Progress

 Due to flood damage on my usual route to work, I have been taking the shortest detour around  Barambah Creek at Marshlands, using the Webbers Bridge via Wooroonden. This adds about 6 kms to my trip. A low level wooden bridge which goes under by a huge amount in flood times. If you have driven over the Barambah Ck near Gayndah in flood times, one can imagine how high the water is here.     

In this photo you can see the height of the debris in the tree.

I can happily report that the flood damage on the other road has been repaired and I will only need to use this road if the same event happens again.

Progress on another aspect, the kitten has grown into a dog cat, she plays with the dogs to the extent we believe she thinks she is a dog. The plants are starting to grow into a reasonable hedge. I would like them to become a dust collector from the driveway but I think I'd need a few more rows of them.
The baby quilt is nearing completion, but will have to wait as it is Graduation Day at Sunshine Coast University and we have to attend to watch Belinda graduate. Amazing to think that she was told in year 9 that she would never achieve an OP let alone a University Education and here she is now in the QAS as a graduate advanced care paramedic. Her  dream is to visit Gin Gin High School wearing her uniform and showing the teacher concerned, just what she has achieved in life. All she needed was people to believe in her as well as her belief in herself. Well done, Belinda.

What a Finish for the Year !

What a lonely and devastating sight to see. The rain continued in December and I think shocked a lot of people. This is the supposedly unfloodable bridge over the Burnett River at Mingo Crossing in a photo taken by my friend Patty. Two cousins experienced the flooding in their houses in Mundubbera upstream from Mingo earlier in the week. Friends have been cut off for weeks in their homes and trying to enjoy Christmas on their own.
In all of this chaos before Christmas, Archie returned on the day the bridge came out of the water, weaved his magic in wrecking our kitchen,some of the photos are out of order but I think you can see the changes. The old pantry doorway has been filled in with some overhead cupboards, the bench tops replaced with his suggestion for the laminate ( he knows his stuff!!!)

While he was here with his truck "bogged on our lawn" it RAINED and RAINED and once again the water went over the bridge.

A 16 hour power blackout occurred, the work stopped, the rain eased, the power guys were flown in by helicopter to fix the power problem and hey presto, Archie changed the end of the kitchen to this

FROM THIS

I certainly have lots of storage space, and it is not filled yet. He also made built in cupboards for our bedroom. We are very pleased with Archies's work.

The river also dropped late on Christmas Eve allowing the truck across so he could spend Christmas with his young family instead of being stuck with us. Mind you it came back up twice as high a few days later to peak over 9m. All of this water flows down to Bundaberg so no wonder they had a huge flood as every creek and river in the Burnett catchment was full.

One can only look at photos in sheer disbelief at the devastation happening in Queensland at this time. Of course no creative sewing has been happening but the real patching has once again been completed in the enforced indoor jobs. No outside renovations have been attempted. I did notice some mould coming on some paintwork. ARGH!!!

What a finish to the old year, so am hoping the New Year is a bit quieter than the last month has been, but not looking too good at this stage.More rain has been falling and the floods are still happening. I guess we have to just tolerate the conditions and do our best.

C 's all fixed, I hope.

Well I can report that the camera is usable, the computer seems to be functioning better and the car, well after being told it was ready on Friday whilst travelling to Maroochydore, I arrived to find it still had the " original " problem. Another sensor replaced and it was going again on Monday. At this stage NO more warning lights have appeared on the dashboard. Looks like every modern car will need to be hooked up to a computer soon for diagnosis. Heaven help the RACQ mobile mechanics. I think one should invest in a towing company as it seems to be the way of the futuure.

I promised some pics didn't I. This is the last quilt I have finished. Note it is still in the quilting phase when this photo was snapped. It was displayed in the Bundaberg Quilters Exhibition. A one block wonder from the books by Maxine Rosenthal. Now the QCWA Piecemakers wish to try this technique. They have aready been doing Stack and Whack so they should be able to handle this. Their fabric selection for their last stack and whack had a few problems, well you can't be short of fabric for this one.

I was supposed to attend patchwork in Mt Perry this week but alas down came some rain ( for which we were very grateful though) and I came down with my first cold in a couple of years, so did not make it. Very little paint stripping happened either but I did get some done.

This week will see very little paint stripping happening as work is on the agenda for 2 days and 2 nights. I get to sleep through the election day. I still can't understand why the electorate of Flynn did not score many "goodies" as some of the other marginal Labor held electorates did. Perhaps we had a very lazy local member. I never saw him personally in 3 years at any functions in Flynn I happened to be attending. Maybe I just don't go to the right places.

Back in the "real" world

I'm happy to report that finally we have the internet connected at last. Now I can start showing you some of the things I have been doing instead of sewing. But once again you will have to wait until I upload some of the photos. Mainly been doing a bit of stripping lately.
Hold on you say? No it's not the clothes removal, nor the patchwork version but indeed a bit of paint ( lots of flaky stuff) removal.
Stay tuned I will get organisd next week.

December Welcome

In my last post I mentioned altering a grad dress. Here's the gorgeous girl who received lots of compliments. She had a wonderful time and holiday at the beach. Now she is waiting for her school results.

