A New Winter Coat.

A new winter coat it will be!

While in the city on Wednesday I selected a pattern for a coat. I also noticed a rather lovely cream fabric. IMHO, it seemed just the right sort of thing for the coat pattern I had chosen. No rash decisions. Instead, I came home viewed the instructions, phoned the store and asked about the quality and the
self pattern contrast within the weave of the fabric. After some contemplation, I returned to the store today and purchased a tad more than stipulated on the pattern envelope. I checked out lining, although one was of a similar colour, I decided more thought was needed. The plan is to have the coat completed before this winter ends. Progress photos will keep me inspired, once it is cut out and under way.

I have made some headway with the hexagons, the top left hand corner will be together, by bed time this evening. A photograph tomorrow, for an update. Over the weekend I will need to replenish my store of cardboard hexagons, so much cutting needs to be done before I can cover the next group. The right hand corner, seems to be the next logical section to accomplish.

As July draws to an end.

Amongst the daily chores, a small amount of stitching filled a couple of hours, over the last week. I finished the embroidery on a gift, found fabrics, which had been eluding me and re arranged one of the book shelves in my sewing room.

This afternoon was spent immersing myself in times long gone, viewing our collection of photographs. Amazingly, by late afternoon, I had been reminded of wonderful times, celebrations, family gatherings, parents & grandparents, and fun times with school friends. I relived some of the times depicted in the photographs, as I remebered fondly, those events. What a great tonic! The object of the search was an upcoming birthday celebration, for one of our children.

Instead of deciding on one of my current WIP's, as an interlude, while continuing the hexagons, I have decided to pick up some dress making/tailoring. I am thinking an evening top or, perhaps a coat. The next step is to choose patterns, & notions. I already have two fabrics, suitable for tops, so coating fabric needs to be sourced, for such a garment.

Visitors.

Thank you to all those folk who have so kindly become followers or left comments. My plan has always been to be diligent with my creativity posts, however I am human and can fail to follow, even my best intentions.

Speaking of Visitors, a photo above of the very pretty feathered kind.

These are Australian Native birds, called Rainbow Lorikeets. They are often friendly, when food is offered. These two are part of a local flock which visit morning and evening, and walk backwards & forwards along the sitting room windowsil. As soon as anyone inside moves in the direction of the kitchen they fly to that windowsil. They create quite a noise outside the window, annoucing it is time for their treat. My DD#2, feeds them a special vitamin enriched liquid, especially prepared for their species. As they are nectar & fruit eaters, some folk, mistakenly feed them sugar in water. Over a period of time, the adults who have been fed this, produce young who are unable to stand or use their wings. They are often very cheeky & when they have been feasting on rotting fruit, they are very comical, (drunk) after consuming the fermenting pulp.
.


Today we were informed our car will be out of action for about ten weeks. Oh dear! We will need to consider obtaining a "beats walkin" of some description, preferably an automatic version, after yesterday in DD's manual. IMHO it is totally unsuitable for the roadways in Wellington, even tho many folk must drive in this mode.. I did learn to drive on such a vehicle, realising very quickly, automation was a much more pleasurable, driving experience. To each his own. Without my wee chariot, there will be more time at home to stitch. This afternoon I felt a distinct inclinatiion to start, or perhaps I should say, continue, with a WIP. I do need a small distraction. So, which will it be from the many awaiting my attention?

Progress on Hexagons.

Work is continuing on sections of the background hexagons. I have decided to add more fabrics than I used in the centre pane, drawing these from my stash. I always enjoy this part of the quilt proceedure. Fondling fabrics takes much time, before a final selection is reached.

Last week was the first week of school holidays and yet again, it was raining and miserable. We took the boys up the coast, for lunch. When we were returning home we were rear ended. A driver behind, was rubbernecking, and missed seeing the traffic in front had stopped. My car has a badly damaged hatch door, requiring repairs. We are currently waiting on spare parts so it is booked in for next week. We will be on Shank's pony for two weeks. Outdoor escapades will only be local or, within the public transport destinations. Hopefully I will be able to stitch up a storm in those two weeks.

