WOW Quintet

Some years ago a friend painted these wombat coasters and storage box, she even painted a wombat on the lid of the box, that's the larger one at the top. It was an unexpected 'thank you' gift - thank you, Ros!

It's raining and misty today, not specially cold though, just the sort of day where it's hard to get motivated to do something. Anything. The fabric for my newest bag is all quilted ready to be cut out and made so perhaps I shall do get in the mood soon. And I have bought different fabric for borders on my wombat quilt. That dandelion fabric, pretty though it is, was never right for the quilt - it just wasn't dark enough. So I took off the borders and bought a dark striped fabric which will compliment the quilt so much better.

I've just been mucking around on the computer and as you can see have changed my blog picture. Much as I like the other picture (and I really do love it) I thought this would also make a rather nice header pic. This is the MacDonald River at Bendemeer, about half an hour north of here, and was taken last year in mid-winter.

Aren't you proud of me, I've been walking! For quite some time now I have been having problems with back pain, and last week the chiropractor told me that if I walked for 10-15 minutes a day that would make a great difference. Our street turns off the main road, heads uphill and curves back down to the main road again, and to walk around that circuit takes about 25 minutes. I don't think we will be walking today because of the rain, the road becomes slippery especially downhill, and the last thing I want is to fall and break something again. But it's also a good way to get to know our new neighbourhood and some of our new neighbours; a couple of days ago we found ourselves walking along with an older lady who lives a little way from us and we had a nice chat. We check out the gardens to see what plants are growing, and have also met a couple of the local cats and dogs. One house has four identical floral design wall plaques set two each side of the front door, and that has given us the idea to hang the wombat plaque on the front door for the world to see rather than in the beer garden.

We bought two plant pots for the front verandah and have planted grevilleas in them. The ends of the verandah have no way to stop anyone falling off, and we didn't want anyone to fall over the edge as it would do them a nasty mischief (and they might sue us for every penny we own), so the pots are rectangular and block off the ends very well. There are a few plants in the garden that I wouldn't mind getting rid of, but we'll wait for a while yet in case they turn out to be spectacular at certain times of the year. So far they're a bit ordinary. We have a great liking for Australian plants and there aren't many here, but that's easily fixed isn't it? However......we have wrens visiting our backyard from time to time and we don't want to get rid of any plants that they use for shelter, we want to make sure they are happy with any changes. They're such pretty little birds and it's lovely to have them. We have also planted a rosemary bush which is (hopefully!) enjoying today's rain.

I shall leave you with some words of wisdom from the etiquette book.

"Forming street acquaintances.
A lady never forms an acquaintance upon the street, or seeks to attract the attention or admiration of persons of the other sex. To do so would render false her claims to ladyhood, if it did not make her liable to far graver charges."

Enjoy your week!

Jennifer

WOW for the wall

Isn't this wall plaque a cutie? We bought it at a local shopping centre this morning. Love the detail....the maker has even made the claws look real. Wombats have very good claws for digging, they live in underground burrows and it all has to be dug by hand......sorry, paw. I think it will hang in the beer garden, we need to decide where we would like it.
This is proof that one night our kitties slept by the fire together! They are not related, and Binky was already six years old when Bianca came to live with us. They live together fairly amicably, but aren't close pals. However a few nights ago when it was cold Binky was on the rug in front of the fire. Bianca usually gets there first, she considers that is her spot.........so eventually she decided she would curl up in the cat bed next to Binky, and make the most of what she had. A photo opportunity like this may not arise again so I had to seize the moment.

A few days ago I cut out fabric, backing and thin pellon wadding to make a new bag. I bought the fabric in Canada last year at Cock-A-Doodle Quilts, but what with breaking my arm, and moving house, and settling in here, I have only just now gotten around starting it. I'll have a pic when it's under way. Fabric for the outer bag is a pretty green print, trim fabric is a cinnamon brown print, and the lining is a softer shade of cinnamon. Pattern is McCalls 4118, bag B, the yellow bag in the illustration. I've made that one before, and also made bag A twice. When I bought the fabric I didn't have the pattern with me but thought I knew how much I needed........but my brain didn't remember right........so I had plenty for the outer bag and not enough fabric for the lining and trim. I solved that by buying a different fabric for the lining and it will probably be better anyway, as it's a paler colour. Don't want a bag to be too dark inside, do we? Finding anything in it would be like digging into a dark hole. The three layers (outer and lining fabric and wadding) are quilted in a diamond grid first, then the bag pieces are cut out and assembled. While it's not difficult, all that straight line quilting is a bit tedious......haven't started it yet.....need to be psyched up first........perhaps after I finish this blog entry and my coffee.......

And I have been thinking a little about my challenge entry, the maritime quilt. Haven't yet taken cutter or scissors to fabric, but at least I have thought about it. That's something. It will come together in my head first, then I will make it. That's how my brain works. Can't cut any fabric until I have a plan in mind.

