Sunday, March 18, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Provençal fabric
So I noticed during the week an ad for a sale at Les Olivades (one of their antipodean branches). If you don't know them, their French site is here. Gorgeous fabrics. The ad included attractive points like "up to 70% off" (They're not cheap fabrics, so this is very good) and "remnants" (better still, a quilter is never troubled by good remnants, they're full of promise).
My de-cluttering adviser agreed with the foolish point I made: this house is not suffering a fabric famine as we speak. (I don't really have a DCA - it's a friend whose packrat gene is extremely weak and easily cowed, and so she views the world differently).
But Les Olivades! At bargain prices!
I remained strong, this morning (it's the 75th birthday celebrations for the Sydney Harbour Bridge this weekend, anywhere near the city, or going to the city, is likely to be bonkers with traffic, crowds, etc) and instead spent less than half an hour visiting two local op shops.
I needed two more yellow shirts for a shirt quilt I'm working on. Check. Found 'em at the first shop. I also needed a feature fabric to use on that quilt. And in the photo you will see that a very nice French fabric in sunny yellow and happy blues found me. A kinda Olivades cousin and a reward for my strength of character. A friend who visited France once brought me back some charm squares just like this fabric.
(The sale's still on tomorrow, when traffic will be even worse because 200,000 people are going to walk over the bridge, which is closed to traffic; and gee whiz this has whetted my appetite for French fabrics. On special. Remnants too.....)
The fabric in the photo is currently a pinafore with a very gathered skirt - excellent for cutting into quilt pieces, as it doesn't have a million seams or much shaping to contend with.
Channelling DCA: There isn't a fabric famine in your house. Just because because fabric's on special, it doesn't mean you have to buy some. They will have another sale. You'd hate tomorrow's traffic and crowds - not worth wrangling with. Be calm, be happy. Use what you have.
Rodent note: Another 50g container of bait was moved to the middle of the kitchen floor last night. I hope you're feeling very VERY unwell, Mr Rodent....
Fabriholic note: If you're game to brave the traffic, the sale's at Les Olivades in Transvaal Ave, Double Bay.
Friday, March 16, 2007
More current reading
I don't think Australia's quite reached that level of cupcakery - but I'm sure it will happen (that's almost too much icing to think about, although it's hugely pretty).
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Early autumn fruits (and a rodent)
Early autumn? Late summer? Whatever. The supermarket had this array of unusual inhabitants in their fruit section this week - green starfruit, fresh figs and the hairy wonder of rambutans.
Exotica's great, but bananas back at around $2/kilo (a kilo is just over 2lb) are most welcome too.
On another note, this is the time of year when a rodent or two needs dealing with. There's one (optimistically she says one) that's got me bewildered. After being alerted to its presence by its chewing, I went this time for baits - poison pellets in cardboard containers.
First morning, I noticed some nibbling. Dandy.
Second morning, it looked as though there had been a full-scale domestic, with a ripped cardboard container, almost all the pellets gone, and scraps of cardboard scattered across the floor. O-kay. Glad you're enjoying it. Eat some more and preferably expire outdoors...
Third morning (having put down more baits), one container is definitely disturbed, some bait eaten, the container moved from where I'd put it. Hope you're finding it yummy, Mr Rodent (4-7 days, it says it will take to kill 'em, and they will still eat bait during this time, even though one feed is enough to do the deed).
Fourth morning, one container (about 4in long, with around 50g of bait in it) has VANISHED.
The rodent raptured, and took the bait with it?
I'm not looking behind the fridge yet. I still hope expiration takes place outdoors, not behind the fridge or somewhere in a cupboard.
I'll bung out another couple of bait smorgasbords and see what happens next.
(I just searched my blog with the word "mouse", and sure enough, it was about this time last year that the mouse hunt took place. It's that time of year...)
Exotica's great, but bananas back at around $2/kilo (a kilo is just over 2lb) are most welcome too.
On another note, this is the time of year when a rodent or two needs dealing with. There's one (optimistically she says one) that's got me bewildered. After being alerted to its presence by its chewing, I went this time for baits - poison pellets in cardboard containers.
