Licorice Allsorts

There's nothing like a quilt show deadline to make me hurry up and finish a quilt.  

I've been working on this quilt since 2021, but now it's finished and it was even displayed in the Great New Zealand Quilt Show (TGNZQS) in Christchurch in May 2025.  

I'm really pleased it's finished because it's a lovely little quilt.  The colours are just so soft and the black is very dramatic against the pastels.  The coloured fabrics are Quilt Quality Chambray by Tilda . 

Licorice Allsorts is a Wendy Williams design and I love it.  I did it as a block of the month through Material Obsession in Sydney, Australia.  I loved all the hand stitching with Sue Spargo Eleganza Perle 8, but machine piecing the blocks was a bit trickier.  

Once I had finished the quilt top I hand quilted it with Aurifil 28wt in complementary colours.  fortunately my local quilt shop found a piece of black woollen batting big enough for it because I was worried that white batting might show through the black linen blocks. 

Finished size is 53" x 53"

Trans-Tasman Bubbles

Here's my latest finish, Trans-Tasman Bubbles.  

This quilt is all hand pieced and hand quilted by me.  The pattern is by Willyne Hammerstein from her book Millefiori Quilts 4.  In the book it's called "Dancing Cheek to Cheek", but I called my quilt trans-Tasman Bubbles, because the circles keep disappearing and re-emerging as you look at it.  

The trans-Tasman bubble is an agreement between the New Zealand and Australian governments that lets citizens of those countries travel between the two countries without having to stay 14 days in managed isolation/hotel quarantine on arrival.  

However, as soon as there are community cases in either Australia or New Zealand, the trans-Tasman bubble is suspended and people can no longer leave that city and go back to their home.  

That's why I won't be going to the Quilt NSW Sydney Quilt Show this year.  I'd love to go, but I don't want to risk being stuck in Sydney for extra days or weeks.  

But back to the quilt - I started this quilt for three reasons:

1. I'd always wanted to make a Winding Ways type quilt with optical illusions

2. I wanted to try out more of the patterns in Millefiori Quilts 4 because they fascinate me. 

3. Quilt NSW were going to have a special blue and white challenge at the 2021 Sydney Quilt Show and I wanted to enter (it's now deferred until 2022, but I'm ready!).  

I've experimented with the Quick Curve Ruler and sewing curves on my sewing machine, but I decided that it might just be easier for me to hand piece a version of the Winding Ways quilt.

So I bought the hand piecing templates from Paper Pieces in USA.  I always opt for the 1/4" seam allowance because I think 3/8" is too bulky. 

I won't say it was easy to hand piece curves, because it wasn't, but I did get quicker as I went along. My main piece of advice is to mark extra registration points on your templates, and copy them onto the back of the fabric.  I know some of you would like me to make a video of how I hand piece curves, so I'll try and do that soon. 

I entered this quilt into the Great New Zealand Quilt Show in Rotorua in May 2021. It didn't win any prizes, but a number of people told me they loved it, so that was nice.  I love it, and that's what's most important.  And I learnt a new skill making it.  

Size: 43" x 49"

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  What have you been up to this week? Feel free to share a recent blog post below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Aotearoa Quilters Lime Challenge

I loved seeing all the lime challenge quilts at the Great New Zealand Quilt Show in Rotorua. I was really pleased that I had two entries in the mix. 

The winning quilt was made by Camilla Watson and it was amazing.

There were three or four Merit prizes, and I liked this one by Fyvie Murray.

Here's some of my other favourites:

by Brenda Gael Smith

by Lynne Rowe

by Helen Beaven

by Anne Adams 

by Shirley Sparks

by me - Wendy Welsh

(You can read more about my entries in my previous post here.)

So you can see that there are many different ways to interpret a theme.  

These 12" x 16" minis quilts will travel around New Zealand for a year now.  If they come to a town near you, do try and see them.  I expect that they will be in Auckland at the Auckland Quilt Guild Festival of Quilts on 5 - 7 November 2021.  

I'll tell you more about the Great New Zealand Quilt Show in my next post, but right now I'm off to Christchurch for a cross stitch retreat.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Pandemic Sampler

My Pandemic Sampler by Long Dog Samplers is coming along nicely. 

This is a BIG sampler.  The pattern is 20 pages! Back when I started in August I was stitching one page a fortnight (two weeks), but I'm now happy with just one page a month.  That allows me to stitch or knit other things too, and gives my hands a break from cross stitching.  

I'm really happy with my fabric and thread choices. So many people in the Facebook group question their choices, and opt to start again with different threads or fabric.  I love the simplicity of plain black on a neutral linen. 

