Sunday, December 7, 2014

Quilt Delivery Weekend

This weekend I took the opportunity to head up to Central Otago to deliver some very important recent projects...we nearly lost "Fizzy for Lizzy" into Lake Dunstan at Cromwell (it was more than a trifle windy up at the look-out, thank goodness Kieran had hold of at least one corner of it like I told him to when he made like a Hobbit and hid behind the rock for the photo!)
Great to be able to spend a long-overdue evening with my lifelong friend Ali and to be able to wish Fairy Princess Elizabeth a happy 5th birthday...
 


Then on Sunday, Kieran and I enjoyed a drive over to the Ida Valley in the Maniototo district, to deliver two more birthday presents...

"String of Pearls Remixed" for my cousin Kaylee...

The land here is quite a bit drier than here in Southland! Everywhere I passed, farm paddocks were being irrigated, while back here in Southland we've had an overload of rain!


And "Birds on High" for her daughter Claudia, just turned four...(I had to include the blue sky as proof that the sun does still shine somewhere in NZ!)




Friday, December 5, 2014

Birds on High - for Claudia

A wall-hanging, 20"square, and one of my Littlest Thistle Finish Along 4th Quarter challenge projects:  made from various pink and green-toned fabrics bought on sale from Kitz'n'Thingz or Spotlight...with my cousin's little girl about to turn 4, I wanted to do something with applique and saw a similar design (as a pillow I think) on Pinterest...the birds are ironed on and then I stitched in black around them to give it a 'sketched' look...

I used a 16.5' square for the background, and each border has 16-22 strips of 1.5" x 4".
The birds range between 8-12 cm in height. 

I used an embroidery stitch on my machine to add a little detail to the border, which is quilted with various widths of straight lines, while the centre background is filled with swirls...
Here is 4 year old Claudia, my cousin's youngest child (and sister to three older brothers), with her wall-hanging...she's a real character! I really enjoyed my weekend in Central Otago to deliver this gift and another quilt gift for another gorgeous girl...

Linking up with: Amanda Jean's (Crazy Mom Quilts) Finish It Up Friday;
Shannon's Modern Tradition Quilts KISMIF party      and      Lorna's Sew Fresh Quilts Let's Bee Social

Our four-six weeks of Spring rain has battered the garden somewhat (I considered building an ark about two weeks ago as we'd had so much rain), and the paddocks everywhere are totally soaked, but the flowers are still blooming...rose 'Alison', such a gorgeous deep pink...
 With a close-up of 'Iceberg'...