Workshop results

The weekend workshop has come and gone.  Four large centre blocks of a quilt were started, and while they are a long way from being finished they have been put aside in favour of sewing which needs to be completed before we head off overseas.

The square in the middle will become a circle, and the whole large piece will be appliqued onto the background fabric.  My colour choices turned out rather dull when made up but hopefully the bright pink/purple centre and background save it, because I am not making it again.

 My favourite next, this one uses some of my Holy Fabric stash - we all have some, the fabric that is so beautiful and precious to own that you can't bring yourself to cut into it; the centre circle will be the multi-coloured spot and the whole circle will be appliqued onto the blue speckled background.

These two pieced circles can be appliqued onto the background using wide ric-rac braid, but mine will have bias strips instead.  

Another three of these shapes below to be made and joined together, then a nine-patch is appliqued over the centre, mine will be yellow, blue and lime green..

 Not much done yet on the fourth block.  The centre pieced circle has another smaller circle appliqued on top, while the odd-shaped piece on the left will be trimmed into a triangle and another three made.  These are actually pieced - not appliqued - into the background, in this case a yellow daisy print.  The beautifully matching points in the centre of my green and purple pieced circle were noted and complimented by the teacher......as they should be, this year it's 50 years since I sewed my first ever item of clothing so I've had a lot of practice in matching seams.

Would I take another workshop with this teacher?  Doubtful......she's not a bad teacher but her method wastes a lot of fabric, and every time I cut off yet another piece and dropped it into the bin I thought to myself "geez......I paid money for that!"

This morning we had insulation installed in the roof of our house.  It's colder than it should be in winter considering we don't live in the deepest Arctic depths, so recently we had it checked and found out there is no insulation at all up there.  Three blokes, one truck and a couple of hours later we have insulation!  Just in time for the rain forecast early next week and the cooler weather which will follow.  Australia's climate is fairly mild compared to other parts of the world but our houses are not built for the cold, which is a bit silly when one thinks of it.  People from colder countries overseas complain about how cold Australian winters are; they aren't really, they just seem like it because of how our houses are made.

From other things we have noted (and in some cases corrected) our house was probably a budget build.  Short cuts seem to have been taken which probably saved money at the time of building, but one ends up paying more for them further down the track.  The walk-in wardrobe (closet) in our bedroom is icy-cold in winter and unbearably hot in summer, the door is kept shut and it's not affected by temperatures in other parts of the house - hopefully that will change now.  It's not a basic house, so we don't know why the build wasn't a better quality.

Recently I joined the local historical society, so no doubt my social life will improve even more!  Last night I attended their monthly meeting and found out that I knew many members already; as a new member I was welcomed, the guest speaker was very interesting, and supper served after the meeting was scrumptious indeed.  I was born in this town (although I did live in the Big Smoke for 40 years before moving back five years ago), my mother was born and spent all her life here, her father was born in the district and lived here all his life, while his parents moved to the area in the 1870s......so my roots are well and truly here.

"Society is divided into sets, according to their breeding.  One set may be said to have no breeding at all, another to have a little, another more, and another enough; and between the first and last of these there are more shades than in the rainbow.  Good manners are the same in essence everywhere - at courts, in fashionable society, in literary circles, in domestic life - they never change, but social observances, customs and points of etiquette, vary with the age and with the people."

Wonder which set I belong to?

Enjoy your days!

The measure of a wombat

The newest wombat in the house thanks all those who commented on its beauty, and was flattered that some asked for another view.

It's not as menacing as it looks here, and is the right size for nestling in a hand.

It checked out my sewing room today while I am having a break from cutting fabrics for this weekend's workshop.  According to my massage therapist this morning I have overdone the cutting and strained some muscles on my right side, arm and shoulder, so no cutting today......it might be finished tomorrow.  My cutting table is a good height for cutting with scissors but a bit high for rotary cutting because of the different action required, and my being short compounds that even more.

Ah well......it probably doesn't matter if not all the fabrics are cut, because I suspect we will not get four large foundation-pieced blocks finished in two days anyway.

To tell the truth I am not feeling very enthusiastic about this weekend.  The teacher has been hard to pin down if we have any questions, the only contact on her website is an email address - no phone number - and she doesn't answer emails.  One member of our group has previously attended workshops with her and says she is a very good teacher......she might be absolutely fantastic, but she doesn't seem to be a good business person.

End of moan, thank you for listening.  Returning you to your regular station now.

Last night the last stitches were knitted on the second sleeve of my alpaca jumper, and now it is being sewn together ready for the neckband to be knitted on.  Hope it fits; it may be a bit big, but that makes it all the warmer because I can wear another layer underneath if I need to.

Only 47 days until our holiday starts!  Our first day will be en route to the Big Smoke, we fly out the following day, but as far as I am concerned - once we leave our driveway, we will be on holidays.  We bought ourselves some noise-reducing earphones for the journey, because the noise of the plane engines, while not deafeningly loud, is relentless......to say nothing of the crying children, and there are always a few of them.  Our last trip home across the Pacific Ocean was accompanied by the Symphony for Plane Noise and at least 97 wailing infants.  I don't mind flying, I'm not phobic or paranoid about it, but the thought of floating around Up There surrounded by 300 or so of my new best friends gives me the heeby jeebies.  It's a personal space thing, and my space is pretty wide.

If we could afford to fly in the rarefied atmosphere of first-class, or if it were possible to cross the Pacific Ocean by ship then cross two-thirds of Canada by chauffeur-driven limousine without using up every cent we own, I would........but that would take more money than there is in the whole universe, so sadly we won't be able to do it.

More cheerfully, last Sunday afternoon the uke group played at a concert put on by the music school which runs our classes, and it went well.  We performed two songs by the Beatles and came on after a young soprano singing Mozart, and a group of 4-to-5 year olds doing cute things with a song and some bells, so I suspect we were there as comic relief.

"Writing as an aid to correct talking.
To converse correctly - to use correct language in conversation - is also a matter of importance, and while this can be acquired by a strict attention to grammatical rules, it can be greatly facilitated by the habit of writing down one's thoughts.  In writing, strict regard is, or should be, paid to the correct use of language, and when a person, from constant writing, acquires the habit of using correct language, this habit will follow him in talking.  A person who is accustomed to much writing, will always be found to use language correctly in speaking."

I would say so.

Enjoy your days!