Think I spoke too soon!

Gosh, I have been a slack blogger! I can't believe that it is almost halfway through this month! Last time I posted I mentioned that I was starting to feel better, but the next day was feeling sick again. Just a cold, but I ended up with a sinus infection that I am still struggling with. (Sooo much discomfort! Even my teeth are hurting!!!) Of course, since then I have had good days and bad days so there has been making going on here, although much of it is secret! I also managed to travel to Adelaide to see Miss 21's gallery opening for her grad show. She has just finished her Honours year in Visual Arts and there was much excitement on the weekend when she discovered that she has received a Distinction for her year's work. Much excitement because of her achievement, but also because it almost certainly means she will get an offer to study some more next year. She is hoping to become an art teacher eventually. Who knew that Art teachers had so much training? So far four years, with another two to come!

Miss 21 with her sculpture of her and me.

 So now my shape has been exhibited in a gallery! (Thanks for that darling!) Better than a photo I guess. Must get back to the making. (Less than two weeks till Christmas you know.) I am still waiting on my SSCS package, but the one I sent to Melinda in the USA has arrived, thank goodness! The wait for your partner to receive their package always seems so much more streesful than waiting for your own to arrive! I will show you the ornament I sent next time!

Our Pods, Blogtober

 I am still busy organising things here at Rosemary Hill. (Rosemary Hill is what our home is always called. Mostly because no matter where we live one of the first things I do is plant a rosemary bush. Love rosemary!) This is what one of the pods that held our stuff for six months looked like.

Mr 10 in superhero mode

It was kind of nice living in our house without a lot of stuff. There was sooo much room! I don't want you to think that there weren't upsides to having no stuff. Space is lovely. Of course, I am a stuff kind of person (You don't become a patchworker with a stash without an appreciation for stuff!) but I am beginning to wonder if we perhaps have too much stuff? So last week I got Mrs 27 (picklesticks) who was visiting with her bloke and three gorgeous children to photograph the kid's artwork from 2006 so I could get rid of it. (Great idea, right?) Now I am one folder down (It doesn't sound like much, does it?) and I have actually looked through the artwork too!

left to right, Miss 14, Mr 10 and Mr 17

Speaking of those visitors, we had picklesticks and her family and we had a surprise visit from Miss 19 as well. It was a lovely time and we are all missing them (especially my Bradley. He is "Pa" to the grandchildren and he is missing them mightily. He is missing that Miss 19 too of course. He had the privilege of driving her home to Adelaide and so got to spend nine hours with her in the car. Driving long distances can be fun!) Anyway, back to the sorting. And maybe to some throwing out? We'll see...

Not Everything is as it Seems!

Life can be confusing. It's not always what it seems! We went for a Sunday afternoon stroll today (I have been reliably informed by Miss 18 that I cannot call it a walk because we were too slow to call it a walk!) along the River Torrens Linear Park. Me and my entourage. Just the six of us. I am just sooooo unfit at the moment and am making an effort to improve my fitness, so we have been out walking. One of my favourite Aussie tv shows, Seachange, has a discussion about fitness that I often think about. Laura is discussing fitness with her son Rupert and he tells her that there are all different kinds of fitnesses. He just has skateboarding fitness, but there's soccer fitness and..... Well, I just have sit and sew fitness, which is barely on the fitness radar at all! So we have been out walking. So far it has been fun! The first thing we came upon this afternoon was the little black dog having a drink above. I don't know whether some park authority painted it there or whether it might be considered graffiti, but I love it! To me it is art!

This is Mr 10 "fishing" in the Torrens. He has a rod/stick, all that is missing is the line! Everything is still green along the Torrens. It was a lovely sight today. There were lots of birds too. They were all the real deal though. Looking forward to this week. Some visiting planned, some sewing, some painting and some gardening.

Art in our surrounds and Kaffe Fassett

See the hexies in the last photo? They make me think of Leanne's quilt here. I am fascinated with environment, art and pattern at the moment. This is partly due to my recent readings of Kaffe Fassett's book "Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts" and partly due to my fascination with environment as an artist. I draw and paint as well as sew, I just don't feel that enamoured with the results of my art to show you! The photos above are as a result of the drive my Bradley and I took on Sunday. We drove to Melbourne to check out some houses. I thought we would drive to Melbourne, get a house to live in and then "live happily ever after". Didn't happen. We applied, but didn't get a house. So, aside from these pretty cool photos of Melbourne freeways we have nothing to show for a long, tiring three days.

On a lighter note, we were able to go hear an artist talk about his art while we were in Melbourne. It encouraged me to take the opportunity to explore all the facets of art making available to me. It was very inspiring and really made the trip for me.

A Crocheted Scarf

I crocheted a scarf on the weekend, I love to crochet! So much fun. It was a welcome distraction because I was unwell and had to spend the weekend in bed. I used Cleckheaton's 8 ply country wool doubled and a 10mm hook. This has made the scarf so thick and soft. Miss 18 has already claimed the scarf, but I am thinking I might list it in my etsy shop. I often think about my etsy shop. It has been inactive all this year. Partly because I haven't made much lately and partly because I really haven't had much success with it. I'm thinking though that I might give it another go. I am really wanting to pursue my art goals at the moment and stocking an etsy shop might just be the motivation I need. I love to paint, but haven't done any painting for quite some time now. I am also interested in art quilts, but have turned very few of the ideas I have into tangible quilts. Of course, I love traditional quilts as well and even "home sewing".

(Here I have to admit that I am a Project Runway tragic. I love everything about that show. Heidi, Tim, the whole shebang! The contestants are always fantastic. There are a few I haven't liked much, but mostly I like them all. Especially the girl who was the first eliminated in the current series on Arena (Foxtel). She was a conceptual designer and she explained the way she liked to work by describing her approach to fabric. She approaches the fabric and then asks, "Hello fabric. What would you like me to turn you into today?". How could you not love that!!! The only thing I have a problem with on the whole show is when the judges criticise a designer by saying that their outfit looks "home sewn". Yeah. Thanks for that Michael Kors. I don't mind if they say it looks badly done, but the euphamism of "home sewn" for badly done rubs me the wrong way. When did this cringe start? This is part of the handmade cringe which is being overcome in some places now. (handmade=badly done) Nowadays you just have to look at factory produced clothing to see bad work. Maybe what the critics are saying is that the design itself is amateurish. No matter. I <3 Project Runway anyway!!! Even though most of what I make is "home sewn"!)

That brings me to the ultimate question. Is what I do art or craft? Or do I do both? For me the answer is that it doesn't really matter. Making is what matters to me. Creating is what I am all about. So, I'm looking forward to more making and creating. Keep a look out for my revamped etsy shop too. Coming soon.......