jacaranda

2012-02-04T07:43:00.002+11:00

I have finished our Daughter's quilt. To my wonderful quilting friends who made the star blocks, our thanks go out to you. Emma loves it, and it brightens up the room she shares. So many people have stopped by her bed to admire it and it has brought smiles to lots of peoples faces.

How we make do.......

2012-01-16T08:23:00.003+11:00

I have an old plastic table that sits under the extendable clothes line for the washing basket to sit on. Saves me bending with my lousy back. Several years ago we took all the doors off the built-in wardrobes and replaced them with sliding doors.
DH never throws things out.... thank goodness. We have 5 of the doors in the garage and by placing 3 of them on the plastic table, it gives me a great table for laying out quilts for basting.
If I need a bigger area for basting, the 5 sit well on our BBQ table.
............Now to that horrible job of closing all the safety pins, something that I don't enjoy. Then start thread basting along the borders, enjoy this as it means I am that much closer to starting the quilting.

Nine Patch

2012-01-13T08:35:00.003+11:00

Whipped up these 6 blocks before breakfast to get in the mail this morning. A group of us are making a Disappearing Nine Patch Scrap quilt to raffle using the main centre red fabric and adding repos of our own choice.
Added the cream fabric to break it all up. Looking forward to seeing everyone's blocks.

Thank you....

2012-01-11T07:31:00.004+11:00

These 2 small words.... how can you say them so that are huge in size?

At the moment our daughter is having a hiccup challenge in her life. A group of dear quilting friends have made her these star blocks to help her along. Some of these ladies are themselves going through challenges their own, personal, medical, family and others, yet they made these for her.
She was embarrassed and humbled that someone who does not know her, would want to do this for her. Tears came when she opened the envelopes at Christmas time, saw them and read the beautiful cards of messages.
She took them with her into hospital and theses colourful stars bought smiles to others in her room. Other envelopes that arrived, had the staff around her waiting to see them as she opened them.
I have put the quilt top together and will have it finished this week to take into hospital for her next visit.

Thank you from the 3 of us, you have put a smile on our daughter's face.
THANK YOU

Christmas Wishes

2011-12-23T07:39:00.001+11:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.
May 2012 be a year of good health, happiness and spent doing something you all love.
Happy Quilting.
Love Jenni

Wreath

2011-12-11T06:34:00.002+11:00

In the Home magazine of the Herald Sun yesterday, instructions for a simple door wreath was published. Thought I would give it a go. Spotlight have 50% off all Christmas fabric, and with the $5 voucher I received in the mail, this little wreath set me back $3.30. A bargain!!!!
I bought the cloth heart in Salzburg, Austria. I decided to put the tree up on Friday night. It is not usually done until the 22nd December as our daughter's birthday is the 21st. But as she doesn't live at home anymore, I thought, well, why not. At the moment we need a bit of normality in our lives.
We have 2 traditions in my family, the 3 of us each buy a new decoration every Christmas. I bought several from overseas this year.
The other is for John and Emma to put the star on top together. He no longer has to lift her up to reach, so that is a blessing.

*******************************
I feel that one of my jobs on the "to do list" is to give the security door a good wash.

Summer

2011-12-08T07:07:00.003+11:00

Today is predicted to be 30 degrees. Summer is on it's way when we have to pull out the $1.00 per metre curtain fabric from Spotlight. Used this method last year during the high heat and didn't lose one vegetable plant. We are late planting, having been away, but the vegies are thriving. Must buy some more straw to cover the beds.

Have planted, tomatoes, baby spinach, strawberries, rhubarb, cucumbers, zucchinis, corn, celery, basil, spring onions, eggplant and beans. Have plenty of room left in the beds and once we harvest the last of the carrots and parsnips will plant more tomatoes.

Bali Pop's

2011-12-06T08:24:00.002+11:00

I haven't machine pieced a quilt in a long time. Having 3 days on my own while DH is interstate, decided to get out my Bali Pop fabric this morning. Finally found a pattern at the 2010 AQC and will spend today on it. The Autumn toned fabrics were bought in New Zealand and the creams, I bought in Houston last year. Finding the border fabric will give me an excuse to go quilt shop hunting.

I'm not a pink person.....

2011-12-03T16:29:00.003+11:00

It really isn't the season for knitting. My friend Sophia met a lady on the Houston bus trip who lives in New York and has offered to put the 3 of us up in her home. We are having a week in NY after our Paducah trip in April. I am knitting her a scarf as a thank you out of Misty Alpacha Wool.
On my last visit to Mill Rose Cottage, Ballan, I picked up a bag for my applique blocks to take to Guild meetings. Comment from DH was "is that where you keep your Barbies?". He said it looks like a Barbie bag. By the way DH, Barbie and Ken weren't around when I was young.

Thank you

2011-11-26T16:17:00.003+11:00

Many thanks to all of you who read and posted a comment on my blog of our travels. I hope you enjoyed seeing where we went and what we did. We had a wonderful trip and will treasure all the memories of it and those we met on it.
Cheers, Jenni and John

Hong Kong's hidden gem......

2011-11-26T15:57:00.004+11:00

This was our third visit to Hong Kong. I googled to see what else we hadn't done on our previous visits.
Up came the Chi Lin Nunnery and Gardens in Kowloon. The night we flew home, checked out of the hotel early and caught the train, approx a 30 minute ride. As you walk out of the train station, exit C2 at Diamond Hill station, it is across the road. You walk under a very noisy freeway and through a very busy shopping plaza.
The gardens were beautiful, peaceful and soft Buddhist chantings are heard on the overhead speakers.
Japanese coy swim in the lake, waterlilies adorn the surfaces of the Nunnery ponds, the trees are shaped as topiary and the overall silence surrounds you.
It is very deceiving as we thought it was a tiny garden, but around every corner there was something else to see like the Japanese Garden and Bridge. Walking up the steps above the Japanese Garden brings you to the large Nunnery where there are 7 gigantic Buddhas, Altars and prayer sessions can be taken.
The front entrance. As we walked out of the gardens, it was then we noticed the noise of the traffic. You don't hear it within the Nunnery or garden. We were pleased we went there, if you ever go to Hong Kong, it is a must.

Hong Kong

2011-11-26T15:43:00.002+11:00

We flew from London to Hong Kong for 4 nights. After the crispness and coolness of Europe the weather was very humid. The next day the temp dropped to 23 and the Hong Kong locals were out and about in coats, scarves and beanies. We took a day tour to Macau because on our previous visits hadn't been there. The opulence of the casinos, the locals sitting there mesmerized by the flashing lights and the large exchanges of cash, was a little scary.
The things you see!!! I gather it was advertising for a seafood restaurant. If not, it must have fallen from the sky and landed on the taxi.
We caught the Hop On Hop Off bus and did the 3 different tours around Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Hadn't been to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant in Aberdeen since 1981, can honestly say it hasn't changed.
Hong Kong by night from the top of the bus. The Christmas lights were on all the skyscrapers and it was only early November.
This elderly gentleman was happily fishing off his little polystyrene pontoon in Aberdeen Harbour. Our hop on hop off ticket gave us a Sanpam ride and I noticed him as we went past.

Monet's Garden

2011-11-25T07:41:00.002+11:00

Claude Monet. This photo adorned the wall of the ladies restroom. Had to take a snap of it.
Monet's home. The kitchen was covered floor to ceiling in blue and white tiles, gave me the impression of a Dutch home. The geraniums were flowering and the ivy leaves were a glorious red and burgundy.
The famous lily pond. This area is very deceiving, it is not as big as you think. Unfortunately there were people everywhere trying to photograph it. The trees were glorious in Autumn foliage.
The famous japanese bridge over the lily pond, it must be very strong with the amount of people on it. A reproduction of this area was hanging in the shop and at a distance, it was lovely. Up close I realised that his brush strokes were very long and very simple. I hadn't studied his work up close before.
Our visit was an Autumn one. Majority of the flowers had withered and died. It was the last day of the season and the garden and home was to be closed for winter. I had always wanted to see this and I am pleased I did. I am an Autumn toned person and the trees were spectacular in colour. Only comment from John, was, "where's the veggie garden?"

