Hexagon I Spy.

My hand sewing project ( Hexagon I Spy ( Eye Spy )) is progressing well. FJ asked how I was doing certain parts so I will go through it step by step.
Each little hexagon component has 3 layers, shown in the photo. ( backing, batting and feature fabric ). The backing fabric is put wrong side up and the batting and upper layer matched neatly lie on top and are pinned in place. Then fold the edge of the backing over ( just like doing a double binding ) and pin it down, progressing around the 6 sides, mitre the corners all in the same direction as you go. I have then hand sewn the edges down. You end up with a little padded hexagon. ( it would be ideal as a coaster ; or table mat in a larger size ) I will then quilt each one ( practise at machine quilting) ( or it could be done by hand ).
The sides of the hexagons then butt up together and will later be sewn to each other, after I have decided on the correct lay out and when I have finished 100s more! (don't know how big yet.) I will need to try and get a good mix of bright colours to make it interesting. I had quite a collection of kids feature prints as I have made previous I spy quilts.( by a different method.) I an intending to use the same backing for the whole lot, but this could be varied, using different colours in plain fabrics.

Yesterday I did a massive gardening project. I started demolishing a 12 year old fence on which some of my roses grow, because it was made of untreated gum logs and was rotting away. In order to get at parts of it I had to give the big old roses a huge haircut! After lunch DH took pity on me and helped which meant the project was cleared up in one go. The posts, ( treated timber ) still solid are left and we will string a chain along them this time. I have another chain fence quite close by so it will match up with that. I will be interested to see how the roses flower after such an attack.( they are so big now they can mainly free stand , more as bush roses) As well as a whole truck load of rotting wood and prunings I also dug out 2 tractor bucket loads of agapanthus that were creeping and multiply much too close to the same roses. It has cleared the fence line for putting up the chain. By last evening I was one tired gardener with a back that knew it had been working, but the only injury I had was one rose prickle stuck in my cheek to the right of my nose which DH carefully removed with the tweezers, and it is fine today. Very satisfying to complete a project like that. Phew! Nothing too strenuous planned for today.

Tasty Nibbles.

Amongst the trees we grow a few of are some Macadamia Nuts. We gather them as they fall or just before is even better. ( just as the green outer shell begins to split ) We remove them from their outer green shell and dry them on an old sheet for about a week in the sun.( taking them in each night) We then shell them, with a special little machine that cracks the very, very hard brown shell. We then store them in plastic bags in the deep freeze and take them out to use as we want them. ( all types of nut are better stored in your freezer)
Yesterday DH got some out and prepared them as we usually do; to take as a nibble to friends.
method: Spread nuts in a single layer in a shallow oven dish or tray with a drizzle of olive oil. Put them into the oven ; turn it to 200 degrees centigrade. When the temp reaches 150 begin stirring from time to time. When they reach 200 they will have started to show signs of browning so watch very, very closely. Turn oven to fan bake and reduce temp to 170. Stir. Don't take your eyes off them till they are browned to your liking...see photo. Remove from oven and spoon onto paper kitchen towel to remove any oil. Pour into a brown paper bag; add 2 teaspoons of salt and shake closed bag. Tip nuts out into sieve to remove most of the salt. Let cool; store in an airtight jar (or eat straight away). Take to friends place with you and they beg you to bring them every time you visit ! There is no comparison between Macadamias this way with bought unroasted ones coated in milk chocolate.( Yuk! ) Dry roasted are divine and very, very good for us!

Finishing Day.

Yesterday was a dreary day here so I got up late and decided what better time to finish things. First I finished the book I was reading...."King of Torts," by John Grisham....it was okay but wouldn't particularly recommend it. Later I finished the hand hand quilting on my Apple Quilt! That's it, enough already...I just kept thinking, just another round here or another round there...but now I know that's it. The binding is done the label went on before I quilted it. ( someone said it is good to quilt through the label to save it from theft ) It even has it's own bag ( a red satin pillowcase I saw in a sale bin) I am pleased with my effort and am well ready to get on with other projects. Taking decent photos is one of the most difficult parts. The colours here are reasonably true but it is actually flatter and squarer than it looks here.

Green Juice.

