Quilting for those who (like me) can't quilt

The current project being worked on in the sewing room is a table runner made of three large flower blocks with sashing between, a border to match the sashing then a pieced border made of rectangles. For the quilting design in the sashing I wanted a leafy vine (or a viney leaf, whichever you prefer) . Now....I can't draw very well, and I certainly don't trust myself and the free-motion foot on My Lovely New Bernina to quilt something spectacular without lines to guide us, but I can manage a curved line with a few leaves and tendrils hanging off it.

You can see the finished quilting on the sashing between blocks, and the border design pinned on ready for its turn. The design is drawn onto thin paper (sold here as lunch wrap) - it's slightly transparent - mistakes are easily corrected or redrawn using a pencil, then the paper is pinned onto the quilt and the design is sewn through. It is easily torn away after quilting.

Below, the corners have a little gap.....need to fix that before the quilting gets underway. Easily done, just cut a small piece of paper, pin it under the corner gap then draw on a bit more vine and a leaf for a seamless trip round the corner.
The flower centres looked a bit bare with no quilting so they now have a curly design. The thread is a variegated Signature size 40 thread in a colour that is not beige....not gold....not brown....not khaki but a little of all those, and it suits the muted colours of the fabrics.
If one doesn't look too closely, the quilting looks like embroidery. The advantage of this method is that there are no lines to remove on the quilt; I have heard horror stories of washable marking pens that won't wash out, and air erasable pen marks which re-appear after disappearing for a while.

Tonight we are going to the theatre to see a play written by a local bloke. We saw one of his plays last year and it was very funny, tonight's play is the follow-up to that story. He's a very talented bloke, plays piano, sings, writes and directs plays and musical plays, directs the Thursday night choir, and in general does a lot for the musical life of this town.

In the local paper today my stars say I will set myself free in a healthy creative way......does this mean I will come over all arty in the weekend workshop? Had to chuckle when I read that.

Last weekend a new quilt shop opened here in the Small Smoke. While it has quite a large selection of fabrics, and reasonable prices, and lots of patterns and some kits, if the owner continues to verbally run down a shop which has been in town for quite some time she won't be getting my custom again. The owner of the first shop has always been good to me and I will continue to shop there, even if I have to pay a wee bit more at times to do so. It's not a good idea to say negative things about the opposition to a customer.......after all, you never know if said customer is connected to the opposition in some way, do you?

"All well-bred persons will conduct themselves at all times and in all places with perfect decorum. Wherever they meet people they will be found polite, considerate of the comfort, convenience and wishes of others, and unobtrusive in their behavior. They seem to know, as if by instinct, how to conduct themselves, wherever they may go, or in what society they may be thrown. They consider at all times the fitness of things, and their actions and speech are governed by feelings of gentleness and kindness towards everybody with whom they come into social relations, having a due consideration for the opinions and prejudices of others, and doing nothing to wound their feelings."

Do you think the owner of the new shop should read this? Somehow I don't think it would make any difference to her.

Enjoy your days!

What passes for snow here

That's right, folks.....real snow, about 45 minutes from here. It was very cold last week. Now I know that compared to where some of you live this is nothing, probably not even worthy of being called snow, but bear with us. It's a novelty here in parts of sunny Australia, and we think it's great. Don't rain on our snowy parade.

Following on the story of Lily May, I sent for an official copy of her marriage certificate during the week - but when it arrived it is for another Lily May Brown, one who is younger and has two parents, so I don't know any more about my aunt than I did this time last week. But I will try to keep digging; I don't consider that I wasted my money getting the wrong certificate because it has shown me where not to go. Some years ago my local library ran a very interesting course in genealogy, and one thing that the librarian running the course told us was that sometimes you pursue what you think is your family story only to find out that is not so. As she said that can be a good thing, because it stops you from pursuing a wrong path any further.

By a coincidence, that librarian and I turned out to be third cousins......our great-grandparents were brother and sister. How strange is that? We even have the same first name.

