A Little Bit More of Phebe

Not a lot sewing wise has been going on here this week.  I finally got the iphone business sorted out and I am very very happy with the new phone (with the video camera).

I decided to do a little bit more on Phebe.  When I picked it up, I was up to sewing on the man's head - now I know why I put it down and had a rest from it for a while!

I thought he was bad enough, then I decided to do the girl - she was worse!

I think I unpicked and resewed her hands and her hair about 3 times and now looking at the photo, she has one foot bigger than the other and she is definately having a bad hair day - well, that will be my touch of whimsy????

I finished off the handles of the urn too.  One side was thicker than the other so I had to redo the thick one as well.  I think I have done more pulling out than actual sewing this week.

Tomorrow my friends and I are heading down to Melbourne to the Australasian Quilt Convention.  I am very excited and looking forward to having a fun day with my friends away from the normal routine of life. 

Normally I take my camera, but have very bravely decided to just take the new phone (less weight in the handbag) so I am hoping it will take good photos so show you all when I return.

Sue-Anne xxx

Anzac Day, Klosjes & A Little Frustration

I am a little behind in posting my Saturday Klosjes.  I only got five made this week but am not complaining because I did achieve my weekly minimum.

I now have a grand total of 50! 

You see, yesterday I was preoccupied with this.  After seeing all the clever things the girls can do with their iphones on Friday, I was feeling left behind and disadvantaged with my old Motorola flip phone.  So yesterday morning I was off to the Telstra Shop to rearrange my contract and get a new phone.

I spent the ENTIRE afternoon fiddling with it, setting up all my little bits and pieces, ringing the help line twice and giving myself a massive migrane in the process.  It was about 5pm and I decided I would try out the video camera.  Guess what!  I couldn't find the icon for it.  I rang Amy, she got a new one this week too and to my horror, I discovered I have the old version!!!!!

So now I have to go back to the shop, get the newer phone and hope that the exchange runs smoothly and there are no hiccups with the contract (I'm sure Australian readers will understand my concern with the contract details).  Then I will have to start all over again with setting up all the bits and pieces!  Aarrgh!

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Today in Australia, we commemorate ANZAC Day (Australian & New Zealand Army Corps).

Today we remember all of our fallen soldiers, not only from Gallipoli, but all the conflicts our men and women have fought in so that we may have a better life.

"LEST WE FORGET"

Sue-Anne xxx

Hexagons Again - & A Diversion

I am still hooked on my hexagons at the moment but I did take a little time out to make something else.

This is a book bag, designed by Marg Low that I decided to make for my mum as a gift for Mother's Day.  I have used the beautiful Rural Jardin fabric that I definately need more of to make a quilt in the future.  I am so in love with the colours and pattern, I can't stop looking at that bird!

 

Here are my fabric purchases for the week for Swan Lake hexagons.  I am so addicted to these little flowers and I just want to keep making more in different fabrics.

And seeing as all I seem to be posting about is hexagons, Phebe and Klosjes, I thought I would show you this quilt.  It is called Merry Go Round by American Jane and was made from 3 jelly rolls of Look & Learn.

Sue-Anne xxx

Klosjes, Hexagons and Drifting

Here are my Klosjes for the week - 6 again. This makes a total of 45! I have been focusing on my hexagons this week for Swan Lake so I really haven't got anything new on the patchwork front to show you. I have however, had a huge day today, in my role as a mother of a 23 year old boy who seems to be addicted to the rush of adrenalin. Nic has been working on his Black Beast since Christmas, getting it ready for his big day today. You see, he has discovered drifting. Drifting is racing around a track, fishtailing and going sideways around the corners (I'm sure that's not the official description but this is how it appears to me). When I arrived at the race track, all I could hear were the screeching of tyres, see huge plumes of dark smoke with the smell of burning rubber. This photo shows some of Pit Lane. I was amazed at how many cars had turned out for the day. This is certainly a popular sport with the younger population. Here I am with Nic and his car after his first session around the track. The bonnet was up so the engine could cool down a bit. He was very pleased with himself and I was very pleased he and his car were still in one piece. I must say, in the beginning I was very sceptical and thought it was just for "Hoons" but now I am very impressed with it all. It is very exciting to watch and even though they appear to be out of control, they really are in control of their cars. I think it is a great way for them to push the limits but within a safe and supervised environment.

