More Monsters

You’ve probably seen my monster quilt (here and here for those of you who don’t remember). 

I ended up doing a very Suzie thing – made a couple of blocks that just wouldn’t fit in the maths of the previous two quilts, so I did another very Suzie thing – I made a new one.

You’ll be pleased to know that I have a new phone case on my phone, so that lovely pink haze in the left corner is no longer there.

I’m halfway through stitching this one.

He fits well in there, don’t you think?















It’s amazing how quickly these little guys do actually work up.

I’ve been using all my brights up.  My brights are quite precious to me, much like my thirties prints and I get a bit tense when the box empties.  I can guarantee you now, I will never allow myself to run out of brights!  Orders online may or may not be in place already.

I’m trying to juggle many balls right now and for the most part I think I’m doing okay, but it only takes one stumble for the whole lot to fall – the current stumble is I’ve lost my quilt diary, the one that has ever project I’ve ever done.  I’m feeling very hyper-ventally about the whole thing, and I’m so cross with myself.  It’s here somewhere, but I’ve looked in all the usual and not so usual places and I can’t find it.  The thought of trying to sift through the whole house looking for it is doing my head in and the thought of losing it for good is even worse!  Do my quilts exist if I haven’t written them down in a book? 

Anyway.  That’s my update, hope my bright little boys give you some pleasure – I know there’s a lot of us feeling very unsettled and anxious right now.  Two words of advice I try to live by – ‘This too shall pass’ and ‘Try and keep your sense of humour’.  Can’t hurt, might help?

See you soon.

xx

April Showers

I’m not sure that saying applies to the Southern hemisphere, does it?  Or maybe it does?  I don’t know enough about the world to say. 

The lack of rain has led to some gorgeous, crisp autumny days, and there are indeed many May (or June now) flowers around.

Because it’s so cold in the morning, the roses are very slow to open, and when they do, they just stay and stay.  These ones are over a week old, with no signs of dying yet.

Gotta love roses, yes?

It’s Autumn, I think?

I seem to begin these posts with ‘I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long’, so let’s just assume as much and get on with it.

Life is well and truly kicking my butt in the time department and I do not know how other women do it all.  Bugger these houses that want cleaning and children that want feeding…Makes mum a very busy girl.  But it’s all good busy and I know one day I’ll be wandering round an empty house with no little people to drive here and there, and that will make me sad.  So it’s good busy!

For those of you who know where I live (country SA – fruit-growing/grain-growing region), you would be aware that we have had no rain AT ALL for about four months.  Things are quickly becoming dire, the farmers have dry seeded (planted their seeds before the rain with their fingers crossed) and are patiently waiting for something – anything! to fall from the sky.

But it’s eternal sunshine here. 

May is the best month around my area (which is why I got married in May) with shows like these all around:

(photo above and below not mine – credit here: https://gswatty.smugmug.com)

My camera doesn’t do the leaves justice – it’s all so orange and red and yellow and I see quilt after quilt in my head. 

I just need the time!

I hope you’re all doing well, keeping warm if you need to, cool if you don’t!.   And I’ll see you soon!

A final update on THAT quilt

I love the internet.

It’s brilliant for instant information, for making friends, for inspiration. 

BUT:

Once you put something out there, it’s gone forever from your own personal grasp.  You have no control over it.

It’s been like that with THAT quilt.

from my post here:

http://sillygoosequilts.blogspot.com.au/2016/01/an-update-on-that-quilt.html

I put it on my blog, I also put it on pinterest.  It wouldn’t have mattered if it wasn’t me that put it on pinterest, someone else would have eventually.

So now there are lots of people sharing this quilt online through various ways.  And without fail, every single day, I get at least half a dozen emails about it.

So here’s a final (probably blunt and probably rude) update on that quilt:

• Yes, it’s lovely. 
• It is not my design.  It came from an Australian website called CraftCubby.com.au.  You can order it directly from them.
• I can’t send it to you. 
• I can’t scan it for you and send it to you.
• I can’t give you permission for you to scan it, use it, violate its copyright.  It’s not my pattern.   And I wouldn’t anyway.  Because copyright.
• I’m not sending you the pattern I purchased.  I brought that with my own money. 
• You can’t send me the money and let me order it for you.
• I can’t deal with the company on your behalf.  If they are a terrible company to deal with, or don’t return emails, or don’t accept your type of payment – I can’t do anything about that.
• It’s not my pattern.  I wish it was, I’d be rich by now.

I wish there was a way to go back and write on every single photo out there that respectfully, IT’S NOT MY PATTERN. But by now it’s been shared thousands of times.

I’ve directed hundreds (I’m sure it’s hundreds) of people to their website. 

I reckon half an hour a day of my time is spent returning emails about this blessed pattern.  I don’t have that half an hour to spare.  That half an hour is precious to me.  I could be sewing! 

Anyway.  Blunt, rude update.   We keep telling our kids that once a picture is out there, it no longer belongs to you.  Funny that it took a quilt photo to teach me that same lesson!

I love my readers, I love that you come here by choice to spend some time with me and see what I’ve been up to.   Writing posts like these isn’t something I like to do.

Have a lovely Easter.  I’m hoping to be able to sew a little over the break, so maybe I’ll have something to show you.

Suzie

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….

I know, I’m joking.

I have been systematically working through the pile of UFO’s and one by one I am crossing them off my list.

Years ago, I made one solitary little angel for my tree:

She turned out very well and in true Suzie fashion I decided I would make a dozen of them and give them out as gifts.

I put all the stuff together (and there was lots of little bits in this angel – reminded me of old shop days making kits for people).  And promptly put it all away.  Taking up room in my UFO cupboard.

So I took them OUT of that UFO cupboard, and over the last day or two I have finished them!  Took me only a few hours work here and there, and lots of glue sticks.

I now have thirteen little angels, all set for either Christmas gifts or perhaps to decorate our lovely tree (which for the past few years has been a real one).  But the bag of bits and pieces has all been put back into the right spot and I have crossed another job off from the list!

I also spent AGES sorting through bags of fabric in the spare room – I have a very well organised sewing room, all my fabrics are sorted into colours but as I use fabrics, I tend to chuck them in a bag and put that bag somewhere other than my sewing room.  I spent AGES undoing all those leftover fabrics and resorting them back into their colour boxes.  And once again I am reminded that I will never, ever use all my stuff.

But that’s a problem for another day.  Hope you are all fit and well, and keeping cool if you need to, and warm if that’s your thing too!

Suzie

Catching Up

Hi all!

My computer is working okay today so I’ve given it a reprieve (I know I’ll regret it!).

Quick post today, busy busy but please share some photos that I have taken:

This is one of those ‘looks great in a photo, not so great in real life’ quilts.  It’s from Bonnie Hunter’s Quiltville website and her version looked amazing but mine is not so special.  The white in real life gets totally lost, my black prints are way too busy.  But you live and learn.  Busy black prints are not good for much at all.

In other news, I have a new nephew and it was a perfect opportunity to crack open a new ball of yarn (I brought new stuff because you can’t possibly use the stash for new babies!) and I’ve already made the back!  And it’s not too mistake ridden either!

Despite all our 46 degree days, our roses are really pretty still.  There’s not many left now but I did manage to pick these beauties.  I do love our roses.

You know what I think is funny?  We can be so precious in a quilt show, handing out white gloves or frowning disapprovingly when people touch our quilts (I don’t care, to be honest – most people are decent and clean and my quilts are FAR from works of precious art!) and this is the pile in the corner of my sewing room.  It’s still there a week later. 

It is just fabric, after all!

Hope you have a great day!