Dijon

2011-11-25T07:27:00.003+11:00

We caught the high speed train to Dijon, capital of the Provence of Burgundy, for the day. Arriving at the station, out first thoughts were, not exactly the place we envisioned. Walked to the Tourist Info Centre and were told to walk the 2hr Walking Trail. WOW!!! what a beautiful village. Many alleyways, old buildings and churches.
The Symbol of the Walking Track are these little brass plates with owls on them. It was great following them and all of a sudden, come around a corner to the the most amazing sight.The Notre Dame Cathedral in Dijon, has a stone owl, and to bring you back to the city, you must rub the statue.
Typical French architecture and stone work. Cobbled streets, cafes and of course many a shop selling Dijon Mustard's.
The high speed trains we travelled on. It took approx. 2 1/2 hours from Paris to Dijon. We decided to catch the slow regional train back, approx 3 3/4 hours as it went on a different track and we saw different scenery. People watching at train stations is interesting.
We enjoyed the train trips. You only have to be there approx 45 minutes prior to departure, you have your seat already allocated and all train stations are in the heart of each city.
A shop in Dijon, apart from the traditional mustard's they also sold many gingerbread in all shapes and sizes. John bought a gingerbread mustard and a blueberry mustard.

Paris by day.

2011-11-24T07:58:00.003+11:00

Notre Dame
River Seine
I found this Quilt shop at Montmartre around the corner from Sacre Coeur. I bought some fat 1/4's for a quilt. It was a lovely shop and could have spent a lot more money in there. The wool that was being sold was beautiful, it wasn't till after we left Paris that I thought, why didn't I buy any?
We arrived at the Eiffel Tower approx 9.am and the ques were so long. It would have been at least a 2 hour wait to go up there. So we decided not to. Walked along the Seine instead and enjoyed the views from the river.
After visiting Notre Dame we walked to find the Quilt shop nearby. Didn't find it, we realised after we were one street out. Came across this bridge covered in padlocks. I didn't have one but found a safety pin in my bag to attach. Perhaps I could have started a new trend!!!

Paris by night

2011-11-24T07:51:00.004+11:00

The last night of our stay in Paris we went on a tour of Night Illuminations along the Seine and then to dinner beside the Arch de Triumph. This Ferris Wheel was beside the Eiffel Tower.
On the hour for 5 minutes the Eiffel Tower is lit by thousands of sparkling twinkling fairy lights.
One night we stopped for dinner at a seafood restaurant and noticed this fountain across the street.
Moulin Rouge, enjoyed the night show. John sat beside a young boy of about 10, who was mesmerized by the dancers- I wonder why!!!! After a while the young boy dozed off.
Arch de Triumph on a very wet night.

Interlarken

2011-11-23T08:44:00.005+11:00

We bought a 1st class 4 country, 10 day Eurail pass, which gave us the freedom to explore. Would recommend it to all. Majority of the trains we traveled on very high speed, 230kph but still smooth enough to take photos of the scenery. This one was a double decker with extremely comfortable seating. A rail employer comes along with a trolley selling beverages, food etc.
We caught the train to Interlarken from Zurich, approx 2 1/2 hours. The Alps were amazing and the air crisp and clean. I saw this little hut and I thought of one of my favourite movies, Shirley Temple in Heidi.
Picture postcard homes along the Interlaken river. The town is at the end of a massive lake, with the water the colour of aqua.
In the centre of the town was the communal Japanese Garden, not what I expected for an Alpine Village, the Japanese Maples were lovely.
We caught the village train up to the top of the Alps. The peak in the distance is called "the Top of Europe". John spent time there 2 years ago and told me there is an Ice cave carved into the side of it. I loved Switzerland and would love to return there one day. The next day we caught the train to Paris.

Rapperswill

2011-11-23T08:35:00.003+11:00

Rapperswill is a medieval village at the end of the Zurichsee, which can be reached by ferry and train. We spent an afternoon on the 2 hour ferry trip calling into all the ports along the way. This home was decorated by gold leaf and mosaics, beautiful. Returned back to Zurich by train.
A fortress wall surrounds the town.
Beautiful homes and vineyards line the fortress wall.
Arriving by ferry at Rapperswill. Underneath the trees along the foreshore are giant chess sets, where the locals spend time playing.
Throughout Europe, I became fascinated with these intricate ways of displaying a shop's name and wares. Would you believe this one was outside McDonalds!!!

Lucerne

2011-11-22T10:02:00.003+11:00

We caught the high speed train to Lucerne for the day. Beautiful old town. Did the self walking tour and noticed this medicine shop, thought of Harry Potter.
Lucerne from the Wall surrounding the city. I didn't walk up the tower, that's what your other half is for, to take the photos for you.
The Lucerne Covered Bridge was burnt down many years ago and rebuilt, didn't realise it was a lot shorter than the old one.
Beautiful geraniums covered the walkway. Visited this bridge 30 odd years ago, first time I had seen flowers on it.
Dream on old boy!!! You have to lift it before you can enjoy it. Didn't mind the Swiss beer and local wines. Certainly goes well with their cheeses.

Zurich, Switzerland

2011-11-22T08:43:00.002+11:00

Zurich was picture postcard. A little overcast and cool. There are 2 sides to Zurich, on the other side of the river is the old town side. Beautiful old architecture, alleyways and lots of little cafes.
Dotted throughout the alleyways were drinking fountains of every size and shape. There is a constant stream of drinking water, and I kept thinking, water restrictions, turn off the tap.
Switzerland is known for it's clocks and on every tower and church steeple there were the most intricate clock faces. Also every second shop was a watch shop.
Chocolates, chocolate and more chocolate.... by the end of 4 days this was how I was feeling. This sculpture was suspended from the ceiling of Hauptbahnhoff train station. The foyer is also a food market with stalls of amazing arrays of cheeses, cold meats, pastries, cakes and of course....chocolate.
The Limmat River running through the heart of Zurich

Autumn in Europe

2011-11-20T13:53:00.002+11:00

Interlarken, Switzerland
Monet's Garden, France
Berlin, Germany
Monet's Garden, France
Zurich, Switzerland

Berlin

2011-11-18T10:05:00.003+11:00

Hitler tore down many old buildings, so they had to be re-built. Amongst the remaining ones, new modern ones were built and it felt like a breath of fresh air to see them. I noticed this unusual piece of architecture on the river cruise down the Spree Kanal.
The Berlin Cathedral. We sat across on the other side of the Kanal with a glass of wine, where I appreciated the rugs that came with the seats. It was rather nippy.
The Holocaust Memorial adjacent to the Brandenburg Gate. We also visited the Jewish Museum and Checkpoint Charlie, very interesting.
A piece of the Wall that was left standing. We were quite surprised at how thin it was even though it was built around steel reinforcing.
The Paul-Lobe House on the Spree Kanal. I loved modern Berlin and could have spent longer than the 4 nights there. I was surprised that when I started listening to people speak, having learnt German at High School, there was quite a lot that I understood, especially the reading of the signs. "Wonders will never cease".

Vienna and Budapest

2011-11-18T09:41:00.002+11:00

We had 3 nights in Vienna, not the best of weather, overcast and chilly. I watched this lady doing her oil painting of the roses in the Volksgarten. It was interesting how the gardeners prepare the rose beds for snow in winter by mounding up the soil around the trunks and dipping the pruned stems in red wax for protection.
Johann Strauss amongst the Impatiens in Stadtpark. This garden bed was the only one we saw within the city of Vienna that had flowers. With the clouded sky and buildings a dull grey stone, the atmosphere was quite depressing.
We took the fast train to Budapest for the day. Not long enough to really enjoy the city, but a change of scenery. The first of many Scenic Tourist Boats that start here on the Duna River and head to Amsterdam.
I loved the coloured tile roof of the Nagycsarnok Market. While John was wandering around the ground floor of food stalls, I used my time amongst the craft and souvenir stalls up stairs.
What better to warm up than warm Apple Strudel and a hot Latte at the Spanish Horses Cafe. Vienna was different to what I remembered 30 years ago. We rode the circle tram and did a night cruise on the Donaukanal before flying to Berlin.

