Fraying at the edges

Isn't this a fun block?  It's called Frayed Sawtooth Star and comes from EQ7.

 Next month is my turn to provide a sample block and instructions to make it, for my quilt group.  Some of the women seem to have an aversion to triangles, so I always make sure that my blocks have some.  The background is white on white, my sewing table is white....can't tell where one ends and the other begins, can you?  When several blocks are set together a secondary diagonal line is quite noticeable.

Here is the current project, a new purse for me.  This is the lining, with one of the side seams having self-made bias binding applied over the seam; all the inside seams are finished this way.  It's a more attractive colour that this, the machine light was shining onto it and making it appear washed-out.......and yes, all that quilting was done on My Lovely New Bernina by me before the pieces were cut out.

Sewing has become possible again, so long as I take plenty of breaks and don't reach forward too much.  Wednesday last week was one of the worst days since I went Under The Knife; at sewing guild my machine was set up on a table and it was a bit high for me to use comfortably, so after a short while I stopped sewing.  However by the time I arrived home it was agony, and it was for the rest of the day too.  Ever since then I have been very careful with what I do, which is why, for a while, I am sitting here at the computer having coffee instead of sewing.

Was I the only person in the world who was annoyed by the treatment given to various country's flags by many idiots at the sports carnival which recently finished?  Flags have their own protocol; as far as I know they are not to be dropped on the ground at any time and should always be treated with dignity.  Wearing your country's flag round your shoulders as a cloak is not dignified.  If you want to dress up, use your mother's old curtains.  While I don't think Australia's flag design is relevant these days and would love to see it changed, I respect what it stands for.

Only two days of February to go, and we have had less than half the average rainfall for the month again.  Rain is forecast for tomorrow but it's doubtful that we will get much.  Last year's rainfall was well below average and the past two summers have been hotter than average, so water supplies in many places have dried up.  A local bloke told me recently he thinks we are in for an early, long and cold winter because he has seen snakes on the move shedding their skins.  As one who doesn't do reptiles I will take his word for that......I am not going out and about looking for snakes, believe me.  Australia has some very deadly snakes and many of them live in our area.  On our recent trip to Canberra we noticed that many trees are looking autumnal, poor things have gone into an early dormancy because it's been so hot and dry.  Autumn won't arrive for a while yet, but colours are already changing and leaves are dropping.  Hopefully there will be some colour left when we go back to Canberra in April for the folk festival.

Some pics of the wedding have appeared on the photographer's web site, so if you would like to see them let me know and I will send you the link.

"Can any one fancy what our society might be, if all its members were perfect gentlemen and true ladies, if all the inhabitants of the earth were kind-hearted ; if, instead of contending with the faults of our fellows, we were each to wage war against our own faults?  Every one needs to guard constantly against the evil from within as well as from without, for, as has been truly said, "A man's greatest foe dwells in his own heart"."

The folks writing the etiquette book in 1885 knew a thing or two, didn't they?

Enjoy your days!