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Recap on the First Quarter

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 22:36:01 -0400

I cannot believe the first quarter of the year has come and gone. So far the challenge of blogging every day has been met although I have to admit, some days it has been pretty tough getting myself to do it. Usually on a busy day and it's 9pm when I just getting started!

How do I keep myself on track? I have a diary sitting next to my computer and every weekend I write down the titles of my blog posts for the coming week. I don't always do what I have written down, but at least it is a thought to start on and if I come up with something else in the meantime, then I erase it, write in the new idea and push the old idea out to the next week. Sometimes an idea will give me 3 or 4 posts of ideas, hence I write them down right away before I forget. By the way, this is how I keep track of the days too. Number 90 today! (I'll let you into a little secret, it's actually the longest I've ever kept a diary)

So let's take a quick look back at some of the things I've covered over then last quarter.

Probably my most popular is my flower blocks. Friday Flower Block posts >>
Every Friday I add a new flower to the list. The first was a pansy and as I was making it, I came up with the idea that these flowers should be available as a download. A good idea as I've had sales with every different block thus far. A lot of extra work however, but I have to admit I really do enjoy making each and every one.

Another weekly blog post is "Quilting by Photo Inspiration". I have really enjoyed this challenge as it gets me thinking outside the box so to speak. It also gave me new ideas to present to my Quilting Students. I often do more than you see presented on my blog each week and have used this to expand my class to 6 lessons (originally it was just 2 with a prep lesson to start) and I have promised my students to continue adding more videos and designs each session it is run. I have a lot of fun with this and I'm sure my students are benefiting greatly.

Every Monday I present a block with instructions in various sizes. I'm not a patchwork quilter, I'm more into applique and art quilt quilter, but I am rather enjoying the different blocks I've been making. I really should have thought a bit more on color when making these blocks so that they will fit together into a quilt at the end of the year, but instead I used scraps of fabric in different colors. I thought this was more benefical to my readers as each block is fresh. It also gets me using colors I don't normally use. At the moment, I'm a little stuck on green and orange. I never knew it looked so good! You can see all my free quilt patterns here >>

Those three categories take up Monday, Wednesday and Friday posts. Sometimes one will flow over into the next day, but if not, there are four more days to fill in the week. I have plenty to write about as these are easily filled up with pattern reviews or help and suggestions, class presentations and photos showing off my student's work. I throw in a few personal blogs as well, along with digital jigsaws, recipes and other fun things.

For me, it's not just a matter of writing. There is a lot more involved. Every post has at least one photo and those with instructions have many more. At least three posts (my three weekly ones) have sewing involved too and Friday's also includes making files, templates, webpages and kits.

So to sum up, I guess I could be quite proud of myself for getting this far into the challenge. I do look forward to the many more post I'll be writing in the next three quarters. Of course, I'm always open for other ideas I can present to my readers. Maybe you'll list a few in the comments below.

A Day to Remember

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 01:39:33 -0400

27 years ago today I remember as if it was yesterday. I woke about 1:30am. It was time to get up and drive the hour and half to the hospital. Some short hours later my youngest daughter was born and she sure let the world know she was alive.

Emma was a go getter from day 1, well being an Aries it doesn't surprise me. When she puts her mind to something, she goes for it, no mucking around. She loved her soccer and played it for many years even though her closest friends didn't.

Emma's at the front

She loved dressing up for parties too.

Emma in her bunny suit

Another thing she loved to do was dance. All through her school years she was in the front line as she learned the steps quickly and others like to be behind her so they could follow. At high-school she joined the smoke-free challenge for several years. This is a dance performance, a challenge between high-schools. We even got to see her on TV when it was broadcast.

Dressed up for the Smoke-free Challenge

Emma also enjoys sewing. With my help she made her first ball dress which she designed herself.

Emma's first ball dress

When I first started talking of making a trip to the States, Emma thought she might stow away in my suitcase...

Stowing away

...but before she could stow away, she met her husband-to-be Chris, American born and now a New Zealand citizen. As it happened, they were able to make a trip to America together which had to be more fun than being stuck in the suitcase.