First morning, I noticed some nibbling. Dandy.
Second morning, it looked as though there had been a full-scale domestic, with a ripped cardboard container, almost all the pellets gone, and scraps of cardboard scattered across the floor. O-kay. Glad you're enjoying it. Eat some more and preferably expire outdoors...
Third morning (having put down more baits), one container is definitely disturbed, some bait eaten, the container moved from where I'd put it. Hope you're finding it yummy, Mr Rodent (4-7 days, it says it will take to kill 'em, and they will still eat bait during this time, even though one feed is enough to do the deed).
Fourth morning, one container (about 4in long, with around 50g of bait in it) has VANISHED.
The rodent raptured, and took the bait with it?
I'm not looking behind the fridge yet. I still hope expiration takes place outdoors, not behind the fridge or somewhere in a cupboard.
I'll bung out another couple of bait smorgasbords and see what happens next.
(I just searched my blog with the word "mouse", and sure enough, it was about this time last year that the mouse hunt took place. It's that time of year...)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Rose mosaic
Just a couple of rose bushes among a weedy bank of assorted municipal shrubs. i rather liked the progression from opening to full blown (speaking of full blown, I fully blew the focus with the bud, so it's not here...!)
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Lawks! (a tantrum)
In this grand and wonderful world of instant internet self-publishing, can we just establish a couple of things?
You pour lemonade. Tipping fluid. (Ice in the glass is nice.)
You pore over a manuscript. Examining stuff.
Another one:
A peek is a look.
A peak is a mountain.
So when someone writes about a 'sneak peak', or 'pouring' over a parcel or book they've received, I'm bewildered. What the?????? Why are they dispersing liquid over their new treasure? What mountain has suddenly drawn their attention?????
Spellchecks won't catch 'em. In both cases, both are words in their own right. But it's driving me quite nuts, when otherwise lucid and capably written blogs have these usages. There's a positive rash of peaks and pouring instead of peeks and poring. Folks, I'm really glad you're looking at this stuff, I'm happy to read your work, and I'm not a grammar/spelling Nazi, but o gosh o golly me, can you respect your readers and spell correctly? It'll make you look good, too....
See, I'm not going anywhere near the spelling fracas on yarnharlot the other day - that was about American usage vs. the usage of other, quite large and populous English speaking parts of the world, like, oh, England, Canada, Australia... from what I can gather from wordnet.princeton, pore and peek are spelled the same in American and English English. So these switches are not explained by geographic variation.
I will now pack up the soapbox and replace it in the cupboard. I'm feeling peaky - time to pour a refreshing drink. Like lemonade....
Any other odd usage switches like this that you've noticed?
Lawks!
You pour lemonade. Tipping fluid. (Ice in the glass is nice.)
You pore over a manuscript. Examining stuff.
Another one:
A peek is a look.
A peak is a mountain.
So when someone writes about a 'sneak peak', or 'pouring' over a parcel or book they've received, I'm bewildered. What the?????? Why are they dispersing liquid over their new treasure? What mountain has suddenly drawn their attention?????
Spellchecks won't catch 'em. In both cases, both are words in their own right. But it's driving me quite nuts, when otherwise lucid and capably written blogs have these usages. There's a positive rash of peaks and pouring instead of peeks and poring. Folks, I'm really glad you're looking at this stuff, I'm happy to read your work, and I'm not a grammar/spelling Nazi, but o gosh o golly me, can you respect your readers and spell correctly? It'll make you look good, too....
See, I'm not going anywhere near the spelling fracas on yarnharlot the other day - that was about American usage vs. the usage of other, quite large and populous English speaking parts of the world, like, oh, England, Canada, Australia... from what I can gather from wordnet.princeton, pore and peek are spelled the same in American and English English. So these switches are not explained by geographic variation.
I will now pack up the soapbox and replace it in the cupboard. I'm feeling peaky - time to pour a refreshing drink. Like lemonade....
Any other odd usage switches like this that you've noticed?
Lawks!
Pin doll
The sales table at cloth doll shows (always supposing you can find a cloth doll show, they're nowhere near as thick on the ground as quilt shows) with members' work for sale, can yield wonderful treasures. I have several pindolls sourced from them, including this one by "BMcG 2004").