Next weekend one of my quilt groups is bring a tutor from The Big Smoke for a weekend workshop and I honestly don't know how I will go......it's a more arty project than I normally tackle, I don't have an arty bone in my body......I'm fine cutting out fabrics and sewing them together again, whether for clothing or quilts.....but I'm not arty. Ah well, if it doesn't work out the cats will have a fancy bed. If it works out, the world may see a picture - if there are no pictures, then don't ask.

The radio has started a program of music from movies in which Ginger Rogers danced, such fun! You can probably hear me singing along wherever you are. Last week was the centenary of Ginger's birth so the program is a wonderful tribute. Don't you just love those gorgeous floaty frocks she wore, all chiffon and feathers? Apparently Fred Astaire's will stipulated that no movie should ever be made about him, that's fine for him but what about Ginger? They made so many movies together that it would be very difficult to make one about her without Fred being in it somewhere.......so, no Ginger movie.

The lurgy has departed again and we hope it will stay away this time. We both had to miss out on a night out we had been looking forward to, but never mind, there will be other nights. Early in the week friends from Canberra came to visit and we had a great time with them; just as well they didn't come a week earlier.

"Less formal invitations.

Invitations of a less formal character are sent for charades, private theatricals, and for archery, croquet, sailing and garden parties; but, however informal the invitation (except only when a visiting card is used), on no account neglect to give immediate attention to it, by sending a reply, for any want of courtesy in this respect is unpardonable."

Keep that sage advice in mind next time you receive an invitation to private theatricals or croquet.

Enjoy your days!

The Dreaded Lurgy has struck again.......

.........which is why the last post was over a week ago. It is rare indeed for The Dreaded Lurgy to strike twice in one year, I thought when I was struck down earlier this year that was it for at least a twelvemonth, but no. To cap it off Kevin has also come down with a cold, so we have been a pair of crook old crocks together. We struggled on manfully and womanfully trying our best to take care of ourselves and each other, but last night we succumbed to a pizza.

So in the absence of any pics of this week's happenings (because there haven't been any, unless you count much sniffling and coughing) here is some delicious rosiness taken last October - which is spring here - while visiting an open garden out in the country, about half an hour or so out of town.

And some beautiful yellow roses, I love yellow flowers of any sort particularly roses.
I am even enjoying my second coffee in a week, the first was this morning. When everything one puts in one's mouth tastes of metal there is not much incentive to eat or drink anything nice, is there? Even chocolate doesn't have its usual yummy taste. The other day we bought some camomile tea with vanilla and honey, it smells nice but is way too sweet for my taste; it was best to wait for my taste for coffee to return. While not addicted to coffee (usually I only have three cups a day) I do enjoy its taste.

One thing which came my way this week was a family birth certificate. My maternal grandmother died many years ago and on her grave marker are the names of her husband and her four children.......which came as a great surprise to me when I first saw it. I knew of course of my mother (well, really, I mean.....) and her younger brother, and an older sister born of my grandmother's first marriage, but the fourth name was a surprise. My mother had very little knowledge of her oldest sister and I had always assumed that she was also a daughter of Nana's first husband - from whom, by the way, she was divorced when she married my grandfather or so it says on their marriage certificate, which must have raised some eyebrows in the early 1920s - but no. She was born when Nana was only 18, there are no details of her father on her birth certificate, in fact the word Illegitimate is written baldly under her name. Poor little baby Lily May, what a burden to carry! I now know that my aunt Lily May was born in 1906 and I found a record on an official site that says she married in 1939, so I may follow that up. Perhaps she had children? They would be my cousins.

Unfortunately there are no photos of Lily May that I know of, certainly none in my possession.

Interestingly my mother's first name was Mavis, and she was often called May - perhaps that was a gesture to her oldest sister? We shall probably never know now, because I am now part of the oldest generation in the family; there is no one I can ask.

