In celebration of all things Arty

This weekend in Tasmania it was a long weekend in honour of good Queen Lizzy. Here in the North East of Tassie the Rotary Dorset Arts Festival  featured art, working craft, quilting, woodwork, photographic and historical exhibitions at different venues. Yes indeedy, this li'l corner of the world is home to a rich, vibrant arts community and is alive with all things creative.

So of course we (my good husband and li'l ole me) thought we might go and have a bo peep at a few of the exhibitions.

Our first stop was the quilting exhibition, which although small, showcased some lovely handiwork from the Dorset municipality and surrounding districts.

Of course there had to be a hexie somewhere in the building. Though I am not a fan of this hexie...

.......I am a fan of this lovely hexie! This hexie makes my heart sing. This  'lovely' was mostly stitched by a local lady who is now 95 years old in the 1970's, hand pieced from 1960's and 1970's dress fabrics; and just recently finished by another lady. Love it!

A lovely applique quilt. I love all these vibrant colours set against the black background.

A quilt fashioned with Kaffe Fasset fabrics always hits the mark, doesn't it.....love this!

Another lovely appliqued quilt filled with floral gorgeousness.

I love these two gorgeous jewel encrusted, three dimensional beauties; reminiscent of the Elizabethan period in England. These two beauties showcase embroidery of the highest standard. Stitch after amazing stitch with the encrustations of pearls, jewels, metallic threads, lace et cetera. Quite simply stunning!

A 1920's flapper....very Great Gatsby-ish.

Then it was off to explore Oakdene 'his' and 'hers' Museum set amid beautiful gardens. Not only is there a museum catering to a female bent, there is also a museum catering to blokes. So everybody is happy. Yes, indeedy, I must say my husband was a happy chappy.

I entered the door of the 'her's museum and started my walk through a delightful cavalcade of the 20th century. Display after display of all things fashion....dresses, swimming costumes, shoes, gloves, under garments, stockings, hats, lingerie et cetera, et cetera. Wherever the eye looked, there was some article representative of the 20th Century.

So many beautiful lace dresses with gorgeous ribbon work details.

Oooh....look at all that lovely lace and those perfect pin tucks....and that divine li'l cream number on the right....how very chic!

I don't suppose one could be considered a wall flower turning up to the Saturday night dance, waltzing the night away in either of these little numbers!

This pretty blue and green dress and cardie could have have quite easily slipped into my handbag.....but me thinks I wouldn't enjoy spending the time in the clink for doing the crime. The penal system is not really  my style!

These are bathers from the 1940's and 1950's....love the red and white two piece.

Ooh-la-la......pretty shoes. Why oh why did women have such small and dainty feet. I am supposing that in the good ole days, my clodhoppers would have had to get used to being barefoot. I simply cannot imagine squeezing my tootsies into these examples of footwear! My feet would have been a podiatrist's nightmare! I was informed that ladies of bygone eras squeezed into shoes a size or two smaller.....if you had small feet, then you were considered to be refined....quite the lady! Oh dear....don't like my chances of ever having been considered a lady!

I really, really, REALLY need a pair of these boots!! Any pair...or indeed all three!! I would do anything, even risk bunions, blisters, ingrown toenails et cetera to squeeze into these....I might even risk a penal sentence!!

Now these really did make me chuckle. Glory be.....suspenders that 'firmagrip' and brassieres that 'firmalift'!! Hysterical!!

I'm supposing that a lady needed those 'Firmagrip' suspenders to keep these nylons from falling around her skinny li'l ankles. I'm guessing one lived a 'charmed life' whilst stepping out and about town wearing these nylons with the lacy cobweb heel!

Now for the piece-de-resistance. This advertisement really did make me chortle. Indeed, it seems Lycra was/is the miracle invention for containing all those flabby and floppy bits of a lady's personage. Such control, such lightness.....it seems that one wouldn't even notice the compressing of one's innards; the inability for one to breathe.

