Monthly musings

There has been so little stitching going on in my life of late (apart from sewing scout badges onto vests - and yes, I know the boys are meant to do them themselves) that I've really struggled to post. That coupled with the odd computer glitch has left me absent for a long time.


However having confessed my lack of activity had just the effect required and I did spent a couple of hours behind my beloved machine on Friday and will soon have something to show, once the hand stitching is complete. What really launched me into action was getting my hands on quite a number of hanks of Stef Francis mercerised cotton - my all time favourite thread for stitching with. It is hand dyed, variegated thread in a wide variety of rich colours. When I discovered that Jenny Hunter had imported it there was no option other than to have a spend up. Heaven!

While I haven't been stitching I have been thinking about it and about art - just loved this sign I found on my travels lately. An excellent expression of the importance of art to us all.
And then grazing just down the road were these zebras which are made of corrugated iron.
The biggest excitement for me was when I found this Rosalie Gascoigne painting for sale in Auckland. I stood and gazed at it for an unseemly amount of time. You just know that when that have Price on Application on the catalogue that you shouldn't even go there. It was very cheeky of me but I snuck this photo - and then wandered straight down the road to buy the catalogue of her recent retrospective in Melbourne. It is wonderful reading.

The greatest thing about Gascoigne is the hope she offers us all - an internationally renown artist who was untrained and didn't start making art until she was in her 50s. There is hope for us all (maybe)!

Just to prove there has been some textile related activity I did purchase this fabulous small quilt made by Norma Slabbert from the recent Quilt Show and Sale here in Wellington. It's beautifully framed and is

now hanging above my phone. It brings a smile to my face each time I see it - what more can you ask from art?

Monthly Miscellany

Well it seems such a long time between posts that a monthly round up is most appropriate. I'm pleased to say that I have finally properly finished my stones quilt - that is properly in terms of it now having a hanging sleeve and label, it has had a trip to show and tell at Guild and, today it moved to its new home. I gave this quilt to my friend Carol as it reminded her so strongly of the colours in the landscape from her childhood home in the Ohakune in the volcanic plateau. It's turned out to be the perfect gift for her as in the last week one of her sisters has died and I hope that this will be a reminder of the memories she holds of their childhood.
I find it a little strange that I intended the quilt to be about one thing and it so appropriately was really meant to be about something else altogether. Such is the nature of life sometimes. On the back of the quilt I have written:

Rarangi maunga, tu tonu, tu tonu.

Rarangi tangata, ngaro noa, ngaro noa.

You have gone, but your mountain is everlasting.

Haere ra Jan.

I've been doing a bit of tripping around the North Island over the last couple of weeks, since its been school holidays here. The prize textile find of the holidays was this wonderful tray cloth which has been exquisitely stitched to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Of course I immediately thought it would make a great cushion for my daughter's friend who we recently made the quilt for, given she refers to herself as Queen Elizabeth III.
I really loved the detail in it - you might just be able to make out the Queen in her carriage below.

Yesterday I went out to visit the Craft Fair at Pataka Museum and the Maori Art Market which was also being held out there. Lots of wonderful creativity on show at both events and it was particularly lovely to meet Rochelle there and her friend Cleo. They both have me very inspired to try the organic dying techniques of India Flint - I'm thinking it will be a perfect activity for post Christmas when I have three weeks at the beach with lots of time for experimentation and access to the materials needed. I have resisted getting into fabric dying and printing for a long time as it all felt so messy and difficult, but this feels different - like an adventure that I am on the edge of. At the same time I have a few ideas for discharge dying that I want to try and which will be a great partner to this new activity. It's always so good to have something to look forward to - I feel a trip to Minerva for India's book coming on... Roll on summer!

The Best of Intentions

You might have thought from my last post that I swearing off bringing more things into my already crowded sewing room, but of course that isn't quite the way it tends to work. A couple of weeks ago I got a call from my sister in law to say that there was a garage sale close by that I needed to call into as there was lots of embroideries and linen there. I mean to say - what are you supposed to do when you get a call like that?

I must say I have never seen anything quite like it. The house was literally full up with treasures being sold and when I spoke to one of the men selling I heard more of the story - his mother-in-law had died 18 months ago and it has taken them that long to get to the stage they had. There were a number of rooms in the house at the time she died that couldn't even be entered as there was so much put into them - china, ornaments, dolls, records, books, toys, kitchen items, furniture, infact just about anything you can think of. He said that his mother-in-law had for many, many years visited all the local garage sales and without fail bought things that she then squeezed into her house until she could scarcely move around it.

I feel deeply for the family - what a burden to have to devote yourself to working through it all. And inspite of our recent experiences, which were nothing compared to this, I did the only thing I could and took some of the textiles off his hands and into my welcoming arms.

I have a real soft spot for breakfast tray clothes and was delighted to find this one. The woman carrying the coffee pot is so jaunty.
This lovely lady joins others that were already in my collection including this rooster, who is crowing - If you be wise 'tis time to rise. How irresistible!
And this dog who is ready to face the day.

Next time someone makes me breakfast in bed (or should that be next time I do it for myself) I really will have to use one of these. They bring such a smile to my face they would be a great addition to the pleasure of coffee and the paper in bed. And honestly - what more can we ask for at the start of the day?

