My kowhai tree is coming into bloom - such a shock when I looked out the bathroom window last evening and the tree has a decidedly yellow glow to it.  Not much use trying to photograph it today, the wind is perfect for drying washing but not for tree snaps....

So here is a shy little camellia taken when the weather was calmer -

I do want to put in better photos of a couple of quilts I showed recently, first the Quilt as you Go string made with compressed batting - it was so fuzzy, here's a better one so you can see the individual fabrics -

Also, the Nod in the direction of Kaffe Fasset - I said the fabrics were bold and bizarre and they just looked washed out when I checked out the blog, so here they are in full strength -

These photos were taken when I had sandwiched the back and front, but not quilted it, here is the other side and this time you can see the half square triangles left over from the front -

Well, you do have to click on it to see the enlargement.

Sunday was a beautiful day, sunny but pretty icy, so I went for  a walk with my son along the bank of the Hutt River into Lower Hutt and the Dowse Museum and Cafe Reka - we enjoyed coffee and cake and I was amused by this range of jewellery for sale -

Cuff links using Scrabble pieces and the tops of the keys from an old typewriter.
We walked back through the park, passed the fountain that is causing the Council some headaches I believe - whether or not to upgrade

The little boy had a remote controlled boat - but look at big sister's body language, she really doesn't want to be there!

I think I have mentioned that I like words and am something of a pedant - not, I hasten to add that I think I am infallible - but I loved these two signs I saw in two separate supermarkets -

I think the Manager has had many complaints about the spelling...........  and this one from Pack 'N Save, not to be one-sided -

I want to share with you another of the techniques from my class, I call this one Figure Eight.  You take a square and sash it on all four sides,

Cut the square into quarters and reverse two of the small squares -

You can see why it is called figure eight!  I adapt the thickness of the sashing to the size of the square, one and a quarter is my choice for a five inch square.

I  chose to use different colours for the sashing, not always the same all round each block depending on the effect I wanted.  I also slashed the border when moving between the two fabrics.

I made one large block for the back, with a few extra fill ins - do you realise I bought these fabrics to make blouses for me.........?

One last quilt for today that I want to share, is another early effort.  I wanted to make a log cabin, but not strictly regular.  A friend from the golf club gave me some fabic, she said she had this lovely skirt I could use, but then she cut it up with scissors into roughly square pieces - but nothing was on the straight of grain.  I think she had the wrong idea of what quilters want!  Anyway, I cut these bits down a bit and they were the centre though not necessarily in the centre -

Pinned to the curtain in place of a design wall, and now finished

It is hand quilted like a huge net - Maui was trying to hold back the sun as it raced across the heavens.  You can see I quite like the effect of a slashed border to move between the different border fabrics.

This evening I am off to the Wellington Quilters meeting where members will be sharing the results of their Symposium and our recent Solstice classes.  I have my bag with several quilts from the Shut-in Stitchers so I shall be able to get photos of them, one for the maker and one for our album.

And how's this for encouragement from Teilhard de Chardin, "It is our duty as men and women to proceed as though limits to our ability do not exist."


I like that thought!
Good talking with you
June