Saturday 27 August 2011

The Grampians, Victoria, Australia

on my way home from my retreat in Halls Gap (Victoria, Australia) i decided to be a tourist and stopped in a few places to admire the beautiful place that i live in.

firstly we have a view from the front of the building i was staying in Halls Gap (taken in the morning)
 and the view from the back of the building i was staying in (also taken in the morning)

on the drive home...






earlier in the year there were some land slips that closed the road for 9 months.  they have been stabilised and the road has been repaired but it is still an impressive sight. 

this is where the major slip started (there were also 3 smaller ones).
and here is where it ended up, over the other side of the road...


 

Thursday 25 August 2011

selvedges (aka my current project)

i was lucky enough to attend a quilting retreat last weekend (i organise it for my quilting group every year), so i had the pleasure of sewing (with no cooking or cleaning for the whole weekend!!) from Friday afternoon to Monday lunchtime... pure BLISS

my current project is a selvedge quilt.  i have been collecting them for a looooong time!  i didn't spend my whole weekend on the quilt, i sewed selvedges till i ran out of iron-on interfacing!!  the triangles aren't sewn together yet but i couldn't resist taking a photo of my blocks...


after much consideration (and debate amongst the other retreat attendees!) i have decided to call it "salvaged" and i am hoping to finish it in time for our exhibition in October 2012

i used this tutorial to guide me but i did a couple of things differently...
- i used a light-weight fusible interfacing instead of sewing onto paper, this means i can leave it in and it helps to stabilise the block
- i ironed the kite into place then put the first selvedge right side down and sewed it on using a 1/4" seam.  i pressed it open and layered the remainder of my selvedges for the triangle, once all of the selvedges were ironed in place i moved to the sewing machine and top stitched them down
- using this process has saved me a lot of time!!


Tuesday 23 August 2011

poppy, lilly and rose

my 3 little angels are finished...
and a close up
the pattern is from Australian Homespun vol.3 no.1 (issue 9)

my fabrics were from a challenge that we were given at our annual quilting retreat in 2010.

we each brought 1m of fabric (either blue or green), passed it to the person next to us, they ripped off 1/3 to keep and passed the remaining 2/3 to the person next to them.  this continued until the fabric was about 5cm square.  we ended up with a variety of fabrics in a variety of sizes.  the challenge was to create something from this selection of fabric, we could add one fabric (in my case i added calico) and we needed to use each of the fabrics.

 

Thursday 18 August 2011

progress!!


from this...
 
to this....
then here...
and here...
next step... pants!!



Tuesday 16 August 2011

to whom it may concern

this was posted in a group that i am a member of and i thought it was too important not to share it with you - even though it is probably an urban legend the message is an important one...

Recently, in a large city in Australia, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said, "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

A middle-aged woman
whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster,responded publicly to the question posed by the gym...

To Whom It May Concern,

 

Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans.)
They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales.
They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp.
They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like Patagonia , the Bering Sea and the coral reefs of Polynesia .
Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs.
They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans.
They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don't exist.

If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices of Argentinean psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human?
They don't have a sex life, because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex?
Just look at them ... where is IT?
Therefore, they don't have kids either..
Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me:

I want to be a whale.

P..S. We are in an age
 when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a glass of wine with my friends. 
With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. 
So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.
Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, ¨Good grief, look how smart I am!¨

 

Sunday 7 August 2011

Miss Prudence gets some accessories

earlier on in the year i made a cute little softie called Miss Prudence as a gift for a friend's daughter.  i made her outfit from some clothing from my friend's mother, who sadly passed away before her granddaughter was born. 

when i disassembled the clothing i saved all of the buttons and a zip, with the intention of putting them to use accessorising Miss Prudence.

Miss Prudence now has a bracelet (i found the tutorial here)

and a flower pin (tutorial is here)

next time i visit my friend i will get to give Miss Prudence her new accessories

Saturday 6 August 2011

2011 F.R.I.E.N.D.S. swap

it's that time of year again....

i have signed up to do this swap (if you click on the photo it will take you to Khris' blog) - it was so much fun in 2010, i cant wait to do it again!!