Wine Country Quilt Exhibition and more scraps...

It's almost upon us, our 5th biennial exhibition Wine Country Quilts up at Pukeora Estate that showcases the wonderful skills and creativity of quilters from the east coast of the lower North Island.from Gisborne down to the Wairarapa.  I know that there are going to be almost 200 quilts for you to look at, so do make sure you come if you have the chance.  It's open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so lots of opportunity to get here.  The website is here and will give you all you need to  know.  I will be up there working on the Janome stand over the weekend.

Having recovered from my cold, I have tried to keep up with the 365 challenge but have not made much of an impact as yet. I have been trying to at least cut out the fabric for each block, but am still a little behind.  I did make one block yesterday, but here is my pathetic February tally.  Oh well, catch up will happen some time. Lovely little plastic bags with their appropriate dates written on them look very impressive, but they are not much until sewn up.

Then I was a very good girl and made this quilt my Tuesday project, and now it is almost a quilt top.  It is for my daughter Rebecca, and I just need to put the black frame and outside border on..  Quilting will hopefully happen sooner rather than later.

I am very happy with the way it has come out, plus it is a stash reduction project, as this has been waiting for quite some time to become a quilt. Now what to work on next?  So many choices of things that need finishing, but I am fighting the urge to start something new and different.  Smack the hand and get back to moving these older projects out. Maybe a little something new, but using stash could satisfy the urge do you think?
Actually the most worrying thing about this quilt exhibition at the weekend is there will be quite a few  merchants that will have the most tempting morsels of fabric.  Oh dear, got to work on my will power.

Look what I've got now.  A real bathroom (well almost) as it doesn't have the washing machine beside the loo, and a real laundry room.  Whoop de doo.  I am ecstatic and can't believe how big both these rooms are.  Kerry has make a neat unit with the old set of drawers from the kitchen sink unit and now we have storage all over the place and somewhere to put the baskets and all sorts of other general stuff!!!!

In the bathroom we are going to install a wet floor shower, but that is last on the list, although the list is getting much, much smaller.  Kitchen is now in use and has only the tiles to go.  I am loving it and Kerry has done a wonderful job.  Wow, how awesome it is to use the dishwasher after looking at it for about 8 months.







And lastly, here is a shot of one of my entries in the show.  I forgot to take one of it once finished and bound, so will do that when I get it back.  Will tell you the story then too.

That's it for now, hope you are having a great week, and hopefully I will see some of you up at the exhibition.  I hope you continue to enjoy your creative journey with great enthusiasm and receive wonderful satisfaction from seeing something come to life in your hands.  Enjoy your family and take time to smell the flowers too. If you have no flowers, fresh air is just as good, as it is a blessing to have fresh air in some parts of the world.

Thanks for stopping by.
Blessings
Clare
linking to Oh Scrap  here
rainbow scrappy here and
Confessions of a Scrap Addict here

A beach, a hill and an almost finished quilt top....

Hello everyone, finally made it back to say hi and what's happening in my world.  Life has been rather hectic, and of course I managed to get sick again.  All better now and getting back on track.

Anzac Weekend saw my friend Donna and I troop off to Pongaroa to have lunch with my sister.  We used to visit this tiny village with our parents who had close friends living there for some years.  Sounds terrible to say that we have not been back for about 50 years!!!  After lunch we drove on out to Akitio Beach where we used to often go while there...the crayfishing was legendary.  How easy it is to forget the little dirt roads and how long it takes to drive the hilly winding 30kms to the beach.  All worth it in the end and we went back home the alternate easier route.  The trips is around an hour and a half one way from home.

I did manage to get my sisters very large quilt finished before I left and was able to give it to her on the day.  Glad I dont have to sew all that binding down Joyce!!

The pattern was the freehand flower that I practiced on the Vanuatu quilt and it looked really lovely on this one too.  I used a Magnifico Thread in a lovely olive green that just looked stunning on these colours.  Number is 2180 and it sewed like a dream with bottom line in the bobbin.
The alterations have been moving along nicely, and while I was tripping around, the boys got stuck in and put in some walls and the new kitchen window. I spent the day at friend Catherine's giving her some help on quilting her lovely Round Robin quilt.  Cant wait to see the finished article.

It looks even better than this now too.  And look what I got for Mother's Day...just what every mother desires... a handle on the toilet door...lol.  Coming up in the world here in Waipukurau.

We are in the throes of ordering the kitchen, so that is my next most exciting thing happening in the building world.

In the stitching world, I have finally got this scrappy top together for my grandson's birthday quilt.  Now to get the frame on and find a nice border fabric.  I'm hoping that there is a chance I will find something nice in my stash, but not counting on it.  I'm really happy with the result so far.

On Sunday after a lovely lunch with Kerry, we drove up to the top of Pukeora Hill just outside out town and sat on this lovely new seat with a view.  Can see about 190 degrees from up here and it was a spectacular day.  Love this part of the world.

And finally, one for the birds.  This Cotoneaster tree at my sister in law's is a feast for the birds at this time of the year.

There you go my friends.  The update in a short version.  We will be off to Wellington in three weeks to help Richard & Kea move into their first home!  Wow, such a special time for this little family.  Marcy is growing at a great rate and is such a beautiful baby...of course!  The twin great grandsons are now at home with Mum and doing well.  Jayden the smallest is still on low flow oxygen, but both are putting on weight and seem to be thriving.

Take care and will try to come back sooner.

Blessings
Clare