Salzburg

2011-11-17T08:29:00.003+11:00

We spent the afternoon on the Sound of Music Tour. It was a great tour, apart from seeing the movie locations we went up in the hills surrounding Salzburg.

Salzburg

The home on the lake where the Von Trapp children fell into the water. The scenes from the back of the house and the front of the house were 2 different locations.

These painted houses were across from the Church the Captain and Maria were married.

Venice

2011-11-16T17:02:00.002+11:00

I loved Venice, John's comment was "nothing but shops"!!! I felt it was a lot cleaner than when I was last there 30 odd years ago.
Our hotel was on the start of the Grand Canal within walking distance to the Railway Station. Great location as we were catching the train to Salzburg after the tour.
The British Bulldog was the "yuppy dog of the moment". They were everywhere. Our daughter would love one of these dogs, don't ask me why!! This little fattie with short legs had to stop every so often for a rest, just how I felt with all the walking we had done.
Went on a sunset cruise to St Mark's Square, so romantic, after a gondola ride with champagne.
We spent a lot of the time exploring the alleyways and twice walked from St Marks Square back to the hotel on both sides of the Grand Canal.
Another rare photo, I am so busy taking photos that I forget to have some taken of the 2 of us. Everywhere throughout Italy scarves are the go on sale. Dianne from USA bought 15, I succumbed to 4. Loved this one bright one. Only comment I got from DH is, "are you going to cut it up? You cut up every other piece of fabric you get."

Florence

2011-11-16T16:54:00.002+11:00

We were so blessed with the weather. We also rode the Hop on Hop off Bus around Florence, and ended up way above the city.

Our cooking class and what we made. Some of the men made the fillings, some others the pasta and one of my jobs was to fill and shape the ravioli. Beautiful food. So different in tasting to shop bought pasta.

Bits and Pieces of Tuscany

2011-11-16T16:40:00.003+11:00

We were given a list of 2 ingredients in Italian by the head Chef of the cooking area and Restaurant. We were put into small groups and sent to the local market to buy our goods for the fillings for our pasta class. The pasta stall.

A collection of small goods and meats at the market. All that was needed was a stick of bread, a shady tree and a glass of wine and I would have happily sat there all day.

A rare photo of the 2 of us.

John doing what he loves, anything involving food and cooking.

Tuscany

2011-11-16T16:34:00.003+11:00

The view from our Villa in Toscano in Tuscany. We would sit on the balcony every morning and watch the hot air balloons go over as we ate our breakfast. Very peaceful.

The old buildings and alleyway in the vineyard where we went to learn wine appreciation and tastings.
Our wine appreciation vineyard. Loved the colours of the buildings and bricks. The whole area was picture postcard.

The front entrance of the Villa we stayed at.
We were approx 30 minutes drive from Florence.

Italy - Rome

2011-11-15T16:32:00.004+11:00

We flew from London to Rome for 2 nights prior to starting a 10 day Trafalgar tour of cooking, vineyards and olive oil. The weather was terribly hot and the only day it rained was when we walked into the Vatican City.

Gelati was the order of the day, just to cool down.

Trevi Fountain, John was surprised that it was smaller than he expected. Did the traditional of throwing a coin, hoping to come back one day. One of the tours we booked was a night walking tour of the back streets of Rome and it's evil pasts. 900 churches in the city, A Virgin Mary was placed on the building corners of the alleyways, this was so that that alley was kept nice!!!! with no bad behavior.
We also did a walking tour of the Colosseum. Our hotel was around the corner and we saw on TV a few days after we left Rome, that the whole area was taken over by protesters.

Pinocchio was in abundance.
After Rome we headed for Tuscany for 4 nights, staying in a 600 year old villa perched on the side of a hill. Surrounded by pencil pines and vineyards, postcard picturesque. Sadly the sunflowers had finished their flowering.

Fan Museum Greenwich

2011-11-15T08:33:00.003+11:00

...and I don't mean electric fans!!! In Greenwich there is a wonderful museum of Fans. The history of them was extremely interesting. The are not so easy to make as we used to as children with just the folding of paper.
A visiting French artist exhibited his fans which were exquisite. I watched his DVD and was surprised at his way of making them and his use of textiles. The red fan on the bottom shelf was made up of safety pins.

This fan was hand painted from 1815.
Displayed were fans through the ages and I loved the Mother of Pearl fans.

These fans were a work of art.

I'll have a bit of this and a bit of that.....

2011-11-15T08:26:00.002+11:00

Caviar in Harrods

Fresh Bread in York

Cornish Pasties in York

Seafood in Harrods

York

2011-11-15T06:23:00.004+11:00

We caught the train to York for the day. After the beautiful weather in London, the wind tore through us and was very bitter. While John visited the National Rail Museum, I went to the York Quilt Museum.
I enjoyed the city with all it's old buildings and the Cathedral. Certainly a shoppers paradise with old cobbled streets. "The Shambles", a rickety little lane was used to film Diagon Alley in Harry Potter. Found a lovely little tea room in the ally, wonderful vegetable soup for lunch, just what we needed to warm up.
The York Quilt museum is small, beautifully set up showing antique quilts at the moment. There was also an exhibition of Art Quilts by the British Quilt Guild. Unfortunately no photos were allowed.
It was a big contrast of bright, bold picture quilts to the antique ones.
At Kings Cross station, a permanent fixture of Platform 9 3/4 has been set up from the Harry Potter movie. I thought someone had left a trolley in there, but it is fixed into the wall.

Home - London

2011-11-14T20:49:00.003+11:00

We arrived home on Saturday after 6 weeks away on holiday. Flew out October 1st for London, split into 2 parts at the beginning and the end of Europe. We were blessed with the weather at the start. Rather warm for that time of the year.
John spent a day in Warrington, Liverpool for work and while he was there I went to the V and A. to have a look at the William Morris pieces and to Westminster Abbey, where I lit a candle on October 3rd, anniversary of my Mum's passing.
I loved being back in London, many fond memories from my early 20's when my parents sent me there to "learn life".
We did the usual touristy things as one does. Walked miles and miles. We stayed on Bayswater Rd opposite Kensington Gardens and within walking distance of Nottinghill.
The Millenium Bridge earned it's name as the Wibbly Wobbly Bridge. Apparently when it was first opened it wobbled something bad and had to closed to be re-structured. The designer of the bridge said it wobbled because of the way people walked!!! St Paul's Cathedral has become tent city due to the protestors. We rode the Big Red Bus, hop on hop off, found it was the best way to see London, especially for John who had never been there.
Fascinated by this soldier outside Clarence House, former home to the Queen Mother. He came out to sweep the autumn leaves from the footpath and from around the Guards shoes. Not a muscle moved from the Guard.
On the last morning before flying out, we walked the 10 minutes to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. Unfortunately it was cancelled due to a security scare at the Palace. Fire engines and Police surrounded the Palace, and John made the rather loud comment to the Bobby, "has Phillip burnt the toast?".

Spoilt

2011-09-26T08:16:00.003+10:00

Our daughter arrived home from Egypt and Africa this week. She had a wonderful time, despite a cancellation of a flight, that caused her to cancel her last tour. She didn't buy herself very much as she was wanting to buy in Botswana before heading home, so she didn't have to carry wooden bowls etc. Unfortunately she never made it there.

Yesterday we spent the day with her looking through her amazing photos and hearing all her travel tales.

