Gifts to Treasure

Does everyone love ‘Willow Tree” as much as I do?
Shirley, being the sweet and thoughtful friend she is, gave my husband and I these two beautiful figurines as a gift for helping her through her recent illness.  Thank you Shirley.  We really treasure them.

Grandma with baby                       Grandpa with baby

(She knows how much we love our little grand daughter, Lilian.)

Then, Shirley spotted this one she thought I might like, so I purchased it as well to add to the collection.

Grandma with baby and quilt.
Well, I am off to Melbourne on Wednesday to go to the Australian Quilt Convention.  Finally today I found some shoes I will be able to walk and stand in all day (I hope).  It is so difficult finding shoes for small, wide feet.  It is a family ‘thing’ and the bane of my life.  Shoes are never comfortable!! 
While in Melbourne we are going to the museum to see the Tutankhamen exhibition and we are also taking in a show, “Dr Zhivago”.at Her Majesty’s Theatre. No doubt there will be shopping too.   It is going to be so much fun.

Art Journal Quilt Dec/Jan

INLAND TSUNAMI

This little journal quilt began life as “Night Storm”.  We were having a lot of late evening and night storms in November and December and I had decided at the start of my art quilt journey to make my little quilts about events happening around me.  I started it in December before Christmas with just the night sky and the brown earth.
Then…..along came 10 January when the heavens opened up and our region was inundated.  The water raged down the mountains, forging its own course.  Creeks overflowed and all the water raced towards the townships in the Valley like an inland tsunami.  The brown murky water took all in it’s path.  Some people lost their lives, and many people lost their home and all their possessions.  We will never forget 10 January 2011 and the victims of this freak event.
My quilt morphed into a remembrance of this event with it’s dark stormy sky, muddy waters and “debris” (found items).  Thank you to my friend Shirley for some of the found items used here and for helping me with ideas on putting it together.
Now, I am very behind and must start my February quilt.  I have ideas for both February and March and it is April already- Yikes!!!

What to Blog About?

Because it has been a while, there is just too much catching up to do.  So, where to start and what to blog about today?

Maybe the studio journal happenings.  Right.  Shirley and I have had a few sessions together and got a bit done on our studio journals in between her hospital visits.

In the first lesson we were asked “why” and I made this my front page.  Used watercolour pencils here.

Cut out done on freezer paper and then stencilled on fabric.  As seen in Quilters Arts Gift Magazine.

Draw as I stitch.

Colour my day.

On the right, a photocopy of a shell painted in watercolours and chopped up and on the left, designs from the shell exercise.  I am very proud of the sashiko design I worked inspired from the shell exercise.  That is what the studio journal as a workhorse is meant to be all about – helping us to design our own work.  I chose some thread colours from the watercolours to perhaps do some of the other designs here. 

I love this prism design I made up from the picture out of a mag on the right.  Think I will work it as a flower.
This studio journal workshop has been a lot of fun.  The final lesson was sent last Tuesday, but I haven’t dipped my toes in the water on that one yet. 
More to come…………..

A Glimpse of Royalty

It was but a glimpse, a flashing smile and he was gone.
Prince William visited Toowoomba yesterday and we were able to just go down the road to see him passing by.

The Royal Watchers

“Now, where is that dashing Prince William?”

Here he comes!!

He’s in the white car behind the blue one.

And he’s gone……
My sister is clutching her Diana tartan scarf and watching wistfully as the car disappears out of sight.
Call us tragic, but it was such a thrill -  and we swear he looked straight at us and gave us one of his radiant smiles.

Basket Cases

A couple of weeks ago, a group of us went to Joan’s little cottage in a village called Cabarlah and had a day making some fabric baskets.  That is Joan’s husband Barry on the left who was tending to their huge garden and avocado orchard.  You are able to get a peep of Joan standing there on their front verandah (rt) The house dates to the 1870’s and Barry and Joan have painted the walls as close as they could get to the original wall colours.  The house was moved to it’s current site from somewhere else quite some years ago.

(Joan in front of the wood pile.)
They still have a wood stove which heats the hot water,warms the house in winter and on which Joan cooks the meals.

Here are the ladies busy sewing their fabric baskets, and the tubes of fabric they have created.

This is what we hoped to achieve or something similar.  ahem…..  But, being in the true spirit of ‘handmade’ none of them have turned out quite like this.  I will post photos when I am able to get all the girls’ bags together.
Mine is ummmm very different.  Only a mother could love it! 

Just have to make some handles for it now and it is going to sit on my work table and hold bits and pieces.  At least it will be a talking point.

Showing more birthday gifts

My sweet friends from quilting invited me to morning tea and presented me with gifts on my birthday.  I am so blessed to have  such lovely friends.

Marleen gave me this gorgeous bag.  Think I will take it to quilting club tomorrow!  She has put pockets inside and included a little note book for me. (She knows how forgetful I am :-)  She also had a retractable tape measure tucked into one of the pockets. Very handy. 

Joan really spoiled me and gave me all these treasures.  The tatting is some of her Mums and some of the antique laces and cottons are from her Grandmother. I feel privileged that she should give them to me.  She included a lovely cake of soap as well.  Thank you my dear friend.

Yvonne has been making these gnome pj bottoms for all her friends and I had my fingers crossed she would make me a pair for my birthday.  She did not disappoint me.  These are so fun, and tonight it is cool enough for me to give them their first outing.  

I am a little behind with my posting but next post I hope to tell you about a fabulous day we had sewing up some fabric baskets.  Mine is still a work in progress as I decided to unpick some of it.  My husband said it was looking more like a huge Rastafarian beret !!!

Another Birthday and Sweet Friends and a Rant

 Does anyone else use Picasa to upload photos directly from the "blog this" button?  Well for the past couple of weeks IT WILL NOT WORK!!  It is so frustrating.  Is there someone out there more bloggy technical able to instruct me on how to upload photos without first having to compress them?  Picasa does this automatically, but it seems a lot of people are having issues with it right now and Google hasn't fixed it!!@@@???!!!


My birthday was about 2 weeks ago, but I am just getting around to blogging it.  Life seems to be getting busier and busier instead of the expected slow down. 
One of the sweetest ladies in Blogland, Judy, from cjstitching and blooms sent me some wonderful gifts for my birthday.  All the way from Michigan.  Thank you so much, Judy.  Big hugs to you.

Some beautiful fabric, a special pin which she made herself, and a laying tool which her husband made and it is painted in my fave colour:-)  That is the really neat card on the right of the picture.  A town being covered in a whirlwind of quilts.  The card is from Sisters, Oregan.  Looks like a great place to visit - well one can dream!

My younger daughter sent me these lovely flowers and the older one gave me this gorgeous vase from House and Garden (oooh love that shop). 

 P.S.
 Shirley is still in hospital and we hope she is going to be discharged tomorrow.  We will have to just see how her blood test comes back in the morning.  She is feeling much much better and itching to get home and start reading all her emails and messages.