Last Thursday I found out it takes forty five minutes to walk home from quilt group. Uphill. On an uneven surface.

On Monday night I went along to The Only Choir In Town again, they don't meet during school holidays so there has been a break. I have a form to fill out, to officially join. Managed to sing my way through everything OK, then talk came up about a forthcoming concert. Opera was mentioned........my heavens.....never in my life thought I would be singing opera.

Yesterday I tackled my second sewing room, it has cupboards for fabric storage, and open shelves for other stuff, and a desk and chair. The desk had all sorts of things on it and the surface couldn't even be seen let alone used, it was getting too difficult to contemplate doing anything about - so I went in there, set the alarm for 15 minutes and wow! what a difference that 15 minutes made. Shall do it again. The door is shut to keep the cats out unless I am in there, and that also means I can't see if it's untidy. When we were unpacking it was easy to just put things in there and sort them out later, and the sorting isn't yet finished.

Heavens, it's just started pouring rain - was bright sunshine a moment ago!

Now I have finished my coffee so I shall start that quilting. First, however, a word from the 1885 etiquette book.

"Suppression of Emotion.
Suppression of undue emotion, whether of laughter, of anger, or of mortification, of disappointment, or of selfishness in any form, is a mark of good breeding."

Wishing you happy hours!

Jennifer

Yummy WOW

This won't last long I'm sure. Cadbury's have a range of small chocky bars with Aussie animals on the wrappers. I could have bought the koala, or the kangaroo.......but no.......
Finished the table runner, what do you reckon? The border and binding are from a range of fabrics released by Thimbleberries way back in 2008 called "Greetings from Canada", the cream squares from my stash, and the other fabrics were some of the lovely goodies I received in Tammy's giveaway earlier this year. The pattern was included in the giveaway and was easy to use, it was well written with diagrams and easy instructions to follow. It's one of Anka's Treasures line of patterns, Little Charmers 5. I bought a pale gold Thimbleberries print for the backing which, although it's not one of the fabrics on the top, matches very well - Thimbleberries prints do that, don't they? Fabrics from their different ranges go together without jarring. The quilting is done with a variegated gold cotton thread by Signature, haven't used their threads before but My Lovely New Bernina and I both liked it. Took the pic today in the beer garden after the rain stopped and the sun came out, we had quite heavy rain last night and this morning........then suddenly it was all gone, the wind was blowing strongly and the sky was bright blue.

You would have laughed today. Bianca The Beautiful But Not Very Brave disappears when anyone comes to the house, as soon as she hears strange footsteps or a knock on the door she hides somewhere and doesn't come out until she thinks it is safe again. Today we had a locksmith come to check out the locks on doors and windows (we have many different locks with many many different keys to keep track of and would like it simplified) so she "hid" on my sewing desk, behind the machine, under the curtain. That is to say - her head was under the white lace curtain and she was peering through the lace at us, but the rest of her was on the desk in full view. But in her little furry mind she was hiding.......we had to chuckle.......

Both my new quilt groups are keeping me busy, today I made a block for a lucky draw BOM for one group, and I have a stitchery in progress for the other. I have also decided to have a go at an annual challenge, the quilt for which is to be finished by November. It's a 'theme' challenge and I have chosen to use the maritime prints I have collected over the years with the aim of one day making Kevin a quilt. His grandfather worked on proper sailing ships in the late 19th-early 20th centuries and he has always liked ships. The challenge is to use different sized blocks joined together by nine patches, and these prints will lend themselves to being cut in large pieces. We have ships, lighthouses, flags, seagulls and beach scenes in shades of blue, gold and red so it should be a cheerful bright quilt.

I enjoy browsing some of the blogs on Quilting Bloggers - my goodness, there are a lot of us aren't there! - but I do wish folks wouldn't use a black background. It looks very stylish, can be rather arty, and is well nigh impossible to read. So I don't.

Went for A Nice Sunday Drive yesterday (yes, I know it was Tuesday) to Armidale, just over an hour from here - it was a glorious sunny morning, in fact it was quite warm considering we are in the middle of winter, but by the time we left the sun had gone behind clouds and a cool breeze was picking up. We haven't explored much of the area around our new town and I think we should. I have a couple more excursions in mind. We parked near a local quilt shop and a small piece of a black and white print came home with me, it will do nicely for the Winding Ways quilt which is one of my many WISPs.

"A gentleman should avoid talking about his business or profession, unless such matters are drawn from him by the person with whom he is conversing. It is in bad taste, particularly, to employ technical or professional terms in general conversation."

Now it is bedtime so sweet dreams to me, and to you all as well.

Jennifer

How our cats spend their day

Binky likes to curl up on the couch with her face tucked under her paws. She is not a big puss and is now 13 years old. She has a lot of legs, I'm sure she has more than the usual quota of four.
Bianca likes to sprawl a little more when she snoozes, but she still likes to keep an eye on what's happening. She is now seven and is a big girl for her age.
Sometimes they both snooze on the couch, but they don't sleep closer than this. We would never find then curled up together even on the coldest days.