This advertisement for Lycra really do beat all.....and I quote.....

"Don't just dream dreams - see them take shape in foundations with LYCRA. For LYCRA elastomeric is the fibre with power to do all it promises. Such control. Such lightness. You won't believe it until you wear LYCRA....and wear it and wear it......." REALLY???

Now as some of you know, I don't do Lycra....ooops...excepting of course the Spanx shape wear...but only every now and then, when one is wearing that frock that nothing but pushing your internal organs right through to the back of your ribcage will do....but if the dream of that svelte, whip thin, body is possible always (and I don't have to worry about what I eat or have to run 10ks over the mountain every morning)...then...perhaps I will!!

I must admit this advertisement did cause me to laugh....so much so that another lady came and enquired as to what was the cause of my merriment. She and me did have a wonderful giggle over this gelastic ad!!

All I can say is thank heavens that the more restrictive fashions of bygone years have sashayed out of the picture, to be replaced with more comfortable clothes and undergarments!! To say that, it must have taken a lot of time and perseverance to be a refined and genteel lady in the early to mid 20th century, is an under statement.

When a sense of decorum and an air of refinement had returned, I continued my stroll through the ages, having a bo peep at handbags, purses, sewing paraphernalia, makeup compacts, gloves, kitchenalia, hankies, embroidered lovelies....the list goes on and on....so much to see, so much to oooh and aahhh over.

Then it was time to find the husband in the blokes museum. Oh dear....I won't show any happy snaps of the gazillion and one farming implements, the hundreds and hundreds of everyday necessities of early rural life and all things historical here in the north east of Tasmania. Though terribly, terribly interesting....(I am deadly serious....I am...really...I am), this post is already a tad too long. I mean, there are oodles and oodles of photos of the 'Her's museum that I have spared you. No 'tis time to say toodlepips.

Let me close by saying, both me and my good husband had the best day getting the low down on all things arty, rural and historical. Yes indeedy, it was an enjoyable, informative kinda day!

Another sun-kissed day.......

......another drive through the picturesque Tassie countryside; which of course could mean, another visit to an op shop or perhaps a bric-a-brac shop.....and of course could also result in a few more 'cheap as chips' lovelies to take home. Yes indeedy, to make the most of another sun-filled day the decision to seize the day was agreed upon. I suppose I really could have stayed home and stitch a hexie or two, but it was really too idyllic a day to stay home......stitching hexies. I won't think about those hexies now....I'll think about them tomorrow (or perhaps the next day)....after all tomorrow is another day (to borrow a phrase from an obstinate heroine)!

There is always some 'lovely' to be discovered whilst rummaging around an op shop. Whilst my attention was mainly concerned with the ladies' clothes rack, in search of jackets that I want to tart up for a pop-up market later this year, my husband fell upon this vintage beauty. 'Tis a curtain length (approx 4 metres) of the most whimsical fabric, reminiscent of Holly Hobbie designs of old!! My, I have trained him well, very well indeed!!

When I was a child, Denise Holly Ulinskas', Holly Hobbie designs were seen everywhere. The cute artwork of little girls dressed in gingham and calico, with sweet bonnets atop their heads, were imprinted on many, many things. I would save up my pocket money and collect greeting cards, plates, dishes, hurricane lamps, books (of course), calendars et cetera. I loved the sense of bygone days that the designs captured. Days of a long ago time, evoking a feeling of a simpler and gentler way of life; of quiet pleasures and of a homespun spirit.

Each one of these li'l girls is so sweet. Each one is quite large, at 30cms, so there is oodles of fodder for the imagination, to incorporate these pretty li'l misses into a stitching pretty or two.

Along with the exquisite pictures of Holly Hobbie, on whatever paraphernalia they were imprinted, there was always a whimsical saying to brighten one's day. Somehow these quaint quotes resonated with me. Sayings such as; "Loving is a special art, that everyone should know by heart"......"The road to a friend's house is never long"....."Sharing is the nicest way, to put more sunshine in your day".....the charmingl quotes just go on and on and on.