I have just spent about two hours drafting this post because I wanted to put a video on of Nic driving today. Needless to say, I have had a lot of trouble and I still don't know if it will work once I publish this post. Anyway, here goes... Sue-Anne xxx

Swan Lake & Buddy's Big Day Out!

I have been working exclusively on Swan Lake since I had a class on Friday.  I am about 1/5th of the way through making hexagon flowers and today decided I would lay them out on one of the panels.  I am slowly realising there is a lot more to this quilt than first meets the eye.

I have also fallen in love with a new colour - Black!!!  I have always loved black clothing because it makes me look thinner but now I want to use it in all my quilts.  At class on Friday, Sarah had gathered some blacks together for her quilt.  They looked fantastic so I had to get some too.  Once I made one hexagon flower, that was it.  I think black will be the new brown for me as far as quilts go.

This is only part of the mess I made today!

Sunday saw the annual event of Paws in the Park.  It is run by the local council.  Stalls are all around the park with everything from dog grooming to microchipping and special doggie treats.  They have obedience and flyball demonstrations and an obstacle course for your dog to try.  The weather wasn't the best but lots of people and their dogs still came. 

This is the third year I have taken Buddy and he loves it!  There are so many dogs, big ones, little ones, strange looking ones and oh the smells!!!!!  This is the best photo I could get of him.  There was just too much for him to investigate.  At least I got a shot of his bandana - have to dress him up for a big occasion such as this!

Sue-Anne xxx

Quilts, Old Couches & Lucy

Sue saw a photo of Buddy on a previous post and asked me about this quilt.  The quilt is called "21st Century Bull's Eye" and is in a book from Country Threads called "Quilts from Aunt Amy".

I made this quilt several years ago together with 3 other girls.  Each block we made, we cut into 4 smaller blocks and then gave a block to each girl.  This process enabled us to have a really scrappy quilt with lots of different fabrics.

It was all raw edge machine applique and when the quilt was washed, it came up all fluffy and scrappy.  It remains one of my favourite quilts and no matter which room  I put it in, it always looks good.

 

When I was taking the photos, I thought I would also tell you about the couch that the quilt covers.  This couch belonged to my grandmother.  My mum remembers it as a little girl covered in blue studded leather.  Mum will be 80 this year so I am thinking it must be at least 70 years old. It has remained in our family for many years and has seen several different restorations to the upholstery.  I can remember as a little girl, falliing asleep on it while my father was watching the footy replay on a Saturday night.

Unfortunately, it has seen better days and I was lucky enough to bring it home from the Shearing Shed it had been stored in at mum and dad's. 

One day, I will get it recovered in a fitting fabric and the timber french polished, but for now, it is in our family room with my quilt over it to cover up the stains.  You know, it is still one of the most comfortable pieces of furniture I have ever sat in.

I also wanted to introduce you to Lucy.  She belongs to Chris (my eldest son) and Amy (his fiance) pictured below.  She is adorable and a gentle giant.

Here she is playing with Buddy.  She has to lie down to play with him, otherwise there is no contest.  She loves squeaky toys and if she gets one in her mouth, she squeaks it like she is playing a tune.  It is hilarious.

I spent a whole day over Easter making hexagon flowers and found my wrist was a bit sore the next day so I have been working on Phebe ever since.  Nothing significant more to show at this stage as I have been mainly appliqueing down the pieces I had already prepared.  Whilst I love my handwork, it is slow going as far as blogging goes but I will probably show a photo in my next post.

Sue-Anne xxx

Happy Easter & Klosjes Saturday

I hope everyone is enjoying their Easter Break.  The weather here in North East Victoria is glorious, beautiful and sunny through the day and cold enough at night to be snuggled under a quilt. 

This is what I made with the fabric I showed on my last post.   It is just the right size for my hexagons.  I loved the fabric so much I went back and bought another metre to make a bigger bag!

And of course, today is Saturday so I have a report to make.  6 more klosjes made, making a grand total of 33!

We are celebrating tomorrow with a family barbecue.  Enjoy your hot cross buns and hope the Easter Bunny brings lots of chocolate!

Sue-Anne xxx