31 December, 2022

Final OPAM For 2022 And Last One Ever!

 
Kandiwal Quilt
Ten Christmas Jewels
 
That's 11 finishes for December.
 
This is my final OPAM report as, like all good things, 
OPAM is coming to an end. I would like to thank 
Kris from Tag Along Teddies and previously 
Peg from Happy in Quilting for
 keeping us inspired over the years. 
I joined back in 2012 and 
have a total of 606 finishes that I documented
Hopefully I can keep myself inspired!

29 December, 2022

Christmas Jewels

 
I forgot to share these Christmas Jewels I made as gifts. 
I decided not to use Christmas fabric so they could 
be out all year round. Eight of them of made in Tilda 
and the other two in some fabric I had in my stash. 
The red one of the right is the original one I made 
from the Tilda Mystery Christmas Box 
by Kitty Rose Cottage back in March.

25 December, 2022

Merry Christmas 2022!

 
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas
from all of us here at MacDonald's Patch.
xxx

18 December, 2022

2022 Kimberley Outback Adventure (Part 10)

The Kandiwal kids and I worked on a little project.
First up, hand prints. Winston.
Shianne.
Cheeky little Kingsley.
Shanita.
Arnahm.
Scotty.
Carmen-Lee.
  Kimarnie was away visiting relatives so we made an extra 
block with Carmen-Lee's print as they were around the same age.

 We also got Pat to do her hand print. 
Pat is the Matriach of the community.
Jazzlyn painted a couple of blocks too. 
I sat with Jazzlyn and stitched while she painted.
 This is a Wandjina. It is a rain maker spirit in the north-west 
region of the Kimberley in Western Australia. 
A sewing machine was brought up from the community. 
I was very excited to see it was brand new and had never 
been out of the box. Unfortunately, it didn't work 
properly. It was doing, from what I could see and count, 
about 35-36 stitches per inch. I literally had to try pulling the 
fabric through from behind the foot and it was still an effort.
 
My plan was for everyone to sew one side of the sashing 
to their blocks. Due to the problems with the machine 
 this didn't happen. They all got to sew about an inch 
each so they could at least say they sewed some.
  
 

 
I persevered and got the blocks put together so they
could see what the hanging was going to look like.
  
I bought the wall hanging to finish it. My original plan was 
for the quilt to hang on the school wall. There was 
no space to hang it as the walls are covered with 
educational pictures and the kid's artwork. 
Also, it wouldn't mean anything to them. Paula is going to 
have it as a memory of the time she spent living there.
It was very exciting to have Jazzlyn arrive in 
Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. 
She is staying until the wet season is over.
Poor Jazzlyn has been freezing since she got here with the 
unusual cold weather Melbourne has been having.
At least it's starting to get warmer now!
A couple of Jazzlyn's paintings.
If you get a chance, have a look at this YouTube video 
of "Old Man on the Hill" by Al Mac. It is the story of the 
Kandiwal Community. It tells the story of Wilfred, 
the kid's great grandfather who walked the family 
back to country in the 1970s. 
 
At the beginning of the video, you see all the kids. 
The first little girl with the curly hair is Carmen-Lee. 
When we were there she had had her head shaved after
being hit by a rock and the bandage wouldn't stay on.
And that's a wrap! 
I hope you've enjoyed following along with our big adventure. 
It's going to be tough to beat this trip!

17 December, 2022

Last Friday Night Sew-In For 2022

Can you believe it's the last FNSI for 2022!

I decided I would start the prep work for a new pattern. 
Like I really needed a new project to work on! LOL! 
It is "Christmas Blessings" by Lisa of Fig 'n' Berry Creations.
All traced out and the freezer paper ironed on.
Ready to start cutting.
I managed to get some of it cut out before it was time for bed.
 
Thank you to Wendy of Sugarlane Designs 
for hosting us throughout the year. Special thanks to 
Dawn of Kitty Rose Cottage for sponsoring FNSI.

One cheeky elf lounging on the dining table!

13 December, 2022

2022 Kimberley Outback Adventure (Part 9)

We spent three days in Darwin. 
The first morning we did a Bombing of Darwin Cruise.

The commentary was fascinating. There is so much we 
were never taught in school about the bombing of Darwin.
We went into the WWII oil storage tunnels.
We visited the Darwin Military Museum.
These displays were under that huge gun.
There was a display of household items 
in Darwin homes at the time.
You can't go to Darwin and not go on a sunset cruise! 
Or so they say and I now agree with them.
 
 We enjoyed some lovely fresh prawns.....
  
and bubbles! A perfect way to end the day.

At the Mindil Beach Sunset Market. 
There was so many choices for dinner 
but it was seafood for us!
More seafood sitting on the beach watching the sunset!
Back to the market. It was such a great atmosphere.

We went to the Botanical Gardens and saw
 lots of flowers we've never seen before.
After nearly 5 weeks, I finally found some scones!
Our last night in Darwin. 
Of course we had to have seafood for dinner 
so we headed back to Stokes Hill Wharf.
After dinner, I dropped Noel, Ian and Paula off at their
 hotel and headed to the airport to catch a flight home. 
The three of them flew back to Kununurra the next morning to 
pick up Paula's car. They headed back to Broome to 
collect her caravan and then commenced the long drive back home. 
I flew home as we had the NOTYQ Quilt Show 
coming up and I was the convenor, so there was lots to do.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about our big adventure 
and I didn't bore you too much!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
I've got one more post to come to share with you. 
It's the project I did with the kids at Kandiwal.