A Stay‑at‑Home Retreat.

While patchworkers and quilters from far and wide were making their way to Baradine for the annual Scrub Stitchin’ retreat — and Susan was starting her “Claytons’ retreat” — I was busy at work. But come Saturday, I finally got to join in. Hooray!

It was club day, so I packed up a few bits and pieces and happily made my way. Not quite the same as a trip to Baradine and hanging out with my blogger friends, but full of fun and inspiration all the same.

I took along the label for Kaiy’s quilt, got it stitched, and then sewed it onto the back.

With that, Fynoderee’s Fields is officially complete.

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Next, I pulled out some secret sewing. I’d taken the makings of a few Christmas ornaments — three of which will be travelling with me in six weeks. They were almost finished by packing up time, and I completed them once I got home.

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This morning I had planned to walk early but I could hear torrential rain hammering down as I opened my eyes. A quick change of plans was required.

So I wandered into my sewing room and continued working on the I‑spy quilt top. It didn’t take long to finish joining the rows. Then I shopped the stash for a border. Maria had suggested a blue, but I found a neutral that worked beautifully with the homespun I’d used for the sash strips.

By then the weather had improved, so off I went for my walk.

Once I got back, I shopped the stash of fleecy backings and set about loading the back and top onto my frame. I selected a quick and easy pantograph — Peaks, by Meredeth England.

I usually select patterned fleece for backings, but this grey one made its way into the stash somehow. And now it's been used. 

After lunch I set off quilting. It didn’t take long at all. Then I pulled out the leftover binding box and found a selection of black‑and‑whites. Fingers crossed, I sewed them all together and started attaching the binding to the quilted piece.

As I worked my way around, I began to wonder if I had enough. But I kept sewing…

When I was close to the meeting point, I laid the quilt on my worktable and eased the two ends into place. Oh my goodness, I thought — if I’m lucky, very, very lucky! And I was. After joining the ends, everything lined up beautifully even if the selvedge is visible. Those black‑and‑white leftovers were meant to be on this quilt.

Next I sat down and closed the binding by hand, and then — wanting to give it another try — I sat at the machine, switched to a zig‑zag stitch, popped on the ditch foot, and had another go at machine binding. Yes, I know it’s kind of cheating when it’s already sewn down, but hey — it worked, and I’m happy.

By the time I finished, the weather was turning poor again, but I persuaded my lovely Tony to dash outside for a very quick photo shoot. The wind was getting up, but I managed a few images.

Though he is still mostly green, Old Man Tree is getting his autumn colours, and the wind was knocking golden leaves down onto the lawn. I couldn’t quite capture the golden snow, but I did get another view of my latest creation.

I spy with my little eye… a quilt in Old Man Tree.

So there you have it — my stay‑at‑home retreat project is done.

 I’m very much looking forward to reading all the blog posts from Scrub Stitchin’. I love seeing what everyone was working on, catching up on the chatter, and especially scrolling through the show‑and‑tell photos — they’re always so inspiring and full of ideas for whatever I might stitch next. I wish everyone safe travels on their journeys home. 

Moving on!

I think the hold‑up with getting Kaiy’s quilt quilted and bound was causing a bit of a creative blockage. Even though I had plenty of time while my machine was away being serviced and coaxed back into good behaviour, I really didn’t do much at all.

But now that it’s finished — finally finished — I find myself busy with something new.

I have plenty of WIPs I could be working on, of course, but instead I pulled out something fresh. Quite some time ago my pal Debbie gave me a bundle of precut I‑spy fabrics. All I needed to do was find some suitable sashing and sew it all together.

So out they came to play.

I cut strips from a piece of homespun left over from backing a quilt a few years ago.  (It's here. Does that pattern look familiar? LOL). I had just enough to make a 6×8 block quilt top, which will fit beautifully onto a piece of fleece I have stashed here. A great size for a little persons quilt or a cosy lap quilt.

Here it is halfway put together. It really shouldn’t take long to add the last four rows. Then I’ll need to dig around for a border fabric and something for the binding, as the homespun is all used up. Hopefully the stash will reveal something suitable. And the best part? I still have plenty of precut I spy fabric pieces. 

