Quilting

I'm only a day post publishing my 'Never Ending Bucket List', and I've already started working on one my targets. My Godmother is literally the Queen of Quilting. Her work is so intricate and skilled. She made me the most beautiful bed spread this year. I was so delighted with it, and really touched to receive something that has had so much time and effort put into it. I was really inspired by it and wanted to have a go myself. Now, I was under no illusion...I knew quilting wasn't going to be a walk in the park. So I decided to start at the beginning and go right back to basics. I enrolled in a 'Quilting Taster Day' - ('taster' being the operative word here). Unfortunately it turned out to be a lot more advanced than I expected! The class was full of people that had clearly had experience and had come fully prepared to produce some impressive stuff. I was still cutting perfect 3" squares when everyone else was making borders!  I felt like a complete wally for the entire duration. Everyone was so far ahead that I was losing track. My patchwork looked pretty shoddy (will post pic for comedy value). 

After that, I had lost all interest and resigned myself to the fact that  I was completely rubbish and incompetent at quilting. Hence I didn't try any more. Until that is... My mum reminded me that my God mother would be happy to teach me. My godmother lives a good 70 miles away (hence the local 'Taster' session I took initially). But we worked out a date and today I went down to see her. She made it all seem so straightforward. We went right back to basics which I really needed. And I came home feeling confident about it. She also thought the taster session had been asking us to produce quite advanced work (not appropriate for a novice at all), which made me feel better about my failed attempt. I'm actually really excited to get going with the rest of it now!! So my little spark for quilting has been reignited and I'm really excited to learn more. My God mother has been honing her skills for 10 years and does wonderfully complex work. If I can produce something even a tenth as impressive then I will be happy with that. So it's back to the sewing machine for me.. complete with my trusty 'unpicking tool' (I can see me needing to use that white a lot!!)



Auntie Roslyn's Work



1st attempt from 'Quilting Taster Day'



Much more basic but more neater work after my session with Auntie Roslyn



The Never Ending Bucket List

So this week I've had a heck of a lot of time on my hands. And aside from repeatedly trying to the best of my ability to get my flat in pristine shape, I've been thinking a lot about what lies ahead for me. I've lots of aspirations and dreams for the next few years, and I thought I'd write them down in a list. A) because it stops them all swimming around in my head in no semblance of order and B) because I think a tick list is the only way I'm going to get any of it done. As any of you that know me will know, I do love a list. I love order and structure in my life and to go with it, I am a stationary fiend. I literally can't get enough of it. So armed with my new notepad I have been compiling said list; 

Things to do/achieve/experience before in 35...

• Be able to walk a good distance without crutches

• Re-establish my career in Radiography (very dependent on bullet point 1)

• Have a successful, profitable business of my own

• See Australia and NZ

• Get engaged to the man I love

• Then, get married 

• Have a gospel choir sing at my wedding 

• Look in the mirror and be happy with what I see

• Change someone else's life for the better 

• Get 100 people to join the Organ donor register 

• Buy a house

• Have children 

• Learn how to use an SLR camera

• Learn to use Excel (I don't do numbers)

• Read the classics

• Get my lung function to a 'normal range'

• Put liquid eyeliner on without stabbing myself in the eye!

• Wear high heels out again, and keep them on ALL night

• Learn to quilt
- Go to the Commonwealth Games 2014

So there it is, my little list that will no doubt continue to get bigger!! Now where to begin ......?

Ill leave you with something I saw this week that I thought was kinda accurate :)...

Living the Olympic Dream - One crossed off the Bucket List

Hi Folks

This week I am gloriously happy. I don't think in my entire life I have ever been able to say I have been 'gloriously happy'. There is usually something niggling at me. The reason for my perky mood is that I got to attend the Olympics on Monday 6th August. And not just any Olympic event, I actually got tickets for the stadium so I was in with that huge crowd. I'm sure many of you are probably sick of hearing me bleat on about it, not least if you follow me on Twitter or are a friend on Facebook. But it has been a dream of mine to go to an The Greatest Show on Earth since I first understood what it was all about around aged 12. I never actually expected it to happen. So when I got my tickets offered to me in the ballot I was speechless. I remember just weeping like a complete nutter. I'm remembering it here as I type and its making me well up now as well. I know it must seem strange to some folk that I am such a die hard fan of the Olympics. I can't put my finger on what made me start loving it so much, all I know is 'I do!'. I will watch any event and when I originally went into the ballot, I ticked every single box for every single sport for both Olympic and Paralympic sports. I wanted to see it THAT badly that I didn't care what sport I got as long as I got to go.

The excitement on the build up to it over the last year has increased exponentially the closer it has come to my big day. My brother Ben is as nuts on the event as I am and so I was really excited when he was planning to come back from Cambodia just for the games. Unfortunately, due to the ridiculously high prices that flights cost it was unachievable. I had four tickets so I invited my uncle to take my brothers place. We are a bit sport fanatical as a family. That is to say, we love watching it haha, not actually partaking. 

The day started really early, 5:15am - this makes for a very tired Gemma. But spirits were high and my boyfriend Sean was kind enough to drive us up to Stratford for the main event. The park is absolutely huge. The TV set doesn't really do it justice. There is so much to see!! I took the wheelchair for the day, I never would have managed even to get to the Olympic entrance gate without it. Everywhere is a lonnnnnng walk. I'm really glad I made the decision to do so or I would have missed a lot of the magic.

Outside the Olympic Park

Ready to go into the Stadium :)

When we got settled in our seats there was enough time to soak up the enormity of the stadium from the inside. Everyone on the opposite side in the tiers just looked like dots. On our day (Day 9) the stadium was full to capacity - 80,000 people. Even though it was the qualifying heats, it felt like a medal event. The atmosphere was absolutely electric. Whenever anyone ran past on the track or anyone threw a shot put/discus on the field, the crowd just erupted, no matter what country the athlete was from. We were lucky enough to see the 1500m qualification round for the women, 800m qualification for the men, the Women's Shot Put, Men's Discus and 200m Hurdles for the Women. So much to see, I just didn't know where to look!!

Hannah England in the 1500M Qualification - she's wearing the knee high white socks

We all came in our Olympic T shirts, waving flags all the way  and with a lot of Olympic fever!! Was great to see so many people from so many nations doing the same. I even painted my nails with Union Jacks. A day I will remember for the rest of my life, so lucky to have shared it with my loved ones too. I have some great photos and I cant wait to get some of them printed. Now the heat is on to get some Paralympic Tickets on the official website. I would love to see some Wheelchair Basketball and Cycling, though as always, any sport will do for us :)