Today I have been checking the condition of the kiwifruit we have stored for our own use. If I keep it in a cool place and check it regularly and take out any ripe ones to eat, some of it will last till December. (After the leaves fall off the vines we always find lovely fruit that was hiding above the canopy of leaves at picking time and so got missed then. So this is vine ripened for an extra 5 or 6 weeks.)
I thought you might be interested in the kiwifruit juice that is made from the imperfect fruit (not suitable to export because of the shape or they have marks on the skin etc. )
It is marketed under the brand name Nekta. (Green Kiwifruit with Aloe Vera Juice.) The label tells me it is marketed in NZ; Australia; Hong Kong and Macau. Although we have our own fruit I also buy the juice as I like to serve it to visitors especially anyone from overseas. Kids love the colour. It may be drunk as is, or diluted with water or lemonade. The gold variety is also available as juice, but is too sweet for my personal liking.

Narcissus and Notebooks.

Signs of Spring are everywhere in the garden. Although I knew I would shorten their lives in the warmth of the house, I picked some Early Cheer and Paper Whites( Narcissus ) anyway. They look and smell marvelous on the coffee table in the lounge. ( I made that table runner in the photo. It is hand pieced and hand quilted. It was made from fabrics left over from my very first quilt a couple of years ago.) Unfortunately one of the blue fabrics has faded.
The other photos are of notebook covers( in various stages of completion) I am making for the sales table.They are easy to do and are turning out well. They are reversible and can have the notebook changed, when one gets full. I am just putting a small amount of quilting on them to hold the batting in place. Lovely fabric is the key I think.
More progress with the hand quilting on The Apple Quilt, while I watch TV, tonight.

Spicy Apple Loaves.

I've just been baking and the house is filled with the smell of spice. As we don't eat much of this sort of thing any more my baking days happen less often. This recipe is tasty and multi purpose. I make it in 2 loaf tins; that gives you one to cut and one to keep ( or freeze ).It can be used as a cake, a loaf or a dessert.

Spicy Apple Loaves.

2 cups dry cooked apple 1 cup of oil
2 cups sugar 2 tsps vanilla
2 tsps ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups flour 1 tsp baking soda
3 beaten eggs pinch of salt
Method.
Beat the eggs, add the oil and vanilla. In another bowl, sift the dry ingredients, add the sugar. Put in the cooked apple then gradually pour the liquids into the dry ingredient. Mix till just combined. Spoon into 2 loaf tins lined with baking paper ( or greased ). Bake in a moderate oven; 160 - 180 degrees centigrade; for about 50 minutes. ( check after 40 mins; test middle is cooked ) Remove from oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Thanks for the sales table suggestions. ( I still need more ideas ) Yes, we have made wheat ( not corn) bags. The moving with the door type stopper sounds like a good concept. Great to meet you Shelina - I went by your blog to visit. Will add you to my list of places to visit.

Packing kiwifruit.

Yesterday the packhouse started packing our kiwifruit crop. Since picking time it has been in covered picking bins in a coolstore at about 2 - 3 degrees centigrade. It is taken by forklift from the coolstore around to the bin tipping area where a big machine carefully tips it , bin after bin onto the beginning a long conveyor system. (They are round rollers moving it along.) At various points along the way it is graded either by a big photosensitive screen or by hand ( people ) as you can see in one photos. They are looking for defects; ( marks on the skin; nicks or cuts; deposits; wrong shape ;etc etc ) There are 32 separate categories of reject! From there they move along the conveyor and plop into separate cup things which later weigh the fruit to decide what size it is. The fruit are packed into about 8 different size categories. ( Jumbo, 25, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39,and 42 ) This tells you how many fruit in flat tray. 42 being the smaller fruit. The average size fruit is a 36 which weighs 100- 108 grams. Jumbos can be 150 grams.
You can see from one of the photos the packhouse is a very large building with many people working there. Graders ; packers; tray preparation; tray stackers, pallet strappers etc. Also the job I used to do at one time Quality Control. The fruit is packed into many different sizes and types of packaging from single layer trays that you see in a photo to great big free flow bins. Not every size gets exported to every country. You can see on the photo of the green tray ends some figures. This tells the fruit size; pack date and the growers personal #. Ours being 75791, so that is how you can trace the fruit back to which orchard it was grown in. Every fruit from New Zealand should have a Zespri sticker on it.They are put on automatically by the machine. ( sometimes ruthless sellers pull the stickers off and keep them and the Zespri trays, then fill them with inferior cheaper fruit from other countries.) There is not a lot we can do about that.
They haven't finished packing our fruit yet so we don't know for sure (yet) just how well our crop will have packed out. They will finish it on Monday. Maybe next time you buy Kiwis ( kiwifruit ) you might take a note of how it was presented ; what pack type was it in, did it have a grower number on it ? I'd love some fed back.

