Please remember that any photos, images or text on this blog remain my property, but if you wish to use any that you see, feel free to contact me for permission. Thank you for respecting my request and enjoy your visit.......Joy

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

I've won !!!

a prize on Chris Jurd's blog.  I occasionally enter a giveaway on someone's blog but only if it is something I could really use or want.  I think it is a waste of time and unfair to other participants if you go in for all and sundry - not that I always win, but have had a couple of lucky ones over many years.

I've won a copy of the magazine Quilter's Companion and also a copy of her DVD with pattern and lots of hints on foundation piecing.  You can see the actual mag and DVD on her blog here or just go to Patchwork Fundamentals in my reading list on the right hand column.

Now all I have to do is be patient and wait for the mail to come over the next week or so.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Scatterdays No.2 - 'R'

Well here we are.  The next posting for Scatterdays.  This week the letter is 'R'.  Our categories are; mammal, technology, transport, and something Red from the sewing room.

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
This activity is certainly testing my brain, but it's good fun.

Mammal - I can think of quite a few that begin with 'R', BUT how do I get to photograph them, unless I make a trip to the Zoo!  So, I thought, think Joy.....I decided to go outside the square - and here is my 'R' mammal - OK, deers don't start with R but they are mammals and Rudolph would be the most famous of them all.







Then we come to technology - I'm not a techno person, so here I was stumbling again.  We have come so far with technology it is difficult to know where to begin looking.  I decided to go back in history with this one and then come straight to the modern day with a photo from my trip to the US in Nov 2009 - NASA in Houston.  Consequently two photos for technology - one 'olden days' and one 'modern days'.


How many of us remember the original Radio.  What an invention this was!!!  Families would sit around together after dinner and listen to the serials and the news. Dad didn't have to read the paper!  It always took pride of place in our lounge rooms, similar to the large interactive TVs of today.


Now up to the fantastic technology of today.  We have these things called computers - no need to have them wired in. We can talk to our friends through all types of media and send messages, keep in touch, read books, and kids can do their homework on them.

But none of these begin with 'R'.

Rockets do.  These two are in a fenced off area at NASA and are huge structures.  The building in the background is 3 stories high, so imagine the height of these two Rockets.  We saw these as part of the tour of the facility.





Next we have transport - again I go back in history - the old train that was commonly known as The Red Rattler, and Rattle it did!  I used to catch this train everyday as a young lady when I worked in the city, jammed in with the other commuters. Ah, the memories of those journeys.

Last - Red from the sewing room.  This I have plenty of, but thought I would take a pic of my Red Sewing Basket that I take with me when going to my local group or guild.  It has everything I need in it, my sewing and supplies; and most importantly my Red mug for coffee. My needles and threads are also in a Red container!

Well there we have it for this posting, don't forget to check the others by going to the link in the right hand side of this blog under Scatterday, Cinzia's blog and there you will find a listing of everyone who is participating.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Stashbusters and Bedford Mystery

Some time back I joined the Yahoo Group 'Stashbusters'.  I was told by a friend that it was the best chatty group to get you motivated to use your stash before you shop.  They call it 'shopping your stash'.  Plus they have a zillion ideas on quilts, quilting, patterns, ways and means of using your leftovers AND also challenges which you can join in if you wish.

Well, I have been challenged!  I joined the UFO busting challenge for 2013.  The idea is you list your UFOs, not necessarily all of them, some do, I didn't!  A list of participants is then organised (by ballot and numbered);  when you have fully completed a project you let the coordinator know and post a pic in the files. You are then placed at the bottom of said list - you don't want to be at the top and become 'Queen'  for a week and pay a penalty of one WHOLE Fat Quarter, and tell a little about yourself and  confess why you haven't completed a UFO.  This is not a new quilt just started this year but a UFO leftover from previous years.  There are no winners only Queens!  During the year and at the end of the challenge the Fat Qtrs go into bundles and names are drawn out to receive them.

Last week I checked and found that I had moved from No.28 up to No.8, so I spent this past weekend sewing like a mad thing and finished this quilt.

It's called 'Bedford Mystery' and was part of my local group's challenge 2+? years ago.  It was suggested by one of our members Dallas. A group of quilters in South Aust bi-annually organise a mystery quilt to raise money for their chosen charity Bedford Industries.  This organisation employs handicapped people doing meaningful tasks and also helps them to become independent citizens to be able to live in the community.  We each payed for the use of their pattern and used our own stash.  You can opt to choose to receive a kit from them if you wish.

