Life News

It’s been a while since I did a Sunday Seven post – seven things I did since last Sunday – but life seems a little busier lately, and maybe it would be good to look back and see what I achieved. I’m a list maker and I love checking off my to-do list. I also ADD things I did to the list just so I can check them off! And, if I’m having a time where I feel like I’m not getting anything done, I’ll write down everything I do, just so I can look back and get a real picture and pat myself on the back.

1. Had my first two days back as a midwife.

Yeah, that’s a pretty big one. I haven’t worked as a midwife for almost two years, and when I made the decision to leave, I was almost certain I was never coming back. Looking back I was burnt out, plain and simple. I think a lot of health professionals get that way, and I was lucky that I had another option. Being a campground manager has been so totally different that it’s given me a lot of headspace. And now, the thought of going to work doesn’t make me nauseated, so I’m diving back in, and it’s like muscle memory…all coming back!

I’m only working part-time, so plenty of space in my life for me, my family, my art and anything else I want to do. Finally getting our pay equity claim sorted has made it possible to keep a bit more balance.

2. Finished my Nightingale quilt top

Last year I had the crazy idea to run a sewalong. What’s crazy about that? Well, I decided to do it as a silly season summer sewalong for Aotearoa Quilters. Which means it would run over December and January – New Zealand’s two busiest months. Schools are ending for the year, Christmas and New Year’s happen, Summer holidays are in full swing, everything goes a bit mental. Plus that’s when the campground ramps up to full steam and we were going to be packing, moving house, and handing over.

So why on earth would I choose to run a sewalong then? I tentatively thought that it might be good to have something really simple to work on. In the first couple of weeks I would have all the decisions made and fabrics chosen and cut and from then on it would just be straight forward piecing. My stash could get packed, my big Bernina Q20 machine could get packed and I’d just have to remember to keep sewing and write a few emails and facebook posts to the group to keep them motivated. And it worked!

The group kept me accountable and it was really fun to see everyone’s different colour schemes come together. And I had something to keep me sewing, but in a low stress way.

The pattern we all bought was Nightingale by Lo and Behold Stitchery.

3. Went for a run

Ok, so I went for walk, and ran about 200 metres twice during the walk. But that’s a big ass deal for me! I’d like to say I’m generally fit and active, but my cardio fitness is pretty bad. And I’m only getting older. And my butt is getting bigger.

I go for regular walks. I stretch pretty often. I don’t sit for long periods without getting up and moving. And I’ve been doing short morning work-outs (HIIT, body weight strength etc) with my daughter. But sustained cardio, nope.

So I’ve bought anti-jiggle sports wear and I’m making a commitment to myself. And no, there are no photos of me in said anti-jiggle sports wear…

4. Broke out the paints

Oooo, that felt good! Having been busy for the all the abovementioned reasons, paints and dyes haven’t had a look in. But I did a short play session with some textile paint, some hand-dyed fabric scraps that were all conveniently cut into 6 1/2 inch strips and a hand-carved stamp I made years ago.

I was making a background for a tiny piece of work that (if I get it finished in time) is a donation piece for SAQA, an art quilting organisation I belong to. But breaking out the paint for one stamp seems a bit of a waste, so I kept printing until I’d used up my paint, and now I have a dozen pieces to use, and have reignited my enthusiasm!

5. Hung out with arty friends

A lovely arty friend, who makes the coolest mosaics (quite often of birds – even better!) invited me and some other creative folks round to her amazing little studio for an evening of chat and create.

I used to run a stitch and bitch night, and it was always one of my favourite nights. Hanging out with other like-minded people. And this was just as enjoyable. Relaxed, fun and a good chance to have a no-pressure play around with whatever stuff I brought along.

6. Made this cake

This flourless mandarin, almond and blueberry cake is to die for. Well, maybe not. But it was pretty blimmin’ good. And super easy. And satisfies all the gluten-free, dairy-free friends you might have. I made mine with oranges instead of mandarins. No photo of mine, ’cause I ate it too fast.

7. Colour coordinated my scraps

I’ve been stuffing my scraps willy nilly into a couple of pull out bins in my cutting table. There comes a point where that strategy no longer works (the bins get full) and something has to be done. I’m also still in the sorting out mood, having just set up the room.

So I dumped everything out on the floor where I couldn’t ignore it. I put everthing into colour themed piles, throwing out teeny bits and bits of rubbish as I went. I posted about it on Instagram and found a lovely person who does english paper piecing and so I’ve send a bunch to her, then I remembered this set of drawers in the hall that we haven’t managed to fill yet, so I commandeered it for me! Top drawer has yellow, orange and brown, my smallest piles. Second drawer: pink/red and purple. Third drawer is deeper and has blue and green. Fourth drawer has white/grey/black and a bag of narrow strips that I like to use for ties for things.

I have an improv piecing project in mind. But whether that will actually reduce the pile or increase it is yet to be known!

I hope you’ve had a good week, and that next week will treat you kindly!

Gosh, 2024 just keeps on creeping by, and so far it’s been a busy one for my family and I.

Halfway through last year we decided to leave the campground and our jobs as camp managers, so January was all about managing the hectic Summer camping and Airbnb season, whilst also training and handing over to the new camp managers, plus packing and moving house, then unpacking and settling in to our house, getting our daughter back to her last year of high school, and hubby and I have both just started new jobs! Phew! We’re the kind of family that embraces new experiences and challenges, but sometimes we go a bit far with how much we bite off and try and chew!

Above is the view we left behind, and below is the view we moved back to. There are many reasons why we left, and an ugly view wasn’t one of them! I will miss the beach and the ever-changing, fabulous sea/sky vistas, but after spending our first night back in our old house, we knew we had made the right decision – it really felt like home.

So, just like after any big change, I feel like I’m in a state of flux. And I’m trying to be ok with that, and have patience, knowing that I’ll get everything sorted/unpacked/worked out eventually. Ok, that’s not true – are we ever 100% sorted and got everything worked out?!

I have concentrated on my studio and got that about 90% sorted out. That makes me feel a bit more settled. And I’ve been enjoying my little collection of objet d’art in the morning sunlight.

Just for fun I made a few videos of my studio unpacking. You can see them over on Instagram. I’ve tried to embed one below, hope it works for you.

So, all in all there hasn’t been a whole heap of sewing or dyeing being done – I feel I have a pretty good excuse! But watch this space. I’m only working part time, so there will be plenty of textile art coming right up! I’m also excited to be teaching quite a bit this year. I’ll let you in on the deets soon.

Ka kite for now, take time to breath and enjoy the sunshine.

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.