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!

Wet, wet, and more wet

It's been raining here.....in fact, we've had a flood.  Not us personally, but the river which flows through our town overflowed its banks the other day -  this week we have had so much rain that a new record has been set.  The previous record of the most rainfall in a single day stood for 136 years but was broken this week.  Schools were closed and children sent home, as roads were cut.

Our back yard was sodden, the bird bath overflowed....didn't even see many birds using it, although a group of hardy Noisy Miners braved the rain one day for a dip.

 The clouds were so low that our view over the back fence almost disappeared.

In fact, the view from the front verandah did disappear!  Instead of being able to see for miles and miles across the valley as we usually can, we could see the house across the road.......and nothing but a white mist beyond it.  Summer disappeared, and we were back to wearing warm clothes for a couple of days; in fact, summer this year has been unusually mild.  Not that I am complaining.

Smaller towns a few hours north-west from here have been suffering the worst floods for over 60 years, there is so much water it has become a health hazard because the local sewage systems aren't working as they should.  Many people have had to be evacuated from their homes and we can't begin to imagine the horrible smelly mess they will face when they are allowed to return home.

We feel lucky to be here in our warm dry house on the hill.  It's been a good week to stay indoors and read, and sew, and just keep out of the rain.  I think the cats have also broken records for the amount of time spent sleeping, because it wasn't even worth looking out of the windows.  Although Bianca did get excited one day when the wind blew a leaf on the path just outside the floor-length window........she woke up for a second or two before settling down again.

Last year's workshop quilt is being worked on, it's now more than half-quilted.  It is not going to defeat me.  There are other projects I would far rather be working on but I am not letting myself go near them until this is done, although I did break out the other week when I assembled the pinwheel quilt. It's spread out on the spare bed, so when I want some pretty blue and yellow pinwheel goodness I have only to walk in there and admire it.

"If a gentleman is walking with two ladies in a rain storm, and there is but one umbrella, he should give it to his companions and walk outside.  Nothing can be more absurd than to see a gentleman walking between two ladies holding an umbrella which perfectly protects himself, but half-deluges his companions with its dripping streams."

This week the main street was a sea of bobbing umbrellas, although a few hardy souls braved the rain with no protective covering.  Mostly men.  Women seem to have more sense than to go out in heavy rain with no umbrella or at the very least, a coat.

Enjoy your days!

Border choices

These are the fabrics which will border the pinwheel quilt, the blue inner border will be one inch wide and the floral one will be....oh....about five and a half inches, from memory.  The EQ7 plan is in my sewing room, not here with me at the computer, and I'm too lazy to get up and fetch it.  The binding will be in the same blue.

The fabrics are 'Nature's Notebook' by April Cornell for Moda and I don't know if they are still available, as I bought them nearly two years ago before we left Sydney.  It was a very pretty fabric range in yellow and blue.

You will be pleased to know the Dreaded Lurgy is slowly becoming a distant memory, although as well as a lingering cough it has left a feeling of continual tiredness; hopefully that soon will fade away too, and the wombat household will be back to what passes for normal.

During the week we headed off to the main street of town to soak up the music festival atmosphere, and soak it up we did.......it was raining.......while I'm sure those camping in caravans and tents could do without it, our garden is loving it.  Three blocks of the main street are given over to buskers who range from really very good to perhaps a wee bit more practice would be a good idea........a group of five teens, none of whom looked a day over 15, were really terrific and have made the finals of the busking competition, according to the local paper.  Good for them!

Today I am toodling around on the sewing machine making small Friendship Star blocks of the month....while I don't mind making them because they go into charity quilts, making 4.5in finished blocks is much more fiddly than making larger blocks with more pieces.  My contribution of six blocks will hopefully be finished today and I will go back to thinking about borders on the pinwheel quilt....plain is easier, but I think they will end up being mitred because it will look better.....and doing some more quilting on the piece which was started in last year's workshop.  I'm not feeling love for it but am determined to finish it.  I can tell you one thing though, it won't be hanging on the wall when it's done.

