It Was a Good Day

Long time no blog! Had a problem with not being able to view any photos and was too busy to try and sort it out. Seems to be OK at the moment.

Also, this particular blog is new to me – I am blogging from within Word and will then add it to my blog afterwards – fingers X-ed (thank you, Ian, for the tip – hope it works for m).  Did not work!!!  Back to the drawing board.

Normally the Hutchins Quilters meet at work and we get together in one of the Science labs – great venue with lovely large tables, plenty of space for us all with the staffroom and kitchen as en-suite, just down the hallway. Because we were going to be a small group, I invited everybody to my home.

Carol presented our Try&Learn morning session: Hand Appliqué – loved the bright and kissable fish!

 Invariably, when you get to the pinning part, you end up on your hands and knees, crawling around the carpet, rear-end in the air, BUT Saddle did a quick about turn to prevent us getting this side of her; love the piece you are now working on, Saddle!

And what makes you think MJ and Carol were not having fun?

And just in case you think we did not do any work, and to set the record straight, this was taken during lunch time! No, really ……… Scout’s honour!  Here are just some of our snacks

It was an ideal day for quilting, chatting and having fun. This is a view out of my lounge window (with my sewing machine set up, iron ready and puppy in his bed, etc) – all misty outside – yet it was N I C E!

Thank you, Girls, for sharing my day and making the effort to come out on a wet and coolish day (at least we were warm inside!). I thoroughly enjoyed it!


And whenever I now look at a chilly, I will have a total new perspective on it LOL

Warm regards

WOW - what a great Craft & Quilt Fair day I had!

Woke up with a start this morning, looked at the watch, and jumped out of bed, thinking I had only 30 minutes to get dressed and get myself to the Derwent Entertainment Centre in time to meet Suzanne!  Whew, then realised it was only 8.15 am!

We got there in good time and our first pit-stop was a decent cuppa!  Our noses followed the aroma!  Then a quick shuffle on to where the workshops were being held - OK, too early.  No problem, we moved over to the quilt display area.  Gosh, there are so many amazing quilts on display, you struggle to take in what you see.  So many hand-quilted quilts of excellent standard, it just blew us away!  Magnificent work done by these people!

Shoot over to get to our first workshop, followed by the second one.  Met up with two other HQ quilters, MJ and Carol.  Carol stayed with Suzanne and I.  From the workshops we moved to complete our tour of the quilts.  Then we stopped off for a bite to eat - and met up with MJ again!  Finished our lunch and started our stall tour.

We stopped at each quilt fabric and sewing machine stall - and bypassed the other craft stalls such as beading, paper craft, scrapbooking, dolls and knitting.

My first purchase was this jelly roll and pattern.

This roll above will be turned into this quilt below.

Then followed this Ginger Jar and Kimono patterns:

I just could not pass this sashiko piece by:

And then these bright and proud chooks (I know, I have a thing for chickens!!)

Damn, he looks so proud of himself, strutting about and puffing himself up!

And later some jellyroll rulers, etc.  Put together, my purchases looked like this:

Left there just after 3.30 pm.  Could go back again tomorrow!!  Anybody want to lend me their credit card, please?

Oh well, with all my new goodies, it just means that I have a lot more sewing to do now - and new techniques to learn, such as sashiko, amongst others.

Where does one go to renew your lease on life?  I need a longer one - concerned I may run out of time to complete everything I still want to do!!

Warm regards 

 

Close-up on Winter

How do you know it is winter? 

• Well, when the grass, weeds and leaves look like it has been inside your deepfreeze!
• When the ground under your shoes go 'crunch'
• When a misty vapour rises when you exhale
• When your eyes water as the wind blows

These photos I took in the parking lot this morning when I arrived at work.  There was layers of black ice in various places as well - luckily none where I travelled.  Coming off our road from home onto the one main road, visibility was extremely poor and it felt very ghostly driving in the thick mist!

But on Saturday, 10 July, I will be warm as toast in the Derwent Entertainment Centre, feasting my eyes on all craft and quilting things at the fair!  Lots of workshops lined up to do too!  Gonna hit that credit card until it sings!  Cannot wait!

