I had a Humpty Dumpty moment today.

[Anansi]

Sweet, Allee!!! Your quilts are beautiful!

 

[strudel]

That's gorgeous work.

 

[Bundiibird]

@Allee: that quilt is beautiful. I remember my mum making me a beautiful hand stitched quilt for my bedroom when I was younger. You don't see them all that often anymore. It is all about doona covers.

@Trish: hope your are feeling better today. I just loved your story and glad it ended ok for Dommie.

 

[GW.Joe]

BEAUTIFUL Allee, Very Very Nice, LOVE it !!

 

[faeryphoebe1]

Trish, what a great read. So sorry that you injured your knee. I do hope that you're feeling better.

Allee, that quilt is quite beautiful, as is Gypsy.

 

[Anansi]

How is that knee, Trish? All healed up?

 

[Betrisher]

Allee, you dark horse, you! That quilt is beautiful and it's hand quilted! I can't believe all the work that went into it! I, myself, personally only stitch in the ditch and do as little quilting as I can get away with: yours is a true work of art! Congratulations! What will you make next, hmmm??? I strongly suggest you check out Jenny Doan's videos on YouTube: she has lots of tips for making quick easy quilts that look just stunning. Lemme know if you'd like to do a quilt-along, eh?

I'm a bit slow on the uptake and only just realise folk had commented on the 4th July fireworks. We get that on Australia Day (26yh January) over here. This past Aus. day, my sister, my brother-in-law and both my nieces spent the whole night hanging onto a mob of horses as fireworks lit the sky.

Those who aren't horsey folk can have no conception of the effect that exploding and sparkling fireworks have on the poor beasts! Oh, and the horses don't like them much either. Poor Francie (my sister) scored two broken toes out of the exercise as her big fat quarter horse danced on his hindlegs and came down heavily on her foot. The foal, who is only half-grown, did his own damage by kicking out in terror and nearly slicing off his foot on corrugated iron. My nieces had hold of a horse and a pony each and had a 'delightful' time being spun around in circles by the screaming, plunging animals. It was AWFUL from all accounts!

When you add this sort of thing to the massive cost in domestic pets that go missing after large public fireworks displays, you really have to wonder what on earth it's all for? Half an hour of smoke and sparks and noise and fallout and then... Pffft! Lots and lots of money gone up in smoke. AND - there are people starving on this earth. SMH.

PS. I won't go into the details of what it's like for autistic people, who suffer from day to day from sensory overload. (ie. Purgatory!) Nor will I go into the details of what it's like for 'ordinary' people who suffer from misophonia (ie. sound-phobia). I've got one of each in my family and so fireworks nights are not our favourites.

PPS. You can plug everyone's ears with cottonwool, but it only helps a bit and the horses really hate it. :22_yikes:

PPPS. Thanks, Stephen. The knee is as stiff as a board and I have bruises all down my right side. Note to self: do not have gravitational contact with the earth ever again. At all. It's not worth it!

 

[Allee]

Thanks so much to all of you for the kind compliments for my quilt and my sweet girl, Gypsy. I was fortunate to spend my childhood watching some master quilters at work, they set the bar pretty high, by the time I finished my quilt all I could see was mistakes. I'll never look at a hand made quilt the same way. Now that I know so many of you are quilt lovers, I'll take some photos of my mom's quilt collection, some of the patterns border on folk art.

Trish, I will watch the video, thank you. My only plans for quilting are to somehow repair a monster of a quilt with a lot of damage, it's a President's Wreath pattern. The other is a quilt top, hand pieced and made of cloth flour sacks, I found it at a local antique auction and couldn't resist. I'm sorry Trish, what is a quilt along?

You'll be happy to know the weather has improved and Gypsy's collection of sky balls have been scattered to the four winds, I'm thrilled since I'm tired of sleeping with them. Gypsy is feeling safe enough to sleep in her own bed instead of wrapped around my head.

Trish, and everyone else, I feel for you with the fireworks. Texans will use any excuse to barbecue something and make things explode. New Years, Independence Day, Spring Break, any week-end, etc. There was a recent accident with a fireworks display trailer in a nearby town that ended in one death and several injuries. They refuse to learn.

PPS. You can plug everyone's ears with cottonwool, but it only helps a bit and the horses really hate it.

Thanks for that wonderful visual! Have the poor horses recovered? Trish, from the description, your bruises will probably turn several pretty shades of purple before they vanish, but I hope your knee is less painful.

 

[Betrisher]

Ooo! I envy you the flour sack quilt! I've got a pile of 1930s reproduction prints from which I plan to make a thing called a 'Dear Jane'. (Google it - you won't be sorry!)

A quilt-along is where two or more people set out to make the same quilt and do it 'together' in stages. For example, make a block each week or each month and compare notes during the construction. I was supposed to have a Dear Jane quilt-along with my quilting buddy, Trisha, only she piked on me at the last minute. Quilting alone isn't nearly as much fun as quilting along with someone else.

 

[strudel]

I wish I could have "got into" quilting more. I just got a sore finger, and found it difficult manoeuvring the huge amount of fabric to work on the "spot" (and it's only a single bed quilt). Also, being a perfectionist, all I could see was how the stitching wasn't even..... The pattern had the sections for construction, but it didn't tell you how you "should" do the quilting, so I made a poor decision and don't think I like it.... If I'd had a quilting group, or a quilting "mentor" I might have finished it, but I just put it aside and there it lingers.

I'd love a really nice quilt for my bed, but my dogs would probably wreck it, jumping up after coming inside from outdoors with dirty feet. My problem is that I like so many different types, I'd really want a collection that I could change at will.