Hello World, its Susan speaking,

Boy oh boy, sometimes like a frog in hot water you dont realise the pressure you are under until you are steaming.

You know the theory, put a frog in water and slowly turn the heat up, he/she doesnt notice the heat until its nearly too late. 
Life can be like that A LOT.

I wont bore you with the details, as we are all in this hot water called life, feeling various degrees of heat, but some spots get hotter than others at different times.

I have come through the slump and like any change, its painful but enriching. I have sorted and dumped those things that no longer serve me well and kept and nutured those that uplift and enhance my life.

And as we crafters know, CREATIVITY is key!

I recently put all my energy into creating a quilt for my sons girlfriend. This beautiful soul has enriched my sons life and recently has proven again she has depths and substance in her love for my boy.
My son has many health issues, some life threatening, at his most vulnerable this girl/woman has been a support not only to him but me.

My family are not close and I have struggled in caring for my son with only my husband for help. Since this beautiful girl has entered our lives my burden has eased, she has become a member of our team and I appreciate so much the happiness she brings.

I had a layer cake of MoMO fabric and when I found a pattern for a hexagon quilt that could be machined and used a layer cake. Well it was a done thing.

I found some fabric also by MoMO for the border, it was from a different design story but the colours still worked. I wanted something bold.

Somehow this did not look right, it was lacking something.

I tried an inner border, to frame the hexagons and I think it looked better.

Thats the top done, the rest should be a breeze she said to herself.

 I had all these offcuts from the cutting of the hexagons, in the original pattern they were used in the border. I didnt go that path, but still wanted to use some scraps up.

Pretty bunting? 

 A pieced back....for my sins. :-)

 A closeup of the quilting.

Now be kind (as I know you all are), this is my FIRST attempt at  machine quilting, there were many wibbles and wobbles. But I had a blast, in fact I was seriously happy with my efforts.

In fact I liked the back as much as the front.

I off centered the starting point, as I felt this would take it to an arty edge. (not taking myself seriously here at all folks).

It is a trick I learned in photography, to make the picture just a little more pleasing to the eye, you position things of interest not in the middle but in the third...if you get my meaning.

And this was how many ends I had to sew in. Each circle had the start and end thread to hide.

I even enjoyed that task.....because I was making this for love.

Mind you, then I saw a quilt on Crazy Mom quilts and that sensible Amanda had done SPIRAL quilting.  Same effect, less end work.

Oh well, I did say it was my first attempt, we live and we learn.

I just want to say again how reading and seeing other quilts on this blog network has been so enlightening for me. I have looked and studied the techniques so generously shown and it has pushed me to create more.
This is a good thing in my life.

WENT AND HAD ME a good time.......

Yes, I actually managed a weekend away with the man of my dreams...after 14 years of family ups and downs, we finally reached the stage where we could leave the children and ESCAPE.

I desperately wanted to see the V & A exhibition of quilts, I mean who wouldnt? Sadly it was only travelling to Brisbane which is a couple of hours away by plane.

Well, serendipity worked in my favour for once, and my wonderful man agreed to run away with me for the weekend and I could pop off and see the quilts.

Of course you are not allowed to take photos in the exhibition so I bought the book and I am sure I will be OK if I show you a few of the memorable quilts that I liked in particular.

Actually this is one that my husband was fascinated with. 

Made by a man.......a soldier in fact, couldnt get more manly!

I/2 inch hexagons, in military wool......serious commitment there.

Soldiers were encouraged to sew in their rehab time so they didnt indulge in drinking and gambling. Works for me!

Serious wanties..... sigh. Look at that needlecase, why she asks dont they make such things anymore?...........and realises that she couldnt afford them if they did.

This one did actually make me weep. A simple quilt with such a powerful story. This was made in Changi Prison by 8 to 12 year old girls, in secret as being caught by the guards would be dire, with snippets of clothing, for their girl guide leader for her birthday.

They had embroidered their names in the centre of each rosette.

Seriously I have never had such a reaction before but the love that shone in such a dark place .....

More love, this was donated to a family in London who had lost their home in the blitz. It was made by a group of Canadian quilters and sent over in parcels.

I thought the red wool ties almost made this look modern, I may try this myself one day.

This was made by a UK woman from her black out curtains and scraps of whatever fabric she could find. The caption read...

"This was the only quilt the maker ever made..."

Fair enough, Its a good one.

These were examples of the hand quilting that was done as a cottage industry in the 30's and 40's by woman in the UK.
World class hotels commissioned their work and they were placed in their rooms.........THE WORK!.....I wonder where they are now?

