Wombats are back!

This is a gorgeous wombat, is it not? Sally sent me this lovely bag all the way from Missouri and I love it. Embroidered wombat, pretty leafy fabric (lurve that fabric) and it has mesh sides too. I'm thinking it will be just the right size to go to quilt group with me tomorrow, to hold my lunch and a few other things. So far I have been to the Thursday quilt group, and another group which meets at different times.
Before we moved house Debbie sent me a PIF gift, part of which was a kit to make this splendid pincushion. The kit came all the way from The Quilt Patch in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, to Debbie in Alberta, and then halfway across the world to me, which I think is rather cool. I started it while we were still in Sydney, then it came to a halt during the move, and I finished it a few days ago. It's made of three little pillows in graduated sizes stacked on top of each other and tied with a pretty ribbon, and is a good idea because one can use it for pins of different sizes and types. I have quite a lot of pins......flower pins for quilting, pins for jersey fabrics, fine pins for lace fabrics, glass-headed pins, and just plain pins, so it will be very handy. The fabrics are a lovely fruity purple - think of plums or grapes - and are printed with fruit, so it is a lovely addition to my sewing table.

Speaking of rather cool, today has been! We are fast descending into winter now. The sun doesn't peep into our kitchen until 8am these days, when we moved here (a month ago already) it was just after 7.30am. This morning the reserve over the back fence was quite white with frost. I have been busy today so haven't really felt too cold, but by gosh it doesn't take long to cool down when you stop being busy. We had some rain last week and the visiting kangaroos didn't seem to mind it at all, but we haven't seen them for a few days because there have been three horses grazing (and leaving their calling cards which are probably good for the garden) and apparently roos don't like horses. Our two cats saw the horses through the large window at the back of the house, the horses were fairly close to the fence.......the kitties looked appalled.......then Binky the Brave turned tail and ran for shelter. I don't think they have had anything so huge in their little lives before. Bianca the Slightly Braver stood her ground for a while longer then she, too, quietly disappeared.

We are slowly settling into our new house. Nearly all the boxes have been unpacked, there are still two boxes of CDs remaining and a couple more boxes with stuff like Christmas decorations which we certainly didn't rush to unpack. Christmas comes soon enough without getting decorations out early! The dining room table still has quite a lot of things to be put away, and so does the desk in my sewing room. But we are slowly clearing those surfaces. We will need the table next weekend as our older son and his girlfriend are coming to visit, the little card table we have been using in the other dining space is barely big enough for two people let alone four.

This afternoon I layered and pinned the table runner I made from some of the pretty fabric I won earlier this year in Tammy's giveaway, I'm thinking it will look really good when it's on the table, it's cheerful and bright in red, pink, brown and white with lots of dots, hearts and curls. I found the perfect backing fabric, a tiny red dot on cream, one of Robyn Pandolph's fabrics. Haven't really done much sewing since we moved here as the unpacking has really consumed our time, and also getting other things we needed for the house, but never mind - I will get back to it. I had a dose of the guilts when I sewed because I thought I should be unpacking and sorting, but I have moved on past than now.

"Keep yourself quiet and composed under all circumstances. Do not get fidgety. If you feel that time drags heavily, do not let this be apparent to others by any visible sign of uneasiness."

Have a lovely week!

Jennifer

Little WOWs

A notebook with a wombat cover - a gift from a friend - and a wombat car window hanger and sticker, gifts from another friend. I have never decided what to stick the sticker on, so it is still unstuck. The picture on the sticker is similar to highway warning signs in areas where wombats live, although the highway signs are of course much larger.
This is my Pay It Forward gift from Debbie, a very useful basket and pincushion kit which I will have fun sewing. I love the plaids, they look toasty-warm!
And this is my Maple Greetings bag, the fabric is "Greetings From Canada" released about 18 months ago by Thimbleberries, and the pattern is from Hopscotch Quilt Shop, Alberta. When the fabric was released several shops designed patterns to use the range, I bought the pattern and fabric from the Creativ Festival and finished it a few days ago. It is lined with the same blue print as the centre stripe which is printed with maple leaves and all the Canadian provincial flowers. It's a very useful souvenir of our trip to Toronto, a much nicer momento than my damaged arm and shoulder, don't you think? I also have extra of the blue flower print and also of the deep red and gold wheat print next to it, a friend in Victoria B.C. sent it to me - thank you, Lois! The red print Lois gave me has already been used to make a Bear's Paw block for my Bearly Autumn quilt of the future, and I think the flower print might make another.

It's quite silent here tonight, just the kitties and me, Kevin is spending the night in hospital following a minor surgical procedure. He's not a particularly noisy person but it is very quiet without him. The radio is playing on a classical station, and the TV is off. It will be good to have him home tomorrow.

On Friday I have to take my shoulder to the orthopedic specialist again. The x-ray and ultrasound last week showed an 8mm tear in my shoulder tendon. Now 8mm doesn't sound very big, it's quite a narrow seam allowance if one is sewing, but apparently it's considered a fairly large tendon tear. The words "surgical repair" have been heard, but not from my lips I assure you. The physio strapped it up on Friday and said to take the strapping off tonight, which I did carefully, but still took some skin with it. My skin does not like adhesive tape, not even sensitive skin bandaids. I have rubbed it liberally with vitamin E cream which is good for skin and will do so again at bed time....let's hope it feels more normal tomorrow.

Today I cut pieces to make a table runner using the pattern and pack of Thimbleberries charms that I won recently in Tammy's giveaway, and I used my leftover blue Canadian flower fabric as the feature fabric - the other fabrics in the charm pack complimented it well. Tomorrow I'm hoping to cut something else. Cutting is not my favourite part of making anything, I really like joining pieces at the machine, but if I have a few projects cut and made into kits with their instructions it will give me something to sew in odd moments when we move.

We have had a couple of 'lookers' through the house and another is coming tomorrow. But we missed a sale last week when a man who had said he would come cancelled at the last minute. Our house number is 24, and apparently "twenty four" sounds like "violent death" to Chinese people, so he decided the house wasn't for him. But it hasn't worried the other people who have come through.

Summer heat has come back to Sydney, yesterday and today have been most unpleasant. The quilt show on Saturday was an hour south of here in the Southern Highlands, it was lovely and cool - and not humid. I forgot to take my camera with me, but I don't usually take pics at a quilt show as the conditions are far from ideal to take good photos; the quilts are too close together. The challenge was to make an apron, and there were some gorgeous ones! Tomorrow is supposed to be a bit more reasonable here in Sydney, thank goodness. But although it's not the end of February I have seen some trees with leaves changing colour already, that's early! Perhaps it's just shock from the hot summer we have had this year. It was a bit hot today cutting quilt pieces so we hope tomorrow brings some coolth, I have had enough warmth. It's nearly 10pm and it is still horribly hot.

"Walking with a lady acquaintance.
A gentleman should not join a lady acquaintance on the street for the purpose of walking with her, unless he ascertains that his company would be perfectly agreeable to her. It might be otherwise, and she should frankly say so, if asked."

Have a wonderful week.

Jennifer

It's all happening!

This is the bag I sent to Sherry for her Pay It Forward gift, it has gone way across the other side of the world to Ontario, Canada. I was getting anxious when I hadn't heard that it had arrived but Sherry had been away. I made the background before we went to Canada (being organised, as I sometimes am) but then all projects came to a halt when I broke my arm. However when I had the use of two hands again I finished the applique and posted it off, so here it is, a flower garden bag.

Well, it's all happening here.....the 'For Sale' sign was hammered into the front lawn this morning and the house is advertised in the local paper today as well as being on the internet. The agent is confident that he will have a buyer very soon, so we may have the sale moving along quicker than we had thought. I am taking a break from tidying up and throwing out to have a coffee (I do like my coffee but I only have three cups a day) then I will get back into it.

On Saturday a friend and I are going to a quilt show about an hour from here, I was hoping to have my Maple Leaf bag finished to take along with me. Only need to finish quilting the outer layer, then make the handles and attach then, then line it. Only...... Between now and then there are things like physio appointments to allow for, but I will try. The shoulder is just fine if I don't use it. Like that is going to happen......just getting dressed in the morning is a pain, but the world is not yet ready for the alternative. I was supposed to have a physio treatment this morning but the receptionist rang yesterday to say the physio wouldn't be in today due to a family problem. Another appointment is scheduled for Friday with the other physio (there are two) so let's hope it goes ahead. But I don't know how physio is going to repair a torn tendon.

The wombat quilt I showed the other day has been bugging me so I have decided to take off the outer border, the one I have never been sure of, and look for an alternative. Yesterday a friend and I went fabric shopping (as you do), I bought the fabrics for my Plastered Pinwheels quilt. Lots of white-on-white print for the alternate blocks, setting triangles and narrow inner border, a pretty blue for the next narrow border and binding, and a lovely yellow and blue April Cornell print for the outer border. When I wash the fabric I will cut it out and make a kit for the quilt, then I'm more likely to press on with it. I get stumped at cutting out......have lots of fabrics and ideas but lack the oomph to cut them out......need to get over that and make kits.

"Never forget ball-room engagements, nor confuse them, nor promise two dances to one person. If a lady has forgotten an engagement, the gentleman she has thus slighted must pleasantly accept her apology. Good breeding and the appearance of good temper are inseparable."

Now back to the - achoo! - dusting and tidying.

Jennifer

WOW through the window

A few years ago my online quilt group ran an "Angel Exchange" - a bit like a six month long Secret Santa. My angel made me a wombat block each month as part of my surprise, I set them into Attic Windows and bordered them with a dandelion print. She even made a label! However it has stayed a top for two reasons, one is I am not a confident machine quilter and the other is that I have never been sure that the light border print is right for this quilt. I might take it off and get something in a darker colour, perhaps even something Australian. The backing fabric is a green grass print, as wombats like to eat grass, and when it's quilted it will be bound with the same deep dark brown as the sashing. Perhaps it could have been ironed before I took its picture but that didn't get done, as you can see.

A few days ago I received my Pay It Forward gift from Debbie at Makin' Quilts - Debbie made me a lovely little quilted basket in warm plaids, and popped a pincushion kit inside. Thank you very much, Debbie! I took a photo which looked really good on the little screen of my camera but when I uploaded it to the computer was really bad, so I deleted it and will take another tomorrow so you can all see. When I started looking at quilting blogs Debbie's blog was one of the first I found, I wrote to her and she was very encouraging so I started this one. That was another gift from her, and I really appreciate it.

We had a very nice day yesterday, it was Kevin's birthday. I know it's also Valentine's Day but that has become a very commercial thing, while a birthday is a special day! We met with our older son and his lovely girlfriend for late breakfast, we think they had plans for a romantic dinner in the evening. We do well for birthdays, his is always Valentine's Day while mine hovers around Mother's Day depending on how the days go with leap years. Every five or six years it actually falls on Mother's Day - and this year is one of the years.

Today I took my sore shoulder for an x-ray and an ultrasound to see if the cause of the soreness could be found, and sure enough I have a torn tendon in my shoulder. That, plus an inflamed bursa in the same area, is what is causing the pain and restricted movement. The technician couldn't say for sure if it was damaged when I fell and broke my arm (four months ago today - how time flies) as I landed with my arm underneath me and probably wrenched my shoulder, but it's possible that may have been the cause. The orthopedic specialist wants to see me again next week after I have had four sessions of physiotheraphy so we will see what he says.

The other day I bought a ukulele! While I can play some chords on my guitar there are some which are still so difficult and painful as to be nearly impossible, so I thought that a smaller version would help my fingers get back to making chord shapes. I learnt three chords on it in a minute or two, and played it to accompany myself in a song at the folk club's first night for this year on Friday night - a few hours after it was bought. Some of the people who go along to the club also play ukes so I'm sure I won't lack for advice, and there are lots of fun uke videos on the interwebz.

"Intrusive Inquiries.
If you meet or join or are visited by a person who has any article whatever, under his arm or in his hand, and he does not offer to show it to you, you should not, even if it be your most intimate friend, take it from him and look at it. That intrusive curiosity is very inconsistent with the delicacy of a well-bred man, and always offends in some degree."

Just remember that, next time you meet a friend who has been shopping.

Jennifer

A bit of excitement in our dull lives

This afternoon we went to our local post office so I could post off Sherry's Pay It Forward gift, and having done that we popped into the supermarket next door for a couple of things. Being the polite person I am I excused myself as I walked past a bloke squatting on the floor looking at the display of hair shampoos and conditioners, we paid for our purchases and started to walk back to our car parked round the corner. As we walked toward the corner the same bloke hurried passed us looking furtively over his shoulder as he went - I said to Kevin "stop and see where he goes, he's a bit suspicious" - he went round the corner, up the cul-de-sac and turned right at the end. He was carrying one of the red plastic baskets provided by the supermarket for purchases (but not for taking home) filled with what looked like a sweatshirt and bottles of shampoo and conditioner. We went back to the supermarket where the staff had, by then, realised what he had done but not what he had taken.

We didn't stop him ourselves because he was younger than us and looked a bit strange - these days you doesn't know if someone has a wee problem, or may be drunk or on drugs, which can cause their behaviour to be erratic. It's a small supermarket mostly used by locals, but the staff didn't know the man although they thought he may live locally in a block of units (condos) - seems there may have been issues with some of the residents before.

So, Sherry, your gift is on its way, and our dull lives have had enough excitement for one day!

Jennifer

Knitting s-l-o-w-l-y.........

Some progress to report! This week I picked up the scarf that I started knitting in Canada, and found that I can knit - slowly, and not for too long at a time as my hand gets sore and tired, but I can do it. Only one row on the first try, three rows next time, and I'll see how I go this evening. The re-knitted cardy (which would have been finished by now, had I not broken) can wait a little longer until I am sure I can knit to a reasonable tension

You know, I had great plans to be creative for the two months between returning home and Christmas. And not one of those plans has been achieved. Zilch. Nada. But I have read a lot of books. I had started working on a Pay It Forward gift for Sherry and it's no further ahead than it was when we went on holidays. There's a pretty piece of fabric which will become a new skirt, calling to me from my sewing room - a black textured cotton printed with bright splashy flowers which look as though they were painted by a four year old. It was going to be my Christmas present to myself, and cost me all of $2 for the 2 metre piece early this year. I planned to wear it with a red top. When I can get to it, it may be the first project made with the help of my new overlocker.

But on the positive side, my hand is slowly getting better with the aid of the nice young physio bloke. It still won't support the weight of holding a coffee cup (doesn't matter if it is empty or full) but I can do my hair now. The swelling is slowly going down and my hand is beginning to look like a hand again instead of a shapeless blob.

Ah well.

Last night was the folk club Christmas party, and a great time was had by all who attended. It was a lovely way to end our year of music. I even managed to have a new song to sing.

Unfortunately the night before someone in our neighbourhood decided to have a party which didn't start until after midnight - for goodness sake, why? The music pounded on loudly, and the voices yelled and laughed, until the police arrived at.....oh....must have been about 2.30am. Things quietened down after that. But we could still hear voices at 4am, and at 7am. The music started up again mid-morning, and thumped and pounded on again until sometime in the afternoon. I hope they all had hangovers. It's formal season here - the end-of-school-year formal (or prom, as it's known in other countries) sometimes continues on at an 'after party' so we are assuming that's what it was, and that would also explain the late starting time. But in a usually quiet suburban neighbourhood of people who had to get themselves up for work early next morning, or get children off to school, it probably didn't make them many friends. So after a disturbed night followed by a late night, we are a little more tired than we would normally be on a nice sunny Saturday.

