Pam Holland Designs and Productions

it's HOT

I've been a bit slack with the blog the past few days....however, work has taken precedence as I push to pass a deadline.
I have written 4 new classes and they will replace some of the older ones.
2008 brings a new newsletter for subscribers and I have been lazy with the member pages so that will be up and running again.
It's HOT, but I love it... The past week has seen temps of 39/40+ (100 + for my American friends)  and it will continue for the next week.
Keith and I are off to the beach today to lunch with son Jinda at his restaurant.

The photos are of the almost competed collage quilt.

It is really heavily illustrated with threads, now I'm doing the boring bit.... the border.

By illustrating with thread it gives it a sculptured feel and look... you wouldn't quilt a quilt like that for a bed, but this quilt lends itself to the technique.

Christmas day is over.

Christmas is over for another year. It was a wonderful day, fun, exciting and absolutely exhausting. Every year, the day after the event, I make a promise to myself not to do it again the next year... but time erases the amount of time and energy needed and we do it all over again, and again and again.

It's a bit like having a baby really. The ultimate benefits outweigh  the pain.!!!!

The family arrived one by one, each  laden with goodies to share during the day.

Presents were placed under the tree and the small grandchildren could hardly contain themselves with excitement

The temperature was in the low 80's and under a clear sky we shared a traditional Christmas Dinner.

The parrots and Kookaburras, joined in the Christmas chorus as the boys played cricket for several hours on the back block..

I spotted a possum watching us from the branches above in the evening and and Rachael saw a rather large Koala.... so I guess you can't get more Australian than that.

The evening meal saw more friends and relatives arrive and the the tables were laden with seafood and salad...

Today, we just relaxed with friends, we sat in the garden and finished off the rest of the prawns and Christmas pudding....

I'll take another day off and then back to work on some serious stuff....

So I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

It's raining...and my Doves are making the most of it by bathing in the pools of water gathered on the roof their Dove Condo.

A Stitch in Time

Being There A Stitch in Time, the Mother of all Quilters

Photographs by Sarah Wilson and Narration by Michael Hall.

One of my peers put this information to the list and I thought you might like to see it.

Michael Hall is a Senior Editor with the Texas Monthy Magazine and he followed his Mother Jane Hall around the Houston Quilt Festival. These are his observations... I found it a refreshing anecdote. He relates a simplistic and realistic view of the Gala Performance we call "Houston".

In fact, he has included many of the subject that I included in my recent magazine article, so I was rather pleased we were on the same wave length.

Christmas is upon us.

Don't you feel smug when you've purchased all your Christmas presents, and they are sitting nestled under the tree.?

It always reminds me of when the kids were little.

I remember the physical exhaustion and mental stress.

Most Christmases would find us  traveling from Adelaide to Tasmania on the overnight ferry. It meant packing the clothes for a mini army, making sure the presents were stashed away from the sticky finger and prying eyes of the troops.
Pre- travel, it was a game each year to see who could find the presents... and it was no mean feat hiding presents for 13+
Forget under the bed, in the wardrobe or even the garage.... often it was a locked cellar, the ceiling cavity or even the friends and neighbors houses....
But then again, their kids would dob....

But the day itself was always magic. We have lots of footage of our bambinos receiving their presents.

I was an ironing nut for about 30 years.... Well I am still, but I only do my own mainly... everything was neat and folded to go in the suitcases.... 4 pairs of red undies for Darrin, 4 pairs of black undies for Jamie....etc, etc.....Each person had two or three pairs of shoes...4 shirts, 4 pairs of jeans, a couple of sweaters and pajamas...!!!!
Our darn bus was just loaded with almost 40 pairs of shoes......!!!!!!and need I say I was/am still fussy about them being clean and shiny....
When I think back at the amount of energy it took and the amount of work I had to do, my daily output now pales into insignificance.
But Christmas is a magic time and now the Bambinos are in their 20's, 30's and even a 40... they still love Christmas at home.

The weather has turned and we finally have rain.
I've achieved very little in the past few days in the way of work, but I have 6 new books to review and I'll share them with you in the next couple of days.

Holland Herald

Does this happen in your house....?

Have you done the Christmas cards....?
You need to get a move on....XXXXXXXXX!!!!!

For the past couple of years I arrived home late in December... and to be honest, the heart just wasn't in it...

The tradition now is to send a long letter, sometimes with photos, sometimes just a note.
I read them from cover to cover and save them from year to year as part of history.

Well, I did finish the Christmas cards this year, some bought, some home made, and I finally managed to write the Holland Herald for friends and relatives.

Holland Herald  I have added it as a PDF  for easy access for friends and relatives...

However, anyone may read it...

Maybe I should explain. We have a multiracial family of 15. Ten of our thirteen children were not born to us, but for us I suppose. So we have an multicultural brood.With the exception of 2 sons who are chefs and work odd hours.

Everyone lives close to home (within 10 kms)... well the other two are just 16 kms... away so I can't complain.

Bug on the window

Bugs are interesting to draw and photograph... don't limit yourself to foliage!!!!

Agapanthus bud

agapanthus bud   -  Caroline asked me what  inspiration I gained from the photos  I took the other day.... I'm sort of playing at the moment....!!! But they will be used in some of my fabric designs... I would also like to reproduce the colors...

Continuing the collage

Each day when I have a little time to spare, I do a little quilting on the collage...
The essence of the project allows it to be heavily quilted and embroidered.
I've added a couple of images to share on the blog.
The cactus was originally cut from the base fabric... and by that I mean the fabric I cut the image of Frida from. I placed fusible web on the back of the fabric and cut out the image of the cactus. It was then ironed onto the base of the collage.
I stitched it down with a thread the same as the printed image... however it looked flat. So I illustrated with black thread and added the prickles. I went over the edge several times... just as you would do if you were illustrating with a pen.

The next image is the aggie plant.

I didn't do too much to it really, I used a thread of similar color to the print on the fabric and filled in the image with machine embroidery. The leaves  at the base of the plant have been altered with thread and ink, but don't show in these illustrations.

 

Perfect summer evening. Inspiration

I was working in the shed....
it was 7.15 pm and the light was perfect.
So I raced outside with camera in hand....and the slide show on the right is the result....
Now what does this have to do with Quilting?

Inspiration.
Impulse
Influence
Incentive
Ingenuity
imagination
Insight
informal