Folk Art.

In the 1990's folk art painting, decoupage and china painting was very popular and of course it was a hobby that I also took part in. With folk art anything that stood still got painted, I painted cupboards, fridges, cookware and garden ornaments such as milk pails and flower pots, especially terracotta pots, which always were a delight to paint.  My most favourite thing to paint on the pots were strawberries and sunflowers. These also made great gifts as well. It has been a number if years since I have painted but it comes in handy at times when an altered medium is required when I am doing my crafts. Along with scrap booking I was also doing altered art and had the most talented teacher Linda, who has since moved back to Perth, what amazing work that she did,  Linda could take something ugly and make it into a work of art, in a future post I will post some of the amazing things that I made when I did classes with Linda. I will leave some photo's of my painting.

My fridge and freezer painted with animals and a barnyard scene

My chalkboard message board

This was going to be part of a cupboard. Rabbits with strawberries

Two of the many urns with a flower spray painted and framed.

One of my cats painted on the side of a cupbaord.

A heart quilt

Recently I had a friends 50th birthday, and as she teaches patchwork and is a great sewer herself, I was pondering what to make for her. I decided to do a number of little hearts and incorporate different techniques and make them into a little quilt. I used a number of buttons to embellish, did a wild hibiscus rose in stump work and placed it in the centre of the quilt. I used satin, quilting and sandcastle  fabric as well. I also hand embroidered  some saying's and words of wisdom on the sides of the quilt. One heart had multiple French knots and with the use of ribbons, lace and trinkets. Another heart I foundation pieced,  it all came together nicely, and overall I was quite pleased with the result.

Bird House's

For a long time I have had a fascination with birdhouse's, I feel that it commenced on a trip to Hong Kong a number of years ago, when  I had the opportunity to visit the famous Yuen Park Bird market, what a wondrous site with multiple birds, mainly canaries  multi-coloured and being fed grass hoppers. I was fascinated at how these Chinese men lovingly peel the grasshoppers to feed to their birds. This was where I purchased my first bamboo bird cage. From then on I have since collected bird cages as well as bird houses. Much to my hubby's delight he has erected my buys into the garden and others are hanging or on stands.

Texas Wheel block

Over the last number of weeks I have been attending class with Chris Jurd, Patchwork Fundamentals  making blocks, called Texas wheels. These blocks are made up of  light and dark fabric sewn together to form a circle, then placed into a square. A great way to use up your fabric scraps. The star shape does not require a lot of fabric. I am using my reproduction fabrics, that I have collected for my Lucy Boston as well as my Dear Jane quilt. The half triangle shapes can be either hand pieced or machine sewn. For the centre I am doing tiny dresden plates and hexagon centres, the challenge will be what I create for all the centre's. The blocks come together quite quickly

Start with one dark and one light fabric

Make 8 altogether

Then sew the eight sides together, coordinating light and dark fabrics to form a star

 Then add quarter circles to the star shape, I have used cream fabric, but a different assortment of light fabric could also be used.

"The Grounds"

Saturday saw another day out with the "kids", this time we went into "Alexandria" to visit the grounds. Located in the grounds is a collective interest of gourmet deli's and shops, Being there on a Saturday meant that we could also visit the gourmet markets offering a selection of fresh produce, delectable desserts, meats and cheeses. There was also stalls with scented candles, collection of vintage goods and stationary. On our arrival we booked into the very popular café, it is advisable to do this as there is usually a long wait to be seated. We waited 1 1/2 hours, but the food was worth the wait. We took the opportunity to visit the deli, called Salt, meat and cheese. http://saltmeatscheese.com.au/. My god we all died and went to heaven, the selection of gourmet cheeses and salami's as well as the salt selection was awesome. I purchased truffle pecorino, Roche forte cheese, white truffle salt, apple wood and pink Himalayan salt, as well as two different salami's. We finally sat down to eat at 1130hrs and enjoyed what was served.

Ahhh.. The Serenity!

What a great Australian saying made famous by one of our favourite Australian movies of all time." The Castle". Today I spent the day with my very dear friend Sandy, in her bush retreat. I last saw this retreat about 7 months ago and the progress with the renovations and gardens is a credit to her and her husband, in what they have achieved in such a short time. We spent the day working in the garden, had lunch with tiny finches close by and then went for a bush walk, what a great way to chill out and relax amongst nature at it very best. Usually there are green parrots and other colourful birds around, but as the wind picked, up all went quite with the birds. I did manage to come home with a bag full of lemons, so must make some lemon butter. It is the simple things that look great, like just planting a few succulents into a tree stump and making use of natural rock already in the bush.c

Gourmet Wednesday

After a very busy 5 days at work, it is time for a few days of rest, relaxation and socialising with family friends and pets. Work can be rewarding and demanding at the same time and life sometimes can be hard to get an even balance, so each day must be treasured and lived to the maximum. My puppy Xena is snuggling close and hubby also needs some attention, so my days spent at home will provide some comfort to them and myself. The best thing about having days off and every Wednesday is family night, aptly named "Gourmet Wednesday" by my next door neighbour. These nights are very important to me and my husband, because it is the one night of the week guaranteed to see our grown children and partners. The one delight in our life is our son's and their partners, whom we love dearly as they are an extension of our son's. When we are all together as a family, there are fun times and open honesty, no one holds back if something needs to be said.