Tauranga waterfront delights

While Mum, Kelsey and Scarlett were here we took the opportunity and had lunch in town and checked out the new sculptures down at the waterfront of Tauranga by the childrens playground. 

Our children grew up with the tales of Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy although we aren't that familiar with some of the most recent additions.

Even though the day was overcast with clear spells it was very hard to get pictures as there were so many people looking at them and walking through them.

Here are some close ups:

We had so much fun working out who they all were, as it has been a while since we have traveled along with Hairy Maclary and his friends. The diversity of the people that we talked with was interesting as it wasn't just children but a lot of adults were checking them out too.

I thought that these sculptures were a very good example of linking relevant literature to art and very appropriate with Lynley Dodd being a Tauranga resident.

If you get the opportunity to visit Tauranga and have the time they are definitely worth a visit.

Have you checked them out yet?

Family interlude

Recently I made the trip to Whangarei to be with my mum when she had some day surgery. I stayed a couple of days up there and then we returned home where mum has spent some time with us before returning to Whangarei with my daughters and grand daughter. While they were all here we were very busy trying to fit everything in, as you do. 

We did manage to spend most of a day in Hamilton where we had a picnic at the Hamilton gardens overlooking the awesome lake and then power visited as many gardens as we could in the time we had - not easy to do with your mum and a toddler in tow, their paces being very different to the more energetic members of the group. I didn't think to get pics of the lake, but I can tell you that the gardens were very busy and there were quite a few families enjoying the sunshine and enjoying picnics too.

Some pics of my favourite gardens. 

Wouldn't this design look amazing on a quilt?

We have all lived in Hamilton previously, me with my parents and family as a child and teenager and as an adult with our own family - so the trip was significant for everyone as we all have memories and were keen to see some of the many changes that have happened since we were there last. 

My dad was in the Air Force and not only did he work at Te Rapa but we also lived there for a time. I remember the first time that I shopped at The Base at Te Rapa and the emotions that I had, sitting there where my family had years ago lived and worked with no visual evidence of what had been there previously. I really wanted mum and my girls to see and experience it too. It totally blew my mum away and I think she experienced emotions similar to the ones that I experienced the first time I went there since The Base was developed. 

With the Air Force bases being converted for other uses, the places that we have lived as a family through my lifetime have slowly all been changed with very little of the history being visible. I have found this very hard and I can't exactly explain why, other than that you question whether your experiences ever really did happen as there is no physical evidence that anything ever existed there. All you have are your memories and some photos from that time, which aren't plentiful compared to now with digital cameras.

All in all though it was a very enjoyable day and a fantastic opportunity for four generations to spend quality time together and to make some new memories.

Until next time, happy stitching everyone
Donna-Maree

TPQG Exhibition Part 3

We were very lucky to have some gorgeous novelty entries at our exhibition.

 Rex the rhinoceros was really cool and very colourful.

Here are some very cool boxes made by club members.

There was definitely a good display and variety at our exhibition. I can't decide which novelty is my favourite, I like them all. Which is your favourite?

TPQG Exhibition Part 2 - The Challenge Entries - Colour My Quilt

Okay,  here are the Challenge Entry requirements and results.

We all received a paint sample, the colour of which we had to match to fabric and use a recognisable amount of this fabric in the quilt. The name of the paint sample became the name and subject matter of our quilt.

Size was 24 inches high by 16 inches wide - portrait orientation and had to have three layers with binding.

Lesley Christiansen judged our challenge and she is a quilter, tutor and judge with many years experience in the quilting retail world.

First was 'Slight Envy' by Dorothy Dixon

The Tui and the Kiwi are both native birds in New Zealand - the Tui has a beautiful and colourful song and the kiwi is a flightless nocturnal bird.

Second was Tom and Jerry's 'Halloween HI-JINKS' by Rosemary Hancett

Third was 'Three Wishes' by Karen Livingstone

There were two merits and they were given to 'Laughter' by Denise Lee and 'Anticipation' by Tina Gillard.

The other entries were:

All of the entries were absolutely amazing and I am so proud of everyone for entering and giving it a go, it isn't easy putting yourself and your work out for judging and public display like that.

Hope you have enjoyed seeing all of the entries, please come back to see more of the exhibition in future posts.