"Presents from Godfathers.

The sponsors must make their godchild a present of some sort - a silver mug, a knife, spoon and fork, a handsomely-bound bible, or perhaps a costly piece of lace or embroidery suitable for infants' wear. The godfather may give a cup, with name engraved, and the godmother the christening robe and cap."

Somehow I don't think Lily May was given anything silver or handsome or lacy at her birth or christening, but I would love to be wrong.

Enjoy your days!

Cooking up a storm

The past week has been the coldest weather so far this winter, so it has been good weather for staying indoors and cooking. Apart from last week's 14 (14! - and Kevin doesn't eat jam) jars of citrus marmalade I made an orange cake which is very nice - recipe here, I can recommend its yummy taste and ease of making. Then this morning I made bacon jam.....oh my goodness, what can I say. This is seriously good stuff. A little would certainly liven up some plain old sausages and give new life to a burger, let me tell you. Or you could just try it straight from the jar. Which, being the cook, I had to do to see if it was all right........can't serve up stuff which is no good, can I?

Have also been doing a little cooking up in the sewing room. Last year before we moved I won Tammy's giveaway which included, among other goodies, a pack of Moda Garden Party charm squares. Not long before that Carol swapped me some patterns for some Aussie craft magazines, so the charm squares plus some lovely cream solid are being used to make a table runner from one of those patterns. The large flower centres are appliqued and now the flowers need to be joined into one long piece. It will give a touch of spring to the table when it's done.

Next Monday it's my turn to design the block of the month for one of my quilt groups, this is my choice - can't you see a flotilla of these little ships sailing along on a child's quilt? Our BOMs are used to make up quilts for the local Ronald Macdonald House. The colours are a little brighter than in the picture.
By gosh it has been cold this week, and frosty too. This morning's frost was the heaviest for a while, and yesterday I don't think we reached double figures despite the official weather numbers. It's a bit cooler up here on the hill than out of town at the airport weather station where readings are taken. But it's not too bad really, provides one wears warm clothes and doesn't sit in the shade for too long. Our back room is a sun trap and gets the sun for much of the day, to the cats' delight. And ours.

While our winters are nothing near as bad as winter in some parts of the world, and we sound like a bunch of wusses when we complain compared to those of you who have snow for months on end, it's as cold as I can happily cope with each year.

Last night and tonight one of my choirs is giving concerts, and I suspect by tomorrow I will be all sung out - particularly as we get together to practice on Thursday nights, so that's three nights' singing in a row this week plus Monday night with the other choir. Last night's concert went well, we in the choir had a great time, and the audience seemed to enjoy it too; at least they said complimentary words to us. Kevin thought we were very good, however tonight I will be going along on my own as he can't make it.

"A young lady should, if possible, avoid walking alone in the street after dark. If she passes the evening with a friend, provision should be made beforehand for an escort. If this is not practicable, the person at whose house she is visiting should send a servant with her, or some proper person - a gentleman acquaintance present, or her own husband - to perform the duty. A married lady may, however, disregard this rule, if circumstances prevent her being able to conveniently find an escort."

Isn't it odd that A Young Lady had to be escorted home, but a servant - presumably female - was allowed.....nay, compelled.......to walk alone by herself unaccompanied at night, as she made her own way homewards? The servant may have been even younger than the young lady, but because of their different stations in life that counted for nothing.. However as a married lady, I am able to find my own way home - just as well I know the way.

Enjoy your days!

Best wishes to my American friends too.....

Hope you all have a wonderful July Fourth!

I'm on Patriotic Quilts this week on Quilter's Gallery!

And what's more, it is the only Canadian-themed quilt - most other entries are American!

When I tried to submit my entry I received a funny error message, so I assumed that it hadn't gone through......but no, there it is in all its glory.

So if you would like to see the whole runner, a small part of which was in my last post, you can check it out.

To my Canadian family and friends.....

Best wishes for Canada Day!