Monday, July 31, 2006

Reading: pink book


0607 pink book 1
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
I won't argue that the cover got my attention - I like this style of cover, photo assemblages. It's like those on Joanne Harris books (Chocolat and others).

It was a good read - light but engaging. Two stories running parallel in present day New York and mid-twentieth century Ireland. Plus recipes. I agree about putting an egg in soda bread.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Soup


0607 soup
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
The veges from a few days ago became this dee-licious soup, pretty much according to the plan. Enough curry to entertain but not overwhelm the tastebuds, rounded by garlic/nutmeg/pepper. Yum.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Salad Days


0607 Salad Days 45
Originally uploaded by rooruu.

The 45's scratched and probably unplayable, but it was delightful to find this at the op shop today. We had an LP record of this 1950s musical, Salad Days when I was growing up, and I can still sing many of the songs:
If I start looking behind me
and begin retracing my track
I'll remind you to remind me
we said we wouldn't look back...


Mind you, we had the record but I've never seen a production, so it's something of a jigsaw puzzle, story-wise. Pianos? Regrets? Sitting in the sun? Sounded like jolly genteel japes.
We mustn't say these
were our happiest days
but our happiest days so far..

I could google it, but that would dissolve the mystery.

This is a glimpse of the quilt top pieced from the Quilt Cut photo last weekend. I've added the border, pinned it and begun quilting it today. It seemed happy as a background to the graphic design of the record cover.

I also rather like the leaf print on the cover - could be fun to play with that sort of idea.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Salmon sky


0607 salmon sky 2
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
Late yesterday and not for very long, the sky was generously layered with pink clouds (red sky at night, shepherds delight?) making the mountains into a dark silhouette.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

The price of petrol


0607 the price of petrol
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
There is discussion on current affairs programs about the inflation rate causing interest rates to rise, and the two elements cited as major influences are the astronomical price of bananas (see blog entry a few days ago) post-Cyclone Larry, and the ever-increasing price of petrol (gas, if you're American). I kinda wonder, hasn't it been the same with most people, you just don't buy bananas like you used to (and hope to again in the future), so how can this contribute?

It's a lot harder to avoid buying petrol, though. It used to cost under $30 to fill this tank - and the 32 litres shown here is only three-quarters of capacity...

Every now and then it's good to record such mundane details as this - they are a part of every day. Maybe one day we'll marvel at such cheap petrol.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Melbourne Olympics 1956 souvenir saucer

I've never seen this crockery before, in all any op/junk/vintage/antique shop. Just the saucer, no cup, but delightful for all that. Which photo do you prefer? - I haven't decided yet. The Denyse Schmidt quilt fabrics worked rather nicely for the background.

This page shows some Melbourne Olympics souvenirs, but all the china is more souveniry/bright than this design.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Vegetable soup


0607 incipient vegetable soup
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
OK, so you can buy 'soup packs' from supermarkets and greengrocers. But why do they always contain a turnip? Who puts turnips as a hey-yeah! ingredient in their vegetable soup? While mashed neeps are a great Irish accompaniment to a roast dinner (whack in a bit of butter and cream, and maybe some spices if you're feeling adventurous), turnip's rather insistent flavour upsets the balance of vegetable soup. Parsnip, on the other hand ($8.99/kilo, isn't it a winter vegetable???) adds a quirky sweetness. With a bit of Bolst's superior curry powder, decent chicken stock, bay leaves, a turn of nutmeg, cracked black pepper and, when it's done and whizzled in the blender, a slurp of cream, this will warm the cockles for dinner tonight.

(You may note the absence of green vegetables. They work perfectly well, of course, but there is the fascinatingly unappealing colour of the result... rather agricultural in nature. This one's a curried cream of orange and white vegetable soup). Must buy some crusty bread on the way home...

Monday, July 24, 2006

Winter jacaranda


0607 winter jacaranda
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
Just past midwinter, the jacarandas are turning yellow and losing their leaves in a rather shabby fashion before their lavender-cloud November glory on naked branches (the leaves come after the blossom). The gold was particularly striking against the dark evergreens. And so different from the lime freshness of their new leaves - there's a picture of that in a blog entry I did in January if you click here.



On Writing

Annie Dillard's book, The Writing Life, is wonderful.

