My ufo's have been occupying my time lately. I don't have any great guilt over them, but I would like to have them "resolved" in some way. To this end I decided to use as many of them as I could in one quilt, instead of finishing them individually.
I had eight of these blocks in faded colours, from around 1989.

And nine blocks of the same pattern, from even earlier, with the dreaded cream sheeting as the background fabric. This is why I stopped making them all those long years ago, it was awful stuff. I told myself I should either use the blocks or throw them away....

There were ten of these star blocks, made from sample squares from a patchwork shop in Rockhampton, gifted to Keryn and thence to me. Made so long ago the triangles have the bias grain along the outer edge of the block- I didn't know any better then.

A single eastern star block, made when Keryn was doing her version of Talula Bottom's quilt.

Then I had bits and pieces, tiny three inch blocks that I set with a cross to make larger blocks,pink and cream halfsquare triangles from an abandoned border that I sewed into blocks similar to the first lot,
and some leftover nine patch blocks blocks from Bonnies Double Delight that I didn't use in the border.

All together, they made this, which grew with no real plan, and fits a double bed nicely. I'm pleased with it; so many projects combined into one, and the memories of all these unfinished quilts, (which I genuinely liked when I started them) make it quite special now. I thought about donating it, but I don't think I can.

Read more...

I took some photos today of a quilt I'd finished and a completed top, but left the camera around at Keryn's so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

In reply to comments, Meggie says my drawings in the previous post don't look skewiff, and there's a good reason for that- I never show any of my not-so-good stuff! When I used to do a lot of baking people would tell me what a wonderful cook I was. But they never saw the burnt biscuits, the dry cake, the lopsided sponge. The boys and the chooks ate those!

So my less than perfect drawing efforts stay between the sketchbook covers and don't see the light of day. But nothing's ever a waste, and I learn something everytime I pick up a pencil or brush.I use photos as a reference, but I never trace them- can't see the sense in that because I wouldn't be learning anything. And nothing is a substitute for drawing from life, that's when you really learn the ropes.

Judy asked how long it takes me. I'm tempted to answer that it's taken me 45 years so far.As I said I draw nearly every day, and usually at night. Those sketches both took me under half an hour, but that's only because I've had so much practice. Drawing is a gift, but it's also a skill that builds with repetition.

Keryn and I are without pets for the first time in decades, and we're both pining for an animal of our own. I used to see Matt and the dogs a lot more, but they haven't been visiting so much, and I miss them. Bonnie is owned by a friend of Matt's, and I think Macca has "left his mark" so to speak! She's probably got less than a fortnight to go, and we're all looking forward to the event.
"Do these puppies make my stomach look big?"

Read more...

After a weekend away in Adelaide, which Keryn wrote about, we're back into the thick of things here. I've got customer quilts to finish and bushfire quilts to bind and send off, borders to put on, and heaps of tidying and sorting to do. Note that I'm referring only to my sewing room and the workroom, I've pretty much given up on the usual housework. I've never minded dust and living in this area I hardly even see it any more.
This morning we woke to the wonderful sound of rain on the roof, and my instant reaction was a quick prayer that it would race across to Victoria and put out those damn fires once and for all. One morning of steady rain would do it, so I hope that some of it got over there.

Keryn and I sent off a queensize quilt each as soon as we heard of the need, and it was wonderful to learn that mine was given to a young married couple that had lost everything. It's so nice to know that our quilts went straight to people who needed them and aren't sitting on a shelf somewhere. Thanks Jan and Christine for organising this great service.My quilt was this Lost Ships; I hope that it gives some comfort to it's new owners.

This is a customer quilt I've just finished, it's her first top and I think she did a great job.

I ditch stitched the applique and freemotioned over everything else, not taking any notice of the seams. It worked well for this particular quilt, and I enjoyed doing it.I made a new Year's resolution that I would draw every single day, and I've kept up except for three days. I draw at night usually, just before I go to sleep, which is dangerous because I'm tired and sometimes my judgement is off. Just lately I've been drawing cats and I find them really difficult. They can look skewiff and squinty if I'm not careful, so obviously more practice is the answer!

Read more...

