WOW 6th Feb

Waitangi Day in NZ, a public Holiday to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, between the Maori and the European settlers. Goverment is still settling issues with various Iwi over over land, water and air rights.
We are having a laid back day as I don't have to work and the sun is shining after several drizzly days bringing much needed rain.
Yesterday I finished stitching my binding onto Cherry Thieves table runner.

I have only edge stitched around the applique as I love the texture of the vines on my background fabric, plus my freemotion is terrible. may add some beads yet to the flower centers.
It is square, it's my pinning that wasn't LOL
Have started mug mats this morning to match, reduced the bird pattern for some and used the corner flower for others.

While relaxing in bed with coffee and old copies of APQ magazines theother rainy morning I found this pattern  in Vol 19 No 3 Pomegranate  by  Esther Aliu

First in a traditional  motif inspired Vase Series - Esther, is there a series?
Must be from the time of  Red Delicious. I think I have found an accompniant for my table runner, and I also started this, this morning.

If you voted for Snowdrops on quiltinggallery.com last week, thankyou.
There were some fantastic winter themed entries which you should go and see. I got to double digits in voting so was very happy!!!

This weeks theme is Commemorative Quilts so I just had to enter Hearts Desire - my Christchurch Quilt.

An unfinished quilt, which is always still on my mind, and the 2nd anniversary of the ChCh earthquake on Feb 22nd 2011 which claimed the lives of 185 people, is not far away.
For those of you that don't know why this still remains unfinished, after all my dreams to raffle it internationally and donate the proceeds to the rebuild, we COULD NOT get past red tape.
Steve talked with every possible Govt agency, but to run an  international online raffle from NZ  is seemingly impossible, hence I felt I could not ask anyone to donate their custom quilting time.
For any Raffle "or game of chance" the only payment formats allowed in NZ are cash or eftpos.
A Credit Card payment is illegal!!!
One Day!!!!
Cheers everyone, enjoy your Wednesday.
Jenny

Work on Wed/ Thurs

Hi Everyone,
Thursday in NZ but can just scrape this in thanks to Esther's generous time frame.

Firstly a huge thanks to everyone that voted for my Evolution Wallhanging in the Quiltinggallery.com
Show and Tell last week. Have added a link on my side bar to this site as it is so much fun and although only 14 entries  there was some wonderful work on show.
I was so happy to be lying second with my very first entry - but to have the two guest judges award me enough points to win for the week, prize is Michelle's two Quilters Cookbooks in PDF Format.
I was astounded and thrilled to pieces!!!!!!!!!
Thankyou Judges if you visit my blog.

EVOLUTION

Have just had two days away in Paihia with Steve and Kelly.
Steve has been house renovating for a friend and Wed the carpet went down and he had to be there to let them in and rehang all the doors when they finished so really it was a busman's holiday for him.
Strong onshore breezes meant no swimming for us, and being high tourist season Kelly was not welcome anywhere - extra signage - NO Dogs till end of Feb.
Paihia is in the Bay of Islands and really survives as a Holiday destination so guess this is understandable, she does enjoy the car thankgoodness.

We did find an area we could wander with her to see the Haruru Falls

This is looking down the river from the falls towards Waitangi, just around the bend.

We have a public holiday on the 6th Feb, Waitangi Day to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the first Europeans and the Maori People.
We have Maori land right issues continuing to this day from the treaty.

Had dinner with friends Steve had made while he was renovating, wonderful night and just had to take a photo of this paintingof a Vietnamese Lady on their wall.

Will have to work around the flash but think I feel a wallhanging comiing up.

Lastly have been thinking about the Show and Tell up at Quiltinggallery for this week. 

I can enter every week if I want to, but if I am lucky enough to win again within a month, the prize would be awarded to the next highest votes which I think is very fair.

The theme is winter landscapes and I am thinking my Snowdrop block with it's snowflakes will qualify as it does not have to be a finished work.  

I am going to enter so check in after Fri 8am EST to see and vote for what you like.

Now I have to go through my completed quilts / wallhangings and see what might be suitable to help stage  open homes in Paihia as our friends want to sell.

Have a great week everyone.

Jenny

On line show and Tell

A new experience for me this week.
Found this site after Bunny posted about entering her Heart's Desire quilt in the "show and tell" section on this site.
http://quiltinggallery.com/2013/01/25/vote-now-new-beginning-quilts/
And yes!!
I have just learnt how to paste a link, learning something new every day is good for you.

I uploaded a photo of my Evolution quilt for this weeks "show and tell " themed "New Beginnings"
Not many entrants this week, only 14 but if you like my quilt pictured below please place a vote for me before Monday.
The leading quilt is just beautiful and I had to vote for it as well as my own.
Here is my quilt.  

