Fruit Of The Vine And My 50th Post

 

 My day with a designer in the Hawkes Bay was a fabulous time. The weather was brilliant, the flight down was smooth and the view out the plane window awesome. Hawkes Bay was warm and welcoming. The event was hosted at the Mission Estate Winery which is a beautiful old and elegant building set in amongst the grape vines. Perfect for a project named 'Fruit of the Vine'. The class was small and intimate and mostly not from the Hawkes Bay. Ellen Chester's energy for the project was motivating. Ellen is lovely and I am pleased I had the chance to meet her. Of course it also turns out that she is in Tricia's Cabinet of Curiosities course so we had loads to talk about! We learnt loads of specialty stitches and Ellen gave detailed instructions about stitching and completing the project which was super helpful. It will be a while before I get this one done though. Seeing the pieces stitched was a treat as you just don't get a sense of the dimension in the stitches unless you see them for real.

 

We were very well fed and watered during our day at the winery. Lunch was on the patio with beautiful platters of antipasto, salad and fresh fruit. No wine though or we never would have been able to concentrate in the afternoon ;D

 

 

 

Me & Ellen

 

Our class kit for Fruit of the Vine

 

I have to say that the day was splendid and the only thing that bugged me was totally out of Ellen's control. She wasn't allowed to bring in the beautiful scrimshaw pieces as they are prohibited In New Zealand.....darn!!!! I like them!

 

Thank you Ellen for sharing your time with us all the way down under and thank  you also to Sherelyn from Timeless Treasures for hosting Ellen.

 

I finished block #2 for the Civil War Bride quilt. Gosh there were a lot of stems in that second block and it took a little while to place all the pieces but I am pleased with the result.

 

 

Block #1

 

Block #2

 

The Needleworker's Pocketbook is trucking along. I just finished the thread holder portion last night and am now up to the flowers on the ruler. After that the project will be ready for finishing. The end is nigh!

 

This is the thread holder portion a couple of days ago.

 

 

I have also done a little more towards completing the first block of Di Ford's 'Mountmellick'. This is such a pretty quilt and I am loving the fact that I am getting to do this quilt in the same colours Di chose. She is just unsurpassed at fabric selection for shabby quilts and the brilliant use of fussy cut fabrics.

 

 

English paper pieced corner hexies coming together

 

This is where they will go but they are not stitched yet.

 

Issue #100 of Quiltmania arrived on my doorstep last week with the second instalment of the quilt. This time it is the first border. This second lot of fabrics are just as gorgeous as the first. Bestill my beating heart...

 

Amy Mitten has released the first lessons for the Spring Equinox Casket Keepsakes. and the kit arrived. But of course it is the Autumn Equinox for us here in Nez Zealand. Not sure when I will be able to start this one. The Winter Casket Keepsakes (Summer here) are still sitting very partially completed close to my workspace on my desk but not on it!!!! Quilting has side tracked my time of late.

 

They are sooooo pretty

 

I really really really need to spend some time doing what we needleworker's tend to consider the least fun part......the finishing. It can make or break a project that has taken hours of time stitching.

 

Not only am I nearly there with the Needleworker's Pocketbook but the May Your Hands and Floral Glove are still awaiting completion. The Tire Gold Silk I was waiting on arrived last week so no excuses for finishing the tiny bit on the glove I need to do that I had put aside due to running out of thread for couching the Elizabethan twist.

 

Take a look at these gorgeous wire metallic threads that I received from Tricia at Thistle Threads during the week. I won these in the contest to guess the dimensions of the winning beaded 17th century basket created by the amazingly talented Rachael Kinneson. So pleased I entered as the threads are fabulous.

 

 

 

Hope you all have a fabulous week filled with creativity!!!