Visits–Quilts 1700–1945, 80th Birthday & My Sewing Room

It has been a busy couple of weeks.

While I was in Brisbane on 5 Sept I went along to the Qld Art Gallery and saw the fantastic exhibition of historical Quilts from the Victoria & Albert Museum.  As I walked around the quilts and articles I wondered at the workmanship and attention to detail the makers managed to achieve in challenging times. It was one of the best displays I have ever seen at our wonderful art gallery.
If you would like to view some of the amazing quilts go to the QAGA site HERE and click on the videos to watch them.  Some of the stories behind the quilts are inspirational.

(View across the river to the City)
Last Sunday we drove to “Serenity” for a friend’s 80th birthday.  Serenity is what they call the property and it is easy to see why.  Surrounded by rolling green hills and friendly wallabies it is indeed peaceful.

Here is the birthday boy with his giant pavlova birthday cake.  He got an OBE presented to him which hangs around his neck.  No, not an Order of the British Empire – an Over Bloody Eighty award. 

Yesterday I visited the sewing room for a clean out of the project boxes. In my present decluttering state of mind, I decided ‘enough is enough’.  Some of the unfinished (and not even started) items went to either the op shop box, the trash, our local community quilting group or repurposed.  It was quite liberating!! 
Project Box 2 no longer exists!!  Hooray! They have been amalgamated into one. Of course, I would be lying if I said these were the only unfinished items in the sewing room.  There are some lurking in other places

In 2009 some friends and I went to ‘Stitchers Day Out’ at Highfields and I completed this little stitchery which I re-discovered in my clean out.  So I was momentarily distracted from my decluttering duties and went ahead and made the book cover for which it was intended.
The stitchery is an Ella & Skysie design and I coloured it with prismacolour pencils.

Book Cover outer                                                Book Cover Lining.
The fabrics bought on the day were just perfect for the stitcheries.

The finished book!  I am going to give it to my gorgeous Goddaughter, Gabrielle as part of her 21st birthday present.
  Gabrielle
The next couple of weekends are going to be busy with Gabrielle’s 21st party next weekend and her sister, Angela getting married the following weekend. 

Iris in my garden.  Did I tell you how much I love Spring time??

TAST Embroidery Re-visited, Spring Garden & Leafy Greens

 

Spring is here at last and we have been having the most delightful warm spring weather.  Lovely sunny days and cool, good for sleeping, nights.

Plants in the garden are loving the conditions and some have decided to send forth their blossoms a little earlier than expected.

Lavender given to me by my good friend, Shirley.  It is growing wild and I know it is wild because it has not had any special attention.  Goodness knows how it has survived.

Some of the lavender came inside for display and the perfume is gorgeous.  Do you like my vase?  It is Venetian glass which I bought in the early 70’s when travelling around Europe on a 9 1/2 week bus tour with a heap of other young Aussies, Canadians, South Africans and New Zealanders.  It survived the journey along with a very heavy ashtray in similar colours.  I love it.

Very vibrant iris also a plant given to us by Shirley.  (She has a green thumb)

The magnificent unkillable white daisies which are stunning when all out like this.

Finally I felt in the mood to do a little more TAST stitching.  Alas, I never did complete 2012 stitches.  These latest samples are from the 2013 stitches and I decided to do a much simplified version of each stitch. 

TAST is conducted by Sharon over  on Pin Tangle.  You can join in whenever you like and learn some very interesting stitches.  I have close ups of a couple of favourites shown here.

Top to Bottom : Knotted Feather St, Inverted Feather St. Raised Herringbone Band. Triangular Feather St. Herringbone Square and Laced Square Herringbone (combined) and Buttonholed Herringbone.

Buttonholed Herringbone

(oops blurry) Combined Herringbone square with Laced Square Herringbone

Do you like rocket?  I hadn’t had much experience of rocket until our neighbour grew masses of it and gave us some .  Now I am hooked on this leafy green which has an unusual, peculiar taste.  We are told by the medicos and nutritionists to eat our greens for optimum health and the rocket is lovely combined with other salad leaves.  Eat some rocket today!!

Now for some family photos.

Lilian is displaying her organic collection of bits and pieces she sourced from her Papa’s backyard.  She was very proud of her ‘allection’.  She is looking even more cute now that a few freckles are popping up.

 

L-R:  Lilian’s Papa, Lilians Grandad, Lilian and her mummy.