As a creative gal, I have always collected pictures that tickled my fancy, thinking they will come in handy some day, as I stroll along my yellow brick road of design and creativity. I bought a Holly Hobbie 1989 calendar and filed it away with such an intention.

Over the last couple of days there has been a design concept colliding around my brainpan, involving sweet children, whom I want to 'draw' free hand with my machine, around a rather humdrum lampshade.....(surely not another lampshade.....I hear you say), but that story is for another time. Me thinks I will use this fabric and my Holly Hobbie calendar for a li'l inspiration.

Of course this fabric wasn't the only treasure that was to be found on that sun-filled day. At a quaint li'l bric-a-brac shop we stumbled upon this lovely fire screen. I admired this piece-de-resistance from afar and after my ocular orbits nearly popped out of their sockets at the 'cheap as chips' price on it; I gathered it up, handed over some legal tender and scrambled out of the shop, before the astonished man could change his mind. It really was a bargain...........I wonder if the li'l man realised just how cheaply he had let this treasure go for.

It is the most beautiful needlepoint encased in a lovely oak frame. Whomever stitched this lovely design spent a lot of time and care and effort on this piece. There is only a few li'l imperfections.....but one really has to play "I spy with my li'l eye" to find them.  The myriad of colours set against the black background do look mighty purdy. Yes indeedy, another treasure that will add a dash of  refinement to our hearth.

So, all in all, another lovely day spent, wandering around this gorgeous li'l isle at the bottom of the world. But perhaps now, I really, really should stitch a few more  hexies.....but then, there is a small matter of some designing to do, transferring a rather characterless lampshade into a whimsical piece; and, there is also........

Deary, deary me........so much to do.......so little time!!

A thing about the colour purple

It all started with an email. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a lady, who has since moved from our li'l town in search of warmer climes, requesting if I had any quilts for sale. Apparently, her daughter is getting married in September and the lady wanted to know if I had any hexagon beauties that I would unload sell for a unique wedding present.

Well......yes...my gloriously coloured, purple, satin-backed bohemian inspired, hexie is for sale (though another lady had visited our li'l ole abode a couple of weeks ago to have a bo peep at it....and is still toing and froing as to whether she will part with her hard earned moolah and take it home with her); and a beautiful pastel coloured hexie, just waiting to leave the confines of my humble abode and go and abide somewhere else.

But....no...the daughter hates, simply deplores the colour purple!!! What!!! Hates the colour purple....unthinkable!!! Indeed....purple throughout the ages has been associated with royalty, power and wealth!! Though each hexie in this quilt is backed with a purple satin, each hexie sings a rhapsodic, rainbow-inspired melody. This hexie is a song of riotous colour! Mmm...how on earth can I part with this beauty?

And....no.....the pastel hexie quilt wouldn't have a chance of staying clean and pure in the daughter's home. It seems to me that both my hexies may be sitting a li'l while longer in our humble abode.

So I will have to stitch another HUGE hexie; but this one will be 'simple' with hardly any embellishments. Of course I will have to handcuff my hands so that they won't be tempted to add a li'l fancy button here and a li'l ribbon, floral pretty there......but I will be strong. I suppose, 'tis good news......just means this hexie will take less time to stitch.

When I enquired as to what colours the daughter would love in a quilt, the mother answered, "oh I don't know.......anything will do"!!! Now, as we all know, just anything will most certainly not do. We all have our particular likes and dislikes when the subject of colour is involved. We all have a penchant for certain colours and though there are some who are happy with whatever, most of us are not. For most of us, there are colours that we just cannot live with.

And....just to add pressure and a li'l fire to the quilting cauldron, the daughter works for a well known designer!! No pressure.......no pressure at all.

