My Favourite Quilts

I started quilting 18 months ago. I had had a bad case of flu and was off work for a week and a half, and over the following week I had started doing a lot of crochet as I started to recover. Within a day or two I had a lot of pain down my left wrist and hand. Thinking it was 'crochet cramps' (holding the needle tightly can make your hand ache) I looked for something else to do. A new fabric shop had opened in Bodmin and so I visited, saw a pack of 5 inch squares of coordinating fabrics I really liked, bought them and started my first quilt. At that time I had not long since bought a sewing machine so it felt like a touch of destiny to find a new thing to use it for.

I learnt a lot making that first quilt, I kept visiting that shop where a lady would patiently show me what I had to do for each new step. I finished that quilt quickly, bought a couple of quilt design books and moved rapidly onto another quilt.

It wasn't long after that that I decided that I wanted to make my quilts double sided. I enjoyed piecing the fabric to make the patchwork fronts but realised I didn't particularly enjoy the actual quilting. My solution was to make two patchworks for each quilt. I also liked the idea of being able to change the look of a quilt by simply turning it over. It seemed such a good idea to me that I was shocked at the attitude I received when I asked around how I could do it. I was bluntly told that it wasn't done, proper quilting was done the way I was shown. To sum it up, there was supposedly only one right way to do quilting!

I didn't give up quilting, but I did start shopping for fabric elsewhere! I then met a lovely lady in Truro Fabrics who told me 'You do what you like. Rules are meant to be broken.' She gave me confidence to do as I pleased and I moved on to find my own way of doing things. And I've produced some pretty good double sided quilts since!!!

Here are a few of my favourites.

This one is mine. The colours and vibrancy just feel right...

My favourite quilt- its the colours that make it!

Reverse of my favourite

This one is a complete contrast, but I love it none the less. It is soothing and restful. Total elegance.

"Zen Garden" quilt - Gentle neutral blocks

Reverse of "Zen Garden"

This quilt is not reversible in the same way. The back is one patterned piece of fabric with just three alternate squares of contrasting fabric for interest.

"Strawberry Picnics" quilt

By the way, the 'crochet cramps' led to several months of physiotherapy and were latered identified as being linked to the flu virus lingering in one limb. How weird is that? My wrist had flu!

Until next time

Gillian

Picnic in the Park

On Sunday we went shopping in Truro. We shopped then stopped for lunch in  beautiful Victoria Park. The sun shone and we sat quietly marvelling at the immaculate gardens hidden in plain sight in the city. We had no idea they were there until recently and this was our first visit. It felt like we had the place to ourselves as there were so few people about.

Victoria Park

The Band Stand

John and Sean

Kieran and Thomas

A rather odd, but charming, fountain

This is another reminder why I am lucky to live here.
Until next time
Gillian

Identity matters

I've just finished filling in the 2011 UK Census and two questions have been really interesting. I asked my children how they wanted to describe their national identity and their religion. Whilst my husband and I gave the same answers to both, none of the children wanted to give the same answers as us, and actually all were different from each other. It just shows how important it was to ask them and not complete the form on their behalf. I am really proud of them for giving considered answers that represent how they feel about identity and religion.


Yesterday I told you how we went along the Camel Trail geocaching on Friday. This morning I made a digital scrapbooking page of the walk. I used digital papers and embellishments from the Time Traveller collection by Scrapgirl (at http://www.scrapgirls.com/). I've created quite a simple layout which allows the photos and journalling to take centre stage. With me being the only girl in a family of four men (or nearly men!), my layouts often have a neutral or slightly masculine feel and this one is no exception. I really like the Time Traveller collection as it has a vintage feel but also a steam punk feel, and they are two of my favourite styles.

I've also started a new crochet amigurumi today using  Saplanet's  The Didis pattern (at http://simpleartsplanet.com/). I'm aiming to finish this for next Sunday's show and tell.


Until next time
Gillian

Geocaching

We have had great fun the last two days exploring the countryside whilst looking for hidden geocaches (see my post Thursday 24th March 2011 for an explanation of what Geocaching is). Yesterday we walked along the Camel Trail towards Boscarne Junction seeking a cache- it was only when we got there that we noticed it had a quite high difficulty rating, meaning it was going to be hard to find. Not surprisingly we didn't find it this time but we will be back- hopefully when there are less people about as we had to stop looking everytime someone came in sight (one of the rules is you must not be seen searching by other people). If that sounds a little crazy, well maybe it is, but as my mum would say "it's all good, clean fun", and we had a lovely walk, a good laugh and (my personal highlight) we even saw a heron on the river bank. 