Yikes, December is nearly half way through. I have experienced and coped well ( with a few zzzzz's) during my very first 2 night shifts at work. It was very considerate of people to stay away from the hospital on Friday night but they kind of made up for that Sat night. I always did find that Sat night on call was very busy.

I managed to do some photocopying of some quilting designs that I had previously drawn up and in my breaks wrote out some christmas cards etc.

I did manage to catch up a lot of work leftover from the day shifts due to the ever present computer system slowness.

Unfortunately not much sewing has happened. I have finished the 5 foundation patterns for the poppies pattern. I now have to do the applique and I have not taken a photo of them yet.

I had some bad news on my car today. A second wheel was damaged when I was forced off to the edge of the road so now I have decided to get 4 new alloy wheels ( not genuine VW) though.

I will definately be following up my claim to the Main Roads Dept through my local parliamentary member. The road is still unrepaired. A mob of lazy people if you ask me.

Hope to be doing some more sewing in the next few days. I finished a lot of Christmas shopping today. I have also spent time at the other farm where I am trying to remove the last vestiges of paint from the verandah posts so I can of course cover them up again.

Monthly Report

Yes I know I'm a bit late for the beginning of the month. How do you deal with some quiet moments? I'm beginning to think my upcoming forced venture into night shifts might give me some of those. Hopefully there are not too many dramas every night in the early hours of the morning at the hospital when I will be trying to stay awake and I may catch a few moments of being idle.

The past few weeks have been fun with patchwork and quilting. The M t Perry and Mundubbera girls enjoyed being guinea pigs for our strips n curves workshop. We did a bit of fabric dyeing along the way. Had a sleepover and pub tea on the Sat night and ing eneral had a busy weekend. I went to work to recover. The photo is of Trish's handiwork. She was the first one to get hers sewn together. Still needs a border treatment yet.

I have also been playing with a foundation pattern called congregation of Poppies from QNM .

I have started the second one today. It sure is exciting starting something new and a bit different to what I have been playing with for the last few years.

I am also constructing a workshop using the 60 degree ruler. Probably have a one block wonder plus my triangular log cabin plus these.

Am not sure which colour scheme to use yet.

Here is a close up of the free motion quilting feathers I did on zinnia fizz. I used Glide thread . That centre square is 2' in size.

Do you think I should feel like I have been busy???? I have also nearly finished all of the requirements lists and procedure sheets for Jan 2010. I'm off to alter a graduation dress. That is one thing I would really like to be able to sew well. Formal clothes, I reckon you could do well doing that type of sewing. Quilts are more fun though because you get at least 3 different stages of sewing work from one of them. See you next month.

August Endings

Spring is nearly here and the cleaning has been happening at my house. I have been sorting through years of accumulated junk and culling out stuff. I have 4 boxes of fabric and magazines to be looked through by other quilters next patchwork day. Some of the magazines will probably find a new home at our new venue.

3 car trips to the dump in 5 days is a pretty good achievement for this hoarder.

If we end up shifting house I want to be able to just pack everything without sitting there thinking do I really need this item anymore. The problem is I still have 4 storage areas of the house to sift through.

I can't believe how organised I am as I have all current projects stored where I know exactly where they are. I am working on a small art quilt for an art exhibition competition in October so no pics of that.

I have also got things prepared for QCWA in January. It is just a case of waiting for the weeks to go by until school is finished for the youngest before I can really move.

 

Monthly Report

Well, I'm back again for a short visit. I have been methodically basting and preparing my workshop quilts for quilting. I have managed to finish the quilting on 2 of them. Wow!.

Things are certainly getting stressful on the home front. Looks like we might be moving house to the other farm 200 kms away, but it depends on how negoitations proceed with the the other party involved. It would be good if the youngest child could finish her school education without the trauma of suddenly shifting house though. Plans are in hand for her to finish at her current school though.

I have also started planning the next Yeppoon Workshop for January 2010. I'm envious that the convenor has bought herself a machine quilting frame. I hope to visit her place for a few fun filled days when we get sorted out here.

The photo above is from a wokshop on twisted log cabin from a while ago. I had unsuitable fabrics according to the tutor so ended up reversing every second block. I must try to take better photoes. The lighting seems to be washing out the quilt.

Wow!! Is she really back?

Yes I'm here. I have been to Brisbane twice in the last 6 weeks. The QCWA dyeing workshop was very enjoyable. Hope you all like your fabrics . The Textile Fair was very inspiring and also a bit deflating. I managed to use the plastic for some purchases but not too much.

I went back to Brisbane for a parent's medical appointment and went clothes shopping.

I have also been working as usual. Spent a night at Cania Gorge and went rock hopping.

I have actually basted one quilt of my contemporary table runners workshop series ready to be quilted. I have also finished dyeing the backings for quite a few more so hope to drag out the quilt sewing machine to quilt them. My dreams of a long arm still persist but other financial decisions regarding our future lives must come first.

I also managed to re photograph some of my quilts last week.

Here is a new photo of a favourite small quilt from my connector series.

