Two books and a birthday

Books have always played a big part in the life of our family.  From youngest to oldest, we all enjoy turning the pages. Some of us also listen to audiobooks, one edits bestsellers, another is the head book buyer for a national chain.

And now we have not one, but two published authors! 

 

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Sydney launch of Wish You Were Here, a seriously entertaining memoir by my talented sister-in-law, Sheridan Jobbins. 

Sheri has been writing for many years, first as a journalist and then as a filmmaker and scriptwriter, but with this book she's turned the spotlight on herself, taken a period when life threw some hefty lemons her way, and made delicious lemonade. 

Basically, after her first husband broke her heart, she broke some china before running off to America to find herself, on a road trip across the country in a red Chevy Camaro. Of course I know the ending, but I'm still enjoying being taken along for the ride as I read this positive, life-affirming and insightful 'rom-com'.

A few days later we celebrated my mother-in-law Joy Jobbins' 90th birthday with another book launch - Life at the Palace.

 

On her 80th birthday Joy, Sheridan's mother, had published Shoestring, a memoir of her experiences as a working mother of five, 'tycooning' as an advertising executive in the male-dominated fashion and wool industry of the 1950s, while living 'on a shoestring' in the rural bohemia of Eltham, Victoria.  

Life at the Palace, A Necklace of Anecdotes, is the second of a trilogy she has planned, this time set in Sydney's Elizabeth Bay in the 60s and 70s, where the family found themselves living (for a peppercorn rent) in Berthong, an enormous harbour-side mansion that could not have been more different from Shoestring. 

The cast of colourful characters who lived there, or visited (I was one!), along with Joy's wider professional encounters with the likes of Prince Phillip, Pierre Cardin and Patrick, Earl of Lichfield, makes for an entertaining romp with a touch of the bittersweet, periodically 'interrupted' by other members of the family for a tiny reality check.

 Along with the book launch it was a wonderful afternoon of celebration and dancing, which of course included Joy's theme song "Fly me to the Moon".

Joy's another positive woman who knows exactly what to do with the lemons life gives her. Margaritas, anyone?

* * * * * * * *

Wish You Were Here, by Sheridan Jobbins, is available at all good bookshops in Australia, as well as online through Amazon and Book Depository if you are overseas.

Life at the Palace (A Necklace of Anecdotes), by Joy Jobbins, is available in Australia here

My Small World Quilt

Let's begin the new year on the front foot, with a post about a finish. 

From the moment I set eyes on Jen Kingwell's My Small World quilt in the Spring 2015 edition of Quiltmania I was smitten.  

A still, small (and frankly rather boring) inner voice cautioned that I had no time to cut out and sew together the thousands of tiny pieces needed to create this amazing combination of shapes and patterns. 

Besides, I'd go crazy coping with the piles of tiny scraps all over my floor, sorted into the colour palette I needed to "paint" this imaginary world. 

Not to mention my domestic machine quilting skills which I seriously doubted could do justice to such a quilt.

All of which was true.

However, once I realised My Small World would make the perfect quilt for a very special little person due to arrive in November, there was no stopping me. 

I mined my scrap box like a maniac, digging for the brightest, happiest pieces I could find. 

I fussy cut like a fiend so I could make my version into an "I Spy" quilt.

And I single-mindedly stitched together My Small World quilt top over six or seven weeks. Those fabric piles did drive me crazy, but they gave me the impetus I needed to get this stage finished.

It's a pattern that lends itself - almost invites itself - to personalising. So I created a sunny yellow, blue and white colour-washed sky and, instead of the stitcheries in the original design, I filled my sky (created with around 700 x 1 inch squares) with a fairytale castle, busy bees, bubbles and a big Dresden style sun.

All over the quilt I've included little objects that are fun to discover - a car, The Cat in the Hat, a zebra, a daisy, little children, a sailing boat...and so on.

While I thought about how I was going to approach the quilting of the buildings I worked an orange peel grid over the sky. 

Then I decided to mentally break up the quilt into individual spaces and quilt each one separately. This approach meant that I could effectively avoid having to tackle machining over any any thick joins, but also gave the quilt a rich and varied texture matching the style of the original design. 

