One of the classes that I attended at AMQF was a Zentangle class with Jane Monk of
http://janemonkstudio.blogspot.com It was a great classes and also encouraged non drawers to step outside of the box and......draw cos Jane says that everyone can....does she mean me too....yes she did. Jane is a great teacher.....and as I am still waiting for the delivery of my LA - maybe Feb - I wasn't too overwhelmed by attending Jane's class.
This Zentangle - my second one - the first was in Jane's AMQF - was 'K' for my 17yo GD's birthday.....I will keep practicing. Sorry about it being sideways....despite reorientating in Picasa.

The house rebuild is 'moving right along' and now the gyprock is being flushed....another 1.5 weeks and the tiler could be on the job. We may be shifting back into the house early Feb. Goodness, it is 11 months since the fire, and 'where has that time gone!'
I celebrated my 60th with the family....very enjoyable....instead of a birthday bash. There was enough happening with the house, choosing colours, tiles, cupboards etc. Maybe I will have a 61st!!!

After 9 months of scheming, planning,organising and whispering.......THE QUILTS have finally been given to us. What an amazing trip it has taken to start as an idea in Jan 2010 and reach completion in Oct 2010! The extra blocks were sewn into a lap quilt and then as an extra bonus the left over material can be the beginning of 'my stash.....and I can honestly say that the pic does not do the quilt justice!

 

Fancy! Our bricks are finished on our house after 1 week and only 5 days of work! We were very lucky to have 2 teams working on it and only 1 sprinkle of rain. Must be time for the gyprockers to start to do their thing. The kitchen is being designed....electrical nearly finished...ducted heating n cooling in the roof....DH is having a much needed rest...he is having a sleepover at his brothers.

 

This was taken from our bedroom window of the unit that we are currently living in. I was up, earlier than normal, to catch the flight to Adelaide for the Australian Machine Quilting Festival.
What an amazing time it was....4 days of quilting classes with great teachers from the States and Australia....2 days for me covering 6 classes, often back-to-back with only 30 mins in between. I was finding it difficult to find accommodation close by....both days my classes started at 8.30am...so I needed to be close by. My normal plan of attack is to 'sleep on a problem' and the solution will become clear....but that wasn't happening! Surely I wasn't the only one with this problem! That was the answer....I emailed Sharon, one of the organisers of AMQF, to see if there was anyone else wanting to share...AND...she sent me the details of someone who was offering to billet! HOW AMAZING IS THAT!!!
I just had the best time!!!!

 

What a great weekend - the weather has been wonderful - no rain, no wind, no cold.
AND a fabric dyeing workshop AS WELL!!! The results were the colours of the rainbow and a few shades in between. Amazingly, the fabric has completed the whole process and it folded up and ready for use in a new project/s which is yet to be revealed....er, and idea unkown at the present time

 

Annnnnd we have some roof! At times the building appears to be so slow, and THEN the roof appears. It IS happening. The weather has been plaing games and as much as we want to see it up and running, I feel happier when there isn't anyone balancing on the roof beams while it is drizzling.
I have been stitching some of my Journey of a Quilter, but no completed block that I can show, as yet. Now getting serious choosing all the internal colours etc. That doesn't happen overnight, but it will happen.

 

The next stage of our new home....the roof trusses are up! Colourbond for the roof - not tiles cos we want to be able to hear the raindrops - has been ordered. The flowers in the front look good...it is great to see something growing....ok, so they might only be sour sobs - a weed - but they sure look bright and cheery!

 

"Out of the Ashes"
My Canadian friend sends me some great things in the post....and they always arrive whole. She posted me a snow dome, as it was the only way that she could send me some snow. AND it arrived whole.
This 'disk' was one of only a couple of things that survived the fire with very little damage. It was hanging from a ceramic 'frame' and arrived whole from Canada, but I only have this part - the best part - now.

I have completed Journey of a Quilter Block 2 and have Block 3 ready to stitch (it has been pieced). In the unit - which is our current home - I am not able to hang anything, but a friend suggested that I pin the blocks onto a sheet. That sure is a great makeshift design wall.

 

I know that this isn't quilt related, but I have been working on my stitching. Not able to show anything yet, as the next block isn't completed. I am cutting Journey of a Quilter BOM #3, but having some difficulty choosing colours in one area of that block. Maybe if I cut the other sections of the block, the last bit will come together.
Today was a very important day as our first wall frames were stood up. We had previously "walked" though the rooms in our house, but with the frames it gives it a whole new perspective.

 

 

What a beautiful night it is, no wind, the water is flat calm and the lights in the Bay are begging to be captured. We have an accomodation business and a family needed to arrive late, which required some setting up for their arrival. So the cabin lights are on, the heater is going so that the cabin will be warm when they need to move children inside from a warm car. On the way, I took a couple of photos.....one with a flash and one without....and I like both of them.

Just how cute is this teddy, given to me by someone who really knows me...it has a little quilt in its hand.

 

There are the boys, pouring the extension of our footings, ready for the floor to be poured on Thursday!!! A neighbour's dog ran through the cement and went home with "cement socks" so the first time that he appears on the day of the floor pour he will have to watch from a chain.