Emma spoilt us with some presents. The length of fabric with the circles is 3m of fabric that the ladies use for head-scarfs. She said it was very hard to find fabric in the countries that she visited.
Her dad was bought a cookbook from Zanzibar, from which she cooked us a beautiful lamb and rice dish for lunch. The original recipe asked for goat, bit hard to find at Safeway, but next time she will look for it and re-make the recipe. He is also looking forward to trying the South Africa Cab Sav.
She made a pot of plunger coffee with the beans, that her dad ground up. The best coffee I have ever tasted.
She also gave me some hand painted fabric squares made by the Masai people. Also amongst my gifts was the brown/blue shoulder bag, which she is now sorry she didn't buy more of.
Emma and I have a travel tradition, everywhere we go overseas we always buy each other a Christmas decoration. The wooden decoration in the photo above is a carved fruit, which she presented to Customs/Quarantine. After cracking it open to remove the seeds, they gave them back to her. A little smear of craft glue, fixed it.

The highlights of her trip were sailing on the Nile, the Gorilla Trek, visiting the local Ugandan Primary school and Zanzibar Island. She is already planning her trip back. Lucky Girl.

A Little Lost....

2011-09-16T14:30:00.002+10:00

I need something to do. I have finished all the things I planned to get done sewing wise before we head off on holidays.

It's been a tiring 48 hours trying to support our daughter and helping her get flights home from Africa. Many texts and phone calls between Emma, myself and the Travel Agent. Her flight from De Es Salaam to Livingston via Johannesburg was cancelled due to a bird flying into the engine while the plane was on the ground. She missed the start of her final tour and had to cancel it as she was 24 hours late. She has booked a night to see Victoria Falls, then will fly to J'burg for 2 nights before heading home on Sunday a week early.

I keep walking around the house and garden trying to do something but end up just sitting on the couch with the TV on. It is too nice a day to just sit there..... so perhaps I might go for a walk.

Postcard

2011-09-13T13:40:00.002+10:00

We received a postcard this morning from our daughter who is currently into her 4th week of a 6 week holiday to Egypt and Africa.

Hi, Having a fantastic time. Trekked into Bwindi Impenetrable Park yesterday and saw a family of mountain gorillas. It took 4 hours to find them in difficult terrain, but it was so amazing to see them! Egypt was very hot but I had a great time exploring the temples and pyramids. Highlight was sailing on the Nile. Love Emma

Documents

2011-09-13T09:14:00.002+10:00

Came home with 4 document folders full of paperwork.
Might need an extra bag just to carry them all.
As we cull them, the space they take up can be filled with a little something,
like lace in Venice and the York Quilt Museum.

Holiday

2011-09-12T10:03:00.002+10:00

Our documents are ready to be collected.
Now it feels like we are actually going on holidays.

Wyndham Quilt In

2011-09-11T15:24:00.004+10:00

Yesterday I attended the Wyndham Quilt In at Werribee, where I live. It was a great day spent in the company of friends, fellow quilters and those I have seen around my shopping centre not realising they were quilters. It's strange how you recognise people when shopping. Werribee is still that kind of country town even though it has become suburbia.

*********************

The guest speaker was Esther Aliu. Esther showed us her many beautiful quilts. I feel that her talk was the best I had heard. She was inspirational, humble, made us laugh, smile and we came away from the day with encouragement in our quilting.

It was lovely to catch up with Esther and we sat and chatted for quite a while. She has been unwell with the flu. Look after yourself and take care. Thank you for a lovely day Esther.

Hearts for Christchurch

2011-09-08T08:50:00.003+10:00

Hearts were called for when the Earthquake in Christchurch occurred.
I made one and posted it to Evie who is a member of the ATC NZ group I belong to.
Over 4,500 hearts were received from overseas and many are still arriving in the mail each day.
The Canterbury Museum has now displayed those hearts and I thought you may like to have a look at what they have done.

http://heartsforchristchurch.blogspot.com

I have found my heart in the 5th photo.

Red....

2011-09-03T18:06:00.002+10:00

I have finished knitting mini Christmas stockings that Jan M called for. I ball of red and green, they are to be filled with sweets.
This month's ATC swap is Redwork. Went to the Essendon Quilters Quilt In today and managed to to do all the stitching. Another thing to cross off my list before my holiday.

Spring

2011-09-03T18:01:00.002+10:00

Self seeded lavender and carpet of freesias

My apricot iris has finally decided to flower

I love the smell of freshly picked freesias

My maiden hair fern has never looked this good. I was advised to water it every morning.

Quilts In the Barn

2011-09-02T17:12:00.003+10:00

This morning Sue and I went to the annual exhibition of Quilts In the Barn at Wonga Park, Vic. Jo Morton from the USA was this years exhibitor. A Civil War lovers Paradise. Proceeds from this weekend will go to Breast Cancer. If you have the chance to go, it is a great exhibition. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was glorious.
I wasn't going to buy anything, but 4 Civil War 25cm pieces just happened to fall into my hands. "How did they know that they weren't in my stash..."

Set up outside in the shade were tables covered in quilts, and served were the most delicious cakes, scones and sandwiches with tea and coffee.

We were lucky to get there right on 10am and had the barn to ourselves with only a handful of fellow quilters. By the time we came out the lines were fast forming.
It was a lovely morning, especially catching up with friends who we didn't know were coming. A lady asked to join us at one of the tables, we got chatting and it turned out to be a fellow ATC member from the NZ internet group I belong to. We had never met before but had swapped ATC's. It was such a wonderful surprise. You just don't know who you are going to bump into.

Dear Hannah

2011-08-24T19:57:00.003+10:00

I can now say, after 3 1/2 years my Dear Hannah is finished. Hand pieced, hand quilted using Civil War and Reproduction fabrics. I can also say ....never again...!!! I must admit I did enjoy doing it but there is so much more out there that I would like to make. I was determined not to really start anything else until this was finished.

Bits and Pieces

2011-08-13T06:53:00.002+10:00

Our daughter Emma, flew out last night for a 6 week camping trip to Egypt and Africa. She will have a wonderful trip. It is interesting the preparation for such a trip to Africa. Clothes are not to be bright, but so as not to scare the animals whites, bones, browns, creams etc are recommended.
It was good that she found a lot of summer clothes at the end of the season sales for approx $5-$10. As she said, she can always leave them there and not bring them home. No doubt her shoes will have to be thrown as she is doing a Mountain Gorilla Trek in Uganda. I miss her already. But what an amazing adventure she will have.
I have started stitching the outline of the scallops on my Dear Hannah quilt. Finally plucked up the courage to start them. Did some more this morning at 5am after DH went to work. But find that I can only do about 15 minutes before a break is needed.

Scallop Practice

2011-08-11T18:10:00.002+10:00

I spent some time today practicing the scallop border on scraps for my Dear Hannah Quilt. It was very intimidating!!!! Thank you to all who gave me advice via email and Facebook. I think I have worked it out to give the real thing a go. My Dear Hannah is quilted and all is left is the scallop border.....wish me luck.

4th Piece in the Challenge

2011-08-07T12:12:00.002+10:00

I have finished the 4th small quilt in the "Countries outside of Australia" challenge for the Aus-Nz Art Quilts site. We are regular visitors to Fiji because John scuba dives. While he is under the water I am on the surface beside the pool with a good book and a cocktail soaking up the sun. One day we would love to retire to Fiji.

Is Spring Early....

2011-08-05T09:35:00.002+10:00

My first freesia is flowering.
My favourite Spring flower.

If anyone is interested......

