The Grampians

I've been making a quilt during our yearly camping holidays since late last century. It's just a simple hexagon quilt in really bright fabrics. I collect fabrics while I'm on holiday whenever I can. I even managed to buy a couple of fat quarters in Tiboburra in far West NSW which was really surprising as at the time there was only one general store.

So far the quilt has travelled to national parks all over Qld., N.S.W., S.A. & Vic. We have just returned from a camping trip to The Grampians in Victoria. I didn't manage to get a lot of quilting done but decided it's time to start including the quilt in the holiday photos. Here it is watching the billy boil. I've also included a scenic shot looking down on the town of Halls Gap.

The Grampians are well worth a trip, if camping isn't your thing there is plenty of accomodation in Halls Gap. The bush fires (Jan 2006) really took their toll but the scenery is still magnificent.
Great bushwalks.

Time at last to blog

Life has been so hectic lately, I've been unable to find even a few minutes to blog. The wedding was beautiful, I had an absolute ball and my daughter and son in law tell me the day was way over and above any of their expectations. A memorable day for everyone. A last minute change of plan saw this mother of the bride wearing an outfit with a velvet patchwork effect jacket and yes I wore high heel pointy toe shoes and ended up feeling happy with them. No photos yet . . . but soon I hope.

The wedding was in the middle of the NSW Quilter's Guild show, but I was able to fit in a full day visit on the Wednesday and followed this up with another vist on the Sunday. I thoroughly enjoyed the show. I just loved the best of show quilt.

I've also been busy preparing to present a weekend workshop to around 40 people. I've just returned home from it and although it was very hectic, it was really rewarding. The large group of enthusiastic quilters are in the photo. Thank you ladies, it was a memorable experience.

June Bride

Good news - My youngest daughter's wedding is now very close and I have finally found an outfit to wear. Those who know me won't be surprised to hear that it is brown (but beautiful). For someone who is so passionate about colour in quilts I really do wear a lot of brown.
Not such good news - I'm just horrified with the thought of having to wear pointed toe shoes. I've had a look around and really pointy toes are the just about the only ones available. I wore them the first time round when I was a young girl and don't want to go there again. I don't think my size 9 1/2 C fitting feet are going to like being stuffed into shoes like these, they are built for comfort these days.
Good news - I have finally managed to reduce my working hours to a manageable level, so I'll have more time for quilting, going the gym or for a walk, catching up with friends, posting to my blog and even doing nothing at all from time to time (now there's a novel idea).
More good news - My newly organised sewing room is working so well. I've been quite productive over the past few weeks. I named my latest quilt Spring Fever, it has my usual 3 dimensional blocks and I made it with my usual quilt as you go method. No lumps or ridges, if you have only ever made quilt as you go quilts using a method that produces lumps and ridges, do yourself a favour and learn a better method. It really does take the strain out of quilting.

Happiness is

I started thinking today about what makes me happy, content and at peace with the world. Here are just a couple of the thoughts I had. More to come later.
I'm a bit obsessed with the process of making lists. It brings order to my often hectic life and makes me feel more in control. I have a list of quilts I've made with different columns for the ones I have entered in challenges or shows, any successes I've had with these quilts along with lists of quilts I have as works in progress and ideas for future quilts, upcoming challenges etc. I also have a complete list of all the quilts I've made. I update it often.
I love Jacaranda, Wattle and Flame trees and play games with myself during the Jacaranda season. As I drive around Sydney I honestly believe that I won't have to travel for more than 10 seconds without being able to see another Jacaranda tree either beside me or off the side in the distance. I love to reflect on the story a friend told me. When she was a little girl her father used to tell her that fairies live in Jacaranda flowers and you can actually see their legs and feet sticking out from inside the flowers (take a look for yourself, it's true), I now tell my grandaughter the same story.
I have a very small Jacaranda tree growing in my garden. It was given to me by a very dear friend several years ago. Pat is now in a nursing home after suffering a very debilitating illness which has left her so mentally confused she doesn't recognise me anymore. Pat has also become quite agressive which isn't at all like the friend I once had. The tree is very precious, it has been very slow to grow and still hasn't flowered but I'm sure it will one day.
I love working with fabric. I could ramble on about this for ages but suffice to say that I'm never really happier than when I'm quilting or even just sorting my stash and planning new projects. My newly organised sewing room ... (it really is just soooo good, I probably should call it a studio), is an absolute delight. I'll tidy it up a bit tomorrow and take a photo to show you.
Being with my daughter and her beautiful girls Oliva and Tegan brings me a tremendous feeling of contentment. Seeing the bond they have and marvelling at what a great mother Sarah has turned out to be is a very emotional experience.
I really love being at home and if I didn't enjoy being with people so much I'd probably become a hermit.
I'm a bit of a chocaholic as well.

Fabric avalanche

If the quilter who dies with the most fabric wins, then I'm a winner. I finally decided it's time to organise my stash onto shelves that actually will actually accomodate a bolt of fabric, after yet another avalanche of precariously balanced bolts.
After looking around for ages and only finding shelves with a fixed centre shelf and far too wide for a fabric bolt anyway, I decided to seek advice. The first person I spoke to was my daughter. Bec believes that if you really want something you should float it - out there - in the universe and the universe will come up with a solution, so I did ... float it that is.
The very next person I spoke to re advice on where to find shelves, told me she has a friend who used to sell patchwork fabric and now needs to sell her custom made shelves. This lady lives just a short drive from my house, the shelves fitted perfectly in my room and best of all they fitted with less than an inch to spareinto the back of our station wagon if we just needed to push the front seats forward a touch... thanks Bec for the daughterly advice.
I'll post a photo of my newly organised sewing room soon.

Miniature quilts

I was so inspired by the postage stamp sized quilts that I decided to give it a go. I had varying degrees of success and in the end decided to make a miniature quilt with 1inch blocks instead. I was very proud of my 1inch square Snail Trail blocks. See one of them in the photo. I've entered the quilt in the nsw quild show, it represents a beach scene. I've called it Rock Pools, Surf and Sand. It still needs a bit more beading and finishing off. I'll photograph it properly later and post it to the blog.
This little quilt was therapy for me during my recent drawn out dental mayhem and madness.

Wasting good quilting time at the dentist

I broke one of my teeth a few days ago, it cracked along the gumline and the dentist and I agreed that it wasn
t able to be saved. When the dentist tried to take it out there was really nothing to hang on to. I thought for a moment she was going to climb onto my chest to assist her in her effort to tug the thing out. Eventually she did get most of it out but I have to go back again so that she can cut my gum open to retrieve the last little bit. Oh goodie! Meanwhile thank heavens for Nurofen Plus.

German blog addresses

I'm still learning to drive this thing (blog) I did post the german blogsite address links but they didn't appear. Here they are - ullas-art.blogspot.com - birgitskaleidoskop.blogspot.com - ankesgarten.blogspot.com I'm sorry I couldn't enter them as direct links.
Must find out how to do this properly.

Postage stamp sized quilts

I've spent a couple of days enjoying looking at a few German blogs. These links were sent to me by a very helpful lady I met at the Friday Showcase last week.
I hope you also enjoy looking at these delighful little treasures and feel as inspired as I do to give it a go. Have I told you I thrive on challenges?
The blogs are written in German but the photos make visiting the blogs worthwhile.

The wonder of nature

I've just finished my entry in the Bunbury International Quilt Challenge. The theme is the wonder of nature. I think the true wonder of nature is its Diversity. So I've named my quilt Diversity and feel quite pleased with it. Here are a couple of photos of the detail. Of course there is a little 3D stuff included.