Keeping Track

I’ve been having fun cutting into some of my new hand-dyes and working on a number of small pieces, one of which may end up as my next contribution to the Twelve by Twelve Collaborative Art Quilt Project which is due to be revealed on 1 December US time.

I’ve been listening to Radio National while I have been sewing. If you ever have troubles keeping track of everything, spare a thought for the dabbawallahs of Mumbai. As highlighted in the Karma of Tin (a podcast that you can download):

Each morning 5,000 Dabbawallahs collect approximately 200,000 meal containers in the suburbs and deliver them to offices in the city centre. Four hours later the empty containers are collected and returned. It’s a delivery system that started in the 1890s to accommodate people from different ethnic backgrounds with strict rules about how food should be prepared. It functions without managers or supervision; most of the workers are illiterate and all receive the same wages.

And the remarkable thing is that it is estimated that there is only one mistake in every SIX MILLION deliveries. Wow!

Speaking of the Indian subcontinent, my sister Delia is off to Bangladesh to work at the LAMB Hospital in Dinajpur for 11 weeks. She writes that:

The maternity dept at Lamb is extremely busy, delivering over 3,500 babies a year, with a C-section rate just over 20% and a high number of complicated cases, e.g. eclampsia and obstructed labor. The Gyn dept is also increasingly busy, with a new fistula repair unit recently opened. LAMB Hospital has 5 recently graduated Bangladeshi lady doctors who work in the obstetrics department.

This will be Delia’s third visit to Bangladesh but her first as an active medical attendant. Godspeed Delia!

A Brush with Art

I’d like to extend my best wishes to my friend Pamela who is the feature artist at a forthcoming multimedia exhibtion hosted by the Wild Lime Cafe in Blinman, South Australia from 12 September to 31 October. Pamela has created a range of textile works inspired by her recent visit to the Flinders Ranges. You can view some of the pieces online in Pamela’s gallery.

This exhibition runs in association with the annual festival, A Brush with Art (13 September to 6 October) at participating galleries in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia.

Holiday Countdown

It’s just a week until the Laundry King and I depart for Europe. No sooner do I cross one thing off my “to do” list, than three new items appear. Sigh…

Anyway, while I get back to my list, I encourage your to visit Barb Cowan’s blog www.thequiltconnection.blogspot.com. Barb is new to blogging and I am sure that she would enjoy some visitors.

Rotary Youth Exchange Reunion 2008

2008 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Rotary Youth Exchange Program. In October, the annual meeting of the Australian Youth Exchange Officers will be held at the program’s birthplace in Wangaratta and Myrtleford in North East Victoria. In conjunction with this conference, there will be celebratory dinners and opportunities for former exchange students to reflect on their own involvement. Further details and a registration form are available on: www.rotary9790.org.au/yex.asp

Off to Canberra

Soon I will be heading off to Canberra. It’s a 4+ hour drive. Just the right length for the Pride & Prejudice audio book (read by Helen Morse) which is loaded and ready to go.

I will be attending the Canberra Quilters’ Exhibition (click to see the quilts!) on Saturday. I’ll be quilting in the QFO (Quilts for Others) corner from 10am-12.30 and white gloving later in the afternoon. If you see me, do say hello! (Comment moderation is enabled for the duration.)

Stitched & Bound

Thanks to Stephanie (who doesn’t have a blog but we’re working on her!), I received a copy of the catalogue for the Stitched & Bound 2008 exhibition which is organised by the West Australian Quilters’ Association. As I read through, and with the latest Twelve by Twelve theme, I of course noticed Cherry Johnston’s quilt - Illumination.

By the way, there are still some spots left in my Serendipity Circles workshop at The Cottage Quiltworks next week on 13 August 2008.

This is a lovely store with a great mix of fabrics and they have a light, airy classroom.

Call Chris and Jann on (02) 9918 7550 to reserve your place. I would love to see you there!

Thread treats

A pleasant diversion while I was in New Zealand was a trip to The Ribbon Rose in Ellerslie. Their fabric selection is not very extensive but I rarely buy fabric these days anyway. By contrast, their selection of embroidery and stitching threads is stupendous. I couldn’t resist this overdyed Perle 8 thread by Threadworx:

Look Again

This diagram is for the benefit of Chantel and anyone else who couldn’t work out the blobs from the other day:

As Lola correctly noted, it is the silhouette of a woman looking down. The illuminated outline of her features can be discerned on the right hand side of the blobs.

Goodies in the Mail

Look what was waiting in the mail for me when I got back from New Zealand! The beautifully covered small visual diary is a kind gift from some high school students that I shared my quilts with a while ago. The Shiva paintstiks I ordered from The Thread Studio and may just feature in my next Twelve by Twelve challenge quilt.  

Progress

It was a day of small accomplishments. Quilt show quilts entrusted to the care of Australia Post to be reunited with their interstate owners (check out this beauty by Pam Hill, exquisitely quilted on her domestic sewing machine). A pink slip obtained and my car registration renewed online - thank you RTA for not forcing me to drive to the motor registry to stand in a queue. A business name registration renewed, also online - thank you Department of Fair Trading. A large tranche of blog posts prepared for the Guild blog - thank you Blogger for introducing the scheduled post feature. And the final outline stitching quilted on my little folk. Progress indeed.