Stephanie at Yarn Harlot has an honest, engaging take on the 'Easy As Pie' (or so some think - not her!) process of writing in this blog entry. It's no wonder her blog is as popular as it is - her voice and character leap from the page.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Keeping a visual diary

This blog is a visual diary for me, in some ways. The fabrics I was using today are from two previous blog entries - here and here. It's taken me this long to cut into them? My design scrapbook tells me I designed the quilt at the time of the first blog entry.

Whip up has an excellent entry on keeping a creative visual diary/ideas book - here's the link to it.

Quilt cut


0607 quilt cut
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
It can be remarkable, sometimes, how little fabric you need to make a quilt. This is enough for a 60 inch quilt centre. Little in total quantity, perhaps.

It does, however, involve, oh, about 100 fabrics, give or take, including a sample of every fabric from Amy Butler's Charm, some of Jennifer Sampou's glorious Kensington and a whole bunch of Moda fabrics (I knew those charm square offcuts would come in handy). (You don't need yardage to get variety - charm squares are great. Fat Quarter Shop sells a huge selection, if your local quilt shop doesn't, including precut ones from Moda and ones they do themselves as "Jolly Packs" from other fabric houses and ranges). Often enough I'd rather have a little of a lot instead of a lot of a little. More colours to play with!

Had a lovely time piecing it today, with a 3 year old girl as my 'randomiser' - she chose the next piece to use according to some principle which completely eluded me... except all the pink pieces DEFINITELY went in early. When the quilt centre was pieced, she pointed out more than once that she'd made it too. And so she had.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Mountain sky


0607 mountain sky
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
The sky promised rain, but it was mostly promise. I like the mountains, a fading echo from dark to light.

Listening: Hallelujah

I've been listening to this Leonard Cohen song recently, noticing various versions, thinking about which one/s I like best. Probably the Rufus Wainwright version at present, which was on the Shrek soundtrack - love the piano, and the quality of his voice. Then again, kd lang does a differently wonderful version too. Don't quite like the Jeff Buckley one as much (although this is a lonely point of view - many apparently love this one). It's a bit milquetoast for me - Rufus kind of gets on with the job instead of dawdling about. Maybe he ate more wholegrains beforehand, or something.

But that rise in the verse - It goes like this he fourth, the fifth/The minor fall, the major lift/The baffled king composing Hallelujah - is a glorious thing, with Hallelujah as resolution.

If you want to pursue a cornucopia of versions, this blog has done all the research for you. Including providing eight verses (scroll down to the comment section). Apparently Leonard Cohen sings a selection, in concert, not necessarily the same group each time.

Another blog that discusses Hallelujah includes in its comments this one:

I think it's about emotion and faith, two things that must be experienced, not explained. The 'secret chord' is that mystery; we search for it without knowing what it really is because its experience is beautiful, terrible, and grander than ourselves.

which is from this blogger.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Bananas


0603 bananas
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
Right now, this is an impossible photo.

On supermarket and fruit shop shelves, there isn't a writhing mass of yellow fruit, just a few bananas - a dozen or two at most. The price tag is astronomical in comparison to what we've been used to - $11 per kilo and up, which can run at $2 per banana or more. People walk past, and look, and walk on, shaking their head at the cost.

In March, when this photo was taken, they were under $5/kilo, and probably lower. And back then, if one went riper than you liked, you could chuck it in the freezer for banana cake or banana muffin use, and think nothing of it. Now, you watch 'em like a hawk and savour every bite. Hasn't Cyclone Larry in Queensland changed our view? I've never heard a fruit so talked of as the banana is on radio right now. I've heard people talking about their holidays in terms of how they could eat cheap good bananas every day. 99c/kilo in New Zealand! Cheap as chips in the US!

They're saying a new crop is coming through, and soon....soon...sometime in the next few months we can enjoy them like we used to, with profligate pleasure through the day. And maybe, until we forget, we'll still savour them in their abundance as we do now.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Green cup


0607 green cup
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
The small pleasures of life are things like pretty, sturdy green cups for hot chocolate at morning tea time in winter, the right size and shape to wrap your hands around and savour.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Church and mist


0607 church and mist
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
Taken on the weekend - the mist softened the distinctive brick patterning of the church, while the eucalypt places it here in Australia. Couldn't really avoid the wires. But then again, it's honest, and sometimes it's those details that, years later, are more interesting. I've a few informal pictures of early twentieth century kitchens, and the domestic details fascinate me.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Quilt becomes giftwrap


0607 quilt becomes giftwrap
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
There were two sheets of giftwrap given as freebies with the latest issue of Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine (vol 14 no 9), and one was from a quilt of mine that had been published in an earlier issue. How excitement!

