sewing machine needle (microtex).

You can't mark organza and hope to follow the line (at least not with any markers I tried). Trace your design onto tissue paper (or Solvy or whatever you have on hand), pin this on top and sew through it. Then rip away your tissue. This helps to stop the slipping and sliding too.

Synthetic organza frays like nothing else and it melts too. So a heat tool is your friend. I used my soldering iron to slice away the excess organza. It cut it and sealed the edges all in one, no more fraying, just a distinctive odour - do this in a well-ventilated area.

And lastly, steel wool is better to wipe your soldering iron on than a rag. Ask my fingers why.

So that's what I learnt about organza today. I also learnt that shortly my husband is abandoning me for a week to steam a new tug and dredging barge up from the South Island. I learnt that the Mainfreight delivery man can back a hulking great truck all the way down my 200 metres of driveway after delivering our new bed. And I learnt that the bed would be staying in it's packaging because said husband is getting home late and can't help me carry old bed out to make room for new bed.

Goodnight!

Onwards and Upwards

2012-02-01T11:30:00.000+13:00

Well, I got a disappointing email from the Beneath the Southern Skies convener - my quilt was not picked for the exhibition. There were 71 entries and 30 were picked so I'm looking forward to seeing the final cut. Not to worry, I have a place picked out on my wall for my piece "I don't feel lonely". And I'm moving on to the next quilt!

'Scuse the toes!

This is the start of my next 'art' quilt. I have a bit of a plan, but not sure how it will develop as I go along. This is a Nikau frond, painted onto white fabric and I plan to cut it out and applique it. We'll see how it works!

The front.

The quilting shows best on the back.

I've also been working on this quilt. It should have been added to my WIP round up the other day, but I totally forgot I had it until I was rummaging around for something else. The sampler blocks were from my very first quilting class. Halfway through I decided I hated the colours so remade the blocks I'd done in colours I liked. Then of course these ones have sat around for seven (!) years. Now that I've sashed and bordered them I quite like them. I've got to tie in a few threads and bind it and then it will be off to Quilts for Kids for a little person who really needs it.

School started yesterday and my boy had a great first day back - long may it continue as he isn't known for his attention span in class ;) We spent our last day of holidays (Monday as it was a public holiday) out in the bay on the boat. Just stunning weather and all round good fun.

Jeanette DeNicolis Meyer Workshop

2012-01-31T13:23:00.000+13:00

Renowned international fabric artist Jeanette DeNicolis Meyer is coming to Northland. She will be teaching a two-day course on designing and collage with translucent fabrics.

Quilt and Collage with Translucent Fabrics

Discover the design and color world that opens up while composing quilts or fabric collages with layers of luscious silk organza and crisp cotton organdy. We will begin by producing a gem-like palette of translucent fabric with easy to use paints and then proceed to the design wall, where new colors and shapes will emerge as the translucent fabrics are layered. We will also produce a technique sampler notebook as we experiment with fusing and a variety of machine and hand-sewn seams to explore the design possibilities different finished edges can provide.

Dates: March 10th and 11th 2012

Location: Whangarei, venue to be advised

Cost: $115.00 per person. $40.00 non-refundable deposit. Limited places available.

Contact: Charlotte Scott 09 404 0644

Brought to you by the combined efforts of Whangarei and Kerikeri Patchwork and Quilting Clubs.

Jeanette’s website: www.jdmeyer.com

Summer

2012-01-27T09:19:00.000+13:00

It's meant to rain today. It's not, yet, but I thought I'd show some pictures that show the beautiful spell of summer weather we've been having so far. My thoughts go to those in Australia dealing with floods at the moment.

I don't feel lonely.

2012-01-24T15:48:00.000+13:00

This year I decided I needed to develop my art quilting. And so I have several exhibitions and competitions lined up that I want to enter. The first one is Beneath the Southern Skies, a touring exhibition that is shown in Australia and New Zealand. The closing date is tomorrow, and today I filled in the on-line application and sent off my photos. So pleased!

The design brief was for textile artists to explore the title theme using a prescribed size of 40cm (width) by 100cm (length).

My materials I used were hand-painted silk fabric (heart strings contracted when I cut this, I loved it so much once I had painted it!), cotton fabric, cotton, rayon and metallic thread. I raw edge appliqued the pohutukawa tree to the silk and machine quilted the piece with a tiny bit of hand stitching done in metallic thread.

The name "I don't feel lonely" came about from the feelings I had as I surveyed the scene that inspired the quilt.

If it's accepted for exhibition I'll be excited, but if it's not, I'm still excited! I'm excited that I made an art quilt that I really love. I'm excited that I've taken the first step in developing my art quilting and I'm excited that I can now show it to you.

This is the quilting in the sky as seen from the reverse side - I realise it is difficult to see from the front in some of the photographs. I wanted Ranginui - The Sky Father*, to be subtle, revealed when you stood closer and took a second look.

The hardest parts of this were - knowing when it was done, taking good photographs and writing the blasted artist's statement!

"Beneath the southern sky the pohutukawa tree stands silhouetted. It could be a scene of loneliness but I sense mystery, a waiting, perhaps a presence greater than us. Maybe it’s Papatuanuku – The Earth Mother, and Ranginui – The Sky Father. I wait. And watch. And slowly the dusk unfolds to night. Ranginui and Papatuanuku sleep."

* This website has a nice summary of the Maori creation legend that involved Ranginui and Papatuanuku (it's the third one down).

Garden

2012-01-23T10:46:00.000+13:00

This is what I harvested for yesterday's dinner, straight from the garden, and nothing tastes better than fresh veges.

Problem is, I seriously lack motivation in the garden at the moment. I think it has something to do with being the only one who does anything in there. Hubby works full-time and when he has spare time at home he does other stuff, like mow the lawns. He does get enthused about the orchard sometimes and helps water and mulch in that area, and he enjoys eating the fresh veges, it's just not a passion for him. And because it's not a passion for me either, just an interest and something I feel we should be doing, it becomes a bit of a chore when I'm doing it all on my own.

It could be the heat too. Summer has finally shown itself and the days are heating up. It gets uncomfortably hot out there if I try and do any work after nine am.

So instead of just moaning about it and resenting it, I'm going to try a new approach. Evening gardening! Usually I spend evenings sewing, blogging, talking and watching the news at eight. But I'm going to try and get out in the garden once the kids are in bed and hopefully Hubby will join me. Work is so much more enjoyable when there is someone else to share it with.

And on quilting matters - I'm just hand sewing down my faced binding on my "Beneath the Southern Skies" entry. Hopefully I'll be able to photograph it properly soon and show it to you.

Work in Progress Round Up

2012-01-21T20:00:00.000+13:00

I thought I'd do a little round up of all the projects I'm working on at the moment. Mainly so that in a year's time I can look back and gasp at how much ~~I achieved~~ is still a work in progress! ;)

My current project that I'm working on almost exclusively. It's called "I don't feel lonely" and is an entry for the Beneath the Southern Skies exhibition. Must be finished by the 25th of January. No pressure or anything!

My 'night shift' quilt. This is slowly turning into something that I really like. And the vast majority of it has been done in the quiet bits of night duty. All the rows except one (the one with little bits of paper pinned to it) are sewn together. Now I just need to work on setting triangles.

A couple of bassinet quilts for the maternity unit. A friend made the tops and gave them to me to baste (check), quilt (check) and bind (yet to finish).

This sucker is just so big, it takes up my whole kitchen floor.

My big blue and white quilt. No hurrying on this one. It sat for a couple of years without even being touched. Then I did a little flurry on it last year. A few more flurries and the applique on the sides might get done. Then it will be a marathon of flurries to quilt it - it's huge.

This is my hand-piecing. I last showed this to you in a completely different layout. I decided I didn't like it that way, took out all the squares that were part of the design and turned the diamonds into doves (or turtles as most people think they are). Recently I've decided that I liked it better with the squares but I refuse to unpick all that hand stitching so one day I might cut a whole heap more diamonds and do another of the original layout.....one day.

I need to add another round on both these medallion quilts for a round robin sort of thingee I'm doing with my sister. No hurry on this one, it's taken us a few years to get to this point!

I have a project that I'm enthused about that is still in the design stages and will use lots of my native bird and plant applique designs I've drawn previously. I also want to make a quilt using some beautiful Japanese fabrics that my sister in law brought back from Japan with her.

There are other WIPs I have floating around, but writing this down has made me realise that I'm never going to finish those ones so they may as well get donated/chopped up/re-purposed. It sounds like it's time for a UFO purge!

What have you got hiding away in your cupboards?

Baby Photos

2012-01-19T18:25:00.000+13:00

My dear, darling, eldest sister is digging out baby photos of us and posting them for all the world to see. If you want to be part of that privileged world, pop on over to

http://louisalowry-whatthecousinsareuptonow.blogspot.com/

Just be nice and say how cute we were!

Christmas Day 2011

2012-01-17T11:51:00.000+13:00

Well, it's been over a month since I last wrote anything on this blog. Holiday season is nearly over for us. The kids go back to school at the end of January and Hubby started back at work yesterday. It's been an adventure filled month for us. Camping, floods, visiting relatives. I'll start with a quick round up of Christmas Day itself.

We usually go camping around Christmas time and even though the weather forecast this year wasn't brilliant, we decided to go anyway. Luckily Christmas Day itself was sunny, if a little breezy. The kids got to open their presents on the grass, in the open air, as usual. They both got real down sleeping bags so we can take them camping in winter with a little more security.

The delight on their faces as they got thoroughly spoiled by all their relations was priceless. This year they were the only kids on Christmas Day itself so were the undisputed centers of attention!

Guess what we had for Christmas lunch! This monster cray was contributed by the Uncle and Aunty whose land we camp on and is being held up for admiration by my lovely Mother in Law. We also had oysters, homegrown ham, lamb and lots of home grown veges.

Here's my boy having his ham in a hamburger. It's such a privilege to spend the day in such beautiful surroundings, sitting next to a creek.

By the time we ate dessert, the kids had been swimming in the creek, hence my wee girl still has her lifejacket on. Pavlova, fruit salad, Christmas cake, fresh strawberries....heaven.

And to make it a little more interesting we had a couple of backpackers from England joining us. It was their first summer Christmas and eating outside in sunshine was completely foreign to them. They ate their first oyster each, enjoyed their first taste of pavlova and got climbed all over by our darlings - lucky they are both primary school teachers!

It was a wonderful day spent with family and friends. I love the fact that we are building such great memories for our kids and I hope we are able to return here for many more years.

Showing off the Cabbage

2011-12-14T10:56:00.000+13:00

It's not raining this morning. Which is quite the nice change as we have had a week or so of damp. I made the most of it and planted some kumara (Maori sweet potato) shoots - which I have never grown before so they are a bit of an experiment.

My girl's favorite activity in the garden is eating strawberries (who's isn't?) and harvesting. So we rummaged around and chopped this cabbage to make coleslaw to have with our homegrown pork roast tonight (our friend's home, not ours).

It was "sooooo big and heavy, Mum" that she insisted we take it's picture. And of course, it needed to be held and shown in all it's glory by the Moppet herself.

Last day of school today for Big Brother. School holidays for the next six weeks. Hopefully there will be some camping, some adventures, a lovely Christmas dinner, lots of excitement, a little bit of quilting and a whole lot of fun. So I apologise in advance if there is a distinct lack of blogging, but I'm sure you understand!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas, a safe one and a happy one. And to all those parents out there, here's wishing you lots of sanity for the holidays!

Old Maid's Puzzle

2011-12-12T19:21:00.000+13:00

A while ago I showed you this pile of fabrics and told you that I was making a simple pieced quilt - suitable for fairly mindless quilting when I'm on night duty and have nothing to do. So I've been nutting away at it slowly but surely and the other day I was at the stage of laying out all my finished blocks.

These will be eight inches finished. Spot the Amish mistake block - I'll be unpicking that one, there are enough mistakes in it without a glaring one like that.

I'm really loving the colours and effect, but I've decided it's not big enough. I've cut out and begun to piece another 15 or so blocks. That will make it six blocks by six blocks. With borders, that should be big enough to spread over my king-sized bed.

I'm making more dark with dark blocks and light with light blocks and that should help the colourwash-ish effect when I lay them out again.

One thing I do lack in my corner of the lounge where I sew is a large design wall. But I find laying it on the floor is ok, especially when I take photos and look at them on the computer screen, things I want to change around become quite obvious. I guess it's the same as taking ten steps backwards.

