finito!

My daughter bought this huge quilt at a second hand fabric market for $30! She had to finish a few edge bits off but then somehow I ended up with it for quilting. Just stipple as it will be used mostly as a picnic quilt. Yeah ok?
I had gone around maybe 3 1/2 sides - reasonably wide - before acquiring my new machine. So I got it out to practise the new BSR on and voila! it's finished!
The BSR makes quilting much more relaxing. I did not end up all tense and bent sideways trying to get my stitches the same length. And the increased length of the throat, although just a few inches, makes a massive difference moving a large quilt through. I stopped once and did a bit of folding but no clips or fussing to fit it under. Truely the 'dream machine'.

technology update

I had the recent good fortune to attend the New Zealand Quilt Symposium in Christchurch with a group of friends - a big thank you to them for a fun time had - good company and lots of laughs (and a few dramas!)
I did one workshop: Beyond Meander with Chris Kenna. It was a good class and was an update on machine quilting which, although I am experienced at, I've been a bit out of the loop these last 10 years and thought there were probably new things to learn.
What I did learn is that the process has not changed but the machines to do it with most certainly have. It challenged my belief that my 20 year old sewing machine was 'good as gold' and a new one would be no different.
Well on one side of the equation that is true. My trusty Bernina 1260 is still a great machine with another 20 years of dressmaking in it. But the technology advancements for quilters in the new machines are amazing.
So I decided to take a few new machines for a test drive.
Back in the day when I first got into quilting, we all lusted after the dual feed of the Pfaff that we could not justify. So I took a Pfaff and a few other brands for a test drive.  Then  I discovered that the 7 and 8 Series Bernina machines now have dual feed too! Wahoo!
And if that is not exciting enough there is this new thing called a BSR. What you might ask, is that?
Bernina stitch regulator. So for those of us who drop our feed dogs and do free motion machine quilting, this little gizmo regulates the stitch length for us. Amazing! I must admit that on first trialling it I did not enjoy using it. You have to make a mind shift away from controlling the speed of the machine with the foot pedal to controlling it by the speed you move the fabric. Once I got the hang of it I was sold! And the new machine still feels like the Bernina's I have been using for 35+ years.
Hence I have a new toy. A Bernina 770 Quilters Edition and it's wonderful. I love technology!

Nita Eileen

Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost

Nature’s first green is gold, 

Her hardest hue to hold. 

Her early leaf’s a flower; 

But only so an hour. 

Then leaf subsides to leaf. 

So Eden sank to grief, 

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay. 

Mum passed away on the 23rd April, in her 90th year.

Daily it seems that everything is still the same, but everything is different.

i feel a quilt coming on

I began a hand pieced hexagon quilt some time in the '90s. However the fabrics I used no longer excite me - fortunately I did not get very far. I also made a small liberty quilt back then and the scraps from that quilt are just as timeless today as ever. Hence my plan to begin a Liberty hexagon quilt, something I can work on by hand for probably the next ten years and be confident I will still like it.

waihi

Visited Waihi on a stormy wet weekend.

flower power

Not my best year in the garden, other things on my mind. But plants do their thing and even when you least expect it, amaze you with their beauty.

  

bruce

And here's the guy who wrote the song "My Hometown". The boss himself. Great concert at Mt. Smart stadium.

my hometown

Daniel visited home with his drone. That's the might Waikato River you can see flowing through Hamilton with Mount Pirongia in the background.My hometown. 

paradise

This little beach way up above Coromandel town is my idea of paradise.

west coach beaches

Having some beach time on the West Coast irregardless of the fact that summer continues to be reticent.
I can (just) see the sea.

Waihi Beach

other people's Kaffe conundrums

It is reassuring to know others struggle with Kaffe fabrics as well. Two examples of Kaffe's Ice Cream quilt below in different colour-ways. Each row is a fabric choice and a tormenting decision. Maybe more wine is needed.
The first quilt is on show at Still Quilting in New Plymouth and the second is a work in progress of a friend, Paula. Waiting to see it finished. Our lack of summer weather may bring this eventuality about sooner rather than later!

len lye

Visited the Len Lye centre in New Plymouth.
What an amazing building! It is built out of stainless steel and I'm so glad I don't have to polish it.
There is a regularly rotated display of his works inside plus one large piece that we were able to watch 'perform'. Three pieces of stainless steel hung on a stage with lighting to create shadows. The pieces are rotated and moved at varied speeds creating a spectacular effect - stunning! See below.

visiting Taranaki

Went for drive to Taranaki - great company, great food, great inspiration.
It's a challenging drive down there but worth it - amazing scenery both there and back.
And this time, ever so briefly, the Mt Taranaki allowed itself to be seen.