Chapter 3 - All aboard!!

On my way...

Have I said in previous postings how I loved, loved the Cruise.  The Celebrity Solstice is a magnificent ship. Quite large - taking over 2,500 passengers plus crew.  But not once did you feel there was that many people.  It's not a 'party' ship.  Most of the passengers were older with a sprinkling of families with children.













We had a great stateroom - two very comfy beds, plenty of room, even a small lounge area with flat screen tv and double doors to the balcony.

The main foyer - 4 decks high

Of course, the pool area - with 4 spas.

At last my Hexagon is finished!!

You may remember some time ago I started sewing a 'candied hexagon' project.  All hand sewing which I love, but it does take some time to do.  You can see the earlier photos by clicking on 'Candied Hexagons' in 'Labels' located in the right hand column.

Last night I finished the sewing down the binding.....Yeah!!  Isn't it great when you finish something you have been working on for while.

I changed the name from Candied Hexagons which was the original pattern name to 'Hexagon Carnivale'.  I felt that my hexagons were more in the genre of carnivale than candied. I hope you like my photo.

Seattle - before Alaska

The next chapter in my trip was 3 days in Seattle.  A really beautiful city, nestled around the bays and with mountains in the background.













One of the many attractions you must see is the Pike Street Farmers Market.  A very busy, fun place with lots and lots of stalls, shops, things to see.










We did the 'Tastes of Seattle Tour' which took around 2 hours - with so many things to taste we didn't need to have lunch.  Our guide was Santino and he carried a pink umbrella so we wouldn't get lost.  They also give you headphones so one can hear what Santino is saying.

Another fabulous attraction is the Chihuly Glass Garden which is located at the base of the Seattle Needle.  What a garden - best seen at night.  The magnificent glass sculptures are located in various parts of the garden, on the roof, and inside as part of the exhibition.  You can see by the one above how tall some of them are.  That's Bernice, my roomie, taking a photo.

As promised

Before I went to the US - I showed some photos of the work done in Caroline Sharkey's class at Ballarat.
As promised I can now show you more photos of fabulous work completed in her class.

by Helen

2nd one by Helen

by Lyn

Aren't they fabulous.  Even though we were all in the same class everyone worked on a project that was different from the others.  This is because of the great tutoring by Caroline.

I'm back - Wow what a fantastic holiday......

I knew it was going to be good, but didn't realise how great!

We started with 3 days in Long Beach, California, most of which was spent at the International Quilt Festival. Our hotel was right next door to the Convention Centre and also on the beach front.  A fantastic view from my hotel window looking across the marina towards The Queen Mary.

One day was spent walking around the beach front, the wharf, and a tour of The Queen Mary.  Included in the tour was the Princess Diana Exhibition which was on board.  This exhibition traces her life from a child right through to include Katherine and William's wedding.  Unfortunately no photos were allowed, but it was a magnificent display of original gowns, letters, photos, memorabilia. If it ever comes to a place near you - it is a must do.  More information on the Exhibition can be found here at this address.

The ship is still in it's original state and extremely well maintained.  You can imagine just how life was back in those wonderful days of sailing.

 The exhibition itself was very good.  A lot bigger than ours back here, but not nearly as big as Houston.  All we had to do was walk out of the entrance to the hotel and across the Plaza and we were there!

 I will have more photos of the quilts and updates (in sections) of the most fabulous holiday in the days ahead.  Way too much for one or two postings!!

I'm off and away....

to the USA.  One day to go and I'm flying to the International Quilt Show at Long Beach, in California.  With a few days spent there and on to Seattle for another 3-4 days THEN the best part of this trip - a cruise to Alaska.  How good is that!!

So dear friends I won't be posting here for around 3 weeks, but will have heaps of photos and stories to tell on my return.  Leaving my home in the good hands of DS1 (he doesn't blog and you really wouldn't want to know what he is doing!!!!).  I will update everything on my return.

Be good and take care,
Joy

Fibre Arts Winter School

Last week I was lucky to attend the Fibre Arts Winter School at Ballarat in Vic. The concept of Winter School is you get to work with the tutor of your choice for one WHOLE week while living in at Ballarat Grammar School in the boarders lodgings.

