Happy New Year

I made most of our 17 grandchildren a personalised machine embroidered cushion for Christmas and it seems as though they all love them.  I still have four more to make for those who weren't here.  


Our newest 'grandie', Charlie born on 4 December.

 

Big brother, Henry, now 2.



4 year old Blaide

Izak is 5 and loves quad bikes

Hunter is 4 and loves anything with wheels

14 year old Kody is horse mad

6 year old Rilee does motocross riding and plays football

Blake is 11

18 year old Kayla loves dolphins

2 year old Jett was unhappy that I took his book off him
to take a photo with a silly cushion

"Captain" Jack is 4

Little 2 year old "Princess" Mia

Below are close up pics of some of the cushions. 

2012 and I wish everyone a peaceful, harmonious, serene and contented New Year.  I hope that all your dreams, goals and plans come to fruition and that you are surrounded by love and joy.

I haven't 'blogged' for a while but one of my resolutions this year is to update weekly and keep you informed of progress on my 'creations'.

Last year was eventful in both Australia and New Zealand so here is hoping that this year is a little quieter, although Christchurch is still being shaken around and a tragic ballooning accident last week has unsettled New Zealand but I know that myself and many others around the world send their heartfelt loving thoughts to that small country at the edge of the world. 

We have just returned from a holiday in NZ and I was so happy and grateful to have been able to visit my brothers, sister and have my parents as travelling companions from Auckland down to Westport in the South Island.  It is many years since I have seen very much of the North Island and I was happy to be reminded of the many small, beautiful towns and villages on our route southwards - Auckland to Whakatane, Whakatane through to Rotorua, Lake Taupo and Napier, Napier to Wellington.  We had a quick stop at Dannevirke, a Scandinavian settlement, and photographed WH (wonderful husband) standing underneath the giant Viking sign at the town's entrance - he being Danish born.

Beautiful crossing of the Cook Strait on the interisland ferry - very calm although overcast and a little windy on deck when trying to take photographs.  So many of those I zoomed in on are very blurry but the Marlborough Sounds is one of my very favourite places in NZ.

My plans for this year include setting up a stall at the local Fernvale Markets, more workshops for my original designs and hopefully finishing the studio and opening it to the public.  I am also thinking of a couple of high teas/garden parties when the weather is a little cooler.

Above all I want to continue to feel happy and very grateful for all the wonderful things I have in my life - my wonderful husband, children, grandchildren, lovely home and prosperity.

Springtime

Spring again and what a lovely time of year.  Perfect temperatures - not too hot - jacaranda in flower and everything is wonderful.

I haven't blogged for a while.  Seem to have had writers' block and lack of inspiration.  But here I am again, busy, busy with making Christmas gifts, new designs and hospital volunteer stuff. 

Recently, after finishing renovations on a property, we finally visited a couple of dear, old (not so much in ages but in friendship length) friends in their new home in a little seaside village on the Fraser coast.  A beautiful home, lovely little spot but, oh boy, the midges had a field day with us.   Worth it though to see these two lovelies again, celebrate one of their birthdays and to see some of their friends again too.

We have booked our tickets to New Zealand to spend Christmas with some of my family.  I haven't had Christmas there for many years.  This time we will fly into Auckland and meet my parents, who are flying up from the West Coast of the South Island, spend a couple of days catching up with one of my brother's and his family and hopefully an aunty and uncle before heading down to Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty.  A few days catching up with another brother and his family over Christmas before Rotorua, Taupo, Napier and on to Wellington.  Possibly a day or so there too and then across on the interisland ferry to Picton and down to home town Westport.  It will be lovely taking the parents on our journey and also for WH (wonderful husband) and myself to see a different part of the country.  He has never seen most of the areas we will travel through and I haven't for a very long time.

A couple of weeks ago I attended, with a non-crafty friend, the Brisbane Craft and Quilt Fair.  Spent a little money but not too much.  Soaked up the craft atmosphere and drooled over the beautiful work that was on show, especially in the quilt area.  Even my friend enjoyed seeing the beautiful quilts on display.

