What I Bought In New Zealand

As promised here are photographs of my holiday haul.  I tried to only buy things I knew I wouldn't be able to get back in England, but failed.  I tried to only buy things that I had a plan for, and failed!  I don't think I need to buy fabric for a long, long time!
I bought some gadgets and gizmos and will post reports on them when I have used them a few times.

I'm most excited about using the marking pencils as this is an area that I seem to have most trouble with, I've never found a totally satisfactory way of marking fabric.  The ruler is for Mariner's Compass and looked easy to use when it was being demonstrated at the Timaru Quilters' Gathering!

I came home with a really good stash of patterns.  Some were gifts, some I bought, some I won, some were in goodie bags.  I really don't think I will use them all (even though I have enough fabric to!) so I'll include one in my next giveaway which will be posted soon on my Japanese textiles and Japan blog where I shall also share all the Japanese fabrics I bought.  Please pop over there and add the blog to your list so that you don't miss out.  I will post a link on here too.

I promised to share my work in Meryl Caudwell's workshop in Timaru with you, here it is, blink and you'll miss it!  Although it's not a lot to show for a whole day's work I really enjoyed both the Storm At Sea pattern and working in miniature and am determined to finish the quilt.  I'll post a picture of the final quiltlet as soon as I finish.
And so to fabric:

This piece of Aboriginal design fabric was a gift from one of the Australian quilters at the meeting with Picton Quilters and will form the focus of the Australian section of my journal quiltlets for the trip.

This gorgeous panel was what Michelle and I bought at Claire Linn's shop in Hawera and we are both going to create something with it and compare the results.  Michelle has already bought some lovely dusky pinks that go very well with it, go and have a look here.  If you remember from my post in April I bought some fabrics that were the "Essence of Claire".  I have added some vintage buttons to them and some tassels from the Quilters' Barn in Blenheim and they are going to become a table runner (very soon!)

I bought fabric for both my grandsons.  Dinosaurs for William which I probably could have got in England but I'd been having trouble finding "proper" dinosaurs rather than cartoon-type ones and when I saw this panel and the fabrics I just had to have them.

For Sam there is a Kiwi counting book panel which I think I will make into a wall hanging or even separate mats because I think that will be most versatile for him.  Again, this is the space to watch!

On the Kiwi theme I also bought a panel for a wall hanging to go in our bach.  The lovely ladies at Obsession 2 Quilt in Temuka didn't have any panels left so they took this one out of a kit for me as I didn't want the weight of all the extra fabric to bring home!  That's what I call service.

Finally (ha, ha) I bought some New Zealand-themed fabric.  This selection and the lovely threads and pieces of silk are for the South Island panel of my trip quilt -

the colours remind me of the mountains, the lakes, rivers and the glaciers.  These next fabrics are for a Christmas table runner and they feature the pohutakawa tree, known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree because it is in flower at Christmas.

This fabric has the wonderful tui bird on it and I just love those gorgeous birds.  I don't know what I will do with the fabric yet, maybe a box...

And then I couldn't resist these wonderful NZ batiks and the paua shell buttons, I think these may just be for stroking!  I bought some of the paua buttons for the winner of my blogiversary giveaway who turned out to be my sister, Jane, who was delighted with them.  I just had to go back to get some for myself, the colours are gorgeous.

It doesn't seem that much now it's all neatly set out on this post although I had to leave some clothes in charity shops in NZ to get it all home!  I bought a lot of fabric gorgeousness in Tokyo too and I'll post about that on Sashiko Started It with a guide to fabric shopping in Tokyo - they have a whole area of the city called "Fabric Town", excellent.  Look out for that in a couple of days and remember to check for the giveaway too.

Holiday Quilting Part II

While I'm on holiday I am hoping to complete (or at least start) a series of hangings that might or might not be joined together into a travel journal quilt.  As you can tell, I don't plan very precisely, I'm much more of a 'make it up as I go along' sort of quilter.  The miniature Storm at Sea quilt might be part of this, or not.

I have, however, given the projects quite a lot of thought and decided that I must make them with fabrics bought locally and therefore I must go to lots of quilt shops while on my travels!  I've also thought about places and events that might be sources of inspiration.

While I am in Singapore it will be Chinese New Year.  This is on 14th February this year and the New Year will be the Year of the Tiger.  There are lots of inspirational themes there - tigers, lanterns, fireworks... and I'm wondering if there will be a specific range of fabric available in the same way as we have Christmas, Hallowe'en ranges etc.  I'm planning to visit Quilts n Calicoes in the Tanglin Mall in Singapore and am sure Ira will point me in the right direction.  On her website is a lovely range called Twelve Moons that I like the look of.