Monday, March 12, 2007
(Almost) current reading
This one's back on the reading pile - read it last year (somewhat later than the rest of the world, I suspect) and enjoyed it thoroughly - the characters, the world created, the twists and turns of the story. Another defnite keeper.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Current reading
I changed my mind. This week included the monthly long return train journey, an opportunity to really get into a book without distractions. Last month I read The Memory Keeper's Daughter and it wasn't. A keeper, that is. Without spoilers, I'll just say that all the characters either bored me, or didn't interest me, or both. What do I know? It's near the top of the Amazon best seller list. But I won't keep it and have no plans, ever, to bother reading it again. No memories being kept here, move along.
But The Time Traveler's Wife? An entirely different kettle of fish. Since it was annoying me before (read in a snippet of time could be part of the reason) I started at the beginning again, and had read well past half way by the end of the train travelling. Knocked over the rest the next day. NIffenegger handles a tricky plot (when? who's what age right now?) well, and the central characters of Henry and Clare did interest and engage me. This one's undoubtedly a keeper, a much better, more thoughtful, wiser work than TMKD. I will enjoy savouring it again.
Definitely recommended.
The other thing I've read recently, which is entirely hilarious, is a blog that does for romance book covers (mullets and muscles anyone?) what Go Fug Yourself does for celebrity 'fashion'. This link will take you to the SBTB analyses... (note, some saucy language may be involved, so if that bothers you, be aware). It's amazing where following blogroll links can take you...
But The Time Traveler's Wife? An entirely different kettle of fish. Since it was annoying me before (read in a snippet of time could be part of the reason) I started at the beginning again, and had read well past half way by the end of the train travelling. Knocked over the rest the next day. NIffenegger handles a tricky plot (when? who's what age right now?) well, and the central characters of Henry and Clare did interest and engage me. This one's undoubtedly a keeper, a much better, more thoughtful, wiser work than TMKD. I will enjoy savouring it again.
Definitely recommended.
The other thing I've read recently, which is entirely hilarious, is a blog that does for romance book covers (mullets and muscles anyone?) what Go Fug Yourself does for celebrity 'fashion'. This link will take you to the SBTB analyses... (note, some saucy language may be involved, so if that bothers you, be aware). It's amazing where following blogroll links can take you...
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Quilt cut
A good morning's work from a lovely bunch of modern fabrics. No point letting Belle (Amy Butler) or Freshcut (Heather Bailey) fester, let alone the Flea Market Flancy/Fancy ones I've cut before (they're by Denyse Schmidt). Holy fabrics look so much nicer in a quilt than in a pile, or a box.
I might put a scrunched pic of this on the blog when it's sewn, but a flat shot will have to wait until after it's published in (our southern hemisphere) spring...
I might put a scrunched pic of this on the blog when it's sewn, but a flat shot will have to wait until after it's published in (our southern hemisphere) spring...
Friday, March 09, 2007
Honeysuckle
Sometimes it's good to focus on something that just does its thing - like honeysuckle, rampant but sweet-smelling - away from the daily chores and worries.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Definitive
For me, the definitive version of the Hunters and Collectors song, Throw Your Arms Around Me, is by the Doug Anthony All Stars - slower, savouring the melody and lyrics.
This YouTube clip is from the Concert For Holly, in memory of Holly Robinson, who died from a brain tumour in her early twenties - the DAAS came together to perform in this (charity) concert after their breakup (which from memory, wasn't entirely amiable). But grief can give you another perspective on what's important, and (again from memory of coverage at the time) this song, and their version, was a favourite of Holly's.
This is the URL, if the above doesn't work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ97BYzrp48. I"m glad a pal pointed me in the direction of this clip.
Blue
Feeling a bit blue at present - here's some of the evidence, look what followed me home....
I like the way it's not an entirely smooth run, it's not 'perfect'. There are a few fabrics that jump out a little, that flirt with your eye and want a bit more attention than some of the others, that don't quite fit with utter harmony. Utter harmony in a quilt can have you hiding a small, slightly confused yawn, and wondering why you don't like it as much as you want to or perhaps ought to.