I love the rain and the cold weather, but with rain since the 19th of May & only glimpses of sunshine, even my tolerance levels are somewhat stretched. However, there are delights to be found in the gloom. I felt blessed to be able to look out the windows over the weekend, as I sat stitching, to see the beauty of the snowcapped Rimutakas in the distance, beyond the harbour. I hope you can share my delight with this photo.

Wet Weather Stitching and Planning.

The wet weather continues as I stitch more on my hexagon quilt. Guess it is the right kind of weather for sitting indoors and stitching on this project. Here is progress so far, with the proposed look of how the centre will eventually be surrounded by the background of hexagons.


I decided to re-arrange the previous group of hexagons, so they needed to be reverse stitched :) :). They are now together in a different sequence, as I work across and down in sections. I am happier about this method, it is still a mammoth task, although rythmic and enjoyable.

I have a couple of stitched gifts to complete, which have been languishing in my "to do" pile, while I try to select the correct finishing threads and fabrics. I have a square to do for our local Guild birthday celebrations, and it needs to be completed in less than two weeks.

I have done very little cross stitching of late, although I have three new small charts from gifts. They await my attention, after the current one is completed.

A Gift or Two.

On Friday morning I received a call from the "Fabulous Five" singing me Happy Birthday. Such a delight to hear & have the memory, to remind me of their joyful rendition, throughout the day. A wee chat with Lucy and kisses over the phone from Jeremy. I had a call from Matthew who was in Inverell, and shortly after from Felicity in Sydney.
I also received three beautiful flowering bulbs, Hyacinths, in a pretty blue .
A beautiful gift of three cross stitch kits for needle rolls. Thank you Felicity, I am thrilled.


How about these cute gifts?
A selection of cat magnets for the refrigerator door! A perfect gift for a cat lover.
Hugs and kisses, thank you Nicholas.
A set of stacking Dolls! The only kind, none other than Matroyshka dolls, another favourite, to add to my collection. These are different and very useful as measuring cups, and kitchen decorations. Hugs & kisses and thank you, Josh'.



Because I am very fond of dragon Flies, I received a beautiful card and a sweet gift both depicting dragon flies, from DD#2. The circular gift unfolds to become a handbag holder. Thank you Felicity.

Thanks to Steve and Louise for a delicious Birthday Dinner Party.

One of my dearest friends sent me a funny wee book about stress, All sayings TIC. ( toungue in cheek), but it gave a great laugh. Thank you dear friend, Gay.

,

New Cross Stitch Fabrics.& earlier completions.

These are four fabrics which arrived in the mail this week.
All from Enchanted Fabrics and I was thrilled when I opened the parcel. The colours are beautiful, although strong, this photo does not do them justice.They are for no specific chart, just wanted to have some on hand.

This is a small stitch I completed for Thanks Giving, last year. It is stitched with Six Strands Sweet, name escapes me, however it is in a very soft grey, although it does look like a mauve in the photo.

The next two photos are pieces I stitched for my dear husband for Valentine's Day this year. The first was a gift from a cherished, fellow cross stitcher friend. Thank you Karen. I really love the design and the specified colours. I have a small key to stitch to it before it is framed.







The second is a popular "freebie design" from the web, and I choose to stitch
it in a hand dyed, blue.






The is Long Spider, stitched two years ago. It was a very quick, fun, stitch and I passed on the chart to another stitcher .



Below is the progress on the background hexagons.

Hexagon Centrepiece.

The last six weeks seem to have flown by very quickly. I have been learning to play Mah Jong once a week for the last month, returned to the Wednesday stitching group, hand stitched a couple of gifts and made a BOM as a sample for a fellow quilter. The block is titled, Athenas' Puzzle, using Batiks & is machine pieced, not my favourite way of patchworking.

This is a photo of one of the gifts I made for a friend, who generously passed on a chart I had long admired. I did the stitching & DH made the quilt rack.

