Sustaining Stitches

Fabulous Fabric - Finally

2011-12-11T13:02:00.001+13:00

The long awaited parcel from the US arrived this week. Seldom have I been so pleased to receive a text message from my daughter while at work! It was the cause of much celebration and swept me into almost immediate activity. Luckily for me I had the next day off so I spent most of it in the sewing room.

First up I had to finish off the Frida Khalo blocks. Having made 20 I decided that it really did need to be a bit longer so another 5 were made. For a change I had the perfect amount of fabric to cut the feature blocks - it could not have been a single block larger. It was clearly my time for something to go my way.

Having completed that and taken a quick photo, they have now all been taken off the wall and will now wait until sometime in the new year. They still all need to have borders put onto them I think. Time will tell.

By way of comparison, one of my friends has used the same block for a quilt for her granddaughter. Marilyn's version is just about as different from mine as you can imagine - pale and soft with the most wonderful dogs and cats featuring in the blocks. It's hard to imagine it not being adored.

So with Frida tidied away I turned back to the medallion quilt and am delighted to have the top finished without too many further incidents. I did have a heart stopping moment when I thought I had cut the precious border fabric too short but I'm pleased to report it fitted perfectly, once I had removed an errant extra row of checkerboard which had somehow found its way onto one side. How I managed that I will never know - but as I said this quilt has certainly presented me with some challenges.

And I know they are far from over yet - I have one month to get this quilted before the big birthday. It's only 85 inches or 2.2meters square and there's only the small matter of Christmas and a beach holiday standing in between me and its completion....

Oh yes - ever quilt certainly has its challenges!

Fun with Frida Khalo

2011-12-01T14:27:00.001+13:00

It's driving me to distraction waiting for the border fabric to arrive, especially as I can't track its movements. So in order to give myself something else to focus on, I've started on my Frida Khalo project. For once this is something purely for me - it's going to adorn the fold out bed in my sewing room when I need to transform it for guests. The best part of this is that I really don't need to be thinking about what someone else would like - I can just please myself!

The quilt really began with a book that my daughter gave me for my birthday this year - The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. It's about a young man who lives in the household of Frida Khalo and Diego Rivera when Lev Trotsky arrives to live with them. No sooner was I into it than I kept coming across fabric with Frida on it - one thing led to another, as it does.

The fabric, called 'Frida's Garden' by Alexander Henry fabrics, is quite something, although it doesn't quite capture the famous mono-brow. It has a wild and verdant feel about it and has monkeys and parrots which featured in Khalo's self portraits. It's a large scale print so I decided it would well suit this very simple block, Venetian Dreams which was designed by Janet Houts. The unfinished block is 15 1/2 inches square so it certainly comes together quickly.

To compliment Frida I've been cutting into a couple of rather treasured bundles of fabrics - one of Guatemalan fabric that I bought from Priscilla Bianchi when she taught at the Symposium in Palmerston North in 2007, and the other a group of Indonesian ikat fabrics that I bought in 2009 when we held Symposium in Wellington. It's a marvellous thing how fabric matures while waiting to be used in just the right project! As I am sure you will know Frida Khalo usually dressed in tradition Mexican textiles and clothes, so I felt she would enjoy sharing space with other traditional fabrics.

There are also little amulets sprinkled across the fabric - depictions of traditional Mexican metal amulets in the shape of hands, burning hearts, eyes and arms. Sacred charms to ward off evil, these were also often incorporated into her paintings. I'm making sure these little amulets are shining through the quilt. It's led me to reading up more on Frida's art and life - such a fascinating, feisty woman.

I've made 12 blocks so far - another 8 and that will probably be enough. I'll keep you posted.

Remembering Kate Sheppard with Gratitude

2011-11-26T13:54:00.001+13:00

Today is voting day for the 2011 General Election here in New Zealand. We are voting on who we want to represent us in Parliament for the next 3 years and on whether we want to keep the voting system we currently have (MMP - Mixed Member Proportional representation) or change it to another system.

I walked dawn to our local school in beautiful sunshine, voted without having to wait in a line, smiled and said hello to others from my community who were doing likewise and walked home again, reflecting how easy it was and how lucky we are. How lucky that it is so simple and that it is such a peaceful experience to be able to have your say - unlike the experience for people in many countries around the world who expose themselves to violence and danger by expressing their opinion on who should run their country.

And I reflected on the remarkable achievement of Kate Sheppard, our most prominent suffragette who fought hard to gain the vote for women here in New Zealand - the first country in the world to extend the vote to women. A couple of weeks ago when Barak Obama was in Australia he mistakenly commented that Australia was the first country. Let's make no mistake about this - it was New Zealand and it happened in 1893. South Australia followed soon after in 1894 but it wasn't extended across Australia as a whole until 1902. These things are important when you are from the smaller country!

Kate Sheppard is on our $10 note and is thereby part of our daily lives.

Kate rests in Addington Cemetery in Christchurch, her headstone flanked by two Camellia trees, the flower of which was used as the symbol of the suffragettes. This photo was taken when I was in Christchurch over the New Year. Even at that time there were many damaged gravestones from the earlier earthquake in September last year. I know that there has been much more damage to headstones from the February quake - I hope that Kate's headstone is still standing proud. She was a remarkable woman.

Others have written more eloquently than me on the importance of voting - Dana Fisher, The Quilted Librarian, wrote a great post last year urging us all to remember the sacrifices that many women have made in the past so that we can vote with such ease today. She also gave a link to a fascinating piece on the American suffragettes and their struggles, which I had no idea about until I read her blog.

If you are in New Zealand make sure you take this three yearly opportunity to get out and vote - and remember with gratitude Kate Sheppard and the other women who fought so hard to give us this right and to help make us world leaders.

More Luscious Distressed Threads

2011-11-24T21:56:00.001+13:00

Here's a few more shots of the great fabrics that found their way back to my sewing room from Distressed Threads - thought you'd like to see more.

No surprise that it was the indigo that caught my eye first....

What I love most is the texture through the colour - flat dyed fabric doesn't really do it for me, but throw in some texture and it's irresistable.

Whistling While I Wait

2011-11-22T17:19:00.001+13:00

Still no sign of my border fabric but not being one to sit around I've been out and stitching at a new event that was held in Wellington last weekend, Fabrications. Organised by Capital Quilters, it was a great day with all the local Guilds represented, quilts on display and lots of wonderful vendors who hauled there merchandise into Lower Hutt to tempt us all.

The merchants put in lots of work to bring their wonderful fabrics, books and threads to the event to tempt us so I really felt that it was the least I could do to lighten their load for their return journey - doesn't that make me sound selfless?

Fortunately no-one there had the border fabric I am waiting for so instead I was able to be seduced by silk -

this is part of a silk sari which I will use as a scarf and Sari Twist which is made from sari remnants. I couldn't go past the colour - it will look wonderful couched down on something....

And then there were the fabrics from Distressed Threads - these had been bought up from Christchurch especially for the event. I'm sure you all know that Christchurch has had a really tough year with the earthquakes and the constantly changing landscapes of their city, so I thought the least I could do was to buy some of their wonderful fabrics.

I was thinking how good these would go with Japanese kimono fabrics to create something quite different and before I knew it I'd pulled together this rather luscious collection to come home with me.

Once I took them back to our Guild stand to show them off we decided that really the Christchurch people needed more of a hand from us so we bought a collection of 18 fabrics to use as raffle prizes at Guild over the next few months. We were exclaiming with delight as we made our selection, causing much hilarity with those watching us.

These are a few of my favourites just to whet your appetite

But wait there's more - then I spotted a few squares which just called out Freida Khalo to me - this is a project that's on the waiting list. Something for our guest room rather than something to give away, just for variety..

I ran into a friend there - Clare Smith from Textiles on the Edge who told me that I need to post more often on the blog. She is right.... so this next picture is especially for her.....I spent Sunday afternoon sewing badges onto Scout blankets. My boys went to jamboree in January and both bought back an absurdly large number of badges which I have been steadily ignoring all year. However in the last week the boys started trying to stitch them on themselves by hand - after watching them for a couple of nights I caved in and did them all myself on the machine. 66 badges on one blanket and 103 on the other.

I never want to see another scout badge looking for a blanket ever again. See what you made me do Clare!!!

Every Quilt Has Its Challenges

2011-11-08T17:28:00.001+13:00

Those were the sage words of my daughter when she had a look at the progress of my medallion quilt. I had come up with the block design for the next border and having made enough to go down one side of the quilt I had reluctantly concluded that they were too heavy and too large and would result in the quilt becoming far too big.... don't you hate it when that happens!

So I unpicked them, saving the central blocks for the back, and made another checker border that we both agreed looked much better - my daughter was unable to restrain herself from reminding me that this was what she had suggested in the first place.... she was right, she had.... seemed fair enough in retrospect.

So then I decided that the quilt really could be finished off with a border of my feature fabric..... only to discover I didn't have enough to cut borders without joins, which the fabric certainly didn't lend itself to.

Of course at this point you won't be at all surprised to learn that the shop I bought the fabric from has sold out of it.... so after an online search over the weekend I am now waiting eagerly at the letterbox for more fabric to arrive from the US....

I rest my case - every quilt has its challenges.

Making a Medallion - Border by Border

2011-10-21T19:09:00.000+13:00

It's not just the eco-dying that has been keeping me occupied this week - it's also my applique attempt which is gradually being transformed into a medallion quilt. I had to make an emergency trip to my local quilt store this afternoon for more cream fabric and thread and it was pointed out to me by one of my stitching buddies who works there that I had been most remiss in not updating progress on this quilt - so here it is, to bring a smile to your face Marilyn.

Fortunately the friend who will be getting this quilt is not a textile person so doesn't read my blog with any regularity, apart from when she knows I am stitching something for her daughters. However, if you are reading, and can work out who you are, you should just stop now! Consider yourself warned.

So here is the progress to date - I started with a green border and moved onto a chequer-board.

Then came a border of a beautiful floral designed by Anna Griffin that is the basis of the colour choices for the quilt. My daughter picked it out as she was convinced that it was just the thing that would be loved by the intended recipient. It will end in a wider border of this feature fabric, quite a traditional English medallion quilt which I hope will be perfect, even if the applique isn't quite.

The most recent addition over the last two days are the 32 friendship stars. My friend and I have only been friends for 28 years, but I was prepared to extend her the benefit of the doubt for the sake of the design. At this point I think we will be able to hang in there for four more years....sounds suspiciously like a Presidential campaign slogan!

And now I am drawing breath and trying to decide what next. I think it will probably be another cream border so that the stars look like they are floating on the surface of the quilt. I'm hoping that's what it will look like anyway and not like a big bandage.

It's been great to have a week out of the office, with far more opportunity that normal for stitching. At this rate the January deadline won't be too much a stretch - although I probably shouldn't speak too soon!

Tea and Eucalyptus

2011-10-17T21:35:00.000+13:00

My first venture into eco dyeing has rapidly led to my second - I fear this could rapidly become habit forming.

This time it was a second go for my eucalyptus leaves and to liven things up I popped in a few tea bags.

The results were really impressive and were enhanced by the dye migration from the coloured silk which was left stitched onto the sleeve lining on this kimono silk.

It should probably come as no surprise that the undyed piece is currently bubbling away.

I'm almost certain that it will bear little relation to its pre-dyed companion sleeve. Time will tell.

The First Big Reveal

2011-10-12T19:16:00.000+13:00

Time to reveal my dyeing results - it was all a big experiment and one we all enjoyed. Even my boys were fascinated by just what I was doing and what the results were going to be. The wool I used to tie the bunble truned from a bright blue to a olive green - very effective. I'm sure I should have used significantly less that I did - next time...

I thought the silk looked wonderful up against the back wall - the peeling paint looking just as distressed as the variable colours across the silk.

Now that the silk has dried I'm chain stitching around the ghostly figures of the gum leaves. It's a very relaxing thing to do, outlining the odd partial shapes. The ghost leaves intrigue me, particularly as they came from the local cemetry - like whispers of the past.

Not quite sure where it is taking me yet - time will tell but I have a few ideas bubbling away. In the meantime I'm planning the next boil up to see what else I can conjure up out of next to nothing. Lots of fun - many thanks to India Flint for the ideas, inspiration and information in her two beautiful books. They are a feast to the eyes and imagination.

Less thinking, More doing

2011-10-09T22:24:00.001+13:00

I decided that this was the weekend that I would finally stop all the good intentions, stop the thinking and actually get started on the applique quilt.

And I am pleased to say that I have succeeded - it appears that I can actually do machine applique, even if I have have spent months convincing myself that it would be beyond me.

Clearly this is one of my real obstacles to creating - over thinking things instead of just getting on and doing it.

So while I was at it I also got cracking and put together my first ever bundle of dyeing - its sitting in the pot cooling down as I type. Eucalyptus leaves gathered from Karori Cemetery and rolled onto some kimono silk that I have had patiently waiting for just this purpose.

Can't wait to get it unwrapped tomorrow and see what has happened now that I have finally got through the thinking stage and onto the doing.

Needle Still In Hand

2011-09-18T21:40:00.000+12:00

I'm pleased to report that slow but steady progress is being made on the stitching front at my house - it's not world shattering but from where I stand it's better than nothing.

I have finished the bonnet and it will soon be heading off to Australia to join the Roses from the Heart project. The bonnets have been used in a variety of installations and some have even travelled to the regions that the women were originally deported from for commemorative services. If you are interested in how they are used, and I know Stitchbird was asking, you can find out more here. There are currently activities going on in Ireland with bonnets being taken there to remember the women who were departed from there to Tasmania.