My quilting was far from perfect, but again I feel it matches the quilt's naive style. That's my story, anyway, and I'm sticking to it!

This stage of the quilting took the longest, but I found it the most creatively rewarding.

I used Aurifil thread 50wt for both my piecing and quilting, and my batting was Soft and Bright from The Warm Company.

It was easy to add a multi-coloured binding using the method described here because the binding was applied in four separate strips and I could position the colour transitions exactly where I wanted them.

With this method the stitched mitred corners (almost) always turn out like this, which I love.

An "I Spy" quilt needs a label on the back with a list of objects to find. 

Perhaps you can play the game yourself?

And finally this label, so that Princess 2 will always remember her grandma who took the time (around 4 months working 2 or 3 hours most days or evenings) to make her this gift of love.

And remained sane*

Please see these posts of mine if you're interested in more details, and tips, about the making of My Small World quilt.

Tips for My Small World Quilt Part 1

Tips for My Small World Quilt Part 2

Tips for My Small World Quilt Part 3

* Some may disagree :-)

Delightful distractions

I know, I know. Long time, no me!

Life, in all its richness, has temporarily intruded on my blogging time and before I continue I'm going to break the number one rule for bloggers and apologise for the hiatus.

What could possibly have taken my attention all this time? Well, here's the thing.

I've been...

* Admiring Princess 1 when she became the first member of our family to sing on stage at the Sydney Opera House, as part of the huge combined choir performing at the Ryde Schools' Spectacular. I was so proud of her!

* Appreciating the magnificent star jasmine vines and purple jacaranda trees that brighten Sydney at this time of year.

This is our local barbecue area, and general neighbourhood meet-up spot.

I felt very honoured that the City of Sydney chose to share, in its Instagram feed, this photo I took of jacaranda "snow" on a Zetland street.

Tote Park, Zetland.

The Memorial Garden at St Mark's, Darling Point.

* Cultivating my tiny balcony garden, and enjoying the small patches of early summer colour from my bougainvillea, diplodenias, lavender and convolvulus. 

* Photographing some of the dramatic storm fronts that sweep into Sydney at this time of the year. From my balcony I get a spectacular view of the thunderous clouds, and sometimes even a spectacular light show!

* Attending a small 50 year school reunion of Sydney Girls' High leavers. My cohort has never been keen on large, formal reunions (we waited 30 years before we had the one I organised), so there was something warm and comfortable about this meet-up of around sixteen of us for lunch at the Chiswick Restaurant at the Art Gallery.

* Stitching this set of latte coloured mug mates for a friend to give her daughter-in-law.

...and these as Christmas gifts for some friends.

... and these softies for Anglicare's Toys 'n'Tucker Christmas appeal.

... and quietly making progress with the hand quilting on this special quilt I'm finishing on a friend's behalf.

* Finally - and most importantly - I've been treasuring the opportunities I get to spend with my other two grandchildren, Mr J and his new baby sister Princess 2.

More soon!

The BIG Reveal!

My version of Jen Kingwell's My Small World quilt is finished, quilted, bound and gifted. Yay!

But (for a change) this post isn't about the quilt. It's all about the recipient, my brand new granddaughter!

Sarah and I couldn't wait to give her some welcoming cuddles.

Cute as a button, and every bit as beautiful as her cousin, The Princess, she is definitely another little Princess! So, in future, on my blog, these precious little people will be known as Princess 1(formerly The Princess), Mr J (now a proud Big Brother) and Princess 2 (his baby sister).

The safe arrival of a baby is always a reason for rejoicing, but this little one's birth upsized that joy for our family. Two years ago I wrote this blog post. It was the second hardest I've ever written, after the hardest one a year before. 

Watching and waiting while this little one was being formed inside her mummy was like holding my breath. After all, Harry's gestation had gone smoothly too, giving no hint of the tragedy that was to come. I didn't dare share with more than a few close friends the news that another bub was on the way. Finally, with her safe arrival, I felt I could at last exhale with relief and share our happiness with the world.

Harry will always be part of our family, even if he isn't here to hug, and my heart is bursting with thankfulness to God for our new little baby girl.