How do you lay out your quilts? What do you use for a design wall if you are lucky enough to have one?

Fabric Book Cover

2011-12-05T08:31:00.000+13:00

So I spent yesterday sewing, photographing and writing a tutorial for a collaged, lined, fabric book cover. It makes a nice Christmas present if you are looking for some inspiration for a crafty gift. I've added it to my tabs up the top there and I'd appreciate any feedback on how easy it is to read and follow - being my first real tutorial and all!

Happy stitching!

Wild Food Cook Off 2011

2011-12-03T13:33:00.000+13:00

It was held in the woolshed - for non-kiwis - that's the shed where the sheep are shorn. The hosts were kind enough to waterblast it out first!

They decorated it appropriately. These are tanned possum skins. Possums are a non-native pest here in NZ and last year there was a dish of crumbed possum drumsticks.

Being a woolshed, it had a sheep chute. The chute that the naked sheep are shoved down to head back to the paddock. It didn't take the kids long to find it and it took them less time to start heading down it themselves!

These are our two judges hard at work. The trophy is the polished bit of wood to the right and the judge on the right is last year's winner (duck egg pavlova with a loquat and honey sauce).

And this is one of the dishes. Presented by last year's runner up. She went all out with three courses. This is the main. Roast Wild Turkey with Rewena Bread. The dressings on the side were things like Wild Grape and Walnut and Grandma's Quince Jelly. And yes, she had matching wine!

No, she didn't have any of the wine...it's just soda water and some of my Wild Rose Syrup. What do you think of her haircut? I was cutting her brother's and father's hair and she demanded one just the same! I got in quick before her brother could fill her head with gender concepts and she really likes it. I do too - not knots and no nits.

It was a great night. The kids had a ball, we had a ball, the food was interesting and tasty (to varying degrees) and I'm looking forward to next year's.

Updating you with crappy photos

2011-11-29T11:01:00.000+13:00

So I survived the half-marathon (on the 17th November, that's how long it's been since I updated this blog!). I walked it in 3 hours and 43 minutes (and 59 seconds if you want to be precise). Not too bad for a first go. The average time was 3 hours and 16 minutes so next year I'm planning to get closer to that.

Later that same night I ~~hobbled~~ went off to our friend's annual "Wild Food Cook Off". Basically a party where we all bring a dish of food made from things we have hunted, caught, foraged etc. There was Bombay Horse's Arse (horse curry - yes, we have wild horses up here if you know where to look) and Roast Peacock, Oysters and Banana Flower Burger. Mine was tame in comparison - Duck Egg and Wild Rose Cheesecake - but it was pretty good if I do say so myself.

A picture of a snail dish from last year's cook off.

The only problem is that I left my camera there! Hence you haven't had any updates for a while. I haven't been up to too much, but it's been frustrating being without a camera. But today I've had a brainwave - I can take pics with my webcam. Terrible pics and the cord doesn't reach far, but hey, they are still pictures!

My sample on the left, my four-year-old daughter's on the right.

For the last two Friday's, I've been running a class at one of the local primary schools. Myself and my team of fab volunteers have been doing fabric stenciling with six-year-old children. I'm counting this as one of my small, experimental quilts as I've had lots of playing with fabric paint and freezer paper stencils to come up with samples. One more class this Friday and it's all done. In exchange for the classes, we get to use their school hall for our guild exhibition - a pretty good deal if you ask me!

Next, I've been going a little mad on making these cute little purses. They are small and just darling and as soon as my girl spotted the one I made as a sample, she snaffled it and hasn't let me have it back. So I've been making a stack of them for Christmas presents. Some of them will hold vouchers, or a nail kit or trinkets and some will be part of a set (I enlarged the pattern for a bigger one).

Here's the stack I have made ready to hand stitch up into their proper shape. They come from this tutorial here. Thanks Rashida!! You've sorted so many of my Christmas gifts! Even my boy has picked out fabrics for me to make one for his 'treasures'.

I've also been working on the vege garden (sorry - webcam won't stretch that far) and this morning planted some tomato and basil seedlings and some carrot seeds. It's been dry for the last 3 weeks so I've been spending a bit of time watering too.

So that's it for now. As soon as I get my camera back I'll give you a more thorough round up of the Wild Food party and show you my daughter's funky new haircut!

The Chicken Flower Quilt

2011-11-12T18:45:00.000+13:00

So I haven't been in the blogosphere for a wee while. I'll blame it on the friend who talked me into doing the Kerikeri half marathon. I'll be walking it next Saturday and the training is cutting into my blogging time (it's probably better for me!) But this Saturday was the Bay of Islands P and I show and my Chicken Flower quilt won first prize in the "Patchwork Article over 40cm" section! Woot!

I don't think I've showed it to you since it's been finished and I know the photo above is not the best but every time I try and shoot it, it's windy or dull or too sunny.....I know, excuses, excuses!

Or I have a little ~~annoying~~ cute helper who just has to be in the shot!

Here's a close up of the machine free-motion quilting I did. Basically just loop de loops and curlicues. But I added a few things in for fun.

Like this feather. And the recipient's name is quilted into it a couple of times, plus a butterfly and the odd flower and leaf. She can have fun searching for them.

So think of me next Saturday - I'll consider myself a success if I finish, I'm not aiming for a particular time! And after that, maybe I'll be able to spend a little more time here updating you on what's happening in my world.

Mother's Little Helper

2011-10-27T13:58:00.000+13:00

I'm getting ready for my guild's quilting retreat this weekend. I'm hoping to finish my chicken flower quilt there, so today I'm piecing a backing for it. But I have a little helper and when she whipped out my big shears and almost cut straight through the largest backing piece, I knew it was time to occupy her with something else!

My scrap bin and bags are favorite toys. Today it was collage (I've been inspired by all the art quilts I've been looking at lately!). She enjoys using scissors and as far as I can remember, she's never cut herself.

Like any true artist, she knows the most important part is making a mess! But my plastic painting sheet kept the glue off the floor at least.

Finished product!

And I don't mind helping to clean up the mess if it gives me a chance to get something done. Now I just have to finish machine button-holing some leaves and a teeny bit of embroidery before I can baste it and quilt it. Here's hoping for a productive weekend for you too!

Farm TV

2011-10-23T19:21:00.000+13:00

These are for my sister, who requested pictures of the animals. I've called it Farm TV, because that is what my hubby and I say to each other when we are going to sit out on the deck and have a cuppa. "Come and watch Farm TV with me." The animals never cease to amuse.

Plus, this post fits in rather nicely with Kit Lang's - What do you see on your way to work? This is what I see, they are my work (besides the kids of course).

First up are the ducks. They are the loudest and so get fed first. A handful of grain on the grass and for the rest of the day they free roam and keep the slugs down in the orchard.

Mama bunny is right next to the feed shed so she gets fed quickly too. Plus she has eight babies with her and they go through a bit of food. Here she is having a drink.

And here are her babies munching their breakfast. Cute huh?

These two are out in a run on the grass - which is rather lush at the moment being spring and all. They are part of a group of five boys destined for the pot. They had five sisters who went to the pet shop.

Rooster chicks. Destined for the pot too. Their seven sisters went to a new home the other day. There are big bonuses to being a girl if you're a chook.

Big Red, the rooster. He originally came from Laura at Our Wee Farm. He was destined for the pot too, but he got a reprieve and because he is never aggressive, he might stay out of the pot for a good long while.

Big White, on the other hand, is permanently locked up or he'll attack the children. He's on the shortlist for the pot.

And here's what the girls give me. Omelette's anyone?

School Holidays

2011-10-20T19:17:00.001+13:00

Not much gets done on the quilting front round here during school holidays. The kids see me sewing and find a million things they need help with urgently, or they decide they are hungry, or - and this is the worst insult of all - they decide THEY want to sew ;)

But I've managed to fit in a few other things. We've had the nieces visiting for a few days and they joined in the birthday afternoon tea that my boy had for his seventh birthday. Lots of running around was had after the treats and then we had the cake.

For those of you who can't decipher what it is - it's meant to be a chocolate pinata cake. You make a cake, ice it and top it with goodies, then make a chocolate shell in another bowl and drop it over the top. Birthday boy gets to smash it with a toy hammer to get to the goodies underneath. Well. Let's just say it was a learning experience! And he wasn't too disappointed that it was already broken when he got to it. If you ever want to make one of these - practice first.

But tomorrow morning I'm hosting my Friday Group of quilters here so I might get a bit of sewing done then. And very soon I'm off on Retreat. A three day quilt-till-you-drop experience that we hold a few times a year through our guild. I haven't decided what projects I will take, but rest assured I will have something completed by the end of it!

Happy school hols everyone - only a few more days and it's all over.

Stomping in my sketchbook.

2011-10-14T09:20:00.000+13:00

Have you ever seen those pretty stamps in scrapbooking or art shops? The ones with the wooden handles and rubber stamp bit? Yummy designs but a little pricey for just one stamp? Well, here's what I'm doing to get around it - and it's so darn easy I don't know why I haven't done it before!

Take one cheap rubber (or eraser if you're so inclined!) and draw your design on it in a soft pencil. Grab your x-acto knife or sharp craft knife and carefully carve away the bits you don't want to stamp (I've coloured those bits in to help my brain recognise which bit to cut).

Place your stamp on your stamp pad and happily stamp away. I've used my stamp with paint and on fabric as well as paper. This isn't the method to carve anything really intricate, unless you are very skilled with an x-acto knife, but it's giving me lots of pleasure anyway.

Work over your cutting mat (self-healing mat) so you don't blunt your knife if you slip and, just like cutting vegetables, always slice away from your fingers.

Wash your stamp in water after using. Heat set your designs on fabric with an iron once they are dry. And carve on both sides of your rubber if you want to be frugal.

You can make your own birthday or special occasion cards (and at $5 a pop, I certainly don't buy them anymore unless they are really beautiful), use the designs in fabric postcards, ATC's, art quilts or make your own border fabric for a traditional quilt.

For kiwi's: I found the x-acto knife and rubbers at Stationery Warehouse. The ink pads were from Spotlight and The Warehouse.

And credit where credit is due, I'm pretty sure I got this idea from watching a preview Quilting Arts DVD with Lyric Kinard.

Journal Quilts

2011-10-10T16:57:00.001+13:00

Journal quilts are generally small - often A4 size or 12” x 12”, are made regularly – weekly, monthly etc and are used as a way to experiment and to document.

Artist Rose Rushbrooke explains them well here. And you can see her journal quilts there as well.

Quilter Jeanne Williamson: “I started making them because I was having trouble finding the time to make quilts and be creative about them. I felt blocked.”
“But then I thought about her little postcard-sized watercolour experiments and thought, “I could do this!”…Why not one quilt per week?”
“I definitely used the weekly quilts to document what was going on in my life…I also used the weekly quilts to try new materials and techniques.”

Quilter Maria Elkins: “I was one of those quilters energized by the Journal Quilt Project. This was exactly was I needed. For years, I have struggled to overcome a fear of failure. Now I was given the opportunity, the permission, even the directive to play.”

So why am I starting to make journal quilts? I love traditional quilts, the repetition of pattern can be both soothing and dynamic, the colours can be stunning, but generally the quilts that make me go, “Wow!” at quilt shows and on blogs are the non-traditional, the art quilts, the ones using interesting methods to convey thoughts and feelings.

But where to start? And how to continue? I have made a few ‘arty’ bits and pieces over the years and I love to experiment, although I don’t nearly do enough of it. So to get me started and to help me continue, I’ve decided to start making journal quilts.

I don’t think I’ll stick to a certain size and I can’t promise I’ll make one every week. But what I am going to do is regularly make a small experimental quilt. I will not get hung up on making something ‘perfect’ and I’m going to do my best to have fun!

"One." 10" x 15" October 2011

And here is my first one. I layered scraps and fused some of them down. I free-motion appliquéd a shape that I made in a Jane Sassaman class over the top and free-motion quilted the background down. I used some hand embroidery stitches to create variety in the texture of the background and then I fused a binding that I had cut with a decorative cutter.

For me this was just fun, nothing precise, and it made me feel less frustrated that I haven't used any of the things I had done at the Remarkable Symposium. I have never fused a binding or used a decorative rotary cutter either.

And, just because it's so sweet it makes my teeth hurt, here is a drawing my four year old daughter did of her riding on her father's shoulders. Awwwww!