Searching for Jewels in the Junk

A few months ago an elderly family friend passed away and my parents (who are almost 80, so hardly young themselves) were left as advisory trustees to her estate. Since Nola had no relatives what this meant in practice was that my parents and a few other friends were left with the task of largely cleaning out her house. This has had a big impact on all involved - we all now know where hoarding leads to and frankly it isn't pretty.

We all had some good laughs along the way (Why would anyone need to have 26 black skirts in her wardrobe? Is there any good reason to hold onto hats that have not been worn since WWII?) but without exception all of us who have worked on her home have come to look at our own with fresh eyes. There has been much intensive cleaning in my own home and many, many loads of things we no longer needed have been moved onto local charities in the hope that these items will be of use elsewhere.

For my parents they have taken to their lifetime of possessions and collections with unexpected vigour. I have long thought that I would have quite a job on my hands, in due course, but they have taken it as a challenge to deal to as much of it as they can now rather than leaving it for me. I have lost count of the number of times my mother has told me that she is determined not to leave me a mess like we were faced with earlier this year. We will see.

There has been a small downside to their activities - they seem to weekly turn up at my door with another box of "treasures" that they are planning to relocate from their house to mine. It's like a giant merry-go-round of "stuff". Many things I would have been happy to have never seen again. However there have also been some real treasures which I have been delighted to welcome into my life and home. I'm not sure my husband feels quite the same, but this is the real nub of the issue - one man's trash is truly anothers treasure.

One of the jewels I am delighted to be reunited with is the blanket that was knitted for me as a newborn my one of my aunts. It was knitted into squares so in no time at all I've been able to transform it into a new scarf for myself - aforementioned husband rolled his eyes, but my more textile inclined friends have been more impressed and not a little envious. I can still feel the love knitted into every stitch.
Having mentioned in my last post that the crocheted doilies appear to be breeding in my sewing room I can now offer potitive evidence, as this week my mother gave me every piece of crochet that her father had made. As you can see from the photo, he was reasonably prolific.

I'm trying to come up with a project to keep these all together so I know exactly which were his - perhaps stitched together to form a long table runner or maybe stitched onto a blanket. This would probably result in open rebellion from certain family members! But for me, it's lovely to have these links to my past - truly jewels to be treasured, hopefully for many years to come.

Poor neglected blog

It's been one bout of illness after another in our house - if it isn't bad enough looking after children getting ill in sequence I finally succumbed and this cold is a beast to shake. Its a true plague house here if it ever was one!

However I was very surprised when downloading the latest photos off the camera to discover that life over the last very weeks hasn't been completely full of bleakness and illness. I was reminded that at some point I found my way to the sewing machine and made this banner, inspired by much loveliness over at Ravenhill.

I made mine out out of old Japanese kimono fabric that I had and some of the many, many crochet doilies that appear to be breeding up in my sewing room. As I recall I'd gone to the sewing room with the intention of starting a new quilt but couldn't settle on what to do. So I decided that something small and easy would be the thing to get me stitching again. And it has worked as I now know what the next quilt will be... should I ever get shot of this cold enough to get cracking on it....

I also had a real flying visit to Christchurch which was a wonderful 20 hours of indulgence with fantastic food and wine and uninterrupted strolling in the Arts precinct, to be tempted by the creativity of others,and in the Christchurch Art Gallery, which is always full of interesting exhibitions. And even if the art isn't to your taste (not sure I will ever fully get my head around Et Al...) there is always the building to just marvel at and enjoy.

The Best Present of All

That was the verdict from Elizabeth when she was finally given her birthday quilt. When she opened the parcel her jaw fell open and she was lost for words - and believe me, you don't often see that with any 14 year old, let alone this one! So we were well rewarded for our efforts. It will be a well loved quilt.

Meanwhile I've been doing more stitching around those pigeon holes and while I have been doing it they have changed in my mind to stones from the volcanic plateau. Must have been the influence of the few days up at the lake and the photo I posted of the lake shore.
I had the piece with me at my book group a few days ago and one of my friends who is from that part of the country was particularly taken with the quilt.

I think it may have a new name and a new owner who doesn't quite know what is coming her way yet....

I'll be spending the day at the Wellington Museum tomorrow with members of the Wellington Quilting Guild showing what can be done with fabric. They have invited out Guild to exhibit work for the day as part of their Sampler series which is focusing on the reuse of materials. A perfect fit for quilting really. I'll be taking along my two quilts with doilies and am looking forward to the day. If you are in the neighbourhood, do drop by. Photos are sure to follow.

Finding inspiration at your feet

We have been lucky to head away for a few days to Kuratau, on the shore of Lake Taupo, escaping the routines of home. It was great to have a change in pace and landscape, to spend time in the thermal pools so we could warm up in the afternoons before the temperature plummeted in the evening and the thick frost arrived. There was lots of snow on the surrounding hills but the rain held off and we could walk and enjoy the surroundings. On one walk through to Pukawa I was delighted to find inspiration right under my feet - the colours of the stones on the lake front so similar to the Pigeon Holes piece that I was working on in the evenings in front on the fire, while the children played yet another rowdy game of Monopoly.

I hadn't planned to stitch around every stone or block on the quilt but I am beginning to develop a rhythm to the stitching, so I'm not so sure now just when I will stop.

It's also fun to work though some of the threads that have been sitting around for a while waiting to be used - I've been amused to see how many I have that fit into the piece absolutely perfectly. It's either serendipity or I'm in a bit of a rut with the thread purchasing - I think I'll go with the former!