"In receiving morning calls, it is unnecessary for a lady to lay aside any employment not of an absorbing nature upon which she may happen to be engaged.  Embroidery, crocheting or light needle-work are perfectly in harmony with the requirements of the hour, and the lady looks much better employed than in absolute idleness."

Should you happen to call there is every chance you may find me engaged at my sewing machine......but I will lay it aside for an hour or two, and pick up my light needlework so as to be more sociable.

Enjoy your days!

Still being organised....

....as you can see.  Here are the little pinwheel blocks joined into rows, laid out ready for the rows to be joined.  It's more pastel than the colours I usually use, but sometimes a change is good - yes?  After these blocks are joined the first border will be white - this will make the blocks appear to float - then a narrow blue border, with a yellow and blue floral print for the outer border.  Binding will be the same blue as the inner border, and backing is a yellow and white check.

This is the quilt top from which those little pinwheels started life, they are the leftovers from the flying geese units on the star blocks.  All fabrics are yellow and blue with touches of green.

 The pic above has made the colours look slightly faded....they aren't, as you can see below.

 In the stash cupboard there are several metres of a pretty blue, yellow and green floral print for the backing, and when it is eventually quilted it will be bound in deep mossy green.  Even though these two quilts use the same colours and some of the same fabrics, I think  - I hope - they will be very different.  When I get over being The World's Most Unconfident Machine Quilter this will get done.  I'm practising on smaller quilts first.

Bianca thinks she should have equal time with Binky, who was featured in my last blog post.  She decided the black chair was a perfect foil for her white outfit.  Yes, she does have odd eyes, one blue, one green.....but unlike many odd-eyed white cats she is not deaf.  She is a big girl and is now nine years old.  For many years now our cats have all been rescues; Binky came from the RSPCA, while Bianca was a private adoption from a friend.

This week I had Plans to accomplish Great Things and they have flown out the window, because the Dreaded Lurgy has me in its grip (perhaps that should be grippe) so not much has been accomplished at all.  When I can say more than two words without dissolving into a fit of coughing, and when my ribs and back and stomach stop hurting from coughing, and when I get some decent sleep without coughing myself awake, all will be well in the wombat household again.

Fortunately both choirs are in recess until next week, because at present the singing voice sounds like a demented frog.

"Keep an account of calls.
A person should keep a strict account of ceremonial calls, and take note of how soon calls are returned.  By doing so, an opinion can be formed as to how frequently visits are desired.  Instances may occur, when, in consequence of age or ill health, calls should be made without any reference to their being returned.  It must be remembered that nothing must interrupt the discharge of this duty."

Please don't think me impolite, but it might be best if calls at present were kept to a minimum because I don't wish to infect any of you.

Enjoy your days!

How's this for being organised?

It's only the middle of January, and this year's challenge quilt is already being made!  That's pretty good going for me, also known as The Queen of Procrastination.  The quilting on last year's was only started a week or two before it was due to be unveiled.  

Here's the first block completed and another being made - somehow my Singer Featherweight seems the right machine to make these little blocks.

 These nine-patch blocks measure 6-3/4in finished and form a chain of pinwheels across the quilt; the size is because the pinwheel blocks are leftovers from another quilt and are 2-1/4in square.

This is what the pile of blocks looked like yesterday.....but today, they are all done!  Yay for me!

Here is a picture of Binky, just because we haven't had one for a while.  Does that look say "go away and leave me alone", do you reckon?  Binky has several hidey-holes for when she doesn't want to be disturbed, but on this occasion she was checking out our bed while it was being made.  She is a sweet old puss and we reckon that in the middle of next month she will turn 15.

