Count down to lockdown @11.59pm 25th March 2020

Here in New Zealand we go into lockdown at 11.59pm

on Wednesday 25th March 2020.

The decision was taken by the Government yesterday and

the announcement and details were given by the

Prime Minister.

This was the sunrise yesterday just a few hours before the announcement.

Rather spooky!!!

As of tomorrow at 11.59pm life will change for us.

Schools and universities shut down, shops, restaurants also closed.

Building sites closed down, the list is a long one!

The essentials to remain open will be pharmacies, medical surgeries and

supermarkets everything else will be closed.

We are all to remain home, we can not mix with others, not even family, we can only have

close contact with people living in the house.

All 70 year olds and those with underlying health problems (me) are classed as

high risk so thank goodness for the telephone, skype and facetime and computers.

We have to arrange for groceries to be collected

 - thank goodness we have our three adult 'children' who have all

offered any help we need. 

It has been difficult to concentrate over the past three days

but I have a finished table runner top, or it could be used as

a very long wall-hanging, I just have to trim the

sides and then can sandwich it for quilting.

I used the Ombre digitally printed range from Jennifer Sampou and the pattern.

This is my first experience with this sort of fabric

and I much prefer my usual regular quilting fabrics.

However, I do love the colours!

Measurements - 72" x 16 and 1/2"

Well, almost time for the latest bulletin so off to the living room

and the tv.

All of you stay safe and well and we can keep in touch as usual

with our blogs and our quilting adventures!

Maureen

A squirrel along with Autumn blooms

The thought of waiting one week before getting to the machine

again was making me pretty frustrated - so another squirrel appeared

which involved very little effort and very little thought.

Definitely simple but having bought some of the

Ombre fabrics by Jennifer Sampou I decided to also

buy the book. Immediately a table runner had my attention,

I fell for the colours used and decided this was an ideal

project for me at this moment in time.

I had a reel of Aurifil thread which matched pretty well too

 so I'm on my way and hopefully this will be
a finished runner top next week.

Autumn weather has been kind to us, the evenings are cooler and

sleep is much easier.

The garden is showing signs of the lack of water sadly and some blooms are fading fast

whilst others are just opening.

My favourite hydrangea in her Autumn colours

Little miniature cyclamen under the hydrangeas

Hips of Rosa Multiflora

and just opening outside my studio window

The first camellia to bloom

Back to waiting to catch the latest news update on television, our border

is now closed, strict measures are in place re numbers of people

gathering together and I suspect stricter ones again within a day or so.

Isolation measures have been in place for a while. Instructions

to practice social distancing - no nearer than 2 metres to another person,

and many others.

I'm staying home, only going out for necessary medical appointments

and just had the influenza vaccine this afternoon, husband also.

These were due to begin April 1st but over 65yrs and people with 

chronic underlying health issues were able to have them

as from yesterday. The intention is to try and reduce the effect

on the medical systems of having to deal with any Covid 19 patients and influenza

patients at the same time.

We are now living in a different world - let's all try and keep safe and well

and hope that eventually this virus will be beaten.

Take Care

Maureen

Quilts, Crutches and Covid 19

This is the March photo on my calendar - as soon as I turned

the page over I thought immediately of

Wanda at

Exuberant Color

who is a fan of zebras!

Having been fighting a nasty infection for the past two weeks and doing a real good
job of damaging my knee (hence the crutches) my sewing has been nil.
Hopefully another week of physio and being careful will
mean I can get back to the machine.

Because of the above I'm very late in showing the finished Diamond quilt for my friend
 dealing with tremendous health issues.
This was couriered down to her and I was thrilled to have
a 'phone call as soon as she received it telling me how much she
loved it, she spotted the pear fabric immediately (see previous post).
 Green Guinea Flower
was the fabric I chose to bind with for continuity of the
filler shapes around the diamonds.

 Quilted  by Leeanne at
Quilt Me Kiwi
the pattern is Full Feathers
Quilt measures 49" x 73"

It was a great day for photographing, not too bright so what you see here
is spot on for colour.
Here's a close up of the quilting, shows beautifully
on the pear diamond, I loved the colour of the
 cotton Leeanne used.

The significance of this particular fabric was mentioned in my last post.

We are all aware of Covid 19 and the effect on world populations,
here in New Zealand our Prime Minister yesterday announced a raft of new
measures to be taken to hopefully limit the number of cases
which could develop in New Zealand.
She's doing a tremendous job. Not everyone will be happy with
the decisions but we need to do all we can to limit the spread.

On that note I'll end this brief post and go read all your latest blog
posts, sitting at the computer has been impossible at times so
I'm awfully late with my reading.

Sleep being difficult presently, I've been up bright and early
and the bonus has been seeing the glorious sunrise in the
mornings, I loved the pop of light blue  in the one below.

Until next time-
keep safe!!

Maureen