You all know that I am a pretty crafty person. In fact I feel something missing in my day if I haven’t managed to be creative in some way. From my previous blog post you can see that patchwork has been a favourite hobby over this past year. In fact, scrapbooking has been put aside while my sewing machine has been a priority…and that is quite a miracle! So today I decided to share a few photos of my creations.
A duvet cover with a duvet inside for C3’s baby girl 🙂A Blanket I made for D3’s Birthday. Yet to be edged in this photo.Blanket/playmat for C1 and D1’s baby boyDuvet cover with a duvet inside for C1 and D1’s baby boyBlanket for C5 for Christmas 2013A Playmat for C2 and D2’s baby girl. I hadn’t edged it in this photo, but it was edged before I sent it off to London 🙂Made as a picnic blanket for Rebecca and Roland’s engagement present. I wrapped it up along with a salad bowl and serving spoons for their future picnics 🙂A Blanket I made for Mum for Christmas. I also made a pillow to go with it 🙂
Now my creations are actually very simple constructions. After making these I now have the utmost admiration for real quilters. You know what I mean I am sure. The people who create masterpieces! How I would love to have the patience to fiddle around with tiny scraps if material and sew them in planned order to create a quilt that would be treasured for generations. Wouldn’t that be marvelous!
We leave behind us children and grand children and then the generations of family that follow, but to have one of your creations handed down over those generations would be something special. Maybe that could be my challenge for 2014. To make a very special quilt. Stitched with hours of love and ending up looking wonderful. Something like this one that I like from ‘Instagram’
I think this quilt pattern is lovely, but imagine all the sewing involved and all the seams to iron flat!!
But who would I make it for? I could sew it with love for each and every one of my family! But which person would treasure it forever and appreciate my time and love and energy that I will put into making it?
I guess my focus should really be in the joy of creating something and blessing someone with that creation, and not be too concerned with what happens with it over the years.
Now all I need is spare time and an awful lot of patience!
All great character traits to have/aim for! I thank God that He is in the process of growing all of these great qualities in us. Can you imagine how life would be if we were loving, kind and having self control, etc, etc, all the time? But to be honest we have some that we are great at and some that we find hard….like patience for example. One of my BIG failings or the lack of it anyway! And here I am doing patchwork! Of all the hobbies/crafts why did I have to pick patchworking? The process is long, laborious and very repetitive. Just picking the right fabric and colours are challenging enough. There is an awful lot of work to do before you can see that the colours and patterns are great together, and one wrong decision can create a quilt that you are forever unhappy with. There is NO way you would unpick a whole quilt…well I certainly wouldn’t!
But I am having fun! I started with making some pillows about two and a half years ago (check out my blog post from May the 13th, 2011) and from there the addiction has grown. I love it! It is so satisfying to see the finished project.
When I first get the materials together I spend ages looking at the beautiful pieces of fabric. They are always fabulous (I choose ones that I love). They are almost too pretty to cut up! But to convert the little pieces of fabric into a larger masterpiece, they have to be cut up and then pieced together again. And, there are many many different ways to put the fabrics together. I find ‘You Tube’ amazing, especially ‘The Missouri Quilt Company’. Just do a search on ‘You Tube’ for them and you will get heaps of ideas. They also show you little tricks of how to put the pieces together easily and yet create very tricky looking patterns.
Now when I start, I wash my materials, dry and then iron them. Next step is to pick a ‘thing’ you want to create. Maybe it’s a quilt (large or small), or it could be a baby blanket, pillow cover, table centrepiece…or anything really! But before you cut you need to know what design you are going to make…then cut the pieces in a way to create the pattern when all sewn together.
I am lucky, I have two big tables that I have put together in my craft room. I can spread out my material pieces over the tables in the places where I want them to be, once they are stitched together. This way I can get a glimpse of what the final design will roughly look like. I can see the colour mixes and work out what looks best together. It still isn’t exactly what the finished design will be but it does give you an idea. Naturally it is larger than what it will end up like though, as all the stitching seam widths have to be taken off the size. But this stage is fun and gives me the added push to get sewing.
The patchwork quilt is made up of a lot of smaller patch designs sewn together and then the larger sewn pieces put together. Understand? A bit hard to describe, but hopefully some photos will help.
