The Country Yard's Annual Exhibition

I had a great time at The Country Yard's Annual Exhibition today, I even won a spot prize! I took some photo's to share with you all. Enjoy!

This quilt on the bed was my Viewers Choice, very simple piecing but the colours were just lovely. 

There were several log cabin quilts, they always look great. I have one in my UFO pile maybe I should get moving on it. 

And a lot of Nine patch quilts as there was a swap of these blocks. They all turned out different.(Yes I can hear all my 'friends' saying I have a UFO of these too)

Red School House blocks, another classic.

Here's a  close up from a stitchery quilt. 

And another close up from the same quilt. Love the 'button' flowers.       

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These next Quiltlets (8x12 inches) were a Challenge to make a quiltlet using the first letter of your name as inspiration, and a piece of challenge fabric had to be used too. ( The fabric was a pale blue/green background, with pink roses. The star & pin cushion in the first quiltlet is made using the challenge fabric.)

1st Place,  Ngarie Fleming

2nd Place, Raewyn Barge

3rd Place, Kerry Aiken

Highly Commended, Gill Curtis

Highly Commended, Joyce Moreland

Highly Commended, Leeann Hansen (Yay that's me)

And of course the gardens at The Country Yard were looking beautiful. These pink petunia's made me smile.

And we were entertained with music too. Here's a snapshot of the Band in the rose covered summerhouse. What a great day.

Patsy Thompson on YouTube

Hi I noticed on YouTube yesterday Patsy Thompson has added heaps of video's. There's a Beginner Machine Quilting series and an Intermediate one too. Here's one of the Intermediate ones if you want to have a nosy. They are all really good and she shares a lot of information on needles, thread etc too.

In the beginner series there's a very interesting 'Spray Basting' lesson. Pasty spray bastes on her wall! To watch her other lessons, search YouTube using Pasty Thompson quilter, as there's a singer too!

Otamatea Quilt Show at the Kauri Museum

Hi everyone I was out and about with the Girls again today. We went to the Otamatea Quilt Show at The Kauri Museum.

Kauri is one of the largest trees in the world and are native to New Zealand. Their wood is extremely beautiful, and they also produce Kauri Gum (Amber)

Here's a couple of shots of the quilts from upstairs looking down, and across to the quilts hanging from the opposite balcony.

Any here's a few photo's of quilts that caught my fancy.

'My Poppies' by Helen Poot. Close up below to show the great quilting, machine embroidery & beading. The workmanship is amazing.

A close up of 'Fandiago' by L. King. I liked this modern version of a grandmothers fan, and the use of rick rack. 

'Gnarly Backflip' by J. Horobin. I loved this funny little quilt, especially the last block (detail below) of the triumphant finish! 

'Memories' by B. Palmer was a lovely crazy quilt made in pastel tones, using old linens, lace ,ribbons, hand embroidery etc. It was stunning, here's a close up of a block.   

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Now for some other photos from the Museum

This photo is especially for overseas readers. These are Kiwi's, they are New Zealands National Bird. Size wise the larger bird is about the size of a cat, and the egg, the size of a coffee mug. They are a nocturnal, flightless birds.

The Otamatea Boarding House was moved inside the Museum and restored, and it looks great. You can walk through all the rooms, it's not a false frontage, its the whole building! Nice to have a quilt hanging from it too.

Here's an old fashioned nursery, there's a quilt in the baby's cot and another on the bed at the back.

This man has a crazy quilt to keep him warm in the Parlour.

The Maid doing the laundry. I hate ironing now, just as well I don't have to use an iron like these!

As it is the 'Kauri' Museum there is everyhting you can think of made from Kauri wood. I liked this dresser best as it shows the glow and wonderful grain of Kauri.

And of course there is every kind of Kauri Gum (Amber) too. Here are pieces with insects stuck in them, like in the beginning of the movie Jurassic Park.

Display cabinets full of polished Kauri Gum. 

Kauri Gum necklaces, and below a sculpture of a ship.  

There are big displays of machinery that cut the trees, but thats not my thing so I didn't take photos of those. But if you visit the Museum with men they usually love those bits!

