ROAD TRIP...........

A few weeks ago some stitchy friends called a road trip to Ballarat with several shop stops on the way.

The first stop was a small town called Ballan where a wonderful quilting shop complete with coffee shop selling the most scrumdidilumptious food. The complete package.

The shoppe was Mill Rose Cottage.

They had the best range of liberty fabrics as well as most everything else I believe!
One lady got so carried away she bought a new sewing machine, I tell you the excitement was high that day!!!

As we were leaving the shop I noticed a colourful fence and sign saying "Op Shop".....STOP!!! I yelled....our driver did so beautifully and I ran over to see this amazing sight.

 What could be up these stairs? What wonders was I so eager to photograph?

Well this for a start....This was the entrance to my kind of enchanted forest. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the works of Gaudi of Spain and one day I will travel to Barcelona to see his exquisite mosaic park and buildings.......in the meantime I can appreciate the love and imagination someone has lavished on this place.

And yes it was an Op Shop but sadly closed on that day...all good it just means I will go back.

I was in photo heaven everywhere I looked there was something else to snap....bliss.
And my friends were so kind and patient waiting as I ran hither and yonder.

I loved the colour blue and the shading of green, the duck lying on the fence, the portholes ......

The little treasures just waiting to be discovered.

Sadly I didnt get the greatest shot of this ...it was so ...well words fail me....beautiful is one word 

As you can see I was enamoured by it all, and this was just the fence, we couldnt get in to see the garden so who knows what other sights you have been spared...:-)

OK I will stop now......

We drove onto Ballarat and had a great lunch and shopped at 

Ballarat Patchwork.

This business is up for sale...if I had any skills in running a business I would love to take on such a venture.....but I really dont and whats more I am almost savouring retirement....well I dream of the day..

These are the diamond days...

Hexagons..

I have been beavering away at a little project and by golly it has nearly finished up.
I love this little project as it has been cheap inexpensive and picked off the shelf because it was cheap carefully selected and I was unsure of the result I loved it from the beginning.

Alls well that ends well I say ( Phew) because I did spend many hours stitching over many papers.

Ta.Dah....
Look at me learning how to fancify my photos...thank you picmonkey!

I bought a pack of pre cut hexagon shapes from my local Spotlight and thought, why not? They had done the hard work of cutting and the fabric was all there and did I mention....$8.00 a pack!
2 packs and I was off...
I bought the chocolate as a background type and played with the layout.

This is what it looked like on the design wall.

And this is the border fabric that I went with.

It really has been a jump in type project, one where I was not in full control of the colour and can I say it has turned out really well.

It has taught me a lot about scrap quilting and fabric selection. So often I have agonized over things and gone nowhere and it fact have been disappointed with quilts that have little or no contrast.

Now I know for me, the more eclectic the better, just go for it.

Thats it for now...

...and hey for all you that may like my blog, feel free to leave a comment....it would be nice to know someone other that Miss Ada Bea and my other 6 followers are out there...come on dont be shy.

Hmmmm....maybe I may have to bribe you with a giveaway soon!!

After I reintroduced myself with a bit of silly behavior....

 I struck it lucky on my thrift or "op shop" run just lately and found an old collection of wooden cotton reels. These were the ones that had lost labels and were hard to display ...or so I thought...

 Then I struck it lucky finding this on the street....an old Ikea copy of a printers tray...but hey one mans trash as they say.

OK...this has possibilities me thinks.

Voila!

What do you think?
Now I must be honest here this was not entirely all my own idea, I was inspired by a picture from Patchwork Chickens: HAPPY EASTER !!

When I saw her studio space and the collection of threads, well I put two and two together and got this.

I adore the inspiration I see on other peoples blogs and their generosity in sharing. You just never know what ideas can grow.

I also scored this little basket....again I wondered did I really need such a thing....I know what has need got to do with it?

I just loved the painting on it, all hand done.

I got into my sewing room and pondered, it looked great but what function could it serve? I know, but I already have a LOT of decorative stuff and I am trying to be selective a little.

Problem solved.

It fits and hides away the utilitarian work light.....bingo!

Some days are just inspired..it doesnt happen a lot but when it does, I love it.
So now I have a lovely basket that covers a necessary but not entirely beautiful item.

Here endeth my tale.....for now.

STILL HERE.......Just gone a little quiet

Which I actually do when life overwhelms me a little....but I am back and happy to be so.

Although I go quiet I have still been pottering away and planning and doing projects that keep me centred and calm.
I thought when number one daughter started uni and living on campus I would have soooooo much time to myself....ahhh....NOT.

Well not so far, and before you know it, she will finish first semester and have a FIVE WEEK break!! 
She only just got there I swear.
 I keep telling her, lap it up and enjoy, these years are the last time you will get such great breaks. 
Gee sounding like a proper old fart now.

This is the beautiful girl.....

 ..........and this is her gorgeous friend....who assisted in the cake deliciousness that has been photographed before....here is more

Banana and raspberry bread....yum, we ate it straight from the oven

And macaron success.........from a mix by that Zumbo guy....well worth the expense. It worked a treat and was delicious.

