Cats and extended nine patch

I said the kowhai had started to bloom,  and here it is - how quickly that happened and already the Tuis have found it.

And a first today, I heard the unmistakable sound of a wood pigeon flying over; I didn't see where it landed but there are quite a few large trees around.





Maybe it's because I had two sons but I have a weakness for girly toys and couldn't resist this cradle when my friend decided she didn't have room for it.  My granddaughters have loved playing with it, we made new quilts and a mattress for it from my stash - and now Basil displays great balance to get in and out of it as it is a rocker - but it is in the living room and that is his domain.

Isn't that a lovely table cloth? an Op shop find.

Floyd, on the other hand, considers my bedroom and my sewing room as his special areas.  I brought home the suitcase I use in the prison, it was too heavy and I wanted to exchange it for something a little lighter - while my back was turned, Floyd took possession -

He doesn't look very comfortable but it was on my bed, so fair game!

I have expressed my love of scrap quilts but so that you realise I am not totally one eyed I want to share a quilt - OK for the purists, a quilt top! - made with only four fabrics and three of them are in the border!!

At first glance it looks sort of woven and that's because I sort of fussy cut it!  I just loved the fabric and wasn't I lucky to find the faded black, blue and green to match for the borders -

On a recent tidying up session in the sewing room I came across this battered carton -

See the number on the top right corner? - 141 - when I moved from Whitby to Petone I did all the packing of my sewing room - with a little help from my friends but I mean I didn't leave it to the packers!

Each carton/container was numbered and entered onto a list and this is what it contained

 - blocks and associated paraphernalia to make an extended nine patch, including plastic templates I had made and a photo of an antique quilt of the same pattern.  The reason the project had ground to a halt was that I couldn't decide on the background fabric, then some friends came round and had a fossick through the cupboards and suggested this one -

I have pinned it ready to sew but I'm making no promises as to when this will be, I haven't finished quilting the wonky hexagon log cabin - though come to think of it, this will be easier to take out to a stitching day......

It's been a while since I did hand piecing like this - I put all the blocks onto the design wall, not in any particular order and found I am one short, so of the fabric in the bottom of the box I have chosen the beige with little palm trees, there are several pieces,  and I hope I can get the four squares out of the remnant of lilac dress fabric.  It is all that is left of a Horrocks dress I wore when I came to New Zealand in 1958!!!

All the fabrics in this quilt have very special memories for me, you will see the yellow with strawberries I pieced to put into another quilt -

I have recently come across a pile of my old diaries, one I used as a child was a Young Folks Diary for Boys and Girls - Scouts and Guides; each week has a saying - very worthy and it is full of the kind of information no doubt useful in games of Trivial Pursuit;  for instance the 16th week after Trinity is Ember Week and the thought is, "Opportunity comes in vain to the man who is unprepared."

Nice talking with you,
June