FNwF and Goodbye Procrastination

Last night was my first night joining in with the Friday Night With Friends (FNwF) ladies over at Gone Stitchin

It's kinda nice sitting in on a Friday evening knowing that there are other's sharing their comfy stitching chair with you. I'm sure going to enjoy visiting the other blogs over the weekend to see what everyone got up to.

Thanks for sharing your time with me ladies.

So onto sharing my accomplishments for the evening. I worked on a couple of projects last night. One was an actual finish, the last step for that project and the other was another small step in a very big and very long project.

The Finish....now anyone who follows my blog will know that things don't move very often from the WIPs to the Finishes label. I tend to work on larger projects that take an age and I have many on the go. This finish all up took me only around 48 hours to complete, that's the accountant in me keeping a rough tally of the time spent each day on a spreadsheet, I just knew that career choice would be handy for something I actually like doing...lol. But you need to know that I actually started this project on the 1st January and it is now the 1st of August....7 months for 48 hours work....an indication that my project rotation is rather large....but it was worth the wait....

The Winter Casket Keepsakes is finished. Once I finished procrastinating about starting the jolly finger braiding and did a test sample in a thicker thread, it turned out there were only 8 steps to the pattern and 3 of those steps were tensioning. What was I worried about! Oh, and Amy Mitten's written instructions were as easy to follow as ever and I didn't need a video. BTW, thanks so much to all those of you who sent me a link to a video of the finger loop braiding. I did look at them and they were most helpful for basic understanding however the pattern was specific to the project and so I returned to Amy's instructions.

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Now back to the finish....Here's my sample braiding done the previous day....

....and here's the for real braids x 2 that I did Friday in preparation for my FNwF stitching in my comfy chair....

All I needed to do last night was to thread the braid through the eyelets ....

....and voila....

Aren't they just so darling. A needle keep and a thread winder keep. These are designed as casket toys and only measure a teeny 3 inches from top to toe. Thanks Amy for another cool design. Next is Spring Keepsakes and a truckload of needlelace petals.

So with Winter Casket Keepsakes duly completed I picked up the next project....my Patchwork of the Crosses. This is what block #4 is starting to look like. I am loving this project and getting to actually use my stash in imaginative ways is way cool. PotC is very addictive!!! 

So that was my Friday night....how was your's?....off to make a cuppa and check out what fun the other FNwFers had.

Rae

What's A Girl To Do On A Cold Winter Holiday

The short break is over, the sun shone but it sure was cold and still is. That southerly wind chill sure is mean and makes for sitting in cafes in Tauranga who all had the doors open and NO heaters, rather a cold affair. I don't really get that, not an outdoor or indoor heater in sight!!!

But we had fun none-the-less and what's a girl to do on a round trip when things are chilly, head indoors of course at every patchwork shop you pass!!! All that excitement generates it's own heat!

Hubby decided to go through Gordonton and through Cambridge to Tirau which was the first destination. I course I let him sort the navigational plan and then quietly suggested that...since we are going this way....he walked right into it LOL

So Grandmother's Garden was my first quilty related stop off....youngest daughter in full support of the decision....

Then it was on to Tirau for lunch and a most definitely planned visit to my favourite homeware shop Notting Hill Interiors. I found a couple of trinkets most suitable to sit in my studio. The birdie paper weight will be great for holding down the edge of projects worked at my desk and....

....this sweet little jewellery holder  has been repurposed as my applique pin dish

Kiddies and their father went off to the sweet shop and came back loaded with stuff to satisfy their sweet tooths, we were all happy.

Then it was off over the Kaimai's to Mount Maunganui. The sky was clear and blue. The surf was not up to much on the main beach though so no easterlies passing through there of late but there was of course plenty of activity along the boardwalk.

This was the sunny view from our apartment at the Oceanside Resort the whole time we were there.

But of course that didn't stop the entire family spending the early parts of the next morning on iphones and ipads and ignoring the view....

Of course....what was I taking the photo with!!! 

We spent a cool couple of days visiting parents and eating way too much but it was nice to get away for a change of scene even if you did have to rug up big time.

