Reblogged from kumo temari:

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. — André Gide (1869–1951) learn more about this temari

I can’t believe how amazing these little balls are – I love looking at them – I know I wouldn’t have the patience. Enjoy

I admit it.  I have been a little distracted for the last couple of weeks and have not really settled down to writing .  The whole business of the previous post discomfited me and the issue of the house I am trying to no-longer think about.  This is odd as it has been the one beacon of solace for so long.  I should have known better …

Whilst I have not been busy blogging, I have bee busy with other things – meet Pavlova, my latest creation which has kept me occupied along with another two quilts, Trip and Dolly Mixture which should be done later this week.

In other news, I have been out to a Carers’ Ambassadors meeting this morning.  Carers Champions are a not for profit organisation representing and helping carers in the Plymouth local authority area.

If you are a carer and live in Plymouth have you heard of them?  Have you had any help or assistance in your role?  Have you had a Carer’s Assessment by the local authority and if so what has been your experience of the process?  Any compliments – any concerns?  I am meeting with the local authority on 3 April to provide a carer’s perspective and would welcome local input and even experiences from further afield.  Leave me a comment or if you prefer not to leave it here, email me at fimacmorris@aol.com.  I am attending the Carers Champions drop-in on 5 March in Plympton to ask carers there about their experiences and would love to hear from anyone who has experience of this, good or bad.

I can tick this off today’s to do list and pop over to Handmade Monday to see what Wendy and the gang have been up to.

I know I shouldn’t have trusted the woman in the office gotten my hopes up but I just wanted something nice to look forward to.

In an attempt to cheer myself up I was playing old TV themes – it’s a game we used to like to play, our own version of Name That Tune, but during the course of this little interlude it emerges that John can no longer remember that Jason King drove a Jensen Interceptor.  The only reason I have ever heard of a Jensen Interceptor is because John used to bang on and on and on and on and …. about Jason bloody King and his Jensen bloody Interceptor.  I feel bereft.

I have a lovely report from the lovely psychologist to tell us that actually after all the brain mashing John is still average with some particular difficulties thrown in for good measure but was highly superior before.  I had actually worked that one out for myself but ho hum.  There are whole chunks of our life and of his own that he can no-longer remember and every time I am confronted with it I feel gutted again.  It is almost seven years since this nightmare began.

It’s a soft, grey, January day here in old Plymouth town and there was some talk of snow on an earlier weather forecast.  I will believe it when I see it.

I have just checked the metoffice site and there is a weather warning – perhaps, perhaps not.  It looks like my travel plans for tomorrow may be cancelled.  I was quite looking forward to a day out – what a shame.

Friday saw the arrival of some lovely bits of fabric on which I have spent far too much money.  I bought some more fabric for a bag (3 different designs). Included in this stash is a new jelly roll which, as a pennance for indulging myself, I had mad an agreement (with myself) that I couldn’t start it, couldn’t even unroll it, until I had finished the Puttin on the Ritz jelly roll.

I started out to make another small quilt but I had 15 strips left and once I had started sewing it was clear that it wasn’t enough.  So this is what I made instead.

It’s a baby changing bag 14x12x6 with a matching changing mat, comme-ca:

So now, as well as finishing the Boy Blue quilt, I can embark, comparatively guilt free, on new quilt journeys.  I have some lawn prints waiting to be turned into a pinwheel quilt, I have some Sherbert Pips collection which are going to be one with stars made of 4 patch blocks and half square triangles and I have the Morris & Co ones which I am keeping for me.

They will form the quilt for our new bedroom in what hopefully will be our dream new home.  If you all send prayers or positive thoughts or good vibes I’m sure that can only help.

When you’ve finished with all that malarky – why not pop over to Wendy’s Handmade Monday, I know Ros‘ tutorial will be one not to miss.  Happy Sunday everyone.

I actually managed to finish her on Monday but owing to the dismal weather and me being involved in lots of voluntary things this week, it has taken me until now to post here.  I am very pleased and also a litlle bit bemused as to why these quilts have adopted genders!