2011-08-01T10:20:00.002+10:00

August 5 - 24 10am - 4pm weekdays
The Social Studio designers in residence
The Atrium, Federation Square
Free Entry

"It's a wrap. This latter-day silk road must be seen to be believed. The Magic Tent is wrapped in 600m of stunning, hand dyed silk, and turns Fed Square's glass atrium into a craft gallery with work-shops hosted by some of Melbourne's most talented young designers.
Presented by Fed Square, Craft Victoria and The Social Studio, a creative enterprise that supports training and employment for refugee youth"

Advertised in yesterday's Sunday Herald Sun

Melbourne Quilt and Craft Show

2011-07-28T18:48:00.002+10:00

A very exciting day at the Craft Show. I am a member of the Art Play Group of my Geelong Patchworkers Guild and our group quilt won First Prize for the Group Section. We were asked to make a 12 inch quilt with the theme of Circles. All of our pieces were joined together to make the quilt with steel rings.

I have never been on the other side of winning before, so it was a great feeling. My contribution is the 1st quilt 2nd row down.

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It was a lovely day, I spent 3 hours on the Vic Quilters table selling raffle tickets, then after watching the announcements of the winning quilts, a quick bite to eat with Pam and Jean, a coffee, catch up with Sue and Joan, then spent 1 1/2 hours doing a Silk Screen Printing workshop with Louise Snook. Fabulous time even though I ended up with more paint on me than the piece I was doing. We printed a tea towel, which is still at Jeff's Shed overnight drying. Will pick it up when I go again sometime over the weekend. Still haven't gone through the stalls as yet.
The standard of quilts on display were excellent. I was so excited, my friend Sophia won 1st prize for being a first time entrant. Look out for her beautiful Dutch Tiles in Blue and White.
Congratulations also to Esther Aliu. and Anette Packard on their wonderful quilts.

My Friday....

2011-07-23T09:25:00.003+10:00

I decided to head in to the city and catch the tram to GJ's Discount Fabrics in Brunswick. I didn't find the fabric I was looking for, a white background for my next project, the Christmas Baltimore pattern that I bought at Houston.
I was being picked up by John and sat for about an hour waiting for him. It was interesting to watch all the workers pass by, the colour of fashion, or should I say lack of, was intriguing. Black, black and ....your guessed it, more black. Perhaps a nice bright scarf might have lifted their moods. I don't know how some of the women could work in 6 inch heels and platforms.
One thing I did notice was, the majority of those female workers wearing trousers, had them tucked into high boots. This seems to be the winter fashion.
The sun was shining and a hot latte made it a pleasant wait. I looked up from my bench and noticed these 2 old buildings. Not sure what era they are from, they were a interesting contrast against the modern skyscrapers.
Last night I sewed another square. A friend bought me home this little tissue foundation pieced pattern from her trip 2 years ago to USA. I have package it up, using Civil War scraps, to take away with me. We have several train trips and a few of them are late afternoon. I have been told it gets dark around 4pm in Europe, so will do a little hand-sewing to pass the time. One of the train trips is from Zurich to Paris through something like 23 tunnels. Don't know what it will be like, I drive under a bridge and duck my head. Not looking forward to it.

Time Zones

2011-07-20T14:29:00.002+10:00

I am currently working out a trip to Paducah, USA next year with friends.
Los Angelos 9.30pm Tuesday
Nashville 11.30pm Tuesday
New York 12.30am Wednesday
Melbourne 2.30pm Wednesday
I hope I don't have to have a row of watches up my arm!!!!

Practice

2011-07-16T06:12:00.002+10:00

Still trying to work out the settings of my camera. Perhaps I need to do a class. It was a lovely evening for a stroll along the promenade foreshore of Docklands. I liked this photo until I noticed that it looked like a creature that I am terrified of- snake.

Friday night at 7pm, Docklands has a fireworks display.

Definitely needed the walk after dinner at the Quay Buffet Restaurant. Beautiful Asian buffet with desserts to die for. Seafood in abundance. Mind you, I still always seem to end the evening with the usual, Bread and Butter Pudding with chocolate ice cream.

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"Practice makes Perfect" as the saying goes, will keeping on trying.
Thank goodness for digital cameras, the erase button has become a friend.

FELTernative Exhibition

2011-07-12T08:29:00.003+10:00

Works by the Victorian Feltmakers Inc
Exhibition Wednesday 3 August to Saturday 27 August
Hawthorn Town Hall Gallery
358 Burwood Road, Hawthorn Vic 3122
www.townhallgallery.blogspot.com
or
www.vicfelt.org
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FELTernative aims to change people's perceptions of contemporary felt, as well as raise public awareness as an artistic medium.

Ararat Regional Art Gallery

2011-07-01T18:55:00.002+10:00

Today, my friend Sophia and I drove to Ararat Regional Art Gallery to visit the amazing exhibition of Annemeike Mein. The last time I saw her work was over 20 years ago. I was again stunned by the beauty and work of Annameike. Her sample work is just as beautiful as her finished pieces. Butterflies, barnacles, spiders and other species of nature are works of art.
The exhibition finishes on Sunday 3 July and well worth the drive up there.
Ararat is well known for it vanilla slices. Couldn't help buying a couple.

Mill Rose

2011-06-27T07:23:00.002+10:00

Called into Mill Rose Cottage and Quilt Shop in Ballan yesterday for afternoon tea. DH asked for a piece of the Carrot and Walnut cake, huge slice. I had lovely warm scones with homemade blackberry jam. The vanilla slices were to die for. Everything is homemade. It is 50 minutes up the road from us and I have been meaning to visit for some time. This beautiful cottage was renovated into the restaurant and cafe.
Along the main street is a house that apparently used to be a cafe. There are mosaics in the garden, front gate entrance and this fence. It was fascinating looking at all the little pieces of crockery and nic nacs that had been used.

I loved this mosaic tree.

The Quilt shop is fantastic. So light and airy. The sewing room is large with sun streaming into it. The perfect place for workshops and GTG's. Thursday is sewing day and it is tempting to attend one. There are wonderful fabrics, patterns and bits and pieces. The bolts of fabric are housed against the white painted walls and shelving, this makes the colours stand out. There were fabrics that I had not seen before. Well worth the visit.

www.millrosecottage.com.au

Practice

2011-06-25T09:33:00.003+10:00

Last night we met our DD in the city for night time practice shots. We have booked a night "Illuminations" tour in Paris. I am an Auto and Shoot person with my camera, too scared to change settings, so I was determined to get out of that habit and start using the TV and AV modes. Our daughter has won awards at her camera club, so who better to ask for lesson, than Emma. It was a beautiful night in Melbourne, no breeze but a little cloudy. It was surprising to see the difference between our shots as we both have the same Canon camera.

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My tripod has disappeared, so mine are a little wobbly and out of focus. The guilty look on her face revealed that it is sitting in her spare room at her home. Forgot that DD had permanently "borrowed" my tripod. Apparently a new one has been bought for my birthday to take away on our trip.

Federation Square is hosting the Festival of Lights, finishing next weekend, so it made a great excuse to go in and see it.

Quilts4London

2011-06-24T13:54:00.003+10:00

I spent an hour this afternoon making my pennant for the Quilts4London Project.
www.quilts4london.org.uk

The project involves the making of 14,000 bunting pennants for the 2012 London Olympics. Each athlete will be given a pennant as a souvenir of the Games.

I chose a small piece of Koori fabric as the background.
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Whilst making it I thought of my dear Dad who passed away last year. He told me when I was a child why the Kangaroo and the Emu were the symbols on our Australian Coat of Arms. Both of these animals have spurs on the back of their feet and cannot hop or walk backwards. He said "therefore Australia will always move forward". It is something I have always remembered.

Quilt Bricks

2011-06-24T10:30:00.002+10:00

DH has decided to clear the space behind the garage for Chooks!!! Something he has always wanted. Spent the last hour moving more bricks out of the way. Beautiful sunshine, so it is nice to be outside. I suppose you could say I am doing a quilting block, laid the bricks in a type of Rail Fence Post pattern. Would rather be doing my other quilting. Time for a break and a cuppa.

Aus-NZartquilts

2011-06-21T11:27:00.003+10:00

I have finished my 3rd piece for the Aus-NZartquilt Challenge "Country Outside Australia".