EVOLUTION

Details about the quilt I have put up on the site, but in more detail
It is obviously a drunkards path block design - from an old APQ magazine.
I had just bought 4 fat quarters of fabric because i loved them, and suddenly they spoke to me.
The Brown was our world, Green was new growth, the Orange flames ,and the Red embers.
Added the Sun, Sky, Moon, Water and two greens for Spring and Autumn around the edges.
Fire destroys but leaves embers and ashes, then eveything regenerates as shown by the centre.
The very center is  the scraps from my foundation piecing cut into tiny  fragments and caught under net.
From ashes to ashes, dust to dust come new beginnings!!!
If you like this, please vote for me.
Cheers everyone, Jenny

Work over Two Wednesdays

What a marathon to even access my blog this week, but finally I'm  up and running. 

Had problems uploading photo's last week and ran out of time to figure it out so left it.

Read about Esther's problem and thought - oh same problem as me so I downloaded Firefox, thinking all set for this week, but NO, couldn't even sign in to blogger, error kept saying redirecting and cannot complete.

Steve is away again this week so it was up to me to solve it and hopefully not crash the computer!!! 

Updated IE and set it back as default browser, yes I had access but NO I still couldn't  upload photo's.

Last resort, I am using Google Chrome as my browser and finally photo's Hooray!!

Last week we managed a day for ourselves, they don't come often at present.

This hidden paradise is well known in Whangarei, only 100 meters from our home as the crow flies.
We should go there more often, especially for the exercise as the first walkway is only a couple of hundred meters circular loop, down hill for one half and uphill the other - great for the calf muscles.

At the lowest point a bridge crosses this idyllic stream and looking back 

The Whangarei Falls

only 4km's from the center of town

on the climb back to the carpark you meet these ancient giants.

On Christmas Eve we sold our old car and bought a new "toy"

so it was Happy Christmas to us

Not brand new of course but we now have three of these Rover Tomcat's as they are nicknamed.

The first is Steve's restoration project, the second the "donor" and this,the one I will drive to work until the restoration is finished, then this  becomes Steve's and I get the red one sitting in the garage.

Think I am getting past a sports car - but!!

So after the Falls it was Steve's time to enjoy a 30 minute drive north to this gorgeous spot.

Church Bay, very secluded on the Tutukaka Coast, not suitable for holiday makers to camp so a lovely quiet place for a stroll on the beach.

Back home this Hibiscus is stiill in it's pot waiting for a home in the garden

This is the second of the old standard roses that Steve rescued now flowering happily in the garden

Flower's somwhat damaged by recent winds this magnificent Jacaranda is the view from our lounge.

And this week I have been making Esther's wonderful Forget me Not Block's

 This was a very fiddly block to make but I love how it finished up and seeing it now in a photo image of the framing fabric's I am very happy with it.

Much simpler in design, but how stunning it is in real life. this shows the centers beaded .

I have lost count of the layers in very center but I broke two needles and  my thumbs ached but it was worth it.

Cheers everyone, enjoy your Wednesday.

December 18th 2012

Merry Christmas Everyone.

This Christmas for us  is very different. Steve is away 3 or 4 days a week working on a friends house in Pahia, an hours drive away so he stays over to get more done.
He goes on my days off and is home when I am working - Kelly has company most days - but it doesn't feel very festive for us this year.

No Christmas tree this year as when DH is home he works on our house so we decided we didn't need a dusty tree to clean and pack away.
My Red December table Runner will come out plus a Christmas tablecloth but that's it for us this year as I have Christmas Eve day and Christmas day off work, then back to work right through New Year, while my DH will be helping friends shift  into their new house.

I so wish I had belonged to Esther's group for the 12 days of Christmas Wall hanging.
Those I have viewed are just stunning, Congratulations!!!

I found a little bit of Christmas spirit visiting Carol Doaks BOM group and have made her Shooting Star Block with fabric left over from Red December.

Can't show more photo's as DH took our camera to capture his progress in Pahia for the owners but am now making some of Carol's 3" Christmas ornaments to make a small paper pieced wallhanging - probably for next Christmas as the days are flying by and I am back at work on Thursday!!!!

Am also adding your blogs to my reading list so that I can stay up to date with what everyone is doing
.
Again a Very Happy Chrismas and New Year to everyone.
Hugs, Jenny

WOW on 28th Nov

Have had a wonderful couple of weeks working on Esther's Nov blocks.
It was so hard to decide which flower on what background, which is why I made my banksia flower first.
Knew the yellow would work on either but it was not until I went with the blue based green for my leaves that I made the decision, witth help from BOM members.

The leaves were very strong on my striped background but this feels more like looking at the flower against the sky. I had also felt that this was a more stylised block - until I googled images  and found that the leaves are really as serrated as the design shows.

