I oughta be...

I oughta be:

• writing my essay (level crossings are a road safety issue) for a Queensland University paper I'm doing by correspondence. Alas, I don't go to lectures in Brisbane. Check out these extraordinary rail safety commercials from South Australia;
• making some Kumera soup for which I just bought all the ingredients;
• tidying up the bedroom and hanging up/washing all the going-to-work clothes.

But instead, I've been swimming with my Harbour Capital Masters mates, and now I'm tired. 200m warm up, 2 x 200m medleys, 16x25m sprints, 8 x 50 breaststroke drills, 100m warm down. Not one of our longest or hardest sessions, but enough to earn breakfast at the cafe! I love Saturday mornings. I will be back in the pool tomorrow, swimming time trials for a meet in May. Oh I wish I was younger and fitter!

Self Portrait in progress. I love my pink goggles! Swim Pixie, swim!

Instead of writing that essay, I'd rather show you quilts by P the Prolific which I got to see at our quilting get-together during the week., when I should have been at home writing my essay.

This one is made from 2.5" strips...

and this one is a wedding quilt for her daughter. It is mostly batiks. They are both, of course, even more lovely in the flesh (or should that be fabric). P the prolific is a wizzard with colour in scrap quilts.

Right, there will have to be rules I guess. No more blogging until 3000 words completed. Wish me luck!

Letter to a heart-broken friend

What can I say to a friend, far away, who is hurting?
Here is a happy quilt-of-the-day that ought to raise a smile. The chickens were made by friends and put together by me as a housewarming present for a friend who moved to her dream home in the country. It's a great place to visit and one day I'll take you there. (commercial pattern - designer will get a credit when I can find it!)

1. Keep busy. Occupy your hands and your head will follow. Before you notice, whole hours will go by without thinking about how hurt you are.

2. Know that you are loved. Lots of people love you. Go on, count 'em. I can think of 7 or 8 people who love you. I'm sure you can think of more. There are a whole lot more who care about you a lot too.

3. What's good about you? Lots of things. Think about them. You're a great parent. You make people laugh. You are loyal. You know a good Sav Blanc when you taste one. What else? Acknowledge your strengths. No-one and nothing can take them away.

4. Know that this is a moment in time, and it will pass. One day it will be a memory. This feeling is not forever.

5. Figure out what works for you. Is it better not to see the hurtful person? Don't see them. Do you need to rant and rave and tell them how you feel? Does that really make you feel better? Do what works. You owe them nothing, especially not any more of your precious time.

6. Read some inspiring words. Check this out for starters. Discardian has some great words.

7. Talk to someone. Pay someone neutral to listen to you talk if that makes you feel better. But talk, talk, talk to someone who will listen, and who has intelligent advice and tough questions to ask you.

8. Go look at the moon. It's beautiful isn't it? Know that I can see it too, and I am with you.

Does anyone have any more advice?

Happy dance, a week off work!

We drove all the way to Raumati, just an hour out of Wellington, but a change is as good as a rest, and all that. We stayed for a week. It was fun.

We made some friends at Lindale, a farm-show come petting-zoo.

We explored all the beaches. We lit a fire just big enough for cooking sausages and marshmallows for lunch at the wild beach a little further north at Te Horo. Yum!

We found the Kea (top right), the Kereru (bottom left), the rimu tree (top left), and this beautiful old tree at Nga Manu bird Scantuary in Waikanae. While the northern hemisphere bloggers are posting spring pictures, it is autumn here, and the native trees are evergreens, showing their lush deep greens, not giving up their leaves for anyone.

Now, specially for Lucy, Pacific Queen by Paul Dibble, 1990. Isn't she beautiful? She lives outside Te Manawa, Palmerston North. She has a sister near Wellington airport, which I must show you sometime. Te Manawa is the city art gallery, but after a bit of a search I haven't found it's website. Impatiently, I have given up. It shouldn't be that difficult.

Oh, yes, I embellished a few more hearts when unable to separate the boys from the television....soon it will be done! And stopped by this lovely quilt shop while in Palmerston North too, where I bought beautiful blue (of course) antiquey florals, for some future project.

The Hearts

In January, after a South Island holiday, I came home with a heavy heart. Definitely not in love with Wellington at that point, and poor heart in need of rest-of-your-life medication, a tough and unwelcome decision for me.

So into the sewing room........first, a wild red, orange, pink and yellow thing, fused, stitched, and blasted with heat and the soldering iron, like the purple thing of a previous post. Next, a glorious cheddar batik for the background (more orange than the picture). And then some funky fun heart shapes. Lots of quilting. Lots and lots and lots of beads, buttons and sequins. I was just playing really, but it started to grow into something I really like.

I was feeling better now, can you tell? Wellington is a good place, and prescription drugs are better than having a stroke right?

Early in February I caught up with the two J's who had a romantic, funny, pink marshmallow wedding in December. Oh how they glowed! This quilt seemed to need to belong to them. I am sure they will love it, and it's even more fun to stitch buttons and beads knowing they will appreciate the effort. I think it will be called 'Joy', because that's what they are full of!

Of course, I really ought to finish it....I've given myself an end-of-April deadline, but then, alas, I'll have to actually part with it. I'll ask for visiting rights, and maybe I'll borrow it for a competition next year.

The fish quilt and the rape trial

Quilt of the day, completed a couple of years ago. I called it Orange Smoothy, a reference to NZ's favourite Orange Roughy. Much more 'square' than it appears in the photograph. Won a merit for embellishment in a Wellington exhibition. It was collaged following the methods of Susan Carlson. The slide shows on her website are well worth a visit, and her book is great.

Everyone was still talking about this rape trial at the weekend. This article by Steve Braunias is interesting.

Lousie, every woman I've talked to believes you. Most of the men I've discussed it with (why don't they want to talk about it much hmm?) are more interested in discussing Rickards career prospects. Grim is the general theory, and thank goodness for that.

Thanks to the women who have risked prosecution to make the supressed information public.

Welcome to the Pixie Post.

It sure is hard to find a blog name that hasn't been snapped up already.
About 10 years ago I worked with a man who called me Pixie. He was smart and funny and he taught me a lot. He died too young. Thanks PG.

I've been stitiching.

I got some purpley blue cotton, and fused other cottons to it...

Then I added some glitz and put net over the top and free-motion stitched all over it...

Then I attacked it with a heat gun and a soldering iron.

I don't like it much, it needed more melting synthetics to make it blend more. Everything seemed to want to burn not melt. I'll use it though, it's going to be cut into little houses, beaded and buttoned and hand stitched. I'll keep you posted.