I won't go into this again Keryn, we'll just have to agree to disagree.Our long running argument about Elizabeth the First and Mary Queen of Scots dates from our very early teenage years, and I think my opinion was coloured by a book by Margaret Irwin called Young Bess, and the subsequent volumes. We both loved history and particularly English history, so historical novels were required reading. I think Keryn was drawn to Mary because of her documented love of needlework; something that she could really relate to. My good sister probably imagined herself shut in some tall tower, forced to work on her tiny stitches, but that wouldn't have been much of a penance for her in those days.

Forward to 1983, when this issue of Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts came out. (Gosh I miss that magazine.) This was our first glimpse of the Stickle quilt, and we both adored it and spent ages poring over that photo and trying to work out how she'd drafted certain blocks. And imagining ourselves as civil war maidens I suppose......
It's enough for me that the Stickle quilt exists, I've never wanted to replicate it. I'm content with that, and to admire all the beautiful versions that are being worked on in blogland. I loved Hanne's red and white version, and Bonnies too.

But nup. Not for me.Now I will be interested in Keryn's progress and probably love her quilt when it's done, but let ONE little peep of complaint at what she's taken on reach my ears.....I'm going to say "What did you Expect!!!! The blocks are FOUR inches!!!I told you you were crazy to start this!!!!!" I'm quite looking forward to it actually!

In the same issue was a quilt made of five or six inch applique blocks, I toyed with this idea for a while, but I don't think that's going to happen either. And in a little aside, notice my post-it notes all through the magazines? I write the name of the quilt or article on there and this simple thing let me locate the photo of the Stickle quilt in less than a minute. I just have to riffle through the little tags instead of flicking through dozens of magazines.

I have but the haziest memory of throwing a bucket of milk over Keryn. I guess I had a much shorter fuse in them days!! And if my boys have issues with trust, well then Mea Culpa. That damned Easter Bunny and Father Christmas....

And now to get off the inflammatory subjects, look at my silicone cupcake moulds! Lime green and cute as a button.These are actually muffins, but I'm thrilled with the ease of using the moulds(in my normal muffin tray) because I used to have to soak and scub, and now everything's still clean. Brilliant.

Read more...

Like many of you in blogland, I'm a bit of sucker for animals of all kinds. I've never entered into the "Are you a dog person or a cat person?" debate because I love them both. I love horses, pigs, cows, and sheep, not to mention the beautiful birds and animals that I feel privileged to see at Bowman's park when I go out to visit Matt. (I'm ambivelent about ferrets, but that's only because the ones our uncle used to keep smelled so bad.)

My love of animals meant that this photo really got to me, and I've been mulling over what I could do to help the wildlife injured in the fires. I've decided to put some of my animal paintings and drawings in my Etsy shop, and if they sell I'm going to donate the money to Wildlife Victoria. I've had so much enjoyment over the years from animals, Macca and Jessie and Bonnie and all the other dogs and cats I've owned that it just seems right.

And I've enjoyed drawing and painting them for 45 years too!

Here is the link to my etsy page if you think you'd like a Mereth original, and you'd be helping some small ones who really need it. I may put some up on Ebay too later on.


How could you not love animals?

Read more...

I spent this morning as I do most Saturday mornings, a cup of coffee at hand, tidying up my sewing room and putting away all the bits I'd been working on this week. I love it as I gradually restore order, and 'my' space emerges, all ready for the next round of sewing.

I assess what I'm working on, and if there's any extra cutting or ironing I need to do I get that ready; count piles of blocks, try out setting fabrics, just do all those little chores that might be holding the current project(s) up.

I love my Saturday mornings, and this morning I needed to find a little piece of pink for a certain block, so out came the pink drawer. I was going through it all, remembering where I got each piece, where I had used it, idly wondering if it could go in the place I needed when it suddenly struck me how many many memories there are in my stash. How many times have I gone through this same fabric, enjoying it's colour, the patterns, the memories of adding it to the collection. Then I imagined it all gone, incinerated in one dreadful moment, and I just could not grasp the finality of losing everything.

Henrietta commented "Those who have nothing are the lucky ones, they are alive..." and that is so true. But the enormity of having nothing, nothing in the world to call your own is something that few of us in the western world have ever had to cope with, until this sort of disaster comes along.

