Anne S

World Trade Center Quilt

17 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

We just heard word via the WTC Quilt Yahoo group, that the quilt has been travelling around, and has been visited by a number of relatives of the deceased, as well as visiting the US President. Mary, our leader and coordinator, wrote a very touching tale of these events – and I have to say I feel very proud and blessed to have been part of this project. While the tragedy took place on US soil, it’s effects were felt right around the world, and still are today.

The quilt was taken to the White House on 16 April 2007 to visit with President George W. Bush where both of the Kentucky Senators, Jim Bunning and Mitch McConnell, were present. Everyone loved it, and the President wanted it to hang in the Presidential Library – before this could happen, though, it was taken back to visit the families. The quilt is 15ft wide by 26ft long, and travelled by train on 7 September to NYC. There was a forum held on 10 September, but because the quilt is so large there was no way to hang it properly – instead it was partially hung, with the rest of the quilt laid on tabletops. Family members were able to find their loved ones name and touch it, and have photos taken with it.

Soon the quilt will be heading back to the Presidential Library, where it will have a permanent home. While I’m not a religious person, I have to say Mary’s final words in her post touched me very much …

“The Lord gave me the scripture verse before I spoke to the family members: Matthew 5:4: Blessed are those who mourn, they will be comforted. Through God’s mercy and grace we comforted those family members. God bless each one of you. It’s not how many panel’s you stitched that counts. It’s how many hearts you touched.”

Bless you, Mary, for organising this memorial – I, for one, am supremely proud to have been part of this experience! Here’s a photo taken at the White House.

PhotoHunt

PhotoHunt – Plastic

15 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme was a bit easier to find a subject – here is a photo of plastic wheels on some water bikes at Lake Emerald, Melbourne.

Cross Stitch

CA Wells & Embroiderers Guild of America

15 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I forgot to say the other day that my first CA Wells kit arrived, along with the latest two of my Group Correspondence Courses from the EGA. Here is the kit for CA Wells’ Sailor’s Valentine:

The latest projects to arrive from the Embroiderers Guild are as follows:

GCC To the Acorn by Pat Krahn

GCC Winterspring by Judith D Gulick

I must say these Group Correspondence Classes through the EGA are really good value for money – as well as being some exquisite projects, they are a perfect addition to any library, as the instructions are really useful (and extremely thorough) for other projects. I have two more yet to arrive later in the year, which are:

GCC Swiss Sampler by Ilse Altherr

GCC More Options in Hardanger by Dale Sokolow

And I’ve got numerous projects in the wings from previous years … I really must pull my finger out and get cracking on some of these! As well as the following, I also have a class on Schwalmwork and one on Ukrainian Whitework (which are both retired now, so I can’t find a piccie to share).

GCC Beginner’s Hardanger by Marion Scoular

GCC Options in Hardanger by Dale Sokolow

GCC Casalguidi & Lavender by Barbara Kershaw

GCC Crewel Confidence by Judy Jeroy

GCC Finishing with Flair by Marion Scoular

GCC Gracie by Ganet Burr

These next three are the only ones I’ve completed to date:

GCC Lace Ribbons by Dakota Rogers

GCC Blackwork in Red and Green by Ginger Gouger Miller

and my absolute favourite to date:

GCC Chess Anyone? by Dale Sokolow
(I really do need to try and take a better photo of this one as the piccie does no justice to it whatsoever)

As you can see, there’s still no stitching progress to be had … I’ve been spending the day cuddled up in my PJ’s in front of the computer screen, preparing the next round of Photo Hunt posts – apart from two weeks, I’m now totally prepared right up until the end of February, yippee.

Stitching-wise, I just put the final stitches into outside border of the French Monogram Collection III biscornu by Judith Tuttle (Twisted Oaks designs) last night at work … only to find out I’m out somewhere and the final corner doesn’t line up – let’s just say I’m going to ignore it for a short while, ‘cos I hate to think how much frogging that’s going to entail … especially as I’m stitching in DMC 115 and the colour seems to stick to the fabric a wee bit ho-hum. Note to self, when doing a design like this, stitch a grid from all four sides and all four corners to save your sanity!! 😦

Oh well, at least I still have plenty of projects on hand to choose from instead … I was about to say I might head of now and put a few stitches in, but it’s now well after midnight … the joys of coming off of nightshifts, trying to get settled back into a ‘normal’ routine hmmm. Mind you, I’m on 4pm-midnight shifts all next week as well, so perhaps it’s a good thing to keep in ‘evening’ mode …

Rightio, on that note I’m off to play for an hour with a needle and thread … and dratted plastic canvas!

