Quilt of the Day

Summertime, 2005.
This is Eddie's quilt. His initials are down in the bottom left hand corner. I was going to sign it with my own. Silly mother.

I love the wonky lettering.


That border print is by KP Kids.....and those orange stars are for a year of colour!


I put white ric rac under 'fussy cut' portraits and buttonhole stitched them (by machine of course) with a heavy white cotton thread to make postage stamps.....or maybe they're postcards. Nice bubble quilting.

Portrait of the artist.

Beach girl!

55

It's hard to grieve without a funeral. It's hard to say goodbye to someone, without that unwelcome, but shared experience of saying goodbye and celebrating a life. It's hard not to have been around other people who were feeling the same way while it was fresh and new and shocking to everyone, not just to me. I have held a ceremony of sorts of my own to say goodbye. I was full of doubt and disbelief so now I've got the newspaper with the death notice I deeply regret not seeing when it was published. I've found out when the coroners report into this unexpected death will be released. I've thought of telling her something, of calling her about lunch, and then remembered, with horror, as you always do when someone dies. But mostly I remember laughing with her. Laughing a lot. And those last conversations about moving on, of possibilities, of brighter futures to be had.

So hey, friends old and new, look at the Pixie Post! 55 Posts. Over 2000 visits from all over the world. Around 18 visitors a day, who stay for 5 minutes. I know it isn't breaking any records, but it's a whole new world and it's lots of fun. It's a little theraputic too. How cool is that?

Two little girls

Two little girls, giggling their tiny behinds off, in the womens changing room at the pool.
"Why are we laughing?"
"I don't know!"

Longer, louder giggles.

tee hee heee.

Hot Magenta

Hot magenta for a year of colour. Well, not really. It was hard for me to find something that colour, living this life full of boys. Here's my desk with Piglet, pink lip gloss, and racy pink car. The flowers have filled the space with fragrance all week...even the boys have enjoyed them.

Remember to Breathe

Ampersand Duck started a meme. She's thinking about her brother and remembering what's good about life. Seems a fine time to join in and remember what it is that reminds me to breathe.

1. The sea...in all it's moods, every season.
2. The moon...always changing, always beautiful.
3. Tui's singing, and fantails fluttering...native NZ birds that make my heart sing.
4. Daffodils...can't get enough of them.
5. The sky. The big, beautiful, boundless sky. It's theatre in the round.
6. The smell of fresh cut grass.

(12? You want 12? This is much harder than I thought!)

7. Rain that thunders on a tin roof. Really thunders. That's mountain-fed rain-forest rain.
8. Swimming. Swimming is freedom.
9. The smell of washing, fresh from the line, dried in the sun and a little breeze.
10. An open fire. Preferably at the beach under some stars, but inside warming a room is good too.
11. Art, theatre, movies, music or writing that changes the way I see the world, for a moment, for a day, or for ever.
12. Sewing. A pile of fabric, a rotary cutter, a sewing machine, an iron. Bliss.

As @duck says, that's today's list. It could probably change every day.
These are the things that keep me breathing, no matter what. These (mostly) simple things will sustain me, and are not dependent on other people, they are my things, and that's important too. Thanks @duck, for this lovely theraputic idea.

So, what helps you remember to breathe?

Raewyn

Raewyn and I have lunch together once every two weeks or so. Sometimes we have a glass of wine and take longer than the allotted hour. We put the world to rights, as you do. Raewyn's partner died very suddenly nearly 2 years ago. He was the one who called me Pixie, which I talked about here. We talked about him a lot, and she always would say how lucky she was to have been loved by him. We usually met at a cosy pub where the food is cheap and cheerful. She confessed she was drinking too much alone at home at night in the early months after her partner died and not eating, so she'd order a salad or vegetarian dish and say that was her healthy meal taken care of for the week. She was having great fun telling me of stories of dating, of the married men who hit on her, of how all the decent ones were taken, or far too young. We talked a lot about men this year, hers and mine.

When Jack was born (he's 12 now) she came to visit at the hospital and brought a blue cardigan she'd crocheted. Her first for years she said. When I went into the city to have lunch with her (and him) a few months later I dressed him up in it. She laughed her head off, said it was horrible and made me take it off him and promise not to use it again. We laughed and laughed.

