Inspiration & Update

Hi to all who have been following the fire updates here in Victoria. Thankfully I have not been under direct threat where I live, but it has been a tense few weeks as I work in an area which has been directly threatened by the fires. I also visited a client the other week who had lost everything and to see the devastation first-hand was inexplicable....but the determination and courage shown by my client and many thousands in similar circumstances is really humbling and makes me extremely thankful for my own situation.

Last weekend my local group of patchworking buddies organised a 2 day workshop with the wonderful Gloria Loughman. If you ever get the opportunity to do a workshop with her, go for it....it was so inspiring. It was also a most welcome relief for me to stop listening to fire updates on the radio and to actually create something.
The workshop we chose to do was called "Layer by Layer". We could use one of Gloria's patterns or interpret our own photo or inspiration.

So here is my starting photo.....I took this photo when I visited "Cloudhill" earlier in the year.

and here is my interpretation of it....

Enjoy your weekend !

Amazing Photo

With all the devastation and heartbreak around Victoria at present, I just had to share this photo which is currently doing the rounds....and yes, it is real. The link to the whole video footage is here.

Just felt the need for a little encouragement...

Weather Extremes!

Thought I would do a quick update, especially for those of you living overseas who may be wondering about the Bushfires currently happening in Australia at present. I live in an area on the outskirts of Melbourne which is commonly known as the "Urban Fringe". This generally describes where the suburbs abutt bushland. There has been a long history in Australia of bushfires and with the extremes of weather we have been experiencing, this means that those of us on the fringes are at much greater risk of bushfires.


I have been prepared for some time if fire directly hits my home, and yesterday with temperatures reaching the mid to high 40's (that is celsius....) I kept checking at the back of my property where I have a bush trail to see if there was anything happening. In Melbourne itself yesterday it reached 46.4 (115 Fahrenheit)...and in the outer areas and inland it reached up to the high 40's...

Anyway, late in the day, my neighbour came in and asked had I seen what was happening out the front.....and the picture above is what presented itself as I stepped onto my front verandah....needless to say, it was pretty scary.... thankfully though (for me) the wind was blowing the smoke in the opposite direction to my area....but I did spend the night waking regularly to check the news....Sadly there have been many lives lost throughout these fires and many many homes and even whole towns lost to these fires....I think it will particularly affect the area where I work as it is even further out from the city with much more dense bush....A couple of towns within relatively short distances from my work have been devastated and my thoughts at this time are particularly with some of my work colleagues who live in or close to these areas.

In contrast though, are the major floods currently being experienced in the far north of our country, particularly in Queensland....Talk about extremes.

Anyway, I would ask that those who are inclined, to please pray for our country, the amazing job the Emergency Services Personnel are doing and for those who have already lost loved ones and property and those still under threat. May God bring relief to the devastating drought conditions and fires here down south....and also relief to those suffering loss from floods up north.

Coping with heat and stuff

I realise that my posts have been a bit thin on the ground the past couple of weeks.....having returned to work and getting through a heatwave that we are experiencing here in Melbourne has meant that not much sewing has been done.....I have managed to do a bit of reading which has been nice..

Staying Cool.....I am blessed to have an air-conditioner in my bedroom....I find that if I can't get to sleep, am pretty much a write-off the next day....so this has been a great relief in the night time...

I am also a huge coffee fan...I don't drink lots of it, but I am very snobby about drinking good quality coffee....well, it has been too hot to have my regular lattes, so one of my favourite's is to make an iced coffee....you basically make one shot of espresso, stuff a large glass with ice-cream (about 4 scoops) and pour the espresso over the ice-cream...I must admit though, I do let the espresso cool down to room temperature or even pop it in the fridge to get really cold if I am not in a hurry.

I mentioned in my last post that I have been doing some pattern testing for Melly and Me...well here is a sneak peek of the fabrics I am using for the latest things I have been working on.....

Updates, News, etc

Wow, I can hardly believe a week has passed since my last post. I returned to work on Monday having had 3 weeks of holiday. I was only meant to have 2, but decided in the 2nd week of my break that I wasn't ready to go back to work (Is anyone EVER ready to go back to work after a holiday???). So now the weekend has come around again....yay...

I received some fun mail this week...late last year I participated in this swap and ended up making 2 quilts for 2 different people. Well, the person who was supposed to send to me never eventuated so the hostess of the swap very kindly made me this lovely little quilt...I just LOVE it...the colours are so me


and then the person who I was an "angel" to (because her partner never made her a quilt) sent me a little bundle of goodies including a bag pattern, some fabric, notepads and lip balm...all so unexpected....and my dear friend Sue sent me a beautiful cross-stitch pincushion.


and then with some money I received for Christmas, I purchased this lovely book.....it is definitely beautiful eye candy for this lover of all things blue and white!!!! These are just a few of my favourite shots in the book....go over here to see more of what this amazing designer does...

I also made this in my holidays....would really love your opinion....

I am also am particpating in this pincushion of the month...and have made these so far



and probably one of the most exciting pieces of news is that I am helping doing some pattern testing for Melly and Me...but can't say or show too much as it is major secret business!!! But I feel so blessed to be able to help out.....


oh and finally, this post has become much longer than I anticipated...an update on my UFO's...well not, much. I have been busy doing a few other things....but here is a photo of my next major UFO which I only started early in 2008 so I am not feeling too stressed about it....we have our final class with Leanne next month...yep, it is her "Butterfly Garden BOM"...I have pieced all the mini blocks and now only need to do all the masses of needleturn applique and stitchery....



a close up of my first completed block.....

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

Yes folks....tonight I went and saw Shakespeare's "Much Ado about Nothing".... a very silly but enjoyable comedy...with my good friends Phil and Lucy. It was on at Cloudhill....with the most beautiful gardens in the hills near where we live....it was held in the open ampitheatre and we were blessed with a most gorgeous evening....it has been quite warm here in Melbourne today but is always a few degrees cooler in the hills. So armed with some yummy goodies to eat and drink, we headed off to sit on the grass, enjoy each others company and watch the play. Beforehand and during the intermission, we enjoyed a wander around the gardens...for those living in Melbourne or visiting, they are WELL worth a visit....

There are many "garden rooms" throughout the property and as you wander along the different paths, you are led off into other beautiful areas....and there are some wonderful sculptural elements throughout including many decorative gates...so much inspiration!

I just love these mosaic urns....so tempting to try mosaics....no Lisa....no....no more hobbies!!!!!

Next on my list

I promised last week to put up some photo's of more of my works in progress/UFO's....so here is my next major priority for the year. I actually don't have THAT much more to do on it...just some more ribbon embroidery. I think I came to a standstill with this project because I really don't like the quilt anymore....which is a real shame as I purchased the pattern and fabrics as a Block of the Month too many years ago to mention....let's just say I was early into my patchworking days and hadn't really developed a sort of style...mind you, many of the fabrics back then really weren't me....I do much prefer the light, bright, clear colours which are so much more in abundance nowadays. I anticipate that this will be a quilt which will be given away once it is completed.

Now, for an update on my pinwheels for my "Wedding Quilt".....I am about halfway through them....though I do have a confession to make....when I was cutting the fabrics a few weeks ago, I realised that I may run short of fabric (yes....I can hear the raucous laughter from those of you who have seen my stash)...of the fabrics I had collected for this particular quilt...so I worked out a way to cut the fabrics much more economically...so the other night, I decided to sew up the fabrics into half square triangles....and voila....easy peasy pinwheels....I still have more than 30 still to be hand pieced...but I am feeling much less overwhelmed at the task....

Stay tuned for the next on my list....