I Just Never Get To The Camera

 But I keep busy... Claire's Birthday Pants Man. Finished at last! I was pretty happy with it and so was she! xoxoxox My little girl all grown up...

Trousers in Ceylon stitch.

I'm So Excited!

There is an article in the latest Quilter's Newsletter, about my quilt! It's very exciting as, I (alone in the whole Pacific!) discovered this magazine in the late 70's before the quilting craze made it all available here (in Oz). Pretty sure I was the first in my neck of the woods at least!
That's what comes of growing up with 'McCall's Needlework & Craft Magazine', you see all of this great stuff. The ads were as good as the articles, with all of that modern American bling you could buy.
So when I came to putting my crazy patches together with the fans, and saw it to be way too busy, I dug out the old QNM's and saw one with a border that I employed to seperate the two sections. In fact the whole of this quilt is familiar, even though I came at mine (in the beginning) as a Grandmother's Fans quilt and added the crazy centre. It's an appealing medium, the crazy.
Thank You, wonderful anonymous embroiderer extroirdinaire of 1884!
The article on the link is great too, and all of the pictures. My copy is old and tattered and extremely well loved.

AND:

So, Kim at l'uccello's is putting my new classes up on her blog on Wednesday or Thursday (16th-17th May), so if you're interested in being terribly pampered while taking some classes, have a look at her blog or pop into the shop. luccello's a pure hit of visual and tactile delight and I'm really pleased as punch to be teaching there. It's great fun.
I'll post more too. There will be a few options...

Details of Claire's Ceylon Stitch Pants Man, a secret birthday pressie.

Onward & Upward With The Finishing Off Thing

I am adding this text to Claire's drawing. It needed something other, and this will work well.

My eldest daughter wrote this note for her grandparents, maybe aged 8-10? I realised the other day, that I would NEVER EVER have presumed my grandparents, or parents, or anyone else for that matter, to be wrong and then magnanimously forgiven them and not held it against them like this! I would have forgiven them of course, being tender hearted, but it would not have occured to me to see any wrongness! Such a self-aware little girl!

Better Pics Of The Shell Lamp

I don't think I posted these? I love this lamp. We have it on every night and I look at it every night. I wonder if a frame covered thus might suit the Death's Head Bunny?

A Portrait By Wade Posthumous

Lace Death's Head Bunny With Cross Carrots

I've started dragging un-framed and unfinished things out of the cupboard. Kim from l'uccello's gave me this piece of silk ribbon (14 cm wide) and I bought the little vintage Mother of Pearl buttons and some others which didn't suit but will be a lovely addition to the button stash. They are mixed with Baroque Pearls.

If you go here and scroll down, you'll find the pattern I made and various progress shots and explanations.

Now I have to find a suitable frame, which, so far, is not an easy thing. It wants to be a bit rich and gold... or tarnished silver. Old would be good!

You Wouldn't Believe This But It's True

So, I'm home with the dreaded Shingles, doing fairly ok, considering the horror stories. Buggered, aching but ok. The One True has to go to see a man about a dog (in the city at the MTC), so I go along for the ride because I think, the MTC is near South Melbourne... I'll just pop into the Victorian Tapestry Workshop to drool over the green wool I have absolutely no excuse to buy because I've so much good and gorgeous wool already, even though I want it. I Want It! I notate it's code next to drawings of jumpers I hope to do, again and again. It seems right.

And, blow me down with a feather, what's right there in the throw out bin? Three cones of the very next shade, which turns out, is better than the other one anyway. It's only 'quite out there', instead of 'really freaking out there'! The lovely girl couldn't think why it was being put out cheap.

I'm very happy. Now, I have truly NO excuse to ever buy wool again, unless it's to compliment in a Fair Isle, or finish if there's not enough. NO OTHER REASON. I bought these little blossoms just because I knew I had no reason to go back for the longest time.

Luvverly!