We enjoyed afternoon tea at Southbank, much refreshed and replenished after being all but washed away during the January floods.  It really is a lovely asset to the city and much used by young and old, singles, couples and families.  I always love wandering through the park and sitting and meditating by the river.

In the very busy lives that many people lead these days it is hard to justify just sitting and contemplating.  A lot of us seem to always have this urge to be busy, busy all the time.  Is this because we feel we should do or we have to or because it is expected of us?  I know that there are things that must be done both at work and at home but it is a shame that the beauty around us isn't often appreciated.  Calmness, serenity, peace and contentment are elusive for many but if we can spend just a few minutes each day appreciating those things we are lucky to have - even the smallest blessings - how much happier we would all be.

Journeys

A scrumptious table centre - yummy cupcakes on hexagon backgrounds.  Except for the machine embroidered cupcakes this is totally handsewn.

Please look at some other creations on the pages at the right.


I have been thinking about the journeys we take.  Not just in travel terms although that is part of it, but in how we live our life.

When we travel how often do we see our destination as the end?  We want to get there as quickly as possible.  But how much more interesting it is if we get off the beaten track, meander around, investigate hidden mysteries, learn new ways and means of getting there, inhale different smells, tastes, cultures, environments and people.

Life is the biggest journey we take.  Of course we don't just want to go from start to finish in a straight line.  There are challenges to overcome, heartbreaks to bear, obstacles to wade through.  Rather like a travel journey we must negotiate hills and valleys, sidetracks, narrow lanes, broad highways, bridges, fast flowing rivers or meandering streams. 

We are always evolving - our personalities, our habits, our thoughts, dreams and ambitions.  This is our journey.

Some people have told me they have no dreams.  I can't imagine having no dreams.  My current life is one of creation, of dreams and imagination.  I love to create and imagine.  The universe is so huge and in our imaginations, our dreams and our creations we can see, be and do anything we want.  This does not mean that we are dissatisfied with what we have and where we are now but are willing to encompass everything that life has to offer.  With an "attitude of gratitude" for what we do have we attract the great things into our lives.

No two people are exactly the same.  Everyone has different characteristics, personalities and thoughts and although we may sometimes not understand other people's foibles (they probably don't understand ours either) we must accept and tolerate everyone for these differences that make them unique and special.  Nothing is every black and white although some people may think that way.  If you are not hurting anyone physically, mentally or emotionally (including yourself) then follow your dreams, take the journeys, think in colours and not just black and white.

I am So Excited

A long beautiful table runner in pinks and greens.

Simple things do excite me and I am so grateful and happy that I have so many blessings in my life.

But what has specifically excited me at this point.  I bought a quilting machine and frame (quilter) from the US and with shipping costs it still cost a lot less than buying something here in Australia.  Bad girl I can hear you say but if I could have bought the same thing here for a similar price then no worries.  At the time I had a limited amount to spend.  The sewing machine is a lovely Juki, very sturdy and heavy and the frame is a Little Gracie.  Together a great pair.  Because I forgot to tell the company to modify the machine for Australian power usage I had to also purchase a transformer to convert it from USA conditions to Australian.  No trouble.  Darling WH put the frame together and I was in business.  Or at least for a short while.  Unfortunately the hand control that came with the quilter stopped working after a while.  To be very fair, the company I purchased from were wonderful but couldn't really understand the problem.  But they did send me a second hand controller which worked for a while as well.  Then needles started breaking and I was getting quite frustrated.  Apparently with quilting the machine has to work very fast but at the same time you are moving it and the cradle slowly so as to create the desired quilting pattern.  If the controller wasn't working properly then the machine wasn't running at full speed and hence putting too much pressure on the needles. So my poor quilter sat idle for many months.  I just couldn't face the frustration of more broken needles and stops and starts.

