Laura's Quilt

Laura's quilt is one of the Christmas presents I still need to finish. I just got it out of the bag that I brought it home in from Christmas Day (!) and took a few photos. It's draped on the couch which is why it looks a bit upside down. I've tried to do some free-motion quilting as I've decided that this year is the year I will learn to quilt more than straight lines.




If you look at the Flickr Chinese Coins group you will see that this back is fairly unimaginative, but then she doesn't know that! Worked well with all the bits of pink fabric I had. Laura has a sign in her room that says "If it's Not Pink, it's not Worth Having".

Luckily it's not quilt weather here in Australia, so there isn't a great deal of pressure.

Nursing

Now I know there are plenty of nurses out there, and I've noticed that quite a few bloggers are doing nursing training. I've been nursing for 28 years, so when I see something like this list that has come in an email, I can identify and have a laugh. Please don't be offended - and the one thing I will stop at is eating out of a bedpan no matter how clean!

You know you’re a nurse when...

1. The front of your scrubs reads, ‘Nurses... here to save your ass, not kiss it!’

2. You occasionally park in the space with the ‘physicians only’ sign – and knock it over.

3. You believe some patients are alive only because it’s illegal to kill them.

4. You recognize that you can’t cure stupid.

5. You own at least three pens with the names of prescription medications on them.

6. You believe there’s a special place in hell for the inventor of the call light.

7. You believe that saying, ‘it can’t get any worse’ causes it to get worse just to show you it can.

8. You wash your hands BEFORE you go to the bathroom.

9. You believe that any job where you can drive to work in your pyjamas is a cool one.

10. You consider a tongue depressor an eating utensil.

11. Eating microwave popcorn out of a clean bedpan is perfectly natural.

12. You’ve been exposed to so many x-rays that you consider it a form of birth control.

13. You’ve heard a patient with a nose ring, a brow ring, twelve earrings and covered in tattoos say, “I’m afraid of injections.”

14. You’ve ever placed a bet on someone’s blood alcohol level.

15. You’ve told a confused patient that your name is that of a co-worker and to call if they need help.

16. Your bladder can expand to the size of a Winnebago’s water tank.

17. You have seen more penises than any prostitute could dream of.

18. You believe that not all patients are annoying. Some are unconscious.

19. Your family and friends refuse to watch medical sitcoms with you because you spend the whole time correcting everyone and pointing out upside down x-rays.

20. You don’t get excited about blood, unless it’s your own.

21. You’ve sworn to have ‘do not resuscitate’ tattooed on your chest. Soon.

22. Discussing dismemberment over a gourmet meal is perfectly normal to you.

23. Your idea of fine dining is anywhere you can sit down to eat.

24. Your idea of a good time is a cardiac arrest – at shift change.

25. You believe in the aerial spraying of Prozac.

26. You believe that ‘shallow gene pool’ should be a recognized diagnosis.

27. You believe that the government should require permits to reproduce.

28. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall anyone who utters the phrase, “Wow, it’s really quiet, isn’t it?”

29. You have ever wanted to write a book entitled, ‘Suicide: getting it right the first time.’

30. You have ever had a patient look you straight in the eye and say, “I have no idea how that got stuck in there.”

Technical Help - Fixed Thanks

A couple of bloggers have told me that I am "no reply" in comments. I have looked everywhere, even in help, for a way to turn this on, but I can't. Can anybody help please?

I've been making a few more checkerboard blocks. I've tried to use some ugly fabrics, I tend not to use them if I don't like them, but really I should use them up if I can. I don't like the brown fabric that's with the blue/green one, but no doubt it will get lost in the final quilt. I like the yellow and grey one, the yellow is from the range with a name like Honey and Pewter.


I have also tried to make blocks with low contrast between the two fabrics as is done in the original quilt. I like the block with the 2 purple/pinks.


I've also cut some star blocks for future use. This is very unlike me as I really don't like cutting for a quilt. I've been watching the cricket (aahhh I miss work like a hole in the head), and while doing so I've been cutting. I now have a little pile of star blocks that are blue with cream, but for some of them I've added a little bit of red, pink or cheddar.


Sailing day today, so the cricket will have to go on without me. It looks pretty clear that we will thrash Pakistan, so no need to worry.

Sailing

One of the reasons I haven't been doing a lot of sewing, apart from the heat and being lazy, is that I've been sailing. I haven't had the boat long, and have had problems with the trailer and getting the mast up on my own, but I'm working on it. Today is going to be a bit hot, and there is just enough wind, so I'm going to go out. I have the 30+ sunscreen at the ready, plus my hat and sunproof shirt, 4 litres of water and a bit of lunch.


I'll be able to have a swim which will be nice. A scheduled swim I should say as I don't want to have bad sailing karma and fall in. Luckily the boat tends to sail itself into the wind, so if I fall off I should be able to catch it, but of course we don't talk about things like that. Not enough wind today anyway. Life jacket always on just in case.

I feel for some of the poor Aussies like Mereth who are having terrible heat today, and there are bushfire warnings out for some parts of the country. After the terrible fires last year where many people were killed, there is a new warning category which is 'catastrophic'. Some of the warnings out at the moment are in this category. Some people stay to defend their homes, but if it were me I'd have the dogs in the car and I'd be long gone. Maybe some of the stash too if there was time!

Cutting Strips

I've been working on Mum's hexagons but had to stop because I didn't have the stuff to put in the middle. I've decided on using some Pellon - not sure what the rest of the world calls it - I managed to buy some yesterday.


I've been watching the cricket on TV, but with no handwork I felt like I was sort of wasting the day. I don't like the cutting fabric part of any project, so I decided to do some strip cutting while watching TV. I've been cutting 2 inch strips for the Checkerboard quilt plus some random strips for future use. Then I cut a 2 1/2 inch strip from each fabric before I put it away. I love looking in my fabric boxes which I've sorted into colour groups. I love this blue toned one, but I realise that I hardly use blue repro fabrics - I'll have to make a red white and blue quilt. Or maybe blue and cream.


Then there is this purple box which I love. I have had a bit of trouble cutting some of the fabrics, because if I use it, then it's gone! I've also tried very hard to cut strips from the fabrics I don't really like.
I buy most of my fabric online from the US (so cheap), and I pretty well know what things are going to look like in the flesh. Occasionally I go to the LQS to have a look at everything, but I rarely buy anything. It's not right really, but I just can't pay the big money. Most fabric here costs A$22 = US$19.70 a metre, where I can buy fabric from the US for US$4 = A$4.45 a yard or US$8. What can you do? I also find that you get spoilt seeing things on the internet that the shops here haven't got in yet. I went to the LQS ready to buy some of the Rouenneries fabric I'm using for Mum's hexagons, but although it was available on the net they didn't have it yet. It had arrived to my house from the US and they still didn't have it.


Anyway, where I was going with this is that occasionally I buy something online that isn't that nice in the flesh. I wouldn't have bought the 2 blue fabrics in this photo, but then the black and cream fabric is really lovely, but when I ordered it I wasn't too sure.

The cricket is on again today but delayed due to rain at the moment, and it's going to be too windy to go sailing. I'll keep cutting strips and pinning Checkerboard blocks.