Where did February go?

Well, February is over and we're into March. The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler. We're still having some lovely warm days though.

What did I get up to in February?  Here's a few highlights:

1. Government House tea party on Waitangi Day 

My husband and I (do I sound like the Queen?) were lucky enough to attend a garden party at Government House on our national day, Waitangi Day. It was a special party because New Zealand is now 175 years old - yes, that's all.

There were 3,000 people at the garden party. We've both been inside Government House previously, so were quite content to stand on the lawn, drink and eat, and listen to the music and speeches. The NZ Army Band played a wide range of music, and as a special surprise Sol 3 Mio sang some songs. They are three young up and coming New Zealand / Samoan opera singers who are very talented.

Just to prove I was there

2. Stonestead Outdoor Quilt Festival

That same weekend we went to the Stonestead Outdoor Quilt Festival. I decided to get brave this year and entered two quilt in the festival.  When we got there I realised that although mine were colourful, they were very small in the great outdoors. I made a mental note to enter bigger quilts if I enter again next year.

My Trellis Crossroads being dwarfed by my friend Alice's Arizona quilt

My Radiant Poppies next to an amazing Catherdral Window quilt

That Dear Jane quilt was amazing - so much work

3. Finishes

I finished my Halloween and Kaffe Christmas tree minis during February. I don't like doing things under time pressure, so I enjoyed finishing them in a relaxed mood in February.

I also completed my border on Serena's Possum Magic quilt.  I'll do a separate post on that next week. You can see all of the Possum Magic quilts on the tab at the top of my blog.

4. Progress

I've started hand quilting my mini medallion quilt. It's the third thing on my Finish Along list for quarter 1, so I hope I can finish it in March.  I plan on using a range of quilting methods and threads on this quilt. I think that's becoming my style.

I've kept up to date with the Women of the Bible quilt - see previous post. For those who have asked, the shop is naming each block after a woman from the Bible, and providing a small reading about her with each pattern. Some of us just gloss right over that, but others enjoy reading about the women.


5. New starts

This section should really be empty, but there were a few new starts in February.

Firstly, my crotchet ripple blanket. I started this blanket when I was sick at the start of the month. You probably know what it's like - too many things on the "to do" list to just do nothing for a few days, so I started the blanket early. The Down Under Australia crotchet along starts on 1 March, but my blanket is already about 70cm high = 28".

Secondly, the Russian whitework / needlelace. I've done the external border but that's all at the moment. I think the lady running it is busy with work so hasn't posted the second installment on her blog yet - at least that's what google translate seems to be telling me.

As yet another avoidance tactic, I started this quick little kit from The Sweetheart Tree. My mum gave it to me a couple of years ago, and I never started it. Last week I saw a lady on Instagram make it in just 2 weeks, so I thought I should really get onto it while I'm in a Sew My Stash phase. My mum's coming to visit in April so I plan to have it done before then.

Lastly, I made a scrappy bear paw block. Capital Quilters will be 30 years old this year, and the bear paw block is our logo. Some of the group have come up with the idea of making one of these blocks per month for 9 months. I plan to make 9 different coloured blocks. My first one is orange!!

It started out a nice light orange with the elephants, but quickly descended into fiery red orange once I remembered my Kaffe fabrics.  I've had to give in and buy some low volume fabrics for this quilt. They have never really appealed to me in the past, but I can certainly see that they have their place in this block. They separate out the orange sections and reduce the brightness of the block - well slightly anyway.


So that was February for me. A wide variety of projects worked on. I hope you had a productive month too. I wonder what March will bring?