Monday, July 17, 2006

Vista


0607 vista
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
The focus today was far more inside, work-related, PowerPoint and whiteboards and serious stuff. But beyond the french doors we could see the view and the sunlight and the rest of the world. Or at least a rather nice part of it. Imagine the green when these hills get some rain...

Sunday, July 16, 2006

One design, two quilts


0607 one design, two quilts
Originally uploaded by rooruu.

On the right, my original design, Song of the Village, made using Old Sturbridge Village fabrics by Judie Rothermel/Marcus Bros.

On the left, a friend's version of the design, made for her aunt's 90th birthday.

I may have designed dozens of quilts, but it's still a huge buzz to see one made by someone else, particularly a friend selecting it because it appealed to her (not from sympathy!). It's also great to see how it works with different fabrics and a change in the light/dark of the star block's corners. It works!

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Cotswolds bag


0607 Cotswolds bag
Originally uploaded by rooruu.

A Recycled Threads bag, combining a souvenir tablecloth of the Cotswolds, a pair of green corduroy jeans and a tapestry (or needlepoint) of what could well be a Cotswolds view (it reminded me of the village of Upper Slaughter).

It was a jigsaw exercise, fitting it together, an exercise in ingenuity, imagination and the belief that it should and could work....

It's a casual weekend-away sort of size - vaguely carpetbaggy! Definitely rustic. I rather like that it combines natural fibres as it does: wool (tapestry) and linen (tablecloth) and cotton (corduroy).
Cotswolds bag mosaic

The mosaic shows various details - the individual photos on Flickr have more information. The tablecloth had a centre map, surrounded by district images - this border became the side gussets and picture row below the map. The outer green stripe border of the tablecloth became the handles. The ubiquitous 'green' supermarket bags led me to try the 'covered seam' approach, due to the bulk of the seams. There are magnetic clasps below each handle.

The photoset is on Flickr here.

A whiplash entry (tutorial).

whipup


Mist drops


0607 mist drops
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
A misty day in the mountains - on this gnarly shrub there were gleaming water drops on every dark tip - beautiful! The mountain cottage behind made an evocative backdrop, and shows just how misty it was today.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Hohoho v.4 The End


0607 hohoho v.4
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
Actually, it's v.5 if you count the red and white knittings from a couple of days ago. And it's reasonable question, what idiot would commit herself (I use the term advisedly) to making five Christmas projects in one year? This is IT! I'm DONE! The editor's happy and I'm relieved...

Might have an open fire tonight - the forecast's for ongoing rain, and it will be a winter-warming treat. Just the sort of night to look into flames and wonder why that's such a soothing, engaging, restful pastime. Certainly not something that would happen for a usual Australian Christmas - air conditioning is what's soothingengagingrestful in December!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Hohoho v.3


0607 hohoho v.3
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
Another Christmas project complete - remember the basket of fabrics from a few days ago? The Michael Miller funky trees fabric worked out just dandy with the reds. The editors were happy too, so that's great.

Today's actually truly significant achievement was getting my parents set up online with an email address and internet access. There is so much to interest them on the net, and possibilities like live English cricket commentary, interactive Scrabble games and more. Fingers crossed!

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Bowl of lemons/repetition


0607 lemon bowl
Originally uploaded by rooruu.

Some of yesterday's lemons, destined for home made lemonade. Home grown lemons have a pleasing variety in their sizes and shapes, with odd ridges on some, and bird poop on a few.

Elizabeth Farrelly, the architecture writer for the Sydney Morning Herald, had an interesting piece in today's paper that relates to this. She begins with a Biennale exhibit involving thousands of hand made clay figures, little more than bodies with eyes, but oddly compelling. Antony Gormley's Asian Field.

