Setting the scene

 The view up the Frankton arm of Lake Wakatipu - on the way to Queenstown.

 There was a light sprinkling of snow the night before.

 From the primary school - one of the Symposium venues...

 ..and further around - the snow is melting.

The gondolas.  Yes, I'm too chicken to go up there.

 View from the lakefront out one way...

 ...and the other.  That's the SS Earnslaw, a steam powered boat.

 You may need to click on this one to get a better look at the paraponters. They often land in the primary school grounds.

 The lakefront showing the lovely colours of claret ashes.

 Statue of William Rees, an early settler and sheep farmer in the district.

Looking back at the town on the way home, soon after sunrise.

More photos coming  - tutors and classes.  Watch this space.

Finished and nearly ready..

 Piles of Blended fabric that I'm taking to symposium to sell.  I have to drop the dogs off at the kennels, then come home to pick up all the boxes and stuff that I'm taking.

Here's the finished stitched version of "Aotearoa".  It's 52 x 42 cm (20" x 16") and made of the aforementioned Blended fabric.  The colours are a lot quieter and more subtle than I usually work with but I wanted to showcase my special fabric in this quilt.

I'll take photos at Symposium and post them after I get back.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to symposium I go..

This is "Aotearoa" - the Maori name for New Zealand.  The drawing I took this from was done by a classmate and he has given permission for me to interpret it in cloth.  This is the raw image - it's been cut out and fused to a background, but that's all.  It's currently being stitched and will be ready to take to Symposium with me tomorrow as my Tutor Quilt for the exhibition.

For more on the quilting symposium, go here.

See you in a  week.  Happy Easter.

Dyeing day

 Today is fine and sunny with little wind - perfect for my type of dyeing.  I need plenty of Blended fabric to take to Symposium to sell.

 These are all one metre pieces and they will be chopped into fat quarters for sale.

 The line was full so I took pieces down as soon as they were dry.  After that, they have to be washed!  It's a long slow process.

I had dye left over, so I grabbed a couple of calico tab top curtains that I'd found in the spare room, and sprayed dye over them.  I'll try to use them somewhere.

Daylight Saving Sunday

Although I'm not at all happy with the tension on my Pfaff and the poor job made of servicing it, I'm attempting to complete "Summer in Provence" to take as my quilt for the tutors' exhibition at Symposium  There is now a mere 15 days until I leave, and I also have some assignments to complete in that time, so sewing time is limited. I've decided to quilt the rust-dyed centres in a stones pattern.  No thoughts yet on what design to use for the block borders.  Any suggestions?

Of course, I'm always knitting something.  Purple fingerless gloves, just a plain design, to go with the purple hat.  A matching cowl is on the needles.

As is this feather and fan scarf, made with 50/50 merino and silk.

A bit of a treat

Each year, I like to treat myself in some way.  This year, I decided to join the Socks That Rock sock club.  Every 2 months, the club sends out a skein of hand-dyed superwash merino & nylon, and 2 patterns that you can choose from.  I had a few gauge problems with the first shipment, plus the colours are not ones I would usually pick, so a partly-completed sock is languishing on my coffee table.  I have been more focussed on knitting some hats, scarves and fingerless gloves in preparation for winter in colours that I liked.  However, the latest skein, received yesterday, is gorgeous.

 And here are the 2 patterns that take advantage of its beauty.

 Today at lunchtime, 2 classmates and I visited the local Salvation Army family store.  As well as a long lined black coat (cost $3.25), I bought these 3 small embroidered tablecloths for a total of $5.

I LOVE old embroidered linen.  This sort of thing is just not made anymore.  Mostly, these tablecloths are very small, far too small for a modern table, but I have some old furniture that they are perfect for.  I hate to see them discarded and unwanted in thrift shops.

Warning! Contains actual dyeing and stitching

Here's "Summer in Provence" in its raw state, tacked onto my bedroom wall.  I will attempt to complete it for Symposium, machines willing.

Between showers yesterday, I was able to get 6 metres of Blended fabric dyed - this has to be done outside and hung on the line to dry before I can wash it, so it quite weather-dependent.  I'm pleased with the results - you can see my new colour Coral in these pieces.  The darker red is Carmine Red, a Jacquard colour that I have a little left of. It wasn't too cold so the Turquoise didn't all wash out as it sometimes does.

