NOW!!!

Have you ever stopped to think what is it that you really want in life. Today I have been face with some interesting thoughts and I have to say, I am angry and upset, but feel sorry for people as well. Why do people make judgements on others before knowing all of the facts? Why do we judge people for their actions vefore understanding the person or the attitude. I will never know.

So it has me thinking about lots of different things and one of them is my weight. My last 12 months have been so interesting. I have broken my ankle, formed Pulmonary embeli in my lungs and a 13cm clot in my leg. I have put on 8 kilos and I have been very self conscious and worried a lot about what people thought of me. I continued to support everyone with things that they wanted, but forgot about myself and my family. Today it stops. Today I start to look at the what my family and I need.

While starting this journey I have discovered a site called ‘Organise yourself Skinny.’ I read some of the pages and really like the recipes and the ideas on the page. It is a starting point for me. Getting organised and focusing on what I would like to do for myself. Let the fun begin…

While I write this I am looking around my classroom of year 10 students who are completing a test. They are all so interesting. So much to teach them, so much that they can teach me and I sit here pondering where will they be in 10 years….

The other issue that has really destroyed me today is the lack of empathy in the world. Why do families fight and then feel it is ok to hide things from each other. The death of a loved one is something that should be important, a reason to make contact and find each other and forgive. But alas, human beings can be nasty and hateful and people miss out on important event.

Till next time.

Jane of Avonleigh

Recovery and Rehabilitation….

Hi Everyone,

It has been sometime since I wrote..  It has been an interesting couple of weeks.  I have had surgery on my right ankle after the breaks and I have been at my parent’s house and at home recovering from the operation and with a huge cast on my foot.

I was in Maroondah Hospital for one night in a room with 3 men.  Yes, three men.  They were nice guys, had worse injuries than me.  The food was good and the Nurses were amazing.  Looked after me so well.  I was sent home to my parent’s place in Swanpool on the Thursday.  It was lovely to be looked after by mum and dad for 5 days.  My daughter then picked me up and brought me home and here I have been since.  I have had a few outings to the supermarket where I push my wheelchair around and Cass does the shopping.  I will say that people give me the strangest looks, there are also some very ignorant people in this world who have no understanding of the environment around them.  I was sworn at and pushed out of the way a couple of days ago and another man told me to stay home and stay  out of the way.  I just pushed myself away and said ‘thank you and have a nice day.’ Regardless to say they were not amused.

Below is a photo of my hand any my leg just after surgery.

 

Since being home, I will say that I have done lots and lots of sewing and I will update you all with my latest quilt.  It is going great and I hope to have it finished in a couple of days.

Off to the Hospital tomorrow to have my stitches out and a new cast put on for the next stage of my recovery and rehabilitation.

Talk soon.

Take care of you

Jane xo

Nuts and Bolts…

Hi Everyone,

So it has been an interesting time since my last post.  I have been sewing and getting ready for my return to school, which is exciting.  BUT, the return to school has now ben delayed by at least 4 weeks.  Why you may ask???  Well, say the Orthopaedic surgeon on Thursday and I am off for surgery to have a screw or two put into my ankle to repair Ligament damage as well as the 2 breaks in my ankle.  Yes, 2.  Not very happy, but am ok at this stage.

So went into the hospital at 7am this morning to sit and wait and be told 50 minutes later, sorry, there are no beds, we will call you…  How fun is that.  Before that I was told, there is only one theatre working so if there is someone more urgent, you will get bumped and so it could be tomorrow.  So in reality, I am just waiting for them to call me and hope like hell that I can get done asap.

In the mean time though I have been sewing my ‘Lucy Boston’ blocks.  I am really enjoying them. Lots to play with in regards to the fabric.  I have found that some combinations really work and other are terrible.

Have also started cuting out more 3/8 hexagons for ‘Dear Prudence.’ only about 13,000 to go..  Very exciting.

I hope you all have a great Australia Day and enjoy this amazing weather.

Take care of you.

Jane

Lucy Boston Blocks…

All of the Lucy Boston blocks I have been working on. Pink one has the border on it.

Fractured and Frustrated…

Hi Everyone,

It has been a couple of day since I blogged.  Why?  Because when I was at Summer School learning to do the Lucy Boston Quilt Patchwork of the Crosses, I decided it was time for an Iced coffee.  So I grabbed my purse and said to Elisa I will see you there. I was in a hurry as it was 44 degrees outside.  In such a hurry that I did not see the step to go into the Café, yes, I fell into the store.  Landed flat on my right side with a very sore leg to go with it.  As I slowly got up, I thought ‘oh, sprained ankle.’

How wrong I was.  I rang my son and asked him to come and get me and take me to Emergency.  I waited patiently for what was to come.  I met my Doctor, had an x-ray and was told that there is nothing there, but if so, they will call me when the Radiologist looks at the X-rays.  Guess who got a phone call!!  Off I went with my daughter this time to have more x-rays and then to be told, ‘nothing, we can’t find it, please have a CT scan asap and then come back to Emergency.

Friday came and off I went.  It was quick and painless and then back to Emergency we went.  A very nice Doctor came and spoke to me to say ‘you have a 2 cm fracture in your ankle. Please take this letter and see the Fracture clinic next week.’  Ok.  Bugger, crap and hmmmm was all I was thinking.  I can’t afford this, then the realisation hit me. 6 WEEKS OF NO DRIVING.  Depending on heaps of others to assist me.  OH BOTHER….. Oh well, what else could I do.  So below is a picture of my current cast until I go back to the

hospital next week to see what is next.  So comfy!!  NOT, but it is doing a job….