I last saw her at the end of June or the first days of July. Then in July she didn't answer my emails, her cell phone didn't get answered either. She stopped sending the jokes and those soppy story emails with the too cute pictures which she loved. Today I decided enough was enough and I was going to find her. I rang her at work and left her a voicemail. I sent more emails, but this time they bounced. I tried her cell phone again but it beeped it's 'no such number' sound at me. I have another friend who works at the same place, so I asked P to see if she could find out if Raewyn still worked there. We joked that she must have fallen in love. Maybe she's gone off to study full time I thought.

P rang me to tell me Raewyn died on about 8 July. She was found by a friend who went to deliver her some food because she was sick. She'd had a few days off work. I missed her funeral because I didn't know. I rang a couple of other people who also didn't know. Someone else told me he was surprised I wasn't at the funeral (and apologised profusely).

Raewyn was petite and blonde. She was bubbly and bright and liked to party. She was a young teenager when her son was born, and she was proud to see him settling down and getting his life together in his 20s. He spoke beautifully at her partners funeral. I'm sure he did her proud at hers. She was very intelligent, and had just started studying Sociology at University part-time....her first tertiary study, she was so excited!

I can't believe she won't be around for lunch any more.

Have you got a lunch buddy? Have lunch with your buddy tomorrow for me! And if you're in town, come have lunch with me.

Oh the places I go!

How to beat the winter blues.
Leave Wellington on a cold cold rainy morning.


Spend a day at work in Gisborne, then walk by the sea nice and early in the morning. Meet with bright and passionate community representatives. Immerse yourself in a little glimpse of maori culture. Bask in the warmth of rich and strong community spirit.


(I did my best to keep out of the water. This beach must get groomed in the summertime, but in the winter it was teeming with beautiful gnarly driftwood).

Next, drive with a carful of colleagues through spectacular native forest reserve to Whakatane. I guess I should have asked the driver to stop for a picture. The forest was full of Nikau palms, the river was fast, clear and blue.


Stay the night at Ohope Beach. Paddle in the water, walk by the sea.
(This is the sunrise from my bedroom window. Yep, the beach was just across the road. There was a full moon the night before).
Meet with more committed community representatives. Enjoy the pace of life and the happy, positive vibe of a small regional centre and people who really are making a difference.

Thank goodness for the opportunity to get out of the ivory tower in the heart of the concrete jungle.

Chesnut Brown

Which one's the monkey?
This is Edward (aged 9), with chesnut coloured hair, and two of his favourite things which are both pretty chesnutty.
Eddie has been learning the guitar for about a year, and serenades me while I'm on the computer. He loves the Beatles, and he's busy learning one of my favourite Sting songs, Fields of Gold. I look forward to teenage bands practising in the garage. Guess we better build a garage huh? 

Sky blue

Eddie (aged 9) and I walked along the beach today, and these things found their way into his pockets. Ed has a fine collection of feathers. Kitty thought he'd help with the photograph for A Year of Colour. Here are some sky blue hand-dyes which will all be cut and stitched tonight, and a vapour trail.

I don't get that blue is a 'cold' colour. I just don't feel it. Perhaps it is because I live in New Zealand where a sky that blue comes with startlingly clear, strong light and the heat of the sun, but there's something about that blue that is anything but 'cool'. 

Remember these?

Now they are these!
A warm curvy unit
and a cool curvy unit.

Exciting! I'm going to make wider and skinnier versions too. They're about a metre long. While I'm cutting and stitching these sexy curves, I wonder how come I don't belong to the Chicago School of Fusing.

Oh, and note how the middle picutre, taken in daylight with natural side lighting, is soooo much better than the other two pictures, taken very late at night with flash and ceiling lights blazing.

Madness

A man weilding a machete tried to rob a gun shop.
He was shot, by the shop manager.
The NZ Herald tells the tale.

Police have yet to decide if they will charge the shooter. I expect they will bring some minor firearms charge against him. I doubt any jury would convict him but I hope we can still let the court, rather than public opinion, decide.

