Sunday 27 July 2014

Sunrise, sale and stools


I do enjoy seeing the sunrise, or rather Phil's photograph of the sunrise - no way I'd get up in time to drive over to the 'Rapa and be set up to catch the few minutes while the light is right, but the results are stunning.

No doubt the weather is like it is now every winter, I just happily forget - boy! has it been cold this last couple of weeks.  I got a sweet message from the power company telling me I'd used twenty eight percent more power this week than last!  Maybe I need a treadmill hooked up to a generator so I can get some exercise and save money at the same time!

Even Basil has been feeling the cold -


I can't get him to use a basket, or even a quilt on the settee - though he does have a long thick coat and since we got the medication sorted [or rather how to get it into him] he's put on a bit of weight.  I got up one morning to see him sitting by the little heater which I keep in the hall and on all night, so I 'dropped' some fabric beside it and he's quite happy there - but only in the wee small hours.

Yesterday was Capital Quilters' meeting which took the form of a garage sale and work day, I didn't get any work done and I didn't buy anything, but I did get to talk with lots of my friends and catch up on their news.

This was how one of the sale tables looked -


Every kind of linen fancy work you could think of - I have quite a lot of my own so didn't buy any more.  I use them for quilt labels, do you?  And I must confess I have thoughts of making a quilt using them as a friend, Phillippa, did.

Up on the board was next month's block of the month,


much more traditional in colour and design than we've had lately.
And with a Retreat soon, the Block for that was on display too - which looks like fun.


Also on display, apart from some really lovely quilts, were two stools -


Stool one and stool two -


Both made, or rather decorated by Glennis White who takes classes in producing them - great use of fabric isn't it?

I was heartened to learn of more classes being held to teach quilting in other than mainstream situations - Arts Access sent me the link to their blog which featured an article that had appeared in the New Zealand Quilter magazine about a Corrections officer who is also a quilter and who is teaching the men how to make quilts.  Her story of the young man who knew best struck chords with me - some of our stroppy teenagers have had the same attitude - so it's extra good when they discover for themselves how great it feels to do it my way and get it right!

I met a new quilter at the meeting, new member anyway who kindly agreed that I could photograph her quilt -



I love the quilting and the fresh colours - spring will be here one day - so welcome to Capital Quilters, Kylie.

I've nearly finished the hand sewing of the binding on Tilly's quilt, slowed down quite a bit as I had a visit to the skin specialist to have various bits frozen on my face and left hand, the thumb is not scabbing up so I'm being extra careful - we really to need our thumbs to grasp, only reminded of it when the thumb isn't available the way it should be.

I've also been doing my cryptic crosswords when I should be doing other things [like housework!?]  I love the ones by Donald Harrison, as Aussie, it helps to remember that sometimes.  Do you do crosswords?

Bother the quotation, "You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." Albert Einstein - I think we have realised that,  so what about the next one, "Let arms give place to the robe, and the laurel of the warriors yield to the tongue of the orator." Cicero - don't hold your breath!
 
I think I'll get a new volume of quotations......... so, let's have another great photograph taken from Lowry Bay, across the harbour and you can see it's raining in Wellington city over the bay.


Nice chatting with you, thanks for stopping by
Take care,
June

Sunday 20 July 2014

Sunshine, orphan blocks and dyeing


Not that we've seen much of the sun lately so it's good to be reminded.  This was taken by Phil earlier in the year at Hagley Park in Christchurch.

We had a good session at Arohata Prison yesterday, the two newest quilters are happily making pet pads which will be donated to the SPCA shop in Petone; making a small quilt is a great learning tool - for someone who has never quilted before, our language can be difficult to understand and it's good to start on something we know they can finish.  And talking of finishing, I have Tilly's quilt with the binding on, so I can hand stitch it when meeting with my friends, the Jays, on Tuesday.

One of the Jays is working on a whole cloth quilt, her first, so it's not large - but looking fantastic !

Don't you agree?  I have her permission to share this with you - maybe she'll post it on her own blog when it's finished..... hint, hint!

Talk about Pandora's box! I recently started looking through a storage box of orphan blocks and found lots to stir the memories - like these two examples of dyeing fabric -



Over-dyeing was quite popular to get a certain effect, and the attempt with different fabrics shows how some fabrics took the dye much better than others - obviously they are not all cottons but back then you used what you could get :)

The newsagent in Petone was having a sale -


I wonder how many monster kids were sold!!

I've made a good start on the orphan blocks, sorting them and working to get them into compatible sizes,



Lots of class samples and blocks left over from completed quilts, some of them do go back a way....



My goodness, hexagons - I think I had some idea of making placemats with them...


I also found a few drunkard's path blocks, all hand pieced and left over from the three quilts I made using that block - they are less than accurate now that I've decided to machine piece them  - I tried them in the setting of the previous quilts -


Not exactly overmatched are they? I love the aqua circles......


I don't usually go for the regular look but these four will fit well I think - when I've decided what I'm going to do!

If you want to see more photographs of Capital Quilters great exhibition - I only took a very few, check out Lisa or Shirley - they have many great photos.

