January 2014

Wholly Quilts
January Newsletter

Best wishes for a fabulous 2014. I always see it as a time for new beginnings and try to make the most of it on all the important things in my life - family, friendships and quilting so I hope you can too. This year is gonna be a goodie!

I have broken all records and actually done some sewing in recent days but probably only because my studio is a lot cooler than the garden or the house. I developed and then coerced my daughter into drawing and cutting new class samples. I am calling it Wings for obvious reasons. These funky little quilts are appli-quilted and
need just two days to complete.

  

A quilting matter that I have been concerned about is the possible winding up of our national association.
I am not sure that Aotearoa Quilters has always served out best interests but I am convinced that this little country needs a national body to bring us all together. It has always been a struggle to get quilting recognised as something more that a home craft done by older women. In this day and age we need to be out there promoting quilting on many fronts - bed decor, household coverings, wall art and even installations. My greatest delight is when I meet someone (usually from America) who says 'my grandmother made quilts' - is quilting not going to be passed down through Kiwi generations after have such a great revival in the past 20 years?
Have your say,  whether you are a current member or not, let's give our national association another go.

A big reminder here for our Pot Luck Picnic on Saturday January 18. It is a day of sunshine, shared picnic lunch, show and tell, raffles and a competition. The challenge this time is your version of 'a round tu-it'. Start time is 10-ish with scones and a cuppa. I hope to see you here.

The Pumpkin Patch has so been putting on a great display of Christmas colours - reds and greens. I have been picking red stuff - strawberries, boysenberries, tomatoes and beetroot for a couple of weeks now and of course the greens of the weeds are always there. My lovely Nina has been working out in the garden trying to come to terms with the food (ie herbs and salad greens) that is growing in the orchard, through the bricks and under the fences. All over the place. And the recipe this month is straight from the garden into jars cos how much cucumber can a girl eat.

The Chopping Block or at least my old wooden mandolin came into its own yesterday. I 'found' six telegraph cucumbers on one plant so dug out my favourite bread and butter pickle recipe.
Slice 6 large cucumber, 6 onions and two green peppers (I only had green chilli so used them), 3 cloves of garlic very finely. Sprinkle with half a cup of common salt and cover with ice cubes. Leave overnight. Next day mix 1.5tsps turmeric, 1.5tsps celery seeds and 2tbsp mustard seeds with 500ml cider vinegar and 3 cups sugar stir through the vegetables and just bring to the boil. Bottle and keep at least 3 weeks before eating.

By the way, if you want to bring a group of friends for a relaxing weekend I am taking bookings so please get in touch soon as the weekends are filling fast and I am also taking the show on the road to Otago later in the year!

Natalie!