Chris graduated in Christchurch, if my memory serves me right, in 2006.

Chris's Graduation

Later that same year, they both moved to Auckland to live.

In September 2010, just after Christchurch's 7.1 earthquake (which Emma happened to experience as we were both busily making the dresses), Chris and Emma were married.

Emma the bride

It was a wonderful day except for the rain. It didn't just rain, it poured. Being an outside wedding the ground was so wet that our high heels sunk into the ground which made it really difficult to walk and at times it rained so hard that even the ducks were running for shelter.

Ducks trying to escape the rain

I have a lot of fond memories of Emma growing up. One I will always remember is the delivery of a huge bouquet of flowers on mother's day. She had entered a competition on the radio for why she thought her mother deserved the wonderful bouquet and had won.

Another as we were travelling through the Lewis Pass to Christchurch from Nelson. I wonder who that snowball is aimed at?

Poised to drop the camera and run! Luckily that snowball was too big to throw far.

But I think the best memory of all is the beautiful little granddaughter she gave me. Amy was born 27th December 2011 and is now 15 months old.

My precious little granddaughter Amy

Remembering

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 21:43:31 -0500

Recently I saw a couple of photos that brought back all the shocking memories of living through one very unsettled city. Early in the morning on 4th September 2010 I was woken by the terrifying noise and shaking of the flat I was living in, right in the heart of Christchurch city. It will be a day I will never forget, a memory of a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. But that one morning was nothing compared to what was to come. There wasn't just one earthquake but many aftershocks to follow.

In all the chaos we found ourselves standing outside on the road, just after 4:30am in the cold after stumbling over fallen bricks and pieces of buildings. The city was in darkness pretty much with only backup generater lighting in some buildings. There was no power, no water, no gas and a deathly quietness.

My flat was ok, with the exception of the door frame tightning around the door, but I could still open it with force, and there were a lot of cracks which continued to lengthen with each new aftershock.

The church across the road was worse off.

This church has since been demolished

The camera that was sitting on top of my dresser disappeared, but was later found when we had daylight. The drawers had all opened in the quake and the clothes inside had made a nice cushion for the camera to land on. The drawers were long so had not come fully out, but had closed again as the building swayed back the other way. We couldn't figure out where the camera had gone for some time!

I was lucky, I only had a couple of broken dishes. In fact, a bottle of wine had fallen off the top shelf in my pantry and landed in the open trash bin below. It never broke, but it also didn't make it back to the top shelf. We soon learned, everything needed to be placed on the floor.

Just around the corner from my flat, my son-in-law worked in this building.

My son-in-law worked in the building on the right

This is what the inside looked like.

The quakes continued and by the end of January, I'd had enough. I consider myself fortunate that I moved to my daughter's to stay which was north of Christchurch city just a couple of weeks before the next big quake hit, killing 185 people. A large majority of those killed were in a building around the corner from the flat I'd just vacated. I hate to think how things would have been if my son and I had still been living there. That quake struck at 12:51pm. Either of us could have been anywhere but luckily not in the city at that time.

Today our beautiful city is no longer beautiful. It looks like the result of a war zone - deserted almost. The rebuilding has begun but I imagine it will be many years before this city is whole again.

Christchurch city today

Are the aftershocks still happening? They sure are, but not as many as there once were. To date they have recorded over 11,000. Yes you read that right. Will I ever go back there to live? Who really knows, I cannot say no because I said that once before about another location and ended up back there, but I can say, not if I can help it. It's still painful to see that lose, all very vivid in my mind. The photos can only tell the story, it's living the moment that creates the feeling of something I hope I never have to experience again, yet I know it will always be alive within me.

Time flies

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 22:44:57 -0500

Wasn't it just the other day that I was holding my first born in my arms? Yep, just 30 years ago today, but it seems not so long ago. She is the eldest of my four children and we have experienced many happy times as she grew up, along with some trying times as well.

For her fourth birthday, her grandma bought her, her first sewing machine. It wasn't electric, just one you turn the handle on the wheel - but it was real.