It is freezing cold, windy & wet, nothing new, for almost ten days. I have been hiding inside and stitching a little more on my hexagon quilt. I can finally say, the centre piece is completed, here it is, although not a great shot.

I've also stitched a small portion of one corner of what is plannned for the rest of the background. I am not entirely sure of how it will go with the centre panel. So far to me, it looks a tad too busy. However when recalling to mind, older quilts of this construction, some are definitely very busy. Guess I will need further contemplation and a decision before too long, as it does require much effort to put all the hexagons together. The caculation so far is for just over 1,200 plus the extras for the final edge. I'm really not too keen to have to re-think this final stage, so when I'm happy about the layout, it will proceed. .

On Sunday the 18th we cruised the Marlborough Sounds. What started as a bleak, grey, early morning waiting to board the Arahura, InterIslander ferry, turned into an absolutely beautiful, Autumnal day. These are cars waiting to board the large ferry "Kaitaki" sailing one of the regular, daily, scheduled crossings to Picton on the South Island.. Our queue, for the day cruise, was to the right of where the photo was taken. The next photo is of Barretts' Reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour. This was where the ferry "Wahine" founded in April 1968, in a viscious Southerly Gale.
The voyage was nothing less than delightful! The water sparkled in the sunshine, the scenery was spectacular and the food & company were enjoyable. We were accompanied by a pod of dolphins, frolicking beside the ferry on our outward journey. We also spotted seals basking in the sunshine as they floated on the gentle swell.

We passed shipwreck points, island sanctuaries, saw many sea birds and breathtaking vistas north along the coast. We could see far away up the North Island eastern coast, to Mt. Egmont & in to the Mt. Ruapehue peaks above the haze. There was a delivery of fresh Green Lipped mussels and fresh salmon as we cruised. The on board entertainment was interesting and varied, from cooking demonstrations, wine & beer tastings, manicures & pedicures, massage, safety vehicle inspections, & skeet shooting to mention a few.

I am not the best sea traveller and a friend suggested I watch the horizon any time I felt uncomfortable. I did, with regular monotony, which did work well. By the time we were returning & darkness had fallen with no horizon to see, I seemed to have mastered the swells. It was easy to do a little stitching on my hexagons, while sitting in the sunshine, listening to the on board commentary & watching the points of interest.




We returned home feeling blissfully relaxed and uplifted for the experience.

I spent some time with my hexagon quilt late last week. In view of the fact, this quilt has been in and out of storage over the last 8.5 years, the progress was quite substantial, in the scheme of things. :):):) I've calculated I need three hundred hexagons for the final egde, not including those I need to complete the front blocks. So I have many more to prepare although, I am still undecided about the brightness of the joining yellow. My plan at present is to continue with the fabric as it is, then if it needs toning down, I can very carefully tea dye the joiners at a later stage. There is no photograph of current progress, however the photo above is from the year before last, when florals & contrasts for the last couple of blocks were still being sorted. It has moved on since then & you can see how far, in an earlier post, dated 22.10.09.

Over the weekend, three small cross stitch items were organised, as portions of gifts yet to be completed, for generous stitching friends. I am a little behind in a couple & one has been waiting for the appropriate moment for bestowing, which I think has now arrived. Photographs when they have been received.

Speaking of cross stitch, this one is from 1994. Hearts are for me, a particular design favourite. This photograph is not great as there appears to be a reflection on the glass, which is not apparent in real life.

I am also working on a patchwork jacket I hope to have completed to wear on Sunday. I have wooden buttons to paint, to add a finishing touch. Another item from my 'to do' or, perhaps it should be my, 'to complete' list. It's certainly a great feeling to get the languishing items, out of the cupboard for their intended purpose.

I found a bunch of spinning gum in the florist section of a supermarket last Thursday. My absolute favourite greenery. It's not something I 've found readily available here, however the supermarket was not the regular one I use, so I will know where to look in future.
Normally I have the house bare over Maunday Thursday & Good Friday. I set the greenery out adding the decoration and other flowers late Saturday evening ready for Easter Sunday. The gentle perfume, of this particular species of eucalyptus gum, pervaded the whole house with it's sweet, soft & refreshing bouquet. It was a particular delightful, making me feel I was right at home, in Australia.