I chose Hong Kong, using 2 pieces of fabric that I bought over there in 2009. The blue piece of fabric at the bottom is from a Kimono and the gold is a piece of Josh paper.

So far I have made Bordeaux, France and Cairo, Egypt. We have 6, 12 inch pieces to make and my 4th is due at the end of August. I am looking forward to returning to Kowloon at the end of the year. I will be on the lookout for some more oriental fabric.

Weekend at Lorne

2011-06-19T13:25:00.002+10:00

We drove to Lorne Friday afternoon for the weekend. Lovely weather, a few drizzly showers but the majority of the time clear. Walked the Lorne beach each morning before breakfast to watch the sun come up. Drove to Port Campbell via the 12 Apostles, or I should say 7, as that is all that is left standing.

Walked through the rain forest to Triple Falls via several hundred steps. I found that I had leg muscles that I didn't know existed. The forest was beautiful with amazing tree ferns and undergrowth of minature ferns. The birds were singing, but it was still very quiet.

Throughout the walk, tiny little fungi, were growing amongst the ferns and on the steps. Didn't see any fairies though. We had dinner both nights at the local pub with a roaring fire to sit by and a few glasses of red. The Lamb shanks were fabulous.

It was lovely to get away, even though DH decided to take his laptop with work, which I was pleased, didn't get logged on. We stayed at the Mantra Erskine, in a lovely heritage room. I still am not too fussed with the Great Ocean Road, especially driving back in the dark. But the scenery was beautiful and we never tire of heading down that way. There is always something different to see.

VSRG

2011-06-15T12:05:00.002+10:00

I am currently working on the "Weepers" at the Victorian State Rose Garden at Werribee Mansion. 2 pairs of socks and still can't feel my toes in my red gumboots. Beautiful weather this week especially since there has been very little breeze. At least we can rug up, it is horrible working in 30-40 degrees during summer as the roses need care all year round.

Blog Comments

2011-06-14T16:25:00.002+10:00

I can't post a comment on my own blog, very annoying.

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Carol, thank you for your comment on my Dear Hannah. Yes, I am still doing some textiles with my postcards, ATC's and journal covers. But I am desperately in need of some new ideas and stimulation. Textiles are a little difficult to take to Guild meetings as hand work. I seem to have headed back to the quilting. Perhaps it is the time of year, snuggle under a quilt whilst quilting it!!!

Vireya, How is you Mum? I have tried several times to post a comment to you, but no luck. Love reading your horticultural themed postings.

I enjoy reading everyone's blogs, you all do wonderful work.

Say hello to the kookaburras for me Paddy's Daughter.

UFO's and WIP's

2011-06-14T09:30:00.004+10:00

From a fellow Quilter, a call out has been sent for 20cm x 20cm knitted squares for a fundraiser for her school. It took me several goes of casting on and unpicking to actually get my squares correct. Managed to get 4 squares knitted on my weekend drives.
Work in Progress, would like to have my Dear Hannah quilted and bound by October!!! Who am I kidding. All vertical rows and blocks are quilted. So I suppose I can say 2/3rds of it is done. Not too sure about the scalloped border, have never bound one before. Might take some guts to actually cut the shape.

In the process of appliqueing a Raffle quilt. I am doing the middle section. Many thanks to Esther Aliu for her wisdom and instructions on how to use the Floriani wash away product. Thank you Esther for replying to me as to where to purchase it.

Change of quilt hanging in the dining room. "Seasons" made in 2006. Made from scraps out of my stash. Still hasn't got a nametag on it. One day....

Queen's Birthday

2011-06-14T08:02:00.003+10:00

John and I make it our business to head off for a drive/walk most Sundays, weather permitting. This weekend we drove to Maryborough Rail Station for lunch where we enjoyed a fabulous curried lamb and vegie soup with sourdough bread. The sun was beautiful after we drove via Ballarat's miserable morning of rain. After lunch headed off for a walk around Maldon.
Working in the rail industry, he was interested to see how the staion had come up after being restored.

At the station there is a gentleman who sells scarves from Turkey. He travels regularly there to bring them home. Couldn't resist buying a couple. I am not a purple person but liked this striped one and also picked up this lovely green one. $15 each.
I enjoyed a conversation with him re his travels to Turkey. We chatted about my Paternal Grandfather who was born in Lozingrad in Turkey. Found out that "grad" is Russian". He was very informative, could have talked to him all day.

Monday - After lunch walked the Yarra Trail at the Fairfield Boatshed. Not as sunny as the day before, though it was a nice afternoon, especially sitting by the Yarra with a hot cup of tea and scones.

Pleasant Sunday Afternoon

2011-06-05T17:04:00.003+10:00

A walk around the Maribyrnong River Circuit.....
.....followed by scones at Poyntons Nursery Cafe

Blue/Brown Quilt

2011-05-29T10:52:00.002+10:00

I have finished a double bed quilt for my daughter whose unit is in blues and browns. The pattern was from Quilters Companion magazine by Karen Cunningham called "Turkey Tracks".

Karen "drew inspiration from a quilt in Glorious American Quilts: The Collection of the Museum of American Folk Art by Elizabeth V. Warren and Sharon L. Eisenstat. The quilt is recorded as being Turkey Tracks Quilt, quilt maker unidentified, possibly Ohio 1840 - 1860".

The blue fabrics were from a fat quarter swap from my friends at Bacchus Marsh. The quilting was done by Judy at "Wheatsheaf Quilting", Geelong.
I have mentioned to my daughter that being young, she may prefer the rear of the quilt for her bed than the traditional side!!!!!!

Beanies

2011-05-23T07:28:00.002+10:00

My week has been knitting. We have another 13 beanies to send off to Jan Mac for the Homeless Connect Day in Brisbane. Many thanks to my friend Sophia for her knitting of the beanies in the foreground. This has been a nice change to quilting.

My Week....

2011-05-16T09:13:00.002+10:00

It's been a busy week.

Finished piecing my Turkey Track quilt in blue/browns. Delivered it to Judy for quilting and hope it have it back next week.

Looked for the "Yellow Brick Path" at Rose Garden this week. Finally bought myself a pair of gum boots. First time in ages that I haven't come home with wet socks. We have finished dead heading the roses, pruning starts next month. Looking forward to it. Love Winter, especially all rugged up outdoors.

Was spoilt on Mothers' Day. Emma took us out to lunch at Docklands followed by a visit to the NGV for a photography exhibition on Water. In the rooms next to it was a wonderful Chinese/Japanese exhibition. Beautiful porcelain and furniture etc.

She gave me this book on photography, wonderful. I think she may have been tired of me, ringing and asking her "what's the setting for........". I told Emma all I wanted was a hug for Mothers' Day. But I was thrilled with the book and our standard gift to each other of shower gel.

We are going to have a day taking photos and using all the settings instead of me using the Auto button.

Going well with my French for Travellers language class. Have done 2 of the 6 classes. Not as hard as I thought it would be, having learnt German at high school.

Posted off more beanies to Jan Mac. Knitted 3 over the weekend, need sewing up. Spent Saturday morning with my friend Sophia, we knitted for Jan. Also made a start on some more Notebook Covers to sell at our Geelong Guild Exhibition.

Blogs

2011-05-04T13:13:00.002+10:00

I am having a lot of problems opening several of the blogs on my list.

I have not been able to post comments on them either.

Each time I open one the blogs that I follow, the following message pops up.

"Internet explorer cannot open"

Operation aborted.

It is frustrating, this happened over night 2 weeks ago, nothing has changed on my computer or the way I do things.

The only thing that I have noticed is that a couple of them do not have their titles highlighted in a colour like the others. Also the spacings of my sentances are larger than usual.

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If you hear a loud bang, it is only me throwing the computer out the window and it landing with a big thud.

Can someone help me please.....