You can't see too much of the rather nice cloth the bonnet is perched above (on a lamp - for some strange reason I couldn't find a ready volunteer to model the bonnet) so here's a better shot. The cloth is one of my more recent acquisitions and my first green cloth. I couldn't resist the cottages.

And today I started some experimentation for a new quilt. One of my dearest friends is having a milestone birthday early next year - I have never made her a quilt so now is the time. Part of the reason I never have is that deep down I know she would like something traditional, with applique - not my usual thing at all. I have humm-ed, haa-ed and generally prevaricated but finally been convinced by stitching friends that I can do this. So today I made a start - a bit of practice to perfect my machine applique and preferred stitching method before I get onto the real piece. Stay tuned - this will be a true test of friendship!

Preparing for Spring... with Yarn Bombing

2011-08-30T21:01:00.006+12:00

There is a wonderful sculpture on the Wellington Waterfront, Solace in the Wind, by English artist Max Patte. We have been known to have the odd breeze around here, from time to time, and this sculpture leans into it, right at the water's edge just near Te Papa.

Someone has clearly taken pity on him and got him fully kitted out in anticipation of spring, which is after all just around the corner. Just brilliant!I hope he's left in his garments for some time...

Picking up my needle again

2011-08-28T14:51:00.004+12:00

I've been in a bit of a stitcher's slump of late - busy with work and research projects, too cold to venture up to the sewing room - there are always lots of excuses. However last week I discovered that I could still remember how to thread my needle (what a relief!) and got started on a bonnet.... not quite my usual thing. There is of course a back story....

For some years now there has been a major project underway in Tasmania, Australia to remember the women who were departed there as convicts from the late 18th to mid 19th century. During that time over 75,000 convicts were deported, mainly from England, with 25,266 of them women. A recent article in Quilt Mania reminded me of the project and got me digging around in some of our family history.

Christina Henri has been researching the lives of women convicts since 2003 and in 2007 launched an ambitious project, the Roses from the Heart Memorial. She is aiming to have 25,000 bonnets made for the project and is within 5,000 of reaching her target.

The pattern supplied for the project is an 1860 cloth bonnet which was worn by convict women while they were working as assigned servants. It was chosen as a symbol to connect descendants with their convict ancestors and to commemorate the life and contribution of each of those women to the new land they found themselves in. Each bonnet is embroidered with the name of a convict, the ship they were transported on and the year they arrived in Tasmania. Descendants can make one for their ancestor or a name can be chosen from the remaining list of convict women.

My husband, and of course our children, are descended from two people who were transported to Tasmania so the bonnet I am making is to remember one of these people. Elizabeth Allen, from Warwickshire, was only 19 years old when she was tried and sentenced to deportation and a term of 10 years for stealing a scarf. By today's standards it seems an unimaginably harsh sentence for a relatively minor offence.

She arrived in Hobart on the Margaret in July 1843, after spending 164 days at sea. Elizabeth was described on the ship's list of convicts as a "Class One Needlewoman" with a fair complexion, light brown hair and hazel eyes. She was initially sentenced to the notorious Cascades Female Factory, which is now a historic site.

Elizabeth met and married George White in 1845 and they received their ticket of leave in 1848. George, 18, was from Woolwich and was sentenced to deportation and a term of seven years for stealing a trunk from a coach in 1834. Women tended to received harsher sentenced for comparable offence to men - somehow their crime was judged to be worse, requiring greater moral comdemnation!

George White was transported on the George the Third ship which was wrecked in the mouth of the Derwent River as it arrived in Tasmania. Of the 220 convicts who sailed from England, only 81 made it to landfall alive, with many drowning within sight of land.
George and Elizabeth migrated with their five children from Tasmania to Dunedin, New Zealand, in the mid 1860s. They came to make a fresh start as free settlers, without the stigma of their convict origins which they found they were unable to shed in Australia. They are buried together in the North Dunedin cemetery - will will be visiting them when we travel south later in the year.

The embroidery I've done on the bonnet for Elizabeth isn't perfect. The rose is noticeably off centre (I have no idea how I managed this) but after much fussing and trying to make it look more balanced I decided to leave it as it is. Elizabeth wasn't perfect - none of us are - so I don't think she would have minded too much. Today there's no stigma in being descended from convicts, in fact it's quite the reverse in Australia. And that, it seems to me, is perhaps the greatest honour that can be done these women - to remember them, in all their imperfections, and still be proud of the lives they led.

But wait.... there's more

2011-08-16T16:28:00.005+12:00

This was the view across from our house this morning - we've never seen snow on these hills in 15 years. My brother in law, a genuine weather forecaster, tells us that what is remarkable about this is that we are now in day three of snow, and it looks like there is another two days still to come.... rest easy - I will spare you any more. However, I thought you might like to see more of the treasures I found in the South Island. These came from a tiny town called Murchison - it has a population of about 800 which is mainly focused on 'white water' tourism. Clearly there were plenty of stitchers there in the past.

I particularly like the cloth with lilac on it. There are two of these, so they were clearly by the same stitcher. And of course this is one of my handbags from Nelson - made in Huntly, NZ from deer. I thought it was irresistible and will have to guard it from my daughter who has already has eyes on it.

This was the other that begged to come back to Wellington. It was made in New York and the owner told me she had only recently bought it back from a buying trip in the US. She said she was approached several times while still in the US with people wanting to buy it straight off her arm. I've used it a few times already and adore it. I feel a new collection coming on...

My last treasure from Nelson was this lovely laundry bag. If only the family washing was so glamorous! I will have to improve my act to keep up with this.

The Only Story in Town

2011-08-15T23:08:00.008+12:00

There really is only one story in the whole of NZ at the moment - the worst polar storm in a decade. Here in wellington that's meant snow. It has caused big excitement in my house, which will no doubt sound odd to some.

However to put it in context - we haven't had snow in the Wellington hill suburbs since 1995 when my now 16 year old daughter was only 3 months old. At the time my husband was so excited that he wanted to get her up out of her cot to show her the snow. Ever the spoil-sport I woudn't let him! This time the children were all up and couldn't be held back - hard to tell but this is them sliding down the hills at the park next door on their boogie boards. It was almost the best thing ever to happen at home to them.And if that wasn't enough, today it snowed to sea level - right through the main streets of Wellington. It was quite surreal to sit on the 14th floor looking out the window at the snow coming down on Lambton Quay. Those who have lived in colder climes were finding the Wellingtonians very amusing. Tomorrow the schools may well be closed and I have already decided that I won't be going anywhere, except perhaps to my sewing room once I have got some work out of the way. My sewing room has not seen me for two months, except for me to deposit things in it. It's long overdue for a bit of activity - as is this blog....

We had a week away in the South Island over recent school holidays and stayed in a lovely cottage in Nelson that was built in 1860 - it had the perfect curtains for a holidaying quilter in the dinning room.I also found the most wonderful shop in Nelson, Eclectic Antiques, which had lots of textiles, vintage clothes and highly desirable jewellery. I threw caution to the wind and came home with a few treasures. Apparently I now have a "problem" with handbags to add to my well know "problem" with embroideries and textiles. I think diversification is a good thing - after all it would be dreadful to be too predictable.

Moving on .... to the shiney, shiney

2011-06-16T14:45:00.004+12:00

The label is on the quiltand the binding is looking great.

It's even been shown off at Guild, so it's time to pass this onto it's new owner and for me to move onto my next project.

In the meantime I have managed to very successfully distract myself with some lovely shiney things that I found on Trade Me. Today the parcel finally arrived in the letter box, revealling

many beautiful ribbons and belts,

adorned here and there with wonderful vintage buckles,

and lots of shiney, sparkly things. My friend's don't call me a magpie for nothing! My daughter is still to arrive home from school but I have a feeling something from this parcel could well end up adorning her new ball dress.... I'll keep you posted.

The Inevitable Delay

2011-06-02T20:20:00.004+12:00

Just when I thought I had a clear run to actually finishing this quilt I have struck a seemingly immovable obstacle - our cat... The family tell me I am just too soft - but who could move him?

It's a long weekend here. I am eternally hopeful he will move - if not I'm planning a trip to Asian Gallery for a wee browse. After all, I haven't been there for almost a month. This time I will try to remember to take the camera....

Happy, Happy, Happy

2011-05-26T13:27:00.007+12:00

I feel its somehow not quite proper to say this... but I'm feeling very pleased with myself. After so many weeks of gnawing anxiety the quiting went like an absolute dream. No puckers, no wrinkles, no need to restretch or repin. Couldn't have possibly hoped for a better result.

The lessons I have taken from this quilt (because there are always lessons to learn - even after 20 years) is that pinning to within an inch of quilt's life works, that stitching through the joins of large pieces works and (probably most importantly) using loosely woven wools on the backing may create more work than it is worth, even if they look and feel divine.

I'm left with an awful lot of ends to stitch into the quilt - but that happens when you really want to quilt lines in only one direction in one part of a quilt.

And after all, there are so many worse things to be doing in winter than sitting in front of a fire stitching threads into quilts.... At this rate I will be able to gift it several month's in advance of the recipient's next birthday - always good to keep the gifts within the calender year in question! All makes me feel happy, happy, happy.

My heart is in my mouth

2011-05-15T22:11:00.005+12:00

I think on of the reasons that the kimono quilt I am currently working on has taken me soooo long is because I've been dreading getting to the quilting. Last time I tacked something similar it was a shambles as it kept moving - here's a wonderful reminder of just how awful it was.... A living nightmare I can't face again.I think I had to restretch and repin this three times in the course of quilting and it still wasn't marvellous. Fortunately the recipients weren't that familiar with quilts - either that or they were just far too polite to comment.

Anyway I've been dreading having to go through it all again and was determined that this time it should be different. So I've started by putting more pins in this quilt than I ever have before... I have used practically every safety pin I own - and that's a fairly considerable number.

My second strategy has been to quilt in the ditch through every seam line in the quilt in the hope this will hold it a bit more stable. So far I have only put in 10 lines of vertical quilting, so the jury is still out - in the meantime I have my heart in my mouth.

If this doesn't work I'll be swearing off quilting big pieces with stretchy wool kimono fabrics for life! Famous last words.....

A Voice from the Past

2011-05-07T17:34:00.005+12:00

I've had this sampler for a little while but this week was the first time I'd really started researching the background to it. As you can probably see it was made by Florence Shilling in 1895. It was made at Donaldson's Hospital - I've always wondered what this was but discovered this week that it was / is a school in Edinburgh. Founded in 1851 the school focused on the education of poor children in the city and specialised in education for deaf and mute children. Since 1938 the school, now called Donaldson's College, has been exclusively for deaf students. The building the school was originally in was just amazing, although ultimately unsuited to educating children. During WWII the school was used as a prisoner of war camp which housed German and Italian prisoners. The building was recently sold and in 2008 the school moved to a new purpose built facility.

The original building is now being developed into apartments - and to think my little sampler has found its way from this extraordinary place to the other side of the world, to a house where there is another principal of a special school (my husband) who has just been able to open a new facility for his students. Clearly serendipity at work here.

And by way of warning - see if you can spot the image of part of the sampler in the photo below. It's the cardboard that the sampler has been sitting on for an unknown number of years. If you look closely you can see how the acid in the board has leached colour out of the sampler leaving an image on it.

Needless to say now that I know more of its history and condition I'm on the case so it can be framed in an acid-free environment. Hopefully it will then last another 116 years and Florence's creative voice will continue to be seen and heard.

Slowly, slowly wins the race

2011-04-25T21:14:00.005+12:00

Well I know I certainly wouldn't win any races at the moment but just to prove to myself that I can inch towards completion here is the next step in my kimono quilt - the top is completed - and I am rather pleased. Particularly with this segment of it, which appeals to me for a reason I can't quite put my finger on... I think it might be the floral chrysanthemum next to the more structured fabrics.

And just to show that kimono still have a hold on me here is a beauty that recently moved to my house from my favourite kimono shop, Asian Gallery. The owner told me that he thinks it would have been made in the 1920s or 30s and was designed to be worn under other kimono as a layer for warmth. Most interestingly is the fabric that the body of the kimono is made from - it has a heavy woven cotton exterior which is quite slubby, while the reverse of the fabric has a brushed warm feel almost like a well worn flannelet sheet. Just fabulous - and of course with beautiful silk sleeves. Just fabulous.... and who of us can honestly resist a bit of fabric fabulosity?

Back to Basics - Back to Bindings

2011-03-15T20:29:00.003+13:00

Working on bindings just seems to work like a charm for me. It gets me back behind the sewing machine after untimely lapses, gives me purpose, and reconnects me with quilts. I've been doing rather more working than sewing of late and this pile is helping to bring me back towards balance.

It's the latest group of refuge quilts that I have bought home to sew bindings on. This year as well as providing quilts to the Wellington Women's Refuge our Guild is also sending a consignment down to Christchurch, where I understand the refuge has lost half of its safe houses in the earthquake.It's rather nice to have a quilt on the lap of an evening now the weather is starting to turn, and its definitely comforting as I watch yet more disasters unfold of an evening around the world. It's all rather mind boggling.... This is my favourite - I hope it brings comfort to someone who needs it.

That's what I try to breathe into every stitch.

