The task begins

I can now share with you 'Part 1' of the quilt that I making for Thorngrove Manor. Thanks Nydia for allowing me to do this….all very exciting and I hope you the reader enjoy sharing this journey as well. It has taken a few weeks of just "thinking" about what I would do. I have been given free reign which is amazing, so with that my main theme was to make the quilt quite 'regal' as it is for the King's Room. At the same time I wanted to reflect some of the designs that are already in the suite, so here goes! I have spent a few late nights in the wee small hours doing the drawings……...

 and then it was time to select the fabrics. I have a very special stash at home of fabrics with gold so naturally these seem to be appropriate for a King's Room. The fabrics have obviously been waiting to be turned into something special and I am glad they will be put to good use……….

 The background is from Lakehouse fabrics - This design is "Antique Acanthus" in black (Thankyou Tim from Lloyd Curzon Textiles for providing me with this delicious print)…….

 And Tim for you…a week on and your beautiful flowers are still bringing pleasure. The other image is through our front door where you can see a new urn and I am pleased to say there are quite a few roses too! (more pics when they too are blooming)…..

 Sunday afternoon we went for the drive to Thorngrove to show Nydia and Kenneth my drawings and fabric selection……..

 And this is the beautiful bed that my quilt will adorn………...

 My drawings and plans and you can see some of the centre on the right…...

Then it was the task of all the tracing and ironing…..that took a couple of days and you can see in the image the "bridges" that I talk of in class. These are imaginary connections to assist with placement…..those bits on the bias can be a struggle but these really help to hold it all together……..

 This is the pencil I use for all my tracing….never have to sharpen it…...

 And now the long task of cutting out all those little bits!…...

 and my very favourite scissors - Fiskars Softgrip that have wide handles for comfort - and they are so very sharp too……..with a pen top for protection!….

Today I started the centre background placement of all the appliqué pieces and at the same time I caught up on two episodes of Silent Witness and two episodes of Inspector Frost! And then this afternoon while I was still working our new curtains were being hung. I didn't have enough William Morris fabric for full drapes so instead had padded pelmets and tiebacks made. I am so thrilled and to think that the fabric was a gift from a very special person…...

 Thankyou Michael and Linda for your hard work…..and to Kym…..we just love them and the 'silk dupioni look' curtains are divine! We've been told to let the drapes hang a few weeks before using the tie-backs so I will show them off again then!….

 Back to the work at hand……another view of those little bridges on my appliqué and then the trimming before you press……..

And Nydia and Kenneth..this is the first reveal of the centre minus a few little pieces. Now all the stitching begins!

Thanks for visiting the blog and I look forward to sharing more of this quilt in the future xx

Lest we forget

Today is Anzac Day and of course our thoughts turn to those who lost their lives and also to my special Dad who I miss every day. I've talked often of his service as an Australian navigator serving in the UK during WW2 in Bomber Command with 582 Squadron. I am amazed at the number of links this year on the internet More about 582 here. There is far more than ever before which is wonderful so that we will never forget the sacrifices they all made. I came across this one - Little Staughton Roll of honour and it so moving to see all those that lost their lives. How hard it must have been for Dad having flown with many of them. I scrolled down the page to Captain Ted Swales citation for his post-humous Victoria Cross. Dad baled out last on this op and Ted lost his life to save all his crew. Dad talked of it often and for that I am grateful. The site had this photo and there is Dad second from right…..

I also found a Facebook page here that has been set up for Dad's squadron and this is Captain Ted Swales who saved his crew…..

Dad was one of the lucky ones having survived 55 ops and for that he received a Distinguished Flying Cross. The parachute that saved his life allowed him to also receive a Caterpillar badge which you can read about on the link. So today we remember not only my Dad but all the other veterans that have allowed us to live the lives we do today….miss you Dad………

 I still have one of Dad's airforce shirts and below is a piece of the parachute that saved his life over Germany along with the miniature version of his medals…….

We dashed outside as we heard the tiger moths overhead heading into the city for the remembrance parade……..no time to put on the zoom lens though…….

So we are just waiting for the son-in-law to come and help dig some holes for my future rose garden. So the Anzac biscuits are ready……..

One lucky girl

I had a presentation to do today for the annual CWA fundraising day. It was wonderful to hear that the organisation is full of enthusiasm with news of lots of new groups starting in the state with many young members. So I was home quite late before  I realised I had forgotten to check the letterbox. In it was a card to say "Sorry we missed you but there are flowers hidden around the side of your house". What q great delivery service from Tynte Flowers. Not only were the flowers well hidden but they were already in water in a gorgeous glass vase……..so what a lucky girl am I?

 Thankyou Tim, Jim and the team at Lloyd Curzon and Jason and staff from In the Beginning Fabrics….I am so lucky to work with the nicest guys ever and the flowers are gorgeous…thankyou, thankyou, thankyou! Seeing as I am blogging late at night I thought I would share the first stage of the new Thorngrove Manor quilt…..not too much to reveal just yet as I need to share it with them first. But this is the corner where I work surrounded by bits from the room in the hotel and of course design books to help fill the gaps…….

 I have quite a few William Morris books on the shelf so it should be all drawn up by the end of the week.

Emily drove me to my event today as I am without a car 3 days a week with Larry back at work……..but that comes with a bonus visit from the little man and he was glad to be there when his Poppa got home from work too……..

 And to finish the night we witnessed the most incredible sunset……love this time of year as the cooler months set in. Take care and more news on the quilt progress soon x

Back to reality

What a week of emotions…….thanks to each and everyone of you for your kind wishes via email, the blog, the post and text messages……and a phone call or two! Thanks so, so much! I am still in shock but very humbled at receiving the Rajah award so for now it is back to business! I am hoping I have the tenacity to maybe do another book one day but for now I have a special quilt to design and make before July for this amazing place - Thorngrove Manor. It means my head will be down for about 3 months but hopefully there will be time to recharge the batteries. Today was a very special day as we took little Beau on his very first steam train ride. Larry decided to let me indulge myself as he knows how much I love trains…especially steam ones. Today is Easter Saturday and both Emily and Brett were working so we were on childcare duties. The day started with a bit of an Easter hunt at home……

And then we drove to Victor Harbor where Sophie and Tim are having a long weekend away. Sophie needed a 'Beau hug' so we started with that at the playground…...

 

and then Beau told "Auntie Dee Dee" that he would catch her at the bottom of the slippery dip…...

Lunch was a 'no go' for Beau but ice-cream always scores high…….

And then it was the train ride on the Duke of Edinburgh 621 steam train from Victor Harbor to Goolwa. Larry met us with the car at the other end so it was just Beau and his Nanna and five carriages full of excited children! This train was completed in the 1930's and then restored in the 1970's. There are quite a few amateur videos on the internet and this is just one of them and it has great views of our journey……I get goosebumps and teary eyes whenever I hear the steam train whistle!

Our journey took half an hour and Beau was so excited! At one stage he had hold of some train leaflets I found at the station and looked up at me lovingly and simply said…."Thankyou Nanna"…..

 On the way home we drove past a much needed photo - Woo Hoo….finally SOLD!! So a great day was had by all!

I hope that wherever you are you can enjoy the Easter break in the way that you choose. Over the next few weeks I will also be doing some step by step reviews of the embroidered corners on that new Mughal inspired quilt. So till then - take care x