well...

... I just couldn't resist this little face which emerged from amongst the jumble of craft bits and bobs at the local op-shop... As soon as I pulled it out from the drawer I knew that it was coming home with me... I have scanned it so it is not the greatest of pictures...

What do I intend doing with it? Not sure as always, but at the quick glance I decided to unpick all the foliage, redraw it if necessary and re stitch it in again... It is stitched in what looks like some ply of, I assume, tapestry wool... I am wondering if it was all stitched by the same person as the koala is so well done where the flowers look hurried, almost child like in the stitching - obviously the piece wasn't ever finished and I do wonder what it was destined to be... I would like to make sure it is completed and made into something as for some silly reason I want this little piece to 'live on'...

Any suggestions out there??? I am usually not into this kind of flora and fauna stuff - but this little piece just grabbed at my heart strings... As it is I keep stroking its little head and telling it is home now... Mad aren't I... Now that you don't have to answer :-)

What did it cost me - that and some buttons - the mighty sum of three dollars...

Until next time

Sharon xxx

creating a space....

I have complained for as long as I can remember about not having 'a space' - a space where I can create but as important - leave it undisturbed!!!!! Previously I have had the dining room table - great aspects t0 look at - the park over the road - but a nuisance as we either ate on trays off our knees or I would have to clean up and put away my stitching if we were having visitors or wanted to eat at the table...

For those of you who do that or have done it - nothing cuts into the creative flow more that being under the pump to put away every time you finish 'playing' for the day. Or worse still have a small gap of time to get on with something and have to unpack it before you can 'play'... As we are not likely to shift any time soon or in the position to make changes I had to think more laterally about what we had and how I could make my creative space...

I thought about all the areas in the house that I could utilize - then I had what must have been an inspired thought.... Why didn't I simply pack up my desktop computer that no longer worked, tidy my desk from all the stuff that seems to be attracted to its flat surface. Well I did, and voila - a space appeared!!!!! Now the photos I am showing you are not ' the before' photos but rather ' the after photos' but you get the general idea - a flat surface which is all mine... The shelving off to the side of the desk is full of 'stuff' - some I use most of the time - some I still need to cull... But I do have a flat space in which to spread out, play some and best of all - leave until I can return to it!!! Yay!!!! Happy dance here!!!! Admittedly, I do have to share the room (not the space) and sometimes that can be a little frustrating for both of us however it is something we can work on - but best of all - because it is in another room so I can just walk away from it and close the door if I need to!!!!!!

Why haven't I ever thought about doing it before???? Well, we were/are considering fixing the desktop but until/when that happens I have a space... In the mean time I can push my laptop to one side or remove it to somewhere else if I need all of 'the space'...

I think in some ways it was making me depressed at having no where of my own - even a space such as it is now - to create...

At the moment I am too enthralled at looking at 'the space' to do anything more than type this on my laptop....

In some obscure way I think this is all part of my 'down sizing' - making do with what I have and thinking of new ways to use things - even space!!!!

Until another time

Sharon xx

Not stitching - but page turning...

I'm known amongst my family and friends as liking a bit of a read.. That would be probably be an understatement really... The amount of books contained in the house is frightening - and I am a bit of an obessive compulsive craft magazine buyer - although in fairness to me -I have cut back a fair bit....

This little pile is what I have had beside the bed of late. The three books are library books - I am loving the Jane Brocket's Quilt Making it is packed with great quilts, great photos - just delicious from cover to cover - this title could be one of my own very shortly...

The Embroidered Flora and Fauna book is also brimming with wonderful life like projects in three dimensional embroidery... Mary Corbet does a more indepth review plus pictures over on her Needle 'n Thread website... Worth having a look... Amazing work - the sort of work I will only ever dream about..

The Framer's Wife Sampler Quilt is another great book with insights into American farm wives in the early 1920 and the blocks they inspired... I found the author Lauie Aarron Hird's blog so I will direct you over there for more of a read... I would love to have a go at the blocks - maybe in my next life...

