Saturday, June 9

Wintery thoughts

Last evening, while the winds were raging & lashing our corner of the world, & the temperatures plummeted to a chill 10 degrees, I thought it might be time to get out some of my WIPs- works in progress. I had been working on these little Bronwyn Hayes stitchery patches, & thought to get them out to work on, & finish. After scrabbling about looking for the magazine that featured the pattern, I discovered I had actually finished all the stitching on the squares. The pattern had four smaller patches worked & placed at the corners of the smallish quilt.

This is my favourite patch I think. I love Bronwyn's cats, & have done other work featuring her little cats, turning one stitchery pattern into a patchwork block for my sister in law, who loved a ginger Tom, who strayed into their lives. He was a very large & cunning cat, & was owned by noone, & he dined royally & largely, at several households in the area, & made himself at home whenever the mood suited him. He could be very aloof when it suited him, & made no secret that HE chose the moments he could be patted, cuddled etc.
My brother was never enamoured of the Gingey, & I suspect Gingey knew, & he would sit smugly beside SIL & almost pull faces at my brother. My second Nephew & I used to plot scenarios to get rid of the Gingey. But of course it was all in jest, & we would never have harmed him in reality.
I think he has gone off to the great cat house in the sky, as he no longer calls to invade their house, or eat the best of foods.
The world is looking very lashed & almost washed out. Our patio area is covered in dirt & leaves which washed down the path as the rain poured faster than it could drain away. One of my large heavy pots got blown over, but apart from that, we havent sustained any damage.
We are lucky we are situated on a hill, & so are never in danger of being flooded. We can see the Pacific Highway from our windows, & looking down on the river of almost stationary lights last evening made us glad we didnt have to be out driving in the atrocious weather.
It is our Queen's Birthday weekend here, so we get a holiday Monday. Many people come to our area for long weekends, & it is a designated resort area. Poor holiday makers will be in for a wet & rather chilly weekend, if they have ventured here. The night was filled with sirens screaming down the highway, & I was glad to think that none of my loved ones had to be out in the mess & dreadful driving conditions.
My daughter quite often works on a Friday evening, but due to her poisoned hand, she could not work last night, & said they collected SG early, & were all snug, warm & safe at home.
I am wondering if I should get out fabrics & see if I can get my little stitcheries into a quilt. And I have not made a decision on the sashing for the web blocks either. Hmmm, perhaps a visit to the fabric shop might be on the cards.
It seems the rain has eased, & the skies have brightened a little- I even caught a glimpse of blue earlier.
I am listening to Blue, Joni Mitchell. It is one of my all-time favourite albums.
Current track? River!

30 comments:

Cynthia said...

your Bronwyn Hayes stitcheries are lovely Meggie. I also love her patterns. With the long weekend ahead of you this is a good opputunity to search those fabrics and keep working on it :-)

By the way, even after reading your blog for so long i still can't work out where exactly you live. What town is it?

Catalyst said...

Up here in very parched Arizona, USA, we would appreciate some of your rain. Though it seems when you get some, you get it all. Stay down and under cover, Meggie.

Julia said...

Bronwyn designs beautiful stitcheries and you have done a great job on these.
Winter is a great time to sit and stitch, with the sound of rain outside, good music...perfect...

Anonymous said...

I like the cat best also - but I have to tell you that Joni Mitchell's Blue is outstanding. What a small world it is.

Angie said...

I do love Bronwyn Hayes' stitcheries, and you do such lovely work! They are all adorable, and I'm not sure which one is my favorite. :) Can't wait to see how you set them together.
Ooooh, it does sound like a wonderful night to be all snug and safe inside. I actually really enjoy days/nights like that...I'm one of those that really enjoys most of the winter days, the slower pace, the snuggling inside without those feelings that one should be outside doing SOMETHING. :)
My Badger is like your Leo--he really hates thunder, and he's not too happy with blowing winds and rain pelting against the windows either. :) He's always either running to me or to the closet. LOL Your two 'kids' are just adorable...I would be tempted to try to find one of that breed when my boys are no longer with me.
Didn't mean to write you a book, Meggie, but just really felt the urge to 'talk' to you tonight. :) And also to tell you that you have the most wonderful way of writing...you 'paint' such wonderful 'pictures' that I feel as if I've fallen down the rabbit hole and am actually there with you. :D

Angie said...

Drat it, I needed to say one more thing LOL! I didn't know that about the rose thorns!!! After all of these years and trying to grow the blasted things, I did not know that the thorns could be poisonous. You live and learn, if you're lucky. :)

crafty said...

Those stitcheries are very lovely, it's always nice to rediscover a WIP I say, that's the advantage of atarting lots of things at once!