To quote from her piece:
It's a quality for which English should supply a name, but doesn't. Something like unity-in-diversity would do, except for the ecumenical overtones. Or complexity-within-unity. Emergence is similar - the idea that simple units and rules can co-operate, like termites in a colony or neurons in a brain, to produce a sophisticated and self-directed whole. Emergence, though, is a concept from science, not aesthetics. And it doesn't capture the idea of essential difference, where small but myriad variations in the parts generate an extraordinary beauty in the whole.

It's a quality that occurs, if we're lucky, in buildings, street walls, facades, villages, textures and spaces. Compare, for example, a typical 17th-century brick wall with a new one. The first is warm, charming and picturesque, the second cold, chiselled, ruthless-looking. It's not just age or patina or the traditional patterns of brick-bonding, though these all help. It's that the old bricks, being handmade, are all slightly different, slightly wonky.

This simple fact gives the completed wall a softness, or humanness, to which we instinctively warm.


She goes on to talk of the garden walls in Lang St near Centennial Park "singing from the same song sheet", and the terraces of Paddington clinging up and down its steep streets, landscape dictating variation even if the basic design of adjacent houses is the same, as architectural examples of these ideas.

I'm sure, in patchwork, that this principle operates. I was talking today to another quilter. Both of us have made quilts that now, in the hands of non-quilters, have a place of honour on a wall that we never imagined. We each made relatively simple quilts, never beginning with the intention of a masterpiece, and not ending, either, with something that we considered to be one. We took care and pleasure in the making, and made quilts that pleased us. But those who own them now have them hanging as artworks.

Past a whole bunch of other arguments (I don't think we'd have been happy to find our works being trashed or treated like any old covering), there is an accessible pleasure in quilts for the nonquilter, and part of that is probably due to the handmade repetition of which Elizabeth Farrelly speaks.

Some modern art quilts can seem remote (and I've seen others that are way too much in-your-face personal, too). But pick a vintage quilt, simple blocks, pleasing colours, and you'd be hard-pressed to find many people who didn't feel drawn to it, and the non quilters at local quilt shows are equally drawn to what they see.

These lemons aren't perfect. Nor are my quilts (perfect points? Nope - they may sit flat, but the points aren't necessarily perfect). But they share this quality of simple units combining to a brain-engaging whole. I find myself liking repetition in many places. I learned a while ago that one of Nancy Crow's childhood favourites was the picture book, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, for its illustrations. I loved it then and now - for the power of its story as well as its singular and engaging illustrations. (It's by Virginia Lee Burton and is still deservedly in print: Amazon has an excellent list of classic picture books here).

NOTE: If you're interested in reading the Farrelly piece, which includes an illustration of Asian Field, the SMH lets you read stuff for 10 days free, and will then require payment. This is the full URL of the article today:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/why-halfbaked-figurines-leave-us-lost-for-words/2006/07/11/1152383739489.html

Thanks to Kt at the Department, here's a link to more information on Asian Field. Kt does some of the most amazing photography you will see. She has an extraordinary eye.


Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Lemon tree


0607 lemon tree
Originally uploaded by rooruu.

I was going to call this "wild lemons", but that would be twee AND a fudge, since they aren't, they're the ones that grow in the garden, admittedly without much help or attention. Now, just past the middle of winter, the tree is heavy with fruit, some of which is reachable.

I rather liked the yellow and green of the lemons against the blue of today's clear sky.

SeaChange update: up to the second half of series three, the final series (it's been good to quilt to). Max is being irritating (and irritated), Laura having been perverse is being rewarded by the attentions of Warwick (the world's most boring man), and so it goes. I think my favourite individual episode in the series to this point is Playing with fire. Beautifully, cleverly written, and the strong performances shown with fine photography - it's an episode with images that stay in your mind - silent hands questioning the water in Marco Polo, Miranda's name written in fire.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Tapestry: Poppies


0606 tapestry
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
Another of my earlier needleworks, dating from the early 1980s. By then I'd discovered Victoria House in Mittagong, with its hand-painted tapestries and stranded persian tapestry wool. The kit for this (as far as I know it was a one-off) was a present (chosen with a gift voucher, ie. I picked it!).

Sadly, the framer was rotten. I still think, one day, that I'll dismantle it, add more tapestry canvas to the corners and either reframe it or make it into a cushion. On a more positive note, I still admire the subtlety of the original design, particularly the petal shadings.