A sunny day means a photo shoot.

2011-10-09T19:20:00.000+13:00

Except that a photo shoot with my husband means a very short window where he will hold up quilts for me. I can't say "turn it just a wee bit that way" or "just a little higher" and definitely not "one more minute until the wind stops blowing"! Oh well, I still love him dearly (he cooked dinner tonight so I have to say that).

These are both quilts that, when I began cataloguing them on my 'quilts' page, I realised I had never taken pictures of them finished. This is my boy's sixth birthday quilt and he's about to turn seven. I designed all the blocks myself. And it was a bit of an adventure in quilt-as-you-go!

And this one was one is called 'Indonesian Windows'. I finished it in 2007. It was begun when my sister proposed a challenge. We could only use the block given but colour it any way we liked and make it any size.

And here's the quilt holder-upper saying,"C'mon already! My arms hurt!"

I don't make quilts for people allergic to cats.

2011-10-07T22:14:00.000+13:00

Spot the interloper. And it's not the teal blue fabrics in the green pile.

No, it's the orange furry thing taking advantage of the 'yet to be organised' shelf. Puss - can't you find somewhere else to catnap?

Like the couch?

All in the eye of the beholder.

2011-10-03T08:49:00.000+13:00

I made a flower to applique to a quilt.

I liked it so much that I made another one.

Then somebody (in fact, several somebodies) told me they look like chickens.

Chickens? I thought I was the chicken crazy one. They are FLOWERS people.

They are most certainly NOT chickens.

A new page.

2011-09-30T22:28:00.000+13:00

So I was playing around and I've discovered how to add another page to my blog. Cool! I've been thinking I should catalogue my quilts in some way and this seems perfect. Except once you have the photos on the page, it's a bit of a pain trying to rearrange them chronologically. And I realise I'm really slack at taking photos of my finished quilts. There are quite a few missing. Hmmm. Must improve on that.

So, if you are ~~nosey~~ interested and want to see my sum total of work over the last six years that I've been indulging in quilting, then click on My Quilts above and you can have a browse. I will try and caption them all and rearrange them chronologically and fill in some gaps eventually.

Enjoy!

Books to bury your nose in.

2011-09-27T21:44:00.000+13:00

I've given up reading novels. Well, I've put it on hold till I have gained the skill of self-control (snort!). I just can't put a novel down until it's done. Instead, I'm picking up books that you can delve into for a few minutes here and there and enjoy.

So what am I ~~reading~~ looking at?

The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien. This one I am actually reading, in sections, to my boy at bedtime. He in enthralled. And I'm rapidly running out of pages. Any suggestions for our next read?

The Diary of a Farmer's Wife 1796-1797. This is a reading one too. But as it's a diary and written in ye olde style English, it was put downable. Interesting to read, not sure if it's genuine or a well done fake.

Twelve by Twelve. The International Art Quilt Challenge. Now this is a fantastic find. Lusciously and generously photographed, this book is a round up of a collaborative challenge. Twelve art quilters, making twelve 12" x 12" quilts. Each artist took turns picking a theme and it was fascinating to see the different interpretations. Each month features one quilt in depth and profiles the art quilter who made it. This is well worth a read and has entertained and inspired me.

1000 Artisan Textiles. Sandra Salamony and Gina M. Brown. This one is a great find too. Page after page of rich colour, fantastic shapes, texture and design. There are five sections; wearable art and couture, fashion accessories, soft furnishings and vessels, tapestries and display art and art quilts. The only beef I have with it is that the only information shared under each was the name of the maker. The title, size and materials were all in a directory at the back, awkward to keep flipping back and forth.

The Crafting of Narnia by Weta Workshop. This one I picked up for my boy and he has loved looking through it. The illustrations are enchanting and incredibly detailed. I was taken with it too and enjoyed flicking through it. I can't say I read too much of the text, but it is well worth it as a picture book.

The other two in the stack are:

The Quilt. Beauty in Fabric and Thread by Marie Salazar. Again, lovely pictures. But published in 1997, some of the quilts are a bit dated. Interesting to see style progression though.

And The Nude by Giovanni Civardi. This is the odd one out! I borrowed this from the library to help me with a quilt I'm planning.

So what books are on your nightstand?

Fabulous Flowers

2011-09-19T20:18:00.000+12:00

Today, in between herding children, I've been chipping away at the garden and then pinning, pinning and some more pinning.

These are the stems for the flowers on a quilt I'm doing for a friend's little girl. All 105" of them. (The background is cream, not yellow, but that's what photographing at night will do for you.)

I designed these flowers with Jacobean crewel work in mind. They will be fused to the background and then machine appliqued down. I will embroider a few stamens here and there to flesh it all out.

I really love the over-the-top shapes and the how the colour combinations have worked. Plaids and polka dots! What more could you want?

Spring weather makes them wild(er).

2011-09-18T20:00:00.001+12:00

My kids have been watching a version of Peter Pan on a DVD. So naturally they want to prance around half nekkid with bits of fabric (nicked from my stash) draped around them and tucked in strategically. A bit breezy I would have thought. The weather is good, but not THAT good. Still, when you run around chasing an imaginary Captain Hook up and down the woodpile, I guess that keeps you warm.

Hope you had a productive weekend. I did nothing quilt related, but I did weed, compost and then re-plant a whole garden bed. I also killed and plucked the chook that kept flying into the garden to dig up the new seedlings and we're having her for dinner tomorrow night.

Sweet dreams!

I'm glad he only turns 40 once...

2011-09-12T20:29:00.000+12:00

You could be forgiven for thinking that I had dropped off the side of the world, but I'm still here, beavering away at life. I guess I just lost my blogging mojo for a little while. And I've been busy gearing up for my Hubby's fortieth birthday.

So Saturday found us firing up two spit roasts, making enormous salads and boiling tubs of spuds. We had been tidying up around the place for the last few weekends and clearing a big space in the shed. It's amazing the motivation an impending horde or visitors can give you!

We had a fire to take off the chill and provide entertainment. I counted 26 kids running round at one stage and they made short work of a half kilo bag of marshmellows!

The band started up and then kept on rocking till the wee small hours.

I guess I can't deny the rumour that I danced! Someone managed to get photographic evidence.

Of course, the next day brings the aftermath. Clean up is still going on. I've made mutton and potato soup for dinner tonight and the chickens and dogs have been so well fed they are waddling.

I guess I can't deny this rumour either! Yes, we all needed a nana nap on Sunday.

And one of the best parts of the whole weekend was that I got this baby finished and off to it's rightful owner. His parents came along to the party and were very happy to take it home and pass it on. Another finish!

Round Robin.

2011-08-18T12:10:00.000+12:00

Have you ever participated in a quilting round robin? Have you ever organised one? They sound like fun - the general idea is that you make something, you pass it on to the next person and they add something, they pass it on and the next person adds something and so on, until it gets back to you. Of course, anything that sounds simple often isn't!

My half of the round robin I am doing with my sister - very casual, no time limits!

Some things to think about before you embark on organising a round robin.

Do you want a row-by-row (where everyone makes the same size row just different themes) or a medallion quilt (where everyone adds a border to a central block - the borders get bigger and bigger quite quickly)?
Do you want a co-ordinated fabric look? The owner would have to include fabric that every contributor could use.
How big do you want the final size? What will you theme/s be?
How much time do you give to complete each round? Medallion styles may need extra time for the large size borders towards the end.
What are you going to do if contributors pull out halfway through?
Local, national, international? Postage can get expensive and time consuming.
Who will be participating? How are you going to get them to join? Beginners will need more explicate instructions, ie. stipulating 100% cotton fabrics, than experienced quilters.

My central block for an international round robin I participated in.

I decided to organise a row-by-row round robin for my local quilting guild. This is what I put in the newsletter:

ROW-BY-ROW ROUND ROBIN
Charlotte is happy to co-ordinate a monthly row-by-row round robin if there are enough keen participants.

How it would work:

1. You provide at least a metre and a half of a feature fabric (or a metre and a half total of several fabrics) that you would like used throughout the quilt (more fabric would allow people to use more of it in each row).

2. The first month, you make the first row for yourself, using your feature fabric and other fabrics from your stash, to set the style of your quilt.

3. The completed row is put into a bag with your information sheet and your leftover feature fabric and passed to the coordinator who then passes it to the next person in the group.

4. The next month, you are working on someone else’s quilt, making a row for them, the theme of that month would be given by the coordinator. You use some of their feature fabric that they have included in their bag and any other fabric you need comes from your stash.

5. Eventually your bag comes back to you with the completed rows and any leftover feature fabric. You then get to choose how to put the rows together. Once all the quilt tops are together there will a grand show and tell with a viewer’s choice prize!
The rows will be completed monthly and the agreed size of each row is 8” x 40” finished (8 ½” x 40 ½” with seam allowances). This can be made up of one panel or five 8” blocks, or a combination of blocks and panel if you wish.

Themes will be things like: stars, birds, traditional, curves, flowers, water, boxes. All of which are open to your own interpretation. For example, stars could be five traditionally pieced Ohio Stars, or it could be a panel of appliquéd stars, or a mix of two star blocks and three appliquéd blocks, or using a star fabric!!

If you can’t always make meetings – no problem! You can pass your completed row/s to a friend to pass on, or organise to meet the coordinator someplace else. You could even post it if worst came to worst!

When you get the rows back, you can add sashings, borders and even more rows – horizontal or vertical - if you want to make your quilt bigger.

This is the starter row I made for the guild round robin.

We have eight people from our guild joining in and so far it's been great. As a group we decided that we could make our rows anything from 6" to 10" high for a bit of variation. I have had hiccups with work and couldn't attend the last two meetings so the group swapped all the quilts for me and chose a theme from the list I had given them. We also have a couple of people who have gone on holiday for a month and we've been able to work around that because we are small and local and all know each other.

This is what I got back from the international round robin. My block is sideways - I thought it was obvious, but I guess I should have labelled the top! These are things you learn once you've participated in a few round robins.

Have you ever participated in or organised a round robin? What did you learn? How did you enjoy it? Have you any hints and tips for first timers?

Chimneys and Cornerstones.

2011-08-17T17:32:00.000+12:00

The top row is my contribution to this month's Row by Row Round Robin that I am running (slightly haphazardly!) for our guild. The bottom row is the initial row done by the owner. And the theme for this month was "Home is where the heart is".

I thought a Chimneys and Cornerstones block suited the theme perfectly. I also have just finished reading an Elm Creek Quilter's novel "The Quilter's Homecoming" that featured the block. I chose to use the light background fabric for the cornerstones instead of the usual dark fabrics just for interest.

I was super careful with my seam accuracy (I can often be a bit rough and ready) and it really paid off - my corners all match perfectly (if I do say so myself).

I love the way my block layout almost matches the colours of the Dresden Plates, that was totally unplanned.

There are two other rows already done for this quilt owner - I think I'm safe showing what I have because I don't think she reads my blog but I'm not certain so I won't show the rest (and I haven't asked permission!). I can't wait for the final reveal of all these quilts, I'm getting really curious about my one!

As you can see from the pictures, the sun came out today but it's still very cold. New Zealand is experiencing some of the coldest weather ever. Even Auckland experienced snowfalls, which is a bit crazy. No snow up here in Northland but bitterly cold southerly winds and a couple of doozy frosts - the leaves might finally fall off my apple trees!

Oh - and if I don't write this down I'll forget it. My daughter and I were talking about hairstyles and I asked if she would like me to put her doll's hair into a bun. She then proceeded to tell everyone that her doll had a muffin in her hair! Awwww.

How many projects do you have on the go?

2011-08-12T08:30:00.000+12:00

Sorry, my photography isn't the greatest, but I wasn't really up to running around finding the perfect shot yesterday. Feeling better today though.

So here's what I got up to on the weekend. My big blue and white quilt made an appearance - I finished putting the borders together (not attached yet) and started the applique on one of them. I'm using machine buttonhole stitch on raw edge fused fabric so it doesn't take too long once you have everything in place. The trickiest bit is laying out and stitching the bias strip so that it's smooth and even.

I finished the background of a quilt I'm making for a friend's little girl. This started off with the one pink Dove in the Window block I made for a block game we had for our guild. My husband kindly pointed out that 'there are lots of big blank spots'. Don't worry, darling, I'll be filling them in with pretty appliques of birds, butterflies and flowers!