And this is what happens when you leave your camera lying around.......

Those two little cherubs in the top photo set me up with a timer shot, they took a selfie then told me to pose in front of the camera, I didnt know they had set the timer, so I was caught in a very compromising position....bowing deeply to the man of the house.
LOL.   

Even the dog was startled and not amused in the slightest by that.

And on that strange note......I will speak again soon.

HELLO DEAR FRIENDS.....

Thank you all so much for allowing me to express my self during this time. The support I received both here and in my "real" life ( as opposed to electronic life) was much appreciated.

Now to resume somewhat normal programming I have tried to put together a tutorial on a little drawstring bag that I know as the "origami" bag.

I was given this pattern many years ago and it had no designer or copyright on it. I have also googled it and have again found no designer claiming it as their original....so now we can get down to it!

This is one I had prepared earlier and what I hope you can achieve by the end of the lesson.

Firstly you will need two pieces of fabric and approximately 1m of cord.
All seam allowances are 1/4 inch.

CUTTING
Cut both fabrics to an 18.5 inch square.

Now a trick to determine if indeed the fabric is square is to fold it on the diagonal and see if all sides match up. You will soon see if one side is slightly too wide. 

ASSEMBLY

Stitch the two squares together, by placing both right sides together and stitch around all the sides......leaving a small opening so you can turn the sown square right sides out.

Turn so right sides are now outward
Slip stitch the opening closed

So now you will have a fabric placemat type of thingy.

Now comes the origami folding.

With fabric you want for the inside of the bag facing uppermost , fold into thirds making sure the points touch the opposite fold.

Fold Point A to Point B.

Now hand stitch through the two folded layers from point A to B to C.

When you have done this you should have something like this.

The folded layers are secured and you will have a tube type of thingy.

Now find the centre by folding the piece in half.

and sew by machine through ALL layers.

More folding now..( origami bag remember)

Fold the triangular ends in towards the sewn line, leaving a 
2 1/2inch gap between the points. 


The crayoned in sewing lines may help make sense of the following instructions...or not...:-)

Measure in one inch from the folded sides and mark with pins.

Sew along the folded side one inch in, repeat other side.

Go back and sew another line parallel BUT now only 1/4 inch in from the folded side

Now you have a casing for the drawstring.

Fold the bag, RIGHT SIDES together......that is the flaps are inside.

And machine stitch the sides together from the fold up to the drawstring casing.
DO NOT sew through the drawstring casing.

Now the magic happens turn the bag inside out again and look what you should have!!

 Grab your cord for the drawstring.

 I find placing a safety pin on the end allows me to push it through the casing.

And there you have it .... a drawstring bag, with pockets.

I have skimped the drawstring bit, if you like I could explain that further. Just let me know.

I have basically done two loops.

I have cut my length of cord in two and created two loops through the drawstring casing.
 One loop with both ends of the cord coming out of the left hand side of the bag, and other loop with the ends coming out of the right hand side of the bag.
When you pull on each side it draws the bag closed.

That I will explain in the next tutorial. 
I have no more pictures. 

I apologise but as this is my first tutorial I may have confused people....I would love your feedback so I can improve.

A Very Difficult Post to Write.......

 This is a difficult blog post to write but if I am to be able to get this out of my mind then I can continue to carry on with honesty.

Normally I am one to repress my emotions and carry on as if nothing is wrong, and this in the past has led to me finally breaking down in a spectactular fashion......and not a pretty one either.

My father passed away last week......

Now I know this will resonate with readers in various fashions of remembered grief or difficult emotions...we all have a father but our relationships and memories will all be different.

My father was a difficult man to live with and our relationship was distant.
We had such similar personalities and intellect but he never saw that I was his mirror, he chose to see me as his adversary.

However as he grew older and more and more ill, he realised his mortality and tried in his clumsy way to reach back and tell me about himself.

I tried to swallow my hurt and anger but it was very hard in the initial stages.
Then I got the call from my mother and knew that this was no false alarm, he was gravely ill and was being prepared for palliative care.

I somehow was granted strength to face him in his weakened state, 
and allow him to say whatever he needed to say.......my father talked for three days straight!!! 
Finally he stopped the incessant chat and I was able to communicate with him........after 40 odd years of distance.

At the end of his life I was given permission to speak and allowed to show him the competent adult woman that I had become.
My father couldnt let go of the adolescent me during his life, he held on to the angry out of control teenager and wouldnt let her grow up.
As he drew closer to the end, I sat still and looked into his eyes with honesty and no anger. He drifted in and out of sleep, when he opened his eyes and saw me there, he finally saw me as I am now.

I know this is an intensely personal piece of writing but this was and 
will be a huge part of my life and if I didnt get it out there I would be forever plastering a false sense of bravado on my blog. That is not my style.
My dad was all at once generous, selfish, loud, domineering, sensitive, insecure, funny, brave, weak, loving and angry.
He was complex but he gave me the greatest gift at the very end, and that was the chance to forgive.

Thank you if you have read this far and stayed with me, that means more than you will know.