Report of the Month

Well it looks like blogging is getting to be a monthly occurrence. I have been doing extra shifts for work so spare time has been limited. I have sewed 3 items from fabric purchased from our Toowoomba shopping trip. One is the quilt from bright large prints which I think I might try meander quilting then feathers on. I purchased a book from Suzanne Earley which looks very interesting. Oh for the uninterrupted time to start the project. I also finished an Amy Butler apron and oven mitts from the scraps. Am about to finish a Moonshine bag when I finally find a large button in my sewing containers somewhere.

I am looking forward to a day tomorrow when I can get past the housework, accounting work (BAS time again in Australia) and clear the cutting table and start slicing a second kaleidoscope quilt. I purchased the fabric in Kingaroy on our way home from Toowoomba. Then I may have set a record and actually used all of my purchases from a shopping trip.

I went to Brisbane for my father's medical appointment on Thursday and have never driven on a major highway in such torrential rain and I have to wonder about the driving sense of some people. I was glad to be driving away from the rain and not towards it. Noosa had something like 2o + inches in 5 hours. We arrived home to find once again we had missed out.

The photo of the quilt is of my Moonflowers quilt made a few years ago now. It is foundation pieced and machine quilted.

Sewing At Last

I went along to our Mt Perry patchwork day on February 18th before leaving early for another trip to Bundaberg and did the real patching. I mended work clothes so I could indulge in some creative sewing without feeling guilty. Why do semi professionals and non professionals feel that creative sewing is laden with guilt feelings?
I purchased a quilt kit of modern large prints on our shopping trip to Toowoomba in January and I 'm pleased to say I have it cut and sewed except for the final rows and borders. I wanted to try using these prints but I can honestly say that I still prefer my hand dyed fabrics for their colours. I will show a photo when it is completed. I'm also dreaming about a special wall hanging for someone who is approaching 50 yrs of age in August.
After just completing 3 nights of stressful laboratory work I'm in great need of a good rest and some sewing time.

February Notes

Aagh!!! February is nearly as bad as January and the rest of last year for achieving much sewing wise. I seem to have all of these things I'd like to do and something else impinges on my "spare time" preventing me from sewing.

The workshop went well and I hope I have inspired some ladies to break out of their traditional comfort zone and try some new techniques. I have literally done no creative sewing since. I went to my patchwork day last week and did the clothes patching for the 2 men in my life. Now that my son is the same size as his father , they wear each others work clothes and fight over the newer items. The mending pile had been growing so to ease my conscience I decided to do that job, so next week I hope for some creative sewing.

The quilt pictured is one I made 12 years ago using a bias strip applique method.

I have also been asked to pick up one extra shift for work each week during March. That might help with the car payments but cuts my recreation time. Oh for a good balance of things in life.

Life Rolls On ( or does it)

Well I'm back after a short break. The 21st quilt was well received at the party. She even admitted that she knew she was getting a quilt. Unfortunately the good photo I took of it before hand was deleted off the camera and I have not taken another photo yet.

This is the centre panel which I think I have shown before. I promise a photo of the whole quilt when it comes home again.

I have started planning the contemporary workshop for January 2009 for the QCWA ladies. At patchwork in Mt Perry last Friday one lady commented about making a quilted tablecloth for her outside table so the wind does not blow it around. So my table runner workshop will also involve tablecloths using hand dyed fabrics and changing traditional blocks to a more contemporary version. I love the new book Skinny Quilts and Table Runners as it has the work of several different quilters in it.

I have even started planning my applique banner for the street of Gin Gin and the hockey finals have been and gone for another 5 months so maybe some housework and sewing can be done.

I had a distressing weekend at work for 3 nights. 3 trauma cases in one evening ending up with the deaths of 2 young teenagers casts a shadow over a hospital. Plus there seems to be more medical emergencies than ever in Bundaberg. It has taken me 2 days to get over 2 15 hr stints and 1 normal late shift. I arrived home at 1 o'clock on Tuesday morning. Yesterday I managed to work on a small table runner of floral scraps for the Mt Perry Quilters girls night in on October 3rd. This is a fundraiser and information evening for cancer and we are raffling our log cabin quilt. I was amazed at how pieces seem to jump out of my stash and work together nicely.

So yes life is busy, but I think we should be thankful for that. It is distressing as a parent to know there are now 2 families doing it very tough as a result of an accident.

I'll leave you with a pic of another small outback quilt. It always lifts my spirits to see lots of colour.

Again , Where have I been ?

Yes I know, a whole month between posts. Yes life certainly gets away when you are trying to keep up with things. Two quarterly BASes ( dont know if that is correct Aussie english but it'll do) , the usual work load of keeping up an income flow, the beginning of the hockey season for being a spectator and the usual no event sewing.

Am still currently working on the mystery quilt for August. Seems like an eternity to get this thing done. Mind you it would help if I could sit and sew for a while uninterrupted. There are some unusual problems in achieving it which can be explained later.
It's also the Bundaberg Quilters annual exhibition and I'm only going to have one or two small wall hangings to enter.
Our Mt Perry quilting group has been working on a fundraising quilt for our movie night for Cancer in October and I will have to machine quilt it also. Hope the girls don't finish it too soon.
Catch you later.