And I appliqued all the signature blocks onto the back of the 21st quilt and it's now pin basted and ready for quilting. Next decision - how to quilt it. I'm thinking a simple diagonal grid as that's fairly 'masculine' and if I start to free-motion I'm inclined to flowers, spirals and 'girly' patterns.

Last but not least, I used my new pink rotary cutter (how opportune that my old one gave up the ghost after six years of hard labour just as Olfa brought out their pink cutter to support breast cancer research) and cut a whole quilts worth of Old Maid's Puzzle blocks. I'm calling this my night duty quilt as I wanted something simple that I could just sit and chain piece on night duty. I'll keep you updated as I go.

And Julia - I stayed in a little kitchen cabin which was $60 a night winter rates.

Still catching up.

2011-08-11T12:06:00.000+12:00

So after the wee winter camping holiday there was still a week of school holidays left. And no time to take a breath because the Hamilton cousins descended on us. That is my Sister in Law and her three girls aged 8, 6 and 6. She also brought her Japanese Au Pair with her. So for the next week we had fluctuating numbers of houseguests as the kids all took turns staying at their Grandparents.

Next bit of chaos was my daughter's fourth birthday. My little nine pound baby is four years old and I'm having trouble believing it!

Four days old and getting some big brother love.

And now four years old and getting some plastic fantastic Barbie love.

A whale cake for Daycare.

And a fairy toadstool cake for home.

"What? Two cakes? Are you crazy?" I hear you ask. Nope, I'm smart. Having a cake at Daycare constituted a party in her eyes, which lets me off from having a number of small excited children hooning round my house expecting party games!

It was always a tradition in my family that we got to pick our favourite meal for dinner and I've carried this on with my kids. Miss Four's pick? Mince and pasta :-) Gotta love it!

Anyway, after that little busy patch was over I had my own birthday to contend with. No baking my own cakes or choosing my own special dinner - instead I hightailed it out of there and holed up in a cabin at Camp Waipu Cove for the weekend. I took a good book, my sewing machine and quilting projects, a bottle of wine and some yummy food.

I walked on the beach each day and spent the rest of my time sewing and reading. And I felt really refreshed when it was time to come home - my own little retreat.

Today, however, I'm on an enforced go-slow - hence the extra long blog post. I had day surgery yesterday (don't worry, it was minor, elective girly stuff) but it still required a general anaesthetic (blurg) and I'm a bit sore. I'm pottering around with the quilting projects I was working on on the weekend and hopefully I'll get some photos to show you where I'm up to.

Ciao for now.

And on to Rotorua.

2011-08-04T10:19:00.000+12:00

We spent two nights in the bush at Lake Waikaremoana. We took the kids for a walk on the 'Great Walk' hiking track one day and told them if they were quiet they might see a deer - deathly silence for about three minutes! Hubby did go for a couple of deer stalks and got close to one but spooked it, so no venison for us.

We knew the weather wasn't going to last, so we decided to head back to the camping ground and spend a night in the cabins again, and then head to Rotorua. The kids were having so much fun that they really wanted to stay another night in the tent - but we promised them another camping trip next year instead. The trip back in the boat was even smoother than trip out.

So we drove leisurely to Rotorua and the first camping ground we stopped at had nice wee cabins and their own thermally heated hot pools. Bliss!

Besides soaking in the hot pools twice a day, we did lots of touristy things - and there are plenty to choose from, Rotorua seems to deserve it's nickname 'Roto-vegas'. We did the Gondola and Luge, we visited the Geyser Park, Te Puia, and we saw the lions being fed at Rainbow Springs.

And we had the biggest and yummiest iced chocolates ever! The Hamilton cousins came and joined us at the camping ground for a night so that made it extra fun for our kids. Chaotic, but fun.

Then, after three nights, it was time to head home. We left Rotorua with the intention of staying one night somewhere along the way, but the kids were handling the driving and our timing was working out so we just kept going and made it from Rotorua to home all in one trip (we even managed to stop at Grandmother's Garden - I had racked up a few brownie points, but that's another story).

Home, sweet home.

Three weeks later...

2011-08-03T10:50:00.000+12:00

I haven't updated this blog for three weeks or so. It's been school holidays and that's always a busy time. And this holiday we decided to take the kids camping - yes in the middle of winter!

After a hurried departure to make the most of the weather, we drove down to Lake Waikaremoana, spending one night at the Hamilton cousins on the way.

Lake Waikaremoana is on about the same latitude as Lake Taupo but further towards the East Coast. It's in the middle of Te Urewera National Park and to get to it you have to drive on about 90 km's of dirt road. Now I live on a dirt road so they don't scare me, but the road to L. Waikaremoana is pretty bad!

We finally arrived and settled in for one night at the camping ground, in a cozy cabin. The kids were very excited to wake up the next morning to snow on the hills and a doozy of a frost - the first real frost either of them had seen.

That's snow on them thar hills.

The weather forecast looked great for the next few days so we loaded up the boat and set off to find ourselves a camping spot. Lake Waikaremoana has a very popular tramping track circumnavigating it and so has big, well appointed Department of Conservation huts around it. But you have to pay quite a bit to stay in them and we wanted to give the kids are real tenting adventure so we decided to find our own spot.

You can see the glassy stillness of the lake.

The lake was absolutely flat and we motored through 'the narrows' (a skinny bit of the lake that cuts up rough when it's windy) without so much as a ripple. We found a perfect camping spot on our first attempt and within a couple of hours we were relaxing in front of a roaring fire.

My Hubby sets up a large tarp as a 'roof' then we light the fire at one end and set up the tent at the other. It gives a large area that you can live in and spread our your gear without fear of getting wet if it rains.

We spent two nights here and we were snug and warm at night (if a little uncomfy - not used to hard ground!) and the kids had buckets of fun.

And I think that's enough writing for today!

To be continued......

Don't slurp your soup.

2011-07-11T13:30:00.000+12:00

I have a lunch guest. This is King Theodin, who completely lost his head when he tasted the soup and found out how good it is ;)

Soup is a favorite standby in our house at the moment. Fantastic winter warming food, and the kids adore it. Yesterday, at their Grandmother's house, they had a choice for lunch: soup or pie. They chose soup!
Today’s recipe: take the water from boiling the corned beef last night, add a couple of left over potatoes cooked in the same water, a cup of dried split green peas, some frozen chicken stock, chopped fresh pumpkin (the kids won’t touch it normally), a few big spoons of leftover spaghetti bolognaise mince and simmer for a few hours till mushy. Add extra water to the thickness you like and serve. Leftovers make the best soup.
After lunch, the first job is to find some glue to re-attach Theodin’s head. The second job is making loads of bias tape for my big blue and white quilt and the third job is starting to appliqué the signature blocks onto the 21st quilt.
Thank you all for your thoughts on whether the 21st quilt is big enough. I’m still undecided, but leaning toward leaving it just as it is. So I figured I’d work on the back until I’m sure.

The back of the quilt so far - you can tell we are having lovely weather this afternoon!

How big is big enough?

2011-07-06T16:50:00.000+12:00

A while ago I started a 21st Birthday Signature quilt for a friend's son. I had planned to put all the signed blocks on the front, but lots of them were too rude. So I decided to applique them to the back (they all ignored the seam allowance too) and make a nice top instead. Today I finished the top as I had planned, he's a hunter so I think he'll like it. However, I'm now thinking it's not big enough. It measures 50" square - get out your tape measures and tell me what you think. My hubby thinks that it's big enough - it could be a wall hanging, a lap quilt, or an accent on a bed. I'm not sure and want more feedback - put your two cents in!

However, I'm not asking the advice of this crazy looking monkey! Miss Wild Hair got into my bag and found lipstick and mascara - and she knew exactly where to put them. She just needs to learn to look in the mirror during application ;)

Comments

2011-07-04T20:49:00.000+12:00

I think I've got the commenting problem sorted out. If anyone else is having trouble leaving comments on other people's blogs - try deleting all your cookies, they might be corrupted (Corrupted Cookies, now there's a recipe I'd like to try!). There is more info if you go to Blogger Help.

Memories

2011-07-03T17:15:00.000+12:00

The thing about a blog is that you can pretend. You can make your life seem as perfect as you want. Your house can be clean, your children cherubic. But in reality, we all have our fugly bits.

But I'm happy to announce that in the week just been, one of Windyhill Farm's fuglier bits got towed away to become someone else's treasure.

The caravan served us well. First as a shelter and cup-of-tea making place when we first owned the land. Later it became a storage shed when we moved out here. But now (finally) it has been emptied and all that's left is a mark on the ground. Next spring there won't even be that.

In that caravan was a whole pile of junk, lots of stuff that has already been shipped off to the op shop and a few boxes of memories. I've spent the weekend periodically immersing myself in my teenage years. The above picture was my sixth form ball photo. Taken in about 1995. Can you guess which one is me?

I've burnt the scary love letters, thrown out all the really terrible photos and the birthday cards from people I can't even remember anymore, but there is still more to sift through. So much of it makes me cringe - as a teenager I was boy crazy, incredibly self-centered and terribly superior. I really wonder how my parents put up with me.

On TV recently there has been an advert for a program about parenting teenagers. The psychologist says,"Teenagers - they're not right in the head! And judging by my diaries and letters, I'd have to agree.

Consequently, I've also been spending a bit of time this weekend watching my kids and imagining them as teenagers. If karma has anything to do with it, then in a few years I'm in for a rough ride. I'm guessing that there will be plenty of fugly moments. Wish me luck!

Been busy quilting

2011-06-26T19:45:00.000+12:00

During the week just past, I was fortunate enough to attend a Bernina 440 refresher course, run by Itch to Stitch, the Bernina and quilting shop in Whangarei. They came up to us in Kerikeri and put us and our machines through our paces.

I bought my Bernina about five years ago to replace my 30+ year old Elna that I had got from a garage sale. I'm not a fanatical Bernina fan, but I did like the solid feeling of the machine, the great warranty (five years on electrical and ten on mechanical), and the BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator), which keeps your stitches even when you free-motion stitch. Funnily enough, I prefer not to use the BSR now as I'm pretty good at keeping my stitches even anyway and I feel it gives a jerky look to my quilting.

Over five years I had forgotten so much of what they showed me when I first picked my machine up. We used our memory functions and our pattern start and stop buttons, we played with mono-filament thread and the stitch that looks hand done, we learnt how to elongate our eyelet stitch to make really cool oblongs and we learnt great tricks for appliqueing. I'd recommend the course to anyone (who owns a 440 that is!).

And then because I was enthused, I broke out the Machingers (the best quilting gloves ever) and got quilting. This is a troublesome quilt that I'm doing for a friend. She had to take the borders off and is going to put them back on once I've finished - hence the huge bits of batting you can see around the edge.

I've found the best way to set up my machine is to use my Sew-Ezi table (a small portable table that the machine sets into for a flat surface) and push that up against my desk and a trestle behind it. That way I have lots of table top to support even a big quilt.

And with the help of Radio New Zealand archives playing in the background, I got the thing finished. Yay! Another one off the to-do list.

The pattern I designed is a meander with a rose, a loop, a curlicue and a leaf. I hope she likes it.

Get back to work!

2011-06-21T08:32:00.000+12:00

I guess I need to alter my 'about me'. I took the plunge and have headed back to work. Not on any grand scale, mind you, just one eight-hour shift at the local maternity unit per week.

For those of you who don't know (because it's been a year and a half since I worked for money), I'm a midwife. Sounds glorious - getting to participate in the miracle of life. But truly, it's mostly participating in the down sides of childbirth. Like lots of paperwork; cleaning up blood, puke and poop; trying to calm hysterical people (usually men); and helping exhausted women with ripped up nipples in the middle of the night. The women with fantastic experiences and straightforward babies usually don't stay long in hospital, and if they do, they don't need much help.

But I tell you what - it's one job where if you do a good job you are REALLY appreciated. I mean, nobody hugs their plumber and thanks them with tears in their eyes, do they?!

Where is the farmlet at?

2011-06-08T09:57:00.000+12:00

I thought I'd take you on a little walkabout this morning as I feed the animals. Just to show you what is happening.

I've moved the chooks into the summer garden. They've been here for a week or so, weeding, de-bugging, and manuring. I threw in a bale of old hay for them to de-seed and to add some carbon. And they are right next to the main garden so I throw them any slugs or snails I find - tasty!

These are chicks who are big enough to graduate from this rabbit hutch to an A-frame chicken run soon.