It arrived

The catalogue of classes for the Manawatu Quilt Symposium, NZ's 12th National Quilt Symposium has arrived. It's a work of art. It's in glorious colour, and it has photographs to support the description of each and every class. Choosing a class is a bit of a challenge, the range of classes and tutors is great. Check them out here. A little Jane Sassaman to expand my repetoire? Shall I go show Susan Carlson my fish? Stitch some holes with Sue Dennis? Learn some quilting with NZ's guru Heather Harding? Celebrate the pacific with Barbara Bilyard?

Come and join us in Palmerston North on 19 to 24 January 2007.

Of course some of my new found blogging friends will be there. Shirley is teaching dyeing, surface design and a beautiful quilt class, and Kirsty is very busy teaching applique, machine quilting, a quilt and a bag! I hope I'll at least get to have coffee with you two.

My challenge is to get my act together so I can enter a quilt or two into the exhibition. I've had work accepted into Symposium for the last 4 shows. It's a juried show, fiercely competitive....well, hard to get into at any rate. Our National Symposium is held every two years. I've won a ribbon or two in the past, so I aim at least to have something juried into the exhibition! So far there are wonderful works of art in my head, and a little fabric collecting going on. Entries are due in November.

If the truth be told, I'd go just to see the exhibitions, enjoy the company of 100s of wonderful women, and browse the merchants mall, but it would be a shame to miss out on learning from some of the best quilt makers from all around the world wouldn't it?

Ahhh, all a girl really needs is something to look forward to.

Swapping stars

How cute are these? These are my pink stars for swapping. I make 10, 9 of my friends make 10, and we swap. We swap a different colour each month. At the end of the year we'll have 80 star blocks, each one of them different.


Here's J, finishing up hers in time to swap. Pretty huh?


and here are the stars we bought home. We got a bit behind, so tonight there were pink and blue.


I'm not really making traditional block quilts these days, but I love this swapping thing. I love finding how the others interpret the colour theme, and I love how it brings this bunch of stitching friends together. The quilt of course, will be beautiful!

What's good about winter? (3)

South coast, North Island, New Zealand. A beautiful sparkling Wellington day, the sea wild, the mountains of the South Island shining in the distance. Can you see them? See the ferry in the distance too? It would have been a rough ride out of the harbour that day. Most of our favourite rock pools were under the waves. 

laser lemon

smells lemony too... 

Reading material

I've been to the library. I'm reading Mary Mashuta's "Confetti Quilts".


It has hundreds of pictures including this 'dot dot dot' quilt. It has chapters with names like "What's all the fuss about color?" and "What's all the fuss about design?". It's fabulous.

It ranks right up there with one of my most precious quilt books, which is by her sister Roberta Horton.

I've got another new favourite too...."101 Quilt Blocks and Borders" from Better Homes and Gardens. A gift from the Sagittarian. Shucks, do you think she really really wants a quilt?

I've done some blog housekeeping. I've got myself a blogroll, and I've made a separate section of bloggers that hail from from New Zealand. Enjoy! 

Oh No!

La Petite Anglaise got fired for her blog.
Oh no!

Read about it in The Telegraph article here.
La Petite is telling her story on her blog.

The White Swan

For Kirsty, here's my swan. Looks like his cousin lives at her house. He was a gift, in support of my desire to have a collection of swans to swim across a particular shelf. Thanks J, I still love him. Unfortunately he remains an orphan.

I've gone and joined the year of colour. Or color. See that new button over there on the right...down a bit. Hey, Ms Sagittarian, you oughta join too.

No more 5 cents

See these lovely coins? Alas, they will soon be no more. No more 5 cents, and new 10, 20 and 50 cents. From July 31, these coins go out of circulation, and there will be new, lighter, smaller replacements. For many years, NZ silver coins have been interchangeable with Australian coins. Unofficially that is, but everyone uses them. From July 31 Australian coins will no longer be legal tender in NZ. Hopefully they'll all be donated to charity or something. I keep looking at my little stash of 5c which feature a portrait of a tuatara, and think what fabulous jewellery they'd make.

Oh, and the stars are finished, ready to swap.

I can't sleep

I can't sleep properly. There are too many things buzzing around in my head, and whatever it is that wakes me up at 3am stays with me. I am instantly fully awake, ready (or so it seems) for the day to begin. I can't decide. Now even for a committed morning person like me, 3am is just too early. So I read for 30 minutes or so, to turn off the thoughts, and generally I fall asleep again. A girl gets through a lot of books this way. Here are two recent reads, which I've enjoyed.

