have you seen.....

oops, I'm sorry, June seems to be missing. I'm terribly boring, all I do is work, and swim, and angst about my blood pressure (which can't be good for it, can it? actually it's the meds I angst about the most. Did you know more women die of heart disease than breast cancer? but I digress...), and work, and try not to moan about my sore back (actually it's much better thanks), and beg passing males to chop firewood for me, and well, work and work and (I love it really, don't tell anyone).

Turth is I haven't been moved to show you anything for absolutely ages (obviously), but look, look at this!!

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/julieandjulia/site/#/Home

Oh, I can't do any fancy linky thing, you'll have to take my word for it. Meryl Streep (doing that chameleon thing she does so so well) as Julia Child, with turkey, with it's legs spread. funny! go, go, see for yourself. be sure and watch the trailer.

Now, that reminds me. Have you seen this? Unmissble I expect, I suspect we should not expect it to captivate us like the book did.



But you know what? the one I'm really excited about.....well, it says embedding disabled by request so you'll have to go to the website and see. This is a book that anyone who has ever met someone aged under 5 must've read. It looks like a book made movie with extraordinary success. Everyone has a wild thing inside!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NOkQ4dYVaM

Have a lovely weekend. I'll be at work. But so will the rest of the team, including the fearless leader, so you know, can't complain too much.

could someone mow the lawn for me? cheers!

I am super gardener girl

Look!

You would have to wonder why I am not thin as a rail considering all the %$&$#@ hard graft I do around here. It's probably the chocolate I have to reward myself. Good gardener girl, pat on back, have some chocolate.

My beloved camera was dropped by a boy (happy frigging mothers day) and the orrifice into which one would plug the cable to upload pictures is damaged. Totally stuffed. So new pictures may be a bit scant around here, for the next 20 years or so until I can buy a new camera.

The sewing of clothes continues. Success rate is dire. One skirt= Okay. one pair of trousers=too small. another pair of trousers=too big so far, possibly retrievable, motivation however is very very very low.

In other exciting news, the almost brand new car with expired warrant and expired registration which has sat not too far from that big bin for 8 months (after it's owner died) has disappeared today. Most strange.

Grass, Ivy, nastertiums, more grass, unidentified weeds, neglectful neighbours, gorse, rats, mice, spiders, I will not be beaten, you hear.
Clothes that fit? I've done it before I will *&*^**$# do it again. I will not be beaten (though the $4 per metre fabric may run out).

This is my 300th post. Spell check was not employed.

Want

Want these, from here.
I'd hang them above my bed


want this too.
It's from here
I'd hang it .... oh someplace. got a lot of walls around here in need of art.

I'm a bit in love with wordy art. Many. many I think I'd get sick of too soon. But not these two.
Want.

However, I don't own any wordy art, but I now own one of these. Little Juey. Kicks grass!
sigh. at least it's a kiwi gizmo. And it has the finest line replacement system on the market.
nowhere near as pretty as the wordy art though.

hey quilters

get on over here to an online quilt festival
and linky linky.

lots of quilts to see, with stories. I love stories.

I'll tell you about symposium soon. I'm working today, all day. It's like writing an essay again, but deadlines and such mean that it must be done.

Pass the chocolate.

Obamarama

When I went to the US in 2007 I saw people campaigning for Obama, and I thought to myself "heh, not a chance!". Which shows you what I know.

But I didn't know about the Michelle factor back then.
I admit that I was intrigued when the drop dead gorgeous tv host-sewist-blogger Lovely at That's Sew Live showed this pretty dress that Michelle wore on daytime tv. Lovely always finds the best dress patterns. (Hi Lovely, how you doing? How's that baby girl. Hope she's sleeping well).It was a Donna Ricco dress. Bet it sold out fast.

and now there is this pattern, by Butterick, so you could make one of your own. I hope Ms Ricco got a good pay day out of that. I could whip that up, instead of just blogging about it, and have a perfect work wardrobe.
I confess, I've been visiting this blog....Mrs O which is dedicated to what the woman is wearing. I love most of her clothes. They're classic and stylish, and there's usually a little zing, in the form of the unexpected....you know, with a costume jewellery broach, or a great colour. Actually, what it showed me at first was how danged hard she was working with appearances and speeches and all. Gee and all those meetings with a stylist and designers too....must be hell.

I liked what she told the New York Times.
“[President Mr. O]’s always asking: ‘Is that new? I haven’t seen that before.’ It’s like, Why don’t you mind your own business? Solve world hunger. Get out of my closet.”
Heh.
See this pretty cardigan. It came from J Crew. It was only $298, but it's sold out.

In "Devil Wears Prada" there's a great scene......I can't find a link that works "in my region" cos of copywrite issues, so you'll have to read the script:

Miranda Priestly: [Miranda and some assistants are deciding between two similar belts for an outfit. Andy sniggers because she thinks they look exactly the same] Something funny?
Andy Sachs: No, no, nothing. Y'know, it's just that both those belts look exactly the same to me. Y'know, I'm still learning about all this stuff.
Miranda Priestly: This... 'stuff'? Oh... ok. I see, you think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select out, oh I don't know, that lumpy blue sweater, for instance, because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise, it's not lapis, it's actually cerulean. You're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar De La Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves St Laurent, wasn't it, who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of 8 different designers. Then it filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and so it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room. From a pile of stuff.