We had the warmest May on record apparently. And even now that it's June there have been no frosts, the kikuyu grass is still green and growing.

A new bundle of kits. There are seven in this batch. We butchered nine rabbits and four roosters for the freezer last weekend. For the amount of food the rabbits eat, they produce a good amount of meat, very economical.

I've been motivated in the garden lately after a lag period. This is a purple broccoli seedling I planted yesterday. I've planted red russian kale, red cabbage, cauliflower, spring onions, carrot and beetroot seeds and I've been transplanting all my strawberry runners into a new bed.
I need to add that I for some reason I'm having difficulty commenting on any one's blog (including my own). So apologies, I'm listening and replying, you just can't hear me!

And now it's time for another cup of tea.

Fabric Fun

2011-06-07T11:56:00.000+12:00

Well, the past week was a challenging one. We had a huge storm - the windiest I think I've felt it here and we lost our power for almost 24 hours. Not terribly much fun when the kids are stuck inside with the rain.

So when Sunday dawned bright and clear, I broke out an outside activity that I've wanted to do for a while. I had a little fabric dying kit with a sample of each of three colours and by following the recipes you ended up with 30 fat eighths in graduating colours.

My boy helped me label jars, measure dye and water (good maths lesson) and squish the fabrics around. After some not so patient waiting, lots of rinsing and washing, and a stint of drying, I now have lots of interesting mottley colours. And I've learnt heaps.

Now, how to use them?!

Mummy, I want a horse.

2011-05-31T09:20:00.000+12:00

If there are any plus sides to funerals, it is that family gather together. On the weekend, we lunched at Uncle M's farmlet. He's a bit of a horse whisperer - he is a barefoot trimmer and rides bridleless. The kids love him, and not just because they get to ride the horses!

First order of the day is grooming. My daughter has no fear and weaves her way through the patient horses legs without a care.

Second order of the day, help saddle the horse. This one is Jellybean, a quarter horse and matriarch of the herd.

The other horse is Misty, tall and graceful.

I love this shot of the other horses looking on. None of them are really suitable for kids, so it's always Misty and Jellybean who do the honours.

Good fun was had by all, tinged with a little sadness because we all knew the reason we were together.

Hopefully we will all gather together again here at Christmas time for our annual camping trip. No doubt Jellybean and Misty will get another workout.

Keeping the mess outside

2011-05-25T15:23:00.001+12:00

Well, if it's a hot, sunny autumn day, then you may as well paint outside half nekkid. I mean, it's not like your Mum is going to embarrass you by taking a picture or anything. And she surely wouldn't post that picture on the world wide web for all to see. Would she?

Today is grey and windy, so it makes me happy to look at sunny day pictures.

Soon it will be chaos in our house as my Sister in Law and her three little girls descend on us. Wish me patience and calm thoughts!

2011-05-23T10:41:00.000+12:00

These flowers are dedicated to a little angel baby, L.T. We never met you, but you have a special place in our hearts.

Also for my husband's cousin, who passed away last night, too young. We will miss you.

I'm glad we've evolved past eating lizards.....

2011-05-19T12:28:00.000+12:00

I have a headcold and I'm going to use it as an excuse to not write anything new and inspired, but to dredge up some old photos I don't think I showed you.

Snails anyone? We went to a friends for a mini Wildfood Festival. Rules were simple, dishes must be made with as many 'wild' ingredients as possible.

Just for proof when he's 21 - those are snails my boy is eating. He enjoyed them. Mind you, he has also enjoyed eating huhu grubs raw and wriggling too. (Images of huhu grubs here.)

Apparently the fried possum with kumara mash was delicious. Something put me off trying it.....

We also got to sample Kentucky Fried Duck, Pavlova with Manuka Honey and Stewed Loquats, Wild Pork, Venison Pizza, Taro Fritters, and lots of yummy seafood.

It was such a success that our hosts are planning to make it an annual affair. I'm hoping I'm not picked as a judge - judges have to taste everything!

Gone the way of the moa...

2011-05-10T19:38:00.000+12:00

I bought a fat quarter pack of Moda Lumiere de Noel fabrics today, 50% off. Normally I would be jumping with joy at finding such a deal, but the fact that our local quilt shop is closing down, hence the discount, has tempered my mood today.

As soon as the kids and hubby were out the door today I knocked off the housework and animal feeding as fast as I could, just so I could spend a good chunk of time with quilting. And it made a difference - I really felt like I got 'into the groove'. (Sorry, this post is full of cliches!)

The photo above has my plan for the 21st quilt. This is how I work out my layouts - on grid paper that I print out (thanks google).

For the quilt I cut lots of 4 1/2" blocks and got people to sign them. However, everyone was getting tipsy so most people ignored my requests about leaving a space for a seam allowance, plus there are plenty of lewd comments that H might not want on the front of his quilt. So I'm making a pieced top, with blues, browns and creams and the back will have all the signed squares appliqued to it in a grid format.

I also managed to bust out these two 8" blocks. They are part of my first row for a row-by-row round robin that I'm organising for our Guild. There's something about star blocks that I really like.

Now it's evening, the kids are in bed, I don't have any books to read, so I'm making myself a peppermint tea and getting back to some piecing.

Flying Geese

2011-05-09T11:38:00.000+12:00

I'm having trouble getting motivated to blog lately. There are a few contributing reasons. Life seems pretty mundane at the moment after the excitement of Symposium, we've had some not-so-great news about my Father in Law's cancer, my garden is a neglected mess, and the rain is making the animals muddy and unphotogenic!

But I know that if I ease myself into it gently, I'll probably find my mojo again. So I'm going to just try and do short, simple posts. A little snippet of what I'm up to. Nothing deep and meaningful here, folks - nothing that requires me to think too much.

So today I'm working on a 21st Birthday Signature Quilt. I have had all the signed blocks for a while now, so I must knuckle down and knock it off to clear my headspace a little. The Flying Geese are done, now onto the Bear's Paw and Pinwheel blocks.

Remarkable Symposium 2011

2011-04-30T12:54:00.000+12:00

The Remarkable Symposium was all I expected it to be and more. The first morning there made me very glad that I'd packed my gloves and merinos - the snow was so far down the hills even the locals were saying it was cold!

The autumn colours were just stunning. They are always so much more vibrant down South than they are in Northland - I guess it's the crisp weather that does it.

I thought the exhibitions were very well hung and there was some fabulous work on display. I've promised myself (as I do every two years) that next symposium I will have something to enter. It would be an honour to have something juried in to hang up with work from such talented quilters as we have in New Zealand.

I didn't take any photos of the exhibition quilts, it was just too big a task, so I ordered a CD instead.

On the first day of classes I spent a fascinating day with Yvonne Brown, melting synthetics and making celtic designs. She's given me a real kickstart and I'm now all enthusiastic to try out the same techniques at home.

I then spent two days with Jane Sassaman, playing with patterns and I now have a whole new way of playing with design. She really opened my eyes to all the patterns and design possibilities around me and I can't wait to finish the piece I started in her class. I have to say that her workmanship on the quilts she brought to show us is just immaculate - something to aspire to.

And then finally, two days with Jeanette DeNicolis Meyer, playing with line. She might be coming to New Zealand again in February and if so, she has my details to organise a workshop in Northland. Jeanette is an amazing tutor and I'd jump at the chance to do any of her classes.

I met lots of new people, saw lots of great quilts, met a fellow blogger in real life, had peaceful evenings with no kids, gained stacks of inspiration and enthusiasm and I can't wait to do it all again in Taupo, 2013.

Once Symposium was over for another two years, I travelled to Amberley, just north of Christchurch to visit with my good friend and her family. I trained as a midwife with her more than a decade ago and don't get to see her very much, but she is one of those friends who you can just pick up where you left off, comfortable as ever. Thanks M!

Thankfully their house hasn't sustained any major damage from the earthquakes, but they are fearful and a bit strained. Her hubby and I took a drive round the suburbs of Christchurch and it was kind of hard to take in the scale of the damage. Sometimes you would look at a street and wonder why it didn't look right, even though there was no obvious damage. Then you realised that all the rooflines were just slightly out of horizontal. Sobering stuff.

Take care everyone. It's good to be home.

Winging Away

2011-04-17T13:50:00.000+12:00

I'm in Auckland airport using a sticky keyboard, the bottles of water are $4.00 and there seems to be a shortage of fresh air. But I'm on my way!! Off to Queenstown for a week of fun and learning at the Remarkable Symposium. I'll see you back here in a wee while - I think I'll be far too busy enjoying my kid-free, responsibility-free, holiday to blog much and I'm not going to feel an ounce of guilt about enjoying myself either! Have fun!

Row by Row Machine Quilting

2011-04-13T16:00:00.000+12:00

This is another little bassinet quilt for the Maternity Unit at out local hospital. They are such a great size for practicing my machine quilting. You can see how the variegated thread used here shows up much better on a solid fabric than a patterned one.

This quilt was quilted in a row-by-row way. You start with one line in one pattern and then add another one and so on until it looks as complex as you want. You can see it better on the back.

I've been getting lots of ideas of patterns and heaps of useful tips from "Machine Quilting Solutions" by Christine Maraccini, a book which I've borrowed from my good friend Suz over at All The Good Ones Are Taken.

I think I need to invest in a really good machine quilting book for myself - anyone got any suggestions?

"Can I take a picture, Mum?"

2011-04-12T11:27:00.000+12:00

Yes, my car is filthy. My excuse is that I live down a dirt road!

Sure. Why not? Especially when you take such sweet pictures! I don't know what it is about this picture, but I love it. The three year old took it while we were waiting at school for the six year old to finish up.

The front of a wee bassinet quilt for the maternity unit.

I've been single parenting for over a week now while Hubby takes a well-earned holiday hunting roaring stags in the bush. I have the utmost respect for any parent doing it solo. I'm only just managing to squeeze in some quilting here and there.

And here's the back.

But when he comes back I'm winging my way down to Queenstown for the Remarkable Quilting Symposium! (Insert image of me clapping my hands with glee!) I'm busy gathering my supplies, packing my bags and making sure the house and animals are as sorted as can be for a smooth takeover by Hubby. Five more sleeps to go!!

It's growing on me

2011-04-04T19:51:00.000+12:00

This, when finished, will be the largest quilt I have ever made. And yes, this is the best picture I can take of it at the moment because. It. Just. Won't. Fit.

I decided that it needed a border of squares of pale blue fabrics. Onto those fabrics I am going to applique vines, leaves and birds in the same style as the centre medallion. Then I think I'll finish it all off with a dark blue border. It will fit nicely over my king size bed with some drape over the edges.

My sewing machine is taking a little service break at present so I'm filling in by hand sewing, hand quilting (which is so bad I'm embarrassed to show it), designing screeds of new quilts, and cutting out fabrics.

I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms.

Affordable Quilting

2011-03-30T09:00:00.004+13:00

Tanya from Suburban Jubilee left me a comment on my last post asking me a question:

"I wish I had a sister. How cool is that to be able to share a project and then have this wonderful family heirloom. I love pouring over your quilt photos. I can't quite dip my toe in the water here and I need some advice....

I look longingly at fabrics but the price is quite significant. I think maybe I should buy a fat quarter every so often...but then I worry that many of the quilts I see in the shop are all so co-ordinated with "ranges" and aren't really piecemeal at all. So am I better to buy all the fabric I need in one season because the dyelots are all in similar palettes? Do you buy all your quilt fabric in one go?"

I started emailing an answer to her but it got longer and longer so I've decided to post it here for others who are interested too.

Hi Tanya,

The price of fabric IS significant and I am constantly amazed at how much people seem to buy when I look around the net. However, the prices are a lot cheaper in America so that might bias my opinion.

Some of my stash - blue seems to be a favourite of mine.

Because I do a lot of quilting, I like to work from a 'stash' - a collection of lots of pieces of fabric that I gathered here and there. I work out what I want to make (I rarely follow a pattern completely) and then sift through my stash for pieces that will go together. This has it's downfalls - sometimes I want to use a certain fabric but don't have enough and I know I won't find it in the shops again, but this forces me to be creative. I also have to make sure that when I'm buying bits and pieces here and there that I gather a range of tones, pattern sizes and colours (or I'd just end up with stacks of mid-tone blues!).

