Dotting the i......but not crossing the t

Because there isn't one.  Music has an i, and it is now dotted......or should that be starred?

 The letters look better spaced out than butted against each other, I think.  Nothing like spaced out music, is there?  Now it needs to be layered and quilted, but I want spots for the backing and my stash has very little in the way of spots.  Hi ho, hi ho, it's spot shopping we go.......the fabric chosen for the stash for binding didn't look as good as I thought it would so another was chosen, also spotted, random different size spots on a black background - about the only spotted fabric in my stash.

Yesterday the perfect fabric for an outer border on the tumbler quilt leaped off the shop shelf and into my hands, a gorgeous repro stripe.  The inner border was bought late last year at the 'other shop' when I was showing my visiting Canadian friend around.  It's not normally somewhere I spend money as we have a much nicer shop on our side of the river, but as soon as I saw the broken stripe fabric I realised it was, like Goldilocks, just right......so I swallowed whatever it is one swallows in these situations, and bought it.

This first double row of tumblers is nearly complete, there is a four patch currently being joined to the right hand end, and then the side piece to be added.  That will make one down, 11 more to go.

Here we are, selvedges for your perusal.  The inner border is the broken stripe, "Sycamore" (I think - it's teeny weeny printing) by Jan Patek, while the wider stripe is by Barbara Brackman.

They are by the same manufacturer, they have become friends and hold hands nicely with each other, even though they are from different families.

Once the hand pieced part of this quilt is done - what shall I do?  Another project will have to be chosen, my fingers have become very used to stitching and quite enjoy it.  Perhaps something with stars will call my name, I have always liked star designs.

The uke group played our little hearts out this morning at a gospel concert, and our audience said nice things to and about us.  Our choice of songs is usually bright and upbeat because you can't be gloomy while playing a ukulele, and our audience responds to that.  The next five mornings will be our 'Uke Muster' for anyone who wants to drop in, and we have already had a few calls from interested visitors.......but even if we don't get many takers, we will have fun.

A couple of days ago we enjoyed a concert of Aussie poetry (mostly) and songs (just a few) - it was great fun.  The country music festival here isn't only country music, as we discovered to our great relief on moving here; there is a great variety, most types of music anyone's little heart could desire.  Except classical.  The classical musicians hibernate during the country music festival.

"Reception days.
Some ladies receive only on certain days or evenings, which are once a week, once a fortnight, or once a month as the case may be, and the time is duly announced by cards.  When a lady has made this rule it is considerate, on the part of her friends, to observe it, for it is sometimes regarded as an intrusion to call at any other time.  The reason of her having made this rule may have been to prevent the loss of too much time from her duties in the receiving of calls from her friends."

Well......yes.  Probably.  Casual drop-ins can be welcome, or they can be an intrusion if badly timed.  Perhaps we should go back to those days of visiting cards, and a servant to answer the door?

Enjoy your days!

Off travelling......again

On Thursday morning we will hitch up our caravan, get in the car, and go - first to a folk festival where we will catch up with friends not seen since the last festival at Easter, then to the coast to, as the song says, view the still waters and taste the salt air.

We will see mountains........

 ......beaches.......

 .......and perhaps some greenery, or even orchidery.

Both tops which were being made are finished, the knitting is going great guns - front, back and one sleeve are done, the second sleeve has been started and will be continued whilst we are en route.  My hand-piecing will go along too, as will a book of crossword puzzles and pencil, and my tablet which is loaded with books (our caravan doesn't have television, by choice) and, of course, my ukulele and songbooks.  Many camping parks seem to go in for late afternoon 'happy hour' which is not really our thing, but you never know......there may be a first time.

On Sunday the uke group played at the local monthly market on the main drag, and people even gave us money!  We had decided that, should anyone be so generous, we would donate to a local Worthy Cause (of which there seem to be many) so this will go to an organisation which helps local people with expenses for travel and accommodation should they need to go out of town for cancer treatment.  The market organisers have invited us to be regulars so next month our takings will be donated to a local group who raise funds for nurses to help breast cancer patients, as one of our members had treatment last year.

Speaking of which, pink October is well under way with fund-raising morning and afternoon teas and lunches, and merchandise being sold......and it's all very pink.  I don't like pink.  I'm happy to donate my money and my time, but I don't want pink stuff.  One is encouraged - even compelled - to dress head to toe in pink for these events so, as there is nothing pink in my wardrobe at all, I don't go.  If you saw me in pink you would understand why I never wear it; it's not a pretty sight.  While I know breast cancer research is an important cause, I still won't wear pink.

When one has auburn hair, freckles, pale skin and dark brown eyes, one does not wear pink.  Even though my hair is greying, the rest of my colouring hasn't changed - and pink does not suit my skin.  Now lime green, on the other hand.......indeed any shade of green, or peacock, or teal, or turquoise.......is a totally different thing.