Dawn Chorus

More on Vireyas. This is my oldest one , Dawn Chorus. it has been in a big blue pot since 1988. This photo shows one of it's best flowerings. ( it has only 6 flowers out today ) It is now at the stage where it probably needs an even larger pot, although they do like constricted roots. It broke it's first pot by rolling off this spot and fell only about 4 inches but was so tightly packed it split the pot. I had it in a new pot the same day and it didn't even notice. I have grown many from cuttings of this particular one. ( Very hardy, but also easy) Just popped them in the ground or the edge of the pot and they took. Have managed that with one other variety as well. I'll show you some other ones when they flower.

Our Native Bush.

I try to fit in a walk every day. I don't always manage to, but I enjoy the fresh air, sunshine and keeping up my fitness. On our property as well as orchard land we have 2 gullies with little streams ( creeks ) at the bottom and a stand of New Zealand native bush. We have planted more varied NZ native trees where ever we can. So some days my walk takes me around our place ...through the bush; over the stream and beside the kiwifruit vines and avocado trees. Today I took some photos in our bush.
One photo shows a big Rewarewa tree ( native Honeysuckle - the dominant tree in the bush here ) with a vine growing up it. Another shows a Ponga tree fern against the sky.
In places where it is flat and clear Roger ( DH ) mows the grass with the big ride on mower so there are little clearings as you go along. Our visitors like to take this walk too.

2nd Tiny One.

I have just finished hand sewing down the binding on my second tiny baby quilt. Although it looks a little grey here it is actually purest white and very soft. Now I will return to my other works in progress. If they need more tiny ones at a later date I will make some more.
I never sewed a stitch yesterday as we had visitors from Palmerston North all day till 10 pm so I was busy in the kitchen and talking . We all went for a walk ( right around our property and through our bit of bush ) mid afternoon in the sun and I was able to send them home with Avocados, Kiwifruit, shelled Walnuts and Quince paste. We love to give away things we grow on our orchard. Mostly our friends and rellies love to eat them too so that's good.......fruits of the Bay of Plenty!

Walking Foot.

I had been so busy practising with my Stitch Regulator doing free motion quilting I had not taken the time to explore the walking foot which also came with my new Bernina. I have never had a walking foot before so am absolutely rapt with the wonderful job I was able to do just stitching in the ditch.I was able to go dead slow and get it exactly where I wanted each stitch.Wow! I just loved using it! There was none of that slighty out of control feeling you get when doing free motion. Both have their place I'm sure. So I am very happy with the way my tiny quilt turned out.The only hand sewn bit is the final binding on the back and it is very soft and bouncy.
So that is one side of my urge to quilt taken care of for now ....but still my artistic side is saying hey lets go and break all the rules and create an original work of art. So while I complete the other projects I am working on my mind can wander to just what that next project might be. I can paint with paint, I can make prints, so I am sure I can tackle an art quilt or object. I think I will start by checking out all the quilters work that I really admire and decide why I like their work as a starting point. Why do Iwant to do it...well I'm not so sure I need to know that. Thinking Thinking....I just need to create ...that's enough to start with!

Tiny Quilt Tops

Last Friday at my P & Q Group, 2 young Mums visited and spoke to us about needing some special tiny quilts to be given to Women who have just had a still born baby or have miscarried late term; but either way have lost their babe. Together we decided the quilts need to be really tiny ; somewhere between 16 and 24" square ( or slightly oblong). They need to be soft and cuddly and in pale delicate colours. If they had a little supply of quilts on hand the Mum could then choose one they liked, to keep. They could use it around the babe while they said Good bye to it or even bury it with the babe if they wished ( most keep it as a keep sake ). I am lucky enough to have never lost a baby at any stage of pregancy ( and am past all that now ) but thought it a worthwhile thing to help with, so this is my first top I have finished. I decided to use the magic block ( 4 of them here to make up the square ) pattern I am already working with for my other project. (looks quite different in these pale colours) I will make some different patterns and colour combinations for the next ones. They will be ideal for me to practise my machine quilting on, being so small. I will then add a white border, it looks better than more of the blue. ( A relatively quick project to finish too. ) We have sunshine back again yesterday and today, in NZ.