Cross Stitch

Le Plateau de la Brodeuse – ordering details

14 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

It seems there’s a wee bit of interest out there for Maryse’s new design. I managed to find the French instructions for mail order at the bottom of her website, then did a translation through AltaVista/Babelfish, and found out that you can send an order via PayPal, and the design will be sent back to you via email as a .pdf file. Following is what AltaVista threw back at me (although some of it doesn’t make sense, as normal!!):

“Conditions of sale. This is a workshop of independent artist. Thank you to respect my creations. The name of the workshop and the models which are presented there are deposited, it is interdict to copy them or to sell them. To acquire one of these models, two possibilities: – is a direct payment on my account Paypal maryse0558@hotmail.com, while not forgetting to mention of which grid it acts. – if you do not have a Paypal account, send to me a mall. You will receive a Paypal request that it is possible for you to regulate by credit card Visa or Mastercard, without you soyiez obliged to open an account paypal. The Paypal invoice holds place of proof of purchase. As of reception of réglement, the grids are sent immediately by e-mail, in files pdf. Thank you. Maryse Dupont. Contact: maryse0558@hotmail.com”

Haha, gotta love those translation sites, for a good giggle if nothing else. Anyway, I sent through a PayPal order to Maryse today and literally received my email back within the hour along with the chart attachments. Now I can’t wait to get cracking on it, although I’m thinking of finding some nice blue fabric first, then colour-matching my threads afterwards (yes, I’ve decided to go ahead with a blue conversion – surprise, surprise!) … which means I’ll have to hold off for a short while until I can go fabric shopping.

Anyway, if you want to order this design, feel free to make a PayPal payment to Maryse using her Hotmail email address above – the cost is EUR10.00 for the design. No affiliation, just an ecstatic customer today! 😀

Cross Stitch

But wait, there’s more! …

13 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I’ve managed to get my unread blog feeds down to just under 600 today … but during the process managed to find out that some of the coffee series charts have been released by Little House Needleworks – so off to the wishlist they go … haha. Can’t wait for the tea ones to come out as well!! 😀

And I’m being really REALLY bad … I’m sending off for Maryse’s design today via Paypal … it’s futile to resist, so I’m just going to bite the bullet and order it! Sorry, what was that I just heard?? A what??? Oh! What happened to my 50 Project Challenge?? Oh well, I guess I’m just taking another project onto the end of it again … haha. Hey, this whole process is supposed to be fun, right? Well, this most definitely IS fun – and this project is a definite “must have”!! ;P

(Updated to add: I now have Maryse’s chart in my hot little hands … how’s THAT for service???) 😀

Cross Stitch

Enabling post

12 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

Oh boy, if you haven’t seen this before, check this design out here! If you’re into stitching accessories, I’m sure you’ll love this one!!! I’d even consider doing this one in the pinks … although I can definitely see that replacing for equivalent shadings of blues would work very nicely too (dunno why that idea popped into my head! LOL).

Also, this is yet another design I’ve fallen in love with, hook line and sinker!! I’d better start getting some overtime in soon! haha. It’s only available through The Silver Needle.

And on that note I’m heading off for an hour’s kip before work … halfway through my nightshifts now yippee! 😀

Melbourne, Travel

Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens

11 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

My next stop on my day out was Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens – I was getting peckish at this point, though, so opted to sit and have my own version of a Devonshire Tea (with coffee instead of tea) … the scones were delicious! And it gave me chance to chill out and relax while waiting for a schoolbus of noisy teenage school kids to leave – it’s amazing the peaceful hush that came over the gardens once they’d gone! 😉

There isn’t as much to see in these gardens as with The Enchanted Maze Garden, but it’s still a lovely garden to stroll around. They have a “Great Gnome Hunt” for kids, where they have to find the gnomes with red name tags somewhere in the gardens … a great way to keep them amused.

Once again, the gardens will look totally different when the summer flowers are in bloom – I can’t wait to see the Circular Rose Maze when the roses are out, as they just look like a garden of twigs right now! It didn’t stop me from taking squillions of photos, though, focusing on the different types of flowers that were in bloom, as well as a few of the gardens themselves.

There were lovely spots in the garden where you could sit down and while away the hours in abject peace and serenity – there were some gorgeous little nooks where I could easily have curled up with a book without a care in the world 🙂

It was lovely to see some of the spring blossoms starting to arrive on the trees, and also to see some spring bulbs in flower – I was especially thrilled to see bluebells popping up near the lily pond … they always remind me of England, walking through the local woods near home (one of the few memories I do have of my childhood).