Warm regards 

Red Dawn with a Navy Visit

It certainly does not get much better than a sight like this!  Watching the sun rise across the Derwent, over the Eastern shore ..............................

and reflecting onto Mt Wellington in hues of orange ....

And then, we had the Navy drop in (yip, quite literally) for a visit to work today.  I am sure the little boys thoroughly enjoyed that!

Mmmmmm, I love a man in uniform (oops, that pilot is female!)

Warm regards

 

The arrival of the Electric Quilt 7 software

Woo Hoo

Finally and at long last it arrived!  Waiting with great anticipation for over a month to see this land on my desk has most certainly only hyped my inquisitive nature into high gear to see it put into practice!!

What the heck is she talking about? - you may be asking yourself.

Listen, do you hear that too?  Drum rolls .................... and .....................

Ta dah:

I now need to make myself a huge cup of tea, boot up my computer (preferably at home!), close the door and insert the disc into the CD tray to have a goooooood look!

I have also received two of my four books recently ordered.  So what if some of these books are for miniature quilts?  The one is called Twenty Little Amish Quilts and the other Tweny Little Log Cabin Quilts, both by Gwen Marston.  Cuuuute!

Did my duty at the Miniatures Extravaganza the past weekend and, Boy, was I impressed by the work the Ladies did!  (I have not attended meetings for quite some time so none of my work is there). Nearly finished with my studies, then I will not feel guilty when I do leisure things!!!

Check out some of these gorgeous miniatures:

The theme was Doorways to a Miniature World

And this weekend I promise you one thing - I will not feel guilty when I attend the Craft & Quilt Fair on Saturday.  It will be a busy day with loads of workshops to attend!  Gonna have some ME time!

Warm regards 

Mother and Child

Hello

I belong to a group of quilters at work known as the Hutchins Quilters (HQ).  We have work days scheduled to get together approximately every six weeks or so.  During our morning session we have a Try & Learn session presented by one of the group members.

This Saturday we did a silk screening session presented by Marja who is also one of our Art teachers.  A very talented lady indeed!

I have not been giving any of my hobbies a lot of attention lately due to the fact that I am trying to finish my studies and have been busy, busy, busy with doing assignments and submitting them.  So far, results are all in my favour, and I am deeply thankful for that!!

Breaking away and attending the HQ's work day is just what the doctor ordered!  When Marja told us what we would be doing, what we needed and had to prepare for the class, I immediately knew what I wanted.  The colour changed from the original black I had envisaged to the bright orange you now see.  And I still like it.  I will probably be making this into another wall quilt and am not too in a rush of how I will finish it off.  That will come with time.  I really enjoyed learning the art of silk screening and found it totally relaxing too.  Do I see myself going into doing silk screening at home?  Heck, I have no idea but I will certainly not write it off yet.

I have also confirmed my attendance at a squilter's retreat in Kiama, two hours drive south of Sydney for March 2011 as well as one for the HQ in April 2011.  This one is a local one we organised and will be at Southport in Tasmania.  I think by the time I attend the HQ one, I will know more on what quilters' retreats are about!  MDH will join me on the one to Kiama but he has been advised that he will be doing his own thing to keep busy!

Sunday afternoon I took my dog, Paxton, for a nice walk in the woods in the hills behind us and that certainly got a lot of fresh air into the fuzzy system!  I really needed that - thank you, Paxton, for nuzzling me until I eventually caved in!  Love you, my big boy!

Later that evening, whilst paging through Facebook, I sadly noted that my eldest son decided to 'ban' me from his Facebook webpage.  This dramatically changed my mood to one of gloom and sadness.  I ask a simple question:  What did I do wrong this time?  Still, I need to try and concentrate on other more happy and cheerful things.  When people have issues, I do not think we always realise the impact a small act may have on others.  Time will show and tell.

Now, got to find the roses along the way in life so that I can make time to stop and smell them!

Warm regards
 

Long weekend done

So what was my excuse for not doing any sewing this long weekend?  Well, to tell you the truth, I studied!  Yip, no word of a lie.  I am half-way with my Business Administration Cert IV and caught up with my 'overdue' tasks.  Now my trainer is overdue with her marking and updating the webpage (it is online study and work-based tasks).  Having been shifted from one trainer in Tasmania to another on the mainland, I have not yet got the 'feel' for the new trainer and can, therefore, not give her any nudges to get it done.  So, fingers crossed that she does it soon!