I also appreciated the fact that the quilt shop is one where you can fiddle about, adding and subtracting and auditioning fabric to your heart's content without being disturbed. Putting together a bunch of fabrics can be a most social activity, if you want, and that can be great fun.
But sometimes too, you want to let all the chatter and discussion happen in your head, and be left in peace to potter. And it can be very soothing, that sort of pottering, turning over ideas in your mind, listening to your eyes and heart and design imagination.
Yes, I have an idea now for these, but it's still a bit nebulous; it needs quiet space to work itself out, and a bit of playing on EQ to examine possibilities.
I'm not sure if the idea will require the fabrics to be used in a run from light to dark, but photographing them is a useful way to see how they 'read' - I wasn't trying to put them in a perfect run here, but the photo shows me how I could rearrange them if I wanted them to shade that way. I use a door peeper often when a quilt is in progress.
I like the way it's not an entirely smooth run, it's not 'perfect'. There are a few fabrics that jump out a little, that flirt with your eye and want a bit more attention than some of the others, that don't quite fit with utter harmony. Utter harmony in a quilt can have you hiding a small, slightly confused yawn, and wondering why you don't like it as much as you want to or perhaps ought to.
I also appreciated the fact that the quilt shop is one where you can fiddle about, adding and subtracting and auditioning fabric to your heart's content without being disturbed. Putting together a bunch of fabrics can be a most social activity, if you want, and that can be great fun.
But sometimes too, you want to let all the chatter and discussion happen in your head, and be left in peace to potter. And it can be very soothing, that sort of pottering, turning over ideas in your mind, listening to your eyes and heart and design imagination.
Yes, I have an idea now for these, but it's still a bit nebulous; it needs quiet space to work itself out, and a bit of playing on EQ to examine possibilities.
I'm not sure if the idea will require the fabrics to be used in a run from light to dark, but photographing them is a useful way to see how they 'read' - I wasn't trying to put them in a perfect run here, but the photo shows me how I could rearrange them if I wanted them to shade that way. I use a door peeper often when a quilt is in progress.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Comet toy sewing machine
Not mine, but a friend's (and the backdrop quilt is by another friend). We were talking old sewing machines and toy sewing machines, so one brought in her childhood machine for us to enjoy. It's a "Comet" and dates circa 1960s, I believe.
For all the sewing I do and have done, I have no recollection of owning a toy sewing machine as a child. The sewing machine I used from the age of about eleven or twelve was the family's obstreperous, temperamental Janome. Some of the patience I may or may not possess as an adult is due to that machine, which had the nastiest tension in the known world. But I still sewed lots of clothes on it and would rather have had it, for all its difficulties, than no sewing machine available at all. The Elna I bought while a uni student was a blessing - its tension was usually fine.
For all the sewing I do and have done, I have no recollection of owning a toy sewing machine as a child. The sewing machine I used from the age of about eleven or twelve was the family's obstreperous, temperamental Janome. Some of the patience I may or may not possess as an adult is due to that machine, which had the nastiest tension in the known world. But I still sewed lots of clothes on it and would rather have had it, for all its difficulties, than no sewing machine available at all. The Elna I bought while a uni student was a blessing - its tension was usually fine.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Puddle
With the so-welcome rain we've been having (and some quite spectacular thunderstorms), the puddle is no longer quite the novelty it has been. Hurrah.
I tried cropping this one, to have the nice green and puddle and purple flowers and fenceline, cropping out the evidence of industry. But it made the photo look squat. Any photo is a selection of the truth - so I left in the industrial buildings and let it reflect, with more honesty, this corner of the world..
I tried cropping this one, to have the nice green and puddle and purple flowers and fenceline, cropping out the evidence of industry. But it made the photo look squat. Any photo is a selection of the truth - so I left in the industrial buildings and let it reflect, with more honesty, this corner of the world..
Monday, March 05, 2007
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Loot (Japanese)
A friend went to Japan, and most kindly returned with this loot for me. Yum! Maybe a bag, maybe a table runner - something....
Such delicious colours and patterns.
