1st SAL.....Peg, Dale and I committed to stitching Anni Downs - A Gardener's Journal in March. I blogged about this on my blog thinking maybe one or 2 others may join us and lots of girls indicated an interest so I decided to start this blog where we can all encourage each other to meet the goals set along the way....March 2010 -March 2011...........
2nd SAL ......well so many of the girls wanted to continue on with another project and some new girls joined us and now approx 91 girls are stitching Natalie Bird's Tis the Season. March to Sept 2011...............
3rd SAL....many girls want to stick with the SAL so now we have moved onto Anni Downs Some Kind of Wonderful - My Favourite Things Quilt.......Oct 2011-Oct 2012.........
Where are we now.....
4th SAL 2013...is numerous smaller projects from the previous 2 books Tis the Season and Some Kind of Wonderful plus some projects from Red Home by Natalie Bird approx 60 ladies stitching together.........
2014 we had the year off..............
5th SAL 2015..........inspired to continue we are doing another quilt project.....Anni Downs newest quilt Natures Journey.....
6th SAL 2017.............A Holly Cottage Christmas by Michelle Ridgway.......once again the pattern is in an affordable book so it is easy for everyone to join in...........and you can raid your stash for the fabrics........or lash out and buy a the whole lot........this SAL will be run by Fiona aka Bubz Rugz and Raewyn........
Chookyblue........

Saturday, October 6, 2012

A fire

There's an irony in writing this - one year ago this weekend a fire ripped through our property in Childers - took out everything except our sheds and caravan. We were so incredibly lucky.

Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in my craft room getting organised for a night of sewing/crafting. My eldest son had just taken my youngest son to a mate's place. Second youngest came up the hall and said that he could smell smoke. He's very good with that as he is asthmatic. I said that we should walk around and see what was happening, but no smoke alarm was going off. However, within minutes, the smoke alarm was going off and smoke was billowing from my eldest son's bed room.

On to the fire brigade. Within minutes of the alarm going off the smoke became flames going up the wall. It was right on dark, power was off and it was horrible to say the least. I grabbed photo albums, kids (not necessarily in that order!) and we went to our evacuation point. DH and eldest DS continued to do what they could to bring the fire under control.

Several hours later we were given the all clear to return to the house.

We still have a house. Everyone is safe, including our animals and birds. It was probably the scariest event in my life - hoping for it to remain so!

The worst casualty for me is one of my quilts. It was near the power board (that may have been faulty) and is completely ruined. It was a log cabin with stars. The one Australian Patchwork and Quilting put out on their first video.

The quilt was made at a time when all my children were small and time was even more precious than it is today. I remember how I struggled to eke minutes out of the day to work on it. The top was then put aside and it was a few years before it was actually quilted.

This is it today!


When I look at all the maybes of last night I am very grateful that this is all I have to lament. Of course, his bed is gone and mattress. And the other bedding. But to me that's all replaceable. And, yes, the quilt is replaceable, too. But in a very different way.

Then I look at all my other quilts, bears, dolls, special kids toys, memorabilia and gifts from overnthe years. We're all ok. We still have a home. We slept in our own beds last night. We have been very lucky.

Needless to say, my plans for SKOW have gone a little pear shaped. But I will get back on track.

11 comments:

Kris Meares - Tag Along Teddies said...

Hey Marg! Oh my goodness!!!!! How horrible and how scary, but so VERY pleased to hear that no one was hurt and that the damage was relatively minimal. Your poor quilt is definitely a bit toasty ... perhaps it could be cut down and rebound to be a smaller article (runner, mat, wall hanging) with the fire date embroidered on it as a reminder of something to be thankful for. All the best with the cleanup. Bear Hugs! KRIS

Susan said...

Absolutely echo Kris' comments - definitely some relief that it could have been so much worse and you just have to re-purpose that quilt and again be grateful that it wasn't the whole thing. Good Luck - I'm sure Chookyblue will allow a little lee way - that's a pretty good excuse!!

Anonymous said...

thinking of you all Marg,its a horrible thing to happen once let alone twice.We lost everything in a house fire quite a few yrs ago and it did not worry me as they are only material because our eldest daughter was meant to be home alone and we talked her into staying another night away with us camping, now she we could not replace.i am so grateful you are all okay and that your son has a good nose,take care.xx

Margaret said...

Only the nose knows, what a blessing to have a good sniffer in the family. Sorry to hear of your loss, however good to hear that you were able to sleep in your own beds and we remember the phrase " life wasn't meant to be easy " oh how right for this situation Blaeesings Margaret

Ann Marie @ 16 Muddy Feet said...

OH wow.....glad everyone is safe. As for the quilt, you can salvage some of it and either make a smaller one. Or use is as a center for another new quilt. Seems to be quite a bit left to do something with it.

Cherise said...

Marg I'm so sorry this has happened to you! I'm very happy that everyone is okay. :)

SandyN said...

Marg.. Wow what a scary time for you all. So glad that everyone is ok.

Sandyn

Ann said...

Such terrible news but such good news that no-one was hurt. I hope you can somehow mend your quilt x

Susie said...

My gosh! So glad you realise how increadibly lucky you are! Its my fear also but for you to go through it twice in incomprehensible. Things will have to get better but good on your son for smelling before the smoke alarm. all the best in the insurance claim.

nimble thimble stitchery-do said...

Marg I am so sorry this has happened to you...and twice...omgosh! How lucky you all are to have caught it in a reasonable timeframe and with minimal damage. We are celebrating Thanksgiving today in Canada and I am again so thankful that your family is safe. Too bad about your quilt but I like the previous comments...maybe you can re-work that quilt with a new label explaining it's history.

Chookyblue...... said...

Oh Marg.......so glad everyone is safe and well..........the most important part..........a little stitching calms the nerves........in between cleaning up the mess......goodluck.......maybe you could rescue the quilt somehow like the girls suggested....