Amanda's first sewing machine

Amanda had lots of fun creating clothes for her dolls and making things. It wasn't long after that when she made her very first quilt. A small wall hanging of a panda bear. She still has it today.

Amanda's panda quilt

In 2001, Amanda left home in Nelson to attend University in Christchurch - a 4 1/2 hour drive away. She lived in the resident's hall. During that year, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It was a scary night when the medical center couldn't locate her and called on the police to help, expecting to find her unconscious because of her high sugar level. Fortunately, she was just hanging out with friends, but was soon rushed off to the hospital, spending a night or two adjusting to her new medical condition. On the brighter side, in the same year she meet her husband-to-be.

Amanda and Warwick 2001

Five years later Amanda and Warwick were married.

Amanda 2006

They had already purchased their own home and were living in Christchurch city suburbs. Their plan to move out of the city to a lifestyle farm. They accomplished this in late 2010 and Amanda had delight in raising all sorts of different animals from turkeys, ducks and geese....

Baby Turkey - a poult

ducklings under the heat lamp

....to pigs, lambs and calves.

She was truly the farm girl her grandad would have been proud of. She grew her own vegetables and even made her own sausages.

Amanda's homemade sausages

After almost 30 years she has given me something I'm most proud of, my first grandson - Thomas Blake Anderson.

Thomas Blake Anderson - another precious little grandchild

Born 24 December 2012 - 5 weeks early but doing wonderfully. I told Amanda the other day, you know, it won't be long and he will be 30 years old. Time flies.

Sometimes I do other crafts

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:13:26 -0500

Sometimes - it has been known - that I do other handcrafts. Last year, with a little grandson on the way, I decided to do some crochet which I haven't done in many many years. I found a cute free pattern for some little sneakers that were adorable: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/converse-booties

These have non-slip fabric on the bottom. Maybe you can see that in the photo.

Of course, when my younger daughter saw them, she wanted a pair for her daughter so I had to make a second pair in pink. These are bigger because Amy is one already.

Daring

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 20:18:59 -0500

A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo that I shot from the Port Hills near Christchurch. I used it as quilting inspiration then and said there was a bit more of a story that belongs to it. I figured I should enlighten you.

The photo was taken in 2006, two days before my daughter's wedding. I was having a very busy week with attending school on a full time basis and making dresses, capes and a jacket for the wedding. Earlier in the week I would not have thought I'd be standing on the top of the hill side wanting to jump off .... although you could probably think why not with such a workload. It's not what you think....

As it happened our class group was offered the chance to go paragliding. Something I'd always wanted to do - well maybe not always but for a while so I 'jumped' at the opportunity. (Yes I did warn my daughter that I might not make the wedding).

In our group of mostly males, I decided I wanted to be the first female to jump - oh about here, I should say, this wasn't a solo jump, it was a tandem jump with the instructor.

So here I am, waiting for just the right moment for the wind to pick up before the run and jump. Waiting, waiting, waiting.... nerves pumping, adrenalin racing.... now go, run as fast as you can down hill, through clumps of tussock, hollows, bumps - and sheep droppings even - don't look down just straight ahead.... Oh no, my foot twisted on a large tussock grass and down I went, instructor and parachute landing on top of me. Do you know how difficult it is to get up from that position? All I could do was laugh. I heard the others calling "are you ok?". My answer, after the hysterics had died down a little, was "Sure, let's try it the right way this time". It must have been funny to watch and I was labeled clown of the day - of the week - ok, of the class. But I wasn't going to miss the real thing so up we got, with help, and headed back up the hill.

Here we go again. Now I had the added nervousness of "hope I don't do that again". Run, run, run, and next thing I knew, I was airborne. My legs dangling in the air thousands of feet above the ground .... and to think a few years back I was afraid of heights!

I have never experience anything quite like it. Totally awesome.

I had my camera in my hand just taking shots of anything because I was just too much in awe.

See that little speck in the green field below - that's one of my classmates watching our descent. Hi Tom!

My only disappointment was, it was over way too soon, but oh, what a blast that was.

