Paris

Loop & V & A Museum London

London

Home Again After 4 Weeks in Europe!

I have been home now for a week and still trying to settle back in to the old routine. The trip was fantastic! Three days in Hong Kong, one week in London, 3 days in Paris, 3 days in Rome, one week in Tuscany, 3 days in Venice, one day back in Rome and 3 days in Hong Kong on the way back to Australia. I should have blogged while I was away but didn't so I will just post some photos instead.

Wow I Haven't Posted For Ages!

Well things have been pretty busy here for the past few months. I have been to another Prudence Mapstone workshop in Mackay in North Qld. I stayed with a very good friend and had the most wonderful time!

I also worked again for Prudence at the Craft Expo here in Brisbane. Just the most wonderful experience! I am also very keen to open my own shop or internet shop as the only 2 yarn stores here in Brisbane are a bit boring. Anyway the wheels are in motion so hopefully something will happen this year.

I have been doing alot of embroidery too as my son Nathan has moved down to our house in the Byron Bay Hinterland and is going to Uni down there. I have been helping him to settle in and while he is at uni there is plenty of quiet time to stitch. BLISS!

Again this year I am working on the knitted Debbie Abrahams Mystery Blanket and am progressing nicely. 3 months along so far and the blanket is looking beautiful.

Also I am working on the crocheted Jane Crow Mystery Blanket. It is gorgeous too as it is crocheted in Rowan Cotton Glace and is a little bit 50's. Loving it!

I have also started the International Diploma of Crochet with Pauling Turner in the UK. It's a correspondence course and I am working on Part 1. It is hard but I am learning heaps. I will complete part 1 before I decide to continue with parts 2 & 3. I would love to as I would love to learn how to design.

Everything will be on hold for 4 weeks as Jim and I are travelling overseas for a long overdue trip. We fly out to Hong Kong for 3 days and then on to London. I am having lunch with my embroidery friend Nikki Delport-Wepner in Hong Kong and really getting quite excited!
We are in London for 6 days and meeting up with our good friends Jeff and Cheryl from Melbourne. then off to Paris, Rome and a week at a villa in Tuscany. Then Venice for 3 days, back to Rome overnight and a flight out to Hong Kong for some last minute shopping before home. I am really looking forward to it.

So happy! Everything is busy busy and I will have lots to post when I get back.

Kaffe Fassett & Brandon Mably Workshop 3/2/2011

Last week I participated in the best workshop that I have ever done! I was so excited that Kaffe Fassett, one of my all time knitting, needlework and quilting heros, came to Brisbane to do ONE only workshop. It was the best experience! He was with his partner Brandon Mably, also a knitwear and textile designer, and we made Kaffe's quilt Bordered Diamonds from his latest book Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts.
I felt that I really didn't know what I was doing in choosing the fabrics and just bought what I liked and the required amounts in dark and light shades as it was a contrasting quilt. I was pretty nervous but excited going along to the workshop but Brandon and Kaffe are such lovely encouraging people my nerves dissappeared.
We cut out shapes from the diamond template that we bought and strips of fabric for the borderers of the diamonds. Then we just proceeded to put the fabric up on the design sheet that we took along to class. There wasn't any sewing in this class just design and we learned how Kaffe and Brandon design their quilts when at home.
I progressed along, liking my quilt but wondering whether or not it looked too busy. I asked for some advise and both Brandon and Kaffe just loved it. Especially Kaffe! At the end of the class Kaffe goes around to everyone and critiques their quilt. He got really excited by my quilt because I had put fabrics together that he would never have thought to use. I really felt that I had done so well. One lady in the class whispered to me that I had nailed it!! I was on a high as it was exciting stuff!
Now I just have to sew all the pieces together. I want to wait until I have a quiet day without any interuptions. I hope it won't be too long until that happens.

The Flooding of Brisbane!

This has been a horror week for me and I haven't had much opportunity to embroider, knit or crochet. The stress of this week has been immense and I thank God that we have come out of this disaster safe and sound.

First the possitives! My house didn't get flooded! After an anxious 3 days of tension headaches and sandbagging and don't forget praying, our house stayed dry! The river stopped about 100 meters from our house, thanks to the water not rising as high as predicited and a couple of fine days.

Not so lucky were numerous friends and today has been spent cleaning mud from houses and washing other peoples mud sodden clothes so that at least some belongings were not lost. How lucky am I?! I feel like one of the luckiest people in Brisbane after seeing the devastation today. Tomorrow will be much the same as today. And probably the day after that too.

Yesterday 2 of my sons and a friend paddled around our suburb in a canoe! Up around the University if Qld, down Sir Fred Schonell Drive, up Indooroopilly Road and almost back home again. Today its a mess of black sticky, stinking mud!

On the negative side, now that the worst is over flood wise the shops are fairly naked of fresh food. My eldest son drove up from the Gold Coast today, as he was finally able to get through, and he shopped for us before he left. He was able to bring up some meat, a bit of fruit, bread and milk and toilet paper! Yes you can't buy toilet paper anywhere!!

People have been hit very hard and as businessre-opens in the CBD as power is turned back on the flow on effect of this disaster will be huge. Everyone in Australia will be affected in some way.Hopefully things will return to normal as the weeks go on but Queensland won't be the same ever and it will take 2-3 years to rebuilt the damage in Brisbane alone.

Tonight as I sit in my nice clean home with electricity and food I will continue to count my blessings. My family is all here safe and sound so it's all possitive really.