What a week

Let's not get too hung up on negatives, though......the world is still (mostly!) an amazing place.

Last week we went for a Nice Sunday Drive on Friday to a small village 40 minutes away and stopped off at a water storage lake which we last visited in mid-September, when there was much less water in it than there is now.

Water in this section of the lake was nowhere near as high as here, and the trees now in the water were still a long way from the bank a couple of months ago.

As promised (sorry, can't remember who was promised but I know I told someone there would be pics) the backing for my Winding Ways quilt.

 The backing has to be joined, so why not make a feature of the join?  The centre two stripes are four inches finished, the next two are eight inches, and I have forgotten how wide the two outside stripes are but they were duly measured and cut.  I quite like this idea and may use it again.

 Lots of circles in these prints.  The quilt is being finished - finally - for my group challenge, which this year is "Circles", hence the decision to get a move on because it fits in with the theme.

Mind you, it still may not be completely finished by the deadline which is two weeks from tomorrow.......never mind, it can still be taken along and flourished aloft, then brought home to be completed.  Quilting will follow the lines of the circles in the blocks on the front and will be done with the walking foot, using a black and white variegated thread.

And I can tell you now that Madame President won't like it.  Not enough garish colour for her taste, but it's my quilt and I do like it.  I like it a lot.  I'm thinking of calling it "The long and winding road".

Last weekend we had a tutor visiting from the Big Smoke, it was lovely to renew our acquaintance; many many years ago we were members of the same group.  I have long admired her work and it was interesting to have a go at machine embroidery/thread painting/whatever you like to call it.  The background is different tones of silver-grey and is more textured than it looks here, the large copper-coloured leaf will be finished once a new bobbin is wound with dark maroon thread and the remaining white spaces filled in with colour.

This technique is quite hard on one's neck, shoulders and back, and the fact that my machine was sitting on a regular table and not in my own lower sewing table with my own chair adjusted for my own short self made it even more difficult; I was quite stiff and sore by Sunday evening and haven't sewn a stitch since.  Despite that it's now number two on the list of Stuff That I Really Want To Finish, and will have its turn after Winding Ways is done.

We're having a little taste of summer now with the occasional warmer day - today isn't too hot but it is, surprisingly for here, a little humid.  Rain is forecast for tomorrow, that might explain it......for once my hair isn't dead straight!

Every now and then the thought crosses my mind to get my hair cut shorter and just as quickly my mind says "oh, don't be silly.  If you have it cut you will look the same as all the other old ladies in town."  So I don't listen to the thought and I keep my hair long, because I like to be a little different.  Perhaps when it's all grey or white might be the time to cut it shorter and have coloured streaks put in - green, of course - but, considering my somewhat advanced age (big significant birthday coming up next year, you know; I'm trying to ignore it) there is still a lot of its natural auburn colour left, so while I still have it I'm going to flaunt it.  Nothing like wearing one's hair up with a flower pinned in to make a slightly frivolous statement, is there?

The uke group has a gig next Sunday morning so yes, there will be flowers.  I'm thinking the blue orchids, because my plan is to wear bright blue clothes.

"The dress for the theatre.
The promenade dress with the addition of a handsome cloak or shawl, which may be thrown aside if it is uncomfortable, is suitable for a theatre,  The dress should be quiet and plain, without any attempt at display.  Either a bonnet or hat may be worn.  Gloves should be dark, harmonizing with the dress."

Well......we will be performing but not in a theatre, we will be outdoors in a garden at the local racecourse, and considering that it could be anything from a bit warm to stinking hot we'll give the cloak or shawl a miss.  Definitely be wearing a hat though, my wardrobe includes several Noosa hats which keep the sun off my face in, hopefully, quite a stylish way.

Enjoy your days!

The unloved project is finished

Finished and done, as you can see.  Last night the binding was finally sewn down and today the last stitch was taken on the hanging sleeve.  It is rectangular, just looks a bit distorted because it was laid on the floor for this pic.  

