Kainga, where Roses bloom, life is lived at a gentler pace.Living Simply, doing all those good things like stitching, gardening, cooking and reading.

Monday, February 24, 2020

"I stitched and stitched some more, that is the way to get things done!"

Hello,

Well I can hardly believe that time has flown so quickly. Lots of lovely things going on. We had Jude and Jacob back in January for a time. Lots of visits to the Library,walks around the river and park. They especially enjoyed the new skate park in town. Then the next week I was able to watch on TV the Australian Open, you would never have guessed at the start of the tournament who was going to be the winners. Celebrated Australia Day in the Park and went to the new Aquatic Centre the next day for a swim. It has been many years since I have been swimming in a public pool. Then in February we celebrated Jacob's 6th Birthday. All during this I decided to stitch and stitch on the circle quilt when I could. It is now hanging out on the line after giving it a wash. It has been dragged around the place and thrown across the floor to see where to quilt next time. I put in a few sheets of those colourwash things, they just came out a bit dirty. No colours bled which was good, as there were a few red fabrics I was wary off.


I was really happy to finish this quilt. It started as a 365 circle quilt but ended up being less circles.


 There was hours and hours of hand stitching the circles on then I hand quilted around each circle. I did start to hand quilt around the border but it would take far to long and the stripes on the blue fabric would have sent me silly.


 I already hand the multi coloured thread in my stash. Many years ago I purchased it intending to crochet a doiley but as it only had the weight of the yarn and not the length I didn't want to take the chance of running out of thread. I purchased the pink and green from the local craft shop. The pink was much easier to sew with, the green one was made in China and not such a good quality thread. It tended to fray easier and was harder to pull through while quilting. It is the first time I have used this larger thread on a quilt, I think it adds a bit of dimension rather than using say a ecru thread.


 I found the perfect backing in my stash. Just the right length and width and the stitches didn't really show up at all. Perfectly camouflaged. This backing fabric came all the way from New Zealand. A few years ago I hand quilted a quilt for my Sister's friend Lisa and she sent me some fabrics as a thank you.
When I started this quilt I was imagining that my stash would magically disappear. Of course it seems just the same.


Back in January I opened my big sewing fabric cupboard and this lovely blue fabric fell to the floor. It had already been cut out. How many years ago I don't know. I thought it was a sign to make them up into the serviettes. These will be gifted along with the quilt to one of my children.

 
Of course after making one lot of serviettes I had a look through and found this length of cherry fabric that was probably meant to be used in patchwork blocks. I am a sucker for pink so made a set of serviettes for us to use. Most of my serviettes are white which isn't really practical so having these on hand is wonderful.


Every now and again my sister Chris gets asked "Your sister sews doesn't she?" Of course she replies
" Yes but she hasn't done much sewing for a while". So when Chris visited from New Zealand late last year she came with bags of fabric for me to make something. The fabric all comes from t-shirts from the Surfline Factory in Ruakaka in New Zealand. I have divided the fabric into different projects. I have some cushions partially made and blocks that will be made into a quilt. I have found some fabric in my stash that will be made into scarfs, just need to applique on the logo's. I made this table runner with marine images to go with the Surfline logo's. So project number one is done. Oh and the shells in the photo come from New Zealand. Part of Lucy's collection of shells gathered while she lived in New Zealand.

I will have a bit of a break from crafting this week as Lucy and I are off on a road trip tomorrow. Which I know will be memorable to say the least!

Whatever you are doing have fun this week. Please tell me what you are working on, I would love to hear all about it.

Oh and exciting news, WE HAD RAIN this week a whole 8.5mls. it was so lovely to wake to the sound of rain on the roof.

Happy days.
Bev C

9 comments:

Kim Sharman said...

Why is it that our fabric stashes never seem to go down?? =) Your circle quilt is amazing, Bev. Wow, how fabulous to hand stitch around each of those circles. The backing is a fun fabric. Love that cherry fabric; 'tis perfect for serviettes. Wasn't the Australian Open great. I am such a fan of the young man, Thiem. I am impressed with his character and attitude, and maturity. He will go far. Alas, not such a fan of Djocovic. The men's final didn't quite pan out how I wanted...but there is always next year.

sharon said...

Hello Hello!! Delighted to see your comment on my latest blog posting and to see you're posting again yourself. I've missed you.
So worried about the folks I'd gotten to know "down under" during this horrific time of drought and fire. Since I don't have a very firm grasp of the Australian geography I imagine all of you in peril when I hear that so many of you have been. I hope my donations to Australian Red Cross and Wildlife Victoria helped in some small way.
As you move through summer we are nearing the end of winter up here. I have received all of my seed orders and I've got a few onion and leek seeds started under my grow lights. Can't wait to see if any of the bulbs I planted last fall will have survived to greet me this spring. Our hens are laying again and the sun has noticeably shifted to the north. Despite the blows we've delivered Mother Nature, seasons still evolve.
Hope you are well. I look forward to peeking through your window often in the days ahead.

Karen's Korner said...

I took part in the 365 circle quilt a few years ago and love "remembering" each day when it is in use. Glad to hear that you got some much needed rain. Enjoy sewing with your newly donated fabrics.

Fiona said...

wonderful that you have had a bit of rain... hopefully more to come. I love your circle quilt and you have reminded me I have a bunch of circles appliqued but have never joined the blocks... The servietes are great and it sounds like you are doing some fun things with the NZ fabrics.. I am working on several different things (as you know) but today I managed to do the binding on a quilt...
Hugz

Karen S said...

Lovely work on your circle quilt. It looks delightful. Glad none of the colours ran when you washed it.
Have fun with all the NZ pieces. And enjoy your trip.

Michelle Ridgway said...

I do love a circle quilt....yours is beautiful! So glad you
have received some rain at your place.

Lin said...

What a great finish your circles quilt is - beautiful. Enjoy your road trip. xx xx

Maria said...

Lovely to spend time with the grandies and also watch the tennis.
Your circle Quilt is great...

kiwikid said...

Love your Circle quilt, well done on the finish. So good to hear you had rain. Hee hee my fabric stash is doing much the same!! Enjoy creating with your NZ bits and pieces.