Victoria House is still there, still with an astonishing collection of tapestries and embroideries, threads and patterns. I acquired a number of sampler patterns from them over the years (Sheepish Designs were favourites), but right now I'm mostly quilting. So when I'm in Mittagong it's the two quilt shops (and a couple of antique/junk shops) that get my first attention.

Still have a couple of tapestries on the go - mind you, they've been on the go for several years. One's a counted one (not printed on the canvas) so it needs attention to continue, while the other is printed and is mindlessly wonderful as a way to allow long meetings to pass.

Blog toys

Added a couple of new blog toys this week.

The world map shows where readers of this blog reside (I do hope whichever one of you looks to be mid-Mediterranean can swim really well, or else has a delightful island).

LibraryThing shows five (random) books from the library/catalogue (beginnings of - only 80 titles so far) that I've established on that site. If you haven't taken a squizz at LibraryThing, it's got a lot of play potential - how many people have listed which title, tags, clouds, all sorts of amusement - you don't need to join or list any books to play there. It's good to know others enjoy I heard the owl call my name (Margaret Craven) (a work of fiction written with clarity and intelligence and deceptive simplicity), and interesting to note that for some titles, I was the first one to list them. It's amusing to see the internet serve the book in this way.

I also recently revised the list of creative blogs - there are some entertaining and inspirational links there, if you've got the time...

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Corella pears & vintage encyclopedias

It may be winter, but there is some wonderful fruit around - not just fragrant strawberries (I'm eating more as I compose this), but sweet mandarins (Vinnie at the fruit shop recommended the small ones as being the best right now, peeling one and giving it to me to prove the case) and these blushing corella pears. OK, so I bought them entirely on appearance, because they're beautiful - but in a day or two they'll prove their eating qualities.

I have an affection for vintage encyclopedias like this - these are four random volumes from a larger set, circa 1961. They're a snapshot of their time: concerns, attitudes, matters of importance, ways of seeing, what was considered new/fresh/innovative (does a computer fit in just one room yet?). And sometimes, when you're lucky, colour plate illustrations, although they can be an astonishingly random selection of images. There were only the four on the op shop shelf - I wonder what happened to the rest? These were $2 each.

The silver dish is also from an op-shop. Or was it a garage sale? Either way, a bit of silver polish and elbow grease brought it back to life. Of course, the first time you polish it is always rather more fun than the second. Or third. Or...

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Red and white


0607 red and white
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
A jumper for half an octopus. Or Jake the Peg's differently abled sibling. Or some other specious fluffing. Can't put a complete photo up yet (maybe in October). But this is something I worked on yesterday and with which I amused myself. Have to admire someone who does demented dotty Fair Isle (I don't knit any more, so it wasn't me).

Friday, July 07, 2006

WIP Friday*


0607 quilt fabric for WIPs
Originally uploaded by rooruu.

Fabric for two Christmas projects to get done in the next few days, a table runner and a Christmas quilt. It's nice to have the contrast between funky colours/fabrics (the lime/red and trees) and traditional colours with not a Christmas fabric in sight. Australia's is a summer Christmas, so it's fun to play with more light, summery colours as well as the classics.

Photographed this in several places and from several angles (I do love digital cameras!) and the colours just seemed to pop better against green. The basket cost a whole $2 at an op shop last week.

*WIP Friday: for works in progress, a meme started at hop skip jump. There's a Flickr group here.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Current reading


0606 current reading
Originally uploaded by rooruu.

What I actually did yesterday involved teeth (for others), a spiffing lunch, family time and 346km. None of which I photographed. So instead, this image I took some days ago, of current reading. And of course, the pictures. William Morris is endlessly inspiring. And while I love his colours, his patterning, this quote from him is what I love best of all (and maybe one day might stick to...)


Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

Amen.

World Cup roundup

I'm a soccer ignoramus, but having alluded to the World Cup soccer in other posts, I feel duty bound to add a final comment, before it's over.

The Australian Socceroos were magnificent; they stood up and took their challenge with joy and determination and team spirit to teams ranked far higher - win, lose or draw. Their approach showed some of this country's best qualities. This house watched every one of their matches live.