Scissors.

I have just been getting a birthday gift ready to post to my only sister. She is quite difficult to buy for as she has everything she wants / needs. Last Friday at our Patchwork Group there was a display of all the many different scissors available. These are for embroidery, which she does, so thought she might like some beautiful scissors. ( these have stainless steel slightly curved blades ) I also included the latest copy of Quilting Arts magazine with lots of inspiration in it.
Yesterday New Zealand had awful weather. Snow in the South Island ( hope you are keeping warm Shirley in Oamaru ); storms with rain and high winds everywhere else. We lost internet connection first and then had about 8 power outages during the day and evening. Many rural places are still without power. It's best to keep away from the computer when that is going on as I hate to lose what I have written on places like blogger part way through.Today the weather is much improved here; just showers and some weak sun. I need to get out and take a walk, as I have been sitting at the computer doing the Orchard GST return on Banklink . I nearly got blown right away yesterday while walking. Not much sewing happening...tomorrow perhaps.

Almost missed it.

Such a busy 2 days that I almost missed what day it was....my Birthday yesterday...heheh...that means I don't need to count that one! Here are some more photos about picking kiwifruit...it all looks the same as every year so I don't always repeat the photos. It is very difficult trying to photograph pickers under the vines in dappled light ...everyone comes out splotchy. Each tractor tows a bin trailer with 3 bins on it.
The other photo shows stacked up bins of fruit waiting to be loaded onto a truck to go to the packhouse. Ours probably will be stored for a while ( still in these bins before it get packed into trays and boxes) in a coolstore as it keeps very well. When it gets packed I will show you some photos of what the packhouse looks like and the pallets of trays strapped up ready for shipping. Also a closeup of our grower# and the packs so you know what to look for if you are buying Zespri kiwifruit!
That's 3 days now without any sewing but I might sit with my feet up and hand quilt after dinner.

Finally, Finally.

Yesterday we awoke to a frost. ( see 1st photo - it shows frost on top of the leaves on the top of the canopy) Very, very unusual for us early in the winter ( in fact only about the 2nd time in 28 years ).That was scary cause a heavy frost will knock the leaves off then if there is another it will damage (cook) the fruit. Fortunately for us this morning there was less frost than yesterday and we picked over the 2 days and got all our kiwifruit crop off safely.
We had Punjabi pickers.We used 4 tractors with experienced drivers ( other orchardists ); each tractor tows a bin trailer with 3 bins on it.With all the recent rain the ground was very soft but we managed. We picked about the same number of bins as last year , so are pleased with that result. It is a huge, huge relief to have it safely picked. Some growers still waiting will not be so lucky and they will lose their crop. Thanks to all of you who sent Good Wishes, hoping we would get safely picked...I'm sure it helped!

You Made Me Laugh.

I came to the computer feeling tired and a little Blue, and read what 3 friends had written in the comments on my Blog and it made me laugh and feel much better.Deb you DID send some sunshine today, thanks! But when we rang the packhouse this morning to find out what progress they are making with the kiwifruit picking they said it will still be 5 days till they get to us.That will be June by then; I do hope the fruit isn't starting to go soft. If you are wondering why it is such a big deal....It's because the kiwifruit forms about 80% of our annual income...So if anything goes wrong.........No fabric...No lots of other things..... Thinking too much....It will be okay!.
Since the sun was shining I washed heaps and sprayed weeds on paths with the Knapsack sprayer and raked up huge amounts of leaves and got really warm. ( good work out! )
The blocks in the previous photo are going to make a quilt, I hope ( with just my blocks, not a group thing ) Just what size I will see when I have got more done. Yesterday I did about 5 more. I haven't decided how I will position them yet...Lots of possibilities.
My Bernina 440 Quilters Edition, is working well; I can thread the needle first try now and the blocks are working out well using the 1/4 inch foot. I'm off to watch Simply Quilts on TV now...do you ladies watch it? We are getting old editions , years behind in fact, but I still enjoy most of it.
I tried to up load my photo to my blog Profile but it told me I was doing something illegal??? ( I think the jpg name had capital letters in it ?) Doesn't really matter I guess....might try again with another sometime.

