No sewing happening here.

As I said in an earlier post, I have 'lost my mojo' for sewing at the moment.  In addition to the reasons I gave before, I now have a physical problem that has prevented me from doing any kind of sewing by hand or on a machine.  I had a motorcycle accident about 40 years ago in which my neck was nearly broken.  As the doctors and other specialists have put it over the years when they see X rays of my neck, "You've really trashed your neck!"  It will be fine for a year or so, then I'll get an episode of severe pain where a nerve is pinched by some of the vertebrae which are degenerating over time.   In the past month I have had 8 chiropractic treatments, four acupuncture treatments, dozens of remedial massages, and taken Panadeine Forte, Valium, Nurofen, and whatever else I can find that might kill pain.  It is finally all beginning to take effect, and tonight is the first time I've been able to sit here and type for more than a few minutes.
The doctors are all telling me now that I will eventually have to have surgery to fix my neck, but don't worry - surgical techniques have come a long way in the last few years, and it is not as invasive as it used to be.
Hmmm.   Time will tell.   The way I feel at the moment, I may as well just sell all my fabric and sewing gear at a market because I can't see myself ever doing much of it again.

Back online.

...thanks to a very good friend who is a genius with computers.  He is someone who was a friend of ours about 20 years ago, but moved away, and has only returned to Melbourne a year or so ago.  We happened to mention that we were having computer problems, and he offered to have a look.  To cut a long story short, it seems that Internet Explorer may have been the cause of my problems, so he changed me over to Mozilla Firefox, and everything is now A OK.  Ken and I have several friends who are fantastic with computers, and we have been very lucky to have them helping us with various issues over the years.   Thanks guys - you know who you are ;-)

Non stitching craft.

I have just posted pictures of something on my other blog (Patra's Other Place) that might interest some of you who enjoy other crafts in addition to needleworks.   Well, what do you know!  It worked.  Given the problems I've been having with links lately, I didn't know if I could put a link here to the other blog, but there it is. 

Please help me to find you!

Just a quick note to all my bloggy friends who visit this site: due to continuing computer problems, I can't access the blogs on my sidebar by clicking on them as I used to. The only way I can get to your blogs is if you leave a comment on my posts, and I can click on your name which takes me to your blog. I really miss visiting you all, so if you read this, PLEASE leave just a short comment so I can read your blog again!

Linens from Lee Ann.

Our friends Lee Ann and Rob visited us on Monday and we enjoyed a very pleasant day with them. We hadn't seen them for over a year (apart from Ken's Mum's funeral which wasn't the right time for a lengthy catch up), so we had a lovely talk over lunch, after which we took them up to Sugarloaf Reservoir for afternoon tea. Lee Ann manages an opshop and keeps an eye out for linens for me. Here are some of the items she presented me with on Monday. She also brought aprons, but I've posted those on my Aprons blog.


If anyone reading this can translate the writing on this lovely redwork piece, I would greatly appreciate any information!

Another chicken scratch gingham cloth for my collection!

This  uncut child's apron is printed on pink fabric and didn't photograph well.

Aussie doiley with cockatoo design.  I have an unworked set of three pieces in my collection of duchess sets, and am pleased to have a finished version.

Small project completed.

I saw this pattern in a magazine several years ago, and have been wanting to make it ever since.  It consists of the black area pattern traced on to a sheet of fusible webbing, which is then ironed on to black cotton fabric.  This is carefully cut out in one piece, and ironed on to the sunset print fabric.  Voila!  Aussie sunset!
Rather than make a wall hanging or cushion, I bought a nice frame for this one.

Aust. decimal currency cloth photos.

So here it is - a piece of Australian history.  I've shown this to friends who have no interest in embroidery, and even they have been impressed by the significance of it.  For instance, the one and two cent coins depicted are no longer in existence.  And the fifty cent coin has changed its face many times since this first one.

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.

Kitties placemat and mug rug.

I had two last minute gifts to make on Xmas Eve - two ladies that sometimes attend xmas dinner when it is at SIL's place, are both serious cat fans, so I decided to make a place mat for one woman and a mug rug for the other.
Cute?

Happy Christmas!

Wishing all my followers a safe and happy Christmas, no matter what religion you are.