I have quilting friends who work differently. They find what they want to make, work out how much of each colour/pattern they need and then go and buy it all at once. They spend a lump sum all at once and they don't tend to have many leftovers to use on little projects just as a whim. But they know they will have exactly what they need for that quilt and if they are making something that will last a few generations, then the lump sum is probably worth it.

Lots of quilts around are made up of one co-ordinated fabric range. They are promoted so that you buy that designers fabric, but you don't have to make your quilt like that, and in fact, I think it gives your quilt a more distinctive 'you' style if it's made from bits and pieces that you have collected. Dyelots do change from batch to batch, but you will always find fabric to co-ordinate - there are only so many colours on this earth!

A quilt I made with lots of lil' bitty pieces of many different fabrics.

As for how to afford the fabric? I save up my dollars and browse shops when they are having sales and buy a few bits and pieces that are a good price. I always check the 'specials' bin and I visit op shops and cut up cotton shirts, skirts and sheets that I've bought for a dollar or two. Specialist quilting shops have beautiful fabrics and lovely quality, but their prices reflect that. But a small amount of stunning fabric can be used as a feature, and the background fabrics can come from a cheaper place such as Spotlight.

If you are planning to do a lot of applique with little pieces, then fat quarters and fat eighths might be the way to go. If you think carefully before you buy what you might use that fabric for, you might realise that it would be better to buy a metre's worth of fat eighths and get a really good range of colour than to buy a whole metre of one fabric that you will only use a small amount of. But fabrics that you are likely to use as backgrounds or the backing of quilts - buy several metres when it's on special.

Check out the shops 'extra wide' backing fabrics. These are ones made extra width to be put on the back of quilts without having to join lengths. If you work out price per metre, you can frequently be onto a bargain and they are often perfect for backgrounds or borders (and backings of course!).

Cheap and cheerful - a quilt I made in 2005 entirely from Homespuns (cheap plain colour calicos)

I have spent a bit of time on the net and worked out which internet shops have good prices and subscribe to their newsletters to hear about sales. I also get my plain black and white fabrics and my battings from my local guild who can buy them wholesale. Sometimes buying from overseas can work out cheaper than local even when you factor in postage, especially when you split the postage with a friend. Check out http://greenfairyquilts.com/ and use an online currency converter to get an idea.

One day I want to make this hobby of mine a career. I'm not sure in what way yet, whether in designing patterns, quilting other people's quilts, working in a quilting store or (in my wildest dreams!) designing fabric. So I use these plans to justify purchases as well, as 'research' and 'learning and development'. (By the way - anyone out there want to hire me?!)

There is a quilting saying,"She who dies with the most fabric, wins!" I guess like any true addict, I have found many ways and means of sustaining my habit. And I figure that the money I save on not styling or cutting my hair, not buying designer clothes and only buying new shoes when I NEED them, lets me have a little leeway.

(Yes, I am a frumpy, out-of-fasion woman with straggly hair and worn out shoes - but I have a fantastic fabric stash!)

First lesson of photographing quilts....

2011-03-29T09:14:00.000+13:00

Don't try and photograph your quilts when there are small children around! The little darlings believe the world revolves around them and just cannot let a photo op go past.

So I gave up after that! But you get the general idea, and actually, she works quite well as a scale measure ;)

This piece of delight is one of the quilt tops that has been back and forthing it between my sister and I for about two years. I made the centre medallion, she put the next border on and so on. The luscious flying geese were done by her. You can read more about our process here.

She also posted me her top which you can see here (I gave up photographing remember) and now I'm one border behind her - looks like I need to brush up on some flying geese techniques!

A weekend of quilting.

2011-03-26T18:10:00.000+13:00

Today I've been sneaking moments between kiddy watching and hubby helping to practice my machine quilting. I've basted up a pile of 12 inch quilt squares and will use these to try out new ideas and just practice, practice, practice. I think that next time I'll make my quiltlets about 16 inches square to have a little more wiggle room but still have them easy to move around under the machine.

Tomorrow, I'm attending a workshop on hand quilting. It's something I've never done before, never even attempted, so in other spare moments, I've been watching a few YouTube How-To videos for prep.

I'm not sure if it's something I'll do much of, but I want to learn so I can at least have an educated opinion on it.

I hope you're all having a satisfying weekend too.

Blue and white with a touch of madness

2011-03-25T19:39:00.000+13:00

Last weekend found me sewing my little heart out at our guild retreat. We hold these two or three times a year. We start on Friday morning and pack and clean up on Sunday after lunch. In between, all we do is talk, sew and eat - bliss!

I got my applique block (it's a pattern from Material Obsession Two) bordered and sewn into my blue and white quilt top. I also added a lilac border around the whole thing and am very pleased with what I see so far. However, it's not quite big enough so I'm collecting light blue fabrics for a eight inch wide border and will be subjecting myself to more applique in a similar style.

And here is how my paper-piecing project is coming along. Sorry about the dark photo - is was taken at night at my friend's house where I go for my 'stave off insanity' Wednesday night quilting session.

And, just for fun, here is one of the causes of my budding insanity!

Famine to Feast

2011-03-23T14:11:00.000+13:00

I've checked my swan plant mournfully all season. Not a single Monarch caterpillar to be found. Mind you, I hadn't seen any butterflies around either and we are not exactly in suburbia where flower gardens abound. But then I found a paper wasp nest (they eat caterpillars for lunch) in the swan plant. I disposed of it a few weeks ago and now I can't believe my eyes. The plant is covered in black, yellow and white striped munchers. And some of them are big!

The plant is pretty big and seems to still have plenty of leaves so I'm just going to let them go for it and hopefully some of them will make it through to butterfly stage. Go little caterpillars!!

Raffle for Christchurch

2011-03-17T08:17:00.001+13:00

My very good friend, Pip, over at "Life, but not as you know it" is very generously running a raffle to help raise funds for the Christchurch Earthquake appeal. She is an extremely talented knitter (something that I'm particularly envious of - because I can't do it!) and is raffling two gorgeous children's vests.

Pop on over and have a look.

Yellow is a happy colour

2011-03-16T13:38:00.000+13:00

Now, isn't that the sweetest little bundle of fluff you ever did see? I don't think you can see them all, because they tend to like sitting on each other's heads when they are startled, but there are ten which hatched from twelve that I had set in the incubator. They are Pekin ducks from my own ducks who lay very well, but don't sit and hatch ducklings. They also grow very fast and are ready for eating at eight weeks old.

The best part of it, is that they are in their brooder in the new shed, NOT in my bathroom. Because although they are cute, they also poop, and poop smells.

There is another reason they can't be in the bathroom:

There is a window being installed! This windowless dungeon has been very dark and dingy for the last few weeks as the builders took out the Clearlite roofing panel and put corrugated iron on instead in preparation for it one day having a ceiling. But now it has a new lease of life (and a whole lotta sawdust) with this window. The window is an old wooden one that has been sitting behind our shed, hence the grime and the broken pane.

There is also a floor going in in the last bay of the shed between the bathroom and the back door - no more stepping down dodgy steps onto dirt in the middle of the night. What is more, is that that floor will one day be the floor of my sewing room!!

When nap time and motivation collide....

2011-03-09T17:03:00.000+13:00

something actually got finished. Well, the quilting bit got finished. I started this quilt last year but folded it and put it away when I was half-way through quilting it. I don't know why. This year I made a resolution to try put a little work in on one UFO a week.

I free motion quilted a large flower in the center, then surrounded it with a meandering vine. There are leaf motifs on two of the fabrics so it ties in nicely (in my humble opinion!). You can click on the pic to make it a bit bigger if you want.

In between the less exciting bits of life - the making of dinner, the folding of washing, and the doing of dishes - I'm getting organised for Quilt Symposium 2011. I was lucky enough to get all three classes I requested and am just starting to get enthusiastic! I'll be doing Celtic Cutwork with Yvonne Brown, Pattern Play with Jane Sassaman, and Art Quilt - Line Dancing with Jeanette De Nicolis Meyer. My requirements lists aren't long and I'm hiring a machine so I'm hoping to be well below my luggage limit - so I can bring some yummies back with me of course!

Tea Dying

2011-03-08T10:43:00.000+13:00

This is a little bit of what I'm doing today. I'm participating in a Round Robin at the moment and we're onto the first border around the central block. It has to be three or three and a half inches wide, pieced and use only two main colours (and tones of) with a third colour at 10% maximum. The theme is "What do you love to do in your local area?".

I've been fiddling round with designs and think I'm finally happy. My main colours are pink and green, which are the major colours used in my partner's central block. But one of my pink fabrics is just a smidgen too pink. I wanted it more a burgandy/brown pink. So a little modification is in order.

There is nothing in this world that a good cup of tea can't fix!! Tea dying has to be the most simple of procedures. Make up a brew, dunk in your fabric, rinse when desired colour is reached. If you want it more precise, do a little experiment with swatches of calico or your fabric you want to use: one teabag/250 mls water for 10 minutes; two teabags/250 mls water for 10 minutes; two teabags/250 mls water for 20 minutes......and so on.

Warning: don't drink the tea once you've finished!

Welcome To My Life

2011-03-06T15:03:00.000+13:00

I've had trouble finding words to write lately. I think it's just a general tiredness that has infected my life lately and permeated into my blogging life too. I dare say the Christchurch earthquake has something to do with it. So to try and find my blogging mojo again I've decided to go back to how I originally envisioned this blog. Just a little story about my little life. Written for me, my family and my kids and anyone who's interested.

When I started a web log I saw this as a good way to keep a diary, a diary with pictures! My kids can look back at it one day and see what their life was like, what my life was like. My family overseas can read it and keep current with what I'm up to. And of course, anyone else who is interested can read along too.

So in that spirit, I'm not going to worry about writing something fun or informative, or taking pictures of something beautiful, I'm just going to write about what I'm doing, right now, today.

Which is quilting. I'm making bias strips for my applique panel in the centre of my big blue and white quilt. It's the first time I've used bias press bars (borrowed from a friend - thanks!) and I like them. Even my falling-apart iron can't stuff them up. I bought a trestle table a little while ago and having that extra surface has allowed me to get rid of my clunky, annoying ironing board and just press my small bits on a old, folded towel.

Meanwhile, outside Hubby is building a deck. What with having the shed extension and veranda finished he's got all enthusiastic - but who am I to complain? It will get us up and out of the mud this winter. Fantastic!

And what are the kids up to? Nothing much. Just playing in the mud in their underwear, like all good kids should do. They need to get in as much outdoor play as they can because the weather in changing, Autumn is on it's way.

Red and Black

2011-02-28T11:13:00.000+13:00

I have an idea *.... lets all wear red and black (Canterbury sporting colours) next Tuesday 1 March - a week after the terrible and fatal earthquake, to show our heart-felt support for Christchurch people and to give Cantabrians the message that "we love you, we feel your pain and we are all with you".

Imagine walking down the street and seeing red and black everywhere - New Zealanders showing support and solidarity for fellow New Zealanders.

Imagine being a visitor to NZ and experiencing this country-wide expression of support.

Imagine being a Cantabrian and seeing and feeling this big wave of kiwi support.

Get out your red and black clothes, scarves, hats, bags and shoes next Tuesday 1 March and show you care for Christchurch

Share this with your family, friends, work colleagues and neighbours

Let’s show Christchurch that we care for them and are thinking of them now.

*This is not actually my idea - post is copied from an e-mail sent to me - but you can be sure that I'll be wearing red and black tomorrow.

Lessons learnt today.

2011-02-26T21:26:00.000+13:00

Don't try and take photographs of quilt tops in the breeze. It's frustrating.

This lesson was learnt by hubby: Don't leave three-year-old daughter alone in the car with zinc sunscreen.

If you go to the Opua Regatta, you WILL buy something. Even though you say you won't. But doesn't it suit our rustic house?

I did eventually get a picture of the quilt top. This is what I did with my 'recession' quilt blocks that I didn't particularly like. It will get a simple backing and be donated to 'Quilts for Kids' who donate to Women's Refuge and will also be organising quilts for Christchurch.

I haven't much felt like blogging over the past week. It seemed flippant in the wake of the huge tragedy that was unfolding before us, and still is. There were many other bloggers who were letting the world know what was going on, so I just pulled my head in and shed tears in the evenings after the children had gone to bed.

Kia Kaha Christchurch. There are many people out there thinking of you and doing the little things that we can to help.