Long live the needlewomen and their needles

2011-03-04T21:44:00.007+13:00

I haven't really been feeling much like blogging over the last week - the events in Christchurch have been far too distracting, or maybe that should be absorbing and upsetting. For some reason tonight though I remembered this rather odd photo I took a few weeks ago to show you. I've been doing some work over the last couple of months that has involved me in doing some stitching - my children find it almost unbelievable that I am being paid to stitch. Children are so leveling!

I've been learning how to wield these very fine curved needles. I'm far from an expert but am getting better at it. They are surgical needles (breathe now - I am not stitching in any medical theatres - no humans have been harmed in the making of this blog!) and you can see how small they are lying next to the betweens needle that I have also been using.

What I coincidentally discovered,while watching a rather odd documentary on the history of surgical developments (don't ask how I came to find this, let alone kept watching!) was that a French doctor pioneered stitching of blood vessels after watching a President of France be stabbed and bleed to death. It inspired him to look at ways to stitch up tears in blood vessels.

And who taught him? An expert French needlewoman, of course.

He went to her to learn how to stitch and after many,many months of practice he moved onto experimenting on dead animals and eventually people. This was over one hundred years ago. But isn't it good to know that the skills of wielding a small needle so effectively have helped save so many people over the last hundred years or so - and over the last week in Christchurch.

Long live the needlewomen and their needles!

Lost for Words

2011-02-23T23:13:00.003+13:00

At times like this it is impossible to know what to say - the devastation in Christchurch is heartbreaking. While I have heard that my dear friends are safe I know that for many, many people around New Zealand and the world they will not be so fortunate.

My heart goes out to them - it's going to take a lot of love, listening and cups of tea to even come close to getting through this....

Vintage Eye Candy

2011-02-11T11:18:00.005+13:00

We had the wonderful Leimomi speaking at Wellington Quilts Guild last night about exoticism and escapism in post WWII textiles - she had a great slide show and fabric for us all to pore over and lust after. It was great - if you are looking for a speaker on matters textile she is hard to go past.

One of our members bought along a piece of her favourite fabric that she has always been unable to cut and which is destined to be the back of a quilt. It fitted perfectly into the theme of the evening... Feast your eyes on this.... I love the cat on the chair watching the artist at work

and of course what better than the art museum for inspiration. Fantastic!

Last Chance

2011-02-03T22:06:00.003+13:00

I have it on very good authority that you only have one more week to get into Te Papa to the Enriching Fashion exhibition if you want to see this wonderful embroidered waistcoat (click the link for all the details). Made in France in around 1780, it is well worth the trip in to see this item alone.

Next week it will be taken off exhibition, along with another six items from Enriching Fashion, to be rested for at least 5 years, so it can recover from the pressure imposed by the last 6 months of public exposure.

Sometimes I feel like it would be nice to rest for a while - although maybe not that long!

So what do you think?

2011-01-26T21:34:00.005+13:00

I cast hesitation to the winds last night and had a go at pinning up the gate form I had in mind for this quilt as a trial. I think I like it.... but then started thinking today that it was maybe a bit too obvious (in a bad way).... What do you think?

Back Behind the Machine

2011-01-25T13:34:00.004+13:00

We had a horrid cold and wet day over the weekend (it was like winter had arrived 4 months early) so I did what quilters do in these circumstances and took to my sewing room and the growing pile of kimono that I have been steadily unpicking.

I decided I wanted this next quilt to be similar but different to the kimono quilt I made before Christmas - siblings rather than twins. So this one has some purple in it and some different fabrics and may well end up with a different structural shape. This was the first try at pining it out but my daughter's verdict was that it was too busy and needed less variation.

I tended to agree - she has a good eye. Must be hanging around looking at so many quilts over the yearsSo this is the revised version. I have put together the central panels and still have the side pieces to do.I'm also tempted to put a red border at the top to give the impression of a Japanese Shinto shrine gate - Daughter thought it should just have a red border all around it. But who knows I may rebel and just do what I want.... talk about daring!

Treasures, Treasures, Treasures

2011-01-19T19:27:00.009+13:00

Confession time.... When you are a collector there are few things more enjoyable than finding treasures that you just have to have - especially when they are actually within your budget! I must admit that I didn't actually set out to look for any of these items - somehow they found me... Given that first up is a pair of Edwardian women's bloomers, I thought you needed to know that!

I saw these and was just drawn to them. They are of the softest cotton and the lace on them is fantastic
including these medallions on the side of each leg. I think what really drew me to them is that I had recently being doing some research on early Wellington and had been reading about a ball that was held at Government House in 1901 to mark the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. It was just a few months after the death of Queen Victoria, decolletage was all the rage and strict dress rules were in place for those attending. One woman who attended the reception wrote this to her sister -

At the evening reception a chamberlain stands at the end of the corridor and turns back all ladies whose low dresses are kept from falling off by more than one little strap! Invalids and elderly ladies may get a doctor's certificate to keep them more dressed. It sounds tom foolery and I wish a prince would arise with enough originality and commonsense to make a new departure, at least in the colonies.

What an incredible thing - going to the doctor to get an exception from having to wear a low cut dress - and all the time you are wearing bloomers like these underneath! And to think this is almost 10 years after women in New Zeland got the vote. It just amazes me - suffice to say the bloomers had to come home....

Then last week I found this, in amongst a group of doilies (I needed to restock after making my daughter the blanket!) This is filet crochet - made to mark the Anzac's in WWI. I couldn't believe it. Such a thrill to have
increased only by the discovery last night of an almost identical piece in Jennifer Isaacs' book The Gentle Arts: 200 Years of Australian Women's Domestic & Decorative Arts, which Gina put me onto. Isaacs comments that many of these pieces were made with patriotic motifs and that they remain a legacy of the women who were forced to stay at home and worry about their sons who were far away fighting. You probably can't clearly see the text from the book - it says that the piece was made by Mary Ann Bridge who lived in Scone, New South Wales. She had 13 children (13!!) and her three youngest sons served in WWI. I hope they all came home to their mother.

And lastly, something that clearly called to me because of the time I am spending with kimono at the moment - a wonderful apron from the 1930's. After all the work in the embroidery it was never finished and hasn't had the ties put onto it.

She is far too beautiful to confine to a cupboard or drawer after 80 years of waiting. Rest assured I will be putting ties on it and wearing it with delight - when serving something small, dainty and non-staining to guests! Maybe over gin and tonics on the deck.... can't get into too much trouble with that!

Inspiration Abounds

2011-01-10T21:37:00.004+13:00

I have been ruined in the last week - I have spent it tripping around the South Island, catching up with old friends, eating too much, laughing loudly and seeming to find inspiration at every turn. It's been wonderful - have a look...

Fantastic rock shapes in Kaikoura waiting to be materialise in a quilt

I know this man looks real but he is actually a sculpture by Ron Merck currently at the Christchurch Art Gallery - there to remind me to always wonder just what will be coming next in life

A fabulously memorable meal was had in this restaurant and as well as laughing so much I cried I couldn't help marveling at this wall - another quilt in the waiting

Clearly I have a "thing" about these colours and forms as there is clear repetition in my photos even though they were taken in vastly different locations

So just for a change here is the view I enjoyed on New Years Day - vibrant blue with the best of NZ summer - pohutukawa red

I have textile treasures to share too - but they will have to wait for the next post....

I hope the start to the new year has been as inspiring and vibrant for you as it has been for me!

More Kimono Hapiness

2010-12-29T16:53:00.004+13:00

Some more kimono moved to my house today... Some are silk and some are wool....

And it seemed to me that they were just asking to be made into a blue, orange and green quilt,

that one day soon will be going to live with friends in London to belatedly celebrate their marriage. I need to get unpicking....

All's Well That Ends Well

2010-12-26T15:04:00.004+13:00

I seem to have had an unusually busy run up to Christmas this year - probably had something to do with my getting not one, but two contracts for work, which started in the weeks before Christmas and needed some urgent attention. After several months of not working at all it meant that the inevitable last minute preparations were somewhat squeezed. I found myself promising that next year would be different.... where have I heard that before?

However all seemed to get completed in time, even if there was a fair bit of stitching completed on Christmas Eve, once I had our daughter safely out of the house. So, the kimono wedding quilt is fully quilted and bound and just waiting for a label.... I'm very pleased with it and am sure there will be a few more of these to be made. I had an idea a few days out from Christmas that I could do something with blankets and doilies to create a picnic blanket for an extended family member. However, my daughter found me in the sewing room as I was in the early stages and declared that it was far too good to leave the house as she loved it and wanted it for her room.... What can you say? The next day she was asking what I was doing with the blankets and I told her that I had put them away as I had no time to work on it. In reality I was frantically stitching every time I could get her off the property or into bed.

The result was this blanket which is now on her bed - she was delighted, so it was an effort well worthwhile.

I joked to one of my friends that I am planning a book to be published next your - 101 Things to do with Old Doilies.

Just as well I have so many of them waiting to be played with and made into something new...

And I've also been hard at it with the angels - I think I've made around a dozen of these this year. There's not too much left of my baby blanket, which they were all made from - I will have to make sure I make one each for the children before it is all used up.

We had a lovely Christmas - lunch for 12 was a smaller affair than we have had in recent years, but a good time was had by all.

Best wishes for a restful holiday season to you all.

Kimono in Progress

2010-12-07T18:48:00.003+13:00

One of the marvellous things about quilting is that there is always something to learn.... and I am certainly learning with this quilt. Using different types of fabrics in one quilt, wool, cotton and silk and with these often having different weights, it's been giving me real headaches as I have quilted it. I'm pleased with how it looks but it is moving so much that I have had to re-pin it several times already as I have worked on it. Just look at the rippling...

I think next time I work on something with such different types of fabric I will invest in the spray on glue so I can more effectively stick the layers together and stop (or at least minimise) the movement. Lots of people swear by it - and its got to be better than this has been.

As light relief I've made a couple of Christmas angels....

If only quilts could be this quick and easy!

Kimono Loveliness

2010-11-24T08:50:00.007+13:00

I mentioned in my last post that I have been occupying myself with unpicking kimono. In the process I have discovered that I owned rather more than I thought I did - maybe they have been breeding up in my sewing room!

Jacky asked me where I had come by them - and there in lies a tale. We have a wonderful shop here in Wellington called Asian Gallery. Its down a little lane in Kilbirnie and it is a veritable treasure trove of all manner of things Japanese, but most particularly of kimono, obi and other textiles. The owner has a licence as a antique dealer in Japan, which is apparently very hard to get, and he is able to buy up all manner of textiles which are not normally seen.

I well remember the first time I ever went there, as I was so overcome by the sight of all the kimono that I started hyperventilating and had to leave. There are literally hundreds of kimono in the tiny shop and the vast bulk of them sell for a mere NZ$25 - that's cheaper than the price of a tee-shirt. My hyperventilating was bought on by the realisation that it was impossible to make rational buying decisions faced with such variety and beauty at such reasonable prices.

The kimono that I have been unpicking were even more of a bargain than this though - they all came from a large collection right inside the door of the shop which are only NZ$5 each. These are all older kimono, some with holes or patches, but others in perfect condition. As you can imagine I find these irresistible whenever I am on that side of town - undoubtedly this is why I seem to have so many. If I take my boys with me when I visit I have to generally bribe them with a treat to ensure they will calmly wait while I wade through the stock - this also raises the average cost per visit! Here is a handful that have all been unpicked since I took this photo and this is my current favourite. It is still to be unpicked and will be kept to go into a quilt for me. I think this one was from the more expensive rack - although this of course is relative given the costs.

To get a look at the actual shop, have a look at this review of Asian Gallery that was written by Leimoni at the Dreamstress. It has masses of tantalising photos....

So what I've been doing with all these wonderful fabrics is of course to put them together for a quilt. This was my initial pin up of the fabrics as I played around with some ideas I had

and this is what the final version of the top looks like. I made a few alterations along the way and decided to go for a relatively consistent palette so took out the floral fabric which has quite purple tones.

I particularly loved the floral designs on the red kimono so have put a couple of larger pieces in to show it off.

Working to a deadline seems to work for me so it won't surprise you to hear this quilt is for a young couple who are marrying in early January - they are honeymooning in Japan, which is what sparked off the idea of a quilt from kimono textiles in the first place. Their wedding is making me truely feel like I must at last be a grown up - I can remeber so vividly the birth of the groom. He was the first child to be born to one of my school friends, and now he is marrying. Where have the years gone?

I have just started quilting it so will post more shortly to show how it is looking. I love working with these textiles - I think I can feel many more of them coming on. Maybe one will even be for my bed. Now there's a novel thought!

Small Is Beautiful

2010-11-23T22:32:00.005+13:00

I had forgotten just how much fun it is to make a small quilt for a new baby. I haven't made a baby quilt for a few years now - all my friends are now past that stage. Infact there was a stage some time ago now that I was producing small baby quilts with such regularity that they were starting to wear me down and I swore off making any more. Happily this seemed to neatly coincide with a drop off in birth rates among close family and friends. But three weeks ago I became an aunt again to a lovely wee lad called Harrison. So of course a quilt was called for. After all, I couldn't have part of my family without one!

I started out with a few new fabrics selected just for this project - here's one of the lovely Japanese fabrics I got from Stitchbird when Lindy came to our Guild last month for sales night. Her fabrics are just lovely - do have a look.
I decided simple was best for Harrison's first quilt so it has all come together quite quickly with nine patches alternating with zoo and car fabrics.