Cheers Jenni

Daylesford

2011-04-26T09:46:00.001+10:00

Artist Notebook Project Exhibition

2011-04-18T16:27:00.002+10:00

Sunday (yesterday) was the Open Day of the Fibre Arts Australia tutor/classes weekend.

Unfortunately I was not able to go, so this morning I drove up to Ballarat Grammar School and asked if I could have a sneak peak at the Artist Notebook Project books that I participated in.

Each and every one of the approx. 120 notebooks were all so different. It was great to see them all laid out displayed.

I enjoyed doing my book, even though I didn't use up all the pages.

I kept it as a log of Projects I had made over the last 12 months and will continue to fill the pages when the Notebook is returned to me next year.

AQC

2011-04-15T07:54:00.003+10:00

The AQC is on again at the Exhibition Gardens in Carlton.

Beautiful old building surrounded by lovely gardens and next to the Melbourne Museum. Popped into a 30 minute talk on Jelly Roll Quilts. I have a couple of Bali Pops in my stash, still don't know what to do with them, but after the talk, bought a $20 pack of templates to start me off. My one and only purchase for the day. Except for.... the much needed cup of coffee.

I have become rather miserable in my old age when it comes to Quilting. After having done it for approx. 30 years, I no longer buy for the sake of buying. I seem to float through these shows in a daze and prefer to gaze at what is on display.

The most enjoyable part of my day was catching up with fellow quilters and friends.

Pam, Jan Mac, Cynthia,Vireya, Cecile, Jenni O, Joy, Lesley and Jeann C.

I was sorry to only have a very quick wave to Lisa W, she was flat out on her stall.

If the AQC is a meeting place for catching up, then I will look forward to it again next year.

The Quilt Exhibition was very good, some amazing quilts and volunteering for White Glove duty gives you that extra close up view on them. I enjoyed talking to strangers who have something in common.

And by the way.... King Tut is in town.

This was guarding the thoroughfare at Southern Cross Train Station.

Busy weekend

2011-04-11T09:18:00.002+10:00

Had a "fruitful" weekend. Decided it was time to pick this "Mother and her siblings", leaving the rest of her family, 4 huge pumpkins that were not ready to be picked.

We dried out the seeds on the kitchen windowsill and this is what became of them.

Saw on TV that it was time to tidy up the runners of the strawberries.

Trimmed and planted 9 small ones, will be interested to see if they grow.

Also planted approx 150 red and brown onion seedlings.

Finished off another lot of beanies for Jan Mac for the Homeless Connect Day.

Jan gave me a big bag of wool at the Scquilters Retreat. Hope to knit another 6 beanies out of it. Bought a little mini notebook on Saturday. Had to deal with one frustrated husband as I am hopeless when it comes to computers. I could say the same about him when it comes to sewing. The salesman wanted to sell us a cover, DH said, "My wife can make one". No comment. The downside to the whole weekend was sewing blocks to another row of a quilt I am making. As I was pressing, one of them scorched. I don't know how as all the others rows were fine. Just as well it was one of the plain blocks.

More Retreat Bits and Pieces

2011-03-30T12:36:00.004+11:00

Me Saw these toilet cubicle doors at the Euroa Service Centre stop.

Fanta Spider at "Fonzies" in Albury for lunch

"Where are the chips"

My friend Jenny from NZ and me.

Kiama Retreat Bits and Pieces

2011-03-30T12:31:00.002+11:00

Table centre pieces at the Saturday night dinner Large spools at the antique shop Berrima

Knitting needles in shop display in Bowral

Afternoon Tea at the antique shop in Mittagong

Box of large buttons at the knitting shop in Bowral.

The Shop Hop

2011-03-30T12:22:00.004+11:00

Visited on the shop hop were the quaint towns of Berrima, Bowral and Mittagong.

Scquilters Retreat at Kiama

2011-03-30T12:14:00.003+11:00

The theme for this year's Retreat was "Carnivale" with a masked dinner on the Saturday night.

Kiss Groupies The seaside town of Kiama, south of Sydney was a beautiful little town.

Sunrise over Kiama

Time spent with friends.

Sophia, Mandy, Joy and myself on the shop hop.

"Molecular"

2011-03-22T13:44:00.003+11:00

Our textile group at Guild are putting together a quilt made up of

16 12 inch squares with the theme of "CIRCLES"

I have used various techniques eg, Angelina fibre, tyvek, hand felting, painted vlisofix, wash away and metal rings from the garage.

Busy Knitting

2011-03-16T17:56:00.003+11:00

This last couple of weeks, I have been swapping between making 128 leaves to applique onto Emma's quilt to knitting beanies for Jan Mac for the Homeless Connect Day.

I hope to have some more knitted to pass on to Jan at the retreat.

Fibre Arts - Artist Notebook Project

2011-03-15T14:23:00.003+11:00

It is nearly time to send off my notebook for

The Artists Notebook Project

run by Fibre Arts Australia.

Open day to view all the books and exhibitions will be:

Sunday 17 April, 2011

Ballarat Grammar School

201 Forest Street
Wendouree Vic 3355

12.30pm - 5.00pm

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I am looking forward to seeing all the other books. There are approx. 120 Notebooks.

It will be a busy weekend, the AQC is on and I have tickets for the Tutankhamen exhibition at the Melbourne Museum.

Central Committee Fabric Challenge

2011-03-13T17:50:00.003+11:00

The annual Past Retreat Committee Fabric Challenge is:

"Shades of Colour" by

Hoffman California International Fabrics.

Fabric chosen by Helen E.
I used a photo print from a kit that I purchased in Houston.
Tucked away in a drawer was an edge of an old white doily, a piece of white linen and a white lace butterfly
A quick dip into a strong cup of coffee to age them and a few buttons added to the front.
Not sure where the Mother of Pearl button came from.

I enjoy making journal and notebook covers.
The rust colour of the photo lent itself to the colour of the variegated fabric.
The Batik fabric on the edge had rust coloured spots, so also used the main fabric to go with it.
The challenge fabric was not an easy piece to match.
I prefer the notebook closed without seeing the back of it.

ATC-WDU March Swap

2011-03-12T14:39:00.003+11:00

Our theme for this month is "March".

I could have gone with the typical month of Autumn and leaves,

but decided to do something a little different.

Remember that song:

"The ants go marching, one by one,

horrah, hoorah".

I used tea bags for the tree trunk, drew the ants and put brown/green fringing for moss on the sides of the tree trunk. Rubber stamped some leaves on the outside.

I hope Amelia in NZ likes my ATC.

Air Show

2011-03-07T08:59:00.003+11:00

Emma and I went to the Air Show at Avalon yesterday.

Came home with partial deafness, despite the ear plugs, sunburn but had a great day

This was the Hercules that flew to help Christchurch after their earthquake.

This is for you Dad.

My father worked for TAA and would have loved to have seen this silver bird.

Abbotsford Convert

2011-03-05T16:34:00.003+11:00

This morning we drove to Abbotsford Convent for a stroll through the gardens and a visit to their wonderful bakery.

The gardens are beautiful, the plants were covered in butterflies, the herbs were in abundance and the sun was shining.

It was lovely to see little children running around and playing in amongst the garden.

It is free entry, $4 for car parking and well worth a visit.

Art Craft and Textile classes are held also.

There are regular night/day Art Craft/Farmers markets and Art Exhibitions on at the Convent.

One of the exhibitions showing at the moment are vessels made of dried reeds/kelp and plastic used for fishing nets.

Beautiful.

Another Art Gallery beneath the Convent showed ultra modern paintings.

John's comment was " this gallery would make a great wine cellar".

Within walking distance of the Convent is the Collingwood Children's Animal Farm.

Next door was the Community Vegetable Garden Plots. The area is the size of a couple of large house blocks and each plot would be 15m square.

We stopped and chatted to an Italian lady who was tending her vegetables.

They have a seedling swap monthly.

Fabulous!!!