Such delicious colours and patterns.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Quilt pattern
Well no, it's tiles from the entrance of an early twentieth century shop.
Well yes, if you're finding patterns in the world, then it's a Rob Peter to Pay Paul kind of pattern, or bow ties if you want to focus on the lighter sections.
Either way, graphic and effective, with a pleasing sort of diagonal lilt.
Devoted quilters would probably sew curved seams, and feel virtuous and happy and clever and all justifiably so.
Devoted and lazy quilters, like me, would work it as appliqué , because quilting doesn't have to be difficult to be fun. You can do raw edge appliqué , bullseye style, or gather a circle over cardboard, use spray starch and an iron, then quarter these. Stitch down by hand or machine.
Well yes, if you're finding patterns in the world, then it's a Rob Peter to Pay Paul kind of pattern, or bow ties if you want to focus on the lighter sections.
Either way, graphic and effective, with a pleasing sort of diagonal lilt.
Devoted quilters would probably sew curved seams, and feel virtuous and happy and clever and all justifiably so.
Devoted and lazy quilters, like me, would work it as appliqué , because quilting doesn't have to be difficult to be fun. You can do raw edge appliqué , bullseye style, or gather a circle over cardboard, use spray starch and an iron, then quarter these. Stitch down by hand or machine.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Current reading : Sunshine
(No no no, not the soppy seventies saga made into a weepie film).
This book did everything fiction can, and everything you hope it will do. Created a world, characters, a narrative, a place for your brain to travel and imagine and wonder and hope and fear and be surprised.
I've loved Robin McKinley's work since Beauty, the best retelling of Beauty and the Beast you will ever read. Her Damar books, The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown are also favourites I've read and reread.
This time, she's working with vampires. Can't say I've done a lot of reading about vampires, but if Robin McKinley's writing, I'm reading.
I didn't want it to end. I almost stopped reading it at times, because I wanted to make it last.
She has a website, www.robinmckinley.com. She's one of my favourite writers.
Her next book's due out this year - it's about dragons....
This book did everything fiction can, and everything you hope it will do. Created a world, characters, a narrative, a place for your brain to travel and imagine and wonder and hope and fear and be surprised.
I've loved Robin McKinley's work since Beauty, the best retelling of Beauty and the Beast you will ever read. Her Damar books, The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown are also favourites I've read and reread.
This time, she's working with vampires. Can't say I've done a lot of reading about vampires, but if Robin McKinley's writing, I'm reading.
I didn't want it to end. I almost stopped reading it at times, because I wanted to make it last.
She has a website, www.robinmckinley.com. She's one of my favourite writers.
Her next book's due out this year - it's about dragons....
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Nepean House
Between this early 19th century house and the looming Blue Mountains escarpment is the Nepean River. The Georgian architecture of early Sydney has enduring grace. The eye is pleased as much by what is not there as by what is, a sense of paring-down to a calm and reasoned and functional geometry.
Someday soon this house will be on an island. The land all around was once prime agricultural land, some of the oldest cultivated land since colonisation. It's now the property of a consortium of construction companies, and the quarries supply much of the raw material to feed Sydney's hunger for concrete. As the quarries are exhausted, the Penrith Lakes scheme grows. More information on the area here and on Penrith Lakes here. If you Google Earth "penrith nsw" you won't be able to miss the Penrith Lakes.
Today the road past this house, which has served as an artery for many many years, will be closed to through traffic - a new line of road has been laid out to skirt around the Lakes. I took the opportunity to take some photos of the house before the old road closes.
Someday soon this house will be on an island. The land all around was once prime agricultural land, some of the oldest cultivated land since colonisation. It's now the property of a consortium of construction companies, and the quarries supply much of the raw material to feed Sydney's hunger for concrete. As the quarries are exhausted, the Penrith Lakes scheme grows. More information on the area here and on Penrith Lakes here. If you Google Earth "penrith nsw" you won't be able to miss the Penrith Lakes.
Today the road past this house, which has served as an artery for many many years, will be closed to through traffic - a new line of road has been laid out to skirt around the Lakes. I took the opportunity to take some photos of the house before the old road closes.
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