Again, a wonderful example of hand quilting....sigh.....

As I said just a snap shot of the quilts I thought were interesting, there were many older and historical ones there but I thought I would keep this post short....er.

Then my man of my dreams and I played tourist in Brisbane, (and if my sister is reading this I am sorry we didnt catch up with you, it was a flying visit)

Are these not intriguing?

They are telephone or electrical exchange boxes that are on most street corners, obviously the city has commissioned artists to decorate what would normally be boring and voila...I loved it.

This was the road outside our hotel.....this is ART...no you say!

This is definitely art......I was inspired...by artist Jeffrey Smart.  Australian.

Natures Art.

International Art. 

A Pagoda donated to Brisbane for An Expo in 1988 ish?

The carving is ornate , the skill amazing.

I love taking pictures of old dilapidated buildings, often in large cities these buildings are demolished ASAP. So I see these not as eyesores but like a very old person, something that is showing wear and tear but has a story to tell.

One day someone may come along and paint and mend this and a new story will be begin.

Australians are too quick to bulldoze and build new these days, its often cheaper but we loose our history in the process.

Some history remains tucked away between the new

I have a daughter named Victoria.....good strong name!

Love a lion, they are all so regal , the crossed paws are a nice touch.

Time to stop for a refreshing cuppa.

Thanks for reading about my little trip away

The man of my dreams, posing with art.

Bye for now. :-)

Oh Dear, I have been a bad blogger of late........


There I have been reading all and sundry , posting witty and pretty remarks on other blogs and basically sucking the life juices from the blog-a-sphere and NOT putting back.

So I feel its my turn to contribute to the general chatter here.
Blogging is such a strange thing sometimes.......you pour your heart into your posts crafting the sentences you hope someone will read, stifling disappointment when there are no comments, gasping when you realise that half the "traffic" to your blog is spam....oh boy DO NOT follow THOSE links.......well yes I did but its not pretty and it is certainly NOT for anyone's eyes to see.....uggghhh...still shuddering at that fox paw....( lame joke, faux pas-fox paw)....heheh.......he.....silence!

Now where was I? Oh yes blogging......but then I realised that it dont really matter. I do read blogs sometimes and rarely comment. I do look forward to others and their daily updates on life in general. I appreciate sometimes I am witnessing pain, and hurt and bewilderment and any number of human emotions within the blog.
And I have re-read some of my own posts and realised it was in some way a precious snap shot of my life and progress.

So I will carry on in  my own way....

I love this artist....his ability for observation of humans is so uncanny. He can be rude and crude and cutting at times, and then gentle and soulful and reflective at others. His name is Michael Leunig and many here in Melbourne consider him a living treasure.
This is taken from a recent book he published and it sums up where I want to be in life.

It takes courage sometimes to get off the treadmill and carve your own path, You do get people urging you to go faster and faster, with good intentions but I do enjoy a good plod.

I have over many weeks now been knitting up a lot of these things.
Now before you exclaim...not more BUNTING!  No, its not what you may think.

There, what do you think?

I saw this pattern in Spotlight and it is by a New Zealand designer, Nikki Gabriel. It is a clever design that is basically patchwork, in that you make the triangles and sew them into an arrangement and a jumper is born.

I knit each winter, and most winters I am so disappointed by the results. You take a gamble when you knit, because you often have no sample garment to try on to see if it suits. I set myself up for this feeling each year, but sometimes it works.
I told myself this year if it didnt suit, then I would make it into a blanket or cushion cover. So I pressed on.

It was not all plain sailing, after an initial fitting, the sleeves were horrible.

I do not have matchstick arms, no they are very generous hugging machines. as you may be able to see in the first pic, the dark fabric is the size I needed to be. The arms in the pattern were too long and too tight. Hmmmmmmm....me thinks, and thinks.
Looks like the blanket option again.

But No!

Do you see what I did there?

This design was so clever, I basically placed another triangle under the arm, making room for the upper bicep. I also re sewed..( is that a word?) the seams so the shoulder was higher and the whole thing worked.

I can see many many more jumpers to knit now, and the whole thing actually follows my curves, so it shows a waist and the girls to their best advantage.
So often big girls are given a square to wear.....so flattering.....NOT.

So that is one of the plodding type things I do. 

Feel free to leave a comment, :-)

In the meantime I will award myself this.

YAY ME!!

learning to stand up and hold my head just that little higher.

Thank you blog-a -sphere!