Same old, same old....

Another week has just disappeared! Plenty to catch up on when you are away for 5 days, but it was well worth it. Our favourite, Garth Tander, won. He drives for (GM) Holden.

On the way home we saw his car carrier setup, thought there may be some petrolhead out there who'd appreciate seeing that!

Not sure if quilting and car racing are generally 2 hobbies that go together, but why not!

Came home to photographing the school athletic sports, getting the ball rolling for this year's school fete, getting back to the gym, buying a new bull and 13 stud angus heifers....amongst the normal!

Today I took family photos for a Church family at their farm...an actual paid job! I am very happy with them. Then spent the afternoon cooking Apple strudel and sausage rolls-my girl baked muffins

... I felt like my mother!- the only thing lacking was Dolly Parton on the radiogram! Instead I was watching Transformers on the big screen, my Mum wouldn't have imagined anything like that 30 years ago!

I bought a few things last week at the closing sale, the photo of the main bulk I accidentally scrubbed this morning making more room on my card...and by now everything is dispersed to where it belongs...pretty much!

I did have these photos of a couple of the panels I grabbed.

Hope everyone is great, I have lots of emails to reply to and posts to read...if only the world would stop for a day of two just to allow me to catch up! It reminds me of one of my favourite Helen Kelley quilting stories that I originally read in a a magazine and is in a selection of her work i have in book form as well... about the night she was given the gift of time...her clock stopped and she kept working most of the night!! It felt like such a gift...that's the kind of gift I need!

A holiday and a hex

Hi from sunny Adelaide in South Australia! DH and I are on holiday...at V8 supercar racing! At least there is one other woman with our group this year, last year I was the lone ranger! She and I headed into the city for 7 hours shopping yesterday, well and truly made up for me missing the gym!

I am here for the car racing as well, but I love the proper racing, I don't need to trawl the pits and watch all the lead up races. I will glide into my grandstand seat, joyously shaded from the rapidly increasing temperature this year, just in time for the start. I may even take some pics if I can get more batteries for the camera this morning..was going to have a few hexagon photos but it's gone flat just after this dud! I made hexagon's all the way over here with a vision to making my oldest friend a special something for her 40th. This isn't the layout I am going with, I am thinking i will go with Libby's layout. She is actually lucky enough to have a husband who bastes!

I am about to head off to the stitch in Time quilt shop, used to be in Naracoorte and do a lot of field days, their email says they're not going to have a shop front anymore and are having a closing sale...would be criminal of me not to support them while I am in the area!LOL! Better go, would never be able to explain it if I came 600 kms and missed the race!

So, did it get presented on time.. and on budget?

The "on budget', is of course a joke!! This is my lowest budget quilt ever...unless you count what 12 years of my girl's clothes cost me!! We could call it my Hurt Locker quilt..rather than my Avatar!~The foundation pieces are an op shop pre quilted cotton bedspread...cost $2! And the backing is some left over bright pj flannel I had in the stash.

But, yes, it was presented on time, here she is tucked up on the couch

after having it presented....

And here is a big picture for you...

She just loves it, what she doesn't recognise she loves hearing the stories about...about her mother's learn to sew process with her as the guinea pig. There are smocked pieces of baby clothes, the top of corduroy overalls, satiny nighties, stretchy pjs and the skivvy she is wearing in the first photos of her baby brother at home. Because I went so gung ho at it I have 9 left over blocks...and they're 13 inch. I have some strips left as well, so i am thinking I may just make a few more and the birthday girl's mother will have a little memory quilt to keep as well!!

All the leftovers are being put to use( I feel like I am going for recycle queen of the year award!) The leftover strips from trimming the blocks to size, though only a maximum 2 inches, looked cute so i sewed them into braid type strips for baby Born. Baby Born has a lot of this fabric in her outfits as i used to make them both dresses to match-so it was only reasonable that she get the keepsake as well!

And what was the picture from the last post? All of the leftover fabric scraps went straight into this old tablecloth I sewed up and are now being very happily slept on as Rosie and Archie's new dog bed...all those clothes...all those happy endings...I feel like I should be chasing Laura and Carrie Ingalls down the hill!

Happy Birthday to a great kid it was a pleasure to spend 26 hours sewing time on in the last 10 days! And hope your day was great, Tracey

One day til d-day..or is that b-day!

I must have held my mouth right and have internet connection tonight, yay!!
Well, that is one big stack of trimmed string blocks, looks a good sign? Well, watch this space tomorrow to see if the quilt is handed over to my girl on time! They have ended up huge blocks, over 13 inches trimmed, I allowed for a lot of trimming and didn't need to do too much. Next time I wouldn't make them so big when using children's clothes, if I hadn't had a number of bigger recent dresses and a bunny rug I never would have been able to manage to get enough of the long strips in the middle of the strings blocks.

