Quilt - Finished

There is going to be a new label added to my posts "Quilts- finished". I wonder how many posts are going to make there way there?? No doubt there will be a whole lot more in the "works in progress" label!!

This quilt was started waayyyyyy back in about 2001. My sister-in-law picked it out of the Australian Patchwork and Quilting book ,"Colourful Scrap Quilts". She picked it out to go with her new sofa which was in the blue colour, similar to the border on the quilt. It is a quilt by Michelle Marvig and she called it "Amish Monkey Wrench".
In my case, it was more like a "monkey wretch". From go to woe I had big troubles with this quilt, which is why it probably sat in the cupboard unfinished for so long. Piecing is not my forte and things didn't go well there, and then I did a bit of accidental cutting as I was trying to "square" the quilt up and left a few of the seam allowances a bit scant. Oh yeah, if it can be done I can do it. Then, I stretched one of the inner border to fudge a fit, and that came back to bite me in the rear when it came to quilting it. Some things do not "quilt out".

The most enjoyable part of the whole process for me was the hand quilting. It mostly ran smoothly, except the outer border was meant to be done in a cable, and none of the stencils I tried fitted, so I went for the old grid quilting. By the end of all the grids, I just about had that little quilting stitch mastered. The hand quilting alone took about 2 years to complete. Usual explanation - there were many projects in between.

By now, of course, my sister-in-law, Annette, has totally refurbished and redecorated and no longer has the blue sofa. Oh well, she is still getting this quilt and I know she is going to really appreciate it and love it. She possibly won't even remember choosing it, and it is going to be a real surprise when I present it to her on Dec 20th.
Annette is currently undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer and is feeling very low and a little worse for wear.

The label reads
"Annette's Quilt"
Made for Annette J......
'A quilt to warm your body and comfort your soul'

I am blessed to have five of the bestest sister-in-laws - love 'em all.

Selvage Star

Linda - You're a STAR *****

Linda is featured on the Selvage blog today. They are showing her fab selvage totes. Check it out selvageblog.blogspot.com

It seems to be neverending what can be made from selvages.

What a week....

It's been "one of those" weeks. It all started on Melbourne Cup Day, when we had a call from our daughter to say she was going to the hospital with contractions and bad pain. (She was only 33 weeks along). She lives 3 hours away, so I was feeling a little helpless.

Our son-in-law is very capable and caring, and they were in constant contact with us. By Thursday morning, I had decided I must go and be with them. The good news is - all is well - and she was home Friday morning, so I stayed on for a few days and "spoilt" them.

During this time, life dealt other annoying little problems, but they all paled into insignificance.
Needless to say, it all ended with a big headache yesterday.

Whilst sitting around, (can't do much else) and feeling a little sorry for myself, I clicked onto Martha Stewart on cable and she was talking to Dr. Maya Angelou. Dr Angelou said something which resonated in me and switched on a light bulb. "If life deals you bad things, take an attitude of gratitude". So I got to thinking......

We are so grateful for the hospital care our daughter received at Nambour Hospital. The doctors, the nursing staff, the midwives, were all outstanding, and even the food was good.

We are so grateful for modern medicine.

We are so grateful for valued friends and family who gave their support.

We have much to be grateful for.

I am very grateful to be living in Australia, land of beauty and bounty, where we have peace, freedom of speech and freedom of choice.

When I got home on Tuesday I had an urge to go into the garden and work. Physical work (not too much), seems to get rid of some pent up emotions in me!!!

Stained Glass Finished

Finally, I have finished this little stained glass project I started back a couple of months ago. It was such a fun project to do, sooooo I have started another. It is a Santa Claus and because it is one of those lovely overcast, showery spring days, it is going to be the perfect afternoon to sew. I am up to sewing on all the little black bias strips and have purchased an open toe applique foot for my sewing machine to make it a little easier.

Headache Dayze

If you are a headache sufferer you have my complete understanding and empathy.

