Thursday, July 26, 2012

circling the apple tree

 i decided instead
that i'd go with the saying
"apple of my eye"
 & he is, completely
family & friends help form my Full Circle
but somehow its been Oscar
& our journey that completes this ring
i love the image of a circle
its never ending
like the knights of Arthur's table ... round has no favourites
the clay i used to fashion had no straight lines
it can expand to be inclusive
& retract to be encompassing
we move in circles
circles, or almost ... in our universe
in our patterns & living
in our humaness
so in spirit here he is
enamored with the sight smell & taste 
of the fruit that is the apple of my eye
basking in the sunshine glow
listening to where the wind might take him
enJOYing his journey
he's our feast of a rainbow of colour
our little sparkle of prism light
there's something wonderful
in observing & reflecting
one day this little bird will fly north
he will find his freedom
but in the meanwhile
eat lots of apples!
red ones .... your favourite


the results are in
11.1% positive
88.9% negative
so yeah ... i worked out, as you have read
a much better fitting title
although there is still something
about the cycle of an apple
self seeding 
near the parent tree that i still like!

so my creative head space today
& this week ....

& an additional edit: Sunday 12th August
pray with me if you like ....
written as part of our worship at ABC

Dear Lord, Saviour & Holy Spirit

Let our minds rest in you
in our hope for our future,
our children’s future,
and those of
generations to come.

Guide our journey
in this community
through the circles of our times ...
with hope in our hearts...

lead us to be a people
who are vibrantly excited
loving to all
welcoming in our actions
open in our hearts
caring in our humanness

that we can go forth to bear fruit
to bask in your sunlight
feast on a rainbow of colour
and listen to the winds of wisdom

Let this place
and these people
wait in hope
but not inaction
that the fruit that we bare
can be full of your spirit
so that we become a people
who grow in faith
who have a great connection
with the wonderful web,
across the generations
who nurture
as parents, as role models
as leaders, as older friends;
the children and young families within
and without our community

that we bear fruit in your name
that on your winds of reason
you whistle through our doors
with a new hope,
in the future of our people
let us sparkle in your prism light
let us hear your words whispered on the wind
let us hear your peace,
and find hope in you.

Amen

Friday, July 20, 2012

full circling

 i can't tell you how excited i am to have had
such a wonderful response to our
a 1.8m full circle during production
at our ABC Playgroup
this is still a WIP
 some apples  .... my thinking from back here
this is your sneak peak
i will reveal more later .... WIP
 punching full circles with my little boy!
 being reminded by the stained glass
full circles that are on permanent display
at our ABC .... lovely
  the lovely maryanne of Sew Together
has been busy with her full circle
stunning isn't it!!
Picture
my awesome friend bron
has also created a masterpiece ...
... that is for sale!!
 another sneaky peak ....
... loving the life cycles themes that are coming through!
cas from Sew It Seams
has been busy sewing sweet little stitches 
that tell a story ... a WIP
 and karen of And so, I sew
has also been busy & had her girls
making wonderful full circles too
they are stunning & you may need to just see them in real life!!
the Full Circle project
is part of our bi-annual 
at Ashburton Baptist Church
Y street or Marquis street entrances
Saturday 28th July 9am - 3pm
Lots to do & see .... you are welcome!

so amazing creativity shining thorough
in circle form

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

moving in circles ...

our ABC 'Full Circle' Project is in full swing!!
i am so excited to say that we have had an amazingly
enthusiastic response to this creative project
& we will definitely be holding another at some point!
so come on & join in .... everyone everywhere is welcome
& there is still time!
here are a few glimpses at some of
the 'Full Circles' ...
hula hoop with silk, pva & dyes with the children at Oscar's kinder

huge circle of cardboard destined for the outlines of little people
at our ABC playgroup

then there's the talented lady who drew these & put them to print!
for some circle-ly goodness have a look at her header
i'm not entirely sure what she's up to but i just love this image of hers
with the Mamma & Baby Elephant

 i'm seeing circles everywhere & i will be wearing some at
the Playful Market too!
more reading circle tummy time at play group!
& the wonderful circle-ly sensations of the circle floating overhead
here are a couple of the early bird entries that will
both be for sale at the Playful Market:
"Cats" by Lyn & her clever janome

 "The roller coaster of life" painted by Liz

we already have more entries &
i know of many many more
some other creative ladies i know have made a start
& blogged about their entries too & are sharing the idea

here's Maryanne's work in progress
i just love the vibrancy of all the layers of thread

 and here's a sneaky look at Hilary's
can you spot that sweet little birdie?

and my wonderful friend Bron's blog,
who's keeping her Full Circle
little surprise secret from me right now ...
i am so looking forward to seeing all the entries
it will be a wonderful feast of circle-y goodness
round and round and round
here's my finished back stitching of Oscar's drawing
i love this & i will treasure it forever
here's a pic of my friend Tiffany
painting away on her Full Circle entry ...
this piece will also be for sale on the 28th