On a more positive note, my Lucy Boston pieces are really coming together.  I promise to post some of these soon.  Have also nearly added another border to ‘Dear Prudence’ which I am excited about as then I get to put on a big border that will take the quilt to nearly 80 cm wide.

Hope you have been enjoying the Cricket, especially the One day games.

Take care of you.

Jane

Summer School…

Hi Everyone,

Last Saturday I went to Summer school.  I wanted to learn how to machine piece a quilt as I had tried before, but hadn’t been very successful.  Off I went with my sewing machine, (which I love, a Brother machine) and I was ready to start learning.  Wow, what an eye opener.  Karen taught me how to use my rulers, my rotary cutter and how to read instructions for the following:

9 patch, 4 patch, Pinwheel, Puss in the corner.

The first two were easy, especially when it is explained to you and the last two were a little more difficult. The fun part about it was learning the techniques to join seams and ensure that they sit flat and I also discovered how important the 1/4 inch seam is when putting a project together. 

After learning all of this, I was sent home to put it altogether with some other fabrics that Karen at Somerset and I had chosen.  I was excited, but a little hesitant to begin the project of putting all my squares together.  I followed the instructions given and cut everything out.  Luckily I asked Karen to cut me a little extra fabric, as I made a few mistakes, but discovered them before I began sewing.

So after a day and a half and my first attempt at ‘mitred corners’ I finished the quilt top.

Hope you enjoy it…

Take care of you

Jane

An Introduction…

Hi Everyone,

I would like to introduce you to a passion of mine.  Quilting…  I have only been seriously quilting for about 4 to 5 years, but sewing my whole life.  My mum was a sewer as well as my grandmother.  Very talented ladies. 

I am currently working on a quilt that is a challenge in itself.  It is called ‘Dear Prudence’ by Linda White. I started this quilt about 8 months with two lovely ladies, Elisa and Kaye, teachers as well.  I walked into a class at Somerset Patchwork and Quilting in Mt Waverly and Elisa says to me that she wants to do ‘Dear Prudence’ and would I like to do it with her and Kaye.  Of course I said yes, then she explained to me that we were going to do them in 3/8 of an inch.  I exhaled and still agreed as I though that it would be a great challenge.  Well, challenge it has been.  I calculated that if I did 25 hexagons a day for two years, that it would be finished in two years. Needless to say, I haven’t managed to keep up, but I am only about 10 days behind at the moment.  I am enjoying it a lot since I got past the blue border, it was a bit of a hurdle but since finally getting through it at Christmas, I have been speeding ahead.

My colors for Prudence are different, some ladies say they are ‘dirty’ colors, but I call them muted. The colors have been fun to play with and plan and I only buy two borders ahead each time as so many new fabrics come out al of the time and it is nice to add different things as we go.  There is a little bit of waste, especially with fussy cutting, but I have been shown a really fun way to use my scraps now, so I will be saving them for a later project.

 

I cut and use the glue pen, as basting would take a very long time. especially when there are 19,000 plus hexagons in the quilt.  I hope you enjoy the pictures and my work.  I will shortly post another quilt that I am working on, again in hexagons, they are kind of addictive.

Enjoy your day.

Take care of you

Jane

 

‘Own it’

Cleaning Up….

Have you ever noticed that cleaning up entails moving an object from one place to another. Putting it where we think it should be, in a cupboard usually or a drawer where it is not seen by the people living in a house or visitors.  Today I have spent quite a bit of time ‘cleaning up’ and have discovered things that I thought I had misplaced or an abundance of the same thing.  My pickle was, do I horde this abundance or do I give it to a charity for others to use.  After thinking about it for awhile, while I focused on another part of the house, I decided that it is time to de-clutter and to give to charity.  Wow, there are going to be a few car loads of stuff by the time I have finished.  As they say, someone’s trash is another person’s treasure.

So while cleaning, Lasagne is on the menu tonight and I have to say that having the time to make such a dish is lovely.  I know the family will enjoy it and that it will be eaten for lunches over the next few days if my son doesn’t get to it first.

Have a new years resolution that I decided today.  Don’t usually do them, but this year, I have decided to ‘own it.’  Take responsibility for my actions, if I did it, say it, if I didn’t, no more covering up for everyone else, make then ‘own it’ as well.  So in saying that I found this picture/quote on the internet and I think it sums it up nicely.

Take care of you

Jane

Day one and beyond..

Hi Everyone,

So, I have never blogged before but thought about it a lot. Why Blog I asked  myself. Is it just for me or is it to share my journey of being a mum, a teacher, a friend, sister, daughter and Quilter.  I decided that it is for me and all the other reasons that I can think about. My final realisation is that I am just going to do it becuase I can.

So, a little about me. I have two great kids, a fabulous partner and am a teacher and I love to sew.  All kinds of sewing. Quilting, Crazy patchwork, machine sewing, but especially hand sewing.  It is my passion. Putting something together to make somefhing new, something fun and interesting. I teacher secondary school here in Melbourne and I love my job. It is fun and rewarding,  hard, but still rewarding. 

My Blog will be about my sewing adventures, my life and my next journey. What it is to a be I am still not sure, but I will keep you posted. Maybe a new quilt, a new job, a new house, some new fabric, a road trip somewhere, I am really not sure, but I am looking forward to whatever it may be.

Take care of you

Jane