Is this tiled floor from Christchurch?

I have to share this photo of a cineraria plant - these plants self seed all over the garden and it was a source of annoyance to my sister-in-law who lives in the south of England.  Her cineraria plants are carefully nurtured and kept in the glasshouse over the winter so when she stayed out here she was very envious of the abundance in our garden.

You can see some of the flowers to the left.

Now the tiles, I was going through some more photos when I came across these - obviously I was looking with my quilter's eyes, as Bonnie Hunter says.  And then it hit me, several years ago I went to Christchurch and whilst there enjoyed a Flower event - not sure how else to describe it.  There was a path of flowers - and I am sure they were in the Cathedral - and floats on the water.

And here is the third one

Does anyone know if they are from the Cathedral?  I suddenly had this awful feeling when I realised that they may be destroyed and it brought the whole disaster back again.  I know, lucky me, I don't have to live with the results every day; strange how something like this can hit a nerve.

Wellington is my city, I've lived here ever since we came to New Zealand.  First Roseneath, then Whitby and now Petone and I am pleased to share the second of the canvas work panels we were commissioned to make, this one Gill called "Multiple Viewpoint".

My contribution on this one is of the windsurfer off Oriental Bay, with the city buildings behind.  My son is a keen photographer and once again I used one of his photos as my pattern.

I find something very soothing about stitching on canvas, similarly with hand quilting.  I used to teach canvaswork, one class featured a bargello pattern in a square using lots of colours and just the one stitch; and the other was a cushion using one colour and lots of stitches to create an Aran pattern.  Canvas work seems to have gone out of fashion, but no doubt it will return in some form or another.

Also several years ago, a woman acquaintance who was an artist with pastels and paints, asked if I would swap one of my quilts for one of her works.  I very much admired her work and said I was willing, should she ever want a quilt of mine that I was prepared to let go.

And it happened, here is the quilt, an Attic Window - the moment she saw it she said that's the one.   I had made it in a class when I stepped in at the last minute to take the place of a friend whose mother was ill.

This was taken in the lounge of our house in Whitby - when we were having the kitchen re-modelled!  Just in case you thought I usually kept kitchen pots on the lounge floor!

And here is the pastel she gave me -

I am very happy to have this hanging on my wall, sorry about the flashback but I think you can appreciate her work - those gorgeous feathery sort of flowers?!

I do like this thought from my diary, - "Look back and give thanks.  Look forward and take courage."

Thanks for visiting, we'll talk again soon.

June