Gratuitous cute animal shot of Frodo, Cressy and Seven all relaxing on my bed.

Summer in Provence

Back here, in mid November, I posted about dyeing fabric for a quilt called "Summer in Provence".  This was just before the quilts for Pike River miners' families took over my life (over 8,800 blocks to date - amazing, huh?).

Now that the National Quilting Symposium is only 3 weeks away and my Pfaff has ostensibly (but not actually) been repaired, I have decided to complete this as the quilt that I can show in the Tutors' exhibition.
Naturally, I am again having tension problems.  I have decided not to make the quilt as shown in the pattern, just put together the 9 squares.  This may, or may not, happen, depending on my machines.  I will try to keep calm, and hunt for the Janome cords and foot, although this machine was also giving me tension problems before I moved.

Before the Pfaff tension bombed out, I DID manage to do so stitching on the Rust Madonna that I made some time back.  I want to enter it in an exhibition at a local art gallery - previously, a friend had insisted strenuously that I not stitch it but now she is no longer on the scene, I will do as I please - which is what the piece needs.

Here's the Madonna plain and unadorned, just fused and with drawn features.

And here she is again, with some stitching that I think greatly improves her.  You may have to click on the photo to see it.  

Lazy Sunday afternoon

The poodles were relaxing......

..I was admiring my new, bright wool colours....I have already knitted a couple of things with the pink that I'll show you once they're completed, and I've started a hat in the purple.....

...I made that Kiwi favourite, Rice Bubble Slice...my version has added hazelnuts...

..and I made calzone for my lunches this week..  Here's one before I sealed it up - I cooked onion, peppers, broccoli and mushrooms,  added some tinned asparagus and grated cheese.  

Here's the end results - they look like big Cornish pasties but have no meat, and the dough is my trusty bread recipe.

Home comforts

 While I move quite often, I haven't been in rented accommodation for many, many years.  This has been a  necessity in Invercargill, as I was unable to sell my Rangiora home.  It's been quite hard to settle into a place that is so much smaller than I'm used to, but I'm trying to make it feel like home.  Here's the view of the unit from the teeny tiny back yard. All the plants in pots are mine.

 Who's been sleeping in my bed?  Cressy makes herself comfortable in my bedroom so she can keep an eye on the cat, who spends most of the day there.

 Frodo, on the other hand, is a couch potato, and perfectly happy if he has a couch to lie on.   And roll over on.

 With limited space and so much packed away in boxes, and being at school full-time, I haven't been doing any dyeing-related crafts.  However, I have been knitting.  I'm whizzing up a selection of fingerless gloves and mitts - here's one I've made from brushed wool.  Yes, I've made the other one as well but I need that hand to hold the camera.

 The multi-coloured scarf is completed.  Now I'll make a hat to match.  I want to keep walking to school as long as the weather isn't TOO bad.  Currently, I'm averaging 5 km a day (just over 3 miles for the non-metric readers).   Invercargill, being the southern-most city of New Zealand, is prone to quite a bit of wind and also rain.

Here's the first hat I've completed since I've been here (which will be a month tomorrow).  Very dull colours for me, but it's just a utilitarian beanie.

Only 6 weeks now till the Quilting Symposium in Queenstown - I have a fair bit of work to do to get ready for that, so will need to use my time wisely.

Getting back to normal

 My degree course is in Visual Arts, and one of my classes involves drawing organic objects.  I have never had any training in art, so this stuff is pretty challenging for me.  Here's a rose stem I drew on Thursday.  I missed most of the Tuesday class due to the earthquake - I couldn't concentrate after I received the text from Sophie saying she was stuck in her building, so went home.  Now I need to get more drawings done to catch up.

I went shopping on Saturday morning - restorative shopping, that is, as opposed to shopping for necessities.  I bought some yarn I wouldn't normally buy (it's acrylic) but I really liked the colours, and it's boucle so has plenty of texture and only a simple stitch is needed. I've stopped watching the TV footage of the quake as I find it too stressful  Instead, I watched DVDs over the weekend, and knitted this stocking stitch scarf.  I'll just knit to the end of the ball which should make a good-sized scarf, and then make a hat and gloves or mittens from the 2nd ball.  Like many handcrafts, knitting is soothing so always makes me feel better.

