Q - Quilt

I have always secretly wanted to be a quilter. I hand pieced hexagons when I was at high school with friends, then put it all away.

When I was pregnant I decided to make a quilt for my baby’s cot. All hand pieced. It took a lot longer than I had envisaged. Thank goodness somebody else gifted us a cot quilt. That bought me another 12 months or so of time – although it made the job bigger because now I needed to make it single bed sized !

I did it though, and it kept her warm for many years – and is still holding together. I made some other quilts too. A patchwork square one for my brother – nothing fancy; and one for my parents which wasn’t so much patchwork or quilting; more a Escher inspired hand pieced twisted triangle which I appliqued on to a piece of fabric and then used that as the quilt topper.

In my cupboard I have some squares waiting for me to get out the sewing machine and whip up a new light quilt or throw, and in a box in the garage there are some bags of fabric which have travelled the world – waiting for me to make time and finish half done projects.

My love of handcrafts comes from my grandmother I think. She was a great knitter. I remember there were pieces of embroidery and tapestry too, some half finished at her home. I have a cushion she made with a tapestry cover, and a crochet blanket she made for my bed. There was a bargello cushion too, I wonder what happened to that one ? She crocheted a tablecloth with ecru cotton for Mum, hundreds of little squares individually hand sewn together. We all, my cousins and I and my daughter (her great granddaughter) were lucky to have home made knitted jumpers, cardigans – even dresses (except for the boys lol). I still have my knitted Noddy too, who last time I checked was still looking pretty good all these years later.

I remember her showing me embroidery stitches; lazy daisies, feather stitch and blanket stitch. Knitting was a shared task too, helping with the casting on, ribbing, cables…it takes a village, right ? We had a go at tatting together but neither of us really mastered it.

Cross stitch became my favourite for a number of years and Nana had dabbled with it too. A couple of years ago my daughter decided to give it a try, so it has passed to another generation. One of the first projects she completed was an unfinished one of Nana’s which had laid in the cupboard at Mum and Dad’s most of her life waiting for someone to pick up the needle again.

Life is like a tapestry. Everyone we meet weaves their way into our journey, some good, some not so much, like dropped stitches or knotty threads. But it is those interactions which make us who we are, and the little disasters (negative knitting and unpicking seams) give us the strength to carry on; to try again.

Family can be like a quilt; warm, enveloping, calming but giving you the freedom to leave while you spread your wings, knowing that the comfort and security they offer will always be there when you need it.

Right now, the whole world needs a great big quilt, and to know that everything will be alright. Eventually. Maybe I will get the sewing machine out this weekend.

#52Stories, Week 9, What were your favourite hobbies and pastimes from childhood ? Are you still pursuing any of them ?

I'm swapping week 9 & 10 around while I do some research on what is now week 10's topic.

Pastimes and hobbies is the topic for week 9.

I collected stamps for a while, diligently soaking them off the envelopes and putting them in to a stamp album. There were lots of letters and bills arriving in people's letterboxes then. Not so much now, except at Christmas. So I imagine stamp collecting must be a fast disappearing hobby. Dad collected stamps too - there are suitcases of them waiting forlornly for someone to sort them or sell them, or just look at them without feeling overwhelmed by the sheer size of the task.

I had piano lessons, belonged to a gymnastics club and a roller-skating club. I joined Brownies.I drew house plans on the spare plan paper Dad bought home from work. I knitted, sort of. 

Mum and Nana both knitted and were willing teachers, even when I dropped stitch after stitch for rows on end and sometimes made more stitches than required instead. I think the first garment I completed myself was a striped longline jumper with an oversized polo neck when I was about 14.

I wrote letters (it fed my stamp collection) and collected penfriends around the world and across New Zealand too. Mataura, Milton, Nelson and further afield Mauritius, Switzerland, France, Japan, Rhodesia (yes I am that old - Zimbabwe now), England, USA, Australia. Apart from friends and family I only correspond with one penfriend these days. Debby from Rhode Island; penfriends for over 40 years, and yet to meet.

I tried embroidery, because Nana did some and there were some incomplete attempts of Mums in the spare room at Nana's. I embroidered the bottom of my flares - it was the thing to do in the 70's - and some of my old school shirts.

I read as many books as I could lay my hands on. We went to the library every week, and I saved money to buy my own paperbacks, or was given novels at birthdays and Christmas.

We did jigsaws and crosswords as a family, learning new words and problem solving at the same time.

What do I still do ? 

Read - not as much, but I still love getting lost in the pages of a good book (not a kindle)

I try to write letters, mostly they are typed though, not longhand, and often only at Christmas. But I am going to change that and may the postal companies remember what they are supposed to be doing.

I knit, not as much as I would like, but I do. Mostly baby things.

Embroidery is the same, and cross stitch which I taught myself and did masses of in the early 90's. One day I will have time again.

I was a Brownie, Pippin and Adult leader with GirlGuiding New Zealand for 18 years - and some days I really miss the friendship and the activities and the girls.

I make cards, although most of my making stuff is packed away in boxes, so it doesn't happen so much right now. Except for Christmas.

I bake. If I have all the time in the world there is nothing I enjoy more than baking. Actually, it's been a while since I whipped up a batch of shortbread. Hmmm, there's a plan for my next free weekend.