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I swapped shifts this week so I could go to club at the weekend. I seem to be rostered on for a lot of club Saturdays this year, but thankfully my opposite number in the new team is very accommodating. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll take with me — probably the label for Kaiy’s quilt. It’s made and traced; I just need to hand‑stitch it and then sew it onto the back.

And I might tuck a few hexies into the bag as well, just in case I need something else to do.

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I admit I’m a little envious of all the ladies heading toward Baradine right now. It’s Wednesday evening, so many of them will have arrived already. Have fun, ladies — sew up a storm, and don’t forget to take lots of photos for those of us who can’t be there.

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A Finished Quilt and A Tale From My Childhood.

 Kaiy’s quilt is finally complete. I struggled for the longest time to find a name for it — I tried the artistic route, the poetic route, even the colour‑inspired route, but nothing quite settled. Then, out of nowhere, a name from my childhood bubbled up: 

Fynoderee. 

(Finn‑udd -uh‑ree)

Who, you might ask, is Fynoderee?

He’s one of the old Manx fairies — though not the delicate, wing‑fluttering sort we often imagine. Fynoderee is said to stand seven feet tall, with piercing eyes and a long, shaggy mane of hair that hangs about him like a coat. A wild creature of the glens, strong as ten men, and yet gentle‑hearted.

In some of the old tales he’s sometimes called the Fynoderee, but I’ve always thought of Fynoderee as his name — one gentle, shaggy‑soft hearted being rather than a whole species.

The story I remember from childhood goes like this:

 Fynoderee fell in love with a human girl. For that forbidden affection he was banished from the fairy realm and forced to live among humans. Most of the islands farmers were frightened of him. Knowing that the fairy folk cannot abide iron, they left iron tools scattered about and locked their barns with iron bolts to keep him away.

He wandered lonely in the islands glens until he came upon one farmer who took pity on him. The farmer left his barn door open and put away every iron tool. His wife baked bread and left it out with a jug of milk, so that Fynoderee might eat and rest in safety.

And in return, Fynoderee worked.

While the humans slept, he tilled the fields, sowed the seed, mended fences and stone walls, and he tended the animals. Come spring, that farmer’s ewes all bore strong, healthy twins. He lost none to late snows or misfortune. His cows gave richer milk. His fields were the neatest, tidiest fields on the island. At harvest time, Fynoderee brought in the crops while the farmer slept. Those crops were the best in the parish.

All because the farmer had shown kindness to a creature who had nowhere else to go.

The neat, orderly blocks in this quilt reminded me of the fields that Fynoderee tended for the kind farmer — rows straight as a ruler, soil turned just so, every corner cared for by unseen hands. There’s something about the quiet precision of those little 2‑inch squares, all lined up in their 7×5 grid, that reminds me of Fynoderee's work: humble and generous, those black stripes between the neat and tidy coloured fields representing the darkness in which Fynoderee worked, or maybe the neat hedgerows or stone walls between the fields.

When I was quilting this one, the design itself helped lead me toward the name. I used Hearts by Meredeth England — a simple, steady pattern I’ve always thought looks more like leaves than hearts. But on this quilt, something else emerged. The shapes also carry a hint of broken hearts, which felt unexpectedly fitting for Fynoderee’s story: his love for a human girl, his banishment, and the quiet, steadfast kindness he offered in return for a simple farmers sympathetic friendship.

It’s not a showy quilting design. No grand flourishes, no dramatic swoops — just the gentle, rhythmic repetition of those leaf/hearts drifting across the surface. It settles over the tidy blocks like a soft pattern of growth, loss, and devotion. And somehow, that quiet simplicity made the name feel exactly right.

So in the end, the name came easily.

This quilt simply is 

Fynoderee’s Fields.

— a patchwork of tidy, magical spaces, stitched for Kaiy with the same quiet love the old creature gave to the farmer who showed him kindness.

Hopefully, seven weeks today we will be boarding a plane taking with us not only Fynoderee's Fields but also Anchor Me, and a few other special gifts as we wing our way around the world to the Isle of Man. The Land of My Birth and home of Fynoderee. 

Quilting, Crosses, and a Bunny's Bottom!

It’s been just over a week since I last wrote, though it feels much longer. A lot has happened in that time.

