Hands on

I recently celebrated my 40th birthday with a bit of a party.............



I don't know what made me do this but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I bought a bolt of white quilting fabric and a heap of fabric markers. I asked people to trace around their hands and then write a message. I'm going to use it to back a quilt.

Had some lovely things written, but perhaps didn't think through the consequences of alcohol, texta's and the opportunity to write a permanent birthday message to me.

To quote one friend "I should have done the "hand thing" before I had 5 glasses of Sauv Blanc".

I left the bolt of fabric at the venue and they rolled it up and put it away for me.

Suffice to say that the next day as I unrolled the fabric the messages got funnier, cheekier and a lot less formal and there's the odd anonymous one ( don't think I don't know who you are 'big hand'). I also have a sneaking suspicion that there may have been the odd individual who kept going back to leave more handprints throughout the night as 'inspiration' hit.


However I loved the idea. Probably more appropriate for a 10 year old than a 40 year old. But hey.

I plan to quilt around the hands with some brightish thread, maybe the top will just be white also with coloured appliqued hands.

Suggestions would be more than welcome......

Incognito

I'm back........... In a fashion............

I've not been in hiding or anywhere exotic. Not for want of trying mind you. Chance would be fine thing indeed.

I was going to have a competition where I made up some wildly fabulous reasons for not being here and the person who guessed the right reason would win a prize. Well, I was until some impertinent imp (no names but her initials are Jenny Frazzydazzles) suggested that in order to have a competition I would "need to finish something to give away". That's just plain trude**

In short it's been a busy few months we had the death of a close family friend (rip mr b), I had a submission from work that saw me chained to my desk from the start of oct to mid november and then I had to prepare for a significant birthday. In all this time needle has not pierced fabric. Main thing is I'm back... Well kind of .

I have two (count them) two projects lurking close to the surface so stay tuned....... (or come back)


* trude - i've just coined this expression this morning. It means that even though it's rude, it's still true.

RIP Mr B

This is stitching unrelated.

Mr B was a really close family friend. He and his wife and family have been around our family for as long as I can remember. I spent school holidays with his kids, his son was my best "holiday" friend/partner in crime for most of my teenage years. Mr B inspired me to apply myself at school, not an easy task, talked to me about books and literature and spent a fair whack of his time telling us to 'pull your heads in'. It occured to me this morning that when I first met him, he was younger than I am now.


He'll be missed by our family

Motivate, Motivate, Motivate....

Apologies for my slovenly blogging habits. Been busy, been away for work, been slack, been cursing the fact that the hard drive on my pc died. It just started not working (that's like 'stopped working' but a bit different, in fact quite different!)
All my photo's, lots of my writing (including some of my freelance jobs that were either complete or in progress) and general guff was kept on the pc.

And NO I didn't have some of it backed up. And YES I should have had it backed up. Had some of it backed up but not all.

The other half who, as luck would have it, is an IT guru, seems to think it may be able to be fixed. I'm not convinced but I sure loves his optimism.

What is interesting is this. I've asked several times if he can 'have a look' at my computer. His response to this is usually an enthusiastic "Yes! I will do that, can you remind me later".

Then when later comes, and I ask "can you have a 'look' at my hard drive?" His response is the same "Yes! I will!!! - Can you remind me to do that?"

I'm confused - I thought I was 'reminding'. And, furthermore, I love 'reminding' him about stuff usually and he calls it 'nagging'! (such an unpleasant word!). I spoke to my friend Bel, today who said her word for nagging is 'motivating' - so much nicer.

I'm not sure how I can 'remind' him more effectively. I'm thinking I might paint his toenails in his sleep and rid the house of nail polish remover until he comes to the party and 'looks' at my hard drive, but that's not really reminding, just peurile and childish. Mind you it seems like a fair way to deal an individual who may or may not have put make up on me in my sleep and then took photos because and I kid you not, He was 'bored'. (should I admit that??)

Mind you none of this is getting my computer fixed! I've reminded until I've needed to sit down and fan myself and take some 'salts', but to no avail. I'm beginning to wonder if he even knows how to do it. (that last comment was just on the off chance he DOES read my blog.)

So until my reminding/motivating facilitates some change and I figure out how to upload more photo's, It's going to be slim pickings here at Happy Stash with downloaded photos from google image!

Buyers Remorse

I bought this at Spotlight about a month ago and I've got a mild case of buyers remorse!

I'd covetted this fabric for months for months. Had plans for it before it even left the shop.



I thought it would look great in my red room and I thought this would look good in a cathedral windows quilt. I could picture it very very clearly. It was 40% off if you bought the remainder of the bolt. As far as I was concerned I couldn't go wrong. My mum had a quilt in a similar fabric to this (not sure where that ended up) and I think the pattern triggered something in me. She used to have the quilt on a miners couch that sat in our back sunroom, right next to her sewing table and I spent many hours on the miners couch with a book while mum would be sewing. Maybe, I just wanted to recreate a bit of that. Who knows!!

Well, when I got it home and put it in the red room. All I could see was pink!
Yep! those tiny pink flowers that were practically invisible in the shop, just seemed to bleed all over the fabric the minute I put it up against the red wall. It just isn't going to work as I had intended. And with quite a few metres of the stuff I had better come up with something to do with it. I still think it's lovely. I think I'll still do the quilt, but it just won't go in my red room.

Not my usual carry on.

This is a bit of a departure from my usual drivel.

Our friends Paul and Jules are having a bit of a rough time of things at the moment and recently had these shots taken. Paul has cancer and they recently found out that it has spread to his liver. Life isn't being kind.

I'm posting this link, just because I think it is something I want to share.

Have a look at the pictures on Liz's blog and read her post. I don't think I could put into words what these guys are going throughords any better than she has.


Jen

Flannel

I think I need to face facts. I have a flannel obsession. I can't help it. It gets so dang cold here in Melbourne that I NEED flannel. But all I ever seem to do with it is make it into quilts for other people (yes prior to me starting this blog, I did have a couple of finished projects).

After finishing the quilt for baby Emma, I got to thinking "Why should she get all the snuggly, toasty fun of a flannel quilt?" I've had that quilt over my lap most nights for the past 6 months watching it get bigger (and warmer) and I 've kind of grown to like it. Which brings me to the point that......... I *ahem* haven't put the quilt in the post yet. It's still folded up on the couch in the lounge room. I found the other half snugged up in it the other day and I just keep finding excuses not to post it. It's not good. ("Shut UP! I've been busy, and the lady in the post office isn't nice")

So in an attempt to wean myself of the baby quilt (no pun intended), I purchased this ("Of Course You Did!" I hear you cry).


All that lovely warm, flannelly goodness - and it is going to be ALL MINE do you hear me? Mine. However, this brings me to another confession (seems to be the week for it). I have this sitting in my stash, abandoned,unfinished and not going anywhere.



Oh, and before you ask, Yes, Yes I am abundantly aware that the colours in the yet to be completed quilt and the recently aquired fabrics are similar. Quite similar in fact. Did I think of the quilt top, lying abandoned in my stash, when I was buying the new flannel fabric?? No. No I didn't.

I'm starting to think this is how addictive/ obsessive personalities get kick started.

You know those women who end up living in houses with like, 87 cats - there but grace of god go I, I'm thinking.

Oh and just on a completely unrelated topic............. Your blog content can't be used as conclusive evidence to say, have you committed to an institution......... can it??