Very little of my girl's clothes collection will go to waste, even the trimmed offcuts have a job. Can you guess?

Had quilters here on Friday night, Robyn is making a braid one from the jelly roll book Dawn sent me in Chooky's Christmas swap. Virtually no waste and the cutting came together really quickly, I love the look of them, of course it's now added to the list! I am going to have to live a long, long time to make this list....Tonight there's only one quilt on the list that matters..so I better run! Have a great day, Tracey

Daughter's Memory quilt..Step 2!

It looks much brighter than this, bright yellows, pinks and blues...her cat, Magnum, is helping!

We have an amazing amount of progress so far on the birthday quilt..especially considering the birthday girl has been home with a cold. As of 5 minutes ago there are 19 out of probably 42 blocks done, just needing to be trimmed to exact size later on. They're all around the 13 inches at this point. I showed my little boy and he was flat out telling me which fabric came from what dress, so if a 9 yo boy can pick them out, she should have fun!

It's late here, i am watching the olympics closing and the light is shocking for photos, but I still took you a few progress pics.

The strips are all cut, the next 23 foundation blocks are all cut and have 2 strips attached, so I am on the home stretch for getting it together sooner rather than later. When I get a chance to just sit and sew like this it makes me wonder why I don't spend more days this way...is there really much better fun than watching something bright and fun appear from a heap of now unwanted fabrics/clothes? I can't think of anything anyway!

Tune in soon for the next exciting installment..and have a great day!

Tracey

Memory quilt from my daughter's clothes. Step 1.(.the hard step!)

Okay, I'm back on track, which is more than I can say for my internet! As I've mentioned, we swapped from satellite to broadband because our area was now guaranteed full coverage and it was so much cheaper with a much higher download...good theory, but the hot week a few weeks ago it barely worked then stopped again yesterday, after over an hour of vital sewing time spent on the phone to the tech today, I am now getting a new modem, interesting to see if that works!!

Luckily I have a pre-paid USB I got for the snow trip that works perfectly...though at a premium rate..so i can post!

Thanks for the health wishes, I am now back driving and feeling much better, apparently it has been quite a common virus around here...and everyone worries that they have a brain problem, high blood pressure..etc etc!!

I am back on track for my girl's birthday quilt..and I have made a big decision! I have decided it is time!

Back story recap here...I was not a sewer! I could not sew a stitch in high school, I had a mother who was a beautiful dressmaker and I was a failure, until around that nesting time, 25/26 when my lovely friend Robyn, walked me through a formal dress and introduced me to quilts. By the time my girl was born nearly 12 years ago I basically knew enough about sewing to make very standard quilts..more like blankets.... and make her some clothes...VERY badly at first!

During that 12 years I have kept lots of stuff with the vision to "one day". All her beautiful and important pieces are kept in her memory trunk, a lot of stuff is given away, but some of the cotton everyday things, many that I made, or she loved....have been put in a tub in the sewing room and today got laid out on the couch. So many memories, I almost piled them back in the tub, but I remembered the song words "what am I keeping this stuff for" and persisted. I think 12 is old enough to appreciate a memory quilt made from old clothes..and, let's face it, her daughters are not going to be excited about wearing an old home made cotton sundress...but may be about sleeping under it!

So, I laid them out, did some reminiscing ...and lots of ironing...and I have actually made a cut!

The cutting hurt, my kids seem to grow another inch every week, and she's not far off my height..(with bigger feet) but there is something very healing about the start of a pile of strips. Kind of like the start of the next step-in more ways than one! The fabrics are a big range, not all cotton AND I am down to 9 days, so i am thinking a sting quilt on foundation pieces. She likes string quilts.

Wish me luck! Have a good weekend, Tracey

This 'n that...

Enforced slow down here at present, think it may be a middle ear infection but I just conned DH into a neck and back rub in case it's a pinched nerve. Feel a tad on the woozy side when I stand up. Don't worry, if it lasts until tomorrow I'll go to the Doctor...of course my kids would have been taken already! I am catching up on last night's end of series episode of Doctor Who, sad to see the end of David Tennant, but the new one looks alright...Good story, I loved all the updates and closure, a little bit Time Traveller's wife, a little bit Star Wars!