If you were on Zoom with Chooky a couple of weeks ago, you’ll know my quilting machine was not playing nicely and had to go away to the spa. She came back quickly… but still wasn’t happy. So, Peter the fixer man came to the house to see for himself what she was doing on the frame. Off she went again, and she finally returned on Good Friday. I was at work, so Tony was charged with staying home to take delivery.

Work and social commitments meant I couldn’t play with her until yesterday — but oh boy, did I make up for lost time. I spent what felt like the whole day shuffling up and down the length of the frame, quilting, quilting, and quilting some more. At long last, that stage is finished.

It is currently lying in a heap on the floor, awaiting a trim and binding.

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Life and work have been busy in other ways too. While shopping at an online Keto store here in NZ, I came across a hot cross bun mix and simply had to give it a try. The instructions were for hand mixing, but I chucked everything into the bread machine and set the dough cycle, then shaped them by hand and popped them into the oven after adding crosses.

Yes, my crosses are pretty awful, but the spicy rolls were so soft and light. Yum!

I made a quiche at the same time, using a wrap as the 'pastry' case. A very tasty lunch for workdays.

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I was called in to work an extra shift on Good Friday and caught this stunning view from the staff room window when I went up to put my bag and lunch away.

And as the rhyme predicts, that red sky in the morning brought about poor weather. Three days of rain!

It turned out to be a good shift — lots of fun, and a resident’s daughter had made Easter treats for all the staff. There were beautiful cupcakes with mini‑egg nests, pretty flowers with butterflies, and the cutest little Bunnies’ Bottoms. LOL One of my colleagues was delighted by the way my Manx accent sounded when I said Bunnies Bottom! She kept prompting me to say it again. LOL

Sadly, I didn’t get photos of the cupcakes, but I did manage to score myself a Bunnie's Bottom!

Oh, my goodness, it was sweet. The dark chocolate shell was filled with homemade marshmallow and caramel. I haven’t had refined sugar in a long time, and it was a bit of a shock! LOL.

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One last thing before I start my busy Tuesday. I began this jigsaw puzzle back in January:

It has taken a while, but I finally completed it yesterday before I got busy with the quilting machine. The next one is already on the board — one of Tony’s war planes. He was working on that while I quilted. I would share an image, but the lid is full of pieces, and I’d better not spoil his system. LOL.

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So what does Tuesday have in store?

First a walk, then a shower, then off to town for a few errands. I have not one but two heaped boxes of Chilli peppers to deal with, so maybe some cowboy candy and/or Evil Chilli Chutney. I need to make a pie for dinner and hopefully find time to trim the quilt and maybe even make a binding for it.

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Back to work tomorrow. 

🧵 Red Hot Chilli Hexies.

 If you were on Chooky’s Zoom session yesterday, you’ll already know that my poor quilting machine ended up having what can only be described as open‑heart surgery.

Tony had her completely pulled apart, trying to track down the cause of her sudden tantrum. After three rows of beautiful quilting she began shredding and snapping the top thread. He did find a little nest of thread fragments tucked away inside, and out they came, a quick free motion test and all seemed well, but alas… once we put her back on the frame and I tried again, she was no better.

So off to the spa she went. I took her to the store yesterday and Linda slapped an urgent tag on her, which is the sewing‑machine equivalent of being wheeled straight past the waiting room.

Moving on…

Life has been busy — so busy I forgot to take photos. Tony and I spent some time in the garden. The mad courgette plant has finally been removed, though even as I was chopping it up for the compost I found two more courgettes hiding in it. More relish is definitely in my future, I have about ten of them now. While we were out there I planted more broccoli, carrots, and a few spring onions.

Back indoors, Tony helped me make another batch of Evil Chilli Chutney. About a third of the chillies were Carolina Reapers, so this batch is going to be HOT.

I was also given some rhubarb, so that’s been stewed and tucked into the freezer. It’s not the bright ruby red of our own plants, it must be a different variety, but Tony will happily eat anything rhubarb‑adjacent. I stewed some apples too and added raspberries, which turned out to be a very tasty combination. Today I’ll top it with a keto crumble for the grandchildren. Yum.

I did remember to get a photo of my last peach cobbler.

You can find the recipe for it here. 

During the Zoom session yesterday I made a little more progress on my Hexie quilt top. It is growing very slowly — like, glacially — but it is growing.

And now it’s time to pop a chicken casserole into the oven and make room for another chat with Chooky and the girls. Priorities.