I really like Philippa Gregory. It probably helps that I've never studied history. The first book of hers that I found 'The Other Boleyn Girl' is one of my favourites.
Jodi Picoult writes page turner novels rich in characters, and they're always a good read. Mine has a different cover than this one. What's that about? Different artwork to appeal to different parts of the world?

A Picture

Pixie Sticks has shown us this picture. "Picture" hardly does it justice though.
See this? This is how I feel when I'm swimming. This is the feeling I've been trying to figure out how to capture in an art quilt.
This picture is the work of Eric Zener.
Thanks Pixie Sticks!

Actual Quilt Content

Do you know about these things?
A lesson in half square triangles, the Thangles way...

First, you have two fabrics from which you wish to have half square triangles. Cut strips, in this case 2.5 inches. Put them right sides together with a Thangles paper on top. Stitch on the dotted lines. Thangles come in a range of sizes to make the half square triangles the size you need.

I always chain piece them. I did 7 Thangles papers this time. The picture of my not at all flash, but beloved Elna shows you how.

Next, cut the units apart, along the solid lines on the Thangles paper. Press them, with the paper still attached. This does wonders for controlling all those stretchy bias edges. There they are, perfect half square triangles, fast, and more importantly, perfect.

These are for some more stars, for swapping. I'm not really a perfect points kindof a girl, but when you're swapping stars the points should be perfect, and this way, it's hard to go wrong.

I buy Thangles from my favourite quilt store, Big Horn Quilts. You can find out more about Thangles at their very own website.

I love Big Horn Quilts mostly for the price tags on their fabric. I love their website with big clear colour accurate photos of fabric, and I love their service. I've never had a problem with them, the parcel usually arrives on day 6 after ordering, sometimes sooner, oh, and did I mention the prices? We could of course ask why a kiwi quilter buys most of her fabric from a shop in Wyoming, and debate the issues of whether I should actually be supporting a kiwi quilt fabric store......but let's not.

So non-quilting visitors, I'm sure none of this makes sense to you...but I know at least 3 of you are lining up for a quilt someday, so let's consider this part of your education.

I've got a banner

or a header, or whatever it's called. Jack made it for me. Yes, the 12 year old got to help his mother. Contrary to the myths, this did not make him feel proud or powerful. It took him all of 5 minutes, and he hated it...but I'm going to pay him with blueberry muffins. It's cute though, and it's a start. Now, I gotta figure out how to get rid of that border.

Saturday continued...

Eddie played chicken with the waves at one of his favourite places in Oriental Bay. He got wet.


Ahh, and then there was the sunset.

Sunny Sculpture Saturday

The sky was blue and the sun was out. You can't keep Wellingtonians down for long. I put my new shoes on, and went for a walk.


Some more Paul Dibble. This one, 'Fruits of the Garden' Bronze, 2001, is on the waterfront. Obviously there is some Adam and Eve thing going on here. It is strong and compelling, and holds its own in a busy space with glorious harbour views.

Very nearby are some great slabs of text. The Wellington Writers Walk was a project of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors, which wanted to create something lasting to celebrate the Capital’s bevy of writers and poets. The result is an intriguing smattering of text sculptures along the waterfront. Designed by Catherine Griffiths, each sculpture is a quote by a well-known New Zealand writer with strong Wellington connections. Most are about being in Wellington. New ones are added now and then. While they originally suffered some vandalism, happily they were always quickly repaired, and they seem to have been left alone of late.


This is my favourite. "The harbour is an ironing board....." by Dennis Glover.


and I love this one too....."This town of ours kind of flattened across the creases...." by Fiona Kidman. I have very fond memories of small sons as beginning readers challenged by these.

What's good about Winter? (2)

Vegetable soup with a barley/split pea base, and banana cake. Wanna come for lunch today?

 

Sunday afternoon at the zoo

I am lucky to have a 9 year old boy in the house to get me out and about on a winter afternoon. Eddie and I went to the zoo. It was noisy there yesterday, with the lion roaring, lots of birds squawking (both in and out of cages) and lots of monkeys (baboons, chimpanzees) squabbling. The lion was our favourite, but we loved the monkeys enjoying the winter sunshine too.