Sunday, December 1, 2013

Spring Quilting Retreat November 2013

The weekend just been saw a small gathering of club members take over Lonsdale Park for our annual Spring Retreat.  We just squeaked in for Spring as Sunday was officially the first day of Summer!  Grab a cup of tea and enjoy the photos.

So we sewed and talked and laughed and ate and slept (when the smoke alarm wasn't randomly going off!) and we even took care of a few feathered friends.




Steph does a lot of bird rescue work and this baby finch needs feeding every hour or two so he had to come along for the ride.


When she wasn't feeding baby birds, Steph was making pretty embroidery on her machine,


or trimming and stitching some Princess Mary Quilt blocks.  They were a product of a workshop our club ran recently. 


Or she was keeping an eye on Ziggy, who was getting bored at home so came for a visit on Sunday.  What a character!



Carol had a thing for squares this weekend.  She rustled up the two bassinet quilt tops pictured above - they will be donated to the local maternity unit when they are done.


Then she converted this rather large pile of squares into the HUGE scrappy quilt top below.  I think it's destined for a friend's bed once it's quilted.



Ingrid was carefully foundation piecing the beautiful star above.  She made two of these then turned them into placemat rolls - a placemat that has a pocket on either end for cutlery and napkins and has ties so you can roll them up for camping or travelling.


She was also working on some Princess Mary blocks and got to the quilting stage.


We had a talented embroiderer in our midst.  Aida has been steadily working away at these blocks at her Friday stitching group meetings and was figuring out how to put them together into a quilt.  They are framed with sweet floral prints, including lots of liberty fabrics.


Sorry about the photo quality - it was night when I took those shots.  The lupins are made up of hundreds of french knots!



Aida was also busy finishing this quilt that she started at the Taupo Symposium in July.  She was brave and attempted her first free motion quilting on it once it was basted and I think she did a great job - sorry, I didn't get a photo of it, but she hopes to have it in our January exhibition.


I tried to work through my UFO pile.  This kokako was started in a Hollis Chatelain workshop in January and all it needed was the quilting finished.  That got done so it's on to the binding next.


I made the top of a table runner that I plan to use as a sample for some beginner patchwork classes.


And I got the backing for my HUGE blue and white quilt pieced.  They have a wonderfully large floor in the hall - just perfect for those big projects.


And the bassinet quilt above started as an orphan block that was too cute to stick in the scrap pile so had been lurking in my UFO shelves for a few years.  This will also be donated to the local maternity unit.


Every retreat I manage to snap a shot of Darryl not quilting!  Sorry Darryl (she does actually get plenty accomplished!)  The quilt below was her project for the weekend and Sunday found her sewing on the binding - almost finished.



Alison was also working on roll up placemats.  There's that Princess Mary block again.


I wouldn't mind handwork if I had such beautiful scissors and pincushions to keep me company.


This is more of Alison's work.  These panels are made on her embroidery machine.


Stephanie was attacking her UFO pile too.  This colourful wall hanging got quilted after languishing for a few years.


She made two cute Christmas coasters.  They'd made a neat little handmade gift or stocking filler.


Stephanie also worked on quilting this project from her UFO pile.


And putting on the binding on this table topper made for her Mum and quilted by Leeanne from quiltmekiwi.


And last but not least, Mathea was impressing us with her thread painting skills.  It was a pleasure to see her sheep come to life.


Our next retreat will be in Autumn of 2014.  Have a wonderful and safe Christmas everybody and see you next year.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

2013 Christmas Lunch


If you are looking for a quilty game to play with your club or group, something to get people talking, then try this one.


As people come in the door, they get one half of a block name pinned to their back.  By talking to other people, they have to decipher what their word is (think animal, mineral, vegetable) and then find their partner.


You are allowed to answer their questions to help, but obviously not give the game away too easily!  Best to stick to well known quilt blocks.  It was a great start to our Christmas Lunch.


We also played our secret santa gift game.  Everyone who wants to participate brings along a modest handmade gift and adds it to the table.  You pull a number out of a hat, then number one gets to pick a present from the table.  Number two can pick a present from the table or steal from number one and so on!  There can only be two steals in a row, then the next person must pick from the table.  You can't steal back something that has just been stolen from you.  If it's all done in the right spirit, it's great fun and a good laugh!


Here's me and two of my Friday stitching group buddies.  Hi guys, see you tomorrow!!


We had time for a couple of show and tells.  This is what Dolores started in her class at the Taupo Symposium.  Lots of fabric folding and manipulation.


And Maebeth has a new grandchild on the way, and of course, babies need a quilt!


We had a lovely buffet lunch - thanks to the Christmas Lunch organisers who always do a great job of cooking a delicious lunch.


And wonderful Joy, who made us each a Christmas decoration for our place setting.


There were great raffle prizes too.  But by that time I had had a glass of bubbles and was feeling sleepy from the food, so no photos of the lucky recipients.  See you all next year for another fabulous day!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

October Show and Tell

Hi everyone.  Welcome to October's show and tell.  We had a small showing this month.  Hopefully that means that there are lots of quilts nearing completion to be shown next month?  Actually, November is the club's Christmas lunch, December is a no-meeting month so maybe those quilts can all wait till our exhibition in January!  Yes, our exhibition is drawing near, get stitching!


This is a very special quilt.  Daryl made it from blocks that were going to be a healing heart quilt for her sister.  Unfortunately, her sister passed away before it could be made.  I'm sure it will be treasured.


Carol made a big Hawaiian bag.  There are a few of these floating round the club now, it shows how useful they are!


This is what Judy made with her Princess Mary blocks that she made at the workshop with Beatrice.


Nita had a 'few' 1 1/2" squares hanging round so she decided to sew them together.  Look what happened!!  Apparently she has a few more hanging round too.  I love the secondary pattern.

The other happening at the meeting was a demonstration and mini-workshop that I ran on fabric stamping, monoprinting and screen printing.  I think it went really well - everybody seemed to have fun.





See you next month when I'll have pictures of the Christmas Lunch.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Taupo Quilt Symposium 2013 Video

For those of you who couldn't get along to it, here is a link to a video done by Pam Holland - a talented quilt tutor - of some of the goings on at the Taupo Symposium 2013.

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/5991  This link is to the page on The Quilt Show that has the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swtChRvfDSM&feature=c4-overview&list=UUswB_mTAe0AhmxVjPf8cNLA

And above is the link directly to Youtube in case you have trouble loading the video from The Quilt Show website like I did.

Enjoy!!


Saturday, September 14, 2013

Princess Mary Block Workshop - Saturday Stitch and Chat

The Saturday 21st September stitch and chat will be a workshop to learn how to make the Princess Mary quilt block.  It's a neat block, and it makes different patterns depending on which way you turn it.

The cost if you want to participate in the workshop will be five dollars per person.  Or you can just stitch and chat like normal, gold coin donation.  Open to everyone, club members and non-members alike.


Come along to Cherry Park House on Landing Road, Kerikeri, from 11am till 4pm.
Bring the usual - your lunch and your projects and your happy smiling face!


Requirements for the workshop:  
Four 8 inch squares of plain coloured cotton fabric and four 8 inch squares of a contrasting patterned cotton fabric,
General sewing requirements like thread, scissors and your sewing machine,
Rotary cutter, rulers (particularly a 12 inch square) and cutting board if you have them.


If you have questions, leave them here and I will try and answer them for you.