Zooming along

Saturday morning I joined in with Chooky and her zoom party

It was great to catch up with ladies I knew and to meet new ones.

Four more stars to add to the collection

 

I did some epp in the morning and crochet in the evening. I had to pop in and out as we had the grand dog visiting and he needed some entertaining, plus it was a beautiful afternoon so some gardening and pruning happened and a little quilting was done as dinner was cooking. My crochet is a bit wavy, I must have added too many stitches at some stage, but I have pulled it out three times so far, will just see what happens now as it grows.

Last Thursday I made another block for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler, this one was made using foundation paper piecing so went together quite quickly.

I finished off this quilt top from Susan I used the serpentine stitch every second row, the binding was done yesterday afternoon and the label sewed on last night. I hope to do another hospital delivery on Wednesday when we have to go into Geelong, after midnight Wednesday we are back into restrictions on where we go and what we do.

I had better be off and get the shopping list organised and the library books to be returned, hubby will be back from his walk soon and ready to head out again.

Happy stitching.

Today is Thursday

and so I made a list of things I wanted to get done......have crossed off except one, so that goes on the list for tomorrow

During the week I had a bit of a sandwich fest, this lovely quilt top came from Susan in Brisbane. Ages ago, on one FNWF, we had a virtual jelly toll race and this was one Susan made,  she sent it to me for quilting and to be given to the oncology ward. So after a wait it has been prepared for quilting.

I also pinned this quilt, made by Jill, with fabric donated by Elaine from the Guild.

And another lovely batik jelly roll race quilt made by Susan.

On my list today was to try and make some face masks, I cut out the fabric....tick!!

Then got distracted by happy mail, project cards from Amitie Textiles

Very tempting, but I am not giving in just at the moment.

Also in the week I made another baby quilt from a panel, I seem to have a few from a  stash I bough from another quilter a couple of years ago.

Next on the list, cut fabric for the Guild Mystery Quilt , tick!!

Cut fabric for a foundation paper pieced project....tick!! I am hoping to go on a retreat on Monday, if we do not go into lockdown between now and then. Four of us are going, usually we would have 10, so we will have plenty of space, we are taking our own food, lots of hand sanitiser, spray disinfectant etc. We will go straight there, stay indoors except for maybe a walk, and then come home. Here in Geelong and in Gisborne where we are going, they are Regional areas not included in Melbourne.  So we are allowed to travel. The woman who owns the retreat is a policewoman so she would not let us come if it was illegal.

Now to give you a laugh....

Face mask attempt #!  Mmmmmm......bias binding on the top and bottom not the sides!!

#2 I used bias binding instead of making it myself and it slid off my face 😂😂😂

So I tied the bias straps and then pulled them over my ears...😏🤭 back to the drawing board tomorrow I think!! Heavens only know what happens when I put my glasses on!  Luckily hubby bought some commercial ones when he was out today!! Phew.

Yesterday I made the Anthology block for the week

And today the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler block, this is the third time I have tried this block, this is the best of my efforts, it is half an inch too big, maybe my scant seams should have been not suite so scant??

Off to get some dinner, hubby will be sitting at the table waiting soon.

Happy stitching.

Care home update

Radius Matua Update: 15 May 2020

Our first 2 days of visitation have gone off pretty well. Our fantastic team has managed over 55 visits yesterday and today. Thank you again for those who have been very cooperative with our rules during this time (particularly around the wearing of Personal Protective Equipment).

Labels on clothing:

We can now order labels for your families’ clothes and have a contractor who can sew them on for you for a small cost. If you would like to do so, please contact Laurence by email  to order labels and/or have them sewn on.

Activities:

The activities team in Radius Matua is a great example of cultural diversity. We have a Czech Mate, an English Rose, a Southern Belle, a South African Queen and finally 1 “lonely” Kiwi delivering activities to the residents of Radius Matua.

I thought this was a great opportunity to help our resident’s families to know a little about our activities team. This team that has been putting in such amazing work, not only during lockdown but also during the rest of the year.

Radius Matua Activities Team:

Sam – our English Rose is from Wolverhampton and moved to New Zealand on Auckland Anniversary day in 2007 with her family. She is a dental assistant by trade but nowadays prefers to have fun with our residents, and she does an amazing job. In her spare time, she loves to walk her two dogs and is learning to play electric guitar.

Heather – our Southern Belle is from Florida, USA. She moved to NZ in December 2009. She has a university degree in Leisure Services and Studies, so in her early life she worked in a similar role but mainly with children and youth. She decided that the children were too darn noisy, so she decided to follow the quieter path and work with the elderly generation.

Karin – our South African Queen is from George on the Garden Route in South Africa. She moved to NZ in 1994 after a stint in Canada. Karin was, and actually still is a magazine editor and in her spare time, she officiates wedding and funerals. She loves spending time with our residents and learning about their lives.

