what I've been working on recently - a cushion!

I don't make cushions as a general rule- they're small...and fiddly...and, well, not very satisfying.  I make quilts, and they're mostly biggish ones.  But for my city and guilds assessment, I made this cushion.  The photos don't show up in the order I thought they would (I never can seem to get that right) but I'm sure you can follow them.  I used plain white homespun and some of my hand dyed fabrics.

I had to show where I had tried out various different things for the quilting and applique, which slows down the process considerably.  Usually I decide on something then just go ahead and do it.  If it doesn't work, I say 'oops' and then unpick it or, more likely, tell myself that's what I wanted to do in the first place!  I did find it useful for this project though, as I changed my mind about a couple of things after doing the samples.   

On the whole, I'm pleased with my cushion. I hope you like it too.

Cheers, Cat

Ricky Tims is coming to town!

Well, to Adelaide anyway.  Tracey and Sharon, the two wonderful women who founded the Australian Machine Quilting Festival have arranged for Ricky to present a full-day seminar on Friday 28th September.  He's one of my quilting heroes so that's yet another reason for me to go.  The accommodation is already booked!  If you want some more info, follow this link:  ricky-tims-all-day-seminar

See you there!

cuddly koala

I found these photos on my husband's camera.  We took them in about July 2009 I think.  We were driving along the south coast of Victoria and noticed a car stopped by the side of the road.  The driver was out looking up into some trees and this is what he was looking at.  A couple of koalas, one was a mother with a baby.  Thanks to the wonderful 'zoom' facility on madern cameras, we were able to get some photos without worrying mummy koala too much.  She opened her eyes for a few minutes then went back to sleep.  We had to get a few shots of baby before he would show his face.  Hope you like them!



mystic eye1 & 2

I was looking at a quilt I made a few years ago and decided to make another version with completely different colours, different quilting and a different shape.  I still really like the first version but I think I like the new version better.

First version



Second version

progression

I had an appointment with my neurologist yesterday.  She confirmed what I had suspected - my multiple sclerosis is transitioning from 'relapsing-remitting' to 'secondary progressive'.  Not really surprising since I've had it for more than 25 years.  It's probable that it will still be quite a slow progression, which is good.  I thought I'd be upset at this new stage of the disease but I don't really feel that way.  Resigned to the fact that it was inevitable, accepting that there will be more 'stuff' to adapt to, thankful that I have support from my family and a few very close friends - mentally I feel like I'm in a pretty good place.

And to finish, here's a photo coz I don't like posts with no pictures - and this one makes me laugh!

keryn's quilt

Here's some photos of the quilt I made for my sister Keryn.  It was meant to be for Christmas last year but I didn't get it finished till June this year.  Better late than never, right?  I did some more stitch-in-the-ditch and  freehand feather practice and was quite pleased with the results.

africa quilt for my sister

When Mr Stone House Quilter and I went to the big quilt festival in Chicago in 2007, we picked up quite a few different bits of African fabric.  I also had some ordinary quilt fabric with African inspired designs which fitted in with it.  When my sister Rose saw them she really liked them so I decided to make her a wall quilt for Christmas last year.  It is a sort of design-as-you-go quilt.  You know the kind - if a piece of fabric is too short, sew something else on the end of it; if a piece of fabric is too long, chop a bit off.  Great fun!  I pieced all sorts of wonky blocks into it as well as odd shaped strips of varying lengths and widths.  The quilting was mostly just a freehand spiral.

Sorry about the blurry photos...

the old tulip quilt

In June 2009, I posted a photo of a quilt top I made over 25 years ago.  I did actually end up quilting it but never did show any more photos.  Here's a few just to prove I did it.  I keep meaning to go back and quilt something in the  middle of the feather wreaths but haven't got round to it yet.

shattered nine patch

This is one of the quilts I finished last year.  Yeah, I know I've been a bit slack in getting the photos up!  I started it in a shattered ninepatch workshop with Fran Williams from The Quilt Patch in Launceston.  The fabrics are various Japanese styles in blues and purples.  I modified some of the blocks so I could add the applique designs.  I gave it to my Mum for her 75th birthday.   Oh wait, that must mean I finished it the year before last.  Wow, I have been slack with the photos!

south africa part 3

I loved the different markings on the giraffes and zebras.  The first photo was taken in Zambia.  We stayed at the Royal Livingstone hotel which is right at the top of Victoria Falls, and in the grounds they have giraffe roaming around (as well as a zillion monkeys).  This giraffe was so comical - the top of his head must have been itchy and he was trying to scratch it on a tree branch.  The giraffes we saw here were quite a different colour to the ones we saw in South Africa.

Our driver in Kruger told us that giraffe can be really curious, and we noticed that whenever we saw a group of them there was always one or two that watched what we were doing.  We thought they must  have been the group's lookout.  Apparently this does play a big part, but some of them are just plain nosey!

We saw lots of giraffe and zebra.  Of course everyone on the tour took heaps of photos, which amused our tracker enormously.  "All this excitement just for a couple of zebra" he said, shaking his head.

south africa part 2 - the rest of the big five

Still in Kruger National Park, we saw all of the big five in one day.  That's elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo.  The elephant gave us a bit of a start.  We saw him about 100m away on a track off the side of the road.  We lost sight of him so our driver drove slowly along and as the road rounded a clump of trees, the elephant came round the trees from the other direction.  We startled the elephant and he trumpeted and flapped his ears and did a little mock charge, which of course made everyone in the vehicle jump!  One of the ladies in our group was videoing and when she replayed that bit of the video, she'd captured the sound of the elephant very well but the only vision she got was the bottom of her husband's trouser leg and the floor of the vehicle (the elephant scared her so much that she'd dropped the camera).

Apparently we were very lucky to see a couple of leopards out in the open right near the road as they can be quite elusive.  One wasn't particularly worried, but one looked at us then decided to retreat further into the bush.  Beautiful animals!

We were also very lucky to see a female white rhino and her calf.  We watched them for about 5 minutes or so before slowly moving off to let them eat in peace.