In two weeks time I'm going to a Cross Stitch Retreat in Christchurch.  I'm sure I'll see lots of tempting new designs there.  I don't plan to do anymore large samplers, but I am strangely fascinated by the Hawk Run Hollow designs by Carriage House Samplings (especially Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow), and Harbor Haven by By The Bay Needleart.   I can't really explain my fascination with these designs, but I like the art work and the colours, even though they have no connection to my life in New Zealand. 

But, before Christchurch, I'm going to Rotorua for the Great New Zealand Quilt Show next weekend 14-16 May.  I'll finally be able to show you a full photo of my finished Fireworks quilt - made from Willyne Hammerstein's pattern Ballet with Kaffe Fassett, in Millefiori Quilts Book 2.  

Plus another surprise quilt that I haven't told anyone about. 

Plus my Glitter in Green, and two entries in the Aotearoa Quilters Lime challenge.  

Yes, I will have 5 quilts on display in Rotorua.  So my husband is flying up with me for a long weekend doing touristy things in Rotorua.  I'm looking forward to the gondolas, the boiling mud pools, a bush walk in the Redwoods Forest, etc, etc.  Plus lots of time at the quilt show.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below:

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Looking forward to something different

I've been on a hand quilting mission since I returned from our holiday on 11 January, but I'm really looking forward to taking a break from it next week.  I love doing hand quilting, but not every single day.  

This is what I'm going to work on next.  My Cross Country quilt by Anna Maria Horner.

I've known for months that the Great New Zealand Quilt Show would be in Rotorua in May 2021, and I had planned to enter some quilts.  But I didn't realise I would have to submit photos of my finished quilts in mid February!  I only became aware of that requirement in December (although there was a link to the full conditions of entry in the November newsletter).  

The QuiltNSW Sydney Quilt Show allows members to submit photos of partially completed quilts when they open entries for their June shows in February each year, so I was more used to those rules.  

But the Great New Zealand Quilt Show is a juried show, so they need photos of the finished quilts to determine which quilts they will accept.  So, I've "gone hard and early", and finished my Ballet with Kaffe quilt.  I'll be entering it into the Great New Zealand Quilt Show, and the Sydney Quilt Show too if it goes ahead.  The Sydney show may be in doubt because they haven't opened entries yet which is unusual.  I can fully understand QuiltNSW's hesitancy, especially with another lock down in Victoria, Australia just being announced right now.  

Even if the Sydney Quilt Show does go ahead in June 2021, I won't be going this year for a variety of COVID related reasons.  

I'm really pleased that my Ballet with Kaffe quilt is finished, but I'm not going to show any photos of it just yet. I'll certainly let you know if it gets accepted for the Great New Zealand Quilt Show.  

Three versions of the same Cross Country quilt by Anna Maria Horner

I'm really looking forward to pulling out my Cross Country quilt next week.  I've got plaid fabric to fill in the large triangles now, but I need to decide if I'm going to add applique or not.  I might even get this one machine quilted because I've got plenty of other WIPs I want to work on in 2021.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

The Great New Zealand Quilt Show in Rotorua, May 2021

Yes, I'm back from our lovely holiday, and I'm enjoying some lazy summer days at home. 

I'm working on my entries for Aotearoa Quilters' Great New Zealand Quilt Show in Rotorua, 14-16 May 2021.  

All entries have to be 100% finished by 15 February.  (Conditions of entry are here.)

Of course I've decided to finish a couple of quilts that have been in my WIP pile for months.  Nothing like a deadline to make me quilt faster!

IF my Ballet with Kaffe Quilt is finished by the deadline, I'll be entering it.  If not, I'll enter something else.  There's no restrictions on when the quilt was finished.  

I've already booked my flights and accommodation for The Great New Zealand Quilt Show in Rotorua, and I'm really forward to it.  I've started my Lime challenge quilt, so at least I'll have one mini quilt hanging even if none of my other entries get accepted.  

The rules mean I can't show you any more than this. 

I don't know if the Quilt NSW Sydney Quilt Show will go ahead in 2021 or not, but I doubt that I'll be able to attend even if it is on.  New Zealand is a long way down the vaccination list, and I'm not paying for 14 days in managed isolation.  We may be free to travel within New Zealand, but our borders have been closed since March 2020.

So I'll make the most of 2021 by supporting our national quilting body and visiting the Great New Zealand Quilt Show in Rotorua.  Hopefully I'll see some of you Kiwi quilters there!

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Thank you to everyone who continues to link up.  

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter