Some good reads...

I have lived in Australia my whole life.....but I cannot believe the past few months here. Torrential and unseasonal rain, heatwaves, floods, cyclones and now serious fires in the West start to make you think...is it climate change, is it something ort of the book of Revelations...or is it just everything Australia has been throwing at its people for thousands of years and it has occurred all at once. I don't have the answers, I just can't believe the country.

This week we have managed to get some more crop off, we were very fortunate that the 4 inches that occurred around our state due to the tail of the cyclone didn't occur here..or we would have had to park the headers for the rest of the harvest and write it all off, with only a quarter of the seeds off. We have already had to buy a chaser bin to get the grain out of the paddock, but still could not do almost a quarter of the latest paddock.chaser bin is the middle one, pulled by a mud friendly tractor!

On an entirely different note, I have been doing some book purchasing..and received a few... in the last few months and haven't shared! Tonya Ricucci's Word Play quilts arrived, thanks to postage free Book depository. I LOVE it!! My word quilts should be far improved now...no excuse!! It is with Skinny quilts and table runners. I saw a beach quilt made out of this in Chookyblue's SSCS wrap up photos and loved it..even though I'm not a big pattern girl. It has some other fabulous quilts in it, very happy with that purchase. It was also available at Book Depository.

Searching for a 2011 quitling diary at Book depository and ended up following links to the 7 minute difference. It was perfect timing, I love to try and be more organized, especially starting a new year. The book gives you heaps of good ideas..and the diary has heaps of room for planning and organizing your priorities..and day.

A little bit of spiritual food as well. Quilts from heaven is a great little patchwork related devotion book and Francine Rivers Lineage of Grace follows the stories of the women in Jesus line. It is written in a novel type format and is fabulous, we studied the stories at Bible Study.

My gorgeous friend Robyn bought me The Elm Tree quilts book for my birthday, not realising that Anne Ida's quilt is featured in it. I have always wanted to read "These is my Words" and bought it for self for Christmas!

I bought myself Billy Joel's biography as well, I LOVE him. I have spent January with his all time greatest hits collection on the car CD stacker and I am proud to tell you my children now sing all his songs in the house...now that it 'good bringin' up'!!! I adore my boy's rendition of 'I a-aa-am an Innocent m-a-aan' in the shower"!!

His hairline foot fracture and raging tonsilitis (that both combined to force a week on the couch) have improved, and I can safely say I never want to see that lion caged again!!

And finally, and very importantly, my sister gave me the Pioneer Woman Cooks for my birthday, what a beautiful woman .... and book! She is currently doing press for "Black heels to tractor wheels" which is being released. I have been watching her live on the US today show. Funny to hear her speak after following her writing so long. Great books! Amazing to think her writing career came from being bored one day and starting a blog! Chance may have started her, Talent got her to where she is though!!

Hope you see some thing that interests you, if you have any more recommendations that suit me, drop me a line. Have a great day, Tracey

Playing with shirts and more book reviews.

I know I am probably only just getting in on time, but happy 4th July to all in the US.

I found this picture for you in today's favourite books......

A red white and blue lone star that was the inspiration for mine.

Today's books are great. Once upon a quilt and This old Quilt. Both compilations by the same editor, Margaret Aldrich and very similar but filled with a fabulous range of stories.

Any kind of stories about quilting are included, so there are excerpts from novels like The Quilter's apprentice, Alice's tulips, the Persian Pickle Club. As well as short stories about quilting and funny modern stories. The pictures are to die for, many Quiltscapes and Diane Phalen prints as well as old originals. Fantastic for further reading ideas, but just beautiful inspiring reads themselves.

Here's another teaser.

My sister found me Once upon a quilt four years ago for my birthday and I found out about the other off the dustjacket.

In the midst of school holidays I have stolen a few minutes in the sewing room.

I cut a few black rectangles as a foundation piece for the shirty triangles, thinking I would get a completely different block result. Then i found that the "joy" of rectangles is that there are only so many ways you can place them to get them to fold out right.....so in the end the shirty triangle has to be placed something like this-

to get a useable block.

The battery was about to flatten on the camera so i got a quick preview of how I could position the blocks I made up .(I know they still need trimming, you can see the black foundation poking out.)

And it went flat as we tried this way.

What do you think?

I think i'll have more of a play this afternoon. I'm still trying to work out a way for the windmill blade thing, that will be this afternoon as well. Great fun!

Only given to a good home.

These two little darling kittens-(who are just sleeping on each other!!)-are more than ready for a new home.

We already have their mother and aunt, they are well and truly weaned and they are at the stage of being enjoyed by their new owners.

There are two problems with this: 1. They are SOOO cute that even DH is loathe to see them leave and 2. My daughter has very strict guidelines for the placement of pets babies. No advertising in any form, because then she can't suitably grill the new owners on their lives so far.

The new owners then have to come from a fairly tight group of people she has known all her life....and thinks are up to scratch!!

I think after a couple of friends came over for even more birthday cake celebrations for my boy yesterday that they may be heading towards a home, but these kittens remind me a little of quilts.

I have read a lot of posts on finding the right home for quilts, and written a few along this line if anyone remembers!!

Just like my girl i have some criteria

-my obstinate side doesn't like to see one demanded.

-looking at one I have given someone else and saying, "I could do that-but why would you!!!" will only see your child given a rattle.

-Ideally the recipient, or mother of recipient is nice. (Hi Sue in Kalgoorlie)

-Or worthy

-or sad

-or they're a kid that cuddles me for no reason.

-or they were just so darn complimentary about the last one....and oozed so much praise on this one that they just couldn't go home without it!

Which is how my attempts to get the perfect Thankyou note photo of baby Daisy when my sister and kids were just here visiting ended up with her going home with a quilt.

Daisy had to have a quilt to lie on so I pulled this one out of the basket....(I think it is also in the header)

-where it was probably waiting for a good iron since it had to have a wash after the calf photo shoot.

Daisy enjoyed being photographed on it so much that this is how she went home

And am i sad to see that one I like a lot go? No, like the quiltmaker in the Quiltmaker's gift, the fun is in the making, then the joy is in the giving...and tomorrow I get the fun of starting making all over again....hopefully on my shirty windmills.

Speaking of my sister, she was the source of many of my early quilt books.

This one is from a couple of birthdays ago and is well worth picking up.

It is only small, hence the name. A little bigger than a charm square, but quite thick.

It has information and dates on fantastic quilts on one page and the picture on the next. A really good range of traditional and more modern are included. I find it a really handy and easy to read little reference.

Good book giving is definitely another reason to justify quilts, wouldn't you say.

Have you posted your favourite yet?

Have a good day, Tracey

More books...

Unfortunately, no update on the serious playing with shirts I started yesterday. I have a migraine, hopefully a neck related one, which means it will be back to normal in exactly one hour and 15 minutes when my chiropractor gets me.

We had 200 sheep in to mark, drench and innoculate so i managed to get out of bed and help do that. Lambs still drinking off their mothers do not take migraines into account.

My Dh and family all said they knew I was really sick as I didn't bring the camera!

Instead I will show you these great sheep.

Are they mine?

No, if you look closely they are completely made out of old phones. Brilliant use of the cords.

I have the Church ladies here tomorrow afternoon, so was going to spend the rest of the day cleaning. Now they will see the real us!

On the book review front, please remeber I would love you to post a pic of a favourite or two. here is today's.

The next one after the Quiltmaker's gift. (Jeff Brumbeau) Still fabulous. It is actually a prequel to the first story and explains why she became a quiltmaker who gives to the poor. Once again the pictures are amazing and the story well worth reading.

I am sliding back to a darkened room for half an hour, have a great day, Tracey

A Sunday treat..and your book reviews wanted!

What's the perfect recipe for a very cold and bleak Sunday afternoon?

Sleep on the couch, read a book, soak in the bath or veg in front of the TV?
Well, they all sound good, but a bit of mindless sewing where I could start with strips from shirt sleeves and end up I-know-not-where sounded very enticing, so that was what i chose.
Here are some random strips with very little attention to seams. I love very little attention to seams!

I found this maths thing that I bought cheap in a pack at the back to school sales, so decided to see what would happen with it
.
I decided just cutting like this was too easy so i started cutting on an angle to make the whole effect more random.

That way I ended up with a lot of different effects for the blocks.
I have absolutely no idea where this will lead me tomorrow, but I think I will enjoy the trip...
Whatever I choose will definitely involve foundation piecing though-there are a huge amount of bias edges there.
In the lead up to my 300th post i am planning on a making few posts this week, so you should see how this develops fairly quickly.
Each post this week is going to include a mention of a favourite quilting related book. I am always looking for quilt books that are a good read so if you want to jump on board and include your favourite book in a post this week, drop me a line so I can check it out-and perhaps more.... (hint, it is coming to my 300th post!!)

Today's is the Quilt maker's gift. A fabulous story for adults and children. my daughter and I read this together regularly and never tire of it as there is always something new to discover in the text and illustrations. It is a great lesson for all of us on why we do what we do- and the "quest" for happiness! have you read this, what do you think?
Have a great day, Tracey

Farm wife life

I love a tidy kitchen.

It is a beautiful thing to behold...for the few fragile seconds that it occurs in a week at my house.

Clear benches, sideboards unadorned by readers, school notes, newspapers or discarded paperwork, sinks that are dish free-these are the things that i dream about....well -behind beautiful quilts, hatching chickens and Harrison Ford as either Indy or Han.( I don't discriminate!)

Back on track here now, don't panic-; I love a tidy kitchen, especially the floor. farm floors are notoriously gritty, even when people generally remove their shoes. Dirt just seems to float in on clothes-well, that's how it feels.

But yesterday my kitchen floor was gleaming, even the kitchen table was clear...

Want to see today?

This is my kitchen.

A lamb who was found abandoned in the paddock.

A box full of out of season hatching chickens that need to be away from the cold.

That's the frizzle silky cross. These are her first babies. i can't wait to see how they turn out.

And there are also two of these little darlings out of view in the picture. Land crabs that I was conned into as long as they could live in a PLASTIC container! I love these, so do the kids, but why is my warm kitchen floor always the best place for everything?

On a different note, i have made some fabulous second hand book purchases this week. I love buying my books second hand, the extra history adds to the reading (especially inscriptions)...and it is great for the environment.

My paperback copy of my favourite Catherine Gaskin novel is held apart by tape, so when i found it in hard back for 50 cents I was ecstatic. I loved this in my mid teens, named my Budgie after the falcon!

Then I found the only Danielle Steele that i have ever really taken to, The Promise. I find the weight of tragedy that Danielle generally dumps upon many of her characters to drag me down. I had this and lent it to someone and it never came back, so buying it back for 50 cents was no big stretch.

The Time Traveller's wife is a recent favourite that I borrowed from the library. I paid a little more than 50 cents at a second hand book shop just to own it. It is definitely a book that cries out to be read more than once.

And 3 works of jane Austen for 50 cents in hardback...that was not staying there!

Do you buy books that you have loved and even owned in your past, i wonder what favourite you might have bought to complete your ideal library.

Have a great day, Tracey

Spring?

Once again, as I wait in desperation for a new season, that is in fact Autumn, I am actually having to think about a completely different season for the Four season's quilt swap.
Spring, glorious Spring- wouldn't that be nice, seeing my roses spring into life rather than this vain scream for water they throw at me now as I wander past, trying not to look!
I am determined to be finished well before time,this is the new me, the one that is going to show you a whole heap of parcels next post FINALLY ready to fly to their promised destinations!
On this note, have a look at this that i found at Beth's blog and couldn't resist looking for my name as well, have you ever done this on Google, it is quite interesting.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 6 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I wonder if the other ones of me super organized and efficient and have all their things done early or if they are like me and work through the list according to closest deadlines and only really go into fourth gear with that deadline looming. Hopefully for their sanity it is the former!!!
Anyway, back to the quilt swap, I have even pulled out fabric, some hand dyed I did with our group a few years ago, i love them but have only made one quilt, a baby quilt for my neighbor.
The pastel range

The darker range.

