A Quilt Top Was Made.

Over the last weekend some of the members of our P and Q group spent 2 days sewing charity quilts. Some of the fabric was donated. My namesake and I decided to work together on a simple design for a quilt to later donate to Women's Refuge.

 We used a table in the back room to lay it out as we went so we could see the pattern emerging.

By the time we packed up on Sunday all the rows bar one were sewn together. One needed a little unpicking .

 The other A took it home and spent 1 more hour perfecting it and tidying the back.

 On Friday we will baste and back it and decide how we want to quilt it.

 It ended up 19 rows by 15 blocks  ( 4" blocks )  or 60 inches by 76 inches.

 We decided against a border and will use a dark blue binding.

 The other A took this photo on a bed but I can't get the pic to rotate so you might have to turn your head.

 The colours in the top photo are it's true colours. A pale lemony straw colour.

 Ill show a photo when it is totally finished.

 Some of the other members worked on boy 's quilts featuring appliqué clown blocks.

More Rain Than We Need.

Since last Tuesday night we have had 276 mls of Rain. That's almost the length of an old school ruler. ( 12 inches  - I don't visualise mls as easily as inches ) That is way more than we needed. 

 When we have heavy rain we have drains and creeks that need constant monitoring. If they get blocked then flooding happens. Behind  and above our property is the Te Puna Quarry Park.( a large catchment area )  It has a large gravel carpark  which drains down into and through our property.

 This shows the water entering our place yesterday afternoon. The top photo shows the  large vertical pipe that redirects the water underground through our place. There is a metal grill ( top rail just visible ) to stop debris going into the pipe  If debris blocks this grill, as it frequently does, flooding then starts across our orchard. The debris which is usually long strips of gum tree bark, big rocks, rubbish, old footwear etc. has to be manually picked out of the top side of this grill which then can be lifted up to let small stuff wash through.To do this one must stand legs apart on the concrete side  facing the big pipe and bend forward to pluck stuff out meanwhile the water rushes by sometimes filling ones gumboots. Or if it is already flooded one has to plunge ones hand down into the unknown to get stuff out.( not good if there is glass hidden in the rubbish ) 

 Normally this is not a huge job and we are both adept at clearing it . When the velocity of water increases as it has these last few days it becomes quite a scary task. ( don't slip and don't have anything loose in your pockets- phone or glasses etc that could fall out; you'll never see it again ) 

 The other night it blocked and overflowed towards this kiwifruit block leaving a trail of rocks ,grit and bark ( mainly wrapped around the posts here )  This grass gets mowed so before that can happen all the rocks have to be cleared or the mower would be blunt or broken very quickly.

 The water runs underground for about 50 metres and reemerges at our front creek, runs under the driveway and exits our property here.

 If we are way over night we always need to nominate someone to check for us if there is heavy rain to do the unblocking .

 We are now hoping for some sun, to dry everything up and let us get back to orchard work.

Other folk in Auckland and Coromandel had lasting flood damage so we feel for them.

 ( Up side ....I got some  more sewing time )

A Finished Block.

Torrential rain yesterday allowed me time to stay inside and do amongst other things sew awhile.
 I have now completed all I am doing of my cobweb block project. It was started back in September last year when Chris Kenna was our tutor. Mine is stopping at this stage and will become a very bright cushion cover. I could not make a whole quilt in this design as some have done. It is just too busy for my liking. (Too time consuming as well. )

 Below is a photos I showed before of Chris Kenna's quilt.

 The white paper shows the area I have done.

 So my next stint at the machine better be to make an envelope cushion back and also quilt this block.

May Contain Vegetables.

Whatever size of tomato you prefer we probably have grown this year.
 We really, really love growing our own fruit and veges and nuts but it involves lots of work.
 Having grown them we hate to waste any so spend hours eating them, freezing them, processing them or giving them away.
 For those of you who also grew  vege plants from the New World free seeds  last year the wee tomatoes at the top came from those seeds ( planted back at the end of October ).
 R's  large tomato in the pic weighed 608 grams . Beefsteak or Bigbeef. It is a very fleshy tom and not too many seeds. We do have medium sized ( normal ) ones as well.

Last evening's dinner plate. Every veg on it we grew.

 Beans ; corncob; egg plant; potato; courgettes green and yellow and tomatoes.

 R BBQ-ed steaks and sausages but I didn't really have space on my plate or in my stomach.

 Tomatoes are easy to make into various sauces, pastes, soupsand  juice which then freeze well... Cucumbers and courgettes less so. For them it has to be soup or pickle or loaves.

 Apparently cucumbers cook okay in curries?? Must try it.

 Elsewhere in the flower garden I am having an ongoing  battle with rabbits eating my young plants. Some newly planted seedlings totally disappeared as did my young cress seedlings. We have seen various sizes of rabbits but shooting them is proving difficult. But I am on the War path.( and covering small things with netting.)