My parents live in Rotorua and so I of course I could not resist the opportunity to check out the new and improved Cottage Flair while visiting them for lunch. Jill's new shop is lovely and my Mum is a regular customer, lucky her. Couldn't walk out empty handed of course....the family went off to occupy themselves at the local ice cream parlour and were gone a suspiciously long time....I know this because I didn't have anyone come back telling me to hurry up....when they did turn up just as I was ready....turns out hubby took them all on a short scenic helicopter ride and they loved it. Again, all were happy.

On the way back to Auckland we took the scenic route up through KatiKati and Waihi. And, you guessed it, Cushla's Waihi is on the way. Hubby and eldest uninterested daughter parked up on the kerb outside the shop next to the very ironically located telephone booth where there is a Telecom Wifi hotspot so they were sorted and the youngest and I went for a gander inside. Again I was tempted and I did find a great Yoko Saito book called Strolling Along Paths of Green that has the best pictures and instructions for her techniques that I have seen. Score.

Heading North again we stopped off for a planned lunch at Karangahake Gorge at a place we have visited often the Ohinemuri Winery. We always share the platter and the kids love it. Once again it did not disappoint.

Back home today chilling and laying low away from the chilly outdoors before school starts again tomorrow.

I did get a few stitches into my Patchwork of the Crosses while I was away but not as much as I planned. Still it is all progress.

Before we left for holiday on Wednesday I did manage to get this far with my four Mountmellick borders....loving the look so far

I found a brochure while we were away....something to look forward too....not long now....

Rae

Holiday Repository

We are going for a small family holiday at the end of this week. It's winter and the weather is not the best. In fact it has been windy for the last week, as in blowing a gail, and now it's raining. I am pleased I didn't book for this week just gone as it certainly has not been school holiday conducive weather.

But there was last night for the first time in over a week, a sunny logo on the weather map on TV at about Tuesday. Dare I hope, we are leaving Thursday for two nights in Mount Mauganui staying in an apartment overlooking the ocean, please be sunny!!!!

In anticipation of being away from my regular well lit and magnified stitching spaces I have been prepping some quilting bits and bobs for some easy hand piecing. The 'holiday repository' is starting to get well stocked!

 Glue basting some more honeycomb hexies for my Patchwork of the Crosses. 

This block's gonna look like this....

I have pulled three more sets of colourways for the next three blocks....better get cutting....that's 72 honeycomb hexies including the background ones to cut, baste and stitch....might be piecing these still next holidays....

Reproduction fabrics, they sure are top of my favourites list! There is just something about the 17th - 19th centuries that has a hold of me!!!

Finally I gathered the energy to start proceedings on part III of Di's mystery. Been pottering away getting bits done on Mountmellick for the past week or so. Part IV has come out this week but if the magazine takes as long to arrive this time as last time, I have got a bit of time up my sleeve. The next instalment is nowhere as involved and time consuming as part III.

Hexies are basted, all 84 of them, leaves are cut, all 56 of them, along with the four corner pieces....

The four border strips and cut and the bias stems pinned on....I still have to cut heaps and heaps of broderie perse out of that already holey piece of chintz! Later!!!!

First stitching completed on the borders....the stems are on....leaves next....then the hexies....then the broderie perse....ways to go yet!

Hexie's waiting in the wings for assembly into flowers....

Amazing how much I have managed to achieve this week actually, stink weather outside does help a lot.

I also managed to get in some fancy stitching. I still haven't completed the Winter Casket Keepsakes as I have to make a finger loop braid and I haven't done it before. It requires all your fingers and zero interuptions....not something that is likely to happen while school is on a break so it will remain waiting for this last task. So in the meantime I picked up the Spring Casket Keepsakes and completed all the tent stitch and back stitch for the calyx pieces. Just some french knots to do for the stamens and then onto the needle lace petals and there are lots of them!!!

A tiny tiny amount of background stitches in Soie Ovale went into the Mirror this week but every bit counts as you know.