Happy stitching everyone

Donna-Maree

Wow, having fun

Just a quick post as I need to hit the road shortly, but couldn't wait to tell you about my new cutting ruler from Fiskars. It is seriously cool.

With my fabrics already folded the way I need them for cutting, I just quickly grabbed some last night from the drawer and sliced through them effortlessly. Talk about quick, it made short work of the whole cutting session. Turning the ruler I could straighten the left hand edge and then turn the ruler back around to the other side for cutting the strips, no having to spin the cutting mat. 

Seriously I cut these strips super quickly. The cutting is super easy too, you just push down on the orange knob until it engages and slide it along the ruler.

This ruler with cutter is definitely going to be making a difference in my cutting, especially as I have been having a few issues with my wrists and I should be able to cut more volume in my cutting sessions from now on, meaning I will be more productive. I do believe in working smarter not necessarily harder.

I did see this ruler at the Bernina stand at our exhibition and originally purchased the longer one, but after watching the video the other night and refolding my fabrics I knew that this ruler would be better value for me than the longer one which isn't quite as wide.

These are going to be very popular and I did see several of these walking out the door at the exhibition. 

Let me know what you think of yours, if you have one. 

At the exhibition I realised that we have two other bloggers in our club - you might want to check out their blogs too - Alison andTina

The next time, happy stitching everyone

Donna-Maree

What am I doing now that exhibition is over?

Well, you might well ask. No it isn't tidying the house and doing the chores that are waiting to be done.

I have been folding fabric, actually refolding my fabric would be more correct.

Last night I happened to watch a video on an online link about folding fabric so that is always ready to start cutting. I just love the way that my fabrics look now compared to the messy pile they were before. Sorry I forgot to take a 'before' shot to show you just how bad they were.

I don't know about you but when I have to cut something from yardage, I have always put it off because it was always a mission. With my fabric folded like it is now it is always ready to go.

As you can see in the photo, the fabric sits nicely to your right if you are right handed and you have your straight edge on the left ready for cutting your strips. If you are cutting multiple amount of strips you just unroll your fabric when you need more. It sits nicely and is straight without it being a twisted mess.

The video went onto 'power cutting'. I had never heard this term before, but it went on to explain about creating a straight edge but how with each cut you can loose that straight edge. The demonstrator went on to show how to make multiple straight cuts successfully and quickly. With the 60mm rotary cutter you can stack multiple fabrics and cut successfully resulting in straight strips without wavy edges.

So, this is why I have refolded my fabrics, my fabrics now look lovely just like they do in the shop and much more inviting for me to cut into and therefore I am much more likely to shop in my own stash first! The fabrics will also be easier to put back where they came from which also means a tidier sewing space, which is always a bonus.

Here is the link if you want to check it for yourself.  Here

Let me know what you think about the video and whether this is a change you are considering to  make. Until next time happy stitching everyone.

Donna-Maree

TPQG Exhibition 2015 - Part 1

Wow - what an amazing weekend so far for Tauranga Patchwork and Quilters Group and their exhibition. Here are some general photos to give you an idea of the atmosphere.

More to come, and remember if you are around on Sunday, call in and have a look.

Happy stitching 

Donna-Maree

Both, done and dusted.

I did it, the second entry is completed and both wallhangings have been handed in.

"Flowering Pohutukawas" is my second entry for the exhibition. It is a reverse stained glass piece that I made in a class with Melanie Martin at our retreat back in May. I haven't completed the quilting of the sky as I was having issues with the thread and thought I would leave quilting it until after the exhibition and I have purchased more thread.

The continuous binding on this entry is better than the last one, they keep getting better each time. 

I was down at the venue setting up the cot for display purposes and got to see the challenge quilts being put up. Wow - they are amazing and I feel totally honoured to have such awesome quilters in our club.

Here is my entry - I can show it now.

The colour chip is on the left and mine is called "Vivacious". We had to create a piece using the colour on the paint chip and using the name of the paint colour. 

Check back tomorrow for more on the Chalłenge display and to see some of the entries.

Until then, Cheers

Donna-Maree

One down and one to go

We have the Tauranga Patchwork and Quilters Exhibition this weekend and I will have three entries displayed. 

