A New Year 2021

 

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year

Well we're now three days into 2021and I think we can all agree
that 2020 was an "annus horribilis" to quote the words spoken
by Queen Elizabeth II in a Guildhall speech 1992 to describe that year!

Time will tell whether this coming year will be any better, let's hope so
although I fear it will be a heck of a long time before we can
refer to a year, hopefully not too far distant, as an
'annus mirabilis'
which means wonderful year.

You will have noticed our Kereru in the opening photo, a gift from youngest
son and wife for Christmas, now fastened on the deck trellis conveniently opposite
my favourite chair.

It's been a lean time for my quilting but here are two blocks made during a
spell of playtime

just trying out ideas for a new quilt for eldest grandson,
two more possible settings below

this is a pattern from Cultural Fusion Quilts, a book by
Sujata Shah blogging at
therootconnection.blogspot.com
having some computer problems so I do hope this link works!

Another possible contender for a quilt for grandson is another version
of Chain Link Horizon which I made in 2019

I have a stack of half hexagons 7" high which I cut when making this
quilt and were never used, I'm figuring I can save myself a lot of time
by using them along with a different solid for the diamonds.
I'm thinking perhaps the Kaffe Fassett Aboriginal Dot in Orchid,
not actually a solid but reads as one.

This is the time of year when lots of quilters think of a word for the year,
I've done so myself a few times. Given the year we have had I felt that there was
not just one word but there are three which resonate with me

NURTURE
to take care of, feed, protect someone or something

KINDNESS
and
COURAGE

don't we all need a little of the above mentioned?
I know I certainly do, this coming year especially.
I'm sure that many of us also need a little of these three.

Adam Lindsay Gordon, an Australian poet in the 1800's
wrote a poem "Ye Wearie Wayfarer" and I quote four lines below

"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
KINDNESS in another's trouble,
COURAGE in your own."

On a lighter note as I close my first post for 2021 here's
the early bloom on my white amaryllis

and now

there are 11 blooms right now, difficult to photograph them though.
Each bloom measures 6" across.
Needless to say I am thrilled!

Leaving you with Kereru at sunset

and he/she doesn't actually have speckles on his neck, I took this photo
through the window which needed a clean!!!

Happy Quilting

Maureen

Snippets on Sunday

We're creeping ever closer to Christmas, how could the past 12 months have

moved along so very quickly!

First up before quilty photos see below. On the grocery shopping list 

was a bottle of a good, rich red wine for my pasta dish for the evening meal.

As soon as I spotted this one on the shelf,  I knew it had to come home with me!

A welcome addition to our meal.

I've been able to spend some time this week on my quilting,

first on my list was checking for stray threads

on two quilts ready to be sent off next week

for quilting.

First, with borders added, is Memory Quilt and you can see it was

a windy day. The story behind this quilt I will share in the New Year

when it's been quilted.

 A blip with the watermark, a practically non-existent 'z'.

Second quilt was made quite some time ago, around three years I think, from 

 Quilts in Morocco by Kaffe Fassett.

Blue Heaven

I thought the hydrangeas were a good match. 

A little more progress made with Mardi Gras

just pinned on the wall at the moment, 19 more blocks to make. I'll try different

settings when they're all finished. I'm loving playing

with strips and strings and as I have heaps I can see more string/strip quilts

in my future.

Something new now - I'm cutting solid 9" squares, 

the pattern is inspired by Sujata Shah and her

superb book Cultural Fusion Quilts. 

More squares to be cut this week. This is another in the

Memory Quilt category.

Time to go, a little time to spend on a few hexies and then

our two eldest grandchildren are coming for a meal with us.

Beatrice is the eldest at 19yrs and Charlie 17yrs.

Bea is training at a hair salon and Charlie heading off to

University in the New Year.

Doesn 't seem so long ago that we were sitting reading nursery rhymes

with them!!

Enjoy the coming week and hopefully not be too stressed

with preparations for Christmas. 

Maureen

A dry spell for quilting!

Just over three weeks since I last posted, that must be the longest spell

without a post since I began blogging!!

It's been a while for various reasons but I'll show you

the sum of my quilting over this lean period.

First up the quilt for my daughter was quilted by

Leeanne at quiltmekiwi.blogspot.com/
if you head over to her blog you'll see good photos of the quilt, better than
I have below!
It's been pouring with rain here, not ideal for outdoor photos.

The central blocks were from a QAL with Sujata Shah, she blogs
over at
The Root Connection
and the pattern is Rail Fence.

The border is an Anna Maria Horner fabric from  her
Sweet Dreams collection

The quilting, as mentioned earlier is by
Leeanne at Quilt Me Kiwi,
I went with the Plump Swirls pattern in order to
soften the angular lines in the blocks
You can see the pattern on the back of quilt below.