As said before Ruby is made from 1 charm pack of Moda Ruby with 5 inch border of an aqua and cherry fabric from the Ruby range.  this has also been used for the backing fabric.

It is bound in an ice blue plain cotton from the Bella solids range.  I don’t have a particular thing for Moda although I do love their fabrics but I’m trying to make my quilts work together and at the moment I lack the experience to be able to tell if different manufacturers’ fabrics will work as well together.  I’m playing it safe, if you will.

It is stipple quilted in the colourful central panel in

my own unique messy style using a variegated pale grey Gutermann Sulky thread and in places it has been unpicked due to tension  problems when I was nearing the end of my reel.  It looked more like crochet than sewing. The batting is Warm and Natural.  I’ve used it for the others too but again this is down, really to a lack of experience in anything else.  Another happy accident.  It seems to be well regarded but I just found it originally at a good price for what I wanted (a cotton batting).  I thinking of using Heirloom wool batting for commissions – I suppose that depends on the price the client is willing to pay.  I have one in mind for myself which will use wool batting and William Morris fabrics.  For our new house .

I am satisfied with the overall standard of finish.  I just have to work out now how much to sell them for.  I have a craft fair next Friday at the Roland Levinsky Building in the University of Plymouth and would like to get them on my etsy shop over the weekend with some other bits.  So if you have any experience in this (pricing quilts for sale) please contact me.  Ruby measures 36″ square.  It has been washed and has that slightly wrinkled quality that I love.

I’m currently working on a new project for next week’s craft fair and will hope to post the results on Sunday for next week’s Handmade Monday – next week is busy again with a day at Bristol with the Phoenix team, a day interviewing for this voluntary thing I’m doing and the Craft Fair on Friday – I think Thursday may be a bit fraught.

I was a bit worried about it clashing with the cream ladybug pattern but although the reds are not an exact match the range of other colours in the quilt make it an acceptable “happy accident”.

The finished quilt is approximately 32 x 38 so would make a lovely cot quilt and could be used as a play mat.  It has been machine echo quilted but the centre has a hand quilted heart motif where a baby’s initial could be added if required.  It has been washed on a gentle cycle and line dried – although given the weather today, I’m not quite sure how!

It has a quilt label in toning colours with my name and the year.

In other news, the thread from Cotton Patch took over a week to arrive – I didn’t pay for the express delivery so perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised but it does irk me when companies take over a week to actually despatch something.  I know it wasn’t their most lucrative order ever but  I have spent quite a bit with them in the last few months. Whine over.

I’m a little early posting for Handmade Monday (well early for me anyway – and apparently a bit too early for Wendy, too) but I’ve got a busy week and the opportunity for crafting may be limited to Monday only this week – so I’m trying to save it. to try and finish Ruby – if I get her done I’ll try and post pictures too.  I’ll add in the link later because all those talented people are well worth a visit.

Originally posted February (perhaps 19th) 2005 shortly before John had his first stroke. I am a marginally less bossy blogger than I was then, it appears.

The origins of the She Weevil
SheWeevil, she-weevil, or sheweevil: all variations of She Weevil which in itself, in case you haven’t realised, is a direct reference to the She-devil. If you are unfamiliar with the fantastical works of Ms. Fay Weldon then blogger off to the library and get familiarised. Alternatively go to work on an egg.

The Life and Loves of a She-Devil was adapted for television by the BBC in 1986 and I missed it for reasons that will become apparent further on in (read! You blog exploders, read!). During this discourse I am completely discounting the American cinema adaptation with Meryl Streep and Roseanne Barr.

During the summer of 1986 at the age of 17-and-a-lot I had the ___ fortune (fill in the blank yourself) to join the Women’s Royal Naval Service. Don’t get me wrong, it was something I really wanted to do at the time but for various reasons they weren’t right for me and I certainly wasn’t right for them. I joined up on 9 June 1986 and spent the first five weeks of naval life banned from watching the television like all the other girls I joined up with. From HMS Raleigh I went up to HMS Dryad to do my Radar training. I bloggered about quite a bit and had to re-sit my final exam. Once I’d passed I was sent to work in the Cunningham Tactical Trainer. All of this time, through the summer and on into the autumn I watched virtually no TV.