The Kauri Museum is an incredible place and well worth visiting, so next time you are in Northland make the trip. Here's a short video of it for you to enjoy as a teaser. 

Charity Block for the November Meeting

Hi everyone this is the Charity Block to make for the November Meeting. Its a Snowball, cut an 8 inch Square of a Floral Fabric for the base and the cut four, 3 inch Green Squares for the corners. (Please use the SAME green fabric for all 4 corners)

Place the green squares on the corners of the floral square (right sides together). Then sew diagonally from corner to corner of green square as shown above.

Then fold back the green fabric (don't trim away the underneath fabrics, leave them there in case we have to do some reverse stitching when the quilts are made).

Press the corner down, repeat for the other three corners, block done! Super easy, super quick, make as many as you like.

The instructions will be in the Newsletter too, to remind you if you forget. :-)

Piecing 101 with Alex Anderson

Recently 'The Quilt Show' started some basic lessons for new quilters. Piecing 101 with Alex Anderson is a series of short videos made by Alex Anderson. A lot of knowledge is shared so if you are a beginner or just want to brush up on some skills check them out.

Here's a few lesson names to give you an idea of what is covered. Stocking Your Tool Belt, Fabric Grains, Prewashing????, Rotary Cutting & Fear of Fractions, The Art of Pressing, Pinning, and more.

You do need to sign up for a free membership to use these beginner lessons, but it is worth it as there is a lot more free stuff to access. Check out the free show under 'Watch Shows'. Also have a look at the 'Projects' and 'Quilt Gallery'.

Show and Tell October 2010

Sorry everyone that it has taken a while to do this post. Life sometimes gets busy! Anyway into it now, I'm staring with a close up of the baby quilt made by Rikki Going. I really like this pattern and I think I'll have to make one someday.

Here's the full quilt. Rikki made it for a friends baby.

This baby quilt was made by Jennifer Cullan for a friends baby too.

These three quilts made by Lex Geange, and were started in a recent Kerry Glen class. This first one was made using a wedge template and a batik jelly roll.

This ones based on a drunkards path block. (I think I like this one best).

And third is this quilt's made using circle templates.   

'Rose Bouquet' by Terri Mills made from the book 'Bejewelled Quilts'

Here's a close up of a table runner made by Carmel Spray. It's made with 'Clarice Cliff' fabric, it's cheaper than the china!

This quilt was made by Paula Hatley, to raise funds for Hora Hora Primary School. It's going to be raffled, and I will bring tickets to the November meeting to sell. (Paula's grandchildren go to school at Hora Hora School.)

Below is a close up of the string pieced units. They are made using NZ themed fabric. So come see me next club day and buy your tickets! 

Kaye O'Hagan is pleased to have nearly finished this UFO. There is just the binding to sew down (it's pinned in photo). She started it in 2009 with fabric she bought from Wright Fabrics in Morrinsville. Below is a close up of one of the blocks, they are all hand embroidered.




'Cherry Blossom Scroll' made by Carmel Spray in a Robyn Burgess' Sashiko Workshop. It's a 70th Birthday present for Carmel's cousin. 

Elaine Healey has made this quilt for Starship (National Children's Hospital). I wonder how many quilts Elaine has made for Starship? It must be in the hundreds.

Wine bottle bag made by Irene Steyn for a friend. Must be for NZ wine only!

More by Irene. Coffee plunger and mug coasters, made using heat resistant batting for her daughters flat.

Babys ball made from hexagons and pentagons by Tess Harris.

The bag on the left is made by Marie Finnegan, she made it at The Country Yard.

And the bag on the right is Shelia Udjur's well travelled bag. It recently went with her to Penang, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore & Austraila. 

And lastly Marion Roke made this bag. She saw the pattern in a magazine and thought it would look good in NZ fabrics. She said 'I put a bright coloured zip on the inside pocket, to make it easier to find in the dark depths'. That made me smile as I'm always losing things inside my handbag. Ok I'm having a cuppa now after that marathon post.    :-)