Negotiation gets you everywhere

2011-02-21T12:25:00.000+13:00

Our gender roles have changed dramatically over the last few decades. Mums used to stay at home and look after the children, cook, clean and 'keep house'. That's just what they did. Dads used to earn the living in whatever way they could. Nowadays there is so much more flexibility within society. Sometimes this is great, but sometimes it makes a family unstable as everyone has different expectations of their own (and everybody else's) roles.

This was happening in our own family to an extent. I expected certain things of my husband, he expected certain things from me. We both thought the other person could mind read and so resentment was brewing. But now we are working on negotiating our roles and tasks more and we are back to happy.

Weekend mornings were a sticking point. But now they are working wonderfully. Hubby gets to sleep in for as long as he wants. I get up when the children wake and feed them and get them occupied with something (and work on keeping them fairly quiet). In return, Hubby cooks dinner both nights. Fantastic! We both got something we wanted out of the deal and both conceded something.

And when my children rolled me out of bed early on Saturday morning, I got something extra out of the deal. I got to see this serene and spectacular dawn.

I think the pinks and purples and oranges (which the photograph does no justice to) stayed in my mind, because when I sat down to make a block for our upcoming guild block game (more on that another day), this is what appeared from under my sewing machine.

I love the sheer boisterous femininity of it! My husband would probably choke if I tried to make a whole quilt like it and put it on our bed....but then again, all things are up for negotiation!

The Saga of Windyhill Farm.

2011-02-18T09:08:00.000+13:00

In the beginning was a block of land. Some wide-eyed innocents came along and imagined the space for kids to run around, room for chickens and vege gardens, a place for a shed for the man to tinker in. They bought it.

They built the shed. The did some fencing. They bought a few cows and would visit every weekend to potter around and dream. Then one day they decided that instead of dreaming about a house, why not live in the shed?

Work began. A floor went in, walls followed, old wooden windows too.

A house was born! (A kinda funny looking, functional-not-beautiful house.) And then the man realised that now.....he had no shed. Planning and dreaming began again. The woman dreamed too, of a studio, a deck, a veranda to shade ~~her when she relaxed in a chair with a glass of wine~~ the children when they played outside.

And so. The man got his shed, the woman got her veranda. The house looks more balanced and will be a more enjoyable place to live in. They celebrated. But they are not finished. Now they plan a deck to protect their children's feet from the gravel and mud. And best of all (in the woman's point of view) they plan to enclose the last bay of the shed and turn it into a quilting studio (although the man persists in calling it a rumpus room).

The woman wants her quilting studio to be roomy, comfortable and gorgeous. After all, the man-cave is big enough to fit a concrete truck in!

Stay tuned for the next installment. However, it may be some time away (unless I win Lotto this weekend).

And Little One was pregnant. She is a very proud and protective Mum of nine new babies.

Garden Harvest

2011-02-13T20:31:00.000+13:00

I rummaged around under the jungle that is my garden and dug up enough potatoes for dinner. I love digging for spuds, revealing hidden treasure. However, I LOATHE putting my fingers through the half-rotten original seed potato. Urrrrgh.

Some tomatoes I found today. These are Latimer Beefsteak. I have totally neglected them and yet they still give me this bounty! Last season I didn't plant any because we were late getting the garden started etc etc. This year I planted them but then didn't tie them up before I left for holiday and came back to sprawling triffids. So I'm all fired up for next year. If I can get this sort of crop from total neglect, what can I get with tender loving care?!

And for dinner - lovely, lovely kingfish. (Can you see Hubby's fat left hand? He got a paper wasp sting and it didn't agree with him.)

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. We have been busy building boxing for a concrete retaining wall in the new shed, moving the chicken enclosure, relaxing and trying to stay cool. Now onwards and upwards to Monday.

An apple a day...

2011-02-11T22:03:00.000+13:00

Three Mama Bunnies - enjoying an apple treat for breakfast. Does the grey one (Little One) look pregnant? If she is, then she's due in a week or so, and will soon be taking vacation to a smaller run where I can keep a closer eye on her.

Where I confess I am a dork.

2011-02-08T13:18:00.000+13:00

So last post, I talked about how I was frustrated because I wanted to work on my big blue and white WIP (work in progress) but couldn't find a few pieces. See the missing sets above?

To make a nice square quilt I was missing two sets of three blocks. My good friend Sue suggested that maybe I had never actually sewn those sets and would have to sew some more. But I knew I had finished every block for the quilt! So I searched my WIP pile. Then I searched my boxes of miscellaneous fabrics. Then I searched my scrap box. I was even contemplating searching my fabric stash. Grrrr. Then I looked through my old pictures to find one of my layout to convince Sue (and myself by this stage) that I had actually finished all the blocks.

Oops. It's not a square quilt. It's a rectangle and I had all the pieces in my hot little hand, I just couldn't see how to lay them out. Doh. Sorry Sue!

I'm off today to find some white on white print fabric to match for setting triangles.

And this pic is for Cathy from Cabbage Quilts who is also doing a paper pieced quilt with diamonds and squares, but a different layout. She wanted to see my layout and a picture says it better than words. Cathy's is a beautiful Kaffe Fasset pattern and she has the most delicious sense of colour. Go check her out.

More Little Projects

2011-02-07T14:10:00.000+13:00

This year I said I'm going to work on one UFO/WIP/PHD (unfinished object, work in progress, project half-done!) a week and try and get some of them out of the way using little baby steps. Well the baby steps got my three bassinet quilts all done. They are for the maternity unit at our local rural hospital. My daughter REALLY wants to keep the colourful one.

This week I'm working on these blocks. They were started in a 'Recession Quilt' class. Hmmmm. Not my kind of colour combinations, so I've put them away again and again, lost for inspiration. But I think I'm getting somewhere now. I'll show you a finished shot when I'm done.

I was meant to be working on a big blue and white quilt that I've had half sewn together for ages. However, on laying it out, I'm missing several blocks. Grrrr! Frustrating. I'm hoping they'll turn up as I work through other projects.

It's also the time of year for Christmas themed fabrics to be on sale. And since I can now buy fabrics again (!!) I have in my possession nine metres waiting to be turned into gift bags. I ran out of bags at Christmas time and they save so much wrapping paper and time spent wrapping that I'm determined not to run out this year. I've made eight new ones so far. Several more metres to go.

I'm snuffling today with a summer cold. Not pleasant in the sweltering heat and humidity we are having. Plus the builders are banging and crashing outside, but I'm not going to complain about that at all. They are putting on cladding so I'll take a few more pictures soon. Almost finished!!!

Little Projects.

2011-02-03T14:27:00.000+13:00

A while back I signed up for a Round Robin with The Patchwork Place. A good friend of mine takes classes with them and told me about it. I've never done a proper Round Robin before so I thought I'd give it a go. I've finished my first block and am ready to post it off - it's flying away to Aussie. Our instructions were to make a 12 1/2 " block, on-point, representing our favourite feature about where we live.

Mine represents the bush gully with the creek flowing through it that hides at the bottom of our block of land. The colours are for the NZ bush and the dawn skies that I love and the koru has four buds on it for the members of my family. The green border symbolises the greenness that surrounds me everywhere I look.

Looking forward to receiving the next set of instructions!

I'm also going to admit that crumb quilts and me just don't go. I made a start, and that's about as far as it got. So I've found a new way to use my scraps (maybe not teeny crumb scraps) and have a handwork project to do in those moments as well. I'm paper piecing a square and diamond quilt. Because I want to organise a colour wash layout, I'm basting everything first and will then stitch them together when I have them laid out how I like. So it might take me a few years, but all good things take time right?

After the Storm

2011-01-29T09:16:00.000+13:00

And as suddenly as Wilma arrived, she has gone. This morning is bright and clear and still. The water is reduced from torrents to trickles. I plugged in the freezer and she beeped cheerily at me and started up. Phew.

I would have been really upset to lose a freezer full of food. On top it has six homegrown roosters that we harvested the other day. It has our rabbits, chicken stock, homegrown beef, wild pork, duck, homegrown veges......it's our frozen store cupboard that we could live out of for weeks.

When we bought a big chest freezer we made the decision to spend a little extra and get a Vestfrost and we've never regretted it. You can see how thick the insulation on it is, it makes it very economical to run. It has a viewable thermostat and usually it runs at -18 degrees Celsius, this morning when I plugged it back in, it was sitting at -12. Still absolutely solid frozen even after at least 15 hours with no power.

I was contemplating a morning of squeezing, rearranging and giving away. Now I'm breathing a sigh of relief and am grateful that I don't have to. Instead, we will be working out a plan to clear behind our house. With having our sewerage system installed there, using it as a storage area for miscellaneous junk and letting it get overgrown, we almost lost a valuable appliance and the food stored within. It's time to get prepared for next time.

Cheese making with Wilma

2011-01-28T21:50:00.000+13:00

So a very good friend of mine initiated me into the secret society of cheesemakers today. And it really wasn't all that hard. But you have to have patience. The recipe* reads something like: heat your milk to 37 degrees, add the culture, wait 30 mins, add rennet, wait an hour and a half, stirring three times, pack curds into moulds, leave overnight.....so that's the stage I went home! Pip is draining the curds overnight and then putting it in a brine solution tomorrow. Then magically, we will have feta!

It was the perfect day for making cheese - raining. The tropical low that is coming down has not been downgraded, she is still officially Cyclone Wilma. It was ominously still this morning when I went for a walk and the clouds were the most amazing crimson.

It started to rain about ten this morning and it's gradually got heavier and heavier until it was hosing when I got home with the kids in tow. Only to find a torrent of water pouring under our house from a blocked drain behind, making a large puddle under the freezer that we have in the last open bay of our shed. The electrical plug was under water and the freezer had shut off.

I set to work and my boy and I cleared as much as we could, then hubby arrived home and got stuck in too. We managed to redirect the flow and clear the ditch but whether the freezer will be ok or not, well, we'll have to wait until the plug dries out.

The photo above is taken hanging out a bedroom window. You can see the water pouring off the overflowing water tank and the stream flowing along the ground is the full drain (which usually doesn't hold any water at all) that was previously mostly flowing under the house!

*I don't have a copy of the recipe so please don't take that as a full and complete set of instructions, you may just be a tad disappointed.

Drill, hammer, bang...

2011-01-27T21:42:00.000+13:00

Look what's been happening at our place!

We are so excited to see it finally happening. Back up more than a year ago and you would have found us clearing and flattening the shed site, using the topsoil to create a wonderful vege garden, and securing a contract with a shed building company to build us a shed and a verandah.

And now our plans are finally happening. After a few back and forths with the council, a bankrupt shed building company and more than a year of waiting.

I'll admit to having a celebratory glass of wine tonight.

But we've just heard about the gnarly tropical low (downgraded from a cyclone) coming through tomorrow and over the weekend. Here's hoping it doesn't pick up the corrugated iron sheets and fling them around!

A few rainy day pictures

2011-01-22T21:29:00.000+13:00

It's raining here today. Pouring in fact. So I'm just sharing a few pictures I've taken over the last little while. Can you see the cheeky bunny stealing chook food? We had a bunch of half-wild ones born a while ago and one day they all got out. We managed to recapture most of them but this wee one has continued to elude us. But he's semi-friendly. I think he's living in the chook enclosure because he always seems to be there when it's food time, but I know he can sneak out through the fence too.

Did you ever read 'My cat likes to hid in boxes' when you were a kid? Wild Puss crammed himself into this box for a wee cat nap today. Can't say it looked very comfy!

And these two made me laugh so hard I just had to take a picture! They are a couple of my chooks done with a recipe my MIL shared. You rub salt and pepper and turmeric into the skin - I added dried mixed herbs too - and then stand the chook upright and cram a jar of beer/cider/wine up it's bum. Roast for about 45 mins to an hour depending on the size of your chicken.

I think they look like a couple of old ladies at a show day. They've taken their little fold up stools and they're sitting down for a wee rest and a gossip about who won the chutney and pickle section!

By the way - they tasted delicious!

Quilting Goals in 2011

2011-01-19T17:40:00.000+13:00

Last year I made quilts for lots of people; my MIL, my FIL, my son, my daughter, my nephew. And I didn’t mind that – the deadlines were a great incentive, I learned a lot and had fun doing it. But this year is all about ME. I’m going to make whatever I like. If I end up giving it away to someone, well, that’s fine, but I’m not going to start a project with that end goal in sight.

I also want to sort out a few of my WIP’s. They are kinda hanging over my head a bit, so every week I’m going to do a little bit towards at least one. I’m not going to put any expectations on myself about finishing any, but a little bit here and there will all add up (I’m hoping!).