"Discretion in forming acquaintances.
While an acquaintance formed in a railway carriage or on a steamboat continues only during the trip, discretion should be used in making acquaintances.  Ladies may, as has been stated, accept small courtesies and favors from strangers, but must check at once any attempt at familiarity.  On the other hand, no man who pretends to be a gentleman will attempt any familiarity.  The practice of some young girls just entering into womanhood, of flirting with any young man they may chance to meet, either in a railway carriage or on a steamboat, indicates low breeding in the extreme.  If, however, the journey is long, and especially if it be on a steamboat, a certain sociability may be allowed, and a married lady or a lady of middle age may use her privileges to make the journey an enjoyable one, for fellow-passengers should always be sociable to one another."

This sage advice probably doesn't apply to me, as my husband and I will be travelling together......and none of our journey will involve a railway carriage or steamboat, but we will still be sociable to each other.

Enjoy your days!

Occasionally something gets finished..........

.......even if it's not very big. When we visited Toronto, Canada, in October 2009 Rose Marie and I attended the Creativ Festival and a few things caught my eye - this was one. I'm ashamed to say I can't remember which store I bought it from! The pattern is by Quilter's Line, Markdale, Ontario, but when I googled it to add the link here I had no luck so I don't know if it is still in existence. The scene is Old Baldy in Beaver Valley, Ontario. It's nearly all finished, just sewing the hanging sleeve down on the back now and then it will have a label added. Size is 15in square.

Love those autumn colours, as you can see! I am using these Bear's Paw blocks as 'leaders and enders' a la Bonnie of Quiltville. There are 16 pairs of half-square triangles in each block, so joining them in between other sewing is not too tedious. Another five blocks are cut ready to be sewn too. Every now and then I have a play in EQ7 with this block but haven't yet decided on a final layout. The backgrounds are mostly tan/beige/light gold and the other fabrics are all leaf prints. I was going to call it Barely Autumn....Bear's Paw blocks in autumn prints, get it?......but have decided I like Maple Leaf Rag instead. So Maple Leaf Rag it is. Many of my quilts have musical names.
Haven't shown this for a while. These baskets are all hand-pieced and have been my portable project for nigh on five years now. Yesterday block number 148 was finished, and there will be 225 altogether set 15 rows across by 15 down; blocks are 6in finished, different floral prints with white on white prints.
There is no hurry to finish this as I am enjoying the journey, I'm not in a hurry to get to the destination. Hand-piecing is very relaxing. Besides, I haven't decided on a name.

The other day I decided to print out templates from EQ7 for the unusual shapes on the current challenge quilt, the Grand Plan is to tape them on a ruler to cut out. When they printed I said to myself, I said "Self, these shapes look a bit small to me" I said, and sure enough when I checked the block dimensions, they were for a 9in block and I need to make my blocks 12in. Bummer. When I drew the block I made it 12in, then when I set it into the quilt it must have defaulted to 9in and I didn't notice......so it wasn't changed........so when I printed out fabric quantities they were wrong, and there wouldn't have been enough of the spotted background fabric. Bummer again. So off I go again to the Big Fabric And Housewares Store where it was recently purchased and nearly had conniptions when I couldn't find it on the shelf, but fortunately it had hopped over to another shelf to visit with its fabric friends so I bought another half metre. So you can all breathe a sigh of relief because everything is good again. I have shopped from my stash for the bright fabrics for the windmills and pinwheels, hopefully it will look good. Its title - "Windmills of Your Mind"....."Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel"......that's how I felt when I realised that I had been working on the wrong size.

It's hot again but after all it is summer.....and it is Australia......and Australian summers are hot. Fact of life. Before we know it autumn will be on us, won't that be lovely? Then I won't be whingeing about the heat.

I'll whinge about people instead.

As it is summer many blokes and girls too are getting around with their bare arms and chests hanging out, so we can't help noticing that tattoos are popular. Now folks, I know your body is your body and you can do what you want with it (up to a point), but honestly....who ever told you that a whole arm tattoo looked good? Or both arms, most of your chest and a leg or two covered with tattoos? And while we are on the subject, why do some blokes have that little tuft of hair on their chin? Can't they grow a proper beard? Looks like they were eating gravy and dribbled some down their face. I don't mind a bloke being clean-shaven, I don't mind a bloke with a beard, but what's with 'designer stubble'? All I can think of is beard rash and we know how uncomfortable that can be, don't we, girls? Blokes who shave their heads don't do it for me either; yes, we know that some blokes lose their hair and some don't. It's a fact of nature. Don't shave your head and pretend that your hairline is not receding, you're not fooling anyone. To say nothing of the risk of skin cancer.

End of whinge, thank you for listening. Feel free to add your own.

"Satire and ridicule.

Young persons appear ridiculous when satirizing or ridiculing books, people or things. Opinions to be worth the consideration of others should have the advantage of coming from mature persons. Cultivated people are not in the habit of resorting to such weapons as satire and ridicule. They find too much to correct in themselves to indulge in coarse censure of the conduct of others, who may not have had advantages equal to their own."

Satire and ridicule? A cultivated person like myself? Perish the thought.

Enjoy your days!

