RIP Bloglines

What a shock to my system to read that Bloglines is finishing up - what to do?  I have about 250 blog feeds on Bloglines and I've had to change in a hurry.  I haven't been doing much blog reading lately so I haven't had the chance to read what others have been doing so I've gone to Google Reader.  I'm still trying to find my way around it, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.  What is it they say about not liking change?



Apart from that things are still a bit slumpy here (have I just made a new word?), but I've been forcing myself to do some hand sewing on the sashiko inspired blocks - I don't know that you could really call some of it sashiko.



I sit and watch tv at night and sew around patterns on the fabric or up and down in lines, or zig here and zag there and it's quite good fun just going where you feel like it.  I think though that I'm putting so many stitches in that it will never be finished.  I think I need to spread out a bit so I get some more blocks done or else it will end up as a cushion!  This is only number 3, and it isn't finished, but I do enjoy doing it.  I know you've seen it all before so it isn't very exciting.



In other news, there really isn't any.  My parents returned safely from their overseas jaunt, we are having El Nino or El Nina (the one that brings lots of rain) for a change , and the dams are full for the first time in 8 years.  2 - 3 years ago we were facing running out of drinking water.  The house smells like a wet dog, and the neighbours are crashing and banging next door on some sort of deck extension which is disturbing my sleep.  But as you can see they are all luxury problems, so nothing to complain about.

All I need now is for my sewing mojo to return in full and all will be well.

A Lot of Nothing

I haven't posted for ages and I can't really think what I've been doing.  Lots of nothing things really.  Dealing with things like not getting paid (thanks to my employer the State Government who couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery), not going sailing due to the weather, which seems to take up a lot of time planning and thinking, and not visiting my parents each week as they have gone overseas.  It took ages teaching Dad how to text, set the alarm in his mobile phone, access webmail, put the country code in front of his numbers in his phone book so he could text, and find things for Mum on the computer.  I have to tell you that this took ages due to the ridiculous set up of his phone, not his ability to learn! I'm also in charge of house and mail checking, plant watering etc.  They are 76 and 82 yo - good for them.  I woke up to a text from Dad this morning sent from Paris in the middle of my night, and they are doing ok.



I've been looking at clocks for the house for ages and not been able to make up my mind.  I was sure I wanted a silver rim around the outside and a white face, and poo-pooed this one when I saw it the other day.  Then within 10 mins was back in the shop looking at it.  I bought it knowing I could take it back and I still haven't decided, but I think it will probably stay.  It's 60cm across (24 inches), so it makes a statement, but the room is big and the windows are big.  The microwave is going to go from this spot.  It is really old (1988 I think) and has been the best microwave in that it has never missed a beat.  But it's BIG.  Far too big, but the wretched thing still works so it's hard to get rid of it. Maybe I could donate it to the RSPCA for heating up things in the Vet surgery and buy a new little one that I could put in the pantry out of sight? Thinking about it, but then seeing as I didn't get paid and now my credit card has been blocked due to a "suspicious transaction", I had better not spend any money at the moment.



The other thing I did do was put up the stainless steel shelf, rail and knife magnet that I have been planning to do for 5 years. I haven't done it as I knew that I wouldn't be able to find studs behind the plasterboard where I'd need them, and I didn't know which screw thingys to use. A quick look at YouTube, a visit to the hardware store, and there you have it. Amazing what you can do when you decide to do it. That YouTube is incredible. It continues to amaze me that people all over the world (but mostly in the US it seems) spend their valuable time making little videos of themselves doing things like screwing things into walls just to show you which screw thingys to use. Who knew?



As for sewing, I am relieved to find that I have a photo to add here, but I've hardly touched it for weeks.  The handsewing is about the only thing I've done in ages.  I have had a bit of a clean-up in the sewing room though, which is pretty big for me.



Otherwise not much else to say.  I've been spending a lot of time thinking about not eating too much, but I don't seem to have lost any weight, and when in the library the other day I tried to enthuse myself by looking at the quilting books but found myself staring at The Oxford Companion to World War 2 which isn't my cup of tea at all, so I don't know.  The one thing I do know is that the mojo will come back, it always does!

(I haven't even published this post yet and I have 27 links to it on the preview. How can that be?)

Sashiko block 2

It's very cold here today. Well when I say cold remember that this is the sub-tropics and everything here is designed for keeping cool. No carpet, no curtains (only a few blinds but they're upstairs) and a nice high house to catch the breeze through big expanses of glass. The ugg boots are on and the dog has his coat on.



I have been sewing a bit on my sashiko while sitting in front of the TV watching recorded shows. I've started a second block, and I'm a bit more organised when it comes to the edges. I've zigzagged, and I'm not going to sew too close to the edges so it will all go together a bit easier.



The flowers and leaves I've sewn over are already on the fabric as a faint outline, so I've just used them as a guide. I'm getting quite into this hand stitching - nice mindless stuff.

Sashiko

I've been doing a bit of sashiko, sort of 'rough' sashiko in bigger stitches. Inspiration has come from a few places as I've been looking at heaps of sites and blogs with old Japanese textiles lately. These pages however are the ones I go back to regularly.







I just started without thinking it through, but I think what I'll do is make a Quilt-as-you-go type quilt with the squares just sewn together and the back just roughly sewn down. I'm using fabric from the extensive Japanese stash which I accumulated while making my Japanese Quilt.

I'm amazed at how much I'm enjoying hand sewing these days. When I first started making quilts there was no way I'd sew by hand - too slow, too boring! Now I really enjoy it, who'd have thought? I'm off to the Mainland today so I'll stock up on some more sashiko thread if I can get any. I might have to buy online to get what I want.

There has been plenty of TV watching lately, and with Le Tour (de France) only a few weeks away there will be plenty of time for hand sewing.

sashiko

I've been doing this sashiko kit this week - it's nearly finished, just a few lines to go.



What have I learnt?  That I need to pay more attention to the crowded areas,



That I need to keep the thread twisted or it makes these thick open stitches,



And that it takes quite a long time to do.  The lines printed on the fabric aren't all equal in length either.



But I enjoyed it, and will do some more for sure.  I have a pale pink kit like this with cherry blossoms on it 'somewhere', lost after a clean-up. It's also a very portable project.