Finished off with a red border

Today I finished quilting it and tomorrow the binding will go on - it will be in the mail before I know it, winging its way to Canberra. While I wish I could be carrying it onto the plane myself to present it to Harrison and his very proud parents, it will be nice to know that within a few days he'll be tucked into his cot in a quilt carrying our love, all the way from Wellington.

In the meantime I've been spending my evenings deconstructing old kimonos for another quilt that is lodging itself into my brain. So far I have taken apart five kimono and have a few more to go yet. I learnt on the weekend that kimono were usually taken apart for washing and then reconstructed. All I can say is that the women responsible for these tasks must have had more success keeping clothing clean that I manage in our family! If not, they must have spent all their time deconstructing and reconstructing them.

Today was the perfect day to get the pieces washed and out into the sunshine. At this rate I should have pieces up onto the design wall for photographing within a matter of days....

Stitching Stories

2010-11-17T19:58:00.005+13:00

I've been steadily working away quilting over the last few days and have made tremendous progress - makes me wonder why its taken me so long it get to this point really! The quilting is making a big difference to the quilt. I thought you might like to have a look... I particularly like toile fabrics so often tuck a few into my quilts. They add a point of interest and a difference from the mainly floral fabrics that I put into these quilts. This woman looks as though she is turning back to her friends to share a story or a joke, while she does to me anyway.

I thought you might also be interested in a couple of the pieces that I have put onto the back. Below is part of the label for the quilt. As you can see it is a large embroidered piece that compliments those on the front. It has the usual things written on it that labels have but on this one I have also drawn a diagram identifying which of the embroideries were done by family members, Mavis and Jill, and also noted their full names and dates of birth and death. All documented so that they won't be lost in the mists of time.

One other piece that I was thrilled to find is this linen tea towel was a calender from the year of my sister-in-laws birth. I embroidered around the date of her birth - you can easily see how late I am running with the quilt! The tea towel was in mint condition - never used at all. And best of all in Kay's favourite colour, orange, as befits a child of the 70's. She hasn't seen this part yet - there have to be a few surprises after all.

Once I've given her the quilt, which won't be long now as I've started stitching down the binding, I might even let her know about the blog!

If you are in Wellington on Saturday Coast to Coast is on in Lower Hutt. Its a great day for quilters from the wider Wellington region to get together for a massive show and tell, speakers and merchants and to catch up with each other. There will be door sales, so do pop in if you are close - I'll be there, with my quilt which will be complete with binding. Hope to see you there.

Springing Into Action

2010-11-12T16:10:00.004+13:00

Mentioning the quilt for my sister-in-law's 40th birthday in my last post has made me finally spring into action and actually do something about getting it finished. Kay had her birthday in May (a mere six months ago!) and she has been patiently waiting for me to get on with it. It's partly the patience which has spurred me on and partly the observation by my ever observant daughter that I should really try to get it to her before my mother-in-law arrives for Christmas.....

The idea for this quilt came several years ago when my mother-in-law sent me a package with several pieces of family embroidery. I was (and still am) collecting them up for a quilt I plan for my daughter. It is still several years away - maybe for her 21st. Anyway I showed the pieces to Kay and she said that the piece below had been on her dressing table when she was a child. It was stitched by her mother's cousin, Mavis Grey, who died last year. This of course gave me the idea for a quilt for her and given she was 40 this year, it seemed the perfect occasion. In the interim I collected a number of similar embroidered sets in the fan shape to add to the quilt.

The other significant family pieces I put into the quilt is the small piece below. This is one of two which are on each side of the main fan. These were stitched by another sister-in-law of mine, who died in 1985. I had met Jill a couple of times but didn't really know her well when she died unexpected. She was the eldest sibling in the family, while Kay is the youngest. Jill's embroidery is lovely - I think we would have got on very well together.

The quilt top has been finished for a while - actually within a couple of weeks of the actual birthday. I never normally show a quilt in progress to the recipient as they change so much through the quilting process. However I felt so bad about not having this finished in time that I did show it to her. I was also worried that my mother-in-law would mention it to her as I had told her that I was putting these special pieces into the quilt for Kay. She was delighted with it and moved to tears as I told her about the providence of these pieces. Can't ask for more than that!

So two days ago I decided that she had waited long enough and started the quilting. Its a big quilt so it be a quick finish, but finished it will be!I think this will be the last of these type of quilts for a while - I would hate to be too predictable. It's my third and I think its time to develop some ideas that have been brewing in my brain for while. But first this needs to be finished. I'm putting a grid onto it, with variable distances of 3/4inch and 1inch gaps, which will result in an irregular grid pattern. It's being quilted with a variegated cotton thread in pale pastel tones - and its starting to look different already, as they do.... I'll keep you posted on progress.

Answers, Experiments and New Ideas

2010-11-10T19:40:00.004+13:00

I had a bit of an adventure away from home last week - a quick trip to Christchurch to see Leonard Cohen (most wonderful concert ever!) and to stay with friends from school. We laughed and laughed, sometimes until we cried, and it was great. A real treat for the soul.

It also provided me with an answer to my recent textile question on the origins of a hanging, for in my friend's home, hanging over the banister, was the exact same stitched hanging. It was in a different colourway and this one was made in silk, rather than wool, but it was definitely the same. They had been gifted it but told me it was from India. I think its done in a densely stitched chain stitch - can you imaginehow long that must take? Still more research required.... I will report in due course.... I had some real fun creatively while I was there. My friend's daughter showed me the materials she had purchased to make herself a fascinator to wear to Canterbury Cup Day yesterday and said she was planning to glue gun it all together somehow. Those words (glue gun) are enough to make me shudder!

Perhaps unsurprisingly the words were out of my mouth offering to help and stitch it before I had even thought about whether I could do it... nothing new here! We experimented with pinning it to get the right shape

and then I stitched it all together for her. It was such fun that had another of her friends turned up with a bag full of materials I suspect I would have started straight onto another version. Infact I find I have ideas for more of them already... Kara was delighted with how it turned out.

And around the fascinator construction I even managed to start a wee piece of stitching for myself. I have the beginnings of an idea for a new quilt - at the moment its really just akin to doodling in thread, but we will see where it goes. I have an idea of a piece with 6 different views of my favourite snake river formation put into one piece so that it will look like aerial snapshots taken on different days. I've been inspired by a painting of Colin McCahon, Six Days in Nelson and Canterbury, which is a great favourite of mine.

We'll see where my stitch doodling leads, although with a new nephew born last week and a very overdue birthday quilt for my sister-in-law still to be completed, I'm anticipating it will be a slow flowing development.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

2010-11-01T16:25:00.005+13:00

It was an exciting discovery last night that the Blogger's Quilt Festival is back on again hosted by Amy at Amy's Creative Side. I took part in this last year and its fun to be able to do so again - infact I had a lovely time last night browsing through some of the quilts that people had already posted and discovering lots of new interesting blogs in the process. So much for an early night!

So here is my quilt for the festival. I blogged about it really recently, finally telling the story behind Friday Morning Coffee, which I made as a celebration of friendship and as a memorial quilt for my dear friend Denys who died two years ago of breast cancer. You can read that post by clicking on the quilt name.

Going through my stash to make this quilt I was pleased to discover that I had so many fabrics that seemed perfect for the quilt - speaking to me about Denys, our friendship, the things and colours she loved. The quilt is full of colours from her clothes, her garden and plants she had, many teacups to remember the cups of coffee we so regularly shared, and even a plaid fabric from a shirt of her husband.

The quilt incorporates embroidered pieces. I just love these and have been putting them into a few quilts that I have made lately - my view is that it is better to have these beautiful pieces sewn into quilts than sitting in cupboards and drawers where they aren't seen. The embroideries in this quilt all belonged to my Aunty Dorothy, my mother's best friend. It seemed so appropriate to use some of her linen's in a quilt which was all about friendship.

The experiment of this quilt was to include some embroidered quotes that speak to me, both about Denys but also about how I believe a good life is lived. These were stitched onto napkins which had also belonged to my Aunty Dorothy - she was a provider of food beyond compare, so these bring to me memories of so many shared family meals from my childhood. When Aunty Dorothy cooked she always made sure there was enough food for twice the number of people she knew were coming - in her house you could never be sure who would arrive for a meal!

So its a pretty special quilt for me, and one I'm glad to be able to share (again) with all of you.

Enjoy the festival - and thank you Amy for providing such a great chance for us all to be able to get together and share.

Expect the Unexpected

2010-10-31T20:29:00.005+13:00

Talk about a holiday treat designed for a textile lover - over the long weekend we headed down to Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes area for a fabulous time away with friends to celebrate a significant birthday. There was sunshine, there was no wind (very important when you live in Wellington!), there was fun, laughter and relaxation.... and in the house I stayed, there were wonderful textile hangings.... One of my friends was able to authoritatively tell me that this one was from Nepal - she had bought a similar one herself many years ago. The owners had painted the wall behind it the perfect tone to accentuate it. I just loved the camels....

This one was more of a puzzle for me - Indian I think, but more research required to be definite. It had wonderful stitched hunting scenes all over it. Hunters, horses and even the hunted animals all look so happy. Great foliage. I can easily see why the purchaser found it irresistible and had to bring it home.

But almost the best thing of all over the last couple of weeks is that I have actually been behind the sewing machine - after months of neglect I am pleased to report that it still works and I still know how to drive it. This was certainly unexpected!

And as you might be able to see I've been doing one of my favourite quilt tasks - sewing on bindings. Every year the Guild I belong to makes quilts for the Wellington Women's refuge and Te Whare Rokiroki, which is the Maori Women's Refuge. We give them around 80 quilts each year so that each women who goes through the refuge is able to choose a quilt to take with them when they leave. There are a very dedicated group of women in the Guild who work hard all year to achieve this - I take my hat off to them.

Stitching on a few bindings is the least I can do!

Promises Are Made to Keep

2010-10-16T18:44:00.007+13:00

Many, many moons ago I promised that I'd tell the story of Friday Morning Coffee, the second quilt I made with lots of embroidered pieces and with tatting to boot. Just like In My Grandfather's Den it is based on a Kaffe Fassett pattern and features lots of wonderful florals that I'd been collecting up for a special something.

It all started off with an idea that I wrote about at the time and called What If. I had the idea of using the embroideries that had belonged to my mother's dearest friend, my Auntie Dorothy, to create a quilt that honoured friendship and the central role that it plays in my life, my mother's life and, I am sure, the life of most people. It is also a memorial quilt.

At the time of having my "what if" thoughts I had very recently lost a close friend of mine, Denys, who had died after 5 years of living with breast cancer. She was a friend that was loved by many, many people and who, two years after her death, is still greatly missed by her friends but especially, by her family.

I met her through the local kindergarten where our eldest children were friends. They are still friends and were recently discussing the possibility of flatting together when at University. That would have made her smile. She was part of the special group of friends that I meet with and have coffee with every Friday morning, hence the name of the quilt which was the idea of my daughter.

My quilt recently hung in the Wellington Quilters' Guild exhibition and was hanging there on the second anniversary of both her death and funeral. This felt right and was my tribute to her. Losing friends is awful, infact it is 1000 times worse than that - but it has also helped me to really confront what is important in life.

For me that is love, friendship and laughter - without those life would be truly impoverished.

New Pathways

2010-10-15T23:36:00.005+13:00

Something strange happened today - I wandered down a few roads arond town, doing chores that needed to be done, and I found myself thinking about this blog and taking a couple of photos. It was a grey day, but the promise of spring was around. Colour, line and form - so pleased it can still catch my eye!
I've had a full on year and blogging, stitching and quilting has all taken a back seat. My focus instead has been on museums, heritage and how that's able to be expressed through textiles. It has really absorbed me and I have loved it. New pathways running ahead....
I'm itching to get back to the sewing room, my sewing machine and the ideas that are running... Can't ask for more than that! I promise there will be more - very soon!

Failure and Success

2010-04-01T12:28:00.003+13:00

I'm simultaneously feeling like I'm failing and succeeding - rather an odd combination. On the one hand regular blogging just seems to be completely beyond me at the moment, or maybe it always has been looking at the frequency I've added to this over time. The reason I do keep going is that I rather like having the record of what I've been making. It's a really easy way of keeping track of it all, especially as much of my output seems to leave my house relatively rapidly on completion. It's also nice hearing from those few people who do look in on the blog - so I figure that I'll keep at it, even if it is sporadic and rather 'failure feeling' inducing.

On the upside I have another completed quilt to show off, which definitely makes me feel successful. Tomorrow I'll be jumping on a plane to head for Brisbane for an Easter with far flung family members and this quilt is a birthday gift made especially for the gathering.Late last night I finished off hand stitching down the binding and now have only the label to go - nothing like cutting it fine! I'm very pleased with the mix of Dutch and Japanese fabrics. I think they work well together and I hope will please the unknowing recipient. I've held onto the Dutch fabrics with this person in mind for almost 15 years, so its certainly been a long time coming!

There's really nothing like a binding to make you feel a success.

Have a marvellous Easter - I'm hoping to pay a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition of hats that has just opened at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane. Who knows what I'll come back inspired to make next! Rest assured, I'll keep you informed, in due course....

There's Nothing Like a Deadline

2010-03-05T20:37:00.003+13:00

It focuses the mind, gets the foot to the sewing machine pedal and before I know it I am almost half way through the blocks for the birthday quilt. Well, it's either the deadline or just plain avoidance of the work I need to get finished up! Only yesterday I told a friend that I was focused on finishing a report I need to write for work and that there'd be no blocks made until it was finished. And here I am a mere day later - and I seem to have finished 16 blocks.... Either way it seems to be working - I'm clearly going to make the quilt deadline.