The first one is the club challenge which has been judged but results won't be known until Friday morning when the results get pinned beside the entries just before the show opens at 10 o'clock. There will be quite a few people there on Friday morning anxious to see how their entries got on.

I have given myself this week to complete my two other entries and for tasks associated to the show. Then I decided that because I had allocated this time for a specific purpose that I couldn't waste this time and get caught up on doing things other than what it was intended for and that I was going to make myself accountable for this time, so that is what I have done.

Yesterday I completed entry number one that needed completing. All it required was some trimming, binding to be attached and sewn down. I methodically worked through the processes yesterday, stopping when required to check online as to the correct way to apply binding - it is so long since I have attached one that I had forgotten what to do at corners and needed a refresher.

The show is containing some ANZAC quilts and I was asked to include this wall hanging which I made as my recognition of the 100 years commemoration of Gallipoli for ANZAC Day. I plan to hang this wallhanging in our home for ANZAC Day in future years.

The other entry is another wallhanging and is still a work in progress and hand in day is tomorrow. Will I make it, will I get it completed? Check back to see what progress I make.

See you then, 

Donna-Maree

Poppies for ANZAC

This year we commemorated 100 years since the landing of our troops in Galipoli during WWI. This has been honoured in many ways around the country with dawn parades, and displays. My quilting club the Tauranga Patchwork and Quilters Group made fabric poppies which went onto a quilt that Sandra Bentley made that was included in the 'From Tauranga to the Trenches' display that has been on display at Classic Flyers. There are 110 poppies on this quilt representing the 110 lives of men that were from Tauranga.

I went through the display last Friday and was so engrossed in the display that I forgot to take any photos. Sandra's quilt is at the entrance of the display and then inside is a mural with 3000 knitted poppies lying as a sea of red. The display starts with a timeline and then has four containers which contain letters and communications from our men talking of their experiences and their feelings as they inadvertintly make history. The stories give you a sense of the people that these men were and the lives they led and a sense of what was going on at that time. This is the story of Taurangas men and the events that took place and how they came to be involved in this war and their part in making our history what it is. 

I found the display incredibly emotional - reading the stories, looking at the photos, diagrams and paraphernalia and was very pleased that I hadn't gone to view it on ANZAC Day like I had originally planned as I found attending the dawn parade a very emotional experience as well.

Saturday April 25th hubby and I attended the dawn service at Mount Maunganui, we left the house in the quiet of the pre dawn, the neighbourhood was incredibly quiet and still. We got to the expressway and I was surprised by the amount of cars that were on the road and we were all going in the same general direction. We got as close as we dared and parked the car and walked the rest of the way on foot. There were people, lots of people all quietly getting out of their cars and all walking, quietly all towards the same place. People merging with the flow as you got closer, all moving quietly, all for the same purpose. Walking along Marine Parade towards the service in the dark, people all around you, the sound of the ocean and the waves lapping  onto the shore - it wasn't hard to imagine what our men experienced as they landed onto the beach at Gallipoli, my emotions were running very high. Standing in the dark amongst a crowd of people who were there for exactly the same reason as me, listening to the service, the ocean and the approaching planes for the flyover was one of the most emotional experiences of my life so far. The breaking of the dawn and people laying wreaths, quietly waiting for their turn to have photos taken, people disbanding and making their way back to their normal activities. Never before have I felt such a sense of unity with such a large group of people like that.

Photos showing people disbanding and making their way back up the beach following the dawn service.

As one of the projects that our Patchwork and Quilters Group have done recently not only did we make yo yo poppies for the quilt, but we made poppy broaches. Thanks to Melanie for demonstrating this project and for providing kits for our use, we were able to create these beautiful broaches. I know that I wore mine with pride, not just because I had made it but also for what all it stood for.

I enjoyed rifling through my button jar to find that beautiful black button. There is something therapeutic about rummaging through a jar of buttons like that, searching for just the right one to give your project some extra sparkle. 

A very heartfelt thank you to all the people that helped make ANZAC Day for me this year one to remember always.

Progress .... At least a step in the right direction anyway.

A start has been made and I have purchased some batting and cut it all up for some of the UFO's that are waiting patiently in the cupboard. I am feeling one step closer to getting these UFO's out of the way. Now to decide which one to start on first.