I took a few photos of the lavender garden – there seem to be quite a few new plants, so it wasn’t as spectacular as it will be when they’re more established, but it was still lovely to walk through the garden, as they have it set out as a small maze. I’ve only chosen a couple of photos from the dozens I did take, but no doubt will use a couple in upcoming Photo Hunts (I have one of a bee resting on a lavender flower that I really love … but you’ll have to wait for that one haha).

So, all-in-all, a wonderful outing – I finished off by driving as far as Sorrento afterwards, although it was getting late in the day so I didn’t have time to look around. Next time I’ll spend a day on its own perhaps exploring that part of the world, and maybe taking a return trip to Queenscliff on the ferry as well (weather permitting, seeing as I get terribly seasick!).

Anyway, this definitely won’t be the last time I visit these gardens – I’d love to take Mum around them as well next time she’s over (make sure you bring your walking shoes Ma!).

Rightio, time to sign off and think about getting ready for work again … fingers crossed when I return home tomorrow after my nightshift I won’t have cat sick to worry about! Mind you, at least this kitty is a friendly old thing – Ally is an 11 year old tortoiseshell moggie, and definitely very laid back and relaxed … that’s a nice change! 😉

Can’t guarantee to show any stitching progress for a week or two … although I do hope to get two small pieces finished while I’m here (one revolting bit of stitching on plastic canvas, and a Winnie the Pooh bookmark – for those of you who’ve been reading my blog since the start you might remember I was ‘cheated’ into doing some stitching for a work colleague … well, these are the pieces, and I still haven’t stitched them – but this is the girl I’m housesitting for at the moment, so I thought it would be great if I could get them done in time to leave them here). I’m also really REALLY itching to start Snapperville, and it’s taking all my resolve not to pick it up and start it yet … so I may just end up caving in and treating myself and starting that one real soon 😀

I hope everyone is doing well, out there in blogland – hopefully I’ll get chance to get online again soon to catch up on some blog reading before I lose my access again. I have to say, though, here were 1200+ unread feeds sitting in there, so it is definitely not going to be a ‘small task’! 😉

Melbourne, Travel

The Enchanted Maze Garden

11 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

My first garden stop was to The Enchanted Maze Garden – this would be a fun place to take your kids on a nice day … there’s something there to please both adults and children alike. When walking through the garden entrance gate, one of the first things you see sticking up out of the main maze is this wee fella … and there’s a quirky tone like this throughout the entire garden.

There are different ‘theme’ gardens – for example the “Tile Garden”, which has a beautiful magnolia tree surrounded by pieces of tiled artwork planted throughout the garden plot … the “Enchanted Garden” has whimsical fairies etc dotted around … and the succulent garden is gorgeous (just love those terracotta pots) … and the “Christmas Garden” has a topiary arrangement of reindeer and a sleigh.

There is a mix of different styles of artwork and sculpture throughout the gardens (you can click here to find out more about the artists and their work – and more abou the gardens themselves of course) – I especially loved the marble sculptures near the pond. Unfortunately it was the wrong time of year to go there, as the gardens in that area are bare … it will be superb in summer when the flowers are in bloom, and I’ll definitely be taking another trip out there later.

This was one of my favourite places in the whole garden – I just love this sculpture! It was so incredibly peaceful standing and looking at it, listening to the water running … ah, bliss!! 😀

There are a number of different mazes – there is a brick maze where you follow the brick path (no chance of getting lost here, as the maze is at ground level!), a children’s maze where each corner is set aside for different settings (such as dinosaurs, jungle, beach), a kid’s playground with three separate brain teaser mazes (loved the tyre one below), as well as the more traditional large hedge maze (which I have to admit I’m not a great fan of, so I didn’t go in).

There is also a tiny wee petting zoo for the kiddies (with a sheep, goat, chickens, and ducks) … and a sculpture walk through the bush, where the main focus is on the artwork by Ken Blum – those carvings of aboriginal people are stunning! To top it all off, you are surrounded by the peace of the bush, with lots of native birds flying overhead … I managed to recognise a few, but there were loads I didn’t know.

Here’s one more sculpture that I really love … and very unique to Australia, I guess … the Swagman (OK, altogether now … “Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda ……..) 😀

At the end of your time here you can buy souvenirs or lollies from the gift shop, or have a bit to eat … but I had things to do and places to see, so I just hit the road and went off to the next gardens on my list – Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens!

