More Australian Quilting
More on my journey to Midland, the suburb of Perth. I don’t really mean to make it sound like a long, arduous trip, after all it was a very quick and pleasant train ride from the Perth CBD to a northeastern suburb. After visiting Carol’s of Midland, I walked over to Handcrafters House. It was just past the train station. There was a wide variety of things there, material, sewing machines, accessories, etc. There was a class going on in the back room. It looked like a lot of fun. Everyone seemed to be enjoying it, and enjoying each other. I miss “belonging” to quilt store!
I ended up buying a rotary cutter blade, and a small daisy necklace that has a small blade to cut yarn or thread, with a needle threader. I always wanted one of those. With all the plane travel, different airlines in the world have different rules, so this daisy necklace can cause no problems with security!
Happy quilting . . .
Quilting in Australia
We just got back to Singapore from a few das in Perth. It is spring in Perth, and the weather was absolutely beautiful! High’s in the upper 70’s, and lows in the 40’s at night. The combination of the dry weather, the cool temperatures, and the beautiful sunshine, led to some happy days. The first day that I was there, Thursday, I decided to take the train to a suburb of Perth, Midland. In Midland, there were two wonderful sewing / quilting stores.
Today, I will report on the wonderful shop, Carol’s of Midland. The ladies in Carol’s were so nice and helpful. They had a wonderful range of fabrics and lots of kits. I usually like to put together my own patterns, but sometimes I like to buy the kit for the beautiful combination of fabrics. I decided to buy this kit, from Carol’s, called Iced Coffee. I love all the wonderful browns and golds.
I also bought 15 skeins of the DMC embroidery floss. I previously bought an embroidery project designed by Crab-apple Hill at a Christmas Shop Hop in Louisville, Kentucky. I love winter scenes, and I decided to do this wonderful Snow Days quilt in blues and browns with this dark blue floss.
Happy quilting . . .
Nancy
My English Garden Quilt
I love my English Garden Quilt. I bought the fabric from a lovely little shop in London approximately 3 years ago. I just loved the material. It reminded me so much of a wonderful english garden. I loved the colors, and the plethora of flowers all over it! I finished the quilt top while we were in Moscow, and finished machine quilting it once we moved to San Francisco. It is one of my favorites, and apparently, it is one of my cat Thunder’s favorites!
Tomorrow, I am on my way to Perth, Australia. I have never been there, but look forward to poking around in some local quilt shops. I will report on what I find!
Happy quilting . . .
Nancy
Peranakan Beaded Slippers
While out on Arab Street (in Singapore) last week with a friend of mine, we ran across a wonderful little store called Little Shophouse. They specialize in Peranakan items. The Peranakan culture evolved from Chinese traders intermarrying with Malay women as they established trade ties some two to three hundred years ago. Peranakan means ‘locally born’ in the Malay language.
One of the owners, was making the most beautiful and intricate Peranakan beaded slippers. They were amazing. She had a wooden frame with material stretched across it. You could barely see the slipper shape on the stretched material. She was picking up the tiniest beads and sewing them in the exact pattern. While we were there, she realized that she had made a mistake. She had to break the individual, offending beads, and restitch new ones in the correct pattern. The slippers were beautiful, and expensive. They were around $980 Sing dollars, or around USD $735. Although I would never buy a pair to wear, I can see buying some for display. It is truly a work of art.
While talking to her, she said she is the last of her family to do this. Her children and grandchildren don’t want to carry on the tradition. Alas, like many of the cultural arts around the world, this one is quickly disappearing.
Happy quilting . . .
Nancy
Rug Loom
I went to a carpet auction a couple of weeks ago. I am in the process of learning about carpets, and plan on purchasing some while we live here. This little loom came up in the auction, and I decided to bid. I love this piece. It shows a ‘miniature’ carpet on the loom. It is a great little showpiece for the home. I liked it so much because it reminded me of a quilt. What an interesting pattern! I think this will be a future project: a quilt inspired by this ‘mini’ carpet.
Happy quilting . . .
Nancy
Beautiful Mangowood Stands
We just bought these beautiful stands made from Thai Mangowood. I love the flow of the grain and the coloring of the wood. It is positively inspiring.
We have a rather large and old piece of butcher block that we have carried with us since we were newlyweds. We had the butcher block sitting on top of two vases. Unfortunately, one of the vases was broken in the move. So we went shopping for something that would hold up the two-hundred pound block!
And a wonderful bonus is that Mangowood is sustainable!
Happy quilting . . .
Nancy
Living in Singapore!
Well, the big move is done. We are here in Singapore now. We are in our apartment, and have unpacked all the boxes. That is no small feat! Besides being at the gateway to the Asian world here in Singapore, my biggest thrill is my sewing room! Yes, I actually have a whole room dedicated to my sewing. I can’t believe how happy this space makes me. I always loved sewing and quilting, but when I sit in my sewing room and I look around, I can’t believe how happy I am. I keep sending my husband texts, telling him how much I love this space.
I love the bookshelves. I can showcase my fabric, and it is inspirational to be working and looking at fabric for future projects.
Happy quilting . . .
Nancy
Warhol-esque Clutch
This clutch was made from an Anna Maria Horner pattern. It is adorable! The print for the material is fabulous. It reminds me of the wonderful Andy Warhol pop art of the 50’s and 60’s. My daughter found this great peace sign button which is ideal for this purse! I added a couple of pockets to the inside of the purse to hold a phone, keys, etc. If I made another of these purses, I think that I would add a shoulder strap, or handles to the purse.
Nancy
Accupuncture
This morning I went for my 6th accupuncture treatment. I suffer from migraines, and decided to add something else to my healing routine besides the neurologist and the massage therapist. I have suffered from headaches / migraines all of my life. There are a lot of good reports on accupuncture and the affect it can have on the frequency and the intensity of migraines. I am also following a pretty restrictive diet – gluten free, sugar free, processed food free, and migraine trigger free. I am still getting migraines, but when I don’t have a migraine, I actually feel pretty good. So that is a positive.
I really like my accupuncturist. She is a wonderful, caring person. She was telling me today that it usually takes up to 3 months of weekly treatments before you will really see results. Yuck! I didn’t want to hear that! In the whole scheme of things, that isn’t so bad when you have suffered from migraines ever since you can remember!
The diet part isn’t really fun. I do like my chocolate and my sweets! I am dealing with the gluten free part, but when I have one of my headaches, like today, I really want a sweet. I decided to compromise and eat white chocolate! It isn’t the dark chocolate that I love, but it was still yummy!
Nancy
Psychedelic PJ’s
I made these really fun pajama bottoms. I made a pair each for my daughters, Lauren and Sarah. They are made with a fun, crazy flannel material. It really reminds me of a 60’s motif. Who couldn’t have fun in such a bright cheery pattern.
I found this material at a wonderful material store, in Berkeley, Stonemountain and Daughter. They carry a huge variety of materials and yarns. I was searching for some flannel to finish up a flannel quilt that I was making for Christmas, and I saw this material. I knew it would make a wonderful, comfy pair of pj bottoms!
Nancy
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