We walked around the various plots taking in all the different vegetables/fruit being grown and the different ways each farmer had grown and laid out their personal plot.

My Heart for Christchurch

2011-03-01T15:17:00.002+11:00

With this heart,

I am sending my prayers and thoughts to whom it may go to.

Hearts for Christchurch

2011-03-01T08:37:00.003+11:00

A member of one of my Internet groups has started an appeal for "Hearts for Christchuch".

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I am gathering hearts for Christchurch.

Not heart blocks in the quilting sense but `hanging' hearts.

Two heart shapes sewn together, stuffed or not, embellished, embroidered, CQ'd, quilted, plain or fancy, felt or fabric or anything goes. Add a loop at the top. However many inches high that you care to make. For ease of postage, envelope size is a good measurement.

Also for ease of postage you can send them flat, leave an opening and add a note "Please stuff me" I have a couple of non sewers on stuffing. You can choose to sign them on the back and add a message. It would be nice to have at least the area they come from.

This is just a small measure of something nice to give in this terrible time. A heart is a symbol of caring and I know we all feel an overpowering desire to do something. If you aren't in a position to donate a heart or two send a little bit of fabric. I have heart makers at the ready. Or simply pass this on message with my address

Thank you.

Hearts for Christchurch

523 Main North Road

Bay View, Napier 4104

New Zealand

The Cull is Complete

2011-02-27T13:56:00.003+11:00

2 large filled garbage bags thrown out and my sewing room is now tidy.

John's comment was "we will see how long this one lasts"

You have no faith in me Dear, but he may be right!!!

One of his workers made me and painted the white box shelf for my 6 blue baskets of fabric to sit on and under. Thank you.
Why do we keep 1" x 1/2" scraps?
I found a handmade postcard, cut it up and made named tags for the storage boxes on the top shelf. I was amazed at what I found in boxes, now I know what is in the containers.

Name Tags

2011-02-23T11:26:00.004+11:00

Several years ago, "Paddy's Daughter" showed me her small quilt where she keeps all her name tags and bits and pieces.

Even this needs a tidy up with a change of quilt.

Thank you "P. D.", a great idea, for using one of the small quilts I have in my collection.

Tidy Up

2011-02-23T10:52:00.003+11:00

Is there such a thing as an "Autumn Clean" as well as a Spring Clean.

My good friend Sue has been having a cull of her sewing things, finding all sorts of bits and pieces that she had forgotten about.

This has prompted me to do the same.

I love boxes, tins and storage containers.

Problem is, I forget what I put in them, so labelling will be the next step.
I wonder what happened to those old Dynamo labelling machines. Haven't seen one in years.

I should have kept those 30 clear plastic shoe storage boxes I gave our daughter for Christmas.

And yes, she did use them all and needs more!!!!!

So...guess what I will be doing on Saturday.
Might even go to the Salvos shop to see if there are any old cupboards or storage pieces that can be used.
************************************
I remember my maternal Grandfather, who was a dentist, went to an old antique shop to buy a table for his surgery and came home with a cuckoo clock instead.
The clock is now in my brother's home. I would rather have had the table, might have made a great sewing/cutting table!!!!

Sneaky Birds

2011-02-15T09:11:00.003+11:00

The birds were very sneaky, as soon as my back was turned, they were feasting on the fruit.

Problem solved, the old clothes horse with netting.
Our ATC-WDU swap for February is titled
"A little bird told me so..."
This little bird is saying to the other
"the strawberries are ripening, go for it".
Not now you don't!!!

Sauce

2011-02-09T06:54:00.002+11:00

Guess what I will be doing this weekend!

And there are still more to be picked.

Gave our daughter some, she was amazed at the difference in taste between shop bought and home grown.

Best crop we have had in years.

3 varieties - Roma, Grosse Lisse and Mighty Red

Aus-NZ ArtQuilts 2011 Challenge - February

2011-02-08T07:46:00.003+11:00

This year, our bi-monthly challenge is to be a quilt 12"x12".

The theme is "A country outside Australia"

I chose to do France.

Our last challenge were 12 A4 size themed journals.

I found the 12" square challenging, so I added the Name strip to the side to compensate that challenge.

I have chosen my countries, France, China, Africa, New Zealand, Croatia and Fiji.

Blackout No 5

2011-02-04T20:09:00.003+11:00

We have just had our 5th blackout for the week.

Haven't seen our court flood like this for many years.

Hope the catchments are receiving some of this rain.

2011-02-02T12:14:00.001+11:00

I was going through some old photos.

Definitely wasn't a good hair day when this was taken.

Another Coil Wrapped Bag

2011-02-02T12:01:00.004+11:00

Bag No 2 is finished.

I actually like this one.

Vegetable Shroud

2011-02-02T11:56:00.003+11:00

My $1 a metre scrim curtain fabric from Spotlight did wonders during the 40 degree heat.

The vegies stayed cool and damp and we didn't lose one plant.

The birds were rather frustrated because they couldn't nibble the luscious strawberries.

Australia Day

2011-01-26T18:38:00.002+11:00

We are a diverse country. I realised this today after having Sushi for lunch and for dinner tonight, ratoulie, couscous and a bbq'ed lamb chop with a glass of red.

My paternal Grandparents, Peta (Peter) Tomasov (Turkish) and Lucria Zanki (Croatian) were naturalised in 1924. They would only speak English to my father as they felt, they were Australian and therefore English would be the number one language in their home. They spoke Croatian to each other, only when my father was put to bed as a child.

My father never told his fellow workmates of his European background, as it was not the done thing in those days.

I am proud of my background and have always felt sad that I never got to meet my Grandparents as they passed away before I was born.

I have, as many of you also, been fortunate to travel the world. But as I fly into Melbourne after my travels, it is a wonderful feeling to be coming home.

Australia.

What a wonderful country we live in.

I have to admit, hearing "Advance Australia Fair", "We Call Australia Home" and "Waltzing Matilda" does bring a tear.

I see the Flying Kangaroo of Qantas, our beautiful beaches, our clear blue sky and the amazing work our communities do, to rally around helping out others when in need, and I can say, I am proud to be Australian.

Wangaratta Art Gallery

2011-01-20T09:22:00.003+11:00

Yesterday, 6 of us from our Scquilters CBD group, went to Wangaratta on the XPT Sydney train for the day. Our day excursion was to see an Exhibition at the Wangaratta Art Gallery called ARTCLOTH: engaging new visions.

The ceiling to floor pieces were made by artists from Australia, USA, Germany and Lithuania.

The techniques used were:

stencilling

stitching

painting

silkscreen printing

mono printing

shibori dying

use of paper

rubber stamping.

discharge dying

and many other forms of techniques.

The lengths of fabrics used, ranged from cotton, silk, sheer fabrics to linens.

The exhibition was excellent.

Unfortunately we were unable to take a photo.

The exhibition closes this Sunday 23 January, but if you have some spare time on the weekend, those who are able to, it is well worth the visit.

http://www.wangaratta.vic.gov.au/

Click on the Wangaratta Art Gallery for a preview of 2 of the pieces.

Coil Wrapped Bag

2011-01-18T19:14:00.003+11:00

Many thanks to Carol from the blog, Li Bode, who showed me how to make a Coiled Wrap Bag.

I made a bowl in a 2006 class in Houston, and when Carol showed us her bags on her blog,

I asked her if I could make one as well.

6mm cotton rope with 1 1/2 inch strips of fabric wrapped around it.
I joined the strips of fabric with a scrape on a glue stick.
I started with a basic oval shape and then angled the rope up to make the shape of the bag. The coils were sewn together with a zig zag stitch using black cotton.
To achieve the stripes, the bobbin thread was changed to purple or aqua to match the fabric.

I am thrilled with the final bag.

I hope my mortal at the Kiama Retreat likes her bag I made for her.

DH's comment was, "where's the baby"?

When I was a baby, they were called Moses Baskets.