So this is my first ‘do what inspires you’ project. I had washed these batik squares together because of the colours. When I saw them all laid out for ironing, I just had to put them together. Then after a glass of wine one night, I glanced over at them and the tree flashed into my head. But the tree was a bit big so I'm adding some extra squares.

A friend at our quilting guild made a fabulous wall hanging where the elements were all outlined in black. It gave it a real Hundertwasser look and I thought it a stunning effect. I’m outlining the tree in white as it was a bit tonally similar to the background. I will cut out leaves from the green linen napkin and maybe outline them in white too. I’m having fun with no pressure.

And as for my WIP, I have these three little bassinet quilts on the go for the maternity ward. Today I sat down and finally quilted the third one and chose bindings for all three. Little steps and they'll get finished without me even noticing!

I'm particularly pleased with my free-motion quilting on this wee one. Some wise person once said,"Practice makes perfect." You know, I think they were right.

A Surfeit of Green (and why I love my husband)

2011-01-17T21:57:00.000+13:00

I love my husband because he drives home from work to help me start my car when it has a dead flat battery and I'm due to (wo)man the quilt exhibition. I love my husband because the battery was so past it, he couldn't jump start it so he put the wee ride-on lawnmower battery in instead and it worked. I love my husband because he then dropped the kids off at his mother's on his way back to work so I wouldn't be (too) late. (I also love him for other reasons too!)

I've just uploaded a stack of pics from the exhibition here.

When I got home I raided the garden for greenery. I have pumpkin thugs so I took a cue from Ali and tried steamed pumpkin shoots. The kids loved them dipped in soya sauce. I thought they were ok but I preferred my green beans, and my husband said, "Hmmmm."

So on to the actual garden, I thought it was time for an update. In the picture above, take note of the vege bed to the right. That's what greeted me on about half of my first vege garden when I came back from holiday. I'm proud to say that that little strip is all I have left to weed.

This large compost heap is what has become of the weeds, plus another little pile that I've chucked under a tree because it has kikuyu grass in it and I'm trying to keep that out of my garden. Kikuyu grass will just continue growing in a compost pile and grow all through it, grrrr.

Amaranth - how pretty. And those pink flower shoots are meant to get a whole heap bigger and become big weeping seed heads. What do you do with amaranth? It's a kind of a grain - I'll let you know how I get on.

These are a few of the beds I've weeded. For quick results I bought a few punnets of lettuce, spinach, silverbeet, and seed potatoes. The front ones are pak choi seedlings that were self-seeded, but in the middle of the path so I've transplanted them and they're not sulking at all. I've covered all the paths with cardboard because weeding them took just as long as weeding the beds!

This is the second vege garden. It was a rooster raising pen and they ate all the greenery, pooped everywhere and then took a permanent holiday in our freezer. I dug it up, planted it and oops, it seems to have 'got away on me'! See below for what it looked like when I first planted it!

Ha! How tame and deceiving those little plants can be! Still, we're eating kale, courgettes, beans, coriander and potatoes (and a few pumpkin shoots) out of it. We've get sweet corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, onions and capsicums still growing. And sunflowers for show and chook treats.

Next job in the garden is to finish the reclamation from weeds, finish covering the paths with cardboard, start off some seeds and finish planting out my beds. But not tomorrow, it's meant to rain. Alot.

By that way - my heart goes out to everyone who has been affected by the massive floods that just seem to keep on coming in Australia. My family are all safe and well so far. Kia kaha.

Hello, my name is Ms Lottie.

2011-01-15T10:00:00.001+13:00

Remember me?

It's been a while.

The bestest camping spot in the whole world.

There was facepaint in some body's stocking.

We've been back from our annual Christmas camping trip for over a week now, but I thought I'd make my return to the blogging world on the 15th, seeing as my last post was on the 15th of December. A whole month off blogging - a record for me!

My little brother who I haven't seen in several years. He managed to hook himself a big one. Very tasty.

Lots of fun was had camping. Especially by the little ones. I think that it's more of a holiday for them, as the cooking, cleaning and washing always takes longer when you're doing it primitive style. I escaped for a few days to myself near the end, and with the silence and stillness of an empty house, I finally felt like I was on holiday. I don't do chaos very well.

Freshly sauteed scallops all ready for a creekside picnic.

But it was fantastic to catch up with my sister, her partner and my little bro. I haven't seen them for several years - and I hadn't even met my sister's partner. He does a great barbecued roast!

I promised a picture of the finished quilt for my Father-in-Law. He loved it (or he said he did!).

Pudding tastes better eaten in the fresh air.

We've come back to find that the dishwasher is broken, the sheep had flystrike (all fixed now, but maggots are just nasty), and grass has taken over the world. We had some local teenagers looking after the chooks, ducks, turkeys and rabbits and so they were all alive and well on our return. It's so good to be back.

Our New Year's Eve bonfire. Spectacular!

But truly, it is great to be back. I'm busy rediscovering the vegetable garden under waist-high weeds, sewing up some pretty grocery bags and yesterday I helped to set up our quilting guild's annual exhibition - what a mammoth task! I'm set to man the quilts on Monday morning, so I promise a few photos after that.

I hope you all had a happy and safe holiday and I'll be back with some sweeping New Year's resolutions soon!

Swan Plant Seeds - for Laura

2011-01-14T20:32:00.000+13:00

Just a quick piccy for Laura from Darroch Cottage. These are Swan Plant seed pods and seeds when they are ready to harvest - I took this shot last year. By the way, if anyone in Kiwi land wants a few seeds, send me an email with your address and I'll post you a few. I can't guarantee their viability as I haven't sprouted any, but worth a try to get Monarch Butterflies into your garden.

And I've got a "I'm back" post half sorted for tomorrow. See you then!!

We wish you.....

2010-12-15T17:42:00.000+13:00

a Merry Christmas, a safe holiday, a happy and relaxed time.

It's the second day of school holidays for me and I have two kiddies at home. The shed kit has arrived and we are waiting on builders to start. It hasn't rained for six weeks or so and then yesterday it poured.....hmmmm, dust or mud, what a choice! We're going camping soon and I'm totally unorganised. And I still haven't finished my Father-in-Law's quilt.

But thank you all for your suggestions with layouts in my last post. I changed a few things round again, and am much happier with it. It's all sewn together and basted and now I need to quilt it. I promise I'll show a picture of it when it's finished.

Apart from that picture though, I'm taking a bloggy break. It's all a bit crazy here and I want to enjoy the Christmas period, not stress through it. So lessening a few of my commitments makes sense.

I'll see you all again in January.

Please take care of yourselves.

xxx

This is on my mind...

2010-12-10T11:31:00.000+13:00

The final layout of my Father in Law's quilt. I get to stage sometimes where I can't see the wood for the trees, I've looked at a quilt so long that I can't see what I'm seeing anymore and one layout looks the same as another, nothing stands out as wrong or everything stands out as wrong. Occasionally it makes me want to put the whole thing in a box and start over. (I must have done that a few times, that's where WIP's come from!)

So which one do I choose? And I must make up my mind soon because I've imposed a deadline on myself by deciding that this is going to be a Christmas present.

Do I choose this one? Or this one? What about this one? Can anyone see the differences?

You can find out what's on other peoples minds over at Rhonda's blog, Down to Earth.

Now, I think there is an apostrophe missing in that sentence above - where are your high school english teachers when you need them?

That's my boy

2010-12-08T11:09:00.000+13:00

Yay! The first visit from the tooth fairy. I must admit; I was drifting off to sleep when I was suddenly snapped awake with the thought, "I FORGOT THE TOOTH FAIRY!" Yoiks! That was crushing disappointment narrowly avoided.

First handwritten Father Christmas letter. He just kills me with his sweetness sometimes. And makes me laugh at his very basic wants. I'm sure we can organise some chocolate.

First portrait shot taken by his younger sister. Not too bad - I think she catches his goofiness perfectly!

Tui

2010-12-06T12:48:00.000+13:00

I've been trying to concentrate on my Father-in-Law's quilt that I'm making him for Christmas. It's getting closer - but then so is Christmas! I'm really pleased with how this Tui (a native New Zealand bird) block turned out. Only one Tui will go on his quilt, so the other one will be used for something else. I'm thinking wall hanging, bag panel, another quilt.....ok, maybe not another quilt just yet.

Click here to see images of real Tuis (but ignore the cheesy beer ads).

Wednesday.

2010-12-01T14:10:00.000+13:00

The holes are dug, the hole diggers gone. It seemed like an easy mornings work for them. The holes are so deep I've had to cover them all up with boards to save the kids (or me) from breaking our legs. Hole inspection tomorrow and then the concrete footings can be poured. It's really and truly happening.

Good Tidings

2010-11-29T21:35:00.000+13:00

I've had two pieces of good news today. First up was the word about about my Father in Law. He was in surgery today to remove 'Bertie' - his not-so-fond nickname for his cancerous tumour. Bertie is gone, and my FIL is awake, alert and doing well. Phew.

Second was the very exciting news that my peace and quiet is about to be shattered. By diggers and concrete trucks. Finally, finally, finally, work is beginning on our shed extension and veranda. Wednesday is the big day.

This photo was taken way back in November last year - a whole year ago we were preparing the site for the new shed, it's been a long time coming and will be appreciated more because of it.

And this junky cluttered space is out the front of my house. I know I live in a converted shed, but I'm tired of it looking like a converted shed. I want a nice space to come home to. And finally there is light at the end of the tunnel! There will be a five metre wide veranda roof all along this front. That sounds wide but it will have clearlite (a clear roofing perspex) in it over the window and doors to let in light and it is also a really high roof line, so I don't think it will be dark and gloomy underneath.

Then I aim to landscape the area underneath - I'm thinking a deck and/or some pavers. Then a little bit of lawn in front of that out to the tyre/plant pot line. (I've already been planning! Those are my markers.) Some herb planters along the edge. A retaining wall on the bank to the right. One day the last bay of the shed will be clad in and fitted out as a sewing room/office/spare room .

But we're doing it slowly, paying for it as we can. It's hard sometimes not to feel a bit hard done by when I look around at some beautifully finished houses and gardens. Then I think about the stress of a large mortgage and think I'd rather do it like I am (and anyway, you don't notice the mess after a while!).

Another Finish.

2010-11-28T20:46:00.000+13:00

I'm on a nightie roll. This is my second one from the Sew Mama Sew! tutorial. Another op-shop sheet and the purple fabric used to be a pair of pyjama pants that, er, split in an unfortunate manner. I was even able to use the drawstring tie as the shoulder straps. I think I'm almost ready to tackle a garment that gets worn in public.

Healing Hearts

2010-11-26T20:35:00.000+13:00

These are my two Healing Hearts blocks. I patched together some blue scraps of fabric then ironed on some fusible webbing with two hearts drawn on it. Then I cut them out, ironed them to 6 1/2 inch calico squares and satin stitched around them with a tearaway stabiliser on the back. I know that these quilts will never bring back the people that have been lost. But I hope that in some little way, they make a difference to someone.

Pike River Mine.

2010-11-25T08:04:00.001+13:00

I'm not feeling very festive today. Yesterday New Zealand had a terrible tragedy. There had been 29 mine workers trapped for six days in a mine after an explosion. Nobody had been able to get in to attempt a rescue or even to see if there was any sign of life. Yesterday afternoon there was another huge explosion and they believe nobody could possibly have survived it. They have switched from rescue mode to recovery mode.

My heart goes out to the families who have had the most unimaginable week.

Please take care everyone.

Edited to Add: If you would like to do something to show your feelings, Shirley Goodwin is receiving Healing Heart Blocks to be made into quilts for the families involved in this tragedy. You can see here for instructions and an address.

The Roar.

2010-11-22T11:40:00.000+13:00

This is what I'm doing today. I've already done another fish bin of weeds (only sixty thousand left to do), fed the animals and done some washing, but it's getting too hot to slog in the garden so it's time to work on my Father-in-Law's quilt.

When I'm building a background for an applique figure, I tend to work on a calico foundation to give me the size of the finished block and then I free cut shapes for the ground/hills/sky before pinning them and then sewing them down.

(Friends suggested I add a red nose to him, 'cause he looks like he's singing Christmas carols! I probably won't. But I will be adding an eye, an inner ear and inner mouth to give him a bit of definition.)