WIP s & other unfinished items

This is a pic of one of my WIP's. A WIP is a work in progress, for you nonquilters. I have about 4 wip's now, I am ashamed to say. I love the bright colours in this one, & have even bought the fabric to make the borders. Work ground to a halt with the coming of the hot weather. And... I am thinking of starting another, before I have finished this! It seems to be something most quilters do. Though I did promise myself I would never do it, I find I have, anyway. When I first started on this quilting lark, I was introduced to it by my daughter. She has about 17 WIP's!! I have finished off some for her, & done the quilting for her on my machine. Now she is so busy she doesnt seem to find time for her quilting, but I try to remind her to take some time for herself.

My first effort was the quilt I called Four Seasons, that I made out of Charm Squares. Next, I made this quilt that is pictured. I made it from a pattern by June Gilchrist, & loved every minute of making it! It gets used a lot by SG when he makes cubbies, & it has lived for some years on the back of a chair. Now it is in the blanket box- hence it's wrinkled state.

I refuse to be 'precious' about my quilts, & like to think they are being used- & abused a little- & I really make them for enjoyment & comfort.

GOM gets upset when SG takes them outside, but they can always be washed!

It seems I have always 'made' things, knitting crochet, sewing & stuffed toys, & of course, my beloved dolls. I used to make cloth dolls to sell for a bit of pocket money when I was first married, & GOM used to be such a help. He would sit with a knitting needle & stuff the long legs of the floppy bed dolls that were popular then.

Later I made little dolls for orders, & I never made much profit, but I did enjoy the process. My DJ still has her little 'Sally' I made her, even though she is a bit worse for wear these days!

When I was a teenager, I used to make myself clothes on my grandmother's old treadle. I also remember trying to fix the belt on it once, & put the wire hook through my finger. I never let on, as I wanted to go out, so I hid the fact that it was a nasty wound. It got infected of course, & I was lucky not to lose the tip of my finger!

When I was a teenager, I decided I wanted to be a nurse- well, I had probably decided that long before I was a teenager!

So my friend of the car-knapping, & I became St John Ambulance Cadets. I loved everything about it, & all the things we learnt. The classes used to be held in the old Courthouse. It was a lovely old wooden building & I used to often sit & wonder about what had gone on, long before we used it for our classes.

There were cells, & this is where we used to have our pracitcal exams to pass to the next level. One of our very loved local Doctors used to take us for our exams, & examine our bandaging techniques. I remember coming second in my class, & felt very proud of myself.

In the summer the St Johns cadets from several districts about, used to go to a camp at Mt Maunganui. I cant remember the exact location of the huge buildings we used for barracks, but I do remember the fun & the excitement we used to have. One of my cousins, from another town used to come to the camp, & we used to get together, but it was more a case of being with the friends you spent most time with at your home base.

I remember we used to get prizes for the best kept cubicle, & we WON! one year, anyway. I was a bit fearful of the high bunks, but I would never let on about that! Silly me, for I always seemed to get a high one allocated to me.

We used to have to prepare the food for all our meals, & take turns at doing all the chores about the camp. At meal times we would hoard cheese & bread, & in the night, after lights out, we would have cheese & bread ball fights, flinging the lumps about in the dark at the other cubicles & down the 'boys end'.

I was never a 'joiner' really & Brownies or Girl Guides never appealed to me, but I love being a St John Ambulance Cadet.

I don't really remember when we stopped being cadets, but I suppose we must have just 'grown out of it.' And discovered boys, no doubt.