PRIZE WINNING QUILTS ... FOR SALE, TOO!

My very first quilt (the green and red one) is called Evening Rose and is a single bed/lap quilt size (147.5cm/58" x 168.5cm/66.5").  $470

The second quilt I made finished (the blue and yellow one) is called Star Bright and is a lap quilt/wall hanging size (138.5cm/54.5" x 140cm/55").  $365

The third quilt I finished (the pink, cream and green one) is called Butterfly Kisses and is a receiving/cot blanket size (75cm/29.5" x 95cm/37.5").  $140

The fourth quilt finished (the cream and black circlet with pink ribbon) is called Wreath of Roses and is a wall hanging which is also a giant/continental size cushion cover (79cm/31" x 83cm/32.5").  $180

MY LIFE NEEDED A NEW DIRECTION ... SO I CHOSE QUILTING

When life throws you a few nasty curve-balls, and you need to find a new interest (and friends), try quilting!  Definitely not cheap, but extremely rewarding and the women are so much fun - all in all very therapeutic.

Here's some of what I've been up to ...

English paper-piecing is something I never thought I'd do as it is all hand-sewing, but I couldn't face crocheting another to keep my fingers busy when I was out and about or couldn't use my sewing machine, so when I saw the "This Goes With That" pattern by Sue Daly of Patchwork With Busy Fingers I got over my revulsion for hexagons and have been enjoying this for a couple of years now:

Here is one person's interpretation of the pattern:
http://qfdcreative.com.au/blog/this-goes-with-that-and-the-fussy-cut-club-block-of-the-mont.html


And here is the original pattern from Sue Daley:
http://www.busyfingerspatchwork.com/shop/product/this-goes-with-that-quilt/


And here is what I've done so far (actually I've done a whole lot more, I just haven't photographed them yet):

FOR SALE - Collectible Piquot Ware Tray Set

Piquot Ware  (expensive and collectible)  matching creamer, sugar bowl and tray.

Highly polished aluminium magnesium alloy (one piece castings - machine finished) with sycamore wood handles.  This set is stamped "T6" and may date from as early as 1949.

Collection from Evanston/Gawler.  Would like $40 for the set.

Beautiful Handcrafted Items

I have a dear friend, Anna, who makes the loveliest felt and felted items (pencil toppers, dolls, purses, book covers), the majority of which are Catholic themed, though not all, and markets them under the name of Stitchin' Traditions.

Another friend (albeit a cyber-friend) is promoting Anna's wares via her blog page (http://starrymantle.blogspot.com.au/), however the full range of items can best be viewed at her Etsy page:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/StitchinTraditions?ref=si_shop

Pop over and take a look and these unique and sweet items!

A long time between drinks ...

Hi folks

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted - life has taken some twists and turns that we hadn't planned on, and that have taken quite a while to accept and get used to.

In December 2010 we had to sell and move from our beautiful old country house on 5 semi-bush acres and move to a township block further north.  We were very sad to leave our secluded property but, as we are still in a country town, all is not lost.  Fortunately the township has proved to be reasonably quiet and friendly, too

Another enormous change has been that our homeschooling journey has come to an end (at least for the time being) - the stresses and uncertainties of the lat 18-24 months have played havoc with my health as well as the overall well-being of the whole family, so the very difficult decision was made to put our boys into school.  I am praying that by the end of the year various factors will have improved which may enable one or all of the boys to return to homeschooling.

In the meantime I have been filling some of the empty hours through the day with my new hobby, which is patchwork quilting, and am hoping to be able to make items to sell as an aid to our poor financial position (excuse the pun!).

All we can do is focus on the positives in order to move forward, and hope that these new directions lead us to a better place in life.

Cheers!

Tanunda Country Show, 14 March 2009

Yesterday we spent 6 hours at the Tanunda Show (can't believe the boys behaved themselves soooo well that we could actually stay that long!). It was absolutely fabulous - all the bands, all the acts, everything!

This is only the second show that we entered stuff in (the first was the Angaston Show a fortnight ago, and that was only some colouring pages advertising the show that were in the local newspaper). We were soooooo blown away … we actually won some classes!!!

-- Needlework, any article or technique not previously specified – I put in a huge hot pink and purple shawl I wove … and won 3rd place!

-- Hens Eggs, brown shell – 1st place !!!!!

-- Digital Photo, people – I put in a photo of Blake sleeping … and won 1st place!!! My Father was a professional photographer for over 40 years and I'm sure he was rolling over in his grave, as my photography used to be so bad that it got to a point where he refused to process any more of my films because he was so embarrassed about how bad they were!

-- Colour print, childrens’ section, open – Blake put in a photo he took on my mobile phone while he was spinning around … and won 3rd place

-- Childrens’ Art and Craft, free painting – Blake won 2nd place for his "fireworks" painting

-- Childrens’ Art and Craft, scrapbooking – James won 3rd in his age category for his scrapbooking page from last year's Medieval Fair (he got to wear chain mail and armour!)

-- Childrens’ Art and Craft, scrapbooking – David won 2nd in his age category

And I got to go in the dairy goat milking competition … and came second to last out of 7 people. It was an absolute hoot and David caught in using the video feature on my mobile phone, so once I can work out how to upload it to my blog page you can see me crawling around on the ground after a rather cantankerous goat!

2008 in Retrospect - Driving Holiday

Well, this entry was supposed to be the first in the series entitled "2008 in Retrospect", but I goofed. Oh well.

This year we haven't been able to affort to go on homeschool camps or even to go on our usual driving holidays, so the last time we went away was back in January 2008. We went to Pt Pirie, Jamestown, Canowie Belt, Apilla and Apilla Springs, Whyalla and Whyalla Norrie, Pt Augusta, Moonta Bay and Moonta, Wallaroo, Pt Vincent and Edithburg.

Our preferred choice of accommodation is cabins in caravan parks, but as it was school holidays, and Christmas to boot, we ran into problems finding vacancies along the way, so for Moonta Bay and Pt Vincent we were forced to upgrade to the significantly more expensive option of holiday homes.

Along the way we picked up our friend Ya-Ya, who was able to enjoy a free holiday with us for part of our journey as we visited various beaches and homeschoolers, too.

Our trip started ominously as we left very late, then had a minor collission less than an hour from home (from which the culprit sped away !!!), then we made a navigational error and ended up more than half an hour in the opposite direction, then we became temporarily misplaced trying to get back to where we should have been up to, and then once we were on our way properly a tyre on our trailer shredded! So in 42+ degree heat, on a sandy siding, with millions of flies, my poor husband tried to change the tyre - fortunately a passing local stopped to give a bit of a hand.

The rest of the trip was reasonably uneventful, except for when I walked full force into an air conditioning unit sticking out of the side wall of one of our cabins - I've never been so close to fainting as all went black and my legs began to give way beneath me! Fortunately my husband, who never breaks into a run, must have decided that the squawk he heard come from me sounded sufficiently serious enough that he managed to dash and catch me before I hit the ground. I had a lovely nap in the cabin after that ...

But really, overall it was a great trip ... um, except for when David gashed his foot open on a razor fish (not really a fish at all, but a huge shell).

I do miss our little driving holidays.


Photo #1: playing chess with Daddy in one of the hotels at Jamestown

Photo #2: fun with old tyres while waiting for a new tyre to be fitted in Pt Pirie

Photo #3: wading in the rock pools after dinner at Moonta Bay

Photo $4: climbing the cliffs with homeschool friends at Apilla Springs