I also keep pondering this little pile of trimmings. Normally I would toss these without a second thought, but they look so appealing I've been wondering just what I could find to do with them.

These thoughts, I willingly concede, are pure report writing avoidance. So easy to spot the life time habits of a procrastinator!

And onto the new

2010-03-01T20:00:00.004+13:00

Such a fun day today as I was able to give my finished quilt to my friend - I'm pleased to say that she loved it and is thrilled to have something to wrap herself up in. Of course the other marvellous thing about binding, that I didn't mention yesterday, is it means that you are able to get onto the next new thing. And get onto it I have.

For me the next new thing is a quilt for a family member to mark her 70th birthday. I have long thought about making this quilt and was quietly confident I would have enough time as I had a clear two months to get it made - that was until I discovered that we are meeting a month early to celebrate her birthday! So here I sit with only a month ahead - as you can see from the photo I am at a somewhat preliminary stage.

Thank goodness for quilting friends! I confessed to them last week that I wanted to make something featuring the dutch wax batik fabrics that I have hoarded for almost 15 years - and they came up with the design you see. It has an elegant simplicity about it - and I'm eternally hopefully that it will be achievable in the time remaining to me. What more could one ask?

The Beauty of Binding

2010-02-28T21:46:00.007+13:00

Quilting is all about working through the process - designing, choosing fabric, cutting, stitching, choosing more fabric, moving blocks around, rejecting pieces, choosing more fabric, stitching it all together and standing back and mulling on it all until it finally settles and you decide that the top is done.

At this point a whole new process begins - finding fabric for the back, piecing it together and then making the quilt sandwich, stretching, smoothing and pinning. Then the quilting, which of course requires more decisions - hand or machine, gridded or free form. You get the idea.

Much as I love all these processes (except for putting the sandwich together - that is torture!) and the time that each part takes, I think that one of my favourite parts of the process is actually the binding. It marks the final stages of the quilt - the beginning of the end of all those processes. Hand stitching down the binding provides time to spend with the quilt before moving on. Time to think about what has been achieved and the intent behind it.

Today I finished stitching down the binding on the quilt for my friend - I'm hoping I'll be able to give it to her tomorrow.
I'm hoping that she will like it and that it will bring comfort to her and her family.
And I'm also hoping that it will bring a wide smile to her face as she admires the quilt and its beautiful binding.

The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

2010-01-31T21:13:00.006+13:00

or in my case, books it would seem. I have not so much as held a needle in my hand this month. Instead I seem to have been constantly clutching the latest book that I have not been able to put down.

First there was A S Byatt - The Children's Book (fabulous if you are interested in textiles, ceramics, history of the V&A Museum and creativity at the turn of the 20th Century) closely followed by my third reading of Possession. It still sweeps me away.

Then there was Wally Lamb - The Hour I First Believe (centered around two characters impacted on by the Columbine killings and so much more).

For variety I fled fiction and opted for Chris Booth's wonderful sculptures in Woven Stone - this has me feeling a growing and urgent need to tour the country to see these sculptures in person. Just wonderful.

And now I'm in the grip of Steig Larsson - I fear this won't be over until the third book in the trilogy is finished.

Meanwhile the quilting schedule is taking a hammering. Such is life - such is the joy of books.

For light relief I travelled up to the Wairarapa for the day yesterday - my husband was taking part in a mountain running race up Mt Holdsworth - so post a delicious breakfast at the French Cafe I wandered through Greytown and spotted this... knitted things hanging from trees
and wonderful ironwork
I think I feel the stirrings of the need to be creative again....

The Start of Something New

2009-12-30T21:30:00.004+13:00

As befits this time of year I've taken to new beginnings. I have been having what my family kindly call "a quilting frenzy" which means I've been enjoying my holiday at home by spending more time that I have in quite a while creating behind my sewing machine.

While I have a number of things I probably "should" be stitching instead, I've been having great fun building a quilt for a friend of mine who is facing more than her fair share of health challenges at the moment. So often I feel there is little that I can really do to help her out so I decided that what she and her five year old daughter really need is a quilt to cuddle under - and that is something that clearly I'm ideally suited to work on.

I'm quick to admit that I have had help - my cat Oscar has been keeping me company and giving me ideas for the quilt. This is the tidy corner of the sewing room!

I decided that I'd include on it all the things she loves and needs right now - friends to give her lots of hugs, the casting of magic spells to speed her full recovery, lots of cups of tea,

someone to help with the more mundane household chores, which don't stop just because you don't feel 100%,

and lots of friends, including a cheerleader to keep her spirits up and a coach to push her on.

There are also going to be lots of gardens that will never need weeding.

It's all coming together nicely - what I really need now is some more dodgy weather so I can stay behind the sewing machine without any guilt or feelings that I just might be missing summer. I hope that wherever you are, you are getting the time and weather to do just what you need to set you up for the new year.

Happy New Year!

Catching up for Chrsitmas

2009-12-15T15:35:00.007+13:00

I've been increasing feeling like I'm running a very long race this year and it is only now that I can see my way through to the finish line. That's probably because a number of things are in the process of finishing up for the year and some time is actually opening up for other activities, such as getting organised for Christmas and updating this blog. Not before time, on both counts!

First up are the two companion pieces for the sneak piece that I showed last month - playing with curves and hand stitching. I'm not so enamoured with this one but this piece feels much more successful. I have used the curved crossing lines in quilts I have made in the past and it was nice to revisit them. They always remind me that we never know what might be around the corner in life - or as they put it in a chick flick movie I watched with my daughter a few nights ago - plan to be surprised in life.

I've had a few surprises this year, some good, some not so good and a few very good. I figure my ledger is definitely on the positive side this year - can't ask more than that! One of my most recent surprises was to open the latest edition of Selvedge and find myself quoted in it. I was somewhat speechless, while my daughter squealed (as teenagers do) to find her mother quoted in the finest textile magazine there is. They had picked up some comments from a post of mine back in April. Thanks for making my day Selvedge! It's another stunning edition.

And so the preparations for Christmas have finally begun in our house - the Christmas tree is up, the largest we have ever had.... It is filled with a combination of decorations the children have made over the years that I feel sentimental about, some beautiful handmade decorations that friends and my mother have made for me and others that I have picked up over time because of their special appeal. We have a tradition in the family that the children each get to pick one new decoration to buy from the biggest Christmas shop in town - there has been much laughter about how their tastes have changed over time. Overall we think it's a fine display.

Today a few presents found their way under the tree - wrapped by my daughter for the cousins, all labelled with Christmas angels and ready for giving.

One way or another the race is coming to its end - its starting to feel a lot like Christmas! Best wishes for a peaceful holiday to you all - may it provide plenty of opportunities for laughter, fun and the replenishment of creative batteries.

Sneak Peak

2009-11-18T22:16:00.005+13:00

There's nothing like some new threads to get you inspired! This month the challenge with my small group of stitching friends was to do three variations of an image. I've stuck to something I love - the Andy Goldsworthy inspired river line that I seem to come back to so many times. This is the first of the triptych of pieces that I'm creating - my first variation on a theme. The background is a piece of old indigo cotton fabric which has a wonderful soft feel to it, while the foreground is a hand dye that I've been using up piece by small piece. Just love it.
But the star, in my mind anyway, are my new Stef Francis threads. Feast your eyes on these - nothing like a bit of fibre temptation.And then, for a bit of a giggle, I thought you might enjoy these. I found these with my friend who I stayed with recently in Auckland -they are baking measures with the top and bottom of each doll being a different measuring cup. We loved them so much we bought each other a set and had an early, impromptu Christmas together. Nothing like a little mutual indulgence! Such fun and having given mine a test run with the weekly biscuit baking I can give them the full stamp of approval - both beautiful and useful. A match made in heaven.

Monthly musings

2009-11-15T21:02:00.006+13:00

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

2009-10-11T21:07:00.003+13:00

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

2009-09-17T22:09:00.004+12:00

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

2009-08-30T13:53:00.003+12:00

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

2009-08-26T17:18:00.004+12:00

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

2009-07-30T19:57:00.006+12:00

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

2009-07-16T15:21:00.002+12:00

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!

Desperately seeking escapism

2009-07-03T16:24:00.004+12:00

Winter can be so bleak sometimes that I thought a pick me up was in order today, for me if no one else. Of course I'd like to show off something that I have been working on recently but illness has overtaken creativity of late.

However when browsing through the photos I realised I'd never shown this wool and felt work bag I made for myself some time ago after doing a class with Rosemary McLeod. Most of the other bags had a more distinctly 40s look to them, while mine was, well, different. I think someone told me they thought they looked liked prancing body builders....the things people think of!

After that analysis the more subdued back drew less spirited comment - just as well probably! I was reminded of the bag today as I discovered a long neglected project in it....just the thing for some therapy to recover from the colds and coughs that have invaded our house just in time for the school holidays...

The Great Breeze of Language

2009-06-21T21:35:00.005+12:00

A couple of weeks ago I visited Te Papa and discovered that John Reynolds' work Cloud has been installed up in the top gallery. I'd read lots about the work but nothing compared with standing beneath the piece, looking at it swirling around the walls.

Just breath-taking. It did for me that day everything that great art should - took me out of my head and the worries that I had that day and into a totally different place where I was spell bound by the ideas and visual images in it.

The work is a series of small canvases which Reynolds has written words on from Harry Orsman's New Zealand Dictionary - all words that are a special part of our version of the English language - and then he has formed them into a enormous cloud of words. Our very own land of the long white cloud - a great breeze of our language.

See it here on a blog announcement from Te Papa. It even has a short clip from You Tube of John Reynolds talking about the installation of the work.

Be warned though - this is only a pale introduction to the real thing - it really has to be seen! If you are in Wellington made sure you make a bee line there before it leaves at the end of August.

Happy endings and exciting beginnings

2009-06-17T13:53:00.007+12:00

Now that I'm firmly focused on the To Do list I'm surprising myself with how productive I can be. Its strange, but I tend to not get to the last few things that will complete something - I guess its a form of procrastination, or maybe just a sign that I get another idea and find it hard to resist the temptation to move onto the next thing.

First up was the quilt I started at the Mini-symposium in Picton last Easter (I say this as a reminder to myself on the perils of procrastination). All that remained to be done was the binding on the top edge of the quilt, a label and hanging sleeve - not exactly a lot. I'd had it in my mind that I would finish the top edge with binding made of the blue linen - but when I finally tried it, it just didn't work. In fact a more honest quilter would say it looked awful! So after some pondering I finished it without a binding at all - it is turned to the back on the to edge and I really like the look of it. It's now hanging happily on the wall inside out back door and has been admired already - why did I wait so long to finish it? Who knows!

Next up was "Friday Morning Coffee". This has been waiting for me to find just the right pieces of tatting to finish the top off. I took it to our Quilting Guild several months ago and told people I was looking for some tatted pieces and have since been very kindly given a number of beautiful pieces, some of which are now on the top of this quilt. The beautiful piece above was given to me by a dear friend who was given it by a customer at the quilting shop she works at. The customer asked Marilyn if she knew someone who would appreciate it - and lucky, lucky me it rapidly found it's way to my house.

The only piece I have put on it that isn't tatting is the piece above which my mother gave to me and told me was called hairpin lace as it was made on (you guessed it) hairpins.I'm now in the process of putting the finishing touches on this quilt and then only have the label to - more photos and the full story to follow in due course.

Of course temptation (and ideas) got the better of me and I also started something new - it grew out of an idea I had having pondered the odd combination of those photos of the heat mats from my daughter's science class and the amazing work of Rex Ray. It has a tentative title of "Pigeon Holes" to remind of a previous life of mine as a recruitment consultant. I'm thinking its going to be part of a triptych, as I still have other ideas I want to play with.

Here's a detail of it.... it was so much fun
and so satisfying to not only finish things, but to start something new as well. Here's to many more happy endings and exciting beginnings!

Getting to the 'To Do' List

2009-06-07T15:36:00.006+12:00

I've given myself a good talking to over the last week and got cracking again behind the sewing machine - and not before time! First off the list was the collaborative quilt that I had started with my daughter. I'm pleased to say that it is now finished
and only waiting for the label to be written on by my daughter so it can be sewn onto the quilt.

Naturally the birthday girl it has been made for hasn't seen it, but both her parents have and they are certain it's going to be a complete hit. Funnily enough my daughter came home from school this week and told me that she and her friend had been talking about the impending birthday and what sort of present she would like. The birthday girl had told her that all she knew was that she didn't want any store vouchers from people, as no thought at all had to be put into these, and she would far rather have a gift from the heart, even if it only cost $1. From this we concluded that our gift would qualify.

I'm rather looking forward to seeing her face when she opens it up.

On a completely different note, I've just been listening to an item on National Radio about choreographer Ann Dewey who is developing a new dance work on why people knit. All the costumes and even the set have been knitted by 25 people spread across the world and Ann has also taught all the dancers to knit as part of the process. Unfortunately it looks like the it is only be performed in Auckland, at the moment. It sounds like a marvel and just the thing to lift us from the gloom of a cold winter. Perhaps a trip to Auckland is in order....

A little bit of something I fancy

2009-05-30T23:54:00.003+12:00

It's a long weekend here (always a favourite) and while I'm sitting here waiting for my daughter to arrive home from babysitting, I thought I'd pop up a couple of shots of some inspiration from Symposium - soon to feature in my neglected sketchbook I suspect.