The class I took was 'Painting the Landscape with Materials' with Caroline Sharkey.  One of the best things of all was I actually finished my project!!!!  How often do you attend a workshop or class and never finish the article - it then gets put away and often forgotten until one does a spring clean of one's workroom/studio.

The class, tutor, other students, organisation was all fantastic.  No pressure - work at our own pace, all meals provided (and they were delicious); lots of fun with the students in other classes, mixing with some famous tutors - Helen Godden, Linda Steele, Jenny Bowker, Karen Goetzinger (from Canada) and of course Caroline Sharkey.  ps I even had Helen Godden in my car one day.......





This is my finished piece of work - a 3D piece - something I've never done before.  But Caroline was so, so helpful and excellent in showing us how to interpret our pieces and how to work and improvise as well as showing us various techniques.  It was one of the best classes I have ever attended. It is my interpretation of the new growth in the forests around Anglesea after the devastating bushfires of Ash Wednesday.

During the week each class gets to sit at the 'Top Table' for the day - and provide some decorations for the table which are then auctioned at the end of the week with the proceeds going to Breast Cancer Research - these bottles were our contribution. ps - they are empty!!!

This is the table with ours and some of the other decorations of the previous classes.

Next posting I will show you some photos of the progress of how I worked on my piece.

Also I hope to have some photos of some of the work from the other classes - am just waiting to hear if it is OK if I post here.  Have heard back from one person, but not the others as yet.

I have already booked into the next School in April 2014 week in Ballarat.  The class I'm doing then is with Kim Thitchaki from England. She works with lots of mixed fibres and heat guns, soldering irons etc etc.

An update

Thought I would write a little update of what has been happening around here this last month.

Firstly as some of you would know Google Reader is going to be dismantled as from 1 July 2013.  It will only affect those who follow by Google Reader.  As I understand it, those lovely people who are featured in the widget will still be able to follow this blog.  But for any of you who follow by Google Reader I have now placed a new gadget so, if you wish you can follow by email.  This means when I post something you will receive an email from me.  The choice is yours.

The main reason I haven't written this month is my dear Mum, Pearl passed and is now with my Dad, Frank in his heavenly home, where she can fuss over him and he will sit back and enjoy it, just like in the 'old' days.

I think I have just about caught up with all the things one does in a time like this - the paperwork, packing and sorting Mum's stuff - she didn't have a lot as the last 2 years was spent living in an Aged Care facility here in Anglesea, and making sure family members have some memories to keep.  Very sad, but it still has to be done. I'm half-way through the 'thank you's' then I can relax and get back to blogging and sewing; or sewing and blogging.

Take care,  Joy

Look at me now!!!

Hello everyone - I've grown since you last saw me.  I'm now 12 weeks old and don't I look handsome in my training coat!  I've already been well socialised with my carer - she is a pre-school teacher and I get to go to kindergarten every day and play with the children.  But I have to learn not to bark and also to rest when they're resting.  My carer took me to the movies the other day and we saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and I was very good.

Jackson at 12 weeks

Fun but fiddly

Some of you may have read my rant over on Facebook re my problems with my internet dropping off and the hassles with my provider.  While I had nothing to do (???) - no computer, only my smart phone, which isn't very smart at times, I had a little play with some stuff that I've been wanting to do for some time.

I made mixed media beads.  Not your usual glass or fancy beads, but ones made from paper; felt; and thread.  A lot of fun, a tad messy with zapping the felt and thread ones with a heat gun and also using glue on the paper ones. As the title says fiddly.

I was only able to make a couple with the felt - loved, loved the way these turned out - they completely went into a different shape than what I started with. It is winter here and I wasn't able to go outside with the heat gun, and the fumes from heating the felt and nylon thread set off my fire alarms - of course I was working on my kitchen table within arms reach of the sensor.  Duh!   And I sort of left the heat gun on a bit too long and they kind of got burnt!  I threw those ones out. I also love the way the nylon thread melted into the felt and also formed tiny beads.

Anyway here is the finished result - I will be making more of these little bitty things:

The felted ones are the odd-shaped blobs, supposed to be elongated but they shrivelled up. As I said earlier I love them.