A viking's tale

Hellooooooo!!
It has taken me forever, but i've worked out how to post to blogger from my laptop.
Today - a rainy cold wintery day, and i finally managed to energize myself enough to
pull my christmas present from its beautiful red box !

And I looooooove it !!!!!
Presenting ==========>

MY brand new beautiful Husqvarna Viking opal 670 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So far, its a breeze to work with.
I love the little features that make this the best sewing machine.
The touch screen, the automatic tension and built in sewing assistant guide.
The ease of pull off and push on presser feet. The built in thread cutter to the left of the machine.
The generous space inside the arm for quilting. The two LED lights. THe start/stop feature.
Oh yeah, i reeeaaally like the start/stop feature. IT' s like cruise control for sewing :)

 

The touch screen is something very new to me, and i love it. This machine has  so many  easy
to use features, to ease one's sewing experience. Aah. Here I am 'prepping' my fabric with an overcase stitch on the hem to prevent fraying before prewash. It tells me which presser foot to use ( which was completely simple to snap in/out ) , which needle to use , what the automatic tension has already been set for , what stitch i need to use ( which is automatically set to go ) , and a whole lot of other stuff that I do not know about .... yet. . :)

I've got some great new quilting books for inspiration.
Civil War Quilts , by Pam Weeks and Don Beld.
Patchwork Stype, by Suzuko Koseki.
Sunday Morning Quilts, by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl ARkinson.

First up, ( my grandmother's christmas present which ive borrowed ) ::
Civil War quilts ......
This book is FASCINATING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
iT'S A complete readers novel with brilliant pictures, and full quilting patterns at the back too!!!!!!
I am loving reading about the 'potholder quilts'.
THis is my favourite one from the book. ( More on this later )

This is the "Henry Pratt block" close up.  Also pictured is Henry Pratt c. 1862 in military uniform.
There are sooooooo many gorgeous potholder blocks in this book. Apparently, it was the thing to do during the Civil War, easy for large groups of women to make thousands of much needed quilts for soldiers in the war and in hospital. Each block was about 9 inches, completly able to stand on their own as a finished quilt, then whip stitched together. Saving all the hassle of sandwiching and quilting the quilt afterward.

I love this little quilt too, its the sunday morning quilt, from said book above, simple long strips cut and placed in different directions. A good easy starter project i think.

This is 'scrappers delight' also from Sunday Morning quilts. I really like the modern flair with the long strips and bright colour patterns. Isn't that a bed you just want to crawl into with a heap of good crafting books , and a nice hot cup of tea !!!!!
Sewing is fun, it is indeed.
Happy thoughts sent to you all, i'll be back ! :)
love,
angela

Tidings of Joy ..

 

Here's wishing each and every

one of us

creatures here on this earth

a wonderful Christmas

filled with joy

and wonder

and peace

and love.

xoxoox

~ HOME ~

HelloooOOOO!!
Gosh its been awhile, I am finding it hard to blog for various reasons, computers, downloading photos, time, energy, etc. But after many many years of living away from my family and home, I am finally back ! Yahoo!  It feels so wonderful to be knitting and baking and mamaing around familiar ground :)
Sending on some pics that I can find on this computer - that isn't mine ! Who knows what I'll come up with. I have lots to share , i'll get it all organized soon ! Happy Holidaying, wherever you are :)
I miss you all .... be back soon !
xoxoxoxooxx

Rocks and getting old

Going down the Gibb River Road was fun !
Western Australia is a beautiful  part of this world, and those who can see it are definitely the better for it.
I have been quite reflective of it all lately, and as  my 36th birthday swiftly approaches, I feel quite ancient, but not quite as ancient as these rocks :)
It's great to get out there and put yourself and your life into perspective with it all.
This universe spins round and round and we as humans are only a split second in the history of it all.
I can say today, its great to be human, and alive and all a part of it all.
Peace !

Yarning along

The Alchemist :: by Paulo Coelho. ' A fable about following your dreams '.

The Alchemist picked up a book that someone in the caravan had brought. Leafing through the pages, he found a story about Narcissus.
The Alchemist knew the legend of Narcissus, a youth who knelt daily beside a lake to contemplate his own beauty. He was so fascinated by himself that , one morning , he fell into the lake and drowned.  At the spot where he fell, a flower was born, which was called the narcissus.
But this was not how the author of the book ended the story.
He said that when Narcissus died, the goddess of the forest appeared and found the lake, which had  been fresh water, transformed into a lake of salty tears.
"Why do you weep?" the goddess asked.
" I weep for Narcissus, " the lake replied.
"Ah, it is no surprise that you weep for Narcissus," they said , " for though we always pursued him in the forest, you alone could contemplate his beauty close at hand."
" But ... was Narcissus beautiful ? " the lake asked.
" Who better than you to know that ? " the goddess said in wonder. " After all, it was by your banks that he knelt each day to contemplate himself !"

The lake was silent for some time . Finally , it said :
" I weep for Narcissus, but I never noticed that Narcissus was beautiful. I weep because, each time he knelt beside my banks, I could see, in the depths of his eyes, my own beauty
reflected."

_________________________________________________________________________

Isn't that amazing ?
This book was found and collected at a yardsale, its previous owner said it had been enjoyed and read by her many times. She also said the author had several other good books. I 'm about halfway into it , and it is really a book that opens up one's eyes/ mind/ ideas/ beliefs. It is just the kind of book that I am drawn toward.

kNITTing THIS.
jOINing here.