things that caught my eye...

*Warning - photo heavy*
On the spur of the moment I decided to go to the Eastern Palliative Care Quilt show which was held at Nunawading for the last two days... I read about it on G's blog and I couldn't decide whether I wanted to go or not. I haven't been to any exhibitions all year as I have really begun to dislike the noise and the crowds these days - a sign of age - perhaps... I tend to put it down to I work in retail five days a week and I appreciate the peace and quiet.   Anyway, I digress - as this exhibition was very local - literally up the road - I made a decision to go reasonably early... I spent a delightful couple of hours just looking and camera snapping... My prowess with a camera is not good but I guess you get the general idea.... These were just a few of the many that were on show... To see more visit G's blog which is dedicated to the quilt shows she visits...

They even had a few traders stalls and I was tempted - and succumbed...

Christmas Wreath Rosalie Quinlan Designs - a beautiful Christmas red work design that I have had my eye on since I saw it on her blog

Two patterns by Gail Pan - her work is gentle, whimsical and inviting. Again I have been watching these since I saw them on her blog.

Now I have tried to keep this blog  fairly true to my  stitching endeavors or more of late - lack of. But last week we had a chidren's book come into the store that has  teased my imagination  I was so taken with it I bought it... David Wiesner  is the author and illustrator of this highly imaginative story. There are no words however the pictures tell the story beautifully....

What catches my interest with Flotsam??  I love the tease of 'what if ' - a boy finds an underwater camera floating in the waves and 'what if' when he develops the film he see something more than he expects to. I could see this work translating exceptionally well into a piece of cloth art... 

Enjoy - until later take care

S xx

just another weekend...

What can I say... Picture this if you will... Friday- late afternoon - just home from work - the relief that at last it is the weekend... I change into my oldest, daggest clothes - P makes a cup of tea... I decide to have my cuppa out the back and read a few pages of my book - P takes Matilda our cat on her usual supervised walk.. The bliss, the quiet, only the screech of the cockatoo next door to break the peace... Suddenly the cat hurtle passes past me as P shouts - Matilda  yowling. P catches up - she has been stung by a bee he says, apparently she wanted to get up close and personal and the bee wasn't too keen. Matilda is still crying and can't put her paw to the ground. I ring the vet - bring her in immediately - I am told. We all get in the car - E with Matilda in the cat cage - talking reassuringly to her - by this time Matilda is panting... We get to the vet which is only a few minutes away - as we walk in Matilda vomits... We are taken straight in - Matilda is examined - her heart is racing and her temperature is high - in the space of less than 15 minutes - Matilda has had quite an allergic reaction to the sting. She given two very big injections and then we wait to see how she goes... Within about 10 minutes she has cooled down and her heart beat has returned to more or less normal... Within half an hour later we are on our way home again... We are all subdued - the vet had explained that animals, like humans can have varying reactions to bee stings from irritating to fatal - Matilda it seems - falls into the quite allergic category and perhaps if we hadn't see it happen and acted quickly it could have been a lot worse... So much for our quiet night...

Saturday P took me up to Patchwork with Gail B  for me to choose some material for the embroidered blocks I have been doing. I just adore that shop - I don't get to go there all that often but every time I do I come out sated... P took his book and sat in the car - he knew he could be in for a long wait... I wandered for probably a good half hour before I sought some help... The young woman who assisted me was wonderful and  she gave me some really good ideas... The red and green material I chose was one of the ones I had first looked at - the patterned material was in the same range and will break up each of the blocks... Again I was given the idea to fussy cut the patterned material so that it 'married together' the shape of the embroidery shapes and the two solid coloured borders. The overall look of the quilt will be light and fresh rather than traditional Christmasy which is what I wanted. Hopefully when I have my 'long' weekend in a couple of weeks I can achieve a little more... I am quite nervous about cutting into it...

While I was there I spotted this - I had promised myself I would buy this when Leanne Beasley said that it would be available for sale - I hadn't made it to Urban Stitches a few weeks ago and this was one of the kits featured... I am looking to start this when the Christmas quilt is finished... Perhaps it will be my new start for 2012...

I also picked up these two... I am magazine hopeless - really I am... They are my addiction. G, a pattern for the pantieflashers will be in Mollie Makes no 4...

I loved this design in Leanne's Vignette... I just love the colour ways... This design is crooking its little finger and begging for me to follow - but I shall resist....

Well, enough from me. To you all out there have a good week and take care...

S xx

a place of one's own..

... as much as I said I wouldn't I just couldn't help myself with this one... I have followed this lady's blog - Allie's in Stitches - for a number of years - I have always marveled at the work she produced so when I heard that she had had a book published I just couldn't wait to see it...Especially as it arrived in the shop without me having to order it - temptation overload!!!! I have only had time to glance at it briefly but from the little I have seen it looks like a good book to have on the shelf... 

What the???? You may well ask... This Ladies and Gentlemen... is my brand new table/desk...I saw this at Office Works and knew straight away that it would work... Well, actually it took two visits with a measure up at home to make sure that it was 'the one'... I decided against a conventional desk as I wanted it more 'table like' so I can use it in the middle of the room or if I choose have my sewing machine on one end and still have extra space to move around it without knocking my legs on drawers underneath. It is white and glossy and all mine... I have managed to get it into my little room and 'positioned' - if only you could see the chaos behind me as I took the photo... A chair will make it perfect but I finally have a space albeit a claustrophobic one - a room of one's own...Bliss!!!! What can I do first - probably sort out the mess you can't see!!!


Slowly the house is coming together and feeling more like home... 


I even have my eye on P's CD tower - it would make fabulous fat 1/4 storage - just the right shape -all those lovely colors against a square white surround... Nothing is safe or sacred here... :)

....last but not least I have finished block nine... I just have to  rejig block eight and  I have finished all the embroidery - now to put it all together into a quilt top...


Until later take care..


S xx
  

Well, I have at last put thread through needle and made some progress on the last stitchery of Gail Pan's 2009 free BOM Christmas block - even if it took a trip to the local hospital to accomplish it... Before you are concerned for me -it wasn't me - but rather P - my other half -who woke in the early part of the morning experiencing chest pains... As we raced out the door I grabbed my book and my stitching pack which had had pride of place in the middle of the coffee table for weeks now... Nine hours later we returned home - P with the relative all clear and me with some stitching accomplished... Now if only I can keep the momentum going - even if is just to finish it...

Through  the week I borrowed this book - Stitched Postcards - from the library - not sure if I will ever make another stitched postcard but it was an interesting little book to browse... E bought me a pack of craft magazines  - nice little heart wall hanging - perhaps another for the 'to do' list...

Another flower from my garden...

Until later, take care...

S xxx