The beautiful fabrics I started with 🙂Laying out the pieces in groups of nine which will be sewn together. I put the plainest piece in the middle.Each group of nine squares was then cut across the middle vertically and horizontally. This left the middle square cut into quarters.The cut up pieces were then placed together in a random pattern where no seem joins matched and then sewn together.Now the backing material and the wadding is pinned to the front piece ready to top stitch.The last thing to do before putting the edging on is to top stitch the front either by neat stitching lines, stitching in the ditch or as I have done on this patchwork blanket, a process called stippling, where you stitch patterns all over making sure you don’t cross over the stitch lines 🙂
Now, can you see how those little fabric pieces in the top photo can create a beautiful blanket when stitched together like in the bottom photo. The process may be slow and test my patience, but it really is worth it 🙂
My holiday is planned for the whole of August and my daughter-in-laws birthday is in August while I am away. D3 is a beautiful talented lady and I wanted to give her something special for her birthday. As both her and C4 live in Sydney, I usually give her a gift card or get something delivered from an online store in Australia. Last year I gave her a years subscription to the Donna Hay magazine. But this year my youngest daughter planned a trip over to Sydney and it was at a time when she could take a package for D3 over with her.
I had three days to create something! Robin said he would be okay to help around home while I concentrated on sewing! Below is a series of photos of the progress and the final product. And….she loved it….yay 🙂
I don’t know why but I am way behind in updating my blog. I’ve been back from Sydney since the 17th of June and I haven’t managed to do any more Scrapbooking! How sad is that! I did manage to do a few more pages while I was there though so I will add those photos for you to look at.
G4’s 4th Birthday partyAt St Ives community fairfavourite form of exercise over summerThe boys had fun at the free pools for children at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth, New ZealandC5 getting ready for her Graduation ceremonyMy beautiful girl happy with bike ridingme and my girl!G3 was pulling off an annoying tag…she got it!That hill was so hard to bike up! C5 made it, Judy didn’t!
This week has gone so fast. C1 and D1 left for Fiji last Sunday to go to Rob and Libs wedding. I stayed home and played ‘Mum’. And…I loved it! Although I must admit I am feeling tired. Actually, I wake up tired! But that’s not unusual for me. I’ve been like that for years. My Mum gets sick of hearing me say ‘I’m so tired’. She is 84 and I am sure she has more energy than me!
Every morning G3 and I walked Rosie to school and once G3 was safely in class, I walked Rosie around the BIG block back home. At least I was getting some exercise along with Rosie. I cooked the meals, did the groceries, washed the clothes, did baking and even had time to do some gardening. I had fun! I love filling up the green waste bin so when it is collected it is full!
G3 had swimming on Tuesday, Jazz on Friday and Dance practice on Saturday. G1 had work 3 times during the week so that meant a few trips to the train station as well. But every evening once G3 was in bed I got time to do Scrapbooking. I aim to get a page completed every evening. As I only have 4 collections of papers, I have to be pretty creative so that the pages don’t all look the same. I also have limited supplies over here in Sydney, so try to just use the products that I brought over with me.
I still have 8 days left so who knows how many more pages I will achieve. C1 and D1 arrive home in the late afternoon. I plan to have a lovely welcome home lamb roast for dinner with roast potato kumera and pumpkin! Yum!
Attached are some photos from the week 🙂
One of the photos is about grief. This week has also been a very sad week for me, although also a celebration of life as well. How??? I had a grandchild die while only 4 months in her Mummy’s womb. We were told a week earlier that there was something wrong and her little heart just stopped beating.
Lillianna had a rare chromosone disorder called triploidy. Her life expectancy would have been short and possibly may not have even survived out of the womb. We were all very excited to know that her Mummy was pregnant and couldn’t wait to meet our new little grand daughter…and we still will, but it will be in heaven.
If you want to read more about Lilliannas condition, click on the link below.
So here it is 9am and I am still in bed! I could blame it on the fact that it is a cold morning, I have a cough, and I have had about 4 nights of broken sleep because of that cough (mainly a tickly throat) but really I am just being lazy! Not normally one of my character traits but today it is the main one! And…I actually have a lot to do!
Yesterday I spent the day sewing. It was a cold, wet and thundery day so a good day to sew. I was determined to finish the quilts that I had started, and I did!
Today I start my new job. Yes…I have a new job. What an amazing answer to prayer! I had a phone call from a friend wondering if I would like some work. Like!!!! I would love it! So I am now a receptionist at Phoenix Emergency Doctors on Vivian Street, New Plymouth. I don’t officially start until the middle of June, but this afternoon I am going to learn what I will be expected to do. I am feeling really happy and can’t wait to use my skills again. Don’t get me wrong, I love being at home, but I kinda feel like I aren’t using my brain to the same extent…and I don’t want to lose the ability to work intellectually. I hope that makes sense! I want to be stretched mentally!
So today I have new job orientation, tomorrow I have friends coming over for the afternoon, Friday Joanna graduates so it is celebration time, and Saturday we travel to Palmerston North for Christians 4th Birthday.