These eggs have been featuring in our family's Easter decorations since our children were in primary school. Some are hand painted, marbled by the children from a purchase at The Royal Easter Show, as it was then known. Others I covered with fabrics, ribbons & other trimmings, while some are hand blown, and covered with dried Hyderange, macaroni, or even feathers the children collected from the forest floor.

This is the Sleeping beauty from some time ago. It needed to be quilted, by machine, which was part of the class requirement I had not accomplished. As I prefer to hand quilt, it has kept company with other languishing items needing specifc finishing techniques. It is now completed & ready to hang

After visiting the Surgeon on Friday morning, Joshua's toe was healing well enough to have the cast removed. He took it all in his stride, no pun intended, and was bright and bubbly, only letting the nurse know it was painful when she squeezed the toe in question. I gave him the choice of returning to school or coming home to stay for the afternoon, he chose the latter. He did not have his shoe with him for that foot, so he needed to be out of harm's way in anycase. It needs to be protected and no swimming until the surgeon reviews it again in two weeks.

Yesterday I worked on repairing embroidery on an Easter Rabbit patchwork wall hanging, some of the silk thread had worked loose. Another of my Sleeping beauties from what seems like, 100 years ago. When I pulled it out of the 'to do' pile on Sunday, I decided it would be finished and used for this Easter. Another to add to my completions, and about time.

Today I started the quilting although not my preferred method, working on it for about 2.5-3 hours. I have had enough of sitting over the machine so about an hour in the morning will see it ready to bind, attach a sleeve and a label, yet to be made. How I wish I could dispense with all my Sleeping Beauties so quickly.

I had a plaintive call from Nicholas this evening asking could I mend a favourite top that was needing attention. The story is, his Mother, DD#1, saw that the zipper was broken and decided to cut it up for the rag bag. I gather young Nicholas was shattered. Bless his wee heart he believes I can resurrect the item. If that proves to be an impossible task, even for a stitching Mama, I have suggested I could recycle it into part of a quilt or cushion. We all live in hope.

We have just returned from a ten day visit home.

What Joy!

To very dear, Family and Friends who loved, cherished and cared for us during our stay, thank you. I am so very grateful for your warm embraces, the commerarderie and the ties that bind. Something I will always miss living so far from you all, back at home.

As we approached for landing from the North, I eagerly searched for familiar images of of my hometown. How lovely it was to see sights of Sydney, emerge from the clouds.
A very familiar landmark, the Gladesville bridge, appeared below.

We connected with a flight to Port Macquarie a couple of hours after arriving in Sydney. We went to visit our son, his wife and 'our Famous Five,' the children.
Naturally they have grown ever so, are delightful, loving and were very happy to see us. It has been three years since we saw them all, so it was a very special time for us, after so long away. I am eternally grateful for the telephone and internet however, nothing compares to a welcoming smile, enfolding embrace, & eyeballing a loved one, large or small.

Their home looked so pretty and picture perfect, within the beautiful foliage surrounding the property. It is approximately 40klms from town and is very quiet and peaceful. Amazingly, I coped with the heat of 32C for the latter part of the trip. Thankfully, being gently eased to those figues after the first couple of days.

The countryside of New South Wales was looking so vibrant, dressed in luscious green, compared to the drought coloured hues of the time we left, to live across the sea.

