growth

 

AQ Brown challenge: Growth

my much neglected blog

 Wow, it is almost a year since I posted on here. Realistically, probably one of the most 'different' years of my life. Not necessarily in a bad way but in the adjustment to a completely new retired lifestyle in a new and totally different location. 

Anyhoo - I'll resurrect this blog and see if it still works for me. 

I'll begin with a few snaps from the year neglected:

finished!

Finished!
On reflection, I realise it is 3 years since I last finished a quilt - Iggy's second birthday quilt. To say I'm not very productive is an understatement. No wonder there are so many things I forget. Eventually, it comes back to me but it can take a while - like how to adjust bobbin tension when machine quilting this quilt. There's another one to go and finish now - hopefully a bit faster this time.

fabric.com

I'm not usually a promotor on retail outlets but am excited to discover fabric.com as it has this amazing design wall feature. If you sign up you get to keep your design wall. You can add fabrics to it and them move them around to see which goes with what. Extremely handy tool when shopping for fabric online and just a place to play with colour generally.

where's you mother when you need her?

When she was 83, I asked my mum to teach me to crochet. I kinda left it a bit late considering the plethora of crochet hats and ponchos fashionable in the 60s. The requirement was to make a crochet blanket for my first grandchild which I diligently achieved. But lately, I've been fantasising about a crochet throw for my sofa. Like I need another blanket? This reminded me of the Granny Square Book I purchased on a whim during that crochet phase. I hunted it out, finding Mum's instruction book tucked inside it. I had hunted for that book when mum passed away last year. Turns out I had it all along.  I chose the flower centre square I would like to use - oh so confident! Then off I went to Knitworld and purchased a selection of the most delicious coloured pure NZ wool ready to begin. But that's where progress ended. The afternoon was spent on the sofa willing myself to remember how on earth to do this? Youtube to the rescue. Gradually the synapses began to connect and it started coming back to me. I'll keep practising the simple granny square for a while before attempting the 'intermediate' flower pattern I fancy. Let's face it, a knitter and a crocheter I am not!

reunited

I have just been reunited with an 'old friend' - a quilt I made apparently in 1991! Just seems like yesterday. I collected purple and brown fabrics for two years to make it and still love the colour combination.  I haven't actually seen it for 13 years as it got left behind when I left. Have often wondered why I did that?
Anyway with my ex's passing, we have been cleaning out his house - that's a whole other story. I really believed it was gone but... in the last box in the very last corner - there it was. In good condition other than in need of a good wash which has been duly done by hand in the shub. I knew I kept that shub for a reason. And it has dried in the warm autumn sun.
Welcome back Tyrian. Approximately 150 fabrics, wool batting, hand quilted.

fig and ginger jam

This is the taste of my childhood. I made it for the very first time and it tastes just like Grandma used to make. She had her own fig tree, purely for the purpose of making this jam.

celebrating kaffe

Today I wandered out my front door to find a parcel of Kaffe shot cottons that had arrived, all the way from America.

Any then my friend Paula, completely out of the blue, sent me a link to a Kaffe video. It must be a day for celebrating Kaffe.
This is the link she sent me.


Then I explored Vimeo for some more movies and found these two:


Kaffe 2014: The Colourful World of Kaffe Fassett from Animated Magic on Vimeo.


Meet Kaffe Fassett on Creativebug from Creativebug on Vimeo.
It just makes you want to get out all your fabrics and start playing!

busy as a bee...

...with a bum full of honey! It's one of my favourite expressions - always brings a smile to my face. As a lover of blue flowers, my garden is full of these busy bees doing their thing. Thank you bees.

spring in my garden

Blue daisy, pansy, magnolia. 

kaffe

How cool is this new website to view Kaffe' fabrics. You click on the colour you're looking for and it gives you a selection of Kaffe's fabrics!
http://morecloth.com/gloriouscolor/

echinacea

I love echinacea flowers. It's just the way they hold their heads up I think.

2012

My New Year's resolution is less specific than the usual but hopefully more effectual - to be more precise in everything I do - teaching, reading, photography, decision making, communicating,  even shopping!
Photos? - nothing to do with it but amazing what you can shoot from your back door step in little old hammyhole! Happy New Year!

Sunrise

Sunrise on the way to work.

Indian Summer

It has been an amazing summer. It's the middle of May and still mild but apparently the southerlies are on their way. We can't complain, in fact I'm almost looking forward to some cold.