The huge country music festival held each year here in the Small Smoke will be starting soon and some of the thousands of people who attend have already started arriving.  The usual population more than doubles; last year because of interstate flooding numbers were down, so we didn't really see how much it changes the town.  Although I was born here and lived here until the age of 23 when the lure of the Big Smoke proved attractive (that wasn't the only reason I moved, but it's a long story and believe me you don't need to hear it) last year's festival was the first I had attended, and even then we didn't go to many concerts and managed to completely avoid any line dances.  Line dancers never look as though it's an enjoyable activity, do they?  I have seen chooks in a farm yard have more fun.  All together now......hook your thumbs into the belt of your tight black jeans, tuck in your fringed satin shirt which emphasises every teeny bulge and wrinkle, cram a hat - good idea in the middle of summer to have a hot felt hat - on your head, kick out with one leg and repeat after me, "yee har".

"Balls.
The requisites for a successful ball are good music and plenty of people to dance.  An English writer says, "The advantage of the ball is, that it brings young people together for a sensible and innocent recreation, and takes them away from silly, if not from bad ones; that it gives them exercise, and that the general effect of the beauty, elegance and brilliancy of a ball is to elevate rather than to deprave the mind."  It may be that the round dance is monopolizing the ball-room to a too great extent, and it is possible that these may be so frequent as to mar the pleasure of some persons who do not care to participate in them, to the exclusion of other dances.  There should be an equal number of waltzes and quadrilles, with one or two other dances, which would give an opportunity to those who object (or whose parents object) to too many of one sort."

You notice that nothing is said about line dancing?  I enjoy waltzing and like nothing better than a quadrille......yes, I can dance any number of quadrilles......so let's hope my mind is well elevated.  Wouldn't want to have a depraved mind, would we?

Enjoy your days!

Quirky quoll

This little feller is a Spotted Quoll, but don't be deceived by the cuteness; quolls are related to Tassie Devils who can be rather nasty.  We saw this quoll and some of its friends at an animal park on our holiday late last year, and while we were watching them the keeper entered their enclosure with food, raw meat - they are carnivorous - which she placed in tree branches, on the ground, behind twigs, etc. to make the quolls work for their dinner.  Then it was every quoll for itself, and their table manners were appallingly bad; no "after you, sir" or "oh no, after you madam".  Their growls and screeches were to warn the others " this is mine, keep away from my dinner"!

There you are.....if you ever need a 'q' word for scrabble, you can use quoll.  Or quokka, another Aussie animal.  Probably earn triple points with either of those.

Summer has hit with a vengeance and the past couple of days have been fairly warm, but relief is in sight later in the week thank goodness.  I know some of you are battling winter storms and shovelling snow while we are sweltering and dodging thunderstorms.  Fortunately my sewing room is a pleasant temperature, because that's where I have been playing; yesterday some of the fabric for this year's challenge quilt was cut out, how's that for being organised?  The Big Reveal isn't until late November and this year I am determined not to be finishing it at the last minute, unlike last year.  This year's challenge is to make a quilt, any size but at least 120cm square, from fabric already in the stash although one other fabric is allowed to be purchased, as is batting and backing fabric.  Before we left Sydney I bought fabric for background, borders and backing to use the little pinwheels sewn when my arm was in plaster late in 2009, and they were leftovers from another quilt anyway.  All the background fabric has now been cut out, so the blocks can be made.

The lovely green skirt has been worn (it still doesn't have its ruffle trim, but it is wearable) with the green print top which fortunately fits well, and my new outfit gained several compliments.  It's nice to have new clothes, and there is one more skirt and top to go in the current clothes-making session.  The arty quilt I started in a workshop last year really should be finished too; even though I am not sure if I like it, I am determined to finish it.....perhaps I will feel differently when it's done.

Karen is writing a very interesting series of articles on her blog about copyright.  Quilters have a reputation for being 'caring and sharing' with patterns and designs, but while it's all right to help friends it shouldn't be done at the expense of a copyright holder.  Just imagine how you would feel if your original design were to be copied and sold as the work of someone else - it wouldn't be a good feeling, would it?

