We have had precipitation!

Some rain has fallen from the sky this week, enough to put a little - very little - green on the hill behind us, such a change from the dry dead brown it has been for a few months.  Forecasts are a bit optimistic so hopefully there will be more to come.  Fingers, toes and everything else which can be crossed are crossed.

A little cutting out (easily my least favourite part of sewing) has happened.

 The rainbow fabrics will be part of a kaleidoscope quilt, the idea of which was born at a workshop a couple of years ago.  Like many projects, it has been languishing because of having to put the house back together after two floods in 2017.......but it is getting closer.  Now to cut several hundred pieces (!) of black and white prints.

A while ago I laid out some of the tumblers to see how they looked.  Not bad, I thought to myself, fan-freakin'-tastic actually, whether sideways......

 or upsie-downsies.  They were first sewn together in pairs, a lighter fabric to a darker fabric, taking no notice whatsoever at all of colours, except to not join two greens, two reds, etc.  Currently the pairs are being joined into fours, each and every stitch by hand.

Several of the fabrics are stripes or directional prints so they were cut both horizontally and vertically for variety, and absolutely none - not one fabric - was fussy cut.  If the cut went through a flower bouquet that didn't matter, I didn't want it to look planned to within an inch of its life.  Some folk just can't do random......I have no problem with it.  (not sure what that says about me......)  Some of these prints have been in my stash for nigh on 20 years or so, some are much newer, while just a few light gold fabrics were specially bought for this project to add variety.

Those tumblers had a lovely time traipsing around Canada with us last year, and in a few weeks they will be heading south to Canberra to enjoy a folk festival and some autumn colours.  This is going to be a well-travelled quilt by the time it's done.  Perhaps it should be called Travelling Tumbleweeds.

This morning's uke gig at a local monthly church market went very well.  We enjoy playing for them, they are really nice folk, and they love having us.  We will play again in late May as not everyone in the group can commit to a monthly gig; we were missing a few people this morning, but it's amazing how good just five people can sound when they put their minds to it.

Last weekend we took a Nice Sunday Drive - on Sunday! - so I could take in a quilt show at a town north of here.  Their show is annual, never huge but with some really nice quilts, and although I don't get every year I enjoy it when I do.

Big day during the week, our anniversary on Tuesday......43 years......that is a long time, you know.  Here's a chuckle for you; Kevin was wondering what the traditional gift is for 45 years (I like a bloke who is organised and thinks ahead, don't you?) so I just looked it up, and the answer is sapphire.  The list also says the traditional gift for 90 years married is engraved marble or granite.  Well yes, I suppose it would be......

"Courtship and marriage.
The correct behavior of young men toward young ladies, and of young ladies toward young men during that portion of their lives when they are respectively paying attention to, and receiving attention from, one another, is a matter which requires consideration in a work of this nature."

The book then goes on to give points of etiquette in various aspects of behaviour during one's courtship, engagement and marriage, useful knowledge for most of us, I would imagine.

Enjoy your days!