After awhile I realised that I was being called She-devil by one of the hookies over in Cook Building. I didn’t know what or who he was referring me to but it didn’t sound good. When I found out I was even less impressed. I suppose with the benefit of hindsight I see where he was coming from but to me at 17 Julie T Wallace did not conform to the stereotype. At 6’2” with short red hair and flashing green eyes, neither did I but maybe I wanted to more than I knew.

Anyway. Now I’m thirty-six. When I started writing sheweevil I was thirty-five, I’ve had three children and am more Julie T Wallace than she is herself. I sometimes scare myself and often scare men. They don’t like the fact I look down on them – physically at least. I sometimes feel like a giantess and people’s children point and I get mistaken for men. Which is odd really as I certainly am more than ample in the boob department. They generally can’t believe a woman can be the size I am.

Okay now I sound like the incredible hulk. I’m not green, just a bit browned off. In my head, where I am self-deprecating in a dry and mostly humorous way, I’m a bit she-devilish but not quite, I am more me than that; more she-weevilish.

Are you getting it yet?

As well as making lots of lovely things I am happy to be an independent trader for Phoenix Trading and I sell their beautiful cards, gift wrap, stationery and gifts   , sometimes with my own stuff and sometimes on there own.

There are five new product launches a year with the biggest being in January and before Christmas.  If you missed the beautiful Christmas stock why not have a gander at the lovely new and wonderful existing ranges over on my trading site - delivery is free and you can pay by paypal, cheque or cash in person.

Are you in or near Plymouth? Why not book me for a party or fundraising event?  Leave me a message here or on my trading site.

Email me your name and address with the subject line Phoenix to fimacmorris@aol.com to be entered into my January Launch Draw for a chance to win a £10 Phoenix Voucher and a small handmade gift.

There are some lovely cards and accessories suitable for your Valentine or anyone else in need of some love and our blank Chocolate Bar card just needs the addition of the words ”love you more than chocolate” to be the highest compliment anyone can pay.  In our house we normally say dust because we have so much of it.

I haven’t quilted this by hand, I’ve used my new toy: a free motion embroidery foot for my Singer 1507NT.  I haven’t followed the usual rules about not going over the lines and perhaps it looks a little messy to some but I’m pleased with the overall appearance and the back looks as good as the front.

What I did finish was the quilt label – I wish my photography was up to snuff but you can just about make out my name.  The date I suppose is somewhat premature but it has to be finished by 2 February (as does Oops a Daisy) as I have a Craft Fayre on 3 February.

I have finished a couple of other things in the last week as well – and they will be adorning my stall too; they are all available for sale in my etsy shop as will my Phoenix Trading cards.  Let’s pray for some good luck and some good sales – the washing machine died over the weekend and this morning we found a puncture on the car!!!

It is the coldest day of the Winter so far – I woke up cold and thought the heating had failed to come on – it was on just not making much impact on the frosty morning – wherever you are keep warm and enjoy the sunshine and if you want something to warm the heart go and visit the talented crafters over at Handmade Monday 49.

A combination of this and my own craftiness (you can take this as cunning or my incessant need to make things) seems to have had the desired effect an inspirational effect on John and his initial small decorative efforts have stretched his artistic muscles to the point where, as I write, he is in the shed painting again.  Not only that but he has renewed his Minigallery subscription and has done most of the adminny bits he needed to do to get it to go live.  These are huge, seven-league-boot steps forward and I don’t think any of them could have been achieved if I was still going out to work.

I am sharing my own personal favourite which I am linking to – not everyone is comfortable with the human form, so if you aren’t don’t click please.  This was painted back in 2005 from a drawing done of me back in 2004 or 2003 and it sold very quickly, too quickly to a lady in London.  I wanted to look at it for a bit longer; who doesn’t want to see themselves so beautifully depicted?