optical illusions

I have been suffering a bit with a cold so didn't really want to start anything for fear of making a mistake. So I have been playing about with some old UFO's - which is something I should be doing anyway. I decided that I would sort these blocks out and get them made up. These are for Byron's ( grandson) quilt. He has loved Buzz Lightyear for absolutely ages and so I decided to make this last year. However if I don't hurry up he will be past Buzz and onto something else. I also though that if I had all the blocks trimmed ready to sew and next to the machine it would be much quicker.

Then I remembered why it became a UFO.

The pattern is here and doesn't really show up that well. But I had enough fabric in my stash to make it and so off I went. The picture on the left shows the layout from the pattern. The picture on the right shows the striped blocks turned sideways. I felt that when I had the blocks the long way the quilt just looked too long and not wide enough even though the dimensions are the same. Of course there are no borders yet so that could make a difference. So here I am again trying to work out which one I prefer. I have a few opinions already but I thought maybe I would put it out into the bigger world and see what happens. Which one do you like?

(and of course I wonder why I am worrying about this so much - Byron will probably love it no matter which way it is.)

something quilty

I have actually been sewing but I am not quite ready to show anything yet. So here is a shot of a friend's top. She is making it for her son's 18th birthday at the end of this month and is just beautiful.

What doesn't show up here is that she has five stars done in a lighter colour which are positioned like the Southern Cross ( like on the Australian Flag). What a special touch!

ho hum.. and the little things

Sometimes life just seems mundane and ordinary and nothing seems worth mentioning. Life just goes on - nothing bad but nothing that seems note worthy either. But I have come to realise that I started this blog to keep a record of things and that, of course, means the little things as well. So I thought that I would post one of the everyday things, a little thing in the scheme of things but a big thing in my life.
This smile......

A year or so ago this child would not have anything to do with photographs. He would cry when he saw them. Once I had to carry him from a shop sobbing when he saw himself on closed circuit television. Through a long process we have moved to this stage where he has become a camera hog as well as wanting to take photos everytime he can get hold of the camera. I know which I prefer.

On 07/07/07 it was my mother's birthday and we took her to a local beach for fish and chips. There is a playground there where the main attraction is these trees. Guess who had lots of fun?