Have been spending lots of time with the new camera; publicity shots for the school, Church picnic yesterday, (we sold all the fruit and veg donations from the Harvest Thanksgiving and made around $400 for the hospital and Haiti.) And a card series for the local antique shop, uploaded a few for you, as there hasn't been a lot of time for sewing! Been designing alot of photo books for special occasions as well, everyone I know will nearly end up with a book of photos of themselves at this rate!

I am debating over a quilt project at this point, I have 2 weeks until my daughter's birthday...it's been about 5 years since she got her last quilt..she'd mad on cats..i wonder if I can bump her up the list of oh so many projects to finish and make her something. They both drag out their quilts for Tv every day, I'm sure another wont go astray.

I'll sleep on it! Maybe a good night's sleep will solve everything!

Have a great day, Tracey

An enlarged quilt

Revisiting a past quilt today. Longtime readers will remember I made a log cabin lap quilt for my Dad's 70 th birthday, started (of course) on the Tuesday before the Friday party! That was 4 years ago, all the guests wrote or drew messages on the calico on the back. I thought I was done with that project, but then a good while ago it was given back with the suggestion it needed to be bigger, preferably queen sized for their bed. I thought about a whole new one but some of the signees on the back have already died and I think those messages were a main part of the quilt. ....I scrounged up enough matching fabric for what is the third section on the below picture-If you look hard you can see a slight colour difference,
that makes it q/s width, then hit a dead end with no more fabric and no clear idea how to add in a whole new concept. It got thrown in the UFO drawer and if not forgotten, then only guiltily remembered! They recently got a king size bed so i gave up and made what i had into a big lap quilt in time for his 74th birthday celebration last Wednesday. He was more excited to get it back than he was to receive it!

Looks cosy doesn't he!
I am continuing my house spring cleaning and organizing mood. I worked on the kitchen bookshelves yesterday and pulled out all these quilt magazines. i like all these magazines but I'm finding that some of them are here because of the added subscription deals and are hardly being opened anymore, there is so much fabulous inspiration on the net. Also, I want more techniques from my magazines...techniques and interesting articles/stories. Not just 8 often bland patterns. Some of these do that better than others. What do you think about the magazine situation, still getting them, which inspires you? Fill me in.
The other problem is storage, i am putting these over with my LARGE collection in my sewing room. If there is really only one thing that I like in the mag I often cut it out and keep it in a plastic display book, last week I got quite ruthless and sent at least a few to the local high school to inspire them.....what do you do with them??Love to hear your thoughts, and don't forget to visit the quilting gallery this weekend to vote on the valentine Quilt comp. my cards are sponsoring, or visit my card site by Sun night and leave a comment to enter to win a pack of 15 of the cards.
Have a great day

ps, been watching the winter games opening ceremony, loved all the colour projections, especially those whales!

Fw: WE WERE BROUGHT UP PROPERLY

My Mum sent me this, thought you may be interested in it. I would maybe beg to differ on a few of these things not causing problems and /or repercussions...some of them may only be showing themselves now!!
Funny how the olden days always look good in hindsight...

Those were the days, CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 50's, 60's and early 70's ! First, we survived being born to mothers who drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.. Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.... Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos. Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death! We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with. We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...... WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K. We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY , no video/dvd films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms...........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no Lawsuits from these accidents. Only girls had pierced ears! We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time... We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays, We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet! RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and bully's always ruled the playground at school. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla' We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL ! And YOU are one of them! CONGRATULATIONS! You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good. And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were. PS -The big type is because your eyes are not too good at your age anymore

Bushfires remembered and an update on your generous donations...

Hi to everyone. In about an hour it will be the 1st anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfires in Australia. Those of you who follow my blog will know that blocks were sent here from all of you lovely supportive quilters all over the world. I haven't made a big fanfare as they have all quietly been being completed and in many cases dispersed...I don't think any of us made our blocks to be made a fuss of, just to wrap our quilts of support around those affected. But these are a few photos that have been snapped of quilts in progress and I thought you may like to see how some ended up. There are still a few big ones in progress, there hasn't been a huge hurry on these last ones as a lot of people are still in temporary housing...the quilts will in many instances be a new house present.

I would like to again thank you all for making these blocks in the first place, and my quilt group for helping put them together, well done all!

And tonight I would like you all to remember the victims in your prayers, and the many people still waiting for a new home...add that to your Haiti thoughts....Stay safe, Tracey

Gotta love a kaffe fassett border

gotta love those circles

Why don't I make more scrappy churn dash quilts?

And this as well...

*****Late edit*****Just visited my lovely friend dawn's blog and she'd just found out her hubby is being deployed. Usually a fabulously funny read, maybe not so much tonight, but well worth a visit to say hi ...