By the way, I put the last few stitches in my dress for the wedding at 2am the morning of the wedding.

My camera took videos too....

Organizing Lists

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:07:32 -0500

I really wanted to get to some sewing today but here is it late afternoon and I still haven't started. I guess there is still time! One thing I did do was organize myself - well somewhat. I was also playing with my new Android and Evernote. My droid is a lot of fun especially when you get the right apps. I think Evernote might be one.

My Android - a 9.7" Internet tablet

My Android with Evernote loaded

So below is a photo of what my desk looks like - on a good day. It's usually much more cluttered than that, but you had to be able to see what I was talking about so I couldn't have too much clutter. I have lots of lists on paper, notes, scribbles, reminders and postit notes pretty much stuck to anything stickable.

Lists and postit notes

I decided perhaps it would be a good thing to put all my notes and postits into Evernote. But I got playing instead and found some cool little tools like Skitch which is an addon. It allows you to draw over images to highlight anything you want to stand out. You can also draw arrows and write words.

Using Evernote

I decided to use it to get an image ready for tomorrow's blog post.

Tomorrow's blog post image

I also found that evernote can take audio notes (that's if it could understand my accent - apparently I have one). This is done through Google speech-to-text. After playing around a little, I found a setting for English New Zealand. It now understands me a little better, although I need lots of practice. This could be very helpful once we get the translation issue sorted. It can however be quite humorous!

When I said "Hello. Today I am going to teach you quilting" it typed "How are you. I'm going to get back Wilson"

The second attempt was much better. I said "What would you like to learn today. Question mark" and it wrote "What would you like to learn today?".

Perfect! I won't tell you what it typed when I said "Are you ever going to understand me?". I'll leave that to your imagination.

So not a lot of organizing was done today and no sewing either. Perhaps you can help me out. Do you have lots of lists and notes sitting around or are you more organized that me? How do you organize your desk or sewing space?

Amy Jigsaw

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:56:37 -0400

Ok, I couldn't help but make this into a jigsaw. She is so berry cute!

I could almost cry

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:00:21 -0500

Today, being a weekend, is a definite reason to write something a little more personal. For those of you who know me a little, you'll know that I have an autistic son. My youngest, Hamish who is now 21. Yes the years just fly by. Well today, being a nice bright sunny day, I was hanging the laundry outside on the line when I heard my son-in-law, Warwick talking to my son. I knew they were out working on something but wasn't quite sure what. I did hear the tractor running too.

I stopped with the laundry and went to investigate. Out to the garden gate and there was Warwick in the tractor with Hamish in the cab also. Ok, that would be fun for him, but hang on, a second look told me that Hamish was in the driver's seat. Blink blink, yes that was right.

I ran back to the house and called to my daughter to come quick with the camera. She wondered what was wrong at first, but came scooting out and she got a shot of Hamish driving away up the farm, with Warwick giving him detailed instructions of course.

Hamish driving off up the farm

We hung around until they came back with a load of stones in the bucket, being careful for them not to see us. Amanda snapped another photo from behind the shed.

Hamish coming back with a bucketful of stones

And then another of me hiding in the grape vine with a big smile on my face because this was just so exciting to see and such a very proud moment too.

Me hiding in the grape vine

The tractor stopped, a gear changed, some further instructions from Warwick and then Hamish proceeded to move forward while slowly tilting the bucket and dropping the stones along the track just as Warwick had instructed.

Hamish dropping the stones

Well done Hamish! Of course, when he came in, it was only fitting to ask how he liked driving the tractor. "It was ok I guess, but it didn't go fast enough, and you had to keep from hitting things". Yes, well that is a bit of a draw back. The steering is pretty heavy in a tractor and he did well not to run something over. I think luckily for Warwick, he was inside the cab.

A No Grocery Week

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:42:16 -0500

Today was a day for helping my daughter unpack some more boxes for her kitchen. Her problem being, her kitchen is downsized from the previous one so we have a bit of a problem finding new homes for everything. The laundry has some extra shelves which came in handy so some appliances which aren't used too often ended up there.

