Colour galore

First something really subtle, a recent photo of evening at the river showing beautiful clouds and their reflections - such a tranquil scene.

And then there's this boatshed, one of a kind I think you"ll agree, at Point Howard which is around the coast from where I live - go three blocks to the sea, then turn left.......

Those reflections are anything but tranquil!  Photos courtesy of my son, of course.

To things quilty - is this the oldest UFO?

I got this far at the very first Quilt Symposium in New Zealand, held in 1984 in Auckland - oh, it was an amazing experience!  Who could forget such an event, trying to cut fabric on a sloping window cill and sew with the machine on a school desk....... then before a group of us flew back to Wellington we went out for a quick meal, were so hungry we devoured plates of scrumptious garlic bread with the butter dribbling down our chins........ and goodness know what the other passengers thought when we piled on the plane, but my husband wouldn't come near me for days!!

And still on the nostalgia theme, here are some more of my vintage fabrics, Mrs C. says she loves roses, well how about these ?

They are enormous and are destined to be the backing of the top with the striped border I showed in my last post, maybe turned into a four patch with the striped fabric as sashing - a suggestion from one of my stitching friends.......

These flowers aren't as large, and I think they are poppies, but just delightful I think

It's actually one of the fabrics I auditioned as a border for the bright and white string top -

it's a cot quilt size which used up all the bright strings of that particular size I had left, I loved the fabrics; the one on the left was too strong, the one on top too cream but loved the one at the right - until I cut the pieces and put them around the little top - whoops, far too strong, the centre was swamped.

Then I found the perfect vintage -

No, I'm not mad - a little is going a long way -

See how it picks out the polka dots?  The rejected border fabric has been re-sewn into one piece for the backing.

Now I have a request, please does anyone know what this flower/shrub is?

Last weekend I went blueberry picking with my daughter in law and one granddaughter into the Akatawara valley - from here, with your back to the sea go to the end of the valley and turn left at the foothills into another winding valley.

These shrubs were about twelve feet high [2m] and growing in a thick grove outside the blueberry farm.

That's a large bumble bee to the left - click on the photos for a larger view.  My first go at blueberry picking, apart from the two little bushes I have in my garden which the birds are enjoying....... a very pleasant afternoon and much less dangerous than blackberry picking I did in the UK as a child!

I will leave you with a photo taken last night, at Point Howard Wharf just a bit further round the harbour from Lowry Bay [I think]  It was such a beautiful evening and who could resist a boy and a dog? - certainly not my son!

and a quote from Albert Schweitzer, "An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight........the truly wise person is colorblind."

Thanks for stopping by, my apologies for not posting more often - I have so much to share but sometimes life gets in the way!!

We'll talk again soon,
June