Klara – Czech Mate is from Ostrov in the Czech Republic, she arrived in New Zealand (permanently) on 11.11.2011 at 11pm. She is probably the loudest member of our team and as a former teacher and tour guide, she keeps a beady eye on all her “charges” and there isn’t much she doesn’t know. She also runs quizzes at the local pub and during her spare time helps her husband with his photography business.

Our “lonely” kiwi Charmaine is from Auckland who moved to Tauranga as a teenager. In her own words, she is a saint and she has never caused a problem in her life. Yeah right!!! … but she is great with the residents and will spend her days making their days happy and filled with fun, songs and nonsense. During the lockdown, Charmaine became a nana for the 10th time! She is looking forward to cuddles with grandbaby number 10 and number 11, which is due in May.

Kitchen Manager:

It is sad to finish on a low note but our fantastic kitchen Manager, Diana Cook, has handed in her resignation after over 19 years with Radius Matua and Matua Lifecare. I cannot speak more highly of her work and the manner in which she has run the kitchen. Diana has always had the

resident’s best interest at heart and the amazing teamwork and commitment (particularly for our restaurant themed dinners) could not be better. I will be very sorry to see her go but understand she wishes to reduce her workload over the next few years leading into retirement. Thank you Diana for everything you have done. Diana’s last day will be 29 May.

It has been an interesting and busy week, thanks to all my staff for their hard work in all areas of our facility.

I have met some of these ladies and they are all wonderful people.
Meanwhile back in Aus, yesterday I visited Belinda at her home and dropped off 11 quilts for the oncology ward,

Belinda modelled a few

She was very happy to get them. 

I had a thank you from a patient yesterday, she said treatment can take 4 to 7 hours and over a period of time they can get very cold, so a quilt is just what they need.

I also had happy mail yesterday, Susan very kindly sent me two quilt tops

for oncology quilts, aren't they beautiful colours?

And then today I had happy mail from Ingrid, and these fabrics were included, they are perfect for backing for the tops sent by Susan, How is that for the universe providing!! Thank you both very much.

I have finished another little section on my #sewalittlehappinesseveryday sampler, there are so many of these beautiful pieces of work coming together over at Instagram.

I have also started knitting a shawl with the lovely wool I received last week from the Great Ocean Road Woollen Mill. 

Our weather has changed today, a cool change is coming rain tonight and for the next few days. It will be good sewing weather no more being tempted to sit our in the sun!

Happy stitching.

FNWF

Last night was FNWF where we are hosted by Cheryll of Gone Stitchn', you can pop over to her blog and see what people got up to.
I was interested in a  quilt Susan and Lynda made at Baradine, as you can see from Susan's blog we had a chat about the quilt and ended up giving each other a challenge to make a jelly roll quilt last night.
We had been out for the day here, longer than planned, so I was late getting organised,  at 7.25pm I was here.

It took me a good three minutes to find the ends and make sure the fabric atrip was all straight.

The first row took 39 minutes and 5 seconds to sew..it felt like forever!!

The second row took27 mins and 36 seconds, the bobbin ran out part  way through, thank goodness I had only sewn a short way.

The third row took 12 minutes and 50 seconds

The fourth 7 minutes and 25 seconds

The fifth 4 minutes.

By this time tired brain had set in!!

But I have a quilt top, the cream pieces didn't quite end up how I thought they might, but after a chat with Susan I now understand I should have cut off part of the first strip...we live and learn!!

Quilt top done just  before 10 pm.

Thank you Susan for the challenge and for getting me motivated! 

You can see Susan's beautiful bright top at her Blog.

And thank you Cheryll for hosting another enjoyable FNWF.

Happy stitching.

Scrub Stitch'n

I started Thursday afternoon here

The Old Time Kaleidoscope block

this quilt was made from blocks the Scrub Stitchers made in 2018, it is going to the local CWA to be raffled for fund raising for the food kitchen.

and I finished block 1!!

Chooky was laying out a baby quilt

Di made this beautiful block, part of her Circle Game quilt.

Raewyn got busy making blocks for her quilt

I went out and watched the sun set for a while, it was very peaceful except for the mosquitoes!

Raewyn has just sent me this photo!! I think this  was Saturday night.

This is Raewyn's stitched block that goes with the previous blocks.

I got to meet the lovely Sandy from Shiralee Stitches. Sandy did the BOM for the Doing the Rounds and now the BOM for the Old Time Kaleidoscope.

Susan busy at her machine, after what seemed like hours of sewing she produced this

a beautiful jelly roll quilt, with coloured pieces sewn in between each strip, great idea I will try one day.

Raewyn sewing away, she was very productive!

Chooky was busy sewing away in between organising what had to be done and catching up with people.

That is probably enough for now, the Supervisor is waiting to go for a walk, so I had better go get organised. 

Happy sewing.