They don't believe in overdoing things. Stress is not a word that come to mind here.

It's a lazy overcast day, when I summon up the energy I plan to keep sewing the binding down on the latest table runner, it's nearly finished. We're supposed to have rain today, but here it is after midday and we're still waiting for the drops to start falling.

Things are popping up in the garden and I have no idea what they are! Some leaves I thought might have belonged to jonquils but now I'm not sure - the neighbour's jonquils are flowering and we have none, so perhaps they are something else completely. The other day I noticed some dark green leaves which could be hyacinths poking through the ground, I hope they are, I love the scent of hyacinths. We thought of getting a local bloke to have a look at the garden as there are a few things we would like identified, and some things I would like to replace. It's best, if you can, to spend a full year in a new garden without doing too much, just wait and see what is there......but there are a few plants that I don't care for and wouldn't mind replacing. There is a large Murraya along the side fence, some folk just love Murraya....we don't happen to be two of them.....like all white flowered plants the flowers are very strongly scented, a bit too sickly sweet for our taste. It might be drastically pruned before it has a chance to flower. We have some roses too, I have never grown roses before and don't really know how to look after them.

"Visiting Costumes.
Visiting costumes, or those worn at a funeral or informal calls, are of richer material than walking suits. The bonnet is either simple of rich, according to the taste of the wearer. A jacket of velvet, or shawl, or fur-trimmed mantle are the concomitants of the carriage dress for winter. In summer all should be bright, cool, agreeable to wear and pleasant to look at."

Just as well no one is visiting here today, we are in our daggy at-home clothes. Not a pretty sight.

Have a lovely day!

Jennifer

Imaginative WOW

You have to use your imagination to see a wombat in this piece of wood, but it's there. The little nose.....the rounded chunky body.......a few years ago we bought this from a stall at a country market and the stallholder said we were the only customers who, apart from herself, had seen the wombat in this beautifully grained piece of snowgum. We have seen snowgums growing in alpine areas - it has a beautifully marked trunk which changes colour when wet, the pale colours change to deep red and even green, and the trees bend into very interesting shapes.

The table runner in last week's post is layered and quilted and needs to have its edges trimmed, and the binding is made but needs pressing. This will be a very pretty runner for our new table which (hopefully - fingers crossed) will arrive at the end of next week. We have been making do with a card table and two outdoor chairs in our informal eating area since we moved here, so to have 'proper' chairs and table will be a treat! When the runner is done there is an embroidery, which is to be part of a raffle quilt, waiting its turn then I shall make another bag using the lovely fabric I bought in Canada last year. I'm trying to finish one project before going on to another.

Last week I passed a milestone - I am now able to wear my wedding ring again. When I broke my arm last October I had to remove my ring and watch in hospital as my fingers, hand, wrist and arm were swelling at an alarming rate. The nice young physio bloke who treated my arm in Sydney said that it can take up to 18 months for swelling to go down - apparently wrist injuries are very prone to swelling. My left wrist is still a different shape to my right one, and my shoulder does not like carrying heavy bags. It was a very quick fall that did all that damage and it has certainly left its legacy. It wasn't the souvenir I wanted of an otherwise lovely holiday.

It's a dull grey day today. I have forgotten what winter here can be like, when I lived here I was much younger and of course kids don't take much notice of things like weather, do they. Judging by what some of the local chickybabes wear on cold days here, they still don't. Sensible people wear long pants, shoes, socks, jumper (sweater), perhaps a coat..........the chickybabes wear shorts (!) or skinny jeans with rubber thongs or sandals on their little bare tootsies, a skimpy top with a low cut neck - sometimes a scarf at the neck - and a thin jacket. It may look very glamorous but by gosh they don't look warm, they walk along with their arms huddled around themselves shivering. But then - it's all about the look, isn't it, even if they get pneumonia in the process.

By goodness, I do sound like a grumpy old woman don't I? At least I'm warm. And while I have some memories of the clothes I wore as a younger person you can bet they were appropriate to the weather, I didn't wear skimpy summer clothes in the middle of winter. Compared to winters in the northern hemisphere ours is relatively mild, we don't get snowed in.....but it does get cold.

If I were 40 years younger and 20 kilos lighter I would love some of the pretty clothes around today. But I would still dress for the weather.

"Dress.
Dressing well requires good taste, good sense, and refinement. A woman of good sense will neither make dress her first or her last object in life. No sensible wife will betray that total indifference for her husband which is implied in the neglect of her appearance, and she will remember that to dress consistently and tastefully is one of the duties she owes to society."

We should all be refined, don't you think?

Have a wonderful week!

Jennifer

And for my American friends........

Happy Fourth of July!

Best wishes for Canada Day!

To all my Canadian family and friends, have a wonderful day today!

Jennifer