My City of Ruins - Christchurch earthquake 22.02.2011

 Just a couple of scenes from the devastating 6.3 magnitude aftershock yesterday - so shallow that it caused major damage and deaths that the original 7.1 quake did not. How cruel that this shock should come 5 1/2 months later, just as the city was getting back on its feet.

Christchurch is not my home town, but I lived there for 5 years as a child, and started school there at Halswell Primary, which was quite badly damaged in the original quake.  I've also lived just outside the city boundaries for 6 of the past 8 years, firstly in Lyttelton (close to the epicentre of this shock, and Christchurch's port) and later in Rangiora, about 25km north-west.

What was most distressing for me about yesterday's quake was the text I received from my daughter Sophie telling me that a big quake had struck and that she was stuck in her building.  As she works on the 15th floor of a highrise in the centre of the city, I spent a tense few hours waiting to hear about her safety.  Communication via text was patchy.  Fortunately, she and workmates were rescued from the 10th floor by the fire brigade, as stairwells below this level had collapsed.  They were drenched by fire hoses but unhurt. 

Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky.  The death toll this morning stands at 38 identified bodies, but it could be as high as 300.  People are still trapped in collapsed buildings.

Julie Rose, who took over the Pike River Quilt Project after I left the district, has suggested that surplus quilts be distributed to earthquake victims who have lost their homes and belongings.  I have agreed with her plan.  I hope those who have contributed blocks or quilts will be happy with this.  I feel it is appropriate.

Journey to the ends of the earth

 Well, one end of New Zealand anyway.  Today I made a foray to Bluff, the southernmost town in New Zealand.  I visited Stirling Point, where State Highway 1, the main road that goes the full length of New Zealand (except for Cook Strait, naturally) starts or ends, depending on your viewpoint.

You can read more about Bluff here.  It was settled by Europeans in 1824, making it one of the country's oldest permanent towns.

 The coastline here is quite rugged, with lots of rocks and kelp.

 A key feature of Stirling Point is a new chain link sculpture which illustrates the mythological link between the canoe of Maui, Te Waka a Maui (the South Island) and its anchor Te Punga o Te Waka a Maui (Stewart Island).  An identical chain link is attached to Stewart Island.

Bluff is about 30km from Invercargill.  The surrounding landscape is all flat, apart from Bluff Hill which is an extinct volcano, 265 metres (870 ft) high.  There is logging on the hill, which makes this view over the town and port look particularly unattractive. 

 This is the start of the spiral walkway leading up to the lookout.

Looking back at the peninsula and towards Invercargill.  That's my little red VW Golf in the parking lot. The road up here is steep, 2nd gear to come up and go down.

Normal service will resume shortly

After 2 hectic days and nearly 9 hours of travelling, I'm now in Invercargill, trying to get used to a space that's about 1/3 the size of my Rangiora home.  The climate is fresh here, with cool winds and rain featuring more often than Canterbury but at least I will be spared the mid-30s temperatures that I find so trying. 

 Here's a couple of Pike River quilts that arrived before I left.  The purple one was made by Jean McKinstry, an old friend from Lake Tarawera.

 And this is another heart quilt kindly compiled and quilted by Kiwiquilter Jan Main.

Essential Supplies

I am packing.  My house, that is, not firearms.  There are boxes all over the place, and the house is in disarray.  I have to sort as I pack, because I'm not only going to a smaller place but also it will only be temporary (I hope) until my house sells and I can buy a house in Invercargill.  This means that many things will stay in boxes in the garage, so it's important to work out what will be essential supplies for the next 6 months. 

As I sorted through the storage area under the stairs (which has taken me much of today -ahem!  No prizes for guessing it was rather a mess), I found a box containing yarn that I had completely forgotten about.  At the time I packed this (in 2008), I was not really knitting with this sort of yarn, though I was clearly entranced enough to buy them. 

The red/purple yarn and the blue/turquoise one on the left of the photo are silk noil.  The blue/green/purple skein at the rear is rayon boucle. I'm not sure what the balls at the front are, they just look like fine wool, but I recall that I bought them to knit with the boucle in some way, as they have the same colours.

Naturally, they shall go into a box labelled "Essential Supplies".