September 2022

So, here I am, blogging for two weeks in a row. Go me!

What seven things did I do this past week?

Number One:

Last week I fed my calves more than 50 litres of milk. This week I’ve been given the care of another calf, which makes four fluffy babies I need to feed twice a day. The new baby is probably about 3 weeks old and got left behind in a paddock shift (playing hide and seek.) When she got back to the herd, her Mama didn’t want her, so now she’s with me and named Happy Meal. So this week, I’ve fed my calves over 70 litres and they are getting so strong and demanding! It’s like being mobbed by cute, fluffy vampires every time I walk into the pen.

Number Two:

Got to visit a quilt show!! It’s still a great feeling getting to go to quilt shows, I really didn’t like it when everything was being cancelled because of the pandemic. The Whangarei Patchworkers and Quilters Club held their biennial show over the weekend and I made the hour’s drive south to go see quilts. And talk to lots and lots of people! I reckon I probably spent more time catching up with old friends than looking at quilts, and that was just as good a feeling as viewing beautiful textile art. Below is one of my favourite quilts from the show. It’s called Blue in the Face and was made by Donna Rowan and quilted by Kerinda Robb.

Number Three:

Last week I washed metres and metres of white fabric in preparation for dyeing weather. This week I finished measuring it all out and ripping it into manageable pieces. And then I’ve had to sit there and look at it and haven’t managed to do any dyeing yet….(sad face.)

Number Four:

Made a quilt block. This is a 14″ Bears Paw or Hand of Friendship block and I made it to take to the Wellington Quilt Symposium to enter into their block competition. One block gets you one entry into winning a set of blocks to make your own Bears Paw quilt. Love the idea, love a scrappy Bears Paw, love supporting the fun times at Symposium, and love the idea if I don’t win, someone will get a little piece of me in their quilt. So it was a win, win, win for me!

Number Five:

Continuing with the Symposium theme, I’m finalising preparations for attending. I’m teaching two half-day classes and one full day class on the BERNINA Q16 sit down long arm machines. I need to make demonstration quilt sandwiches, finish my handouts, work on a few new FMQ patterns to add my portfolio, and check and double check that I have everything I need to make my classes an awesome, memorable time for my students. And then I’m also going to be a student in two classes so I need to put together all my supplies for those too. I’m getting excited!!

Number Six:

Walked on my beach again. The photo shows how it often is, totally deserted. It’s raining tonight as I write this so I’m enjoying looking at the sunny late afternoon photo memory.

Number Seven:

Lugged around furniture. We’re getting to that point in our renovations of the accommodation units. I hate lugging around furniture, but I love the fact that we are at that point! No photos of my banged up shins…..

That’s it folks. I hope you had a wonderful week, wherever you are and whatever you’ve been doing. I’ll be back next week with another Sunday Seven.

Everyone says that when you blog, you need to do it consistently. And that’s all fine when you’re in the habit of doing it consistently, but if there is no habit, then it doesn’t get done consistently and you’re not reinforcing the habit…and so on and so on.

I’ve decided I need a theme to assist with posting regularly and so build my regular blogging habit back up. What’s the theme to be? Sunday Seven, which will just be me posting every Sunday, about seven things I did over the last week. I’m going for simple to start with – a memory builder if you like. So without further ado, here is my first Sunday Seven.

Number 1:

Fed my three calves over 50 litres of milk. The place I’m now living is part of a farm, and one of my jobs is to raise any calves that get mismothered. At the moment I have Big Mac, who fell in a ditch presumably quite soon after being born, and got so hypothermic he couldn’t feed off his mum. It was touch and go with him for a few days but now he’s six weeks old and bouncy, although we suspect he’s a little simple! Then I have Quarter Pounder and Small Fries, both had mothers that wouldn’t accept them and so they ended up with me.

Number 2:

Finished my pōhutukawa quilt. There are amazing old pōhutukawa trees along the beach here. Huge and gnarly and very special. And very inspiring. I’m also inspired daily by my ever-changing view of sea and sky, and the amazing variation of colours that occur. So this quilt has come about by combining those two sources of inspiration. I’m also pleased that I will be teaching tree quilts (this one and a couple of variations) at The Great NZ Quilt Show in Rotorua next year.

Number 3:

Painted a cow skull. Being on a farm that’s been running for 100 years or so, there just happens to be a few of these lying around in the far paddocks. And I’ve always wanted to have a go at decorating one. I cleaned it off, sprayed it black and then sprayed white through a stencil I cut. I quite like it, but not exactly sure what I’m going to do with it now!

Number 4:

Walked on my beach. It’s such an amazing spot here. Just like everything though, you gradually get used to it. But then suddenly there is a stunning sunrise, or a special light, and it snaps you out of your complacency and reminds you of how lucky you are to be here every day. Here’s my photo of that morning this week, when I left my breakfast on the table so I could run down and try and capture the quality of the light.

Number 5:

Washed metres and metres and metres of fabric. When I moved here I lost my awesome dyeing setup that I had at my last house. Sigh. But I can still dye, I just need good weather. And Spring is officially here! Soon I’ll be able to dye a little every day! In preparation, I’ve been washing my white fabric and ripping it up into manageable pieces. That’s a knee deep pile in the pic below.

Number 6:

Painted the inside of kitchen drawers. We are still renovating the accommodation units on the property in preparation for Summer. And it’s a bit-by-bit kinda process. I don’t even have photos. Who wants to see the inside of kitchen drawers?! Or me screwing on a toilet roll holder? Or hanging curtains? But we are getting there, and hopefully I’ll be able to show finished photos soon.

Number 7:

Got my Fjord quilt back. This quilt was made in 2017 for an International Challenge – Natural Sites and Wonders of the World – that Aotearoa Quilters did with Japanese and French quilters. The exhibition travelled extensively around Japan and France, but then got caught up with the pandemic, with exhibitions delayed and postponed. Finally the quilts are back in the hands of their makers and it’s been interesting to look at mine closely with fresh eyes. I still really like it and wouldn’t change much at all.

That’s it folks. I hope you had a wonderful week, wherever you are and whatever you’ve been doing. I’ll be back next week with another Sunday Seven.