On Saturday evening I caught up with some of the girls of the 1973 alumnae and boy, did we chat and laugh!  Two hours later I said my goodbies!

Unfortunately, all good things must also come to an end and school starts again tomorrow which means that all peace and tranquility will be something of the past!  Now I have to look when is the next long weekend coming up for relaxing LOL

Also just realised that I missed going to the miniatures meeting tonight!  Still, I got my studies done and that counts more, I suppose.

Mmmmmmm, had a look at the Bernina 830!  What a machine for quilting!  Price is a bit of an issue right now!  Need to pay of lots more debt first before investing in such a top of the range model!  But, I am allowed to dream .............................

Warm regards
 

There is more happening than meets the eye

OK - So, not much is happening and I do not appear to be doing much either - but wait, there is and I am!

2010 World Cup Soccer commences today and I have been working on my studies, trying to complete my outstanding tasks.  There are two more questions to be done in the Excel section and then I can submit it, thereby bringing myself up to date again with all studies!  Will concentrate on this so that I can proceed with my quilting without any guilt feelings.

Also, in just under an hour I will be chatting to a number of the girls who graduated from Durban Commercial High School in 1973 on Skype.  I am sure we have all been looking forward to going on line and starting the conversation.

I have redesigned my blog as well - I suppose it will always be a work in progress until, finally, one day I will come up with something that I am totally satisfied with!

AND, I have booked accommodation for the 2011 SCQuilters Retreat in Kiama and paid for my Expression of Interest (just need to post the form off).  Will wait until closer the time for any airfare specials!  I will need to book Paxton (my puppy) into a kennel for the period we are gone and find a good home for Georgie, our Galah.  The other question I keep asking myself is whether we will fly down to Kiama from Sydney or whether we will book a car and travel down - just to see a bit more of the country.  Due to time constraints, this may not be possible - but I will weigh up all scenarios long before then.  I intend to have a great weekend, irrespective of MDH tagging along.  Told him that he will need to amuse himself whilst I am busy. 

Warm regards 

The First Snow of the Season has Arrived

Warm greetings from a snow dusted mountain in Hobart!

This is our first snow of the season and it looks great!  Sure, nothing to ski on or build a snow man from - just enough to please the viewer's eyes!  Mt Wellington always looks all dressed up with snow on her sides.  My location for taking photos was not the best as it was from work but I found it impossible to stop on my way in - the traffic was too busy and I kept having some idiots trying to pull into the back of my ute!  And this is our expected weather for the next couple of days!  Maybe I CAN get in some good shots.

Am meeting up with a group of my old school buddies on Saturday evening my time on Skype - will let you know how that went.  When I read the messages that comes in from the Girls, you can feel the excitement in the words and phrases!

Am taking Friday off to make an extra long weekend with Monday here being a public holiday for us.  Woo hoo - I can, hopefully, get some free motion quilting practice going.  Watched a free motion quilt DVD by Deborah Louie and she makes it look just so blooming easy!  Now I want to give it a go too!  I need to if I am going to be doing quilting!

Warm regards
 

Getting All Cooped Up

So what have I done lately with my various BOMs (Block of the Months) wall quilts?

Today I completed both the set-up of both All Cooped Up (ACU) BOMs I've received to date - the Hit the Hay and Sunny Perch.  Tomorrow I need to go and purchase some clear monofilament because of the light colour fabrics.

It is such a pleasure now that I have the hang of tracing the pattern, sticking it to the fabric, then cutting out each piece as I lay it out on the applique mat (cutting out a bit slow because the thin layer of glue keeps 'un-glueing' from the paper sheets!!), followed by a light touch of the iron, then pick-up and move onto the background fabric.

See for yourself what they look like - remember, I still have to do the stitching around the edges and, again, that is where the free-motion stitching comes into play and, hopefully, I can improve on my first attempt!!  You know what they say - practice makes perfect!

Here is my first of five roosters.  His eyes will be done later.

This is the second BOM called Sunny Perch - face will be completed later.

The third BOM of All Cooped Up is called Struttin'and he sure is one flashy-looking rooster!  Two more weeks before I start looking in the mail for him!

Love quilting!!!!

Warm regards