Gazing at my lovely drawers of fabric I felt for the quilters who have lost everything, and from emails and blog posts I know that soon these poor stunned people are going to be going mad, simply for the lack of something to do. For people who have always kept their hands busy, for pleasure,as relaxation, therapy, as a way of showing love, to sit in donated housing with nothing to occupy their minds and hands is going to be hard. Once the shock wears off, they will need something to direct their creative energy towards.

Blogland has taken on a different dimension to me during these fires. Now we can know of specific needs, answer particular calls for help, send things off knowing that we are donating to people directly, and it makes me proud to be part of this community. I'm thinking of two particular posts, one on Jenny Bowker's blog, and another on Tracey's.

Here in my lovely sewing room, surrounded by what makes me feel "me", I'm going to fill up a box of fabric to send on and pray that it brings comfort to someone else in the same way.

Read more...

I think the whole of Australia is in shock over the bushfires in Victoria. I was appalled when the death toll was 14, but it now stands at over 180. I keep thinking "This can't be happening" but it is, and the toll will get worse as the clean up takes place. And the very worst thing is it's not over, the fires are still going. Keryn and I will put our names down to donate blood, and Victorian Textiles are providing a roll of free batting for donation quilts, so we'll organise to quilt some of our tops and those of the local patchwork group. There's nothing to be done at the moment, except perhaps donate money to the Red Cross, but it's hard to feel so helpless.


Quilting does seem a bit irrelevant, but that's what we do, so here are some of the tops I was working on when it was so hot and I was confined to my sewing room.
This was four finished blocks, and the rest of the pinwheels that had languished for some obscure reason. It took very little time to complete the other 5 blocks and add sashes and border. Small top done.

This was a leader-ender project that finally demanded to be put together.
The four patches were so easy to whizz through the machine, and the blocks were done before I knew it. The colour in this photo is very dodgy, it looks so washed out but it's not in real life. I used an old ebay quilt for my inspiration, and the original had a final peachy-pink border. I have chosen the fabric, but am in two minds about whether to add it or not. It's such a different colour to the double pinks in the blocks, and yet I love the old quilt so I can't really see why I'm hesitating. It will be the work of half an hour to sew it on, so in my mind it's finished already.

Here's the original, a much brighter yellow sashing, but I'm not quite that brave.

I have a customer quilt to take off the frame this morning, and another to go on, so I'm back in business. It was nice to sew for all those days, but now I've got to earn some money!

Read more...

The heat continues, every day has been over 100 degrees for the last ten days but a cool change is supposed to be coming tomorrow. I'm at the stage of believing it will never be cool again, and I certainly can't imagine wearing my beloved wool socks any time soon. It's just so Boring being hot all the time, and everyone is sick of it. Not to mention the short tempers- I snap at Keryn and apologise, then she snaps at me and says sorry....Honestly I think we're all partly insane at this time of year and it's just because we're TOO HOT!!!!!

I have customer quilts waiting but it's over 100 in the workroom and I don't want to run the machine in those temperatures, let alone stand there myself. So I've been doing things at home, mainly pulling out old projects and sorting through the UFO's.

I've nearly finished three tops, but I took them around Keryn's to photograph and forgot them, so no photos yet. I still need to put borders on two of them, but they're well on the way to being completed.
I'm trying to pull these assorted brown blocks into some sort of top, but I don't think it's very interesting. I obviously have to try a bit harder, but I keep getting side tracked with other UFOs. I have so very many to choose from!And very shortly plastic shopping bags will be illegal in South Australia, so I've been making some sturdy grocery bags. I don't like the green ones you can get at the supermarket, mainly because the handles are too long. I'm so short that the bag sits on the ground unless I wrap the handles around my fist, and that hurts. My bags are much stronger and they're nice and stripey too.This morning I looked out of the sunroom window and saw these five parrots sitting on the clothes line. They'd been having a lovely splash and freshen up in Macca's pool and they were preening and fluffing themselves out to dry.Excuse the photo quality, but I stuck the camera between the venetian blinds, and the window was quite dusty, so I'm just amazed that anything came out!
I hadn't thought of the birds enjoying the water, and I won't empty it out now; they can come and have a bath whenever they want. I'll put a couple of bricks in there though, so that it's easier for them to get in and out.