So, after a lot of  questions and donning my psychologist hat, trying to ascertain what colours makes the daughter's heart sing, I discovered that she loves bold colours; reds, teals, pinks, greens, black, blues, oranges, yellows...... and as she is an arty farty type loves a plethora of fabrics. Though I have a few sumptuous fabrics stored away I needed to  purchase some more.

Of course Tassie can be a bit light on in the sumptuous designer-ish fabric department, so li'l ole me had to visit Spotlight to see if there was anything suitable for this hexie. I hate that Spotlight is my only choice of fabric shops here in this li'l part of the world. The whole experience of searching for fabric in Spotlight is rather akin to an archaeological dig; where one scrounges and burrows under hundreds of bolts of fabric to unearth the fabric of choice, with the possibility of being entombed forever more by toppling bolts of fabric! It can be exhausting and rather arduous on the back; and after lugging the chosen bolts to the counter, one has the bearing of Quasimodo!!

Of course I could visit places on-line but I need to touch the fabric, I need to see see the quality of the fabric and decide whether it would be suitable for my new hexie. And.....of course.....the fabrics from the likes of Tessutis (one of my fave fabric stores in Sydney) or similar gorgeous stores are a li'l too expensive.....after all I do want to make a li'l 'doh-ray-me' for all my efforts.

So after a lot of toing and froing over fabrics, 'will she like this, will she like that'.....(it is so very difficult, when choosing for someone whom you do not know) I have come up with these fabrics. Each of the hexagons will be backed with a black satin. Oh no......those of you who have read my other posts telling the sad and sorry tale of making the odd hexagon quilt or two, will know that I hate stitching with satin. Satin has an inbuilt DNA which will not play at all nicely...it slips and slides everywhere. 'Tis a pity that the lady didn't want a lovely 100% cotton pieced quilt. That would have been sooooo easy!!

As I only have three months to stitch this hexie I intend to stitch a little each day...(well...that's the plan; and we all know how plans go belly-up...don't we). This quilt is going to be more like a bedspread, with the sides just touching the floor. Huge....and as with all my other hexies, this quilt will be all hand stitched (excepting of course machine stitching each fabric hexie to the batting)....so I had better get a move on.... I had better skiddoo out of here!!

Toodlepips for now......I am off to enter the world of hexies once again.

Happy Stitching !!

To market, to market to gather some treasures......

Home again, home again with a bounty of pleasures!!

Yes indeedy, in celebration of Mother's Day, last Sunday, our li'l ole tin lizzie took it upon itself (again) to manoeuvre my good husband and his good wife on a fun-filled day trip through the Autumnal Tassie countryside, in search of some markets and some mighty fine coffee houses to whet the thirst throughout the day. After all, roaming around markets, fossicking for treasures is thirsty business which needs plenty of caffeine.....oh and of course enjoy the odd delish treat or two!!

And......... it was a wonderful day. A sun-kissed day with Old Man Sun stretching out his radiant arms of warm sunshine and lighting our path with a spirit of cheeriness.

One of our favourite pastimes is to embark on long drives throughout the glorious countryside of Tassie with no idea of the journey's end, stopping at markets and quirky places that we might discover along the way.

And.........of course our li'l Chitty Chitty Bang Bang-ish, tin lizzie, never fails to deliver. It just seems to know which winding road to jaunt along to explore out of the way quirky li'l places.

So with a special Mother's Day breakfast having been served and enjoyed.......we were on our way.

 And.....what treasures jumped out at me. We happened along a li'l market in a quaint town hall in a pretty town called, Lilydale where we discovered a lovely antique/bric-a-brac booth. Such, such pretties.....embroidered pretties, just waiting for li'l ole me.

Lookity look at my pretty gal hanging her washing on the line. Love it!! Though it is a laundry bag, me thinks I will make it the centrepiece of a new laundry window curtain, surrounded with other embroidered fineries found in my dowry of cloth. Oh dear, but a new curtain, demands my laundry to be painted in a crisp white as a little pick me up from those wash day doldrums.