Today we tried a different geocache hunt on Bodmin Beacon nature reserve. This time we found the hidden box. Success!!! Well actually Kieran (aka middle son) found it and was promptly appointed Chief Scout and invited to join all future expeditions (we could have done with him there yesterday!)

Successful searchers!

Again we had a fantastic evening walk and discovered a place close to home we didn't even know existed. As we walked home we saw the most beautiful sunset over the misty hills. I felt privileged to see it and I couldn't help but wonder how many times I have missed this kind of natural beauty because I have sat at home, busy in my own little world,  only vaguely aware that it was getting dark.

Sunset over Bodmin

We've had a lot of fun this weekend and have got a fair bit of exercise. We're already planning where we are going next...


Until next time 
Gillian

Beautiful Cornwall

Here are some photos I took yesterday on my way to work. I walk along a short part of the Camel Trail just on the outskirts of Bodmin. I felt I wanted to capture the immediate beauty of the Trail on a sunny Spring day. I feel very lucky to be able to live here and scenery like this will show you why.
The photos are all taken at Scarlette's Well. 
(See .bodmin.gov.uk/Tourist_Information/VIC/Places.html for more historical information about the town Well Trail.)

Towards Bodmin

The old iron bridge at Scarlette's Well

Towards Wadebridge

We've had some beautiful sunny and warm spring days this week in Cornwall. Hopefully this is the start of a glorious summer...
Until next time
Gillian

Working together to develop

A week or two ago my husband went to a gathering of teachers sharing their ideas about using technologies. He came back with many new ideas some of which I know he is using. I think it is amazing how much both he and I use ideas shown to us by other people. After I posted about Wordle yesterday we chatted about how we used thoughts and ideas from other people to get a solution to a problem. Someone showed him Wordle, he showed someone else, they worked out how to screen save, showed him and he showed me, I worked out how to save the new picture. I can only describe this as a chain of shared ideas- each in isolation did not produce an outcome anywhere close to what we produced together.


Some genius's may work alone but I think that for most of us we need other people to help us learn. I am learning all the time, watching other people, listening and copying other peoples good ideas. This is not some kind of plagerism, its a way of developing as a person, as any idea borrowed must be adapted to fit our lives.


At the teachers gathering, one thing someone spoke about was Geocaching, which was explained to me as being a bit like playing hide and seek with GPS cordinates telling you where to go to find "caches" of hidden goodies. It  sounds like fun and a way of giving a purpose to going for a walk in places which are so familiar we have tended not to want to bother visiting recently. So I googled Geocaching and found Geocaching.com (http://www.geocaching.com/). Its got a massive list of hide and seek hunts to go on, and so we plan to try one this weekend.

 Another Wordle with some of those keywords for learning and exploring new ideas.

Here are two more Wordles from my favourite poems " I expect to pass through this world but once..." and "...Children grow up when your not looking..."

Until next time

Gillian

Wordle- Exporting into Blogs etc.

I've been playing with Wordle today http://www.wordle.net/. A beautiful concept in that you paste or enter text, press go and the program produces fantastic word pictures. They are great fun and look amazing. Adults and children alike seem to love them.

The tricky bit has been how to save them. The program allows you to save them to its Gallery but so many people are using Wordle at the moment that within minutes your saved   Wordle is several pages back and you cannot search for it.

This solution is not too complex and fairly quick

1. Make your Wordle picture
2. Press F8 and print screen at the same time
3. Open Powerpoint and press paste
4. Use crop (under format) to get rid of the screen bits you don't want
5. Click on wordle picture and (right click) to save as picture 
6. Save as format jpeg, png or gif
7. You now have your own Wordle picture which you can import into your blog or elsewhere

If you choose you could of course stick with importing into Powerpoint or alternatively into Word.

Thanks to Sue and John for starting me on how to print the screen and import into Powerpoint. Thanks to Kieran for showing me how to crop in Powerpoint- its funny how the little things can prove a stumbling block until someone helps...

Here's one I've just made with words I like:-

Until next time
Gillian

What made me "me"

Have you ever wondered why you are like you are? Or why something has happened to you? Psychologists discuss nature versus nurture, but I would take it a bit further and say that I think that everything that has ever happened to me has made me what I am and who I am. I am a product of my environment and my history. Every experience I have ever had has contributed to making me "me", whether good, bad or even  non-memorable.


At times since we got married things have gone against us. (I don't want to detail them here as I don't want to dwell on negatives).  But every time something good has come out of it. Every decision, whether welcomed or not, has contributed to placing me here, where I am now. I sometimes think that it is all part of my destiny, but then that would take away my responsibility for my actions, so perhaps not.


I have to live the life in front of me, making the best of my opportunities, working through the difficult times. I have heard people sat that if you didn't experience bad times you wouldn't appreciate the good. Maybe, maybe not...