So after our lovely late morning tea/lunch I decided to start a new sewing project. I wanted to see just how much I could achieve before bed time, and that included cooking tea (and eating it) as well.
Today is Saturday…only one more full day left in Sydney. I fly home very early Monday morning! And….I have had a fabulous time here with my two grand daughters. D2 came back from Singapore last Monday and we have had a lovely week together as well, although she developed a very sore leg, with the pain radiating from her heel. After a late night trip to the emergency department of the hospital and a scan of her legs, Deep Vein Thrombosis was not the cause but Rebecca is now on anti-biotics and seems to be getting better.
I have still managed to do scrapbooking every evening and have a few more pages to add. I am loving having time to scrapbook and not feel that I should be doing other home maintenance jobs with my time. I hope that I have spent enough quality time with the girls as well, and they don’t feel that I have neglected them while I am busy scrapping 🙂
So…. as the previous post said.. I am now unemployed! That door closed but it opened up other opportunities! I can now come over to Sydney and look after/see/visit the family over in Sydney without all the drama of trying to get holiday days approved by work. There is always an upside to downers! God has everything in control!
I had arrived back to NZ on the 4th of April, after spending 10 days of Easter with the Sydney family, worked 2 days, that was the last 2 days of my work career with the ANZ, then on the 18th I flew back to Sydney. And this time I am here for 18 days….yes!!! C1 and D1 are over in Singapore, D1 coming back on Monday the 29th of April and Matthew going on to Thailand. Then I am here with D1 and the girls until Monday the 6th of May.
It is the school holidays but G1 has been at work nearly every day. I have been taking her to the Gordon Train station and picking her up from there after work. G3 usually goes to a holiday program but because I am here she has the luxury of being able to stay home and relax. She has been amazing. Every day she has been colouring in, playing with her dolls (monster high….I find yucky!) which she loves, and just hanging!!! She is still in her onesie and it is 2pm….as she was yesterday as well. She has made the most amazing little book filled with words and pictures of love for her Mummy (hope you don’t read this D1 or the secret will be out). We have done lots of baking together, taken Rosie (the dog for walks and visited friends. Last Sunday C4 came and picked us up and we both went in to Sydney city to go to C4 and D3’s church (G1 was at work). They go to C3 City Campus….and I love it. I went with them when I was over at Easter as well. Their church had a conference this week. I was tempted to book G1, G3 and myself in to go to it, but then felt a little selfish, they probably didn’t care too much to go, it was me who wanted to go. A friend told me that the service was live streamed and you could watch it from home. So every night I got the pleasure of listening to the main speaker…as if I was there 🙂
Every night I have been scrapbooking once G3 is either in bed or ready for bed. I am so spoilt….and I know it! I have created 11 pages so far! I will attach photos to show you my creations. Think I may need another trip to the scrapbook shop in Hornsby for more supplies!
I can’t believe how fast the last year went! Who would believe that we are now heading towards the middle of January 2013 already!
Well….life is great! I had a fabulous Christmas and even managed a week in Sydney with C1, D1, G1 and G3 (and had a night out with C4 and D3). Robin and the girls were also in Sydney for Christmas day so we had a lovely family time. C6 and I had to fly back home on Boxing Day because I had to work the next 2 days and C6 had booked to go to ‘Rhythm and Vines’ music festival.
Since being back home I have had Simon and the 2 boys staying plus C4 and D3 came to stay for about 5 nights as well. We tried to do as much as possible together for those 5 days. C3 left and went up to Hamilton where he is going to be best man for his friends wedding, and C4 and D3 flew back to Sydney. I still have my 2 grandsons staying and have been having so much fun with them.
Robin and C5 got back home on the 6th of January and both have been working again this week. Life is slowly getting back to normal and that means routine!
C5 turns 21 on the 15th so the next big event will be her birthday dinner. Luckily for me, she has booked her party at a local venue so I won’t have to be preparing food.
My crafting life has had to be put on hold during the Christmas season, but I have plenty of photos printed out ready for when time once again becomes available. I can’t wait! One thing that I have managed to fit in though is shifting a heap of my very old photos from their old unsafe photo albums, to new albums that are acid free. I purchased lots of photo life pages from ‘Simon Says’ and have found them a very quick way of getting the photos into albums and yet making them slightly more interesting than just plain photo albums. I have a long way to go before finishing them, but I am very happy with the progress so far.
I also made a few crafty things for gifts and also for selling in my sisters craft shop. I will attach some photos!
I will also add some photos of my fabulous family and of our time together celebrating our Saviours birthday 🙂
