Midweek Moments #97

Wednesday 16 February 2011

Welcome to Wednesday...

Whew! That’s Valentine’s Day over for another year, so everyone can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. And no, we’re not being cynical – just pragmatic. While popular culture dictates that Valentine’s Day is about chocolate, long-stemmed red roses, and heartfelt declarations of love printed in the paper, history tells us something a bit different. Yes folks, scary things can happen on 14 February.

This tradition began in AD270 with the beheading of the original Saint Valentine himself. He was a Roman priest sent to the chopping block by the insane Emperor Claudius for secretly marrying young couples after it had been officially outlawed.

Then there was the Chicago Massacre of 1929 when seven of Al Capone’s rival mobsters were mown down on Valentine’s Day.

And what about Captain James Cook? In 1779, his Valentine’s Day was made memorable by being speared to death by extremely annoyed Hawaiian natives.

And it was on a Valentine’s Day picnic in 1900 when several schoolgirls and a teacher disappeared without trace in the Australian bush in Joan Lindsay’s classic 1967 novel Picnic at Hanging Rock.

See what we mean? It’s all a bit spooky, isn’t it? But the very fact that you’re reading these words means that you survived 14 February intact and are now eager for your regular dose of Midweek Moments. Enjoy.

Craft Expo Sydney

Come and be inspired at CraftExpo! Wander through a marketplace full of great ideas and inspiring designs. Feast your eyes on exciting displays and features that will intrigue and impress. Find a new project and enjoy that creative spark.

While there come and visit the Blueberries stand!

Location: Rosehill Gardens Racecourse Sydney

Dates: March 10 - 13, 2011, Open 10am - 4:30pm

Click here for more information.

Meet Michelle Yeo

Tutor Profile, Getting to know a bit about the teacher

How long have you been quilting and what got you started?
I started quilting back in 1984 when I was engaged. My fiancée said he hated doonas and wanted quilts instead. (He probably regrets those words now). I went down to a shop and made my very first quilt from a book. I cringe when I look at it now, but after that I was just hooked.

How long have you been teaching and what do you specialise in?
I’ve been teaching for about 11 years now. I specialise in reproduction quilts inspired by antique quilts from the 19th century, usually American or English. The shops that I first went to used to do those kinds of quilts and I loved the look of them.

What inspires your creative ideas and/or projects?
With the antique quilts, it’s mainly the Reproduction fabric ranges. I suppose part of it is the designs that they used and the way they put the fabrics together. The quirkyness of them.

Do you have a favourite colour or design style you like to work with?
It probably used to be more murky colours but now I’m using clearer, sharper colours. I’m a bit stuck on red at the moment. I quite like those turkey reds, chrome yellows and poison greens (so named because the green dyes were toxic).

What have you learnt from your students?
Students teach you so much, it’s hard to begin to explain. Sometimes it’s things like the colours and fabrics they put together which are combinations I’d never think of using but look great. Lots of little tricks they seem to come up with intuitively.

Michelle will be teaching Giant Dahlia on Friday 18 March and Georgetown Circle on Saturday 19 and 20 March click here to the see the stunning quilts and to register for the class.

Visit Michelle’s website at michelleyeoquiltdesigns.com.

Material Girl

Jackie’s tips, hints, advice and info on fabrics and products

Okay ladies, something a bit different for this week’s column. Due to the overwhelming success of last weekend’s Gidday Quilters Sale, Blueberries is extending the joy until this Saturday 19th February.

If you couldn’t make it to Blueberries last weekend, you now have another couple of days to snap up a bargain. During the sale we had 500 fabrics at 50% off and although we sold quite a lot, there are still some left over goodies available at the sale prices. The minimum cut is half a metre.

Come along and help us clear some space for a whole stack of gorgeous new stock due in autumn.

Click here to see some of the bargains currently available. Click here to find out more about the Gidday Quilters Great Aussie Shop Hop.

Big 'n' Bizarre

A road trip of Australia’s roadside monuments

The Big Prawn

If you didn’t think Australia’s Big Things were ever capable of arousing equally big passion and emotions, then consider the story of this week’s guest of honour - The Big Prawn.

This oversized fiberglass crustacean was first erected in 1989 atop a service station in the northern NSW town of Ballina. For 20 years the Prawn enjoyed golden Big Thing status, loyally guarding the Pacific Highway and providing an iconic backdrop for thousands of tourist snaps. But then in 2009 its world was rocked forever when the service station was put on the market and Council approved plans for the Prawn’s demolition.

Suddenly the Prawn was the subject of passionate campaigns to save it. A local Councillor suggested it be relocated to the Ballina River where it could serve as a partly submerged dive attraction. There was even talk of it being moved to the Gold Coast, but as Big Things rivalry between the states is fierce, this plan was highly controversial. Immediately two Facebook pages were set up dedicated to the Prawn, one to save it and one to kill it. Was it an icon or an eyesore? The debate raged for months as the Prawn became homeless, faded and covered in graffiti.

Finally, redemption. In October 2010, a North Coast developer announced plans for a brand new Big Prawn at the site of his proposed service centre on the Teven Road Interchange of the Ballina bypass. Two local artists have since been contracted to be the creative brains behind the new Big Prawn, which will be “a triumphant combination of “kitsch and quality”. A split personality Prawn; by day, a shiny, ready-to-eat seafood giant and by night, a floodlit creature “rippling with coloured light”, thanks to high gloss orange automotive paint and coloured LED spotlights. The structure will be built in WA at a cost of $500,000 and installed early in 2012. He’ll even be given a name – Neville.

Okay, so technically Neville will be a completely different Big Prawn, but that will hardly seem to matter. Tourists passing through Ballina (or rather, bypassing Ballina) will still be able to uphold the great Aussie tradition of taking group photos in front of huge fiberglass structures at service stations, surely a fitting end to this epic tale of passion, betrayal and seafood.

And the last word...

“Blessed are the Piecemakers.”

Til next week!

The Blueberries Team