Joyce said...

The sticthery is very cute. I think any visit to a quilt store is a good idea.

crafty said...

oops, what's atarting? Of course I mean starting.

Anna said...

Oh Meggie! I love the little embroideries. And, of course, with my attachment to beehives, I might just have to choose that one as my favorite. It's a tough call though -- the kitty sure is cute. Glad you've weathered the storms!

Anonymous said...

Well, who the heck is winithupoo??? That me!

Thimbleanna said...

Ok, I'll try one more time, then I'll give up. Sorry for the mess -- don't know what blogger is doing and just wanted you to know who's commenting. ;-) Goofy, apparently unBloggerLoved Thimbleanna.

Leigh said...

Your stitcheries are adorable Meggie. They will look great in a quilt.

fifi said...

They are very nicely stitched and very cute.
Maybe they could be pillows.

Storm rages on, so stitch away there!

May Britt said...

You stitchery is so cute. And I agree that Bronwyns cats are the cutest. I have for long time planned to get all her cats into a quilt....someday.

LBA said...

I like the chicken on the chair ! :)

meggie said...

hi Everyone!
Well, sitting inside our cosy nest with dogs all warm, I have just found out we have been declared an official disaster area!!
We are lucky where we are situated, but there have been some dreadful accidents, with a whole family, & possibly 2, who have plunged off a washed out road, to their deaths in a raging torrent of water. It is so sad, & terrible to contemplate.
Authorities are urging all people to remain at home, & off the roads. Sirens have been screaming all day, with ambulances, & fireengines having a double workout. Our SIL is at the hospital, & he says it is a total madhouse, with emergency crowded to the limit, & trees about to cut the power, but it is too dangerous to deal with the trees.

I feel quite guilty for having been unaware, though there is nothing we can do.

We are very close to Gosford, which I understand was without power for a great deal of the night.
Thank you for all your comments.

Fairlie - www.feetonforeignlands.com said...

I like the cat patch too!

I know NSW needed some rain...but did you have to get so much so quickly? Hope all continues to be safe and secure in your neck of the woods.

Tanya said...

What a sweet cat stitchery! I'm not familiar with Bronwyn Hayes patterns but they are lovely! We're getting lots of rain in Japan too this week. I get to do a lot of quilting (and blogging.)

Lucy said...

We've heard about the storms with you, and the ships in trouble. Glad your safe and sound and stitching.

Jeanette said...

Hi Meggie, your embroidery is lovely, Would look lovely made into a toddlers quilt.terrible news about the road giving way and a family washed away to there death.Iagree with Fairle about the storms, take care home the wild weather subsides quickly for you all.

Linda G. said...

Meggie, I've just been enyoying a visit to your interesting and charmingly illstrated blog. Your embrodery is lovely and I've totally fallen in love with the spiderweb quilt.
Thanks for a lovely time.....

riseoutofme said...

Love Joni Mitchell too.

Especially River.

Stay safe.

KC Quilter said...

Oh, I so adore your Bronwyn Hayes stitcheries--'specially the kitty. I can see I am going to have to order some of her patterns.

Paula said...

I love to embroider, it's one of my favorite things.

Finn said...

Hi Meggie, so wonderful that all turned out well despite the storm raging around you. One does actually feel guilty(but relieved) not to have been 'hit'.
The stitching is wonderful...hope I get to see it in it's final destination. I'm not familiar with that creator, will have to check her patterns out. Stay safe and warm and don't run out of chocolate. Hugs, Finn

Sheila said...

Meggie, I'm sorry to hear about the awful weather and accidents in your area.We had a nasty storm blow through last night and while it was destructive it only lasted about 45 minutes.
I hope your daughter's hand is on the mend, did she have surgery on it yet..?
I'm not familiar with embroidery patterns, but the name caught my eye as my youngest grand-daughter is named Bronwyn..!

bettsylyn (Lynda) said...

I am working on some red Brolly things at the moment, and of course loving them.I can't decide if I like them done in one colour or lots, maybe it depneds on the design. Yours look great. And just wanted to say I have always loved Joni Mitchell and River is one of the best.

Quilting Kim said...

Meggie - so glad to hear that you are safe and sound amid all the madness with the weather. It seem so strange that we are entering into the heat of summer and you are experiencing winter.

Your stitcheries are just beautiful. I've been admiring Bronwyn Hayes patterns for quite some time. We used to have a quilt shop here that sold the Australian Country Threads magazine but sadly they went out of business. I may have to hunt that one down. It's always so nice when someone give the Volume and Number. Thanks.

One more question, do you put a piece of muslin or pellon behind your stitchery?

meli said...

What a beautiful cat!