Quilts for Hawke's Bay

Last week I told you about Cyclone Gabrielle that has devastated parts of Hawke's Bay in New Zealand.  

Everyone wants to help in whatever way they can.  The best and most efficient way is to donate money to the Red Cross appeal which is easily found online.  

However, our quilt guild members naturally want to give quilts too.  So tomorrow at our regular guild meeting we are collecting quilts of any size in "as new" condition.  We will use our contacts in the hospital and schools to distribute these quilts when the time is right.  We won't be asking Civil Defence to distribute these quilts because we know they have far bigger issues to sort out at the moment, and they have requested monetary donations to the Red Cross rather than donations of physical items. 

I had a look in my cupboards and I have many quilts that I enjoyed making, but have barely used because we have so many options.  So I took advantage of the fine weather and gave some of them a wash in preparation for donating them. 

 

The quilt above will make a cute baby quilt, but when I looked at the binding I just knew I had to take it off and try again.  It was terribly baggy and only single fold, so I took it off with the intention of replacing it.  But while it was off I decided that I needed to add a bit more quilting to it too, so I did some diagonal lines with my walking foot before I replaced the binding.  Now it's just like new again with more quilting and new binding. 

Each one of these quilts contains memories for me, but many people in Hawke's Bay have lost everything and it feels right to pass these quilts on now.  

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My week

Another week has passed and I still haven't managed to get back to my sewing machine.  I have been  cross stitching in the evenings though, and I've finished the First Day of Christmas by Hello from Liz Mathews. 

I still need to turn it into a 3D tree, but at the moment it's just waiting on the finishing pile.  I love the linen I chose for this one - it's 32 count Wichelt linen in a lovely pale green.

Cyclone Gabrielle passed over New Zealand on Monday and Tuesday and the Hawke's Bay suffered terrible flooding (Napier, Hastings, Gisborne). Nearly 10,000 people are currently displaced from their homes, and 4,500 people are registered as missing.  The devastation is terrible.  Many people will never return to their homes, but they are just thankful to still be alive.  The death toll is sure to rise.

We were very lucky in Wellington and were hardly affected at all by the cyclone. It's hard to believe there's so much destruction just 4 hours drive away.  

Here's some photos from my garden this week.

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

 

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Sashiko Quilt

I'm working on quite a few mystery projects this year that I just can't share on my blog.  I know a lot of you come here each week for inspiration, so from time to time I'm going to share some of my earlier quilts that you might have missed.  

This is my sashiko quilt that I made 10 years ago when my son went to Japan on a school exchange trip.  

I started with a pattern from Nancy's Stitch Studio, but then I used library books and the internet to research sashiko patterns. I found lots of additional designs that I liked, but I had to scale them to fit my blocks.

I really enjoyed doing the sashiko in the blocks before I joined the whole quilt up.  

- I used tailor's chalk to draw grids on the dark indigo squares to map out where the designs would sit.

- I went over the chalk marks with the sewing machine because they were rubbing off too easily.

- I hand stitched the Sashiko patterns between the grid lines with Ecru DMC Perle 8. (Sashiko thread is expensive in New Zealand and I knew I would need alot.)

- I then pulled out all of the grid lines I'd made with machine stitching.

There's so many sashiko patterns to stitch. 

The facts:

Each of the navy blocks measures 8.75" x 8.75" finished.

I used ecru Perle 8 for the sashiko stitching.

I did all of the sashiko before I made the quilt sandwich.

The quilt has wool batting.

The finished quilt measures 62" x 80".

   

There's more info about this quilt on the Sashiko tab on my blog.  

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!

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June Sheath Dress by Style Arc

Yes, I made a dress - from Kaffe Fassett fabrics of course!

I like to wear 100% cotton dresses in summer, but they're getting harder and harder to find in the shops.  So I decided I would just have to make some dresses myself.    

I used the Style Arc June Sheath Dress pattern with a few modifications around the neck line.  I cut the neck line lower, based on a dress I already have.  

I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I'm looking forward to wearing it soon. 

Update: Yes, it's regular quilting Kaffe Fassett quilting cotton. 

I bought the PDF version of the pattern and got Karina at Studio of Sewing in Auckland to print it on to sturdy A0 paper for me.   I can now reuse the pattern again and again.  

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!

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Cross Stitch

 I haven't done any quilting in January - instead I've been busy cross stitching.

The online Jingle Ball online event in December rekindled my interest in cross stitching, and seeing all the beautiful hand made Christmas decorations on Instagram definitely got me motivated to stitch more.  

Through the Jingle Ball I became aware of some different designers, so I've been stitching decorations designed by Hands On Design and Erica Michaels.  The one above is part of Christmas Countdown by Erica Michaels and it's going to be finished as a drum - something new for me!

These two below are by Hands On Design and were are exclusive for the Jingle Ball attendees, but will be released later in 2023. I'm still working on the third part - Noel.

  

And then, I finally figured out the finishing for the Twelve Days of Christmas by Hello from Liz Mathews, so I finished two of my trees, and started a third.  

Oh! And I've made two more Mill Hill beaded Santas since Christmas. Here's the first one.

And finally, I somehow got sucked in to the Peppermint Purple 2023 blackwork stitch a long. My justification for that was that it's free, and it's only one tiny square of black work each week.  Surely I can keep up with that.  I found some pretty variegated thread in my stash, but I did have to buy a special piece of hand dyed linen to complement the threads.   Unfortunately I can't show you any progress pictures or I'll be booted out of the programme!

So, my hands have been busy while I've watched the Australian Open tennis matches on TV.  I've even quite enjoyed a break from my sewing machine.  

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!

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A pretty baby quilt

One of my nieces has just had a baby so I made a pretty baby quilt for the baby. 

I used the "June" pattern from Amanda Jean Nyberg's book, "No Scrap Left Behind". I've had the book for a few years and have always wanted to try that pattern.  It felt good to be able to make if from fabrics I had on hand. 

I used some of the Tula Pink pastel solids I had left over from when I made this quilt for my mother in law - the baby's great grand mother. So there's a nice connection there. 

As it's a baby quilt and I want it to be used, I had it machine quilted at Busy Bee Quilt Shop.  

I even found a nice backing for it in my stash.

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!

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Train Case

My first finish of 2023.

Months ago I saw a beautiful Liberty train case for sale in a shop.  It was pretty pricey, so I decided to make my own version.  

Now I know why it was pricey - they are very fiddly! 

This one ended up bigger than my original plan, but the smaller you go, the more fiddly it gets.  

I ended up using Mink Kim's pattern from Sewing Illustration for Cutie Cube Bag, with quite a few modifications. Mine is sized somewhere between her big and small sizes.  Mine has the binding on the outside rather than the insides.  I used the Patterns by Annie method for binding my seams and zipper edges.  

So it's a hybrid, but it works fine for me and I'm very happy with it.  I won't be making another one in a hurry, and I don't need to, because just last week Shiseido gave me a free one in a gift with purchase deal.  Of course I prefer lavender to red, and the handle on top, but it will still be useful.  

The original Liberty bag that inspired me.  Yes, NZD100 at Ballantynes in Christchurch

https://sewingillustration.com/products/cutie-cube-bag

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