New Zealand then Sydney (and a give away)

 I’ve just opened up the draft of a blog post I started at Auckland airport a week and a half ago.

I thought it might have been the second fastest blog post ever, but I didn’t manage to get it finished before boarding time for the flight to Melbourne.  So I’ve decided to start over :-)

I have had a good time in NZ since last I posted,  I did manage to get that post done (plus a quick cuppa) before  a short flight down to Palmerston North.  There was a gap in the clouds just big enough to see Mt Ruapehu poking through and that’s all I saw of her for the whole seven days.  Even when I drove right past her on the return trip she was completely hidden.

image of Mt Ruapehu

Mt Ruapehu, another month and she will be covered in snow, and frequently cloud unfortunately.

I was staying with my cousin Dawn this time.

We were great mates as kids and are great mates still.

We like the same things, isn’t that always nice :-) to be related and friends.

image of Dawn at work

Dawn at work in her studio. She makes fabulous clothes from Vintage fabrics and is very creative.

Dawn lives just a short walk from my Mum so I was able to spend lots of time with Mum too.

Mum’s got Alzheimers but is getting great care and attention.  She still knows who I am and we have fun together so it was important to make memories (for me) while we  can.  Sadly she will have forgotten I was there last week, but ‘in the moment’ all is fine.

But now I am back from gadding about the place/s and it’s time to get back to normal,

I realised it’s 2 months today since I left for the US and I have also had ‘a wedding’, a trip to NZ (that’s always a busy one)

and four days at the Sydney Quilt Show so it’s no wonder I’m a little disorganised.

Plus the excitement of being a featured home in Quiltmania magazine

image of Quiltmania magazine

Quiltmania # 89

 Quilt Station has a seven page spread plus the third and final instalment of my Mid 19th Century Star quilt pattern.

I was chuffed to see Ady, who has made (yes finished) the Maltaville quilt, being my neighbour in Quiltmania, that’s one of her beautiful quilts on the opposite page.

image of Quiltmania magazine

I'm thrilled with how Quilt Station looks

Merci beaucoup to Carol and Guy, it was a real pleasure to have you both visit my home for the day

and Guy, wow I love that photo of me :-)

So all that excitement

image of Fireworks

Woohoo

calls for a

Give-away.

 I would love to give away a couple of the John Hewson panels/fabrics which were reproduced by Andover last year.

I bought extra at Seventh Heaven Quilt Shop in New Braunfells, Texas anticipating I’d want to pass some on.

image of Hewson panel

John Hewson panel from the Winterthur Museum collection

There will be two chances to get one of these large urn panels, above

and two chances to win eight birds as shown below.

image of John Hewson birds

John Hewson Birds

to have a chance just leave a comment on this post, oooh let’s say,

by the 13th July.  That’s a Friday ~ Friday the 13th. What fun!

I will mail to anywhere in the world and no doubt between now and then I will have unearthed a couple other treasures to add to it.

To leave a comment you need to click on the title of the blog post.  That will re-open the post with the option to comment visible at the bottom.

The Sydney Quilt Show came hot on the heels of returning from NZ,

five of us from the Goldfields Quilters (Alison, Chris, Jennifer, Kathryn and myself) flew up on Thursday morning and were joined on Friday by Irene so you can imagine the fun we had.

The six of us piled in to a taxi van straight after breakfast on Saturday morning and headed over to

Material Obsession.

We were not going to miss out this time, adding an extra day to the itinerary as last year Jenn and I just ran out of time.

It’s a beautiful shop, I follow Kathy Doughty’s blog and her shop is a great reflection of her style and flair.

Here’s just a little of what I bought

image of fabrics

These aren’t Repro’s as such but they could be.  It’s all about how you look at it I suppose.

The Blue (Prussian like) with the Brown, once cut up, could go in to a mid 19th century quilt quite well I think.

And the Brown and Red diamond print wouldn’t look out of place either.

And if you are familiar with Material Obsession quilts you may be surprised to know you will find 19th c repro’s at Material Obsession.

I wasn’t expecting to find any but was very pleasantly surprised.

It’s true, I found (and came home with) quite a few.  It is a very diverse and friendly quilt shop.