It was beastly cruel and distinctly whiffy that an opposition dive and a ref awarding a penalty rather than, say, a corner at the utterly final minute should have robbed them of the chance of extra time in their match against Italy. And each time since that Italy has won, the air fills with 'what if?'.

Wimbledon's on, and so forth, but the next sporting event to attract the serious attention of this house will be the Ashes series at year's end. That should be something to see, after the last one.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Hohoho v.2


0607 hohoho v2
Originally uploaded by rooruu.

Another Christmas project done and dusted. I'm still trying to work out what possessed me to entertain a block with 75 pieces in it... While finishing it today I put the BBC Jane Eyre (Zelah whatserface and Timothy Dalton, 1983) on the DVD player, but didn't watch much because I was looking at what I was quilting/binding. A kinda talking book.

a) I found Rochester a bit too demanding and contrary. An elusive charm (unlike, say, Darcy). Jane a bit prissy. And the way he kept going on about her being an elf/fairy etc. erk. In a crinoline? With that many white lace collars?

b) they've sure improved the lighting in more recent bonnet dramas. This one looked entirely lit by fluorescent lights, from above. Just like they had in the mid nineteenth century.

c) maybe it's the way it was filmed (on video instead of film, or some medium that hasn't lasted so well?), but it seemed drained of colour - browns, greys, very muted in decor, clothes, interiors. I'm sure I've read that Victorian times included some outrageously bright colours, particularly after the discovery of aniline dyes.

d) it may be 'period' but it's still interesting to note the prism of its time of making - it has a late 1970s/early 1980s feel about its costume, here and there - in the hair, perhaps some fabrics. Make it again now, and even though its period would be the same, the representation of the period would be different, however much each production's designers strove for authenticity.

Still, 330 minutes later the partially quilted quilt had been fully quilted, binding and hanging sleeve attached and hand-sewn down, threads snipped off front and back, label made and sewn on. Finito (except for the instructions). Amusingly enough, these are 'reproduction' fabrics, a Judie Rothermel 19thC range called "Spirit of the Season".

Although it's far from Christmas time yet, it's definitely been a cold winter so far. The paper said today that's because of global warming - high pressure systems bringing clear skies and cold nights. Brrr. Well, brrr for Australia. None of my Christmas quilts are ever used in Australia's December for warmth, but they work for decoration. Ho ho ho.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Red white and blue


July Fourth quilt and buttons
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
A happy coincidence of red, white and blue. The quilt was made from vintage fabrics, white buttons vintage/second-hand, as is the silver dish.

I believe there are several countries with flags this colour - Australia, Great Britain, New Zealand and the US, among others...

But American quilt history has been hugely inspirational for me, so this is an acknowledgement in North America Week (Canada Day, July Fourth).

Monday, July 03, 2006

Strawberries


0607 strawberries
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
They smell divine and taste ambrosial. Or should that be smell ambrosial and taste divine? Either way, I love the time of year when you can tell where the florist is by the scent of jonquils, and know that strawberries are on sale because your nose finds them. These aren't the white boardy things that are all front and nothing to them - they're red all through, and sweet and delicious.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Tapestry: House and garden


0606 tapestry
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
This is one of my early & surviving needleworks (the dressmaking by and large is long gone to op shops and rag bags). It was a 1970s kit - came with the sensitively-coloured wools and co-ordinating frame (white, plastic) - and was I think a gift from Santa.

The colours are somewhat gaudier than my recollection of the English countryside. Still and all - one of my grandmothers did tapestries as her needleworking, as well as knitting dolls' clothes (for larger dolls, Sindy defeated her) (we had Sindy, not Barbie). I've made more than one tapestry in my time, as it's nice non-brain repetition, good for occupying time with another activity (the teev, meetings etc). It's a kind of colouring-in with wools.

This may be a modest and also unsubtle piece, but I'm glad to still have it, for more than one reason.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

O Canada


0607 Canada Day
Originally uploaded by rooruu.
I was in a Canadian house today. So, I said, where's something Canadian I can photograph to feed the hungry blog? Here I am, on the day, authentic Canadian house and all...Amid a significant amount of Australiana, these were, after a certain amount of hunting, fished out to be commemorated. There's something implied by the balance of artefacts in that house... Still, in the end the blog has been fed with Canadiana on Canada Day.