It's a good scene, in a surprisingly good chick flick kinda thing. Love Meryl Streep. But it's a similar thing, in a circular kindof way, now I'm able to have what she's wearing, influenced by designers. They'll all be from the US no doubt.

Anyway.....I'm totally over the Michelle thing now.

How dare my hicksville city newspaper give such space to the debate about Michelle showing her arms (in this world where teenagers are encouraged by the designers to be showing their cleavage to the max in thigh long dresses...wtf?), and showing me what she wore to meet the Queen and good golly Michelle actually touched the soverign person! And my tinpot tv station with its poor excuse for a news bulletin ... how dare they devote part of the bloody broadcast to the fashion-icon- first-lady-heartwarming-rubbish. That isn't news.

Tell me the details of the G20 meeting for goodness sake. Who was there besides Michelle hmm? And what about that major drivers of crime summit at the Beehive on Friday...hmmm? With 100 Non Government Organisations attending I bet they came up with something didn't they? but is it in the news? NO! Just a few words from a Ministers speech.

So now you know the worst. I'm still obsessed with what to wear, and I love fashiony blogs and I watch shallow movies (and remember parts of them too), but I'd like a little substance in my 'news' please.

Hello

My name is Pixie and it is almost two months since my last posting.
I'm not sure why, it was an unintentional blog break.

• I can't remember what happened to most of February.
• I did go to Christchurch, to visit the Handyman, and to swim in another ocean race in a beautiful bay out Lyttleton way, and to visit the Handyman.
• I declared March to be the month of the garden. The garden is large, and much neglected. I fired the lawnmower man, because he was doing such a bad job I was really grumpy. So I have spent hours, and many trips to the tip (a dozen or so, really!), reclaiming my section from the neighbours around me. Their ivy and wandering jew and other noxious weeds creep into my section from above and both sides. It's very satisfying all this destruction, but exhausting. I have to buy some equipment next, a weedeater and a lawnmower, but that's on hold for a while.
  
• there are no before and after photos becos I left the camera in Christchurch.
• The Handyman came and watched the swim race. No-one ever came to watch me swim before. Well, you know, not since I was 12 anyway. I don't think he realises how much that meant to me. I even let him see me in my wetsuit.
  
• beloved Aussie ex-colleagues had their meeting in Wellington. There was coffee and dinner and a sneaky early morning coffee. Miss them, not the work so much.
  
• I got a ginormous load of firewood. I did 8 wheelbarrow loads by myself, and then got an army of friends in to help. It was done and dusted in an hour. Many hands make light work.
  
• I am decluttering and throwing things away. A big load of toys went to charity. I think I was sadder than the boys.
• Eddie went, with his Dad, to see ColdPlay in Auckland. He called me when they played "Fix You". It was beautiful.
• Jack and I went to see the Monet exhibition at Te Papa. He took his time, going up close, standing back, reading the notes on the walls. I had to remember to stop watching him and look at the art. Jack decided he liked the Renoir more than the Monets. Heh.
• I sewed a bit. clothes. not so bad. why don't I finish things? I'm working on the fit, and trying to get my eye in....what fabric makes what? I'm almost ready to buy some decent fabric and seriously make something to wear.
• someone reversed into the rear drivers-side passenger door of my car. The door is getting replaced. I tried to convince the insurance assessor he should write the car off, but no luck. Phooey. It will have a brand new door, but probably won't get a warrant next time it's due (in April). I plan to live without a car when that happens. Just for a while. As long as I can stand it. Be good for me anyway, I need to do lots of walking.
  
• I hurt my back. Getting out of the car. click click click it went. It got worse as the day went on. I sat at my desk and cried. and then I called the osteopath. I love my osteopath, but each time I see him he says "behave yourself" as I leave. That means don't swim, don't garden, use your stomach muscles, take the painkillers. I can't sit down for more than fifteen minutes. I lie on the floor at work to read things, and I stand up for most of hour long meetings. Sigh.
  
• I went to Christchurch again. Got to see the Sagitarian and her family at last, and stayed up far too late talking and laughing with them. The Handyman and I walked a lot and saw some art at the Arts Centre and the beautiful art gallery, the back rubs were free, and I nearly missed the plane to come home.
  
• Symposium is coming soon. I'm looking forward to the exhibition and to seeing lots of old friends. But my parents will be here at the same time, so I'll be a bit torn between wanting to be in two places.
• I am totally loving my job.
  

So you know....busy, sore, happy enough.....
shall try to do more posting in April. Maybe I should promise to show you what I'm sewing.......

The Jury's decision

The Bernina Quilt Wellington 2009 Exhibition jury has spoken.