After that we grabbed two taxis and made for Quiltsmith (but lunch in trendy Annandale shopping precint first)

We left a couple of hours later with bags bulging, this time catching the bus back to Darling Harbour.

I was so pleased Jenn was methodically going through the bargain boxes, I had completely missed this much needed fabric.

image of Beth Ann Bruske fabric

Beth Ann Bruske fabric.

Jenn kindly shared the last of the bolt so I have *Plenty* to do *Whatever* on the Cradle Quilt.  It had come to a stand still as quilts sometimes do.

image of Cradle Quilt progress

Cradle Quilt, no excuse not to get a wriggle on with this now is there?

And these found their way in to my arms as well

image of fabrics

Bits and bobs as they say, just for the stash

It is lovely to be home again.  It’s winter and it’s cold.

I like to hibernate just a little, well sometimes a lot and I have plenty of work to do ~ both quilt designing and quilting on Violet.

It’s a good time to be at home and in the studio.

We have an elderly dog and she’s all of a sudden showing her age.

She’s given us a few scares in the last few months and she seems to want one of us around more during the day,

so it’s another reason to be not too far from home for too long. We’re watching and taking it as it comes if you know what I mean.

The other day I was measuring and photographing my quilts for showcase and she was trying very hard to be noticed

image of Rollo

Rollo

I’ve just realised I have no sewing prepped for tonight,

oh well, I shall sit by the fire and look at a quilt book or two instead.

Keep warm (or cool) and happy stitching

til soon

Margaret

Comments

  1. I am still waiting to find a copy of this issue of Quiltmania I may just have to order it on line
    oh I love that floral print you found at MO! can you give me the selvage info on it, love the cradle quilt!
    I haven’t bought any of the Hewson fabric so this would be a treat! I was in awe seeing the original at the AFAM last year, oh loved that quilt
    thanks for a giveaway, although not sure how you can part with it.
    Kathie

    • Margaret says:

      Hi Kathie, I’m really happy Jenn found that fabric. I am itching to get back to the Cradle quilt and now have plenty of fabric to get creative. I’ve no idea how big it will be LOL. Anyway the fabric selvage just says Designed by Beth Ann Bruske for David Textiles. I’m sure it would have to be 2008 or earlier. It’s been around a while. The print always makes me think of an English bone china pattern. (Can’t remember which one!)
      til soon
      M

  2. Thank you for the vicarious chance of travelling with you – always a pleasure reading your blog. And thank you so much for your kind words on my quilt! I showed the Maltaville top at my guild, and they loved it. I must admit I miss the excitement of waiting for the monthly installment and auditioning fabrics. Happy quilting,
    Ady
    PS Rollo is so sweet!

  3. Jennifer Carlyle Shelton says:

    Wow Margaret you are soooo busy! Vivien N told me to take a look at your blog as she thought I might like it. I am in awe! Your work is spectacular and I thank you for sharing it this way.
    The John Hewson fabrics are magnificent, I have got the Winterthur Museum very high on my list of must visit places for one day …
    Thank you for letting us see a glimpse of your world and for even thinking of your readers while gallivanting the world at quite a pace.

  4. sewprimitive karen says:

    Margaret, may I ask you what your darling “school penmanship” font is that you are using in your headers, etc.? It’s just a little bit different from the “learning curve” font. I only got a little bit of the Hewson; what a great giveaway!

    • Margaret says:

      Hi Karen, sorry it took so long to reply. I had to ask my webmistress ;-) she found it. It’s called Learning Curve Pro and it had to be downloaded off the net. It’s a free download.

  5. Marianne says:

    I donot have an blog but I am an follower and love yours and the give-away.This panel is gorgeous,ideas I have enough,now the fabric :-))
    Best Regards from the Netherlands,Marianne

  6. I suscribe to Quilt Mania so I saw the article a bit a go. I agree great photos. I think a lot of not official repros can be used as them. I have found a few. In the Material Obsession books they have repros thrown in the quilts with other fabircs. (I follow her blog along with you) I do not know if you have seen the books. I am planning on making the star quilt now that I have all the pattern. Silly I know, I could have started from the begining. I put myself on fabric hold so I did not get to purchase any John hewson reproductions. I would love to create with them. I just love reproduction fabric. It is pretty much my entire stash.

