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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Scatterdays - M

Today Scatterdays are featuring the letter “M”.  The categories are sport, foreign, animal, and a modern quilt.  Mmm, let’s see what I can do with these categories.

Sport – Miniature Golf.  Those who know me, are only too aware that I am not in the least bit sporty.  In fact, my hubby often comments that he wishes I would sit down in front of the TV and watch rugby games with him, to keep him company.  Sadly  for him, it is just not my thing at all.  But I have played some rounds of miniature golf in my life, usually with a group of friends when we have been out for the day.  Guess my friends who organise these  outings are not aware how much I really dislike this game, and just join in to “go with the flow”. Can’t really be a bad sport when someone else has organised a fun outing for us all, can I?
 
Miniature Golf Course

Foreign – Monarchs of Britain.  My handy little book, “Kings and Queens, an illustrated guide to British Monarchs” was purchased in the “foreign” country of Great Britain during our Big OE in 2008, from the Royal Mews Shop.  This lovely shop just around the corner from Buckingham Palace offers a wide range of exclusive gift items inspired by the Royal Mews and works of art in the Royal Collection. I have used my little book extensively while watching history programmes on TV, and it helps me sort out exactly who is who in the royal line.  Information begins with the ancient British chiefs, the Roman rulers, and the royal houses of Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales.  It shows the genealogical charts for the different royal houses, and is full of all sorts of fascinating facts.  With 8 Edwards, 8 Henrys, 6 Georges, 4 Williams, 3 Richards, and a smattering of Charles, James, and Marys, my tiny book has been well worth the 4 pound 99 pence I paid for it.  In fact, it has been one of my best buys of our trip.  You can tell I’m a bit of a British  royal history fan!

DSCF5468 My well thumbed book of British Monarchs

Animal – Muffy.  I can’t really go past our much loved Seal Point Birman Muffy, can I?  She is now 17 years old, and comes away on caravan trips with us.  Sadly, we have just learned that she has kidney troubles, not uncommon with older cats, but we hope she will still be with us for quite some time.
 
DSCF1892 Muffy on the caravan bed

There is a lovely legend about this breed.  Originally, the guardians of the temple of Lao-Tsun were yellow eyed cats with long hair. The golden goddess of the temple, Tsun-Kyan-Kse, had deep blue eyes. The head priest, Mun-Ha, had as his companion a beautiful cat named Sinh.  One day the  temple was attacked and Mun-Ha was killed. At the moment of his death, Sinh placed his feet on his master and faced the goddess. The cat's white fur took on a golden cast, his eyes turned as blue as the eyes of the goddess, and his paws, legs and tail became the colour of earth. However, his paws, where they touched the priest, remained white as a symbol of purity. All the other temple cats became similarly coloured.  Seven days later, Sinh died, taking the soul of Mun-Ha to paradise.

Modern Quilts.  Just what is  a “Modern quilt”?  It seems to be defined by the use of colour, bold patterns, negative space, solids and the dramatic, minimalist flair.  The quilting could be traditional stippling, clean straight lines or a very “free” have fun, quilt as you go style.  Modern quilters work in different styles and define modern quilting in different ways, but several characteristics often appear -  the use of bold colours and prints, high contrast and graphic areas of solid colour, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work.  Here in New Zealand, the modern quilt movement seems to have quite a following, with the formation of the Auckland Modern Quilt Guild.  There could well be other groups throughout the country.

Am I a “modern” quilter?  No, I don’t think so, which means that I have not made a quilt in this style.  But taking the word “modern” to mean instead “newest and most recently completed”, I can show my “Angels to Watch Over You”  quilt.  A Susan Claire design, it is a combination of angel stitchery blocks and appliquéd stars.  I made in anticipation for when one of my grand-daughters present me with a great-grand-daughter.  They were not too impressed when I told them that!

DSCF5466“Angels to Watch Over You”

That’s all from me this time.  Perhaps you would like to check what the other bloggers are doing with the letter “M”.  You can find their links on the side bar of Cinzia’s blog.

5 comments:

cinzia said...

Definitely prefer your modern to what shows up in many modern quilt searches. The quilt Muffy is sitting on also looks beautiful

Vireya said...

Another un-sporty person here! I've played miniature golf a handful of times, and that's probably as close to sport as I get, too.

Muffy is lovely, and I like the quilt she is sitting on.

mitchez2013 said...

I have played golf with vvv limited success. Mini is more my style! Your sport of kings n Queens could be put to great use on the BBC 'Eggheads', which we watch here 5 nights per week. A KIWI team could trounce the. Love your cat's heritage and your two beautiful quilts.

Birdydownunder said...

Love the book, must try to buy it.
Luverly moggie.

jacaranda said...

I love, love and love, Mini Golf. If there is one anywhere that we go, I have to have a game. I am not a sporty person, hated it at school, I was always in the art room. Great M's.