Sunday, May 28, 2006

Progress thus far...



I thought that I had better post some evidence that I am actually doing something with the CQRR I am currently participating in... Now while this photo looks like I have done scant little - the brain cells have been working overtime... To be honest I had started something else on the block and as it progressed I just knew 'it' just wasn't the right 'it' - if you follow my drift... So... I unpulled it all... I know, I know time is of the essence but I just wasn't happy with what I had done... H, pleased don't be concerned I have found the perfect thing and hopefully this afternoon (or what is left of it !!!) I will be able to get on with it... This IT is just the right IT and I will post progress photos soonish!!!!! And the 'blobs' in the photo actually look rather nice in real time... I have just found something else that will (in my mind) just be lend itself perfectly... Bliss :-)))

Monday, May 22, 2006

Purple heart...

Have a heart...


One of two hearts I have made... They are both destine for a special cause...

Sunday, May 21, 2006

A new blogger on the block...

While blog browsing I came across a new blogger via yarnstorm's blog - Getting Stitched On the Farm I just love the interior shots of her house - they are full of colour and expression... If I wasn't so much a nit-picky 'everything in its place' and muted, matching colour schemes Virgo - the 'wild' side of myself just loves these sorts of interiors...

Both these ladies have wonderful blogs - showcases for their lives... And when I see their knitting - I do wish that I could... I am a hopeless case regarding knitting - just hopeless.. Anyway for those of you who do (knit) please look at these blogs - the inspiration is maximum...
Plus there are other delightful 'doings' as well... Some people are just born multi - talented...

Friday, May 19, 2006

Thinking aloud...



... about the CQRR I am currently in... I would like to keep some sort of log about the work which I do on other people's blocks as they pass through my hands... This way it gives me a record of what I have done... I am looking forward to doing some on the blue/green block of H's... She has suggested in her log book that she would like to explore an underwater theme... Yesterday without me really thinking about the block this idea began to form... sharonb's stitch dictionary shall come in very handy I believe... I have also thought about the DMC linen thread and how it would lend itself beautifully to H's other block - which of course led me off on another tangent... I think this 'thinking' is the root of all my problems it is not that I procrastinate it is that I have too many ideas running all at the same time and I find it difficult to settle down and just do ONE!!!!!! I can see with the quite quick 'turn around' that these blocks have I will need to think on my feet - challenging - but inspiring...

I bought the latest copy of 'Inspiration' magazine yesterday- it is their birthday issue - some very nice projects to do... Included was a little booklet called 'Fabulous Insects'... There is a cute little snail that I thought I would like to try... LOL more hunting and gathering for this latest craze... Up until recently I never use to buy this magazine as I always felt slightly intimidated by its content... I never thought that I would ever do that 'kind of stuff'... Little did I know what was ahead of me... While I see can't see myself doing a lot of what this magazine offers it does have some fabulous ideas... See - there I go again thinking too much... So many ideas - so little time to do

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Another book...


I have added a new book to my collection of needlework books - I actually saw it at an art supply shop... I ordered it through work and should have it within a few days hopefully... It contained so many good things that I couldn't visually take it all in... I am looking forward to a l-o-n-g afternoon just pouring over the photos...

Monday, May 15, 2006

First CQRR blocks...



H's blocks arrived today... They both look interesting and I wonder which one I will work on... I am leaning towards the blue/green one - but then again I do like the cream one :-))) I will have to make a decision and just get 'on with it'... We have a fairly tight turn around time so I will have to get the needle working...

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Mother's Day...

...in Melbourne is a wet and grey one... That sort of damp, drizzly weather that keeps everyone home in the warm... I am no different although we plan to go out later this afternoon for a little while...

Hmmm... not much to say really... Life is slowly returning to some routine now that I am working full time again... Would you believe I have been at my new job just shy of a month - how time flies when you are having fun!!!! But in fact time seems to have become lightening speed - we seem to be rushing through this year - it is nearly tax time again - that always tends to mark the middle of the year. Again I feel a little frustrated as I feel like I have been walking around in circles really not achieving as much as I would have liked to by now... Yes, I can hear you say that my year up until six weeks ago has been a bit of a waiting game because of my op etc...


I have decided that a physical list may be in order - there is nothing more satisfying than being able to cross something off a list and declare it 'a done deal'... At the moment everything seems to just whirl around in my mind with no end result...

