Jane Austen & Barbara Brackman

A few posts ago (26 Jan 2014), I mentioned Barbara Brackman was going to publish a quilt recognising Jane Austen this time, instead of Civil War.  There have been a few postings with general information, but she recently posted on the Jane Austen blog (Austen Family blog) the first block.

While I loved her previous postings and general information, and I also like this block, I have a feeling it is going to be very similar to her Civil War quilts - in that they can resemble a 'sampler' type of quilt.  I am a tad disappointed, but may still do the blocks (or as few/or more) but only of the ones I truly truly like. Not sure what I was hoping to see, but will keep all the information and photos (which are great).  I have printed out Barbara's other BOM's and BOW's that she has designed in the last few years and have them in folders in my sewing room.  (I'm a bit of a history buff and when it incorporates quilting, I'm in heaven...)

While I have been unpacking and putting stuff away I took out some materials I thought would be suitable for this quilt. I like the parsley with the florals, but I think I need to find a smaller print.

I am hoping there maybe some blocks that I can use the larger prints for. But we will wait and see - of course if I choose to only make a few blocks I could use these larger prints for connecting blocks.  I don't have enough of the one material for borders.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Australasian Quilt Convention (generally known as AQC) for the day.  It is one of the best and biggest Quilt shows and convention in Australia and always attracts overseas tutors as well as the best of Australian tutors.  Hopefully I will be able to get some good photos to show you. The lighting in the old Heritage listed building is not that good for photography, but I will do what I can.

I was supposed to be going today, but life got in the way.......I was going by train and set my alarm to make sure I got up early in catch the 8.45 am train, buuuuuut I set it for pm instead of am.  Since I retired I'm not used to setting alarms (or that's my excuse anyway).  So I reset it properly this time and will be going tomorrow on the 8.15 am train.  Just as well the convention is on for 4 days!!!!

Till next time,
Take care, Joy

Don't let anybody tell you moving house is a breeze.....

It isn't!

My apologies to you all for not posting sooner, but if you have ever moved a whole house mainly by yourself, you will understand how little time one has for simple pleasures like Blogger, FB, etc.  Just checking emails took enough time to delay some unpacking.

It is a lot of hard work, sometimes very confronting when having to choose if you will take a certain item or not.  I'm not sure if packing up a house after 30 years is harder than unpacking when downsizing to a smaller house or unit in my situation.  Anyway it is all over with now, albeit there are still quite a few boxes in the garage, but the main stuff is out and 'sort of' in it's place.  I have already moved things around after discovering they weren't in the best position!!

Where have I moved to?  A small town called Lara, just the other side of Geelong, which is about 3/4 hr drive from Anglesea, BUT it now means I'm only 3/4 hr or so from the family in Melbourne.  Most of the move was pretty well straightforward, but that skip that you see in the previous posting was not enough - I had to arrange for another one and I filled it as well!

I'm not sure about the population of Lara, I think it's safe to say bigger than Anglesea, but it still has that lovely friendly country feel about it which I love. 

My garden of course is much much smaller - in fact there isn't much at all - I think the previous owner was not a gardener!  The back is paved and although there is a small section along the back and side fence that is fully covered with a wood type of mulch.  So glad I dug up some things from Anglesea, just have to work out which side of the back would suit them best.  As my yard faces north it gets all the afternoon sun with just a few spots near the garage that are in the shade. Great for vegie patch and small fruit trees. (Note to self - must remember to get a lemon tree.....can't live without fresh lemons).

You can see from this photo I also bought with me some pieces of my water feature.  Again have to wait and see where the sun shines the most before I re-install it.  Hopefully along the left side of this pic (which is out of view) will get less sun and be more in the shade than the rest, then I can have my fish again and/or encourage frogs back - love, love the sound frogs at night.

There are many places around and in Lara that are designated 'wet-lands' for nature flora and fauna, so 'fingers crossed' I can encourage some of it into my yard.

I hope you all forgive me for taking so long to post, but this should be remedied now I'm more organised!  Thank you for your patience.
Take care, everyone,

Joy
ps - I'm going to have to change my banner and info...