So what do you think?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!