The quilt in the front above was the end result using the pastel shades and some judicious hot pink.
I am thinking about something similar to this for the swap, do you think it looks liks Spring, or am i too early and looks more like a hot Summer? because I have other options. All ideas welcome.

I have had such a successful book experience in the last month. When I went to Adelaide in feb. I got to experience my first Borders...sans DH and kids, how glorious! They had a 3 for 2 sale on and I did really well, loved Mr. Darcy's diary, nicely gives his perspective to Jane Austen's Darcy. Then, without thinking about it I added some more Jane, really enjoyed this, apparently it is a movie that hasn't got to my area yet, anyone read and seen, will I be happy? Very much in the vein of "How to make an American Quilt" in the way it goes from character to character and with the back stories.
Finally, not pictured, is the one I am reading now, "PS I love you." Also a movie apparently -that hasn't got here yet!! I like it as well, I love the idea of letters from the grave!!! I mentioned it to a friend and she said, 'oh, I read that years ago', I said, "so did I, same title anyway..... it was one of the first Sweet dreams books I read as a teeneger, remember them?? They used my pocket money there for a good while, eagerly awaiting the next edition. Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't his name something like Paul Strobe and the heroine also had this Palm Spring sticker, hence the P.S I love you. Did he die as well? Go on, confirm it!! You know you read them, they were great!!!And at least they only kissed in those days -teens were teens not mini adults!

Hoping the wind dies down so the paddock burning can take place this afternoon and I can get you some good photos, have a great day...and any of easter that is left. Tracey

Memes

I have been loosely tagged for the latest round of memes at many sites, but it wasn't until I realised what the date is that I thought I may play along...and I am so pleased I did as trawling through the old photos unearthed some treasures.

I will play along with the 10, 20, 30 years ago meme.
Here I am 10 years ago, within a few weeks.
Exactly 10 years ago I was finalising reports for my Prep (first grade or Kinder?) class and trying to start sorting out a few years worth of collected 'stuff' in preparation for my 'retirement'.

Within a few weeks I was being a bridesmaid for the first time...at 7 months pregnant!
Oh, you say, now I know which one she is in the photo!!
On all the other photos my bouquet neatly disguised my bundle. The bride now teaches my boy's year 1 class, small world!

So that was 10, here is 20.
20 years ago tomorrow I attended my Year 12 formal at the culmination of my final exams.
Yes, loved taking photos even then. Both friends in this photo are gone, Gary within 12 months driving home from Uni into sunglare and one of my two BFF's, Tracy, who was lost at sea 5 years ago. Here's dreaming they are both enjoying the 20 year anniversary together .
And here is 30 years ago, that is scary to think about. Who else had the 70's check and denim pinafore, with a good red skivvy underneath for good measure. Everyone says my kids look like their father, but I see a hint of me in there somewhere.

And also found this, and now I know why I keep making DD matching outfits!!
From about 32 years ago, but Ted and I are still enjoying our matching dressing gowns!

And also the page 161, line 6 meme.
I am reading at least 3 books at present so let's see what we have.
Classic stories from around the World, (Italy-Giovanni Verga)
....and lived on mouthfuls of weeds which they could snatch from the roadside as they went".
(Talking about the man's donkeys.)
One for the money, (Janet Evanovich)
...."if you are really going to do this job you are going to need someone to help you with the takedown"
The Princess, (Lori Wick)
..."she had lost her heart to this hurting child and knew that speaking to him like an adult made all the difference to the relationship."
An interesting bunch
-have a great day....sewing progress next post! Tracey

He's here!! And he bought nice friends!
My books arrived this morning, I have just returned from my favourite coffee shop where I toasted JK with a skinny latte (and cream covered delicious scones!!!) And read the first 3 chapters in an environment where I didn't feel I should be doing something else, more worthy!
How will I read him, again, the dilemma-all at once or make this last treasure endure over an extended period of time. I know what will win, it will be just like a box of Lindt chocolates-I want to make them last but they just mysteriously keep disappearing-pages of Harry will be exactly the same!

