Happy Place

Morning at Lake Hamilton

 Sometimes the world simply gets too big. 

I'm not going to comment much about recent world events. I have deliberately stayed away from news and current affairs programs. Actually, I do that a lot - most days really. Watching the news unfold in front of me in screaming technicolour doesn't do my heart, mind and soul any good, not to mention the fact that I don't think news reports are entirely accurate most of the time anyway. There's always a myriad of perspectives and I know not all of them are represented in a single news report. 

You may call me an ostrich with my head in the sand. 

That's ok. I'll let you. I'm not offended. I know what works for me and I know that my anxiety levels go through the roof if I dwell on events over which I have no control. I don't think we were meant to know everything but humankind seems to have this insatiable quest to know all there is to know about everything there is to know. 

Try as I may though, news filters through. Let's face it, if you're on Facebook (Did I just make a pun then? Let's FACE it.....FACEbook.......never mind.....) you get news as it's happening so yes, I have heard about the recent tragic events in Orlando and yes, I am aware that billions of people around the globe have aired their opinions about the availability of guns, gun control and the like. 

When things like this happen I find I immediately start creating something beautiful. I guess there's something about the predictability of a beginning, middle and an end that has a beautiful outcome that I find soothing. When 9/11 happened I slowly and systematically started on a Friendship Quilt that became a wall hanging. It kept me calm and gave me another focus rather than dwelling on the horror that I had witnessed live on my television screen.

This time, without even thinking I found myself cutting out 2.5" fabric blocks from the the endless stash of off-cuts and Fat Quarters that I have in boxes in my spare room. So far I have cut out 180 of these little beauties. 

There are 11 piles of 12 squares pictured. I could've sworn I'd cut out 144 squares.......

I found the 12th pile on the floor. 

I lay them all out on the living room rug and decided that I'd do 15 rows of 12 to make it a decent sized little quilt. Laying them on the living room rug was possibly a foolish move because.....well....I have a 10 week old puppy......

Who isn't ALWAYS blissfully asleep on her little sofa!

Tonight I'm going to decide on the placement of colours - which will quite possibly be very haphazard but I like haphazard things. I'll try and post some pictures as the quilt progresses,

Centering in is my happy place. My little home, my kids, my fur-kids and my love for creating beautiful things is sometimes the only world I need to think about. Like I said, I don't think we were meant to know everything. I don't think it's good for me to know everything. I'm doing what I can to listen to my own body, heart and soul to discover the path that is right for me.

Holiday projects

I'm at the point in my holidays where I don't know what day it is. In other words, I have reached nirvana, the state of eternal bliss. Time is stretched out before me like an endless sea - well, that's what it feels like to me and I dare you to tell me otherwise! Clothes are selected for comfort instead of style so I spend a lot of time in comfy shorts and well-worn tshirts. Thongs (flip-flops for all you readers from the northern hemisphere!) are optional.

So, I have set myself some goals. First, not pictured, is to finish Chloe's quilt. I've set up my sewing machine in a little corner nook of my room and will determine to finish it before work starts again!

Second, I'll tackle that pile of books! According to Goodreads I only finished three books this year! Shameful! I'm almost halfway through A Clash of Kings so hopefully I'll knock that over in between other projects and when I take a rest in the hammock.

Third I'd like to get that crochet done for a friend!

Fourthly, I'd like to make myself a blanket in red with grey accents. Red is the colour of the moment!

And in between all this I plan to smash my 12km running goal! 

It's going to be a wonderful summer!

Lately on Mondays

I'm toying with having days with a regular theme on this little place in cyberspace. I'll try this today and see how we go. It's mainly just to give you all a quick rundown on what's been happening down here on another level.

Making:

I've been into amigurmi crochet lately. I haven't completed anything yet, which is the way I roll with most craft projects! At the moment I have almost finished a small amigurumi monkey but there seems to be errors in the pattern and I am too much of a novice crocheter to know how to fix them!

I think I made the head inside-out.....and the arm is too short and  fat, despite following the pattern closely!

I've also finished a blanket knitted with yarn I had left over from other projects....plus a couple of balls I *may* have bought to add to it.

Cooking:

Ummm....nothing! I can't remember the last time I actually cooked or baked anything. I'm in the middle of a ten day stint of working and most foodstuffs are those of the convenient kind - fruit, crackers, coffee, tea, toast. I miss cooking to tell you the truth!

Drinking:

Coffee. Skinny lattes, no sugar.

Reading:

I love reading, I really do but with being on anti-depressants I seem to have lost the concentration to be able to sit and get involved in a good story. I have several books on the go at the moment, none of which I am even close to finishing. 

Wanting:

I just want to stop; to have some time to sit and be still and think and breathe and centre myself again. That, above all things would be my dream right now. 

Looking:

At a lot of different gardens and wondering what would suit my humble abode.

Playing:

A lot of Candy Crush and Pet Rescue. Kind of addicted to these two games!

Wasting:

See above.

I'm also wasting a lot of time overthinking something I really don't need to be thinking about at all anymore. Does anyone else do that? Waste their precious energy on something they don't need to?

Sewing:

Sock monkeys!

This was taken before I added tiny button nostrils.

I've always wanted to make one of these and now I have so mission complete! They're cheap, quick and easy.

Wishing:

......that I could just buy a van, convert it and take off into the wide, open yonder to explore this wonderful country of ours.....