I finally plucked up courage and sought advice at a local business which makes its own quilting frames and exports them.  Of course I got the spiel about buying overseas and not having local support.  Yes, yes I understand all this and over the months previously I wished I had waited and bought locally.  But the deed was done and I badly needed help.  This business came to my rescue and made me a custom hand control.

By the way, hand controls are vitally important when quilting on a frame as they are hooked onto the handlebars of the frame and plugged into the machine.  It is extremely difficult to master smooth quilting when you have to use a normal foot control as you have to keep moving the pedal as you move along the frame

Well last week, heart in my mouth, I set up a quilt, backing and batting and gingerly turned the machine on and switched on the controller.  Oh wow.  It worked and how beautifully it worked.  I was laughing and excited.  Anyone who called on me at that time would have thought I was mad.  How wonderful to be able to quilt.

So far I have only completed one quilt since my new controller was installed but I have several ready to go including some very large ones.  I am scared but will keep practising and now can look at learning how to do fancier quilting designs and improving my techniques.  Love to learn new things.

So I say thank you, thank you to John Watts at Booval, in Ipswich.  I am so, so happy and grateful.

Some new items available for sale:

 

Set of 4 placemats using up scrappy strips of blues (my favourite colour)



Yellow gingham and pretty green make a lovely fresh table centre.

An original design - one of my Easy Peasy Designs for Beginners - using Fat Quarters cut into strips

Another long table runner in beiges and dusky pink with machine embroidered centrepieces

Apart from the machine embroidered cupcakes (yummy) this table centre was entirely sewn by hand

A pretty table runner highlighting a lovely paisley print

Discipline

The cutting table - as you can see not much room to actually cut - I am always shuffling things around.

The roller doors with some unfinished objects on that rack and a basked of my original designs made up into fabric packs - currently one bag and one cushion pattern.

Three of my machines - overlocker, embroidery machine and general machine - in the work area.

Area behind my sewing desks.  Laptop normally sits on roll out desk, printer in corner and small ironing board.

My quilting frame and machine with door to patio, bookshelf and fridge.

Looking towards door and window onto patio.  Red quilt is not quite finished.  In the middle of quilting.  Blue quilt is one of my very first projects and now a table cover for desk holding overlocker and embroidery machine.

I am convinced that I need to become more disciplined.  Not that I am undisciplined or unorganised all of the time - my previous careers meant that I did have manage my time and workload well but when you are a 'crafter' time doesn't seem to be as important.  However, in reality, time is important.  We all have the same amount of time each day but how do we use it to ensure that we are not wasting or whittling it away somehow.

I am an organiser of some degree - not as disciplined as many but much more so than some - and my WH and children and possibly even friends and other family will tell you I am inclined to perhaps be a little bossy (I think this comes from being an eldest child - anyway that is my theory and I am sticking by it).  But I do let things pile up then have a big sort out every now and then.

So why now, you ask, should I suddenly worry about being disciplined.  No, this is not something new.  I always strive to be more organised in my 'studio' and in the house but it is not a regular, every day thing.

Take my studio, for instance.  This is our garage (cars sit outside, sorry) and I have tall cupboards, small cupboards, shelves, tables, desks, chairs and a quilting frame (plus a fridge and small chest freezer).  I have drawn up plans on the computer, rearranged them and the furniture physically but still not entirely satisfied with the arrangement.  However, until we fully convert this area into a studio (ie replace rollup garage doors with sliding glass doors) I cannot finalise permanent arrangement of the work area.  I say permanent arrangement - what a laugh as WH will tell you that I love to rearrange rooms and furniture so nothing is really permanent when I get hold of it.  I am happy and grateful that WH has 'allowed' me to use this space - a large double garage - and we will build a new carport soon to keep the cars under cover at least.

But my 'studio' is truly a work space - my 'sweat' shop as my lovely brother-in-law calls it.  In the middle of it and helping to divide my work area from display/showroom area is a large cutting table which has become a holdall for all current projects. 