Read more...

I can't begin to tell you what a horrible day it is here today. It's disgustingly hot and the thought of turning on the machine and quilting is ludicrous. No binding of the Double delight either, or I'd probably faint!

I watered the shadehouse early, then came in and spent a while preparing some applique, basting the shapes and marking the blocks. However the pencil I'm using is water soluble and the marks were disappearing so I had to give that up.

I tried to do some watercolours, but the paint dried almost instantly on the brush, so after fiddling for a while I had to abandon that too.
I pulled a kit of cut pieces out and made a few blocks, but everything was sticking to me in a most irritating fashion, so I stopped and went into the kitchen, where I made a cheesecake to have for tea tonight. I think it's too hot to have anything but a salad and a nice dessert, definitely no cooking!The online weather page for our district has updates from various centres; the town on the coast which is always cooler is 42.5 C (107 F) and the other nearest observation station is 45.1 C (113 F). We're in between the two towns, and I don't need to go outside with a thermometer to know it's HOT!!

It never ceases to amaze me that I can sit here in blogland reading about the northern winter, and see the most fantastic pictures of snow and ice, while sweltering in our absurd summer heat.
No doubt some of you are envying us our warm weather, but I've had enough already! And I have air conditioning which is a blessing, even though it's it's not coping so well at these temperatures. I'd be a nutcase without it but it's not making enough of a difference today sigh...

Read more...

Today was Australia Day, and Keryn and I joined the breakfast festivities that were held in the town square, just a few steps from her house. It's so handy that she lives in the centre of everything! We took chairs and a cup of coffee in our travel mugs and once we'd set ourselves up we stood in line at the sausage sizzle. We had bacon and sausages and there were eggs and toast and champers and orange juice- what a breakfast! And no washing up afterwards.
We watched a friend receive his Citizen of the Year award, listened to a few speeches and saw the flag unfurled, then stood to sing the national anthem. The magpies carolled in the trees, a warm breeze gave a hint of the heat to come and I was grateful once again that we have such a lovely place to live in. Australians don't make a big deal about their patriotism, but it's there all the same and it was nice to share it with all our friends.

And of course there had to be cake, our famous Aussie lamingtons, and then home to a quiet day of sewing and watching the tennis or cricket. Good stuff.
And this is the last photo of the Double Delight, even though it's not bound I promise I won't show it again.
Keryn digitised her Double Plume panto, which is what Bonnie used on the original, and now I just have to make the binding and it's done. The backing was made from a precious fabric that was so old that I was quite devastated to use it, but as Keryn pointed out it was dull as ditchwater. Loved the print but it couldn't be used happily with any other fabric. A few strips bought it out to the right size and I was satisfied knowing that the whole quilt was made with scraps and pieces that I wanted to use up.
I did enjoy this, and love the effect of all those pieces, but now I have to get back to my own projects after that very entertaining sidetrack.

Read more...

This customer quilt is done and waiting to be picked up, and it really irks me that the embroideries are puffy from not being quilted. The customer is looking forward to hand quilting around these by herself, but I don't like giving things back that don't look 'finished'. Keryn says I should just get over it, but I do want everything to look as good as I can make it when it leaves here.

Finally this top is finished, after who knows how many years.It joins the stack of tops waiting to be quilted, and those empty areas of shirting should provide some fun.
And Ta Da! The Double Delight mystery is finished. I had it almost sewn together a week ago and then I just couldn't face the last two long rows across the middle for some reason. I kept putting it off until I made myself sit down and do them- strange how we get hung up on certain steps.Although, come to think of it, this may have been why I temporarily abandoned it. Excuse my extremely stubby fingers, this looks more like a thumb but is my left index finger.
It has a partly healed cut, a blood blister, innumerable pinpricks from the applique needle, and the whitish area is a blister from a steam burn when I was ironing. When I was pinning those seams(every three inches, mind you!) the pins kept slipping into the cut, and making it bleed, and the air was pretty blue with not-so-muffled oaths. By gum it hurt. Perhaps my subconcious was just telling me to give it a rest while the poor finger healed.