I've had a lovely day - good me-time - I hope you've managed to get some too, I've been sewing and enjoying watching some very nostalgic DVDs,  the Murder Most English series with Anton Rogers and Christopher Timothy and Lord Peter Wimsey with Ian Carmichael - both filmed in the seventies so it's been fun to come across actors who later became big names.  And most importantly for me right now, no violence .......it's getting so I dread turning on the radio to hear the latest news,

Oh dear, my quote for the day - "So long as there are men there will be wars.  Albert Einstein.  So, I'll add another, "When it is darkest, men see the stars".  Ralph Emerson


or more beautiful sunshine...... [courtesy Phil]

Thanks for stopping by and your feedback, it means a lot.
June





Sunday 13 July 2014

Sunrise, shelter and quilt show


Lake Wairarapa one very frosty morning - Phil  enjoyed his hot coffee at Featherston on the way home!

It's been all go this week; I was at the office on Monday to do the wages - and hit more snags with the security settings when I tried to email the payslips which meant a long phone call to the payroll people who are so very pleasant but changing settings meant more talks with my IT person.........which meant that by Thursday when things were only partially resolved instead of concentrating on what I was doing - perhaps one thing at a time? I made a right mess of the Block of the Month I was organising for the Wellington Guild meeting that night.

Overconfidence? I was using a block from my five inch squares class, no need to get it checked dozens of people have made it from my class........but I had to alter the instructions to allow for the fact that it was not a class situation, and I wanted it printed in colour etc. etc.   Luckily I was cocky enough to send the instructions by email to the newsletter editor, who passed it onto the BOM lady - who rang to tell me there was an error - seam allowance is quarter of an inch and I'd written half an inch.  Oh dear, but there was time to alter the hard copies I had printed off [thirty of them] before the meeting.

But there's more :( I altered the wrong place!!

As my son would say - and what have you learned today?  :))

The rest of the Guild meeting was most enjoyable, we had a demonstration of sites of interest to quilters, plus tips on all sorts of technical details.

Today I've enjoyed brunch at Cafeind, one of my favourite coffee bars in Petone and had a long look at Capital Quilters' Exhibition, Quilting a Modern Tradition.  My head is spinning - I wonder where other people get their inspiration, perhaps from this very modern artwork in a local bus shelter?



One aspect of the exhibition that I particularly noticed was the range of types of the actual quilting, from tied


hand quilting,


Machine in straight lines - just love those retro fabrics and the black and white binding, [quilt by Debra Delorenzo]


and then there's the designer long arm, which can look spectacular -


In all there were over 220 quilts on display, spread over several areas in the College -



Truly a "visual symphony" as a well known local character once commented!

I've finished straight - no, organic - line quilting on Tilly's quilt; was to have sewn on the binding today, see if I can get it done tomorrow and then I can be hand sewing it when I meet with my quilting friends...

The quotation today is most appropriate, having regard to my computer woes, "My computer beat me at checkers, but I sure beat it at kickboxing." Emo Phillips

And to finish on a note of beauty, a photo Phil took later the same morning as the first one when the sun was touching the edges of the hills.


A comment made to him was that it looks like a Rita Angus painting......
Thanks for stopping by, we'll talk again soon.

June

Sunday 6 July 2014

Surfer and cyclamen


Here's the surfer - a keen and hardy person you will agree - we are, after all, right in the middle of our winter.  Phil said it was bitterly cold just standing on the beach - you can see how the wind is whipping off the tops of the waves, but of course when you have a passion as this man undoubtedly has, you don't let that stop you.

Today was cold, but clear, calm and sparkling here in Wellington - have to get that dig in because this city has a bad reputation when it comes to weather.  It was extra good because I went into the city to meet up with some old friends, down from Auckland [a bit of inter-city rivalry here!]  We found an interesting cafe on Oriental Bay, and I was pleased to see that the old Wishing Well just along the street has had an upgrade -


the inside too


How annoying is that, I got two side by side last time without actually knowing how I did it........

I'll be completely honest about our weather, we do get some off days - like the day the cold front came through and left the front garden looking like this -


ummm, not very impressive - that's hail on the path and grass and no blue sky to be seen...... isn't Billy just adorable [oops I sound like that quilting programme.....] but see his star ear-ring? quite the man....

I've almost finished quilting the pretty quilt - what an unimaginative way to describe it; Tilly's quilt then which it will be as soon as I've finished it, but I have finished the hottie -


I missed the last meeting of Pinestream Quilters as I had been asked to talk to the ladies of the Holy Trinity Church in Avalon about the quilting programme at Arohata women's prison.  It was such a pleasant evening, the ladies were so friendly.  One of their members, Jean Delaney, had died recently and donated a large amount of fabric to be used by the Shut-in Stitchers, so it was great to have the opportunity to tell them about the quilts that have been made and how much we appreciate the help we received.  I had known Jean for years both through quilting and embroidery; a true lady and sadly missed.

They very kindly gave me a pot plant which sits in pride of place next to Floyd on my bedroom window cill,


I'll leave you with a photograph taken last week in the Wairarapa, a country road in winter....... and with the thought, "People who think they know everything are so annoying to those of us who do


The quote is from the calendar in the office, no author given- I couldn't resist it!  :)

Thanks for stopping by, 
June