Back on the bandwagon

School holidays are almost over and as such, life is beginning to return to normal.  Yesterday was Sunday, and I’ve made a semi formal decision to devote Sunday afternoons to sewing No Matter What.  So Yay!  I have something to show you!

A while ago, I tried my hand at hand dying some fabric.  I’ve got many pieces of muted colours now but the dying didn’t really work as I would have liked.  I really didn’t get the bright, crisp colours that I wanted.  I didn’t know what to do with all these fabrics and they were sitting there, bothering me.  Bugging me to use them up and get rid of them.

Did I mention that I’m a horrible flyer?  And the thought of four hours on a plane to Darwin was filling me with dread? I needed something to occupy my mind before we left.

So I stitched these little stars (or at least, cut them out) before I left.  It’s amazing how craftwork can calm the mind when you need it to.  I cut out the whole quilt before I left and stitched a couple of the stars too.

Yesterday, being Sunday, I spent my day putting it together.  It’s not big enough, but I still have lots more fabric yet that I can add to it.  I think I might do another round of stars, and then perhaps – well, I don’t know.  But I find my best quilts are ones that grow organically, without any firm plan at the start.  So that’s the plan. There is no plan!

My youngest daughter has already put her name on it, so this one might actually get finished!  Wouldn’t that be a radical concept!

I hope you’re keeping warm, or cool, or whatever you need where you are.  We had very cold weather here over the weekend, and thought it’s clear and sunny, it’s FREEZING right now.  Big shock from the lovely warmth of the top end.

See you soon!

I’m back!

How many posts do I start with those words?

I have a good excuse this time.  We took our little family right up to the top of Australia and visited Darwin and the Top End over the school holidays.  I’ve never been to Darwin.  I flew over it once when I was nineteen but that’s all.  When we were invited to go to a wedding there last weekend, we jumped at the chance to take the children on a family holiday.

I have a million photos I could show you but I suspect it might be boring for you, so here’s a select few for now:

 

Of course there is the mandatory crocodile photo.  I didn’t see as many crocs in the wild as I would have thought, which is fine with me because even though I didn’t see them, they lurk under the water and that’s where the danger is.  Quite the stealth hunter, the croc.

By far the highlight of our trip was a day or two in Kakadu National Park which I’m sure you’ve heard of.  We didn’t have nearly enough time to do all I wanted to do – it was hot and the kids are still little, so we couldn’t drag them out for too long.  It’s just so big and open and gorgeous, and WARM.  We are struggling trying to reacclimatise to freezing temps here now.

Darwin itself is a very happening place, but I suspect I’m about twenty years too old to fully appreciate it – it’s filled with backpackers having a wow of a time and sadly, those days are over for me!  It’s definitely the outback I want to see more of, and I can highly recommend it.

I was sad to say goodbye to the Northern Territory but I will be back!  I’ll research a little more this time and we’ll definitely be back!

As for quilting (hah!).  Haven’t stitched a stitch in at least two weeks.  Bit of a joke really.  The kids go back to school on Tuesday so hopefully I can show you at least something by then!

Talk soon!