Precious snippets

Can anyone tell me what I can do with these precious offcuts? They are the extra inches I trimmed off the edges of my latest quilt to bring it down to the required size for the competition requirements. And they are just too delicious to consign to the bin.

Ideas, anybody???? 

This week's highlights

One of my aims when I decided to blog was to have some sort of record or journal of all the cool things I see in my day to day. So, I plan to take pics as often as I can and post a collage of my highlights of each week.

These are of some of the good stuff this week... 

Weekend by the Water

Isn't this a pretty scene? DH & I took the kids to have fish & chips by the harbour over the weekend. Although it was a bit breezy, the weather was perfect and we couldn't help but marvel over this gorgeous place that we live in. Wollongong harbour is no more than an 8 minute drive from my home unless there is extraordinary traffic - practically on our doorstep.
We are very lucky to have access to the coast and all it has to offer. There were lots of tourists, obviously from farther afield than us, ecstatic to be visiting such a gorgeous area. It can be good to glimpse something that we take for granted through fresh eyes.

While we were sitting by the water enjoying an icecream, we happened to see this daredevil out on the breakwater doing amazing stunt-jumps into the water on his bike. We sat & watched for ages as he did somersaults & high-kicks way up in the air, landing in the chilly harbour where his friend would jump in to help drag the bike out. He had attached some foam flotation aids to the crossbar to stop it sinking, but it still took the two of them to haul it back up the wall each time. Even the pelican enjoyed the impromptu show!
 

Why am I here (and other trivialities)...

I've been thinking about this blogging caper, and why I decided to do it, and also why I hesitated for quite a while before jumping in. Here's some of what I came up with...

The idea of journalling holds such an appeal for me - I love to read biographies, autobiographies and have done for years... they hold a glimpse into another persons life, other people's lives are SOOOOOO much more interesting than mine!! Blogs are simply an updated, more immediate version of the same thing. And I LOVE to check out my friend's blogs. As well as the blogs of people I have never met (and probably will never meet), but still think of as friends.

So, I thought, if those interesting people are willing to share their interesting lives with me then perhaps I should reciprocate (although I'm nowhere near as interesting as any of them) - it only seems fair, and I do see some nice stuff on occasion.

Here's the trouble - I've been programmed to be modest, self-effacing and say "Aw, shucks, 'tweren't nuthin" whenever a compliment is offered. I find praise a particularly uncomfortable thing to accept, and have been known to blush and squirm considerably when compliments are forthcoming. And I'm so boring - surely nobody could be interested in my mundane life? Surely, if I had a blog and offered up tidbits of my life for public consumption, any viewer so unfortunate as to stumble on my blog would think me boastful, full of myself, an unbearable show-off.

But I don't think any of those things about the people whose blogs I look at on a daily basis. I just admire their work and am grateful that they decided to share. So maybe nobody would think badly of me if I share my stuff - I know I have to get over this problem I have with accepting positive opinions of what I do. So here I am!!

The picture I have posted is of my most recent traditional quilt - I don't make many of them these days, but my friend Cheryl asked me to design something for the Luminosity range of fabric she had just got in to her new shop and this is what I came up with. I've also taught it as a class, and will have another one coming up later in the year.

Oops - here are #3 #4 & #5

Sorry about that - missed a few of the photos first time...

 

Exhibition Postmortem

This is Daisy - she welcomes visitors to the Old Fire Station Community Arts Centre, Kiama, has her picture taken several times a day and has been 'milked' by countless delighted children while Mum & Dad look at the art in the gallery.


d As you come closer, you are able to view the display of artwork inside. This was our second exhibition in this space. Moderately successful, though I would have liked to sell more (of course).


I have put up some pictures of my recent work, which I framed for inclusion in this exhibit. I've called them Abstractions #1 through to #5 (catchy titles, eh?) for want of a better name.



This series is an exploration of layers of colour and texture, heavily stitched and embellished with paint and beads in some cases.I am happy to say that #3 and #5 are now sold!!!  

An introduction...

Here I am, with my very own blogspot!! I've been suffering for ages with a terrible, slow dial-up connection - absolutely good for nothing. So, last week I finally got broadband access, and now I can finally have a blog of my very own. There are lots of blogs I check out every day - I love to drop in and see how my friends are doing! Maybe someone out there will be interested in my life too. If not, at least having this blog will encourage me to write on a regular basis - I'm shocking at keeping a journal, but determined to keep trying.

So, a little bit about me... I am Nic Bridges - just turned 37, full-time professional longarm quilter, living in the suburbs of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia (just south of Sydney). I have a wonderful husband (Rob) and two great kids (Adam 14 & Emma 10). I've wanted to be an artist for as long as I can remember, and two years ago decided to quit my job as a manager in the insurance industry to try to live a creative life. Since then I've struggled with all the difficulties involved in trying to make a living as a longarm quilter, make my own art and keep my family afloat financially. We're not bankrupt yet, so I guess we're okay.

I hope some of you will check in now and then - I see some fantastic things in my work every day that I'd love to share. It's a fun journey!