Friday, September 11, 2015

I haven't knitted in public for a while.............

I might just knit in public again.  I haven't for a while. One of the last times was quite eventful....I had my knitting confiscated on a Qantas flight in the post 9/11 madness.  I had spent 3 hours of a 5 hour flight peacefully knitting when one of the flight crew stopped and asked me what I was doing. My innocent reply was knitting.  I was using large wooden circular needles - blunter than the cutlery they provided me with to eat my meal - to knit a bag.  However, because I was knitting they deemed I was using knitting needles, which were a prohibited "weapon" on flights.  My innocent effort to allay their fears, in hindsight only escalated their concern  - I referred to knitting as a meditative art form.  I think their eyebrows raised and an alarm bells went off!  "We have a crazy here".......The federal police who were waiting to greet me as I left the plane were less than impressed with the flight crew's interpretation of ''weapon''....



Thursday, September 10, 2015

Meanderings and wanderings with my Nature Trail quilt....

So I've a few things to share following my long absence...but I'll start with the present...I'm working on my autumnal quilt, although I think now I'm leaning towards the name "'Nature Trails" quilt as it looks like snippets of landscapes and nature that you would see and touch and feel on a bush walk or outdoor tramping holiday in late summer or autumn.  I find myself thinking of the wonderful walks in the woods I always loved in England.  I love the changing colours of the seasons there.  We have them here on a lesser scale - actually lesser scale is not truly accurate.  It is more a different level of colour saturation. The colour palette in Australia is unique and lovely in its own right.  We are embracing spring and emerging from our safe warm wintery hidey holes.  It's exciting and there is a sense of anticipation and excitement.  I ponder all this as I sew.  Such lovely musings wandering through my mind!




My original plan was to use the linen as sashing to create a contrast to highlight the quilt blocks themselves.  Perhaps as though you were looking through a window (middle picture) or as a pathway through the countryside (picture 3), but now I'm contemplating no sashing at all (first picture)....  I will contemplate away as I construct more blocks.

All fabrics are Liberty tana lawn.  It's high time I stopped hoarding them and made them into quilts and things.  Really it's an injustice to have them sitting in a box in a cupboard, they need to out and played with and enjoyed and appreciated.

Having moved house in June, has highlighted how much fabric I own. Quite crazy!  I can't part with any just for the sake of reducing the size of my stash.  I have to use it all, so I'm on a mission, to sew sew sew, so that when I move next (I'm only renting for now) I have a lot less fabric to move.  I greatly need to economise in my new circumstances too, so I'm going to try to use my current resources.  I may even begin to offer quilts for sale....but I'm getting way ahead of myself...

Any thoughts on sashing or no sashing from the above pictures?  Please share if you do - it would be lovely sharing creative ideas....