On the road again…
December 3, 2009 at 10:55 pm | In Life | Leave a CommentTags: joy, Life, Moving
We are on the move again, back to where we were last year. Canberra awaits for us again. The boys will be going back to the school they were at last year and were so happy at and I will be returning to the school I worked at last year – which will be nice.
A new machine (well sort of)
November 28, 2009 at 9:00 am | In Family, Life, Quilting | 2 CommentsTags: Life, nice, Quilting
Once it was new.
On September 2nd, 1940 at the Kilbowie factory in Clydebank, Scotland my new machine was born. In the next year it made its way to Australia and to my Grandmother’s house. Quite some time later I was taught to sew on it. This morning it finally became mine.
It has seen better days, the past year or so it has been in a cottage at my father’s house being pooed on by birds, so it is going to take a bit of cleaning up.
But, the best thing is… that there is nothing wrong with the machine… it sews beautifully…
Can’t wait to use it…
Finding Nancy
November 7, 2009 at 1:30 am | In Family, Life | Leave a CommentTags: Life, Lost and Found, nice
Everyone has something special from their childhood. Be it a photo, a blanket or even just a treasured memory… well this is Nancy.
When I was very little I was given this bear by a woman named Nancy (hence the name), I was named after her daughter who was a friend of my mothers. I lost Nancy many, many years ago… but I opened a wardrobe, and there she was.
Nancy is home.
Another weekend bites the dust
October 18, 2009 at 9:05 am | In Family, Quilting | Leave a CommentTags: baking, Blocks of the Month, Gail Pan, Mosaic Garden, Quilting, WIP
Another weekend is over and I wonder where the year is going… really in many ways this year is flying by at an alarming rate. I have been a little on the productive side, I have pinned all of the stems onto the borders of the Flower Garden quilt. My plan for next weekend is to get all of the applique sorted out for that one so then all I have to do is stitch the damn thing together. It is starting to wear a little thin with me.
I have managed to get some of the Gail Pan one stitched. I haven’t taken it to work, but have found that it is the perfect thing to have by the chair for the moments when I need my brain to disengage. I am thinking that I may reverse applique the stitchery in an interesting shape – which means that I actually have no idea what I want to do, I am just throwing some ideas around in my head at the moment. I really like the idea of making the stitcheries look like Christmas tree baubles.
And there was time for muffins.
Who do we give things to?
October 15, 2009 at 1:48 am | In Family, Quilting | 1 CommentTags: Life, Quilting
A few weeks ago I made a quilt for my step mother for Christmas… well I made the quilt and thought at the time that I may give it to her, unless I decided that I liked it more myself… well…
I was talking with a friend yesterday and she mentioned that she never gives quilts to family – with the exception of the husband/children. Because she feels that the time and money which goes into them (which can be significant) is too precious to be wasted. Now I know that happens. I once made a quilt for someone and they gave it back to me, because she didn’t like it. And I know that there has been another quilt which I made which has ended up being used as a pet blanket… but that is the risk you take. I am able to tell the boys to clean up and pick up after themselves, they value the quilts I make them – they have little choice, they know that it takes me months to make one for them, and they consider themselves lucky to eventually get it.
I am thinking about who it is that I give things to, outside the house.
What about you… anything put you off giving quilts as gifts?
A birthday and some progress
October 13, 2009 at 8:37 am | In Family, Quilting | 1 CommentTags: Life, Mosaic Garden, Quilting, relaxation, WIP
This weekend just passed there was a bit of a celebration within the family. My Nana celebrated her 92nd birthday. Now Nana also decided to take the time to celebrate what would have been her parent’s 100th Wedding anniversary next year, and so their wedding photo featured prominently on the day.
Now Nana has been about for a bit and, and has seen a thing or two in her time… but she is holding up pretty well, don’t you think?