Of course they did cause some concern with the aforementioned daughter - she thought they looked just like the heat diffusers they use in science (which of ocurse they are). I on the other hand saw great texture and shape that I want to get into textiles.

As I always try to tell the kids, its just all in the way you look at things.

Sensational Symposium - Onto the Classes

2009-05-07T16:52:00.008+12:00

Welcome to neglected blog - life had been a whirlwind of bad weather, sick children, distractions and very little stitching..... But enough.... as promised more on Symposium

So after two days of being an angel it was time for me to get my sleeves rolled up and get going myself.

The first class I did was a one day class with Merrilyn George. I really had a hard time deciding what classes to enrol for at Symposium but I knew I really wanted to do a class with Merrilyn - it was just that I didn't think I could fit in her two day class on Patterns of Polynesia, which one of my friends did and loved. So the class I did with Merrilyn was 'Sacred Art in a Secular Country' which focused on the painting of icons. I wanted to learn Merrilyn's technique for transferring images from the computer to fabric. Then we painted the icons directly onto the fabric. The icon I choose is revered in Russia and Merrilyn told us that she is worshipped as part of the preparation on Friday for the sabbath. She is also regarded as a saint for all things womanly. I was instantly entranced with her, given Friday is the day I try to keep aside for coffee with close friends and then as many dedicated hours in my sewing room as I can squeeze in before the kids get home from school.

I decided that my icon needed to be enhanced with the womanly skill of embroidery to properly play homage to her status - and that's why mine (the icon on the right in the photo above) is still a work in progress..... She will be the patron saint of my sewing room - who could want more?

Next up was two days with Sandra Meech who was over from the UK to teach. I felt very lucky to be in her class - 'Inspired Sketch and Stitch Books'. We were flat out right from the moment we started painting papers and into our sketch books to create surfaces to work on.

We went through most of the exercises that Sandra has in her book, Creative Quilts. The exercises were based on materials that we had to bring to class that we were interested to develop up into textile pieces. It was great fun and gave me tons of ideas - you can see that the curves attracted me, as ever

It was great - and utterly exhausting, and now I just need to get back into that sewing room and get onto it before it all disappears from my grasp

Sensational Symposium - Where do I begin?

2009-04-28T20:33:00.008+12:00

I've been having such fun visiting quilts on Amy's Quilt Festival that its taken me a while to get back onto posting my own news. There are so many marvellous things to tell about the 2009 NZ Quilt Symposium, which we have just hosted here in Wellington over Easter - infact there are so many marvellous things that it has taken me a couple of weeks to recover from the excitement, the sensory overload, the people to catch up with, the great classes to attend, the wonderful exhibitions, and the odd glass of wine or two with friends at happy hour. In short it was great - and also exhausting.

We had over 1200 women here in Wellington for classes which were held over 5 days, with tutors from all over NZ, Australia, the UK, USA and even from Africa. There was 200 days of teaching done by our tutors. There was, literally, something for everyone.

I volunteered to assist for two days in classes, in the role of "Angel" - as I said to the classes I assisted with I was somewhat misnamed! On my first day I helped out in a class with Sandi Cummings - and I was delighted to be assigned to her as I have previously made two quilts from her book "Thinking Outside the Block" which this class was also named. I had great fun making those quilts for my sons and it was great to see her demonstrate her techniques of cutting and inserting fabrics into blocks to create something unexpected.Several of the samples that she showed used fabrics which changed in colour and tone across the face of the fabric which bought real interest to the blocks that she created. I know I have a number of these type of fabrics up in the stash which I have always tended to use them by cutting out the particular colour or tone I am looking for at the time. These gave me some great ideas for experimenting and playing with. I spent a lot of the day tearing around sorting out sewing machines, food and other things that can sometimes cause teething problems on the first day of the big event. Obviously I did enough to keep both the tutor and students happy as I was instructed to try and get myself reallocated to them the next day.

The Angel who was allocated to them on day two told me that when she arrived they all looked at her and gave out very disappointed sounds - she didn't seem so pleased when she met me, but on the up side she said I had them so well trained that they hardly needed a thing done for them. I snuck back into the class to see Sandi's slide show of her work (I'd spent quite a lot of time getting the projector set up and ready to go so figured I had earned the show). It was so worth it - her work was just stunning. If you aren't familiar with it you can see lots on her website.

My tutor on day two was Ineke Berlyn, from the UK. She was teaching a one day class on making recylced jeans bags and other bags. It was a very small class so it was quite the opposite from the day before with not so much for me to do. It really had my fingers itching for the piles of old denim that I still have stacked up in the sewing room, left over from all those curtains that I made for the boys last winter.The denim bags were great and the other bags she made, such as the next two photos, offered up a ton of ideas for trying. The fabrics on these were fused onto a heavy canvas to create pictures and then sewn over to secure and embellish them.Ineke is Dutch, but has lived in the UK for many years, so the bag with tulips was an obvious one for her to try out. I particularly loved this one and want to give something similar a try. I can see myself carrying it to work through the Botanical Gardens come next spring when the tulips and magnolias bloom - and the time frame might even be achievable!Come the end of the class Ineke told me I'd been such a good girl that she gave me a full set of her notes and patterns from the class so I could try some out myself. Maybe the name of Angel wasn't so inappropriate after all (ha ha)! You should also check out Ineke's work if you don't know it. She makes beautiful stylised landscapes and also does lots of work with sheer fabrics.

Probably the highlight from the day for me was the thermofax screen I bought from Ineke. She demonstrated it with one student in the class using it to print doiley like patterns onto denim for the bag she made. You won't be surprised to hear I found this completely irresitable. Stay posted for the pictures once I start the experiments. I'm thinking my old jeans will shortly be in for a major make-over!

Stay tuned - next time I'll post about the classes I did and what I made.

Blogger Quilt Festival - My Favourite Quilt

2009-04-19T21:17:00.011+12:00

How exciting - a quilt festival that I can put my quilt into! We have just finished our National Quilt Symposium here in Wellington (lots of posts to come on that) and I can tell you that it was wonderful. My only regret (and it is a small one) is that I wasn't able to submit my quilt into the exhibition. Unfortunately it was just a few months too old to be eligible.

So I was very excited this evening when I found this quilt festival that is being hosted by Amy at Park City Girl. What fun. What a great idea.

I have posted about this quilt before, and it features on my banner, but it is very special to me as I made it in memory of my maternal grandfather, so I think it bears repeating. My grandfather was a fantastic embroiderer, but it was the family secret. He never wanted people to know that he stitched and would hide what he was working on if anyone ever came to visit - it was the 1940's after all. He used to stitch with my mother and my grandmother, who was also a wonderful seamstress. My mother has dozens of pieces of linen that he stitched and I regard them as priceless family treasures.

Its a large quilt - so not the easiest to get a good shot of it all, so I thought details would be just the thing....This quilt has one piece that was stitched by my grandfather - it was very worn so my mother had cut the cloth up a long time ago. His stitching really was perfect and in many pieces it's difficult to tell the back from the front. The other pieces in the quilt are ones that I have found in second hand shops or been given by friends.

"In My Grandfather's Den" has also started me off on a series of quilts which are similar. It brings me so much pleasure - and really, you can't ask more of a quilt than that.

Have fun at the Festival - I certainly intend to. Make sure you visit them here.

Must be time for....

2009-04-05T20:09:00.003+12:00

another tea cosy - after all we haven't had one for a whole month. So here it is - the March ("I'm supposed to make a small quilt but I'm a rebel") tea cosy. I found these wonderful Nepalese wool felted flowers, made by Papoose and instantly thought I just have to put these on a tea cosy.It's to be a rather late birthday present for a friend of mine who is an avid tea drinker. When I last stayed with her she had the most beautiful small book on tea which included the quote that is on the back which just says it all...

Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world

T'ien Yiheng

A Red Letter Day

2009-04-02T20:36:00.004+13:00

I have been so looking forward to it - and today it finally happened. I arrived home this afternoon, after finshing my paid work for the week, and there it was in the letter box. The new edition of Selvedge. It's been a long wait as they moved offices a couple of months ago and the edition was delayed so they could produce it up to their usual high standards. It has seemed like a particularly long wait, which reinforced for me that this magazine was something that I really wouldn't want to have to do without. Other things may have to be sacrificed in these times, but for me Selvedge won't be one of them.

There was nothing else for it. I immediatley abandoned thoughts of sorting out the sewing room, made myself a pot of feijoa tea, got out my favourite tea cup and one of my gransfather's embroidered cloths, put my feet up and lost myself in its pages.And it was wonderful. Each page better than the last, full of colour, georgeous textiles and inspiration.

I mean just look at these pages of 18th and 19th century samples of French mattress tickings. They are just begging for a quilt to be made based on the colours and stripes....

I think this may have to go onto the list of quilts to be made - someday...

Another fascinating article was about the tradition in parts of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina for women to prepare clothes that they wish to be buried in. Margareta Kern, an artist, undertook a photographic and video study of some of these women for an exhibition called Clothes for Living and Dying. The photos are moving and I was so swept away reading about them that I was late to pick the boys up from school.

Thank you Selvedge - you enrich my life.

It's not just me

2009-03-29T20:57:00.005+13:00

There are others - honest.
I feel sure that whoever knitted these up and wrapped them around the trees in Manners Mall
also feels that primal need to knit.

Hard to argue with really, isn't it. These were my consolation find after my unsuccessful attempt to find the 19mm circular needle in the biggest knit shop in town. While I disappointed not to get what I wanted, it was quite a consolation!

The Primal Urge

2009-03-27T10:30:00.005+13:00

It seems that the moment the seasons turn (and believe me they have turned with speed here over the last week or so) I get the irresistible urge to pick up the knitting needles. There is something very comforting about the thought that you can create something that will keep you warm in the cold months ahead and I find the rhythm of the needles particularly soothing.

So I've started small this year with a couple of hats for babies that will be arriving over the next few months to friends. I love these as they whip up so quickly and are always appreciated - every baby needs lots of hats if they are to be born into the wintry climate here in Wellington. I've been using Debbie Bliss baby cashmarino for these and as a result now have my much older children almost begging for hats of their own out of this wool.

Now I know this is a slightly odd thing to say, but I am really looking forward to the weather getting much colder so that I can wear (and let's be honest here - show off) the amazing gauntlet mittens that I was given at Christmas. My dear friend Marilyn, knitter extraordinaire, made these for me after I admired them in a book she had from the library. They are an absolute work of art - I am going to be the most stylish mother,watching winter sports from the side lines, in the whole of Wellington with these on! How could you not look at these and not wish that the weather was already cold enough to wear them?

Actually, if the truth be told, I really prefer the colder months to the truly hot. Once autumn is here you can wrap yourself up in wool and just snuggle up. The more generous swathes of fabric that we tend to wear in the cooler months hide a multitude of figure flaws and I just find it more comforting somehow. No doubt I will have to come back and repeatedly read this when I feel like complaining about the wild weather when we are in the depths of winter!

I have my next knitting project in my sights - but first I have to find a circular knitting needle, size 19mm. It's a monster of a project and I'm itching to get started - all that is holding me back are the elusive needles....

The Challenges of Collaboration

2009-03-15T20:44:00.005+13:00

I'd imagined that my new collaboration would be lengthy and give my daughter and I lots of time to spend up in the sewing room together.... Now why would I have thought that?

Instead of this idealised picture I've been under pressure this week - my daughter has been sewing faster than I can cut and she's mentioned it to me, maybe about a dozen times, in that disappointed "you are holding me up" way that children have. Put simply, I've been racing to keep up.

Fortunately she has just had a busy weekend that kept her out of the house, preparing for Waka Ama Nationals (it's a form of Maori outrigger canoeing). It was the most perfect day, better than most we had this summer, so sitting watching the waka races was a great way to spend the afternoon. Having got her out of the house early this morning, I finally managed to catch up.... and all the blocks are now prepared for her to start sewing the whole top together.

Thank goodness - she has the look of excitement back in her eyes. At this rate this could be the quickest quilt ever made in this house - if the pressure doesn't kill me first!

The Start of Something New

2009-03-08T19:28:00.004+13:00

I've started a new quilt this weekend, as well as an important new quilt collaboration. I am jointly making this quilt with my 13 year old daughter and its proving to be lots of fun for us both. I'd been thinking for a while that I wanted to make a new quilt for one of my close friends daughter, who is also 13. She still has the baby quilt on her bed which I made her when she was born so I've been feeling for a while that she was most deserving of a replacement.

Fortunately both the girls are close so when I suggested we make it a joint project my daughter thought it was an excellent idea. There has been full consultation on the design, fabric and layout and at the moment she is thoroughly enjoying sewing up the blocks that I have cut for her.

After dinner tonight she said that she really wanted to get back to the sewing machine and make some more - my husband just shook his head and rolled his eyes. There is just no getting away from sewing in this house!

At the rate she is going this will be one of the quickest quilts ever - and I'm also willing to predict it may well be the first of a series of collaborations. She is truly my daughter!

The Pleasures of the Post

2009-03-01T19:47:00.005+13:00

Much excitement in my house today as we arrived home to find a package from my latest textile purchases from Trade Me. I just ask you - who could resist this...

or this...

or, my pride and joy, this.... I think I will have to make a special inner to fit this tea cosy so it can pressed into service sooner rather than later.

Of course the answer to my question is regretfully clear to me, if the rolling eyes of my family are anything to go by! Such is life - it would be so tedious if we were all the same, and the competition for these would be too much to contemplate!