Midnight Madness

On Friday my P & Q Group held their usual Friday session and then many of us stayed on for the rest of the day and evening as starting at after 5 pm we had something called Midnight Madness ( just a name really ). One of our members had organized a pattern for a magic block. It was paper foundation piecing. Each person had the choice of the fabric they used and the many lay outs of the first block then subsequent blocks. The photos show my one block and then the arrangement I selected that I liked best, using 4. I will now make more blocks to repeat the pattern. Nobody arrived with the same fabric as anyone else - variety - so no like quilts! Some kind ladies in the group provided dinner for a very small charge and we supped on juice and lovely homemade soup and toasted sandwiches followed by coffee and cake. A very enjoyable 10 hours. I headed for home at 10pm. Most of us had to drive so were tired enough by then.
My new machine had it's first day out and enjoyed meeting lots of other Berninas, some Brothers, some Janomes and other assorted named and aged machines. Glad I got a trolley bag and equipment bag free with it!
Last night's Super 14 Rugby Final was a farce for the spectators....Thick fog enveloped Jade Stadium ( in Christchurch ) and the TV coverage was ethereal.
Today's Netball win 59 to 34 for our Magic Team over the Rebels, was a much better spectacle. We remain top of the points table and the only unbeaten team! Well done girls!!! Our kiwifruit still remains on the vine...sunshine please!! I don't have many photos ( well that I like ) of myself cause I am always holding the camera. Found one recent one in a group shot that I will try and upload on my profile. Had some sun today so I mowed all the house lawns and leaves , it looks a lot tidier now( for a while till the next breeze .)

Buying Fabric

The weather hasn't improved; so our kiwifruit and lots of other orchardists' fruit is still on the vines. The picking season is way behind the same time in some other years. We are trying to remain optimistic....It will clear up; the sun will shine; the fruit will get picked ....Soon..!
Yesterday I went into the city to have my hair done and do a little shopping. I needed another high contrast fabric to go with this lovely purple. Tomorrow at our Quilt Group we are having our usual Friday, followed by a Midnight Madness, where we all have dinner together then work on a project till we are so tired we must go home. Some of us have opted to do a class taken by one of our members making "Magic Blocks". Just 2 fabrics are needed one light one dark. I have seen some examples of what she has in mind and most were done with black and a light marble moda type fabric. I decided to be a little different with my choice. I didn't have anything in my stash the colour of the light mustard I have chosen. While at the shop I got a few other supplies and used my $20 prize voucher I won at Quilt Group ( for the best Easter Bonnet ...No photo sorry! ) I will show you the results of the blocks in a later post. At the moment I'm washing the fabrics and ironing them dry so I can cut out what I need to prepare for tomorrow.
I'm still finding more new and interesting blogs....Isn't it great...So many creative sharing ladies!!

By trial and error.

There is probably a quilt design in there amongst the leaves that are everywhere.These are from those lovely cherries!
Sometimes I forget to check back to see the comments people have kindly left. Sorry! So here are a few answers.

Forestjane everyone here and in Oz eats vegemite or marmite because it is packed with B group vitamins. ( given to babies at an early age ) I agree it is best with something else and thinly spread. (it makes lovely "mousetraps,"....you spread it thinly on thin bread; add grated tasty cheese and maybe some dobs of relish then slowly toast /bake them in the oven till they are all dried out and crisp.)

Brumbies is just the name of one of the rugby teams. ( they are wild horses. ) PS Timtams are naughty! biscuits yum.

Nice to meet you Serena! The machine I purchased is the Bernina aurora 440 QE. I don't have the embroidery module. So far I am doing okay with it. I can still thread the needle quicker by hand than I can using the automatic threader...I guess there it is a knack to it. If I try 5 times and it hasn't worked I do it by hand. ( keep practicing) the only thing I am really worried about is how loose the bobbin holder catch is. I am sure it is supposed to click securely in place but mine keeps falling out. I will check with the shop next time I am in town...In case I am doing something wrong or heaven forbid the machine needs adjusting. Well off for a walk now then more practise. (Only the stitch regulator part ) The rest is as normal. Happy sewing my blogging friends!!!

Colour Everywhere.

Colour everywhere; the flowering cherries on the driveway look great. They usually only get their photo taken when they are flowering but infact have at least 4 different looks during the year.
I completed my 4 patch blocks to donate to the group quilt.....I did them ever so carefully to be exact...as everyone's need to match.
Shortly I am off for my 1st 2 hour, free lesson with my new sewing machine....yes I am getting it! The Bernina with the stitch regulator...yes, it is expensive but I am going to use it and use it and perfect machine quilting with it I hope! ( eventually !!!)