I think also now that I am part of the
CQRR over in a craft forum I need to 'have my wits about me and organize my time a little more effectively as to get these done as they arrive... I am expecting the first block to arrive any day now - mine have reached their first port of call in Queensland - I didn't realise that by the end of this RR my blocks will have traveled to New Zealand, England and America... I knew that they were going overseas but I didn't realise they were about to circumnavigate the globe. Now I wish... If wishes were horses beggars would ride my mother used to say...

On a similar note I have noticed that some of my regular blog reads have taken 'a leave of absences' citing in most cases similar reasons as I have just said - that time seems to have got away from them and there just don't seem to be enough hours in the day to do everything and that it was time for a breather from the blogging world until they sort out their real life...


I wonder whether it is 'a chicken or the egg' type thing - less time or just more to do in the same time frame... Unfortunately whatever it is - it seems to have the same effect for most people - it brings everything to a standstill - nothing then, of course, is achieved... We live in such a fast paced world where one has to be constantly 'in the race' - but I do wonder at times if we are like the mythical lemmings blindly racing to the cliff's edge... We are such a consumer driven society where we are constantly bombarded with images of 'the perfect life' providing we subscribe to whatever is being flogged at the times...

I don't know whether it is because I am the age I am or whether I am having some epiphany, but as I look around I question why I have collected the things I have over my life... Does it give one some sort of security or does it give one a sense of self - a bench mark to who one is in the world... I have noticed over the last 12 months or so that the urge to 'must have' is lessening... Yes, of course there are things that I would like to have but the urge to 'have them now' is all but gone... I have started to cull things that I have held onto for years - I look at them and I know that it is time for them to go to a new home... In an odd way as I do this I have the image of a snake shedding its skin - something that no longer 'fits' and has to be shed...

I sense wanting more from my life, but not in the material sense - but as yet I haven't an answer to what I do want. I learnt a very long time ago that we tend to distract ourselves with various means - addictions can at times come under this heading- rather than face what we need to... Is this - blogging- in some ways just another distraction... Yes, I agree that the comp is a wonderful tool - but I wonder, do we at times allow it to become 'the master' instead of 'the servant' it should be...

I am not sure why I am going down this path - it has been something that I have pondered about over the last few months - no, I haven't an answer to it all but I think that since I have noticed the number of people opting out of blogging land lately I wonder if it isn't all connected somehow... I would be interested in 'hearing' what others think...

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

They are out!!!!!!

I have just seen those two guys WALK unassisted out of their underground prison after 14 days... They both went straight into the open arms of family and friends... For everyone involved in their rescue - congraulations on a job well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Naked...



Here are my two CQRR blocks ready to begin their travels... They were created from a furnishing fabric sample that I bought at an op shop last year... I wanted to give a graduated colour effect... I will interested to see how they will return... One I have 'christened' Earth to Sea' the other is open to interpretation...

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Another book, more threads...



...some beads and one lone button... More bits and pieces I have 'hunted and collected'... I actually picked up a needle for the first time yesterday and while I only did a few french knots it was good to be 'just doing'... This, I thought felt like a step in the right stitching direction again...

I must admit I am starting to feel more like my old self again... I went to see the guy who did my nose yesterday and he was very pleased with what he saw... There is no guarantee that while the nasal polyps won't grow back- there is less likely they will get to the way they were as now I shall be more aware of what they feel like - if that makes any sense... It seems like I shall be on a steroid spray long term as a preventive measure which doesn't excite me however it shall be a small price to pay if it can keep the polyps at bay... He doesn't want to see me for 12 months which I took to be a good sign... Next thing to do is wean myself off the medication I have been on for over 12 months - my doc. said it would take up to three months to come completely off it... Once I have achieved that there will be no stopping me...

The book wasn't 'one of mine' - as in from the bookshop I work in - but rather, from ebay... The seller had sent it sea mail at the end of January and I had all but given it up for lost - but to both mine and her delight it turned up yesterday. It is a really nice cross stitch book with some different bits and pieces in it... So I am really pleased to add it to my collection...


The threads I bought last Friday and today along with the heart shaped button and the beads...

Tomorrow I shall organise my 'naked blocks' for the start of their world wide trip... This is going to be an interesting time with half dressed blocks turning up in my letter box every couple of weeks or so... I will have to have my needle constantly 'at the ready' to keep the whole process flowing... I am looking forward to seeing each and every one as it 'filters' through here bringing with it others work to study and gain inspiration from...

Ok I am off - my computer hours are measured now that I am working full time. I thought while the washing was on I would 'pull up a chair' and blog...

Spare a thought and prayer for those two Tasmania miners and little Sophie Delezio and her family... Words are just not adequate to express what they and their families have suffered over these last days and hours...

Take care and enjoy whatever you are doing in the world this weekend...