Home & Family TO BE FIXED, Melbourne, Quilting, Travel

A couple of VERY picture heavy posts coming up!!!

11 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

I’m back briefly for a two-week stint on the internet, before losing it again for possibly a full month … I wish I could say I’ve been spending my time offline stitching my little heart out, but the truth of the matter is I’ve hardly touched a needle the whole time … I’ve had my nose in a book instead, and finally read Diana Gabaldon’s latest novel “A Breath of Fire & Ashes”. All I can say is “wow!” – over 900 pages, and once you get into it you just can’t put it down!!! Those novels would have to be some of my all-time favourite books – and every single one has had me hooked and enthralled through every single page! Next up I’ve borrowed “The Kite Runner to read, which apparently is supposed to be exceptional – everyone I’ve spoken to so far has raved about it, so I thought I’d find out what all the fuss is about … 😉

Anyway, I can say that I have done some sort of stitching, although it’s not embroidery … I finally hand-stitched all the binding onto my Quilt UFO – this would have to be about 8-10 years old, and it’s a great feeling to finally get it finished. One of the Supervisors at work has offered to buy it from me, as I wasn’t too sure what to do with it now it’s all finished, so I’ll probably take her up on her offer – even if I just get $20 for it. I need to get it drycleaned first, though, to get rid of both the old musty smell and the wrinkles 😉

As to what else I’ve been up to … there have been some hiccups with my housesitting, which I won’t go into in huge detail, but it’s started me thinking about giving it up and looking for my own place in November. Daniel came home from overseas a day early, when I was in the middle of packing up … I got a call at 7pm (on a 6pm shift) to say they were at home and basically wanted to get into their own bed – having no spare room, they stayed at his parents place overnight and kept saying “how early can we come over?” so I felt really uncomfortable, I ended up finishing my packing after work at 2am and doing the last lot of cleaning, then going back to work at 5am to pick up a key from my pal a day early … she wasn’t expecting me turning up at work, of course, and let’s just say I had a frosty reception. Made me realise how much I rely on her for my ‘inbetween’ times of housesitting, and I think it would be better to call it quits (mind you, I did get an apology from Daniel when I saw him next.) It would be perfect if I could get something for 2-3 months over Christmas, but I guess that’s not going to happen, so decisions need to be made ho-hum 😦

While I had my days off, though, I made a concerted effort to get out and see some more of the Mornington Peninsula – I headed out for a drive to Arthur’s Seat to take in the views, then spent time in both The Enchanted Maze Garden and Ashcombe Maze & Lavender Gardens, before taking a quick drive out to Sorrento and back home. It was a wonderful day out, and even though most of the garden wasn’t in bloom yet, it was a really pleasant way to spend the day. I’ll definitely have to go back again when the flowers are out, as the gardens will take on a whole different personality again 🙂

Here are some shots of the views from Arthur’s Seat … there’s usually a chairlift operating to the summit, but it’s closed during winter, so I just drove up to the top instead 🙂

The next couple of posts will be dedicated to both of the individual gardens I went to, and they’ll be pretty chocka full of photos – I took oodles more as well, and in fact went a bit snap happy overall haha.

In the meantime I’ll close this post with photos of some of the colourful beach huts on the beaches of the Mornington Peninsula – I just adore their bright colours, and I’ve been dying to take some photos of them forever. I still want to head out to Brighton beach at some stage and take photos of those ones too, as they’re the most famous ones in Melbourne, I think (there’s a great shot here – love it!). Here are a few from Dromana anyway …

Rightio, while my next lot of photos are loading up into Webshots, I’m off to clean up cat sick … that was what greeted me on my first ‘morning’ here in Edithvale – I woke up after my nightshift to find a pile of cat sick on the lounge carpet and floorboards … there’d better be some rubber gloves somewhere, that’s all I can say!!! Let’s just hope I’m not like I normally am … I often join in in sympathy at the sound and smell of sick … yukky!! 😦

PhotoHunt

PhotoHunt – Music

8 September, 200725 February, 2012 Anne S

PhotoHunt | PhotoHunt

This week’s theme is “Music” – the first photo I’ve chosen is from Fiji when we first started visiting … on this particular day the boys (Joe is on the left, and Akuila on the right) made me come and sit and sing with them – then they stopped singing so I had to sing solo for a short while … just before I throttled them! 😉 Elton John would be crying if he’d heard my murdering of his wonderful song LOL. One of the highlights of my Fijian trips was listening to the ‘band boys’. The second photo is one I quickly snapped of a local busker in Acland Street, St Kilda.