In Sydney I will be meeting up with Sal, my GGCS partner, and I'm sure she will find us one or two quilt shops to visit.  My thoughts so far are moving towards using some of the range of Aboriginal design fabrics available but again, I won't know until I get there, I might end up being inspired by the Sydney Opera House or doing something based on the harbour or the botanical gardens, I intend to keep an open mind.

The largest part of the holiday will be spent in New Zealand and, in addition to the Timaru Mini-Symposium, there will be inspiration beyond my dreams.  I'm hoping to enjoy a few quilt shows, including the NANZQ that I shared in my previous post.  I would like to use the wide range of Kiwiana fabrics available and I imagine I will be working on something to do with nature - the coast or the bush, or maybe the glaciers or the sounds.
I would like to take this opportunity to recommend Gail Lawther's book on New Zealand to you.

I bought a copy at the Great Northern Quilt Show in Harrogate, attracted mainly by the words, "New Zealand" and it has turned out to be one of my favourite books.  Not only has Gail created 35 very interesting quilts and used a wide variety of techniques but she includes all the patterns and templates should you want to replicate one yourself (or will make one for you if you so desire).  The text and photographs in the book are wonderful for a wannabe-Kiwi like myself, with stories of places visited and things experienced it works as a great advertisement for New Zealand.  It is also a great reminder of some of the things I have seen and done on previous trips.  Should you need the ISBN to get your own copy it's:
978 0 9553499 3 5
I am keen to create my own version of a tivaevae, a Cook Islands-style quilt, at some time and Gail includes a tempting project using sun-created images of NZ flora that interests me:

So, as I say, inspiration beyond my wildest dreams.  Watch this space and I'll share it with you.

Holiday Quilting Part I

I'm getting ready for a great trip to New Zealand with stops in Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.  I'm very excited as you can imagine, only two weeks to go before I leave the chilly Fens and head for warmer climes.

There will be fewer posts here at Online Quilting but I have started a travel blog at Australasian Adventure and do hope you will check in with me there from time to time.

I won't be abandoning my needles and thread altogether - that would require a surgical procedure - so here's what I hope to do while I'm away, part I.

One of the most exciting things is that I will be going to the Mountains to the Sea, A Quilters' Gathering mini-symposium in Timaru and doing a workshop with Meryl Caudwell.
Timaru is in South Island, New Zealand and we have arranged to be on South Island for about a month so there will be plenty of time to relax, explore and be inspired.  At Harrogate last autumn I enjoyed seeing this quilt by Joan Weston representing Milford Sound in the Fjordland region of South Island.  I imagine I will also enjoy seeing the actual place too.

The workshop I'm doing is a miniature, foundation-pieced, Storm At Sea quilt and I will be borrowing a Bernina Aurora 440QE BSR machine to work with on the day which will add it's own excitement.

I'm going to pack my own cutting and sewing equipment and that will be useful for the other projects I have in mind.  As I will need fabrics, thread and other goodies I will obviously need to go to several quilt shops while I'm travelling!

At the symposium there will be a Merchant's Mall and, of course, a wonderful display of quilts.  The two challenge categories are "Sand Sea and Sail" and "From the Alps to the Coast or Anywhere In Between"  

The owners of our accommodation in Timaru have written saying,  "We will enjoy directing your husband around our area, and we are sure he won't have time to learn quilting while staying with us"!

In Holiday Quilting II,  I'll outline the projects that I hope to work on while I'm way.

The First Christmas

I have just got home from a delightful Christmas lunch with my SiL and his family and found the postman had left a parcel from South Dakota containing the final three of the Global Piecers' Christmas swap blocks and some other festive goodies.  Aren't they gorgeous?  Tomorrow will be spent making a Christmas wallhanging (probably).

We are still enjoying freezing temperatures, no more snow today but a great frost and freezing fog too.  My grandson, Wills, is keeping this icicle in the freezer so that he can see it in the summer.  He enjoyed his presents, particularly a book of dinosaurs which was a great hit.  He did extremely well with his present giving too -

I got this book and a massive box of Thorntons' chocolates, boy am I a happy Nanny!!  I also had another great piece of post, this time from New Zealand.  It was notification from the Timaru mini-symposium that I have got my first choice of workshop there in April, yeah baby, I'll be doing a miniature foundation-pieced Storm at Sea quilt with Meryl Caudwell. Finally for today, here's a shot of me with my first bowlful of Christmas pudding, complete with brandy butter and a sparkler, excellent.

    

Oh and a friend had left a brace of pheasant hanging on the front door handle - no photo in case some of my dear readers are vegetarian or of nervous disposition but that will be another little task for tomorrow!

Have a very Happy Christmas.