If you would like to know more about this - their next mystery will be 2014 - go to the link here.

Now I must go and sort the rest of my UFOs - what a headache, but at least I now hope to get more finished.  That has to be a good thing don't you think?

How many UFOs do you have - are you game to let me know????

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Thank you everyone

for your comments on my blog posting for Scatterdays.

I have replied to each one, but a couple of you are 'non-reply' bloggers which doesn't allow me to reply to the emails of your posting, so I'm saying here - Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting on the photos.

Unfortunately, the colours in the quilt don't show up clear enough - I think it might be my camera or the fact that it was actually a dull day when I took the photo.

Scatterdays 2 is the letter 'R' and will be posted on 19 January - look forward to hearing from you then.

...Joy

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Scatterdays Week 1 - W

Well here we are, the first of (hopefully) many interesting postings.  The letter that Cinzia chose for us was 'W' and the categories - expensive;  musical;  exciting and the quilt related category WIP (that was the easy one...)

At first I thought great - I can do this!  BUT, it was actually harder to find subject matter in the short time, especially with Christmas and New Year, and the fact that I haven't been out much.  (a Sad life....)

Anyway, I have got the pictures, albeit a tad 'tongue in cheek'.

Expensive - my new Washing Machine - If I had left it to the next week it would have been cheaper - the store had it on sale, so to me 'Expensive'!

Musical - a Warbling White Yellow-Crested Cockatoo in my backyard having a feast in my Wattle Tree. A side note for anyone not familiar with them - they may look like beautiful birds which they are, BUT they are also very destructive.  Quite often seen eating the wood around the windows and balconies of houses.  If you get a bunch of them they can strip your trees bare and then they leave the mess on the ground for you to clean up (while they watch from another tree!!!)  They also live to a ripe-old age up to 90 or 100.  Some people have them as pets and they can actually be trained to speak and do tricks.

Exciting - 'Watching' my DGD - Jorja, 'Whirling' on the 'Whirlygig' in the local park"  Apologies for cutting it off half-way, but there were other children on the front of it and I don't have the parents permission to post.

WIP - the easy one - 'White' with red and blue stars -  this particular top I'm sending off to Diane in the US who is a representative for Quilts of Valor.  I bought the material and the pattern when in the US in 2009, just finished making up the top and thought she would love to have it.  It is already Winging its way to her in Utah.  Hopefully it will go to a 'W'!!!   Wish I could say it had 'w' seams, but in this case they are 'y' seams.

Don't forget to check Cinzia's blog and have a look at some of the others playing along. I'm sure you'll find some interesting posts.

ps Just realised I used 'Oz speak' when I said 'a bunch of them' in the paragraph on the Cockatoo - it simply means if you have a 'group' of something.

....Joy

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Word for 2013

Happy New Year everyone!

As you all know I don't do resolutions.  For the past couple of years I have been choosing a word for my mantra for the year.  I first began with 'Relax' as that year I felt this is what I needed to do to accomplish all the things I wanted to.  Last year it was 'Focus'.  Looking back on 2012 I realised that maybe I should have changed that word. I did loose focus half way through, but that was not the word's fault!  It was me not focusing on what I was supposed to be doing and getting drawn up in things around me that I lost my focus for a couple of months.

The word that you choose should guide you through the year.  It is not meant to be rigid or unbending, but should help you to clarify and define what you are trying to achieve.  You may find half-way through that it is not helping, then change it.  Find another one, but don't stop using a word.  It can be quite a powerful tool and will keep you on track.

This year, following on from 'Relax' and 'Focus' (last year's word), I'm choosing 'Simplify', with a little reminder to also 'explore'.  I want to simplify my life by tossing out clutter which I no longer need or want.  This could be material things or just changing the atmosphere around me.  I need to stop thinking and worrying about stuff that I have no control over, toss it out the window!

Teachers of Feng Shui tell you that by decluttering your physical environment, you will also declutter your mind, thus allowing you to live more simply, healthy and happy.  Don't we all want to achieve that!

You would have noticed that I have put 'explore' underneath simplify.  I want to explore ways of achieving my goals for the year but in an uncomplicated manner.

Do you have a word for the year?  If not, find one, it can help you mentally and physically achieve what you want with your year.