Saturday, June 29, 2013

June Photo a Day Digest 3

Day 15 - From above

Day 15 – From above

Sawn off trunk of an Australian native grass tree.

Day 16 - Family

Day 16 – Family

(xxx)

Day 17 - Centred

Day 17 – Centred

Brass door knocker on the centre of a door in Venice, taken on holidays 3 years ago.

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Day 18 – Street

(Mine)

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Day 19 – Currently reading

This is the sweetest, must touching story. I recommend it!

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Day 20 – Cute

Young Chester looks so cute hanging over the front stone wall waiting for passers by to stop and give him a pat.

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Day 21 – Lunchtime

Lunch on the run.

 

Red rose Di

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Sunshine

It’s no secret that the last 10 months have been the hardest in my life. Even now there are moments when I wonder if I’ll wake up and find it’s all just been a very bad dream.

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I’ve been blessed with the most loving, caring and generous family and friends who’ve stood by me even when I’ve been a proper misery-guts and not fun to be around. And God has patiently held me close while I’ve kept on asking “Why?”.

The future is still unclear, but I’m more confident than ever that God has a plan for me, even if I’m unimpressed with his timing.

The last few weeks have brought some welcome sunshine in my life. It began with my Daisy a Day quilt being chosen as one of the three Viewers’ Choice winners in Amy’s Bloggers’ Quilt Festival.

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When sponsor Vicki Welsh asked me which stash pack I’d like as part of my prize I chose her “Sunshine” pack because I love what a touch of yellow does for my quilts. Vicki sells the prettiest hand-dyed fabrics in her Etsy shop.

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These delicious fabrics and Mistyfuse will be wonderful for my newly-begun hand applique project! Thank you so much, Vicki.

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A few weeks later I won a local photographic competition with this photo, taken on a gloriously sunny Australia Day in January this year. I’m so excited about my prize, a course in camera craft at the Australian Centre for Photography. I really need this – but first I need to buy a DSLR camera.

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Then a quick entry in Good Reading Magazine’s giveaway on Facebook won me a copy of this thriller. I can’t wait for it to arrive.

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My next little grandbaby, due in September, continues to thrive.

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Best of all, I might soon have a new home where I will wake every morning to this expansive, green view. Hope I can tell you more soon!

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Life is gradually looking up and becoming sunnier.

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Red rose Di

Monday, June 24, 2013

June Photo a Day Digest 2

Day 8 - Animal

Day 8 – Animal

Echidna snuffling around for ants in my mother’s garden.

Day 9 - From down low

Day 9 – From below

Day 10 - You!

Day 10 – You!

Day 11 - Something funny

Day 11 – Something funny

The Princess pulling a silly face for the camera Smile

 

Day 12 - 11 o'clock

Day 12 – 11 0’clock

At the Sydney Quilt Show with Di B

Day 13 - Kitchen

Day 13 – Kitchen

The kitchen sink.

Day 14 - Texture

Day 14 – Texture

The hand-picked (possibly by convicts) sandstone of the walls of my 160 year old home.

Red rose Di

More entries in the Sydney Quilt Show by my inspirational friends

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Forever Diamonds – by Sue Robbins

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A Humble Quilt – by Margy Syrett

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Easy Street (from Bonnie K Hunter’s pattern) – by Margy Syrett

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Lime Star – by Sue Rowles

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Shining Light – by Aviva Fox

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Easy Street – by Sue Rowles

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And finally, Rainbow Connection – a collaborative effort by the Sydney Modern Quilt Guild.

(From a pattern in Tacha Bruecher’s book, Hexa-Go-Go 2012)

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Look who we have here!

It’s Team Di, enjoying a very tiny bit of the limelight after contributing a grand total of two blocks each, out of 49, to this spectacular quilt.

They’re all in the top row. Di B’s are the blue and the green (#6 and #7) at the right hand end, and mine are the yellow/orange and the deep pink block (#2 and #4). So many others did the majority of the stitching and piecing, including a very pregnant Jenn, and Sel machine quilted it. They did a fabulous job!

Red rose Di

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Samplers that Sing

Every year I go to the Sydney Quilt Show I’m excited to see more and more quilts made by my friends. This year my talented quilting buddies, Di B and Sue Murtagh, entered sampler quilts that were the result of a happy, and often hilarious, collaboration over two years.

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Di’s Singing the Blues (above) and Sue’s Learning Curve No 1 (below) are in different colourways and differ slightly in their selection of blocks, but these two friends spent many hours together comparing notes, techniques and fabric as each created her uniquely beautiful quilt.

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Both Sue and Di machine quilted their quilts on a home machine using the quilt-as-you-go technique.

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Several months ago Di let me take more detailed photos of her quilt, but I put off posting them until Singing the Blues had made her debut.

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It wasn’t easy to keep it under wraps Winking smile

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I reckon a quilter’s entitled to be just a little excited at having her first quilt hung in an exhibition, especially when it’s turned out so well.

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Red rose Di

Sunday, June 16, 2013

June Photo a Day Digest 1

Day 1 - B is for

Day 1 – B is for… basin

This is the washbasin in my brand new (renovated) bathroom.

Day 2 - A moment

Day 2 – A moment

Sun glinting on the windows of an apartment building in that moment before the sun finally disappears over the horizon.

Day 3 - On my table

Day 3 – On your table

I made this miniature bear.

Day 4 - After dark

Day 4 – After dark.

The Sydney Opera House lit up for the Vivid winter light festival.

Day 5 - Environment

Day 5 – Environment

Day 6 - Transport

Day 6 – Transport

Mr J riding his scooter with his Daddy guiding.

Day 7 - Bright

Day 7 – Bright

Tonight I attended my godson’s birthday dinner and the table was decked out in his favourite colours, orange and bright green!

Red rose Di