When Rob was little he called all injuries "damages". I can still remember an accident prone week and his anguished wail of "How can a boy survive FOUR damages on one leg!" (He did.) I feel the same way about my poor finger- how can I survive all those damages? Well I obviously will, and the process goes quicker if I stop sticking sharp metal things in it.......

Read more...

Phew, the blocks are finally done. I'm going to try to get these all together this weekend, I love the top so far and I want to know what the borders are going to be. I just adore this colour scheme, and I've seen some lovely versions in blogland.Most people seem to have followed Bonnies colours exactly though- why not if they work so beautifully?
I have to put the binding on this quilt and the customer intends to hand quilt all the embroidered blocks herself. It should look absolutely gorgeous when she's finished.

I gave Macca this tug of war toy for Christmas, but everyone quickly tired of having their wrists dislocated and shoulders pulled out of their sockets by his enthusiastic wrestles. Matt hung it from a tree , and now Mac can entertain himself and onlookers without anyone being injured.
He chases this thing around until he's exhausted, leaping and swinging from it, and because it's rubber it bounces under his weight.
He's delighted with it, and when he's so out of breath he needs a rest, he just swings lazily around
with it gripped in his teeth. "Watcha doing, Macca?"
His eyes flick happily in my direction, but he won't let go. "Nothing" he grins, "Just hangin' around!"

Read more...

How does Bonnie do it? I've been sewing as much as I can, but there's no way I could keep up with all the steps. However, isn't it very convenient to have a nice sister to make the ninepatch blocks for me? And lest you think it's all one sided I'd like to point out that I did cut out most of her green Sister's Choice and made a few of those blocks for her. I'm a good sister too!!I'm really enjoying this block, but it's not a mystery anymore because I peeked at the remaining steps. I'm quite unrepentant and I love how it's set together, so that's only fueled my desire to see this in one piece.
And I have to say the wine really helped motivate us, we sewed until 3.30 in the morning!

Read more...

I decided after much argy-bargying back and forth that I would do Bonnies mystery. I've never been brave enough to attempt one before because I couldn't bear the thought of not knowing what it was going to look like. Would I like the fabrics in those placements, what if I'd rather the pink where the blue was... what if it would look better with brown instead of indigo? And the pressing, how would I know which way to press the seams? Yes, this is Contol Freakishness at it's most constraining.Much easier to abandon the whole idea rather than attempt the Unknown.

And then Bonnie started with the square in square units, which I'm inordinately fond of. I don't know why, but I just love this little unit and have made hundreds and hundreds of them from my scraps, just for the fun of it. How could I resist them? I had a pile of cheddar scraps that I wanted to use, a drawer of triangles already cut, and the indigo fabric ironed for another project. It seemed as if I was fated to start this project,and it's proving painless so far.
I'm round at Keryn's place at the moment having a delicous meal of curried homegrown vegies, and a bottle of nice wine. I have sneakily suggested that she make the pink nine patches (because she Loves them so..) while I do the brown and cheddar units from step two. It's mostly from scraps so far, so I feel quite virtuous, and if Keryn helps we might be able to keep up.

I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I'm enjoying being told what to do! Bonnie has taught me Obedience!

Read more...

Yes Henrietta, I'm still here,thanks for the wake-up shout! I don't know what happened to the last week, one moment it was Christmas and now it's New Year. I have hazy memories of a food
induced torpor (mm, leftovers!!) and a massive book binge that saw me finish four books in four days. One was 600 odd pages long, and they have all run together in my mind so that the characters and plots are completely jumbled. Next year I don't think I'll indulge myself like that again, I have literary indigestion.The family got on great, there were games with the dogs and mock sword fights on the lawn like a scene from the Princess Bride, hysterical bouts of Pictionary and companionable laughter in front of the telly. I do love my boys and the girls they've chosen....

Exactly 21 years ago I was in labour with Matthew, not the most comfortable way to welcome in the New Year. But he was worth it, and I can't believe it was that long ago. Keryn and I are now going to watch a dvd and raise our glasses to the New Year,and Matt's coming of age, remember the old year and make plans for the next. I hope 2009 is a great year for all of us and that you'll hang around and see what Keryn and I get up to!

Read more...