The Cascades - Vanuatu

 

 

 

This weeks optional theme for Foto Finish at Cat Patches is water.   These photos were taken just over a week ago in Vanuatu.  This walk into the cascades took about 40 minutes  and the scenery was absolutely beautiful.

Light Up Your Landscape - Gloria Loughman Class

A couple of weeks ago I took part in my first ever quilt class.  It was run by Gloria Loughman http://www.glorialoughman.com/. 
I thoroughly enjoyed the class and am delighted with what I have produced.  I am not going to bind it but rather put facings on the back as Gloria taught us.  This was the first time I had used a walking foot.
There were 20 in the class and we all produced very different pieces.  I am noe keen to get her books and try some of her other methods of constructing quilts.


 

Foto Finish - Yellow

 

 

 

We have just returned from a week in Vanuatu.  I quickly downloaded my photos and was expecting to find an image of at least on yellow flower but was surprised to find the yellow in these images.  I dont remember the web being yellow - I think I was only looking at the spider.  There are no poisonous spiders on Vanuatu so this fellow is not as scary as he looks. 
The weather was only so-so - the sun only shone briefly on our first and last days.  We had one really wet day but the worst part was that we were both sick on the holiday - we took the winter lurgy bugs with us.  They seem to have been particularly bad this winter.  I had been sick for a week before going on holiday and took the first half of the week to get over it and then my husband got worse and is still not well.  However it was still good to have a break away and to see another country we hadn't been to before.

Foto Finish - Summer

It is none too summery on this side of the world.  We are forecast to have very heavy rain over the next day and a half starting sometime tonight.  I am suffering from a heavy head cold which has now progressed to include a cough.  I hope it clears soon and I dont pass it on to my husband as we are due to fly to Vanuatu next Saturday for a week in the sun.

This photo was taken last summer of one of my granddaughters jumping into our pool.

Scrap Attack Strings QAL Show And Tell

I went ahead and decided to applique the flowers to this quilt.  I am still in the processing of hand sewing them on with blanket stitch.  After adding the border fabric it is fairly bright but I am happy with the overall effect.  I have enough of this floral fabric to use as backing.

Pop over to http://sewlux.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/scrap-attack-strings-qal-show-tell-5-6.html and see what others are creating for this QAL.

Photo Finish - Travel

We have just finished looking after two of our granddaughters for 10 days.  During this time we took them away for a few days to Taupo. Taupo is a city on the edge of our largest lake and it is about 4 hours away from where we live.  My mother was house sitting in Taupo so it was a good opportunity to take the girls away and spend some time with my mother.  While there we visited Orakei Korako - an area of thermal activity reached by a short boat ride across a river.  I think the green in this image is some algae growing in the warm water.  The girls decided that they could see a frog.

Mid Winter Quilt Retreat At Eco Inn

 

 

 

Earlier this week I spent one night and part of two days at a quilting retreat with members of our local quilt group. I dont have any photos of quilts that were being worked on but did get these gorgeous images while out for a walk on Wednesday after lunch. The first two images are of our beloved Mount Taranaki which was oh so close to where we were staying. The other photo is of clouds reflected in the nearby lake. I did a little bit of knitting and a little bit of hand work. I didn't take my sewing machine but was happy to just sit and relax and enjoy the company.