May we be worthy of their sacrifice

Pictorial snippets of our Anzac Day 2013, a perfectly sunny Autumn day which drew large crowds for the parade and service.

Medals, carefully polished and pinned to proud chests.

Young and old, world's apart in experience, but one at heart today.

 School cadet corps, honouring the fallen.

So many young lives atrociously sacrificed 
for freedom for today's Australians.

Lest we forget.

Little hexagon purse

Today I put the final stitches in my version of Brigitte Giblin's Little Hexagon Purse, made at the request of my eldest daughter. That a seventeen-year-old would want to wear anything made by their mother is special enough, but that she still loves it (and me!) many months after it was requested is remarkable!

Self imposed deadlines to have this little purse finished came and went with monotonous regularity.

But today it is done! The colours and fabrics were chosen by my daughter to coordinate with her wardrobe, as described previously.

The hexagons are 1/2 inch, and hand pieced. I very much enjoyed my first hand piecing project and have a small insight into the addictive and therapeutic nature of this technique. I detailed some tips and tricks that I learned in this post.

And now there is nothing to wait for but a lift to town to christen the new wardrobe addition :)

My dog, my kite and me

My girls have been duly connected with their kites, and my felt table centre is completed.

The design is by Mandy Shaw of Dandelion Designs and is from Australian Homespun #109. It reminds me of scherenschnitte, a form of German paper cutting which I love.

The table centre is large, at almost 60cm across. I chose neutral colours in contrast to Mandy's more vibrant red and green. It is pure chance that it happens to match the carpet!

The table centre is essentially two layers of felt, the upper brown layer cut carefully with small scissors, and appliqued to a cream lower layer. 

I began blanket stitching by hand, but soon realised it would take me an eternity. So the hand stitching was unpulled and replaced with a machine blanket stitch. Only the kite strings are embroidered by hand. It is very satisfying to have finished a project - it has been a while :) And just quietly, I love it. Great pattern Mandy!

As useless as ...

... a kite without a string!

A problem to be rectified this evening :)

Happy Friday night to you.