Then came the pantry, yes it needed a sorting out to make a little extra room. Several shelves looked really good with all the neatly stacked container.

Look good don't they?

But I really think my daughter has a fear of running out of food. With the amount she has in her pantry, you'd think she was either feeding an army or we were going to have a food storage! I mean how many is too much?

Ok, so now I've banned her from buying some certain foods. Cup-a-soups is one.

... And there are more than you see here!

Her spices and herbs are another on the list of no-buying. You can see she has several packets of sage and parsley here, but what you don't see are the four bottles of fennel seeds.

There are a number of other items that are also banned. Zip-lock bags and toilet cleaner - I don't know how many toilets she plans on cleaning ....Oh and dishwasher detergent. That's not going to be used in a hurry because they haven't replaced the dishwasher yet, but one would hope she doesn't go buy the detergent when she gets one!

We did have a lot of laughs as we unpacked and made room for some more things in the kitchen, and at the end of the day, we had a non-shopping list - its a no grocery week.

Priceless

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 20:29:07 -0500

Saturday is my personal blog day, where you get to know a little more about me, my family or just every day life that I experience. I just have to share with you all, the letter I received in the mail today.

It was really nice to receive a 'real' letter today in the mail. The letter was sent from my 6 year old niece, Michaela.

I opened it up to first find a card. Michaela has written in the card and decorated it with stickers, a thank you from her for the Christmas gift I sent.

It reads: "Dear Aunty Ruth, Thank you for my present. I wish you could stay at my house. love Michaela"

For those of you who don't know me, Michaela lives quite some distance away in Nelson. That's about a 4 1/2 hours drive and since I spent Christmas with my daughter, son-in-law and two sons, I didn't get to see Michaela so sent her Christmas present in the post. I hope you'll send me a photo of all the cookies you make Michaela!

Also along with her card was a letter, again this was decorated with stickers. Did I mention, that Michaela loves stickers? Maybe you'd like to send her some <grin>

Her letter, along with her card, is priceless.

It reads: "I love my Aunty Ruth said so Michaela and Aunty Ruth looking beautiful and Aunty Ruth looking glittery. Aunty Ruth you will like this story because it has some good words in it."

Thank you Michaela, it was fantastic to receive your letter and card.

Here is a photo of me and Michaela when I was up visiting early in December. You can see she really does love her Auntie.

Michaela giving Auntie Ruth a cuddle

What's the meaning of a dream

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 01:05:03 -0500

I remember hearing somewhere that all dreams had a meaning and since I'd had a particularly unusual dream recently, that remained very vivid in my mind I decided I should find out what the meaning of it was. I began with a google search for "what's the meaning of a dream".

I soon landed upon a "Dream Interpretation Dictionary" website so decided to take the key elements of my dream and find the meaning of them.

Abroad I had recently returned to the States in my dream.

To dream that you are abroad, or going abroad, foretells that you will soon, in company with a party, make a pleasant trip, and you will find it necessary to absent yourself from your native country for a sojourn in a different climate.

House I had just moved in to a very nice large house

To dream that you own an elegant house, denotes that you will soon leave your home for a better, and fortune will be kind to you.

Christmas Tree A definite feature of my dream was a small poorly decorated Christmas tree which turned into a brightly colored large Christmas tree thanks to my kind neighbors who I didn't know.

To dream of a Christmas tree, denotes joyful occasions and auspicious fortune. To see one dismantled, foretells some painful incident will follow occasions of festivity. (Luckily I didn't see it dismantled, the new one just appeared in its place.)

There were neighbors and lots of people in my dream, they bought gifts, food and drink and left it all under my Christmas tree - I had no idea who these people were except for one friend, so I selected the following words.

Neighbors

To see your neighbors in your dreams, denotes many profitable hours will be lost in useless strife and gossip. If they appear sad, or angry, it foretells dissensions and quarrels.

Gift

To dream that you receive gifts from any one, denotes that you will not be behind in your payments, and be unusually fortunate in speculations or love matters.

