Our Creative Space

One project finished; one more started.  Another birthday gift that will be late, but hopefully not as late as the last quilt.  This is the beginning of a 'Hot Spot' quilt from Alissa Haight-Carlton's lovely book 'Modern Minimal' and this will be another reversible throw (going from a cream centre to chocolate outer on the other side) for my youngest sister, R.















Browns aren't really my colour palette but I am loving the combination of chocolate, caramel, cream and other warm and toasty hues that will make up the finished product.

For more Creative Spaces, see who is lined up at Kirsty's place.

Sunday Snippets

This is a fun theme.  A great way to sum up the week that was.

To see other wordless weeks, head over here.

Wonky stars quilt finished!

It has taken over six months, countless hours and a involved a bit of swearing on the way, but the Wonky Stars quilt is finished.  After finishing the hand quilting a couple of weeks ago,  Louise helped me trim it up at the last Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild SASE, then last weekend I finished the binding during a Downton Abbey marathon session.  So it will now be passed onto the recipient some four months late, but hopefully she will think it is worth it.  The problem is that is looks so good on my red couch that I wish I could keep it.

For more creative stuff going on, head over here.

Sunday Snippets

I thought I would have a go at Sunday Snippets hosted by Tinniegirl.  This is about putting up some pictures from your week; words not necessary.

Here goes:

Plus the Hot Cross Buns from Friday.

Happy Easter.

A Good Friday

Any day off is a bonus but today has been particularly enjoyable - after a 1.5 hour group fitness class this morning, I came home to have a crack at  homemade Hot Cross Buns and while making them, stumbled on a film version of Jesus Christ Superstar on the telly which meant a sing-along while I mixed and kneaded. It was great to feel no guilt in loading up a delicious HCB with butter for afternoon tea and between all this managed to get most of the housework done so that the rest of the Easter break can be filled with reading, sewing and swanning around.  A great day!

When life gives you limes, make cocktails

I am not overly fussy about what is in my garden, but I must have fresh herbs and lemons.  The lemon tree was a key factor in buying our property and I went to considerable lengths to protect the tree when we rebuilt in 2010, including designing a deck that wouldn't encroach on its space and threatening the tradies with death or worse if it came to any harm.  The other tree I have always wanted is a lime tree and shortly after we moved here, Stos planted one for me however results, until recently, have been disappointing.  The return on investment has been poor - the tree cost around $30 and I am sure that it's only yielded 6 - 8 limes in 10 odd years.  Every year it has lots of flowers and fruit buds but fails to deliver on its promise and has not grown much since we have had it.   However, after complete change in the garden, two years of decent rain and some other unknown miracle, I've had half a dozen lovely limes in the last few weeks and there are another 30 on the tree in various stages of development.  Plus, we think the tree has doubled in size over the last year.  I am so excited - looking forward to daiquiris, lime delicious pudding and maybe lime chutney over the coming months.

Books

I have just finished reading a brilliant but disturbing book;  'A Pale View of Hills' by Kazuo Ishiguro. This came to my attention via s the Avid Reader newsletter from Abe Booksellers, under review of horror stories.  I loved 'The Remains of the Day' and have 'Never Let Me Go' to read after seeing the film, so thought that I would give this a go  So is it a horror story?  Well, I think there is an element of horror in the book, which centres on a woman who was in Nagasaki when it was bombed during World War II and whose elder daughter has just committed suicide, but this simmers below the surface.  You know that all of the characters have experienced losses that are only alluded to, but nothing is explained and the twist at the end leaves you wondering if the narrator is actually the mysterious, so called friend Sashiko, who is prominent in her memory of the time after the war when she was expecting her first child.  While 'The Remains of the Day' is a quiet, sad story and the film of 'Never Let Me Go' has the same undercurrent, there is no mystery about the identity of the characters, their history and the sacrifices they have made, which really differentiates them from this story.  A wonderful, if puzzling read.

Life at the Outpost quilt - finished

Finally the quilt for the January 19 arrival is finished. This is the first time I have quilted anything on the sewing machine and it was relatively painless and so much quicker than hand quilting. I took Alissa's advice and used basting spray for this instead of pins which was a great time saver both in terms of putting the pins in and moving them for the quilting. Now back to the Wonky Stars.

Vale Evie

This week my parents had to do what all pet lovers dread; make the decision to end the life of their beloved companion.  But in the end, it was a Clayton's decision as there was nothing else that could be done for her and she was clearly suffering.  Evie was a part of our family for nearly 13 years and we will miss her very much.

A Capital time

It's been a long and busy week.  It seems like ages ago since our wonderful long weekend in Canberra.  Stos bought tickets for the Renaissance exhibition, which he knew I was longing to see, and the STLT New York correspondent gave us some travel vouchers for Christmas, so add some accommodation at the Park Hyatt in Canberra, an extra day off after the Australia and voila - a cultural mini holiday.  In addition to the National Gallery of Australia, we went to Handwritten, an exhibition of manuscripts, documents and letters on loan from the staatsbibliothek zu berlin, Old Parliament House, the National Film and Sound Archives and the Australian War Museum.  I was particularly impressed with the latter;  I'm not really into war memorabilia but this is a fascinating collection in a wonderful building that is a real tribute to all that have fought and continue to fight on behalf of Australia.  The walls of remembrance with all the poppies tucked into the crevices was very moving.  

I was also very taken with the National Film and Sound Archive which is a 30's Australiana building with bas reliefs of Australian animals in the rooms and a magnificent platypus skylight in the foyer.

Good thing: 27 & 28 & 29/366 - Seeing the national capital and its treasures

For:  Us