  7. would love to win either thanks

  8. You have had a hugely busy couple of months and it all sounds like so much fun. I love your fabric purchases and love love love the John Hewson bird fabric ( I haven’t seen that panel). Hope your little dog is feeling much better now that his mum is home.

  9. Ooh, I must watch out for that issue of Quiltmania!! The first page of your write up looks wonderful! So lovely doing some vicarious travelling with you, even if I suffer a tinge of green. LOL! Love the Hewson birds… I imagine them in some quirky design. Lovely catching up with you and Jenn at the quilt show and also meeting your fellow Victorians.
    Cheerio, K

  10. So glad that Quiltamnia published about your quilts. What a great atmosphere there is in the photos ;-) Love what you do…

  11. thanks for the chance to win one of those beautiful panels,happy stitching,susi

  12. I saw you in the Quiltmania,I love all your quilts but the Banyan tree is my favorite. I would love to win this giveaway. greetings from france

  13. 1992 was the year I discovered quilting as well! Since that time have discovered my love of antique quilts and hand appliqué but I add my own interpretations. Congrats on your spread in the Quiltmania! Just returned from Washington DC trip and visited DAR Museum but wish I had arranged private viewing of the quilts at the History Museum. Reading your blog about it was great! Thank you for sharing the chance to win the John Hewson panel and birds! Would love to make and interpret the quilt!

  14. Lovely looking at your holiday snaps and wishing I was there with you. The fabrics from The Winterthur are so lovely, I’m hoping you’ll be parting with some right into my mailbox. Thanks for the chance.

  15. Glad you had a wonderful time at the Sydney Quilt show and Quiltsmith. :-)
    I did too. I have that copy of Quiltmania and love your quilt in it. My Mojo is returning Winter really is time to sit and sew and enjoy all those gorgeous fabrics.
    I so love the bird fabrics
    Love the new centre block that you are doing with the bias fabric too. It is going places.
    Take Care
    Cheers
    Lynne

  16. bravo pour la parution dans quiltmania !
    Un bonjour de France !

  17. Thought that I had better hop in here so that I’m in with a chance!! :o) Looking forward to catching up soon..
    Lizzie
    xxx

  18. I love your work, great colors! Thanks for the giveaway!

  19. Can’t wait to get a copy of Quiltmania. Love that mag. Your latest block is looking fabulous. Thanks for the giveaway.

  20. Love all your work. Your blog is a great inspiration to me and only wish I could do half of what you do and have half your talent. I keep looking at my local stores for the Quiltmania magazine with your quilt in it but to no avail as of yet.

  21. Véronique says:

    I discovered your site while I was reading the issue #89 of Quiltmania. And I found your house so original that I decided to visit your blog. The model of Mid 19th century star quilt is very gorgeous and the colours are simply just beautiful. I’m going to continue to follow you on your blog. Best regards,
    Véronique

    • Margaret says:

      many thanks Veronique, I am glad you found me. Quiltmania is such a wonderful magazine, I love it. I am not always great at replying to comments but I read them all and appreciate every one.
      M :-)

  22. Susan Hemmen says:

    Hi….I will be taking a cruise from Sydney to New Zealand in March and would like to visit some quilt stores. We will be visiting the following cities….Sydnay, Bay of Islands, Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Akaroa, and Dunedin…..If anyone can suggest any places to visit, I would appreciate it! Thanks

    • Hi Susan,
      I’m not sure I’ll be much help as I visit shops in Hamilton and Palmerston North…both nowhere near the ports you are visiting. I know there is a shop, Cushla’s patchwork or similar (definitely the Cushla part) in Auckland but have no idea where it is in relation to the harbour. In Sydney there are Material Obsession and Quiltsmith, Both I have visited, easy from The Rocks by bus. Apart from that I really don’t know of any…decades since I’ve been in the South Island, tho I know you will enjoy Dunedin and especially Akaroa without any quilty stuff. Bon Voyage :-)

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