With all of this happening over the weekend, it was little wonder that I found the time to do anything else, but I did… progress has been made on the Mosaic Garden quilt, all of the borders have been cut out, and I spent a little time getting all of the bias cut and ironed for the vines on the borders. I have pinned two of the sets of vines, there is another two to go. Here is where we are up to so far…
A spot over here, and a spot over there…
October 9, 2009 at 5:55 am | In Quilting | 1 CommentTags: Basket Quilt, Blocks of the Month, fabric, shopping, spots, WIP
I had to go shopping after work this afternoon, I needed some more spots. These aren’t quite all of the spots they had, but it isn’t far off it.
These lovely spotted fabrics will be baskets for the A Tisket A Tasket quilt. They are a bit different to those I usually go for. Generally I love the Civil War reproduction fabrics, but these are bright and cheery and really suit the mood of the quilt they are destined for.
A Tisket a Tasket, this is the basket
October 4, 2009 at 5:44 am | In Quilting | Leave a CommentTags: Basket Quilt, Blocks of the Month, Christmas, Gail Pan, nice, Quilting, relaxation, WIP
I get quite a bit of traffic to the blog through my Blocks of the Month page. I understand the allure of the block of the month, the anticipation of the new block, the bite sized manageable pieces… but I have a bit of a problem with actually managing to do any of them.
Today I am rather proud of myself, I have made progress… on TWO blocks of the month!
This is the basket template I have made, now while most people completing the BOM are working their way through the eighth block, I am partway through the first three… my theme is spots, all of the baskets shall be spotty – well at least today they are all spotty, this is as always subject to my whim. I have also rediscovered my love for the clover bias makers… they make life so much easier…
Something which I have also done is to trace all of the designs for the Gail Pan Christmas thingy (look at the BOM page, it is there). I plan to take this one to work with me, there have been changes to lunchtimes and the like, so now I can’t disappear for coffee to get some headspace, I need to create it all on my own… hence the Christmas quilt plan…
We shall see if that plan works or not…
Cakes, cats and research
September 30, 2009 at 1:18 am | In Family, Study | 2 CommentsTags: baking, nice, procrastination, relaxation, Study
While I have been feeding the invading hordes (well actually there weren’t too many extras here), I have rediscovered the baking gene. I actually do like baking and cooking, there can be a peace to it (under the right circumstances), and there is something nice about the whole creating process… so I have been baking the thinks from my youth, what Dad and my Nin (Mum’s mum) made, it would be described as “homestyle” and given the cake in the picture below came out of a CWA Cookbook, highly appropriate.
It has also been a bit of a time for the smaller members of the household. They are not used to having humans here during the day and have reacted with their usual sense of charm and grace. They are milking the attention for all it is worth. But there has also been a change in seasons over the past few days, spring has sprung, but there is a problem… they are indoor cats, and there are outdoor cats outdoors… poor Trinny – she didn’t like the cat near the letterbox at all…
And I haven’t been quilting… but I have been busy.
At least I have started…
The house was littered with bodies
September 30, 2009 at 12:26 am | In Family | Leave a CommentTags: baking, holidays, nice, sleepovers, teenagers
Well it was. School holidays are in full swing, so being the mother of teenage boys it means that there has been sleepless nights are we are protected from all manner of invaders and there have also been some Guitar Heroes born. Yes it has been the week of the sleepover. Coming out of my room first thing in the morning to find lifeless bodies on couches and the floor, food disappearing as fast as it appears and being asked grammar questions over breakfast (I am after all, the mum who is an English teacher).
So I have spent my holidays baking. It feels like my house when I was at home when either my Dad or Nin would make scones for lunch or pikelets for afternoon tea. I even baked a cake yesterday afternoon (please don’t tell them, they don’t know yet). But I think that it is drawing to a close, the caravan is moving on – they are going elsewhere. But apparently at the next house they don’t get baked goodies, they get pizza and BBQ shapes instead. My child is looking forward to that, but I am now officially “The Mum who Cooks”. They promise they are coming back – if that is the case, I need flour. And some sleep.
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