 Beeding Hearts and Daisies, I  knew I couldn't do white daises but I had a of very very pale yellow Fairy Frost fabric which I really wanted to use.
My first magnolia block now looks very sad as I used the background fabric for several attempts to make it work - waste not - want not, as if I need to remake a block I only have one piece of striped fabric to spare!!! However it would not work but I am thrilled with the how my final choice worked.
It was also my base fabric for the Banksia Flower.

I put my daisy on stabiliser and  marked the center circle, straight stitched all the petals out and back from inside the center, then trimmed the stabiliser and padded the Daisy. Satin stitched the edges then did one cicle of stitching to flatten the center and added the beads.

The Bleeding Hearts look a little more orange/red in this photo but it is a blue/red which works well with my border fabric. I now have both red and yellow flowers in mainly pink based blocks so am very happy.
Slight errors in fabric movement when satin stitching the "teardrops" frustrated me but had always planned on adding at least one bead. When I opened my bead packet I found many had not seperated into singles.They looked so good in two's and three's I used them as was, but did seperate and catch each one down as  I stitched them.

This was my inspiration photo.

Knew there was a myth  linked to Bleeding Heart's and have always thought of the throat as Teardrops. Think the pearl beads express this, may even add an extra couple of falling teardrops after quilting!!!

And now.

My DH came home last night with the  most winderful Pelergonium,
Almost Black I have never seen anything like it.

repotted it this morning and it will be wonderful on our deck.
Also bought home a Fucshia cutting and I really hope this survives.

What a beauty. Almost cried when I stripped it's flowers this morning and planted stem into pumice.
Hopefully we will enjoyi t's beauty for years to come.
Enjoy you wednesday.
Jenny

WOW for Nov 14th

Only Tuesday but working tomorrow, missed linking to Esther's Blog last week for same reason so decided to start early.
Quick addition on Wed. Got a wonderful view of the eclipse this morning, only about 91% in Whangarei but just before 10.30am soft cloud covered the sun and you could safely look and see the complete moon and  a cresent of pale sun on the edge. Our manager totally convinced because of the shape that the sun was the moon!!!
A few minutes later full cloud moved across and no view at all.

Summer is slowly arriving in Whangarei and my favorite rose is already in full bloom.

Roses don't grow as well here as they do in Christchurch as our winters are not really get cold enough.
This is Crepescule, a old fashioned climber and we have planted two  to hopefully eventually cover our very uninspiring boundary fence

My DH and I just love the wonderful apricot tones as the buds  first open, then the changing shades as the flowers mature.

They are repeat  flowerers so we will have their blooms well into Autumn
Our Agapanthus are just coming into flower and in another couple of weeks will be spectacular.

And  I will be picking this and a few others later today, summer is here!!!

On my last post I said we had found a wonderful wallpaper for the kitchen / dining room that worked so well with our stainless appliances. This is it, metallic silver squares on a white/grey marbled background.

That 70's lime green has finally gone.

Unfortunately ---- we are going to be one roll short to finish the room as we bought all they had but the match was bigger than DH thought!!!

Means the other end wall  which has a sliding door to our Laundry will have to be painted, not a major as most of that wall is the door.

Was a major though that when we moved the fridge freezer to wallpaper behind it - it stopped working!!!

Needs a new electronic's board - and it's only six years old.  $260-00 I can't spend on fabric.

We are watching one on TradeMe that closes next Sunday, it has a damaged door and may be a cheaper option as we can just swap doors.  At present have a friends fridge sitting on other side of kitchen.

And I can't blog without quilting so have looked back to show you an almost totally original design from a couple of years ago.

This is Drumbeat, a quilters group challenge. It now hangs inside our front door
We were given a 5" Fabric square that had to be used within the design, with the Challenge theme of Celebration and it had to be within 36" square.
A very tribal looking  fabric, my DH drew me the main drum pattern,-- to call the tribes for a celebration--and he made me the fabric padded drumsticks for hanging it. I just love his 3D drawing skills.
I bought an extra metre of the challenge fabric so I could fussy cut as I had a secondhand book called Angle Antic's by Mary Hickery and I resized and used various pattern segments from a pattern also called Drumbeat for the foundation pieced areas, then applipieced them to my background fabrics.
The feather fabric horizontal banding is raw edged and hangs loose from the quilt.

You can see the original 5" square I was given on the backing of the quilt as I got concerned I hadn't used the original piece of fabric so designed this variation of a Mariners Compass for the backing, using the 5" square and incorporating my drum fabric scraps.
I was very pleased to be awarded the prize for Best Use of Fabric at our biannual exhibition.

Will post this tomorrow then the following day we will have Esther's wonderful new blocks for November.
Happy Wednesday everyone
Jenny

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