The report from the jurors is most interesting. It took me by surprise a little. They note that the third condition of entry stated that the quilt had to be "the maker's own design or be a traditional quilt which no other person has any copyright claim over". They say that in asking for original quilts the Symposium committee were doing something very unusual. They clearly didn't want to see quilts made from a pattern, but they also say that many people seemed to believe that quilt blocks quite recently designed were "traditional". They were pleased that quilt makers specified sources and inspiration, and did a little detective work. The jury was, they say, surprised at how little some quilts had changed from the original source. They discuss how they dealt with Baltimore quilts...what a challenge that must have been. Could you make a baltimore without a pattern by that remarkable Elly Sienkiewicz, goddess of the Baltimore? They must have had an extraordinarily difficult job, and it's a task I don't ever want to do!

Personally, I suspect they should have elaborated a little more when laying out the criteria for entries. The emphasis on originality didn't particularly strike me when I filled out my entry form. Imagine the dilemma I'd have had if I'd wanted to enter a 1930s reproduction quilt (my other quilt love!). That daffodil design, does it still belong to Mountain Mist. That's a company! How do we wait 50 years for the assertion of copyright to expire? When the company disintegrates?

I think the Wellington Symposium committee are entitled to call for entries to an exhibition of their choosing, and the jurors must of course, work around not just the criteria but also space limitations. They say that in some cases they really wanted the quilts as they were wonderful. I am sure some exquisite work has been rejected, I've certainly seen that happen over and over again.

This is shaping up to be a very controversial exhibition. I expect it will be very arty, and will change the idea of what is a 'quilt' for many people who see it. Making art will not be what drives the majority of New Zealand's quilt makers, and I fear many will be discouraged by an exhibition that they do not relate to. Arguably though, there are many showcases for more traditional work, and less for the quilt as art. The symposium exhibition, which is held every two years, should showcase the best of New Zealand's work over the last 2 years. I suspect much of that has been rejected. It's time probably, for an art show and a quilt show.

Do I sound confused? Perhaps I have survivor guilt. I am, these days, making quilts as art, more often than to warm someone. The copyright for this one most definitely belongs to Helen Fielding (2008) and I am absolutely delighted that it has been accepted.

Wave (2008)

What I did on my holidays...

Look, I made a scarf.
With beautiful wool (oh, that's yarn in blogspeak), and a crochet hook. It's fast and it's fun this crocheting thing.

I got another one of these.

So now there are three!

The sparkly mirror parts are all different. Must figure out where to hang them.

And now I am transferring pattern markings, the old fashioned way, by stitching tailors tacks. Guess that's showing my age. Maybe I should get some of that new-fangled chalk stuff.

Oh and about those books....I got an email. "Don't be ridiculous", he said. "There's no such thing as too many books". Ha!

Too Many Books

There are too many books in this house. I don't know what to do with them. I don't know how to whittle them down.
There are boy books, cute little kids books, vintage books I had when I was a kid and some of my brothers ones too, old university texts...plays and poetry and things which I have loved dearly in the past, trashy chick lit which I devour these days in a night or two, books I've bought to read on planes, and magazines...quilt magazines, interiors magazines that I try not to buy any more............and some (not many) treasured art/quilt/interiors books which are the easy ones to keep.

What am I going to do with them all? What do you do? Edit? Buy another bookshelf? Sell them? Chuck them out? Fill up the basement some more??

What do you do with all the books???

Oh I should explain, I'm trying to expose some walls so I can paint them. But they're covered with books that no-one looks at or particularly wants any more. What am I going to do with them?

Help!

The Bathroom

Ladies (and the increasingly rare gentlemen), I give you, 99% complete, the bathroom, chez Pixie.

BEFORE

AFTER

I wanted a calm neutral space, and I was thinking of those beautiful Aussie hotel bathrooms that were a big part of my working life in the last 5 years. It feels big and bright and just right!

Oh, well, maybe only 90 percent complete. It needs a little more paint, you can see that on the apron of the bath and above the vanity the tiles are missing, and there's the small matter of some towel rails and some cupboard handles. But now there are vinyl tiles on the floor and I'm very pleased with them. They're temporary....for maybe a year or so, while my bedroom next door is completed and then the lovely timber floors can be polished.

Holiday

We went for a little holiday, me and the boys, for a few nights, to Raumati, about an hour up the coast. There's nothing better than walking by the sea at sunset, with a couple of boys to chat with.

Happy Birthday to Eddie

Edward is 12! He requested Marble Cake for his birthday cake, and cottage pie, (or shepherds pie) with loads of mashed potato on top for his birthday dinner. Then he took some of his birthday money and bought neopolitan icecream and rented Pixar's Wall-e to watch. Can't convince the boy to have a birthday party with actual friends coming to hang out. He's not interested.

The cake recipe is from Ladies a Plate. A wee gem of a baking book, full of the recipes my mum used to make in baking marathons, and more. They're the kinds of recipes that include the ingredients you have in the cupboard. Butter, sugar, flour, eggs, some spice, some coconut, some nuts or cocoa. No fancy specialist store shopping required. The book has little snippets of history, from old fund-raising recipe books, and they're all photographed beautifully on old china and embroidered linens. I bake a lot these days, so there are treats around that don't have loads of 'e' numbers. I think it's best that they understand how many cups of sugar and great loads of butter they're gobbling up when they demolish cake and icecream.
Hmm, Jane would love this one. Maybe I'll send her a link.