Imagine my surprise when I ever so 'nicely' asked my husband if it would be at all possible to add a lick of white paint on the walls and ceiling and he answered....."of course"!! Wow...such a sweet man. I did search his face for the look of  "what is she dreaming up this time"....but no, nothing but sincerity and genuineness to be seen. This pretty bag with the most gorgeous crewel work was also added to my dowry of cloth.

But enough of painting and tarting up laundries for now....there are more important matters at foot.

A pretty hand embroidered floral filled tablecloth and a whimsical 1960 printed tablecloth with a smattering of cute as cute furniture dancing around the tablecloth. I love this....not only to be used as a tablecloth, but there is oodles of fun inspiration to be had, as I design for the free hand drawing with my machine that I love to do. There is actually a fun project formulating in my brainpan as I 'chat', just looking at this fun tablecloth. That's the thing with inspiration.....it can be found everywhere, any moment of every day.

With a little do-ray-me having exchanged hands, snug as two bugs in our tin lizzie, we were then off to Evandale Markets and then to meet up with our daughter and son-in-law for afternoon tea. Evandale is a very pretty, historic Tassie town which oozes charm of a bygone era filled with charming historic buildings and churches with streets lined with glorious autumnal trees, clothed in lovely shades of burnished yellow, russet brown and ochreous orange leaves, slowly falling to the ground forming a crunchy carpet......'tis rather heavenly.

I found this pretty mirror. Though I have many looking glasses scattered throughout our li'l ole abode, I couldn't resist this one. As I have a penchant for Southern Belles, I just had to, had to take this li'l lass home with me. For now, she is keeping my other mirrors on my bedside table company.

Also unearthed was the sweetest print of the cutest little boy.....love, love, love!!

I also found this pretty inspirational plaque with an English scene. As a gal with a deep faith in God, I love collecting vintage inspirational plaques and placing them throughout our humble abode, reminding me each day of God's love and His goodness to me. The particular ones that I favour are hard to come by, so when one discovers one of these plaques hiding in a market, they somehow or other find their way into my thankful li'l hands.

My whimsical plaque has found a home on my kitchen mantle sitting on a beautiful runner that my daughter bought me as a Mother's Day gift, when holidaying in China.

 Isn't the runner gorgeous? This photo doesn't do it justice....it is embroidered with a riot of beautiful, bright colour.....I could look at it all day!

Mmm........I left this lass sitting on the shelf, even though it had my moniker on it!

And of course Mother's Day just wouldn't be Mother's Day if flowers didn't make an appearance somewhere throughout the day. When we stopped to fill our tin lizzie with some juice, lo and behold these beautiful potted chrysanthemums were sitting at the petrol station! I know....a petrol station! Unbelievable!

So of course my husband thought that he would buy them for me (not that he needed much persuasion, especially with his predilection for all things pertaining to plant life). They are truly gorgeous. Big, blousy, plate-sized flowers. Just gawjus!!

These beautiful chrysanthemums will add a lovely splash of colour to our Autumn garden. I am afraid that the curtain has been lowered on our glorious Spring/Summer garden, which  has been decimated to a black, burnt mass of organic matter by 'good' old Jack Frost!! Beautiful flowers one day, flowers that are no more the next!

A lovely li'l café tucked away in the pretty town of Evandale.

So after the loveliest of Mother's Days and with 'our' treasures safely tucked away in the back of our tin lizzie, we rambled our way home, with many a happy thought that surround our two daughters and all those memories that encompass my darling mum, who is no longer with us; thankful that we are able to enjoy a countryside drive on a perfect sun-kissed day.

Just a little something I stitched a li'l while ago, pondering, "What is a Mother"??

Wishing you the loveliest of weeks, filled with many a blessing!