Monday, July 9, 2012

a little sewjourn


 found myself away ... again ... on the weekend
yes - completely spoilt with time to sew for fun lately
in a little cottage & studio
known well about the traps .... in country victoria
we have driven by this neat retreat so many times
on our way up to 'our' riBer .... that
my husband now points it out to me!
now i've been & stayed & sewed ... yay
we had gorgeous blue skies
crisp cold days & nights ... & frozen hot water taps
we were warm & snug
greeted by a cosy cottage with a fire burning - thanks mel...
plenty of space to spill out & be free to work on any of the multitude
of projects brought along
i made a promise that i would only work on 
quote "stuff for me"
this weekend it was all about the journey .... no real finishes
but alot further along the road with quite a few projects
& a couple of new ones in the mix too!

the project list included:
in aquas & red from way back ....
i remember that i started to sew this all together
in a different layout & i changed my mind
then i made more blocks ...
& thankfully i had it all written down
it arrived in Lancefield in block form
departed as a quilt top ...
does it 'need' a border? not sure ...

 another enJOY the journey kind of quilt
aka katie ... that i really adore
once apon a time i went through my entire fabric stash
so did a great friend of mine
we made up our HST's & then did a little
one on one swap ... where we only swapped the ones we wanted to
& we are cool enough with each other to say - nah, not that one but ta!
not all sewn together yet by any means ... queen sized
but it is on its way ... see the favourties carelful auditioned 
for the centre stage!

 now ... since i was on a roll with digging out the ufo's
there were some snowballs to work on too ...
i really love this quilt & i have no idea why i haven't pulled it all together before now
... there is an enJOY the journey story behind this one
re: running out of the orange-y base fabric
& another about a mystery missing block
... both literally blocked my path with this quilt
... but it is now all sewn together as a finished quilt top
yay ... for ginger blossom

what else ...
ahhh yes ... nothing like another project
this one has a deadline ...
for it is my outfit for the day
had to be done
.... the circles ... i have them on my mind
really awesome piece of treasured fabric purchased on a recent
jaunt away to our nations capital ... at SIT
has the 'look' of hand screen printing
hemp ... lovely weight
its halfway to becoming one of Nikki's skirts...
main fabric is a wool in the perfect co-ordinating shade
that was found in my stash!! ... & the perfect amount
needed some coaching ... as it has been a v long time since i have made 
myself a garment ... thanks my friend ... & for the late night chats too!
may need to be led through the whole invisible zip insert!
there was also some knitting of a little stripey vest for my little boy
& some free-form patch working from the scraps bag

 also been completely inspired by
parson gray ... & i have loved this curious nature range
for a while ... so it was time to commit!
also ... that circle-y theme surfes again!!
... the wonderful Brianna put this together over the course
of the weekend ... it looks absolutely stunning ...
she had lots of extra fabric ... so i've now cut out the best part of this same quilt
only mine has the fabrics in reflection .... intentional of course!!
thanks for the inspiration Brianna ... lovely getting to know you also!
 lots of yummy food
cosy place to lay my head
great company & new friends
late nights sewing & chatting
projects galore ... thanks girls
 karen - claire - leisl - brianna - mel - &me...
thanks ladies
 our awesome collective group weekend sewing effort
http://www.matchingpegs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/20120711-SewjournGroup.jpg

bold with little stitches

i am completely
enamored
with the vision of this quilt today
the styling the look the sense of
wonderful simple colour playing with colour
thanks for sharing style files

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

bunker down & sew

 went away with a truly great friend on the weekend
was our chance to be without children about
hang out & just sew
had our twin machines meet up for the first time
there was lots of chatter & some fav tunes played
i worked on a long time project
got all the wavey quilting stitches done
have the intention of finishing the binding this coming weekend
its taken me an age to create this but i am almost there
i have 'enJOYed the journey' & Oscar is right into the idea right now!
so perfectly timed i'd say ...
 knuckled down & made a whole lot of little girls' skirts for my
up coming markets
& all the while my friend Sam got to & sewed
a blue & yellow
half square triangle
tonal values quilt
on the 1/4 turn ... which means that all the 'layers' of tone
are complete squares ... which means there are many many
little triangles on the end of each row to add to the mix!
a basket to machine system was applied ...
 she did an amazing job!
in fact we couldn't leave to go home until it was completely put together!

i worked with some
figgy pudding triangle 'turn overs'
now this quilt top has been a long time in the making also
anyway no lamenting in life required
just get on with it now ... i say!
all pieced & sliced & re-pieced
& i love the scrapy look
so we will have some figgy pudding on display for this Christmas
still the quilting to happen ... maybe this weekend as well?
so nothing exactly finished ... WIPs
but nearly there!
 there were a couple of sleep-ins ... food & wine consumed
lovely relaxed wintry productive time .... away from the bustle of home
special thanks to our husbands ... C & S