Friday Night with Friends

A late report from my Friday Night with Friends, sorry. One good thing about my Friday night was that I didn't have to cook tea - for the third time this week, that must be a record! I hadn't been sure what we were doing but we ended up going into town to the Dairy Company store where we buy a lot of our farm goods (RD1). They invited all their suppliers in for a meal (Spit roasts, very yum) and a bit of fun. 

However I joined my fellow bloggers and FNwF-ers while in the car on the way there ...

40 minute trip, you can get a fair bit done.

...and once we got home I pulled out this...

40 minute trip means the wine had worn off so I could stitch :-)
Just Takes Two block.

I've been feeling the urge to do some needleturn in the evenings lately but haven't had the time to pull out my 'little people'/Quiltmania project - sorting colours etc takes me an age. Instead I decided to work on some more of my Just Takes Two.

I started this back in 2012, when the blocks were released fortnightly (I think). I pull it out from time to time then put it away again. This is the first time I have had all the blocks out for a long time

Unpressed but you get the idea!
The two blocks I've been doing lately are in the foreground.

Another angle. A lot of the blocks are foundation paper pieced, which
I enjoy doing but find I get a little tired of them after a bit. I need to EQ7 some
and convert them to normal piecing.

My whole weekend seemed to be one of snatching moments to sew... because it isn't long until the silly season starts (calving that is, not Christmas), I'd really like to have some more decent sewing sessions  before I'm floundering in the mud with cows and calves!

And speaking of Christmas, on Saturday (when I know it was still Friday Night elsewhere in the world!) I did manage some more on my Christmas in July swap, *here* or *here*. Posting day is just a few weeks away so I was pleased to finish this one....

54 people signed up for FNwF this time round - so I have some visiting to do! Thank you to Cheryll for hosting FNwF and also the Christmas in July swap :-)

Thank you for visitng, I hope you have a happy, creative week, 

A town and country sort of weekend

It is nice to get to the end of a weekend and feel that you have achieved something :-) On Friday night I finally finished the applique for this block. This is one of the blocks from Just Takes Two which was a BOM from last year, mine is all in these two fabrics. There are 100 blocks in the quilt and I think I am about a third of the way through them! It's one I pull out from time to time and do a little then put it away again to mature. Just a couple more and I will have one section fully formed so I'll be able to show it then.

(EDIT) Please go here to see Bea's finished (and quilted) Just Takes Two quilt.

After Saturday sewing at my favourite quilt shop (they hold this once a month) I went into town and down to the Town Basin. The MOML remembers this area as all boat sheds and mess when he was young but it is now a nice little place to go with nice boutique type shops, cafes and restaurants. It is a nice place to take visitors to the city.

Saturday was a drizzly-yuck sort of a day but you can see the marina and
get an idea of the Town Basin.

 Down in the Town Basin is Reyburn House, an old villa that holds various exhibitions. It is currently hosting a travelling exhibition showing the 20 selected quilts from the 2012 Biennial Challenge of the Aotearoa Quilters. The theme for this challenge was Connections and it was really interesting to see each quilt, read the artist's statement for each and study each quilt.

(Only photo I was allowed to take).

I wasn't allowed to take any individual photos but they are all shown here on the official website. 

After visiting Reyburn House I went into The Bach, which is a shop in the same area selling work by local artists (it is a lovely and interesting shop to browse, lots of talented people contributing all sorts of items). 

There is a community project going on there at the moment and a huge loom has been set up for it. Its purpose is for tapestry weaving (as opposed to the weaving we usually picture when we think of looms).

Members of the public are invited to come in, sit down, weave, and ultimately contribute to the finished tapestry.

Working on the tapestry. Beverly was lovely to talk to,
a great ambassador for the project.

This is  what the finished tapestry will look like.
It will be huge!

Showing the spindles used.
All the wool and the timber used for the loom itself has been sourced
from Northland.

Any of you locals, if you get a chance to go and visit them, please do. I intend to go back and sit and do some. I guess the more of us who help the sooner this will be finished!

You can visit a blog about this project here.

Another goodie from the weekend was getting my pinwheel quilt together!!

A group of us did a pinwheel swap last year, and gradually we are all (?) getting them put together.

I am linking up with Scrapbasket Sunday (click here to see what others are doing with their scraps) today as it is a real scrap quilt... it is nice to look at it and not only remember the fabrics that I used, but to recognise the projects my friends have done over the last few years.

It is a decent size! The spare bed is convenient for lying out projects!

Here is a better shot of it.
It may end up with a border - but I am still thinking about what
I would like.

This morning I saw this rainbow from my ironing board. It was about 7am and I was quite surprised to see one so early in the day.

 Thank you for visiting and reading along, I hope you all have a wonderful week, and find a bit of time for some creativeness,

Scrap play on Sunday

When I got up this morning I did not intend to sew scraps...

The day started sedately enough, I did some needleturn applique ... and made a little progress on one of the blocks from Just takes Two. (This was a BOM from last year.)

Block 27

After feeding the animals and playing outside a bit, I sat down to lunch and browsed through 'Best of Fons and Porter Star Quilts". I suddenly realised the mini quilt I was looking at had star blocks which finished at 1 1/2 inches!!! Rising to the (self-imposed!) challenge, before I knew it I was rummaging through my smallest scraps and ignoring any other plans for the day!!

Isn't it just too cute for words?!
Finished size - 1 1/2"
Think I may have to make a few more of these - a great use for tiny scraps!!

Just so you can get an idea of the size!!
(BTW - pieced, not foundation pieced)

 More scrap play followed and I also put this together. I've always been fascinated with Cathedral Window blocks and came across this tutorial recently.

It needs touching up in the odd place but I am pretty happy with it.
It will make a sweet pincushion.

Today I'm linking up to Scrapbasket Sunday on Kim's Big Quilting Adventure. To play along, and visit other scrappy playing, visit here.

Thank you for visiting, happy creating,