O' Peppermint Tea

2009-02-21T17:35:00.003+13:00

I feel like I am onto a bit of a roll with making tea cosies. Last week I went hunting for quotes about tea (ain't the Internet a wonderful thing!) and found some absolute beauties, including one about peppermint tea and before I knew it a new tea cosy was born. One of my stitching friends had a birthday looming and she is a peppermint tea devotee - so there was really only one possible result... The Japanese fabric was an obvious choice as she has lived in Japan, has made numerous wonderful Japanese quilts as well as having kindly given me some great textile treasures from her time well spent hunting out the temple sales.

I couldn't resist using an old piece of indigo that has mending on it from its previous life - I love the thought that someone else has so valued the textile that they have spent time mending it for further use. It also brings to mind the wonderful textiles from Sri Threads that I just love browsing.

The back was made from a Japanese Noran, or door covering, which was the perfect base for the quote from Astrid Alauda -

O' peppermint tea -

two delights per sip

as steamy hot as passion

cool as a wintry lake dip

Happy birthday Jill!

Picking up the Casualties

2009-02-19T18:59:00.005+13:00

I've been as shocked as everyone else about the terrible bushfires in Victoria, and generally not feeling that I had anything of substance to contribute on this blog. On the weekend however I had a few hours to spare up in the sewing room and, having reflected so much on the need for aid and compassion, found myself drawn once again to the tea cosy. There is something comforting about them I've decided - the sharing of tea in times of distress, taking the time to talk and listen.

So here is the tea cosy as a form of first aid - There is a famous quote from one of our ex-Prime Minister's, made in different times and different circumstances, but they seemed the perfect words for the back. Incase you can't read them easily, the back panel is inscribed with the following -

"But what say we have a little breather and then we set off on the road again after

we have picked up the casualties and had a cuppa...."

David Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand, 1984 - 1989.

It all came together quickly and is just the beginning of what may, I suspect, become something of a regular feature in my creative life. In the meantime my thoughts continue to be with those in Victoria who are so in need of our compassion and assistance.

And then there were two

2009-02-03T21:06:00.003+13:00

I've been meaning to post this for a week or so to show you the second art installation which has appeared in the trees down at my local botanical garden. This has been installed by Sayaka Ishizuka who is the Wellington Asia residency exchange artist-in-residence and is called Whispers.It's right next to Heidi Threlfo's installation and they both provide a great start to my day on the way to the office. And here's Heidi, next to Home, one evening when she spoke about her work.

I'm not sure how much longer they will both be there - definitely worth the visit if you are in the area.

Time for Tea

2009-02-01T14:49:00.006+13:00

I'm in a small group which has agreed to make a journal quilt each month this year using scraps from what ever we have been working on that month - today is reveal day for the January journal quilt and I have just confessed my failure to the group. I have failed to make a journal quilt of the required size and instead come up with a Journal Tea Cosy!

It was inspired by the ideas behind my 'Friday Morning Coffee' quilt - sharing friendship over a cup of something, whether that be tea or coffee. It uses an old piece of stitching on the back that I recently found in a op-shop while on holiday - it really is the oddest shape so this seemed like a good way to use it.

I'm sure that the germ of the idea for this lies with the very talented Tara Badcock, who is an Australian textile artist and self described teacosy revolutionary. I found an article about her recently in Textile Forum (Issue 1, no 85, 2007) which led to me searching for her on the Internet - isn't it a wonderful thing! And there Tara was complete with blog and lots of wonderful tea cosies. Do have a look - its really special. How I'd love to have one of her creations to grace my dresser!

And here, for you enjoyment, are two vintage tea cloths which are well on target for the tea theme of this post. Boil up the jug, make a brew and enjoy.

The stitching continues

2009-01-17T22:43:00.007+13:00

All progressing well here - I've been busy getting on with the quilting of Friday Morning Coffee and enjoying the chance to spend more time with the piece ans I man handle it through the sewing machine (why are my quilts so large?). I'm trying out a much smaller grid pattern on this quilt that the previous version - its looking good so far but of course will take more time...

I passed through the gardens a couple of days ago and the tree is looking resplendent in its doilies - so I tried for some different types of shots which in time I may even try putting them onto fabric to experiment with.

Just so you don't think that the only places that I can ever find mosaics are in Australia, here's a particularly fine example made by the children of Thorndon School, here in Wellington. They obviously have some really creative and talented teachers there, with a real bent for art making, as some of the works that spring up around the school really are impressive.

Mission Accomplished

2009-01-10T11:30:00.004+13:00

Things are moving apace down at the gardens - Heidi now has five branches covered in the doilies. Unfortunately the rain has just started coming down here today so who knows what impact this will have on her installation.I'm pleased to say I have achieved my objective of having the quilt top all put together. Its over 2m square so wasn't too easy getting a photo while it was laid out on the floor. All going well I'll have it all pinned together and ready for quilting before the weekend is out - there is always an upside to rain!No rain in sight on the quilt though - just loved this piece of embroidery will the sun rising behind the hollyhocks and butterfly. This is another piece of my Aunt's linen that I have cut up and put into the piece.The quilt has several fabrics featuring tea cups - to me they speak of friendship and the countless conversations that we have over cups of tea of coffee with our friends that are such a fundamental part of sustaining us all. My daughter has christened it "Friday Morning Coffee" as this is an important ritual for me with a group of friends I have made through the school our children attend. No Friday is complete without a get together, strong coffee and a good laugh.

Once I have it quilted I'm planning to audition having a few doilies appliqued onto the surface. I have putting them onto bags lately and I think that they just might be the finishing touch for this piece. We'll see...

Success at Last!

2009-01-09T10:24:00.002+13:00

Finally - here are the day two pictures of Heidi's creation.... This particular doiley caught my eye - just look at the size of it.

Only took three attempts to get these uploaded. Hopefully it will still let me post another update later in the day - when I went past this morning there are another 2 trunks now covered.

Doiley Update - Day 2

2009-01-07T21:23:00.003+13:00

As promised, an update on the doilies that are currently sprouting in the Wellington Botanic Garden. The artist, Heidi Threlfo, is making steady progress on getting them up onto the magnolia tree at themain entrance to the gardens. The piece is called Home, which I think is really apt. I'm yet to spot her actually putting them up, but who knows what I may manage to capture over the next couple of days.

The big success today was that both sons actually got out of the car to inspect the work and accompany me on the photographic excursion. I wouldn't call it significant progress, but it was a definite improvement on them hiding in the car!

I'd love to post the progress photos but blogger won't let me tonight....... stay tuned.....

New Year - New Inspiration

2009-01-06T19:19:00.006+13:00

When you catch sight of this...being put up in your local Botanical Garden you just know its time to re-enter the world of blogging. Who could resist this? Well actually, I know the answer to this as one of my children almost hid under the dashboard of the car at the sight of his mother leaping out of the car, camera in hand. Yet again, he was horrified. I however was delighted.It's still a work in progress and is being put up for the Wellington Botanic Garden Artist Project as part of the annual fun that is our summer festival. It won't be finished until Sunday 11th January and will then remain in place until 1 February - I'll post more pictures as it progresses.

I'm yet to find out who is creating it - either Heidi Threlfo or Sayaka Ishizuka - or maybe even a joint venture... all will be revealed as I learn more.

It's been a while since my last post but I can report that the wedding quilt was very well received and we all survived the heat of Townsville. Since our return I've been progressing a few projects. The quilt that I felt "coming on" in November is developing well and is up of the design wall. It's going to be similar to the quilt I made in memory of my grandfather, which I have previously posted about. The story of this quilt, along with several photos, is in the latest issue of New Zealand Quilter, which has been quite a thrill.

This new quilt will also be a memorial quilt and it will feature pieces of linen that belonged to my Auntie Dorothy that I was recently given. As part of it I've also embroidered a number of pieces for it onto damask napkins.

I'm pleased with how it is coming together and would like to get most of the top put together by the time I go back to work next week...we shall see.

Diversions and Action

2008-11-26T21:03:00.004+13:00

The brain is a marvellous thing - just as you are really winding yourself up with "the last list" of things to be completed before the working year winds to a close, it is also capable of noticing the extraordinary that is so often right under our noses. I mean to say - just look at this - how's this for a fantastic use for spray cans?? So much better than the graffiti and tagging that seems to be endemic.... I found it on my regular route to work - and one day I even remembered to bring my camera with me to share this fabulous sight. I think it definitely qualifies as gorilla art.

So I'm feeling pleased with myself that I noticed it and then remembered to photograph it - an all this while my brain too resembles that lace that Jude, from Spirit Cloth, referred to in her recent post. I'm afraid that my mind also appears to be all holes and patches - nothing that a good holiday can't start to mend... after all, where there is life there is hope...

But before the holiday there is "the list" to be got through... so here are a couple of the more recent things I'm pleased to be able to cross off - another use for doilies... this time as part of a doll quilt for a particularly adorable two year old, who had such fun playing with some of my lace doilies while I had coffee with her mother last week that I thought she definitely needed a small something to keep her dolls warm. If I remember rightly, the butterfly fabric was the backing on the quilt I made her when she was born.

and the prototype for the annual Christmas decorations that I'll be making this year. Here's the full confession - I pinched the idea from an advertisement in the current edition of Selvedge magazine - I can't credit the inspired person who came up with it as it was part of the advertisement for their next edition. It took my breath away and I immediately took to the sewing room. I have altered it, but the full acknowledgement for the idea rests with Selvedge - my favourite of all the international textile magazines - and that is really saying something!

On the home stretch

2008-11-23T21:17:00.003+13:00

Serious countdown time now and it's starting to come together nicely - wedding quilt is all completed with only the label to go.... I'm so pleased I decided to get it quilted by Sue - she's done a marvellous job in super quick time. It has a large leafy vine pattern all over it which really suits the colours and feel of the quilt. Without her I'd have been turning up at the wedding without a gift for my brother and almost sister in law. Never a good look!

Of course I made too much binding (I always seem to have this problem) so decided to put it onto a few small pieces which have been sitting around. I'm so pleased with the improvement its made to them that these are also destined for the gift giving pile. I will never think of excess binding as a problem again.

I've even been putting the odd doiley on the back in preparation for labels. I particularly love this Lily.

It's quite exciting really - its probably the most organised I've ever been for Christmas and it feels rather good.

Now there's just the children -that will be another story altogether....

Focusing the mind

2008-11-16T16:26:00.007+13:00

There's nothing like a close examination of your diary to really focus your mind. This weekend I came to the realisation that it is only one month until we head away for my brother's wedding and we have a lot of things to pack into that short time. Some would call it an act of denial but this sent me quickly to the sewing room to finally get cracking on some gifts that I may (or may not - depending on who is reading...) need for a holiday that is coming up in a mere 6 weeks. That's right - the Christmas rush is almost upon us.

Being ever mindful of the state of the world economy, and in the knowledge that something handmade is so much better than anything I could find in the shops anyway, I decided that a close examination of the stacks of fabric that I seem to be hoarding would yield some interesting possibilities. In no time at all I had the bag production facility in full swing - I'm rather pleased with the results.... a rather nice Liberty number....
something more restrained for one of my quieter relatives and then a couple for the floral lovers among us.... Someone asked me a couple of days ago if I had found a use for lace doilies, which got my fingers into action. I think they are just perfect for some bag embellishment...

and I've hand stitched a couple onto the very boring hoodie that I seem to almost live in at this time of year when the weather is still so changable. They have made this garment far more 'me' and I've had lots of positive comments about it already. I'm starting to think that there are a few other garments in my wardrobe that could do with some similar attention.I think there may still be a couple more bags to come, but first I have 34 feet of hand stitching to get through to get the binding on the wedding quilt done. The quilt has arrived back from being quilted and I'm thrilled with it. Sue has done a fabulous job, as always. However the amount of binding to be stitched down is slightly daunting - just as well I like hand stitching.

Somehow I think the new quilt that is in the brewing might be a post holiday activity, but then it's always good to have something to look forward to!

What if...

2008-11-10T19:00:00.005+13:00

I've had reason of late to be reflecting on life and the value of friendship, for a variety of reasons that I won't go into right at the moment. While mulling this over last week I had one of those "what if" moments that always gets the pulse racing among those with a creative bent....

What if I used some of the textiles of my mother's closest friend to capture some of the thoughts that I've been having about what is really important in living a happy, balanced life....

What if I tried embroidering on her damask napkins - the same napkins that played a central role in the almost legendary hospitality that my Auntie Dorothy offered to whoever turned up at her house at meal time...

My mother and Auntie Dorothy were close friends for almost 50 years before Dorothy passed away a few years ago. They remained friends even when they lived far apart, in different countries and even on different sides of the world. As a child I knew that my Auntie Dorothy, and her husband, were to be my legal guardians in the unforeseen event that something happened to parents. My mother used to say that she always knew that there would be lots of love and food on the table in the event that anything happened to them.

Auntie Dorothy wasn't my "real" Aunt, but actually she couldn't have been more real to me. In my family its always been very clear that family can be whoever you want it to be and that the blood ties aren't always the sole way to define "family". It's something that I have continued with my children - some of my dearest friends are called auntie and uncle by my children even though there are no blood links. I'm very clear that it isn't the blood links that creates the love.

Recently my Uncle gave me a box of her linens that he didn't need anymore - he hoped that I would find something to do with them. And it's been looking through those linens that really bought me to my "what if"...

Well, what if..... I think I feel a new quilt coming on.... and I hope Auntie Dorothy would like it....

