Pixie Post

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Wearable Art

Ah, who says the alphabet has to be in order? Things are a bit busy around here, school holidays, next essay due-date looming, swimming a lot and wearing myself out, working working working.......
I didn't want you to miss out on these.....


The Supreme Award winner, Rattle Your Dags by Paula Coulthard and Ursula Dixon of Auckland, who were first time entrants.

The show was superb, and that Supreme winner really did stand out. I'll be back, soonish, with U and V!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

T is for tickets

I've got tickets.
For the World of Wearable Arts show, next week. Yeehaaa! (So now you know what "W" will be!).
For Wellington-Auckland-San Francisco-New York-Los Angeles-Auckland-Wellington, at the end of October. Oh my gosh. I can hardly believe it.

Introductions

Sagittarian, meet Islay Girl.
Islay Girl, meet Antipo Deesse.
Antipo, meet them two. You can probably introduce us to someone else.

Really, you three have the same wicked sense of humour. And you all have daughters. I reckon you'll get along. Just don't forget it was me who introduced you.

Ss

Silver. My silver charm bracelet. A treasure.

The crocodile and the thong were bought on a trip to Darwin. The 'thong' was a joke with a colleague. "What's the dress code?" I asked. "Oh pretty casual", he said, "but no thongs". "Do you know what a thong means to me?" "No", he said, "I don't think I want to". We laughed and laughed. The thistle came from Edinburgh, and the three monkeys (see no, hear no, speak no evil) a souvineer from someone elses travels.


Here's the kitten J bought for me when my cat got run over (oh, Flossie!), E for Edward, and that beautiful steam train I bought in Adelaide. The thimble was a gift from my Mum, and the stein came from Munich of course.
The shell is from Gisborne, reminding me to be thankful, after a horrific car accident from which everyone recovered, the London bus was a gift, and there's J for Jack. Can you see the four leaf clover, horseshoe, and wishbone? A lovely gift from my Mum. The turtle is from London, he has a top hat and a cane. There are bagpipes there, from Sterling in Scotland, when you open them up, there's a dancer inside. There are some lovely Aussie souvineers there too, including a map of Australia, which was a gift, along with a Tasmanian devil (yep, I know one of those!), a cockatoo, and a boomerang, because I wanted to go back. I had a Eiffle Tower, and a white tudor rose I that bought in York, but I lost them in the sea in Corfu. Bugger it.

I've been a lot of places I guess, but there's still room on there for a Statue of Liberty, don't you think?

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

3211 words

Here I am, up until midnight, trying to make sure I've got the references detailed correctly. Ooops, just realised I haven't put them in alpha order, and I need to go back through the document to make sure I have the dates right for each of them. Lordy. I don't do attention to detail well enough to be an academic. I don't see a Ph.D in my future. But it's a nice little essay, really it is. I just need a 'pass' right? I'm late with this one. It will be handed in 2 days late. Can I get away with that, do you think?

Did you see this (Anita Roddick). Sad. I have my doubts that she was the saint she is portrayed to be, but she certainly worked bloody hard, and did her best to make fair trade deals. Far too young to die. You never can tell. You must eat, drink, and be merry. Hard though it is, at times.

and this . Madeline's parents are suspects? Her blood in their car, long past the date she went missing. WTF? It better not be true, for they will surely be lynched if they're guilty.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

1006 words

1006 words. I knew you'd be pleased.
Can I have a fiddle with my blog now? I'd like to make a 'quilt' category, so I can visit them all at once..........
Oh all right, not til the next 1000 words are done.
I'm writing an essay. In the study with the view. The sun is shining, although the wind is up, and there's the usual parade of runners and cyclists, little kids with their parents and older couples out for their constitutional. I like seeing them all. I know not everything will be as ideal as it appears, but it's nice. People enjoying each other, and the coastline. But today a car has stopped and a woman has got out and paced up and down the fenceline, while a man stands gesticulating. I turn on my radio so I can't hear them, but the tension in the air is overwhelming. She puts her head on her arms, leaning on the fence. He stands, unmoving, a pace away from her. I notice he doesn't touch her. He drove away. I don't know where she went. The divers have moved 300m from where I first saw them. Flippers in the air, a floating box, for their catch I guess. There are lots of them today, probably because soon it will be a marine reserve, and there'll be no gathering of kai moana allowed. I'd love to join them. A red haired dad strides by, with his red haired son on his shoulders. I hope that woman is okay, but I guess not. Ahh, life.
I'll get back to the essay I guess. 300 words. 2,700 to go. My back hurts, my concentration gone.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Retro

It took me a while to think of a suitable R. Until I went shopping for sewing patterns.

A little Christmas party dress perhaps?

Or this one, for a luncheon party?


Oh, Boss, about that pay rise...... That little black one would work wouldn't it?

That's my favourite. The blue one with the long sash. I could sashay about in that someplace, couldn't I? With the caplet of course. I live in Wellington after all.

Yep, I'll make me one of those, just as soon as I get the 18 inch waist sorted.

Quilt of the day

Q had to be quilt, of course. This is Out of the Blue from 2001. It won a blue ribbon at the New Plymouth National Quilt Symposium. That was exciting. I love that cool, clear sky blue.


Ohh, there're some lovely curves in this quilt. It's nice to see it again. It's a shame I keep so many of them rolled up (carefully) and hidden away.
oops, I'm sure I told blogger to make the pictures smaller, but they're refusing. It's a mystery to me.

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Pp

Sometimes, in my world full of sons and the male dominated world I work in, I feel the need for a little something pretty. I whipped this up, it was supposed to be a speedy quilt, for me, at the same time I made the fleece backed quilts for the boys. In the spirit of use-what-you-have, I hand-dyed the border fabric one quiet afternoon. I pieced the back from bits of stashed fabric, and an old curtain. I even pieced left over cotton batting together 'til I had a piece big enough. Then I thought I would quilt it heavily with a quarter inch grid. I soon realised the folly of that, it would take forever, so I stuck to a quarter inch diagonal line. Somewhere along the way, the lines developed a curve, and of course, each row magnified the curve a tiny bit more, and now the quilting looks horrible. The quilt is creased in the photo from being folded and left neglected in a corner. But now that I've got it out again, I realise I really do love it. I call it the virginal quilt, just quietly. Well, if I'm going to be sleeping by myself, I might as well sleep among flowers. I can't imagine inviting any man to join me under it, it's far too pretty for that!

P is apparently also for perfectionist. Because that quilting is going to be unpicked, and I'm going to start again.
See, the back is pretty too.


Saturday, September 01, 2007

Older

I'm officially older today, and hallelujah to that!
Last week was all about work, long hours, major stress and huge milestones met. It felt great, when it was over.
There were drinks at a good bar after work on Friday night.
Dinner with my boys at an Indian restaurant.
A pile of presents I opened when I got home....ooohhh thanks!
Today I'm swimming for the first time in a few weeks. Hurt my back, and the osteopath said don't swim. Back in the water this morning.
Then, breakfast with the swimmers.
Lunch with J.
Dinner with AOF at a Japanese restaurant.

It's going to be a lovely day, full of great people and good food.
I'm 46. I know! You thought I was only 45 didn't you!
Older, wiser, and doing okay. Yep.