"Greediness.
To put large pieces of food into your mouth appears greedy, and if you are addressed when your mouth is so filled, you are obliged to pause, before answering, until the vast mouthful is masticated, or run the risk of choking, by swallowing it too hastily.  To eat very fast is also a mark of greediness, and should be avoided.  The same may be said of soaking up gravy with bread, scraping up sauce with a spoon, scraping your plate, and gormandizing upon one or two articles of food only."

No one told the quolls about greediness, although none of them were scraping their plates....probably because plates weren't used.

Enjoy your days!

Happy New Year!

Best wishes for a wonderful year ahead.....heavens, 2012 already!  Seems like only yesterday we were worried about the millenium bug, remember that?  The world was going to end because all computers everywhere would suddenly freeze.  But they didn't, we are all still here and so are our computers although I suspect there wouldn't be many of us still using the computer we had in 2000.

We had a relaxing family time over Christmas, sitting in our beer garden.......

..........looking at the view over the back fence.

Even New Year's Eve was quiet for two Olde Phartes like us.  We enjoyed an entire whole bottle of a rather good bubbly wine - Australian, of course - washed it down with some nibbles, and stayed up long enough to see in the new year.

Santa was good to us too; we received a weather gadget that tells you what temperature it is outside, and inside, and how much rain has fallen.  Nothing, yet.  As part of our Christmas present to each other we have ordered ourselves a new TV, so we will really then be part of the 21st century.  Other gifts were chocolates, some scrumptious fabrics, a calendar all the way from British Columbia.....I like to have a scenic calendar or two around the house.....a scrumptious hand-dyed scarf, and some gorgeous smelly things from Fenella Jane.  That was for me.  I was also sent a wombat calendar!

Here in the Small Smoke we don't have a humungous fireworks display, although we did hear a cracker or two go bang.  When we lived in Sydney we never went to the NYE fireworks display, the crowd is a frightening size - last night it was expected that one million people would all sit around the harbour and go ooh and aah over the pretty bangs.  One million!  All those noughts!  What a scary thought.  The idea is all those people will spend lots of dollars while in town for the fireworks, so that is the justification for sending the equivalent of the gross domestic product of a small country up in smoke.  While I don't wish to be a party pooper, I would like to ask - how is it that so much money (we are talking many millions of dollars here) can be found for fireworks, but not for our hospitals, schools, and other places where it could make a difference?

Our local paper yesterday had a story about the Catholic priest from a small town north of here who has a pyrotechnics licence and stages fireworks displays in some of the small towns and villages hereabouts, with the profits going to the church.  He calls his business "Holy Smoke"....isn't that a hoot?

This year, as last year, I do not intend to make any Resolutions although I do have Plans.  Those Plans include finishing off a quilt top or two which are languishing in my cupboard waiting to be quilted (believe me there are more than a few, but we have to start somewhere), make one or two more and quilt them straightaway, and make more clothes.  The new scrumptious emerald/jade/teal green skirt is wearable as is although I have A Plan to trim it before it's worn, and the top which will be worn with it is in progress.  It looks a wee bit small......let's hope the stretch factor is right......when it's done there will be a picture but not of me wearing it, because there are some things for which the world is not yet ready.  While I was never a raving beauty when young I'm certainly no oil painting now and cannot pass a mirror or shop window without shuddering, so there is no way the world is going to see a picture of me in all my glory or lack thereof.  There are a few pictures of me out there on the interwebz, but be assured they weren't put there by me.

Now that summer is here and today is hot and sunny, we may need to make use of this recipe just as our foremothers did......or if they did, they were braver than I would be.

"To remove sunburn.
Take two ounces of borax, one dram of alum, one dram of camphor, half an ounce of sugar-candy, and a pound of ox-gall.  Mix and stir well for ten minutes, and stir it three or four times a fortnight.  When clear and transparent, strain through a blotting-paper and bottle for use."

Enjoy your days!