"Singing and Playing in Society.
A lady in company should never exhibit any anxiety to sing or play; but being requested to do so, if she intends to comply, she should do so at once, without waiting to be urged. If she refuses, she should do so in a manner that shall make her decision final. Having complied, she should not monopolize the evening with her performances, but make room for others."

Have a lovely weekend.

Jennifer

Paying a little forward

This is the first of my "Pay It Forward" gifts finished - it was delivered in person to Sayward (whose nom de computer is Kiera-Oona) in Toronto recently. The kitty's eyes were embroidered with glow-in-the-dark thread and the purple border print has tiny gold stars. Sayward likes purple and all things Halloween, and I think she likes her little quilt. I started working on another Pay It Forward gift before we went to Canada, unfortunately it as come to a halt due to my current inability to sew but never fear, it will be finished when I can get back to it.

When I signed up for "Pay It Forward" I undertook to make gifts for three people, but only two joined.....never mind, there are probably so many of these friendship swaps out in blogland that people are swamped. But I am willing to make another, should a third person join.

Pics of our Canadian holiday have been uploaded to our computer and will start appearing on my blog before too long. And of course more wombats too, even though I can't use a camera at present I'm sure Kevin will be able to help me. He's a good bloke.

And when typing isn't so painfully slow the etiquette quotes will also reappear. There have been many positive comments on them!

Jennifer

It's only words.........

............and words are all I have, so the song goes.

Powerful things, words.

Today when listening to a radio concert I heard the announcer say "and here comes Soloist onto the platform with her shoulder-length greying hair"........her hair is going to affect how she plays piano?

Each Monday evening my journey to and from choir practice takes me past a salon with these words on the awning outside - "International Eyebrow Shaping Champion". Huh? Now I know there are some pretty whacky awards out there in this weird world of ours, but you must admit that's a doozy.

This post is decorated with a few more scenes of our trip to the Botanic Gardens last weekend; red kangaroo paws, yellow paper daisies (the petals crackle like paper and are quite sharp and spiky, although they don't look it) and a view of part of the gardens in the late afternoon with the sun shifting behind the hill. It's a lovely place.

One of my Pay It Forward gifts is finished but I won't show it yet, it will be delivered in person when we get to Canada. Only 16 days to go now, it will be wonderful to see our son again. We miss him heaps but we are glad he's happy.....even if he is finding happiness on the other side of the known universe.

Sydney today is very smokey and hazy from the burnoffs an hour or more away, I keep feeling as though I'm choking. I feel sorry for those folk who have breathing conditions like asthma. I'm staying indoors although the windows are open for fresh air - may have to close them soon as black clouds are building up, it's getting towards thunderstorm season.

The other day I cut out fabric to make a top for me but have run into a snag sewing the neck binding down, it has stretched to billy-oh and I am having fun unpicking (I refuse to say frogging, it irritates me) close twin needle stitching. However I shall persist as I want to try the pattern for fit. The fabric cost me $2 for three metres earlier this year, if the pattern works I have a top I can wear......if not, it hasn't cost much to find out. There are two tops plus leftovers in that piece of fabric, which makes it a good buy in my book.

The quotes from the etiquette book are exactly as written, punctuation and all. The writers were very fond of the comma.

"The Street Manners of a Lady.
The true lady walks the street, wrapped in a mantle of proper reserve, so impenetrable that insult and coarse familiarity shrink from her, while she, at the same time, carries with her a congenial atmosphere which attracts all, and puts all at their ease."

Yep......sounds just like me.......

Jennifer

Sunny day WOW

A wombat suncatcher with amethyst chips, pewter beads and clear crystals, this one hangs in my sewing room for sparkle - I have other suncatchers with different coloured gems and glass, but only one wombat. Taking a photo of something small while it is swaying gently in the breeze is a bit tricky, but I managed. The quilts in the background are on an old towel rail that I use to drape smaller quilts on, it needs a small repair and I have hinted that a re-painting job wouldn't go stray either. I could do it myself, but as it came from my mother-in-law I figure Kevin would love to do it for me. Keep it in the family, so to speak.