Crowd/People

To dream of a large, handsomely dressed crowd of people at some entertainment, denotes pleasant association with friends; but anything occurring to mar the pleasure of the guests, denotes distress and loss of friendship, and unhappiness will be found where profit and congenial intercourse was expected.

Friend

To dream of friends being well and happy, denotes pleasant tidings of them, or you will soon see them or some of their relative

So all in all, I think the meaning of my dream was quite favorable especially the bit about going abroad and having my own elegant home. Maybe 2011 has brighter things to come.

If you want to decipher your dreams check out this website: Decipher your Dreams >>

The Lost Cat

Sat, 08 Jan 2011 02:39:11 -0500

It feels almost like Christmas when you open a box packed after moving. You see, over the past 20 years, you could say I've moved around a lot so sometimes boxes don't get unpacked at every stop. My daughter and I were unpacking today and found a box labelled "Lounge Cabinet". It's probably been packed since 2003 or maybe even before, but I knew exactly what was in the box, or did I?

I decided I should take a peep in. All the items were wrapped in newsprint to keep them from breaking. So one by one, I opened them. Oh yes, that fruit bowl, those decorative salt and pepper shakers, an ornament or two and a dessert bowl with plates. Definitely the contents of my cabinet. Wow I haven't seen these in years!

Then I picked up a rather heavy object and a strange shape at that. I began to unwrap it. I discovered a strange looking ceramic cat. I said to my daughter, "Have you ever seen this before?". "No" was her reply. Where did it come from? Obviously someone gave it to me somewhere some time, but who? Do you know?

So my lost cat sits on the bookshelf. No one really knows who she belongs to, or where she came from, but she did give us a good laugh as she really is the ugliest cat you'd ever seen. I mean, look at those paws!

What we do know about this cat is that she was in a "Cat Scrap" - check it out >>

It's amazing what you find in boxes, even things you never knew you had!

Blog and Blogger Challenge

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 20:49:22 -0500

Introduction:

When I opted into Cricket's blog challenge, who would have thought it was more of a challenge than anticipated? One of my goals this year is to increase internet exposure and website traffic so Cricket's challenge was a perfect way to start as we all know how blogging can be good for those goals.

I promptly went to check out my blog (actually to update it seeing as I hadn't done so since early December) only to discover it was no longer available. I spent the next 24 hours trying to figure out why.

Let's take a pause here and let me say, I originally setup my blog on blogger using a google email account, oh about 4 years ago. Although I still had the google account, I have only been using it for the purpose of my blog since I now use google apps instead.

The Lose:

As it happened, I tried to log into my account but google had closed it down because "We detected unusual activity on your account". Hmmmmm. Obviously they needed verification that I'm the owner so I set about following their instructions which was a text message to my cell phone. I selected the country "New Zealand" and added my number but received no text! I attempted that a couple of times and even tried the landline as that was an option for a voice verification too. No luck!

I went to the next step in trying to register a complaint as they instructed. That was a mission on its own, I mean who can remember the date I set up my blog or even the year - my memory ain't that good - and labels I used, email addresses I frequently emailed (remembering I haven't used this account in several years so how frequent is frequent?). I did receive a reply to say I didn't give them enough information to verify I was owner. Ugh! They gave me two options to try - try again or open a new account - really!

The Outcome:

To cut a long story short, my blog is lost, for the moment at least. Did I have it backed up? Blushingly no, that wasn't an opinion when I looked into it, but apparently now it is if you are using the upgraded version. Ok, my bad, I should have checked more regularly. I do have a new blog though and its better than before - although I do still have some work to do on it.

The Learning:

Thank you Cricket, because without your blog challenge, I would not have learned all I did and wouldn't be able to offer the following advice.

1. Backup your blog - find out how and do it now. Keep a copy on your computer, disk or where ever as you never know when it might just vanish into cyber space. Here is a link to show you how for blogger users: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/02/how-to-backup-blogger-blog.html

2. List a second email address as administrator - especially if you use blogger. Here's a link to show you how for blogger: http://www.bloggertipsandtricks.com/2009/08/how-to-change-email-address-for-blogger.html

Join Cricket and her blog challenge - you may get more than you expected!