Half eaten gingerbread man.

I've seen a few of these felt chewed gingerbread men made up, and decided I would like my own to add to my felt donuts and cupcake. Cute!

Christmas gifts and a cupcake.

I've added a cup cake to my collection of felt cakes.  I put them on the kitchen table when I'm expecting friends to drop in, and their eyes light up with anticipation - "Ooooh, donuts and cupcakes!"  Then they take a closer look and realise they aren't edible.  I used alternative patterns for the donuts so I could decide which one was quicker and easier to make, hence the different sizes.

These are two of the mug rugs that I have completed for friends.  I gave one away yesterday before I had a chance to photograph it for my files, but as the recipient only lives around the corner, it won't be hard to get a picture.  The first photo is the back of the rugs...

And these are the fronts.  I guess it doesn't really matter, they can be used either side up of course, but the side with the ric rac on has a bit more work on it than the reverse, which is just one piece of fabric.

Productive weekend!

It was soooo hot on Saturday, we just sat around and ate cold fruit to keep cool,


 drank cups of tea, and wasted time on our computers.  But today it was much cooler, and we felt more like doing things.  Ken went out and bought a new cordless phone to replace the one in our entrance hall.  He also spent some time in the aviaries with the chooks and finches, cleaning out nest boxes and stuff like that.  As for me, I had my list of to-do projects ready to make a start!
First of all I made another felt donut pincushion, with chocolate sprinkles this time ;-)

Next, I made a placemat for my hairdresser for Christmas.  I've known her for years, and we always exchange some little item at Christmas.  She isn't a craft person, but she loves the bits and pieces I make for her.

Then I messed around some more with these lovely Xmas fabric charm squares, matching some of them with cream fabric and making half square triangles, which I then joined up in various configurations.   By the end of the day I'd completed three mug rugs (not what you see here) which will make nice little gifts.

I still have a few Christmas projects that I would like to do, but gosh it is coming up so fast, I don't know if I'll get time to do them, so they might have to wait until next year. I do it every year - wait until December before I start making gifts, then run out of time! I used to think it was crazy when I saw craft magazines in July with ideas for Christmas, but now I know why they publish those patterns so early!

Photos of recent craft shows.

I have finally got around to posting photos of quilts and other needlecraft entries at this year's Lilydale and Whittlesea Shows. You can find them on my Needlecraft Shows blog here.

Cute pincushion donut!

I saw the pattern for this felt donut in a book at the Guild a few months ago, and J - one of my colleagues there agreed with me that it was too cute to ignore! So we took copies of the pattern (I know, naughty) and joked about who was going to make it first. A few weeks ago I saw a similar pattern in Handmade Magazine, and remembered the photocopy I'd filed away. I compared them and decided to make the Handmade pattern first. There is a matching cupcake, but I didn't have enough felt to do that last night when I made the donut. I wanted to show J today but she wasn't on duty, so it will have to wait until next year. By then I plan to have made a few more donuts as well as cupcakes, as I bought enough felt today to make a whole tray of them!

Hand made Christmas cards.

I've had a stack of Christmas themed fabric on the floor for a month, determined to make some mug rugs, place-mats, runners and other things for gifts this year.  But, you all know how it is; life gets in the way and nothing gets done.   I usually buy my cards well in advance from catalogues that I receive from various charities, but for some reason this year I only ordered one pack from the Red Cross.  I like to write all my cards out on the first weekend in December and post them immediately, so they are all out of the way and I can get on with my day to day stuff.  So tonight I pulled out the box where I keep my stash of cards and address list, opened it up to find ONE pack of cards from the Red Cross, and no others!  What was I thinking of last month??   Well it was no use writing out just a dozen cards, so I thought I'd make some to go on with.  In my stash of paper products that I've played with over the years when I wanted a break from sewing, I found the makings of hand made cards.  I used to cross stitch little pictures and insert them into the card frames, but I didn't have time for that tonight.  Instead, I used fabric scraps to make the inserts - sewing strips together and cutting them into a square, and fusing little Xmas icons to other fabric.  In an hour I'd made a dozen cards!  Now I only have to buy another 2 dozen cards, then I can start writing...