We then travelled on the XPT to Newcastle, for a short stay of a couple of days. We stayed with one of my many wonderful cousins, & her husband, enjoying their warm, generous, hospitality & lovely home near the sea amongst the beautiful bushland. All treasured sights for me. A dinner was arranged so we could see many other family members. To my delight, two of my favourite Aunts and Uncles arrived, along with some of their children, & grandchildren. It was a very special family evening. After another great day with them, checking some of the suburb of my teenage years, we left for Sydney to stay with a dear friend for three nights. During that time we were able to catch up with yet another favourite Aunt and cousin, driving to Gosford to meet up for lunch. We met with several other friends for lunches or dinners, before moving on to stay with more friends, at Wahroongah. We spent a great evening and part of the next day, with them before heading to stay with DD#2 at Mosman. Sadly, our last evening at home. Our son was back in Sydney so the four of us celebrated dinner at Balmoral Beach. The idea being, to enjoy the views of golden sand on a tree lined beach, a beautiful harbour setting & the sweet taste of Australian prawns. Some of which, are not readily available here in Wellington.

It was all over far too soon.

I would return to Sydney in a heartbeat if I could cope with the high temperatures of summer. Unfortunately, we would not be close to any of our GC. Travel from Sydney would be approximately the same time away from both families, about five hours. Here, I am near two of the seven, and can enjoy the benefits of a cooler climate.

On our return to New Zealand, we visited DD#1 & her two small sons. The youngest managed a visit to hospital for surgery, while we were away. Last week, Joshua managed to drop the lid of the window seat onto his foot, chipping the bone & almost slicing off the second toe of his left foot. Now he is sporting a cast over his foot, to mid calf, protecting the toe, which luckily a surgeon was prepared to attempt to save. So far so good. We delivered him to school this morning, so he seems to be on the mend. Friday this week will reveal more, when he returns for a check up, with the surgeon.

Wellington has welcomed us back with a 120-130 klm gale force, Northerly with an overcast & rainy day of only 16C. A rude awakening after the beautiful, almost still, New South Wales sunny, autumn weather. At least it makes one feel inclined to pick up a needle and stitch once more.

A needle roll completion from earlier this year.

I am currently working on another needle roll from Shepherd's Bush, 'Pansy' stitched on mid lavender coloured, 32ct linen, along with the Quaker Seasons' tribute to my late, very dear and beautiful Mother. Progress to now, seems very slow.

Take the Quiz here!

Time for a new Post.

I 've made some headway over the last six weeks, making more gifts & completing small stitched items. A few appear below.

Some were gifts, another stitched for Valentines' Day not featured here, along with one or two from a while back. Others are kitted ready to start very soon and a couple of patchwork sleeping beauties, have been moved up the 'to do' list.

I had six days at home alone, while DH went to Sydney for a dinner reunion with old friends. I chose not to travel with him this trip, as we both leave for a visit home in the next week. I am so looking forward to visiting family and friends, after what seems to me, such a long time away.

Wellington has finally had brilliant summer days. There is nothing quite as breathtaking as Wellington harbour vistas, on a glorious day. The temps reached 26C one day, hot enough up here on the ridge, to turn on the airconditioning. As soon as the sun disappears over the mountain behind our home, the temperature drops, with evenings cool enough to allow one to sleep comfortably. Something for which I am eternally grateful, after Sydney summers.

The photo below, although before Christmas when it was quite cool, is of a brilliant sunny day from our sitting room window. It looks over Wellington up to the Rimutaka Mountain Ranges at the other end of the harbour. In winter time these mountains are often snow capped.

Last weekend I travelled up the coast, about 60 klms from town to visit a patchwork shop. I purchased a small piece of fabric some time ago and when I phoned to check last week, was lucky enough to find it was still available. It's a great piece of fabric to pick up the kitchen wall colour. I plan to use it as a cover on a notice board, in the adjoining family room. I need to find the correct coloured pins and grosgrain ribbon, to complete this project.

A couple of weekends ago, it was time for the annual hedge trim. On such a steep block, it requires great care, working in tight spaces, from the top level down to the street.

This is looking up to the first level of three, above the rear of the house.

The Shasta daisies have been prolific, so thinning, deadheading & pruning figured in the trimming exercise. This morning, I noticed the last of the Agapanthus, about to bloom. They have been spectacular with their abundant flower heads, in very deep blue, pale blue stripes and a few white ones through the garden plots. The Japanese windflowers are now blooming, looking tall and elegant lining the path and the courtyard, a reminder we have moved into Autumn.