I picked up some goodies for the Yoko classes when I passed by Patchwork Passion this week on the way to visit my sister. I just adore the muted shades of the Japanese fabrics.

 The ladies did explain to me further why the classes are on the expensive side. Firstly she normally teaches to classes of 150 and the classes will be much much smaller here for more one on one as is the Kiwi desire, she also has an interpreter and gosh darn...morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea are all included.

Whats not to look forward too :-)

I hope my blogging friends who live further up the island in Northland are all ok. It's been much windier and wetter up there by all accounts. Won't we all be glad when this weather system leaves us for good!!!!

Still it could be worse....you could have been out there in a kayak trying to be the first to cross the Tasman solo and alive in the dead of winter as your claim to fame....that man should take up a more rewarding hobby like quilting.

Rae 

Perfect Days

It's windy as and stormy AGAIN today. We sure do seem to have had a bit of unsettled weather of late. But then it is nearly mid winter here and a tad more than a week past the shortest day or winter solstice for us who live down here in the lower lattitudes. Of course it is not all bad, loads and loads more time to stitch, stitch, stitch while it is blowing a gail outside. So cosy!!! I love the change of seasons. Hope the power stays on!

School breaks up for the end of the second term on Friday so I have been mindful of getting plenty done and prepping some stuff for some easier stitching projects for a couple of weeks. Luckily my girls are pretty good at amusing themselves so I won't have to stall altogether...lol

I am stoked  that I have now finished the canopy and drape pieces for one door of the mirror. This was fun seeing the needle lace come alive and a raised pattern emerging.

Here's the canopy piece still mounted on the support canvas, ready to be removed and the buttonhole edging done. Now that was one mega fiddly job as the thread catches on all those seperate tabs and the bows. The result as you will see in a minute is worth the effort as the pieces look so much nicer once they are edged.

The needle lace pattern used is an alternation of up and down buttonhole, a space  and then two buttonhole stitches followed by a space. The stitches alternate each row and so a diagonal raised ridge develops across the piece as you stitch. Fab. Now doesn't that buttonhole edging grand the piece up somewhat?

Here are the side drapes and the canopy pinned in position. Now this is really starting to look like a stumpwork piece. 

Just look at how much depth we have going on here now. Awesome.

The next task is to complete the long satin stitch underneath on the surface of the design. This will be done in the same shades but with only the lighter colours. Then it will be time to assemble all the pieces ready for attaching. This will include the leaves I have already completed as the branches of them hold up the canopy. Looking forward to that bit.

I decided that I would finish the whole canopy on one side before starting the next as I may just do the canopy and drapes on the Queen's door in a different colour. Oh yeah!

The quilting side of my world has seen the introduction of a new project to the mix. I know, I know, like I really need another WIP!!! And I haven't even started the third installment of Di Ford's/Quiltmania's mystery Mountmellick yet. I think I am secretly putting that off as it is chocka block with broderie perse on all four borders so will be mega time comsumming.

When I went into Patchwork Passion a few weeks back I got totally hooked into wanting to make Lucy Boston's Patchwork of the Crosses. The ladies there have been working away on this for a little while now and are having loads of fun with the honeycomb hexies and fussy cutting. So of course I wanted some of that fun for myself not to mention an excellent excuse to start diving into that rather large fabric stash I have. 

I have made a start. There are 56 blocks in this quilt and 8 metres of fabric for the background hexies alone. It is a labour of love and not a short term goal. I am doing the EPP method, same as the PP ladies. This is the sort of plain stitching I can do when kids are on holiday. It's very portable. I need to fussy cut some more blocks this week. It's a great way of looking at your fabric in a whole different way and it's fun.

Here's my first completed block with background. Each block is made up of 24 hexies and the background is another 24. Then there will be all the joining squares. I haven't decided on that fabric yet.

I have another one glue basted and awaiting piecing....

.... and here's the background hexies for that next one....

This is what the quilt will look like after a lot of hexies, a lot of squares and a lot of hours....it's a biggie!

Winter casket Keepsakes is nearing a finish but I will share that one next time....

Rae H