Enjoying:

My relationship with my children.

Waiting:

For Saturday when we will be taking off to Tasmania!

Liking:

Myself. I've discovered how important that is......

Wondering:

....if now is the time.....

Loving:

....being creative.....

Hoping:

.....for new beginnings, new horizons.......

Marvelling:

.......at the miracle of new life. My sister and her husband are expecting their first baby at the end of January. I never lose that sense of how marvellous pregnancy, birth and babies are. A new life beginning is always a source of wonder and something to be in awe of.

Needing:

Closure and peace.

Smelling:

....someones heated up lunch.

Wearing:

A denim dress, fawn coloured cardigan and black slip ons.

Following:

....the beat of my own drum....

The road is home

Edenland

Tune in to Radio Carly

Sparkling Adventures

Noticing:

.....new life bursting in the garden.

Knowing:

.....that I am ok, just as I am.

Thinking:

....about what to pack for Tasmania!

Feeling:

......the post-production blues.

Currently

In lieu of actual worded goodness I thought I'd give you a quick run-down on what I've been getting into since we last spoke.

Currently crafting:

These little beauties. Waffle Knit Dishcloths in Lion Cotton Yarn. 

In the spirit of being environmentally friendly and economically frugal I have decided that knitting my own dishcloths would be a top idea - not to mention soothing to the mind. So far I've made three of these in pink, blue and yellow. All have a flaw because I get distracted and forget where I'm up to with the pattern. Never mind. Dishes don't care if what you wash them with isn't perfect. 

Aren't they lovely though?I'm going to include a number of these as gifts in my family's "Make & Bake" Christmas - hopefully in an assortment of natural cotton colours.

Currently watching:

Fringe. Let me just say that this series has officially made me fall in love with John Noble who plays Walter Bishop. What's with him playing characters with a mental illness. He was pretty left of centre as Lord Denethor in The Lord of the Rings and now he plays Dr Walter Bishop - a scientist whose mental health is more than a little questionable. 

I'm on the last disc of the first season and am completely hooked with the whole idea of telekinesis, time travel, genetic engineering and all things weird, wonderful and totally gross that is Fringe. 

Currently ingesting:

After going to a David Wolfe seminar a couple of weeks ago with my sister I am all about getting all those good, juicy vitamins into me. This is my current favorite - a Vitamin C rich smoothie of freshly squeezed orange juice (I love my juicer!), blueberries, goji berries and 2 teaspoons of chia seeds. It's totally delicious and full of zing. Hopefully this is helping with my iron absorption and getting these joints in tip top order again.

Currently reading:

I've only just started this. It was recommended by an online friend. I'm only into the second chapter but so far I am enjoying it and looking forward to delving further into the authors insights. I am a perfectionist. I know this to be true. I am way too hard on myself and expect myself to live at a standard I wouldn't dream of asking others to reach, so why do I expect these things of myself. I suspect this book will get me thinking.

What are you into lately?

Ground to a halt.

Well I was going great guns on the quilt. My sleep cycles may have been suffering and I was kind of losing touch with reality but hey, the quilt was being done. Who cared if dinner was a hastily put together mish mash of whatever we could find in the pantry, or that the amount of snipped cotton on the floor equalled the dog hair that was tumbling through on the breeze like a tumbleweed through the western plains? The quilt was being done! I was on a roll! I was ACTUALLY going to finish a quilt project - and a double bed sized quilt at that!

Until this happened...and sad to say that the quilt has had to be exiled to a plastic roller box until such time that I find a repair person to put the sewing machine back together again.

Roar!!!!!

The bobbin housing has come apart! 

And so the quilt is boxed up, waiting to be finished. I hope it doesn't take too long and be delegated to the Black Hole of Unfinished Business! 

Quilt progress

My rotary cutter is getting a workout. I think it needs a new blade actually.

Here are the squares I have cut to date. I still have 36 more coloured squares to cut, 120 plain calico squares and about 125 padding squares. Definitely the most boring part of the whole process by far!

I've only set it all out on the floor here to see what colours I need to add in. The left side looks pretty balanced but I feel the right side needs more reds, bright greens and brighter blues. Lets see what I have in my stash.

I'm so looking forward to seeing this finished. I better get a wriggle on. It's a birthday present! Ssssshhh!!!

The year of the scrap

Over the past week I've been working on a Fringed Quilt, made up of a myriad of fabrics I've had stashed away in my cupboard doing absolutely nothing for maybe 10 years. This quilt is my attempt at starting to reduce the amount of stuff I have laying around and either turning it into something useful or beautiful or giving it away.

I've been inspired by the quilt my mother and father have on their bed. Before they started out on their travels around Australia they decided to reduce the number of possessions they had, due to the fact they were selling the house, and moving into a Motor Home. Mum, like me, had a lot of fabrics she had accumulated so she decided to put them all together into this beautiful creation that traveled around the country with them and now lays resting on their bed in their new seaside home.

Inspired by Mums quilt I have decided to do the same. Apart from the fact that I have to cut 225 squares of feature fabrics, 225 squares of backing fabric and 225 squares of padding, I am enjoying the process. It's fun watching it all come together.

The scrappy fringed quilt on my parent's bed. This is my inspiration.

New fabrics to add in.

Cutting....cutting....and MORE cutting!

The pile of quilt "sandwiches" is ever-growing!

The kitchen table has been taken over by all things crafty!