And of course there are the magazines - I am trying to cut down my stash of these but unfortunatley each of these had something worth keeping... The Quilting Arts magazine was bought by daughter's friend for me - see I even have people outside the family buying for me - not that I mind... :-)

The Australian Homespun magazine probaly keeps me upto date with what is going on in the 'local' stitching world... A lot of the blogs I read now was because I found their authors and work inside that magazine... Homespun I buy montly and I have all it editions except two that I know of...

The English Stitch magazine is one of my favorites and I have kept up my order with the local newsagents for it... Have I ever done any of its projects??? No and probaly never will but each copy offers something lovely to dream about...

I couldn't resist this latest edition ofThe World of Cross Stitching magazine as it had the nicest little kit on the front - usually I pass them by as I have enough to stitch for 100 years or more but this little kit was just lovely....

Until next time

Sharon xxx

just to say...

... I haven't faded away - just busy...

trying to keep up...

I think I am getting worse at this blogging stuff - there is just not enough hours in the day and something always falls by the wayside... Most of the time it is the blogging so this morning I thought I would try and catch up a little...

What's in the picture - I was given a voucher by P for Christmas for Zart a local art supplier... And as the time was starting to slip through the hour glass I thought it was about time I spent it... I have long admired these Conte pastel pencils so I put my voucher to very good use and bought them - They are beautiful, bright, clean colours and I feel my pulse quicken everytime I open the tin... I have had a little play with them but I long to have the time and space for more of go...

The book was a find in Tasmania at Fuller's Bookshop - it combines two of my loves - reading and embroidery into a story form... I bought it as I can rarely resist a book which calls to me and I had never seen this title at our shop Dymocks Doncaster. As it turns out the author Prue Batten - is a Tasmanian author and this book is the first in her series Eirie Chronicles" The fact that Prue is 'a local' has promoted it nearer the top of my 'must read in this lifetime' which is a dangerously high pile...

The little packet of bits at the top right of is infact a small Shepherd's Bush needle roll kit I bought from The Needlewoman in Hobart - I love needlerolls and thought that this one would be a reminder of my trip to Tasmania...

The last piece to the picture is of course my cross stitch which I took away with me... As you can see I have made a little progress with it - I have quite enjoyed stitching this as it is easy on the mind as well as on the hand...

Well its time to push the chair back from the desk, close the lid of the laptop and go and find some more earthly chores to do...

Take care until next time...

Sharon xx

Not stitching but...

...we're home and exhausted !!! We did 1200 kms - travelling from one side of Tasmania to the other and then some... P and I are going to set up another blog of our travels as we have two cameras and a phone full of photos which we need to sort through... We had a great time and it was a bit of a shock coming back into the noise and bustle of Melbourne after quiet and serenity of Diamond Island - pictured below - our last stop before home... But not yet - cases to unpack, cats to cuddle and above all a sleep...

* Did I stitch? Yes I did - not a lot but enough to make me happy... I also found a lovely shop called The Needlewoman... Yes G, I did spend money there - but it was difficult not too :)

Margaret A Rowe

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Margaret A Rowe - both author and quilter... Margaret has written two novels in what is to be a series called The Australian Challenge Quilt Series -based around our Australian quilting history...

The Maria Challenge Quilt is the first in the series, followed by The Elizabeth Challenge Quilt with a third novel due to be released shortly... From what Margaret spoke about yesterday I believe the books are set contemporary times with flash backs into our past...

Are they similar to Jennifer Chiaverini's 'Elm Creek' novels? Without me reading Margaret's I can't say for sure, however both series have connections to the past...

It seems that somehow I have missed Margaret's books on my reading quests and I look forward to at some time settling down with one... I had hoped to buy one to take away on holiday with me - but have just found out that the closet store to us doesn't have any on their shelf...

After reading books such as Jennifer Isaac's - The Gentle Arts, Pioneer Women of the Bush and Outback, Margaret Rolfe's Patchwork Quilts in Australia and Australian Quilt Heritage and more recently The Fabric of Society by Annette Gero it has made me think in terms of our own history. I believe too often we overlook our own - perhaps not intentionally, to seek further afield - but it seems such a shame to miss what's 'growing in our own backyard' so to speak...

I have add Margaret's blog to my sidebar under Non Stitching - so give it a visit and say hello...