 I have decided that I don't love it because it is someone else's design.......my input was limited to fabric choices (unlike several of the workshop participants I chose not to buy the kit supplied by the teacher) and some of the quilting ideas.  But that's it, it's now out of my hair and I can get on with things I would rather be doing, such as the pinwheel quilt.

Have also been gathering together fabrics for this year's visiting tutor workshop, aren't they scrumptious?  All batiks; the pale leafy print is for the background and border, the stack of FQs in greens, blues, browns and golds is for the blocks, the lovely red print is for the side strip on each block and the brown is for the inner border and binding.  Somehow I think this will be more 'me', as making pieced blocks and playing with their colour and placement is great fun.  Thanks to my friends whose lovely fabric gifts will be part of this quilt!

 A few years ago I bought this luscious print to make a skirt and now its time has come to be made.  The top colour is lighter aqua than it appears in the pic, while it shades to almost midnight blue at the bottom and is overprinted in black.  It will be a pleated skirt on a narrow hip yoke, to make the most of the fabric.  Unfortunately I'm short and the fabric is 115cm wide so not all the colour will make it into the skirt......my skirts aren't that long......but the deep rich colours at the bottom will be in it, for sure.  Not sure of the fabric composition but going by the way it behaved when washed, it is probably some sort of polyester.

 This week's weather pics.....last Monday afternoon the heavens opened and we had 28 mls of rain (to give you the idea, 25 mls is an inch) in about 15 minutes.  The hill behind us was very misty.

And the view over the roofs across the road disappeared again.  Normally we can see for miles and miles.

While this was happening in our street, some parts of town had no rain at all!  There is a low hill between here and the rest of the town which seems to be the dividing line, rain falls on one side of the hill but not the other.  On Monday it was obviously our turn, while a couple of days ago the other side of the hill had their turn.  In yesterday afternoon's storm quite a bit of hail fell here - I wonder what they had in town?  We are only a few kilometres away from the centre of town, but there is that hill.......

While local gardens are loving the rain, the damp plants have become havens for unpleasant insects like mosquitoes.  A few nights ago I decided to tidy up some of the garden and pull out a few weeds....a very easy task, as the ground is soft after so much rain.......and am now suffering from bites, probably mosquito bites.  On my arms I can understand, as they were bare - but even allowing for the fact that I was wearing shorts, how ever did I get bitten on the hip?

The other day at quilt group the conversation turned to the current rash of reality cooking shows, where people try to put on a good meal but are eliminated week by week.  Now I don't know how you all feel, but I find shows like that are nasty; they are not about the recipes and cooking, but more about "who can we get rid of this week?  If we chuck off so-and-so we might lose viewers because they are on the side of the poor dear, but on the other hand we can't chuck off those two nice young blokes because they give the females in our audience something to watch and we don't want to lose our female audience" etc.  As you may have gathered if you have read this far - I don't watch them.  Give me a good murder/mystery story any day, I don't mind a bit of gore.  To judge by the murder rate there can't be many people left alive now in some of those little English villages, can there?

"Speaking one's mind.
Certain honest but unthinking people often commit the grievous mistake of "speaking their mind" on all occasions and under all circumstances, and oftentimes to the great mortification of their hearers.  And especially do they take credit to themselves for their courage, if their freedom of speech happens to give offence to any of them.  A little reflection ought to show how cruel and unjust this is.  The law restrains us from inflicting bodily injury upon those with whom we disagree, yet there is no legal preventive against this wounding of the feeling of others."

You may hold your own opinion of the aforementioned reality cooking shows, and I reserve the right to my opinion.  Should it differ to yours, we can agree to hold a civilised discussion on the matter without hurt feelings on either side.  I would not inflict bodily injury to put across my point of view.

Enjoy your days!

Great Freebies Site

Check out this great site for freebies....there are great ideas for all sorts of projects! With Christmas coming (looming, actually; it's getting closer by the minute) it will be very handy. I'm on it too, my tutorial for folded star is there. Many thanks to Khris, Sharon and Diana who make it possible.

Jennifer