I know people around you cannot understand how you may be completely lucid and full of life one hour and down in a screaming heap a few hours or less later.
I know the frustration of not being able to do what you want to do when you want to do it.
I know the pain.
I know the disappointment when you are unable to attend a function or something which you have been looking forward to.
I know how taking too many non-prescription cures can cause havoc with your body.

There are three headache phases in my life right now.

1. Headache - Free Days (last about 3-7 days)
2. Headache - mild to severe - All day (last about 3-7 days)
3. Migraine - Knockem down and out (last about 1-2 days)

This is what I have decided. On "headache free days" I do as much as I can of the things I can't do when I have the "headache all day".
On "headache all day" days I do mundane chores which require no concentration whatsoever.
Today, I am making a list of all those things I may be able to do on "headache all day" days.
Of course, Murphy's Law states, you are unable to do those things you enjoy most on "headache all day" days, such as sewing (hand or machine).
Needless to say, "Knockem down and out" days are simply wasted.

Let me know how you deal with headaches if you are in my camp!!!

PS - Cause unknown..........................

Crazy Block No 3 - The "Dianne" Block

This Block is all about Moi. There is no guessing anymore about how old I am huh? Another 54 would be nice, in fact, I may need another 54 years to get through all the UFO's!

When I was about 15 years old, I was wanting to pursue my love of making music. My mother was a talented pianist and I had dropped out of piano lessons. They were too structured towards the classical and I was wanting to play popular music like my Mum. She could not teach me, as she did not read music and played totally by ear. I could also play by ear, but wanted a more portable instument so that I could join a band. My Dad came up with the saxaphone, an instrument he had always loved the sound of. They bought me a sax, and my Mum drove me twice a week to the nearest music shop which was about 20klms away, and I was taught by a wonderful man called Cliff. Cliff loved music from "hip" groups like "Tijuana Brass" and such, and he also encouraged me to join an old time dance band to learn the old time favourites which I loved. For a couple of years I spend Saturday nights playing in a small old time band all around our district. Of course at about age 17 I was looking for something a bit more stimulating. A group of us local teenagers formed a band called "Impulse". We didn't last too long, but had a lot of fun putting together our "gigs".

Much later, when the children had grown up a little, and we were living in Rainbow Beach, I dragged the sax out of it's box again and joined a couple of locals to form a trio. We played at a few functions, but most of the enjoyment was from simply getting together and making music.

I had fun embroidering it on my block and remembering all the joy it has brought me through the years. I still have my original sax and get it out occasionally to blow the cobwebs out.

More about block 3 later..............

Post Exhibition

At last, after several weeks, I have gingerly entered my sewing room (it is in rather a mess), stepping over all the aftermath of the exhibition, I managed to sew this.

My daughter and I salvaged an old basket I had kicking around, and I sewed a lining for it in this cutesy baby fabric. It will hold all that baby "stuff" in their nursery. It is getting exciting now, with only a couple of months to go before we welcome our first grandchild. Yes... it is a girl.

I have been very busy these past few weeks leading a committee to organize our quilt club's exhibition. It all went very well, and the members who came along on roster all enjoyed themselves interacting with each other and meeting new people. The quilts were stunning, and on Saturday, we will find out who took out "viewers choice".

My organizational skills were tested to the max (considering my New Year's Resolution every year is to get organized!!). Co-ordinating things to happen when, how and where they were supposed to happen was the easy bit. Dealing with all the different personalities of the members was a little more tricky, and called for all the diplomacy I could muster. One can only do one's best, and if I take on a job, I do it to the best of my ability and see it through. We are having a "post exhibition" meeting on Saturday where I will be giving many recommendations to the next committee. I will post some photos after Saturday, once I get permission from a few people to do so.

Now in the next couple of months, I will catch up on some of "my sewing" finishing off a few UFO's before our new granddaughter arrives and life takes us in a new direction.