Merry Christmas from all the wombats

Here's a bouquet of wildflowers from Australia to say Merry Christmas, and if it happens that you don't celebrate Christmas - best wishes to you anyway.

The season of peace and goodwill wasn't on some of the drivers at the shops today. It was busy, we had expected that, so we went to the smaller of the two supermarkets in the local mall. In, shopped, and out in double quick time. We even found a parking spot without too much trouble, we don't mind a little walk to the car, the exercise is good for us. It tickles my sense of humour seeing shoppers followed to their car by a hopeful driver.....only to find the person isn't leaving after all. Heaven forfend that they should have to park more than a dozen steps from the mall entrance! I'm not talking about older or less infirm people, or mums with small children who, as we all know, have short legs which tire easily. Yes it's hot in summer, and yes it's nice to find a parking spot in the shade, but if the car has to be left in the sun while the shopping is done then that's the way it is.

And my blog now has a green (have I mentioned that I really, really like green?) Christmas tree to pretty it up, although I did like the "messy snowflakes" background. It's rare that we have snow in Australia at Christmas, so my snowflakey design was wishful thinking! For weeks now we have had Christmas music played to us while we are shopping, we accept that, it happens every year, I quite like carols......but who decided that songs (not Christmas carols, just songs about winter) like "Winter Wonderland" "and Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" were suitable for playing in Australia in the middle of a heat wave? Open fires are banned in times of high fire danger, we certainly wouldn't light one just to roast chestnuts. Or any other kind of nuts. Except perhaps the nuts of the idiot who decided to play the recording.

Recently Karendianne wrote about losing some blocks which were later found halfway down in the scrap bin. I can top that. A couple of years ago I bought knitting yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills to make a cardigan, the pattern was bought in Toronto, Canada. Earlier this year it became obvious that I wasn't going to have enough yarn and I couldn't find the last ball anywhere in the house, I searched high and low and in between. I could only find four labels (I always keep yarn labels until I have finished what I am making) and I knew I had bought five balls. By then I was starting to panic because I thought I was losing my mind, or my marbles, or something. Finally I was able to get more from a fellow knitter on Ravelry. Last week Kevin was tidying up some papers and having a cleanout, he came across the original receipt for the yarn purchase......and you won't believe it.....but I had, indeed, only bought four balls. Now I am cheesed off, because I wasted a good panic while I was looking for that non-existent ball of yarn. I could have saved the panic up for something really important, if I had but known.

Now I am going to see if I can hold some hand-piecing, I couldn't last week. Today's point of etiquette concerns visitors, and as we all know Christmas is a time of visiting friends and rellies, or having them visit you.

"A call should not be longer than fifteen minutes in duration, nor should it be so long as to become tedious. A bore is a person who does not know when you have had enough of his or her company, and gives more of it than is desirable. Choose a time to leave when there is a lull in the conversation, and the hostess is not preoccupied with fresh arrivals. Then take leave of your hostess, bowing to those you know as you leave the room, not to each in turn, but let one bow include all."

So thank you for reading this far, and to those lovely folk who have visited my blog and left comments thank you, may this Christmas season be one of peace for all.

Jennifer

See you all in a few weeks!

We will be heading off on Monday morning, the alarm will have to be set otherwise we will sleep in......we want to be on the road by 9am not noon, as we will have several hours' driving ahead of us.......so no posting for a few weeks as I don't a laptop or palmtop or one of those other fancy-nancy gadgets. No ipod either, although I can see their uses.....I reckon the world is going gadget mad, do we really need all these things?

Although I would not be without at least one sewing machine in my life......

The knitting is organised to go (have to do something in the car for all those hours), the hand-piecing project is already in its work box too. And there is a bag of books to read as we don't have TV in our little caravan, we listen to radio or play CDs. Oh yes, quilts for the beds too as it will be cold, and of course food and clothes....that's all we need. And I am hoping that a couple of weeks out of Sydney in fresh country air will help my body shake off the last of The Dreaded Lurgy which hasn't q-u-i-t-e gone away.

The lilli pilli tree in the picture is in the grounds of the Orphan School that we visited last weekend. Yes, the fruit really is that colour and yes, it is edible. Isn't it pretty!

Back by the end of the month. Y'all be good now.

Jennifer

Singing the night away

Last night the music club theme was "songs from the 1950s" and a fun night it was too. But I am feeling a bit second-hand today, there's a little man with a drill who's trying to make a hole in my head....he started while I was asleep last night.......haven't had a headache for a long time, at least not since I finished working late last year. (that must say something about the job I left) And I don't want this one. And before you all ask, it's not a hangover.

My "Road to St Louis" quilt has been coming steadily along, I was planning to do some work on it today but perhaps I will wait for my head to get better, heaving a quilt through My Lovely New Bernina can be hard work. Perhaps I shall just sit quietly in a comfortable chair and hand-piece Flower Basket blocks for a while, and think peaceful thoughts, and inhale lavender.

Here's a gem from 1958 that I sang last night -
Send me the pillow that you dream on..........don't you know that I still care for you.......etc........

Jennifer