Fresh from Church ladies fellowship zone rally yesterday, as the V.President they utilized me as the entertainment! I am full of Bible trivia! I wonder who is the first to tell me how many siblings Joseph had...hey, off the top of your head....no research! Also off to a trivia night tonight, I have been headhunted by a table determined to win!


Anyway, that is not the point, today I have a question-


What would a good wife do??


Now, there are less that 2 weeks until the event known as D-Day here, yes, my birthday. Been married 12 years and it is only recent years we have worked out the love language thing. Still good though, as many people bat their heads up against brick walls for years wondering why their partner doesn't appreciate what they do "for them" when it is not what the partner wants at all. Anyway, that's a whole other post!


DH now understands that the whole gift thing is high on my love language list and I realise that even though gifts are my thing, he would prefer me to sit down and spend quality time with him.

Hence the cause of serious perspiration at this point for DH and the question.

When would a good wife tell him that there is a Jim Shore nativity and quilt book in the cupboard? Perhaps even a few of the books from today's photo, as Harry and 3 days at School camp next week should keep me suitably occupied without the need for them until D-Day.
....A good wife would be tempted to tell him now and end the huddled secret discussions going on between DH and kids...wouldn't she?
Well, all I can say is what a lot of birthday related fun "good" wives miss out on!
I have fairly regularly remembered to stop quilting and cook, I have occasionally cleaned, I've been known to mend, I have sleepily packed lunches even though mornings are not my thing, THEREFORE I want to see effort, the secret stash are "in case", but only after the effort and the perspiration!

What would you do?

A spot of shopping...

A few weeks worth actually. I have been meaning to put up some pictures but yesterday's purchases finally spurred me to action.

Yes, that is a Rebecca Barker Mouse Pad!! Regular readers may know I love her pictures and even though this wasn't cheap it still had to come home and replace the previous scribbled on one. The bag of wool embroidery threads was a steal at $5 at the Op shop...now what will I do with it?......

.

When I went to Melbourne with DD I went to my favourite book warehouse, here is a hint of purchases. The Quilter's resource book is my favourite of all my quilting books and when I found it for $25 I rang my friend Robyn and then bought it for her as well. The Quilting book to the left looks great but I have put that away in the stash my husband will conveniently find in time for my birthday in a few weeks. Self sufficiency may stay here and may go on to a friend-I like the theory but 2000 acres may be a litle big for just feeding us!!

'Too soon old-too late smart', aint that the truth! (if I could only take back....nah, I wouldn't take anything back,good or bad it all adds to who you are.) Hopefully a little future wisdom in there. Gluten free cookbook as I still have a funny feeling DD will have to go that way.....Boy books- proof that 7 year olds can grow up intact and hopefully even quite good (a little bit of reinforcement there for the mother!)

Purchases yesterday (at my LQS no less!) The end of their sale but still some useful metres, a good gold/yellow can add a lot of zap but is hard to come by.

Here are the scrap bags I have picked up from there, usually $10 but I sent Mum in during the sale and I think I may be getting some for my birthday! The little bookmark was fox and geese and reminded me of my life!

Used the money for selling some bags to buy the shop out of their last 2 metres of plastic coated Moda, in 3 colourways. (Not on sale!)

The last photo is not on sale and probably never will be (much to my hubby's disgust!) It reminds me of the old Sesame St. song, one of these things is not like the other, one of these things isn't the same.......That is my little black merino, very unusual for merinos to have black lambs around here. I am going to claim it for felting or even for knitting bloggers, so DH will just have to cope with it in his flock, how will I go with that, I wonder! Better go and butter him up by having tea cooking, have a great day!Tracey