Of your fingers take care

2008-11-03T19:46:00.005+13:00

And while I'm telling you what Ive been up to I should probably also confess to spending a little bit of time finding treasures for my collection and to share with you. This is the current star on my dresser and my latest acquisition..... a truly irresistible tea cosy that was begging to move to my house..... the front

the back...

and the real item that sealed the deal - the cloth to hold the teapot handle which lives in a pocket by the back door....

Can't you just picture the person stitching this to make the family laugh!

Lost in Action or Hard at Work...

2008-11-02T20:11:00.005+13:00

Hello - remember me? Don't worry - I'll be quite understanding if you don't - its been a while.... However there has been the odd thing going on in my little corner of the world. Do you remember this pile of fabric?I've been spending quite a lot of time with it lately - getting closely acquainted with every different shade, value and pattern and I'm rather pleased to say that after a lot of elbow grease and many hours secluded from the family, I've managed to transform it into this....It's based on a Kaffe Fassett quilt called Gridlock that I have always loved from his first book. I changed it by putting in some whole pieces, from the Loni Rossi fabrics that my "soon to be" sister in law choose when she visited NZ last year, some four patch blocks and playing around with the colour recipe. It is so large that it is rather hard to photograph in my studio, and it only just fitted onto my available hanging space. It measures a mere 9 foot wide x 7 foot deep (or 2.8m x 2.2m for the metrically minded). Anyway you look at it, it really is large but will fit the King sized bed perfectly.

So here's a couple of detail shots which will give a better idea of the colour and fabric ranges - for once the camera decided to cooperate!I am very pleased with it - not least I am pleased to have the top finished as it is only 6 weeks until we depart for the wedding in the topics of Townsville, Queensland (and yes I do know that no one who lives in Townsville actually needs a quilt, but some things just have to be done!).Having got this far, I'm pleased to say that sanity has prevailed in my quilt room and I've decided that someone else can quilt it on their longarm machine. After all, as one of my very dear stitching friends pointed out to me, Nancy Crow never quilts her own pieces......

Distant Treasures

2008-10-15T15:53:00.005+13:00

The day I had the greatest pleasure in Adelaide was the day that I found the most wonderful treasure trove in North Adelaide, The Fabric of Life. They were unexpectedly open having just had the South Australianv Embroidery Guild through for an advance viewing of the most wonderful exhibition of Turkish textiles which was due to open that evening. My only regret was having had no camera with me that day - the only day of the holiday without one!

You'll be able to get a taster of what I saw thought their website though. The shop was filled with the most wonderful modern and old textiles which the owner, Mary, had bought one her most recent travels. There were magnificent suzani hangings that just glowed on the walls - I had only previously seen photos of them and as always they were so much richer when seen up close.

I really fell for a chair that had been upholstered in kilms but I couldn't quite work out how to get it home on the plane. I'd have happily sat on it in the plane aisle but I thought Air NZ would probably decline on the spurious grounds that it didn't blend with their decor! I am still wistful about that chair...

If I'd had my way I'd have transported almost all of the shop contents back to NZ - instead I more modestly settled for some smaller treasures. A magnificent hand embroidered silk kantha shawl from West Bengal. Its reversible with cream silk on the other side with the gold thread stitching. More subtle that the black, and completely unphotographable on my camera!And then there were the two kutch bags that I simply couldn't choose between. They have the finest silk stitching that would have taken me an age to complete. I'm toying with the ideas of turning them back into flat textiles and mounting them so I can enjoy them ever time I wander past them. I think I'll try it out on one of them, in due course. If it works I may have to procure a third - somehow I always feel things look better in groups of three, and no that's not just due to my having three children! When I think of what I paid for them, relative to the amount of work put into them, I can't think why I decided to leave the third one in the shop!
I'm despairing of my camera at the moment - it never seems to be up to the mark with what I want from it. I feel some strategic reinvestment coming on.... Oh and did you notice I have finally conquered putting proper links into my blog??? Amazing what you can learn to do when you read instructions properly!

And then I found more in Melbourne

2008-10-10T20:13:00.005+13:00

Of course these little treasures were in Brunswick Street - we only had 36 hours in Melbourne but I still found time to race around a few of my favourite spots. I'd been to Brunswick Street before but some how I had missed these. I couldn't find the name of the artist on them - but this angel like figure really reminded me of the work of Mirka Mora, a Melbourne artist who's autobiography I finally found at the Art Gallery bookshop, after futile searches in very bookshop I had come across while on the trip.

Since the trip I seem to be spotting lots more mosaics - so there are bound to be more to come.

However the highlight of the trip was undoubtedly the Art Deco exhibition from the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was breath taking.....
and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. There was paintings, textiles, clothes, china, jewels, cars, even the front of a building transported all the way from London. Just extraordinary.

It started in Adelaide

2008-09-25T14:16:00.006+12:00

the attraction to mosaic - these are just some of the ones I found there. This was by far my favourite - I've already shown you a detail of her face - here is the entire Angel Lounge of Goodwood Road, Unley... It seemed too beautiful to sit on to me. If I'd been able to get it into my bag and home on the plane undetected (what a dreamer!) I would have been sorely tempted.... Even the ends of the bench were something special.... i just loved it. It was made by Vaughan Green and Devi O'Donnell in 2000. It was such a treat to find at the time - I was kind of lost, or at least off course for the direction I was aiming for. Finding this made my small detour all worth while!
Then there was the beach front at Glenelg where we stayed. There was lots of mosaic there too - some with an aviation theme given the proximity to the airport and famous residents. Of course it was the curves that really called this one to my attention. I've been trying to find the name of the artist via Google - without success so far. Will post if I find it. Anyone out there know?
And then this lovely little iris piece - right low at street level in Hindley St - again I haven't found the artist yet.
There was lots of great street art in Adelaide - I even found the most wonderful brochure with maps highlighting where lots was to be found - that was how I came across the Andy Goldsworthy piece. If you are thinking of visiting Adelaide its definitely worth hunting the brochure out - I picked mine up at the Central Markets.

Stay tuned for more mosaic - from Brunswick St found during my super quick flit through one of my favourite cities.... I'll just need a touch more illness in the house - it really encourages blogging activity!

The magic of stone

2008-09-23T12:27:00.004+12:00

Another dose of the plague house here (well just a sore stomach actually) so I thought I should pop up another post. That last photo of Andy Goldsworthy's Black Spring really didn't do it justice. What I love is the texture and colour of the stone.... the construction ideas....
and the reflection of the local environment that his work is always reliant on, given its formed from locally available, found materials. There was stone in abundance for me to admire while we were in Adelaide. Buildings were I live are typically wooden - moves better in the earthquakes - so the novelty is probably part of the appeal of the stone. After all, part of the human condition is to want what we don't have - just look at the rage for hair straighteners and curlers if you doubt me for a moment.
This wall - from the Adelaide Art Gallery - particularly appealed. Such a good quilt pattern....
Do I sound truly odd yet???

Breaking the Silence

2008-09-22T20:43:00.005+12:00

I'm not really sure whether I should be saying that I've sort of lost my blogging mojo of late or whether I should just put my hands up and confess that its all been a bit busy and hectic of late. I had a trip away for a week which was great and lead to lots of marvellous discoveries.... like this - the first Andy Goldsworthy work I've ever seen for real... I had a smile on my face all day!
or this - I've been swept away by mosaic, which I kept finding on my meandering walks around and about, and now I'm wondering about trying it out (as if I don't have enough unfinished projects already!)....but isn't this just fabulous....
or this....the favourite cafe I discovered, overlooking the beach and complete with knee rugs to ward off chills. One morning on my way to coffee I even saw a dolphin playing in the surf....
or this... which bought a smile to my face as we were leaving... have you seen one? can you guess what it is?

I came home so refreshed. It was great. And no sooner had we all settled back into the routines of life than the plague house sign was back out and I was in hospital for two nights with one of the boys. It was all something of nothing but sleeping in hospital chairs (or more accurately not sleeping!) seemed to wipe me out for twice the number of nights that I spent there. Such are the joys of parenthood!

On a brighter note - I'm pleased to report work on the wedding quilt has finally commenced... stay tuned for progress reports and sneak previews - the happy couple don't know about the blog so I'm sure I'm reasonably safe in maintaining the surprise.

And then there was yellow and green

2008-08-25T21:45:00.003+12:00

There were two other small quilts that I finished last week for part of the work of our small quilt group - yellow, I was thinking of the song lyric "through fields of gold"

and green - both were an experiment in using light weight over lay fabrics for contrasting texture and were drawn from fabrics in my scrap bag. They were both made quickly without too much over thinking. Just do it quickly and see what happens.We always say that they don't have to be an opus - and these truly prove the point! I felt that they weren't nearly as interesting as the embellished indigo which is still a favourite, even one week on.

We had a spectacular day here in Wellington on Saturday. Sunny and, dare I suggest it, warm. I had a fiend visiting from Auckland, where she tells me it has rained every weekend since May. She was so bowled over by the sunshine that she literally lost her footing, blinded by the unexpected sunlight. She was teased mercilessly, as we told her (somewhat tongue in cheek) that it is always like this around here.
As the Tui ad would say, yeah right!

Reveal night tonight

2008-08-20T22:09:00.004+12:00

for my small quilt group - here is the piece I'm most pleased with - a reworking of the embellished indigo, since I failed the colour side of the challenge last time.

I feel a new journal cover coming on. It's made me think that I might start playing with a few of the other older / precious fragments of fabric that I have hidden away to bring them into a new lease of life. This could be a fun idea to play with over time I think....so many ideas, so little time.

I didn't dare tell my friends this idea tonight - not after the lecture I got that I was to concentrate on nothing but the wedding quilt until it was done. Oh well, I always think confession is good for the soul!

Starting Something New

2008-08-17T18:59:00.005+12:00

Not before time, I am getting onto my major outstanding project of the year - a wedding quilt for my brother who marries in December in Townsville. Significant progress has finally been made - I have started pulling fabrics and decided on the colour scheme (more vibrant than they appear here) in a murky pallet of blue, brown, gold and green...and I've settled on the pattern - a simple Kaffe Fassett which will highlight some of the focus fabrics which were chosen by my almost-sister in law. The fabrics she choose were two by Lonni Rossi and they are pretty fabulous. No further hints on the pattern at the moment though - some things have to be kept secret to protect the surprise for the recipients.

I love starting something new - it puts a real spring in my step, so to speak! Now if I could only manage a few more concentrated days up in front of the sewing machine....

I've also been most productive in my small quilts for our fortnightly group. I have three almost finished this weekend - green, yellow, and a repeated attempt at embellished indigo. All will be posted after the big reveal on Wednesday....

Spring was in the air...

2008-08-11T21:22:00.004+12:00

This feels almost like being in the confessional - spring was definitely in the air yesterday, after what feels like weeks and weeks of non stop rain - and what did I do? Walk in the sunshine, drinking it all in... No. I escaped to the room that houses my sewing machine and fabric (but not the quilt room you understand - that causes angst in the family!) and had a bit of a play. It was so much fun....

I made a cover for my inspiration journal - I've been jotting things down and sticking things in it very dutifully all year and this weekend it was finally full. So in celebration I decided it needed a special cover of its own, featuring some of the things that have occupied so much of my mental and creative space so far this year - recycled jeans and those wonderful Andy Goldsworthy curves. I also thought this was a very suitable use of my work in progress from my small art quilt group. One of my sons decided that it was so cool that it just had to go on the blog. Such enthusiasm from a 9 year old!I did do some other things too - I made a hanging sleeve for a school quilt that has sat around the house for far too long (delivered dutifully to the school this morning) and I also started pulling out fabrics for the next quilt on the list - a wedding quilt for my brother and prospective sister in law who are marrying in December. Nothing like a bit of pressure.

Finally today I got out into the sunshine for my walk to work - it made me grin just like the sculpture below, which is known in our family as "my old friend,Mr Banana".
It is next to our Houses of Parliament - some things with family names are just too difficult to explain.....

Beware the Plague House

2008-08-08T10:03:00.007+12:00

Bit of a slow week here with our flirtation with 'Plague House' status again rearing its ugly head. Just when I thought I would have all children off to school this morning and a chance to get down to a few of the things I've been delayed on, its come back again for one unlucky victim....such is life in an active family. Thank goodness the Olympics are about to start to at least give some interesting tv viewing for the ill and respite for caregivers!!

One thing I have done this week is spend a fair bit of time on the internet trying to research my most recent apron purchase. I have found a handful of similar ones on Flicker and for sale on sites in the US - they are still a bit of a mystery but in the few places that they are written up they are referred to being souvenir aprons from Portugal and probably made during the 50's tor 60's. I'm not completely convinced - maybe a in depth study trip to Portugal would help me get to the bottom of this....

There was one particularly attractive black apron that I was almost tempted to buy that I found here - http://www.vintagefancy.com/catalog/item/2379577/4006762.htm - my daughter was very taken with it and fancied the idea of us wafting down to the shops together in our Portuguese aprons to give the neighbourhood a real treat. Only a little more intensive effort and I shall soon have her as eccentric as me!

In between coming up with up with plans for the Portuguese trip I'm gazing at the pink apple blossom in the garden, in between the down pourings of rain, and dreaming of the coming of spring.....

Lastly - thanks to those who commented on my knitting bag in the last post. Both the maker and I were very pleased with the compliments, given my husband is horrified to have it in the house! Just goes to show you can't please all the people, all of the time.