A fabulous table cloth is now mine!

Remember that decimal currency cloth I wrote about last year, that someone showed me while my linen collection was over at Bundoora?  I posted a plea on my blogs for anyone to contact me if they ever found one of those cloths.  Well, my prayers were answered!  A bloggy friend who works at an opshop a few suburbs away, contacted me late last year to tell me that the decimal currency cloth had turned up at their opshop.   It was in excellent condition and beautifully embroidered, and the manager wanted to price it at $100.  My friend told her that was a ridiculous price for a small cloth no matter how good it was, especially for an opportunity shop.  She managed to persuade her boss to sell it to me for $50, and she brought it over to me on Friday.   Dammit, not being able to post photos here!!!!  The cloth is absolutely gorgeous - well worth $50, and it is in much better condition than the other two I'd seen, so I am glad I wasn't able to persuade those ladies to part with their cloths!

Thank you dear Bloggy friends!

Awww....I love being part of this crafty blogging community - you are all so kind.  Thanks for your understanding comments on the previous post.  I know that you have all gone through those 'flat' patches now and then, and it is comforting to know that you're not on your own when it happens.

Today I was tidying up stuff, and found a patchwork square that I'd made up last year when I was making a quilt top for Aussie Heroes.  The fabric had pictures of Australian birds on it, and there was just enough left over to make a little table topper for myself.  I'd pieced it, but gone no further, so today I put the backing on and finished it off.  Just a little start in the right direction!  Sadly I can't post a photo because my computer is still not working, and I can't post photos on the blog from Ken's laptop because it would mean putting the photos on his laptop, and I don't know how to do that.  Ken's not about to teach me either!!   Never mind, the photos will keep.  I'm just lucky I can keep posting text to my blogs on the laptop...but I do HATE this keyboard :-(

Another thing I did was to pull out the plastic bag full of ties that have been accumulating over the past year.  My disabled friend Helen enjoys sitting with me and deconstructing ties over a cuppa, so I took the bag around to her place yesterday and we spent a couple of hours sitting outside in the sun, pulling ties to bits and chatting.  When I got home, I washed all the fabrics and hung them out to dry, which they did in about an hour.   I had time to bring them in and iron them before going to bed.  Today I sorted them all out and packed them away with the other deconstructed ties, ready to use in patchwork projects.  It got me all enthused again, so I've got some ties out ready to make some more CQ blocks to complete last  year's CQ block challenge which only got as far as August...

Nothing to show.

I haven't had a chance to do any sewing since MIL passed away, and the way things are going, I can't see much happening in the near future, which makes me feel guilty as hell because I committed myself to making quilt tops for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, but I haven't done a thing.  I've also promised to make cot quilts for a family member who works with displaced people in New Guinea.   AND, offered to make a small quilt for fire victims in Tassie....
So what is the hold up?  Well, I just haven't felt in the mood for one thing, with our family loss, the heat here, and just doing other things instead.  I've booked myself into several art classes and workshops, as I've decided to do more sketching this year instead of sewing.  I will still do some sewing, but not sure when and how much.  So if you don't stop by this blog for the next month or so, you won't be missing much!

Thank you.

Ken and I have been touched by the sympathy messages left here in response to my post about his Mother's passing.  The funeral was on Monday and was a truly beautiful service with lots of lovely tributes.  Among the guests at the service were some of my blog friends and their partners, and I take this opportunity of thanking them again for their love and support at this time. (Of course they are much more than just 'blog friends' now!  I just mentioned that because that is how I got to know them).
It really hasn't been such a terrible time, because Ken and his sister are very lucky to have had their Mum for so long.  Of course they will miss her, but we also have such happy memories of her,  we can't be sad for too long.   We still have some issues to tidy up, but I hope to be back with regular posts on my blogs soon.  Thanks again to all my readers.

Happy New Year.

Happy New year to all those who read this blog. I won't be blogging for a week or so. Ken's Mum died on New Year's Eve. Ken and I were there with his sister and her hubby. We had been taking turns in holding her hand when her breathing became shallow, she opened her eyes, gave a little sigh, and that was it. The hours leading up to that were not pleasant with her lungs struggling for air, but it was quick in the end, so we felt at peace with her.


We cleaned out her room at the Home today, and will be seeing the funeral parlour tomorrow to set a date and choose a casket. Funeral will probably be next week some time, and that will be the end of an era. She was the last to go in her generation. We are next in line. Your mortality suddenly kicks you in the face when this happens, doesn't it.