So my current 'disciplinary action' is to finish all UFOs on my cutting table and reorganise it to be just that - a cutting table.  But how hard is that when I come across fabulous patterns that I just have to make, or designs pop into my head that I need to get into writing and practice immediately, or that I have several large containers with projects yet to be started or even half started.  Do you see what I mean about discipline?

But I need to carry on this motivation to all areas of my life.  I seem to have been roped in to various organisations and sometimes find it hard to say no.  Not that I mind being involved and it does give me some interaction with other people otherwise I would just lock myself away in my studio and create to my heart's content which I would love.  However, perhaps this makes me a very boring conversationalist as many of my friends and family are not crafters like me and not really interested in how to cut up perfectly good pieces of fabric into small bits and then sew them all back together in a different arrangement.  Also, the voluntary work that I am involved with is wonderful, as is most volunteer work, and I am happy to do it but, and I know I am repeating myself, I must get more organised. 

So next week after Monday selling raffles for the hospital auxilliary, Tuesday doing my weekly morning shift as a meet and greet volunteer at the hospital, Wednesday attending the hospital auxilliary AGM (of which incidentally I have just been nominated and elected as secretary) and Friday taking my friend shopping and out to a girlie lunch (which I enjoy doing) that leaves my just Thursday to 'get down and disciplined', create some beautiful objects and catch up with bigger household chores (usually I manage to make the beds, wash the clothes and dishes, and generally tidy the house every day) such as vacuuming, dusting (constant at this time of the year and with our wood fire going every day - yes even in south east Queensland), etc.  Not that I am complaining mind you.  All is good and I am very happy and grateful to be able to do what I am doing.  I have friends who still work fulltime and they have just the weekends and evenings to catch up with their household chores and creative inspirations - now they must be disciplined and I know because I have been there too.  So they provide me with good motivations to get more organised and I will, I will, I am, I am.

Have a wonderful day everyone and make the world a happier place for your family and friends by telling them you love them and how happy you are to know them.

Friends

I have been thinking for some time about friends in our life - the impact and influence they have and the joy they bring.

At 57 I have obviously met a lot of people during the years.  Some of these became and still are wonderful friends.  The friends I have around me at present are a varied lot with differing backgrounds, experiences and personalities but they all bring to me something very special into my life.

Some friends from the past have moved on leaving mostly good memories but lives and circumstances change.  I have moved from one country to another so many of my friends from early years are no longer around me now.  In fact as I was growing up some of my closest friends were my cousins and although I don't see them often it is alway wonderful to catch up with them at any time.

Two of my wonderful friends live overseas and although they both come to Australia annually it is as if they just live in another town or state.  Email is a wonderful thing and although I am a little slack in keeping in touch very regularly I hope they know I do think about them often.  They are both inspiring women.  My American pal is in her early 60s and travels the world doing triathlons and treks.  She tackled the Kokoda Trail last year and is planning a trek in Nepal later this year.  We met when she came to Australia for a year on a study visa.  Her son is married to an Australian girl so she visits them every year and we catch up for Friday girlie lunchs with other friends and dinners at home.  I always look forward to her being here and as she is a 'crafty' person too we can swap stories of our masterpieces.  My other 'foreign' friend is not really foreign.  I worked with her on a project in QLD Health and then she and her husband followed their dream and moved to the UK - Inverness in Scotland.  I am so envious but so happy for them that they have grasped this opportunity and, as she adds to the bottom of her emails, they are 'living their dream'.  I just love all the pics she posts on Facebook and we have visited them and been shown the delights of their highland home. This friend is not 'crafty' but if she finds any internet sites in relation to my craft she sends them to me and another of her 'crafty' friends.  Both of these wonderful women are warm, intelligent, generous and both have large friendship bases so I feel quite privileged to call them my friends too.

I have a couple of friends that I don't see as often as I would like but I know they both would be there for me if needed and whenever we do catch up it is a non-stop talk fest.  One of these women was also my sister-in-law so we have a family history as well as knowledge of the town we both grew up in.  She and her husband (my ex brother-in-law) live a couple of hours from us and it always gives me a wonderful warm fuzzy feeling when we are with them.  This couple have experienced tragedies beyond most people's comprehension but their love for each other, and the love they attract from others have kept them going.  They have been encompassed by friendships they have made and this sustains them.  My love for them is always there. 