Len and Elsie's Wedding Day

The photos today are of my paternal grandparents Len and Elsie Dawson. They were very special people. The sort of people no-one had a bad word for.

My nanny and grandad  (Len and Elsie)

I hope people will think of me like that one day...


Until next time
Gillian

Amigurumi

Today's show and tell is about some crocheted Amigurumi that I've made. I learnt to crochet as a child thanks to the patience of my mother who taught me. I've never been able to knit  despite many people trying to teach me while telling me how easy it is, but crochet is just so straight forward. I love making small toys and crochet is just the perfect way to make them.

My favourite source of patterns is online at http://simpleartsplanet.com . They are good value and you can download pretty quickly after you pay. I can make a toy from start to finish in just a few hours- which means I actually finish them!!! 

Other plus points are that I can carry a crochet hook, wool and pattern and crochet anywhere; I can't do that with most of my hobbies!

Koko rat

Joycezie bull

Snooky snake

Aren't they cute?

I think I'm going to go and find some wool to start a new one tonight!

Bye for now

Gillian 

Too busy!

Today has been madly busy- non stop things that had to be done. I haven't had a chance to be creative so I've promised myself time tomorrow night. 


I don't mind having busy days but I do feel the need to redress the balance too. I've learnt that if I don't get "Me time" then I quickly get run down and fed up. I've seen advice to put in time for yourself in your daily diary but can't bring myself to go that far, so I'll keep on trying to fit it in around the rest of life's daily demands...

Me and John at St Michaels Mount 2010

Todays photo is from last year. It's not a classic, but I'm usually the other side of the camera lens so it is a bit rare.










Bye for now
Gillian

It's a crazy world!

It's a crazy world out there. I write this as French planes shoot down Libyan planes and many Japanese people are homeless and still looking for loved ones. In our modern world we stay up to date with the most horrific events happening thousands of miles away virtually as they happen. And then we just carry on with our lives...


Strangely I think that's the right thing to do. We should feel moved and affected by what we see, but we shouldn't give in to it. We have to keep on living, trying to be the best we can, whilst showing compassion and doing our best to improve the micro world we live in.


I like this quote - "I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do."  ~Edward Everett Hale. But I think this one is valid too "Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier."  ~Mother Teresa.

We found this face at the Lost Gardens of Heligan

So I'm going to keep on trying to make the world a better place in my own small way. I think it's time for some feel good photos...

Natural beauty!

The miracle of bees...

Tomorrow is my show and tell day and I haven't even started a project yet! Oh well, we'll just have to see what I think of to do...

Until then

Gillian

Shelterbox bake

My laptop is having a service. They said it would take 15minutes on the phone when we booked. We thought that was a little bit unlikely, but were really surprised when we actually took it to the store and they said it could be two days. I feel lost without it! So now I'm borrowing my husbands for 10 minutes. Sorry, that means there won't be any photos today.


The bake sale at school raised £122, Sean's cakes raised £8 alone. He is delighted and we are proud of him. The non teaching staff really want to pay the whole amount for a Shelterbox so we reckon we need to do at least three more cake sales to raise the £590 needed to pay for one box. It's one challenge that really matters to us so we'll be baking again next week.


Hopefully I'll have my laptop back on Saturday so until then.
Gillian

Shelterbox

Yesterday Sean wanted to help me bake some muffins for a cake sale at his school to raise money for Shelterbox. He chose to make double chocolate chip muffins and was a tremendous little cook--- of course the best bit of cooking is licking the bowl clean!

 After "testing" a few to make sure they tasted OK (we all had one!) Sean took 42 muffins to sell. All were sold making a real contribution to the money raised today. (I don't have a total for what was raised today but will let you know later.)

The muffins- delicious!

Shelterbox (http://www.shelterbox.org) are a Cornish based international disaster relief charity who are currently working to deliver emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies in their immediately recognisable green box to those in immediate dire need in Japan. They are a charity who really make a difference to those they help.




Until next time
Gillian
  

Lucky escape

Today my husband had a lucky escape but someone else wasn't so lucky. This morning a car pulled out of a junction and drove straight into the side of the car in front of him. The car that was hit went onto the other side of the road, rode up a bank and was flipped onto its roof. We hope the driver makes a rapid recovery. One phrase went straight into my head when my husband phoned me; "there but for the grace of God goeth I". Perhaps this is another reminder to live each day to the full as you don't know what may happen tomorrow.


Moving on. I promised a show and tell of this weeks craft projects so here they are. I made (and finished) three cards. The cards involve stamping, colouring with Copic Ciaos and die cutting. They feature three of my favourite stamp companies and are all fairly straightforward to make.