Remember my Tula Pink Plus One quilt ?



I'm going to quilt this in three sections, something that's been on my radar
for a while.
There was quite a good amount of fabric left from piecing the top and that's
been cut into strips for  the backing.
The first section for quilting covers the blue bees down to the
racoon fabric.

I had to do little piecing here and there and was out of the bottom aqua racoon on pink so
went with the reverse colourway - you will see I have
a two headed pink racoon!

And that is all I have done in my three weeks, I have  been fiddling
around in the studio trying to find a better working
set up - without much success!

On a sunny day we headed over to see our two youngest grandsons, they
 live just a couple of minutes walk from the beach - how about this view
as you're making sand castles or paddling in the sea.

Rangitoto in all her splendour sitting out in the Gulf.

Time to power up the machine and get creating,
back soon,
have a good quilting week.

Maureen

Playtime

A week of playing around, both outside and inside. 

A ride along the coast road

the early morning light hitting the still bare branches on the oak next door.

Last week was going to be playing week for AHIQ but somehow

I just couldn't get into it and changed tack, ended up playing with one of the blocks

from the Cultural Fusion Quilts book by Sujata Shah - see her blogs

Cultural Fusion Quilts
and
The Root Connection

I needed to work on something simple without seams and points
having to match up!

Here are two full blocks

I didn't want high contrast fabrics in this small piece I'm making
I was trying for more of a blended look. There'll be nine blocks in all
in a rather more traditional layout for
a modern free style block. There should be something more in my post
later in the week.

I'm linking up with Angela for RSC 2015Angela and RSC 2015 on the
grounds that there is some orange in the blocks but only a little!

 Before I go back to my machine can
I say a big thank you to all who left comments and sent emails
after my last post about Seamus, I have tried to
reply to all but if I have missed anyone please accept my apologies!
Your kind words were very much appreciated!

Maureen

Two more sleeps until Christmas Day

Two more sleeps here in New Zealand that is!

I'm conscious that I haven't done a post for just on a week or so now 

and didn't even link up with Angela for the next to last

Saturday in the RSC 2014. Not been too well and just didn't manage

to sew more than four cats together in the past week so nothing much to show

on that score. I can show the beginnings of

a new piece which I posted to
Cultural Fusion Quilts early last week, this is
a new blog from Sujata Shah of The Root Connection and I am thrilled to be a contributor
to the blog, please go and visit, it's going to be great!

Sailing Through Suez

Just at the stage of playing around with colours and going with the Flying Geese setting
based on the Hourglass block from Sujata's book Cultural Fusion Quilts which you can see
on the links above.

 New fabrics arrived in the mail this week which cheered me no end
and I needed some cheering as blood tests
 tell me that in addition to other health problems I am pre-diabetic - pretty high results!!
Sugar is a no-no and fats are also on the "careful watch" list, please think of me
when you're all enjoying your Christmas turkey or ham and and all the trimmings,
not forgetting yummy mince pies and cream!

Over the next few days I hope to spend time planning out projects for next year,
Vicki over at Field Trips in Fiber
has some great ideas which will keep me busy! Pay a visit - the more the merrier.

I must end this post with photos of the sunset yesterday evening

Just Glorious

Wishing you all a Happy and Peaceful Christmas
Maureen

Just another Manic Monday …….

I intended posting this last night but time got away on me and

it was a real busy day, more present shopping, laundry, ordering fabric and so on!

My cat quilt - Alley Cats - should have had a few seams sewn yesterday but didn't

happen because of the above reasons and I couldn't

stop myself from starting a small quilt using the Hourglass Block from the new book by
Sujata Shah - Cultural Fusion Quilts - over at The Root Connection
pay her blog a visit, it's wonderful.

 Cats -  I made around 126 for a quilt 70" x 81" and was undecided whether to set them as the original or put a narrow strip between rows.
Putting them up on the wall I realised I didn't really want it so big
more of a throw over the couch or over a chair, even
hanging on a wall in the hallway so I lost the bottom row and two side rows

Alley Cats

here they are in the final arrangement, untrimmed and still with threads hanging off
some of them but I'm not worried about that I just
wanted to see how they all looked. Also you can see I'm going
with the original design. Head on over to
Super Scrappy and RSC 2014 and catch up
with everyone, only two more Saurdays' left now.

 On to the sewing machine to get them all in order, before doing that I need
 to go and dead-head some of my roses, the wind and rain here
have ruined the blooms.
I did take a couple of photos before the bad weather

Can't remember the name of the rose

day lilies and penstemon

Off to the sewing machine  - happy quilting.

Maureen