Considering it's winter today is a lovely day, warm and sunny. We have been for a 'Sunday drive' although it's Monday, to look at some hi-fi gear. And guess what.... there is a quilt shop downstairs from the hi-fi shop! How fortuitous! I found just the right fabric for one of my "Pay It Forward" surprises but I won't show it yet because it might give the game away. Speaking of which, I have had only two folk sign up to join in the fun, so there is still a vacancy if anyone is interested.

The pieced back is done for the Maple Leaf runner and when I finish my coffee (which is very nice) I shall dive into my Big Box Of Batting Pieces to see how much pellon is in there, I'm sure there will be enough even if it means piecing some together.

Have a lovely week, may your bobbins always be full and your threads never tangle.

Jennifer

Pay it forward

Sherry is joining Pay it Forward....Sherry is from Ontario, Canada....thank you Sherry...... another connection with Canada! Aussies and Canadians seem to get along well. One of the blokes in my choir calls himself "Canaussian"; originally from Winnipeg he has lived in Australia for a long time, I think he said 30 years or so. Our younger son lives in Ontario and we have several Canadian friends. We have seen a little of Canada and it's a beautiful country.

Binky has been very helpful lately as you can see, I don't know I could manage without her help. Here she is minding my 'Road to St Louis' quilt until I am ready to work on it. You can see the pieced blocks under Binky, the backing fabric is blue with a green stripey vine pattern. There's quite a lot of green in this quilt, and it's not a huge quilt but is obviously big enough for Binky. And the Yellowglen box in the background isn't full of wine unfortunately - for the non-Aussies, Yellowglen make a very nice fizzy wine - the room used to be our older sons room and the box is probably full of something like "Modern Drummer" magazines. Even drummers have parents........

Jennifer

No takers yet for Pay It Forward?

See this post for details - it's the first time I have tried Pay It Forward - it seems like a lovely way to connect with folk elsewhere in this big wide world.

I am trying to get enthusiastic about progressing on my latest bag but it's getting a bit warm, my sewing mojo slinks away for a while in this heat. Even more so does my knitting mojo......at this rate my cardigan won't be finished by autumn......and this weekend the forecast is for 44 degrees C - that's 111 degrees F, for those who count that way - that's not nice. But next week will apparently be much cooler thank goodness, my mojo will come back and I will sew up a storm.

The other day I quilted the layers together in a diamond grid for the bag back, laid it carefully on the desk so it wouldn't get creased, and yesterday evening had to kick Binky (The World's Friendliest Cat) off it. She thought it was a lovely new little Binky-sized quilt. I have news for her......no pics yet, I will take a pic when it is finished. There is still some decorating with beads, buttons and bows for the front to be done, the handles to be made, the lining to be cut and assembled, and the whole bag put together. When it's put that way - it doesn't look as though I am very advanced at all!

If anyone emails me and I don't reply within a day or so, please forgive me; we are having ongoing mailbox/server problems. It is so bad that last week I rang the government ombudsman who helps sort out problems, after being passed around from technician to technician, and country to country, I have had enough. I may be old,* short* and fat* but don't mess with me.

Jennifer
PS *old - not really, I am 29 and some months; *short - can't help that, blame my parents; *fat - no, just carrying a bit more weight that my doctor thinks is good for me. But don't mess with me anyway.

Another post today - Pay It Forward

This is a new experience for me! but it seems to be a nice way of connecting with folk. I have joined in Debbie's PIF .

Three people need to join in my PIF. I must send a hand made gift to the 3 people on my list within 365 days. In turn, the 3 people who have joined my PIF must also host their own and ask for 3 people to join. They then must send a handmade gift to each of their 3 players within 365 days. And on and on it goes, spreading the goodness around. There is no set time to send the gifts, so long as they are sent within 365 days of hosting your PIF.

So...... I need 3 people to join in.... post the logo and rules on your blog, and get three people to join their PIF..... any takers? Any gifts I send will most probably have a sewing/quilting theme. Maybe even chocolate.

Jennifer