My other friend is a school teacher and we only see her and her husband every few months but we have been lucky to have travelled a couple of times overseas with them and had fabulous times.  Plans are on the drawing board for another trip next year.  This couple celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary yesterday and I felt so honoured that they chose us to spend the day with.   She is funny and outrageous, warm and witty, intelligent and articulate and best of all, in my corner.

Two of my 'bestest' friends are women I have known a long time.  One is like my second mother and although we are somewhat different in outlook I love spending every Friday with her shopping and lunching.  We also share a love of everything British and a common thread of both being ex-Kiwis too.  She is a fabulous cook, wonderful housekeeper and drops everything to go to someone's aid at any time.  My other friend also shares Friday lunches when possible and I have known her when I first began work with QLD Health and was given her job - she was moved to another department.  We became wonderful friends and she has been with me through the ups and downs of marriage breakup, new relationships and family problems.   We have been able to tell each other everything and know just about everything about each other.  She too has known family tragedy but is the 'rock' for her family providing love and sustenance always.

Just lately I have met two other lovely ladies through our volunteer work.  Again both so different in background and outlook but both so delightful and whom I am happy to call a friend.  One has also been bowed down with emotional and health events but keeps on going and giving her time.  Like me she is an 'Anglophile' and a Royalist and I love working with her.  The other is bigger than life in many ways and her heart overflows with generosity in her volunteer work. 

I seemed to have gone on a bit about my fabulous friends but they and the other friends I have had  have all played a part in influencing me in life's path and the decisions I have made.  They all bring something special and I am so happy and grateful that I know or have known my friends. 

Frosty the Snowman

I think we had our first frost in our locality this morning although Ipswich has experienced a couple.  I must admit I do love the winters here in southeast Queensland.  Yes it is cold at night and early morning, compared to the temperatures during the day but the days have been spectacular.  Clear, deep blue skies and if you can find a patch to sit in the sun just heaven. 

It is normally a bit later when I head out to the studio at present.  Don't like to leave the warmth of the house especially when WH has been up early in the morning to light the wood fire for me.  I am thoroughly spoilt and do so appreciate it.

The photos above show two cushions I have just finished for our lounge.  If you look closely at the pictures you may realise that they are of mushrooms.  When we were in UK and Europe in 2009, my theme for my photo shoots throughout the holiday seemed to be mushrooms.  I found a couple of quirky looking ones in Scotland initially and proceeded to do some close-ups.  Then throughout our stay, both friends and WH kept saying "Oh look, Ruth, there is a mushroom".  Friends at home will understand - especially those who have seen our pics from this trip - mushrooms were a recurring theme and everyone thought I was (am) crazy.  So the pics in the cushions have been modified in Photoshop and printed on fabric.  The pretty blue and gold fabrics in the cushions were purchased in Fiji so we now have unique momentos of two of our lovely holidays.

It is a while since I have 'blogged'.  No excuse really just always found something else to do but will try to be more regular about posts.

We should be in NZ at this moment, looking forward to celebrating one of my younger brother's 50th, but unfortunately this couldn't be at this particular time.  However, we are looking forward to spending Christmas over there and catching up with family.  It is some years since I have spent Christmas with family over there.

Does everyone have a 'bucket list'?  Or maybe you don't call it that but just a list of things you would like to do, see or achieve.  I have a huge bucket list some of which I have already achieved, seen and done.    Dreams are free and the world is so full of beauty and interest waiting to be experienced.

What am I happy and grateful for today?  I am healthy, I have a wonderful family and beautiful friends, a lovely home to live in and especially a super husband.  I am so lucky.

For those I love who are not in a good place at the moment - physically, emotionally and mentally - my thoughts are with you and hopes that tomorrow will be a better day in every way.