 

"Now how long do I have to wait before you will let me eat this?" Isn't he such a good dog...is it that he is a good dog or is it that I am very patient with my teaching.

I have just finished my second block for the Journey of a Quilter by Leane Beasley. With each block that I do, my stitching technique improves. This photo is taken with my Iphone and the colour make have been truer if it wasn't against a black background, which makes two extremes when the automatic focus is trying to work. As with everything in life, there is always a lot more to learn. My next block is a unit as far as the piecing goes, but I am only just starting on the stitching. And it would look better if I pressed it, but there are still a couple of small patches of blue marker to be removed, before I can do the pressing.

I am stitching Leanne Beasley's 'Journey of a Quilter.' This is Block 10 which I started first as the centre part of this block had lots of hand stitching and at that stage I didn't have a sewing machine. Since then I have been lucky enough to get my Bernina 440. That enabled me to piece - I am not a hand piecer - Block 10 and also Blocks 1 and 2. The hand stitching on Block 1 is NEARLY completed. The layout of the blocks and the mixture of colours reminds me of an English country garden. I will name my quilt 'Journey of a Quilter through an English Country Garden!'

Today was a beautiful - though VERY crispy - day with not a cloud in the sky and very little wind. It was just too good to not have a paddle in the dragon boat. Despite the chilly weather, it was great to be on the water, only my second time in 12 months.

This is Oscar's favourite chair. We are living in a unit for 12 months while we wait for our house to be rebuilt. Oscar isn't exactly madly in love with city living - there isn't much of a yard for him to play in - but he sure likes his......er this chair!

I have been working on my stitching and my piecing - I am enjoying using my new Bernina440 with its 1/4" foot. As nothing is finished I wanted to showcase my 16yo GD's photographic skill. Firstly, even though she had downloaded this pic for my screensaver, I needed to check if it was OK with her.....and it was. It was set up by her spaying water droplets onto the plant and then....walla!!!!!

This is 16yo GD displaying her great cupcakes...I could sure take some cooking lessons from her......and yesterday she made some chocolate mousse creations for a Baby Shower....verrrrry nice. It is great to see her joy with her creations and them sharing them with us all.

This is my very first stitchery - it is Peace & Plenty by Leanne Beasley - that I
have done and completed.....well, the
stitching anyway......and I have had plenty
of time for stitching while I waited for the
time to get a new machine. ( I do have
another stitchery using various colours.....in
progress but I will show that later)

Both of the stitcheries had been given to me
as gifts and it has been VERY theraputic to
be actually working on SOMETHING again.

I have also started on a Journey of a Quilter -
also by Leanne - which will be a long term project.

We had a quick trip to Adelaide at the weekend
and I found that my stitching hoop fitted very
comfortably into a handmade bag that had also
been given to me with bits 'n pieces as a starter
to replace my sewing 'equipment.'

I have some amazingly very thoughtful and generous friends. Following the fire, many friend have been collaborating on different projects and this is one of them. Dragons Abreast Port Lincoln, one of the 43 groups in Australia, which raise the awareness and early detection of breast cancer and which I am a member of in a Supporters role have been a huge support for me.
In 2005 a group of 8 of us - 1 survivor and 7 supporters - travelled from Port Lincoln to Canada to celebrate the commencement 10 years earlier of dragon boating for breast cancer survivors and those travelling their breast cancer journey.
One of our group very kindly offered her uniform shirts and a friend - with the help of other in the design stage - made this very colourful quilt for me. What an emotional presentation that was! in a coffee shop after at least 3 appointments before it actually happened! Many people had seen MY quilt before I even saw it. It even went on a visit to the coffee shop before I could make it!
Now I just need a wall where I can proudly display it.

The caring concern and support of family, friends and the local community have been amazing. My DF has been keeing a close eye on me and for that I am very grateful. She has delivered flowers to me every week and when I said about how great it was and that she didn't need to keep doing it, her comment was 'why not!' The flowers in her garden are prolific and very beautiful as the above example shows. Thankyou DF.

My SIL and I were left to entertain ourselves on Sunday, so we stitched, walked to the bakery - just to check on the the quality of the pastries - ate morning tea (which passed the taste test with lying colours!), we stitched, ate lunch - also from the bakery -we stitched, we walked, we stitched and before we new it the day was over! But it was a great day! When can we do it all again?

Just had a very relaxing two night stay at Elliston which a 1 1/2 hour drive up the coast. BIL and his wife had been camping there for a week.

We stayed in a cabin close by their camping spot .

It is a lovely coastal town with great murals on the local buildings.

How long has it been since I have blogged! There has been a major change in my life as Dec 23 2090 we lost our house in a bushfire. Thankfully there wasn't any loss of life from the total of 14 houses and many buildings that were lost!
Thankfully we didn't lose our Chitsui either as he was having a haircut, which saved his life!
Thankfully we didn't lose our shed with all the tools in it!
Regretfully everything else was lost!
And it is all the 'love things' that hurt the most...
the photos, special jewellery - Grandma's engagement ring - my quilts.....