Magnolia Bon Voyage Indian Tilda

Gorjuss Balloon Girl

Lavinia Stamps Small Pixies with a variety
of foliage stamps for the border

I've got a bit to learn about how to photograph cards but I'm pleased with the cards themselves. They are my style rather than a copy of what someone else has designed, and I would feel happy to give them to someone for a special occasion.

I'm now deciding what to make for the next project, so until next time

Gillian

Getting some perspective

There are some truly horrible things going on in the world at the moment, my heart goes out to those who are suffering right now in places such as Christ Church and Japan. It certainly puts all those minor complaints we all make into perspective....


One of the apps I have on my Ipod Touch is called Inspired Lives. It's a bit hit and miss but  sometimes it has a nice message. They linked todays to Lent but I think it is more relevant to every day life than that. I don't think we should limit new positive ideas to Lent or New Years Resolutions. Why wait? It could make life better today!


"I will give up complaining and be more grateful. 
 I will give up pessimism and be an optimist. 
 I will stop judging harshly and think kind thoughts. 
 I will give up worry and trust in providence. 
 I will give up discouragement and be full of hope.
 I will give up bitterness and turn to forgiveness. 
 I will give up anger and practice being patient. 
 I will give up gossiping and control my tongue. 
 I will give up being gloomy and enjoy the beauty that is around me." 


(I think its from The Friendship Book by Francis Gay, Jan. 3rd. 2005)


Now imagine yourself sitting on the bench under this tree- it won't solve life's problems but doesn't that feel a little better...

Weald and Downland Museum, 2008

Weald and Downland Museum, 2008

Weald and Downland Museum, 2008

These two photos also have a feel of relaxation and calm. They bring me memories of an idyllic summers day. It was overcast and drizzly but the views take you back to another time without the stresses of modern life.




















Tomorrow is show and tell (all I have to do is take some photos of my makes in good light...)


Until then
Gillian

A long day- therapy and cups!

Yesterday was a long day. I had to take a day off work to take our youngest son to see an Occupational Therapist. So, as we are a one car family and my husband needs the car for work, we had to take the bus to St Austell. Its a journey of 12 miles as the crow flies but it took an hour each way due to having to visit every small village between here and there. Add on waiting times for the bus, a bus timetable that didn't really suit the appointment time and we were out for 6 1/2 hours for a 1 1/4 hour appointment! It was exhausting and dear Sean was so tired that he even fell asleep on the bus back.


The appointment went well. Basically Sean is very bright but finds it really hard to write quickly and tidily as he cannot get to grips with holding a pencil "correctly". Our concern is that his hand aches and tires quickly when he writes and so at school it is hard for him to write down all that he needs to to show his ability.  He was a totally left handed child until the age of five, then at the end of his first year at school we realised he was suddenly writing right handed. He is still left handed for other things such as throwing a ball and I think this is part of the problem as his right hand is not as strong as most peoples chosen writing hand. Our old GP said he had only ever seen two other people the same as Sean, and he called it an unusual form of bilateralness or cross laterallism- he explained it as a person who is neither solely right or left handed but is mixed handed or cross dominant- meaning that, as Sean was solely left sided for everything until he was five, his brain finds it hard to use his right hand for writing now. Anyhow, the therapists recommendation is that Sean undertakes the Speed Up writing program to help train his hand and brain to write without worrying about content. She said he should also learn to touch type with the view that, when his typing is faster than his writing, he should move over to typing rather than writing in school. Both could be done at school but I think I will try to do them at home so he gets the best chance of success.


Two hours after we got home we had to go out again. This leads us to our new definition of parenthood:- Spending 2 1/2hours at a Scout/Cub Gang Show to see your own son do his "act" lasting 2 minutes (and watching it all with a smile!). Sean has been practicing cup stacking all week. Then on Thursday he came home from Cubs to say he asked his friend Thomas to do the act with him as Thomas didn't have an act of his own- this is typical of him, he is so sweet at wanting to be kind to others. We are very proud of him! 

Practice makes perfect

Sean in his Cubs uniform

(I'm keeping the pictures small as they're not great quality)

Our oldest son was also there helping as a young scout leader but he really doesn't want us to show any pictures of him (he gets his wish this time as the photos of him were even darker than those of Sean.)

We had a lovely, if long, evening and the highlight was seeing how pleased Sean was with himself for stacking and collapsing the cups without knocking any over, even when he was very nervous.

Until next time

Gillian

Our Wedding

Today I wanted to share our most precious photos form Our Wedding Day. We've been married nearly 19 years but looking at these photos still brings back memories of that wonderful day.

I'm off now to do a little crafting so I keep on target to complete a project by Sunday. Tonight I am colouring some stamped images. All will be revealed later...

Until next time

Gillian