600 posts!

That's a lot of words, a big milestone for celebration.  I started blogging sometime in October 2008, and am still here.  There have been times when I wasn't here - when we've been away - so no words were written for a while.  The best part is, most of me is still in pretty much the same condition as then.

That row of tumblers that I was so pleased with last week......

well.......

it was too long.  Note that I said "was".  It isn't now.

According to my design in EQ7 it was to be 65 inches wide, plus borders.  Not 75 inches.  I then checked out EQ7's tumbler template only to find out that, while they are both three inches high finished, theirs is skinnier than mine so 35 across was ten inches too wide.  The border fabrics were bought with 65 inches in mind.  Bugger.  Double bugger and triple bugger.  So out came the fine-pointed scissors, four tumblers were taken out of each row, then the rows seamed together again to finish at 67 inches.  As they have been made in blocks of four that wasn't as arduous as it might otherwise have been, and these extra blocks will find a home on the back anyway.

Still......having to unpick all that hand stitching then sew it up again......sigh......

Nova Scotia is done, block four of the Canadian quilt.

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean would be quite a sight to see, if one was a morning person.  Which one isn't, so this will have to do.  I am loving these batik fabrics, they give such a wonderful texture.

Bianca the White Cat and I are having a very quiet weekend as Kevin has gone to a town several hours north-west from us to play lawn bowls.  He's not all that noisy when he's here anyway (except when he's watching sport on TV), but it is very quiet without him.  The TV has stayed off except for one hour last night when I watched a music documentary, and will stay off tonight too.  Even the news.  I am not watching the news, it's mostly murder and mayhem and never anything good, and very little in the regular programming appeals.  Doesn't matter how many channels there are, there is seldom anything worthwhile to watch.

The uke group is playing for a seniors concert on Wednesday morning, so this afternoon will be a good chance to run through the songs.  "Bye bye love....bye bye happiness....." etc.  I can let you have the rest of the words if you like......

"Requirements for a happy marriage.
Respect for each other is as necessary to a happy marriage as that the husband and wife should have an affection for one another.  Social equality, intellectual sympathy, and sufficient means are very important matters to be considered by those who contemplate matrimony."

When these words were written in 1885 they didn't have to put up with noisy sports on television.  We have reached a compromise - the sport is on TV with the volume off, the radio still plays its gentle classical music, and everyone is happy.

Enjoy your days!

Green, green, it's green they say, on the far side of the hill.......

You'll be singing that all day now, won't you?

We have lots of rain, and more is forecast.  These pics were taken a few days ago and since then the grass is even greener, if that's possible.  It's also quite a bit longer.

Yes, that's our wash line.  Most Australian houses use an outside line rather than a dryer; in all my (very many) years on this earth I have never owned a dryer.

The rise you can see in the far distance of this photo is now also bright green - a sight for sore eyes, if ever there was one.

There is, however, a slight drawback to so much moisture - the humidity, normally not something we need to worry about, is very unpleasant!

17 more HSTs made, plus their trimmings.  Trimming is quite tedious, but necessary.

Block number three in the Canadian mystery quilt, Alberta, is stuck down.

Last night the final stitch was taken on this panel, four tumblers deep by 35 (plus half-tumblers for the ends) wide.  There are another five of these to go.

It measures 75 inches long - I'm nowhere near that tall! - so had to be photographed in two sections.

My method to keep the rows in the order I want, is to write numbers with a fine marker on small pieces of scrap fabric and safety pin then to the left-hand edge. 

Row 1 is at the bottom; they were spread out on the spare bed and it was easy to start numbering from the bottom first.  Those tags will stay in place until it's all together.  The blocks for one row are held together by a tacking stitch in the top corner, one at a time is slipped off and joined to the right hand side until the row is done.

You have no idea how good cutting the thread on that final stitch felt last night, this is quite a mammoth undertaking!  It has given me the courage to dig out the flower basket blocks and finish them, too; it seemed a bit too big a mouthful at the time.  

We don't celebrate Valentine's Day in this household, when I was a Sweet Young Thing (and still slender......sigh) all the hearts and flowers stuff hadn't yet been invented.  We do, however, celebrate Kevin's birthday which is on the same day, so we took ourselves off to a restaurant for an excellent lunch.  We were so stuffed that we couldn't eat another thing until breakfast on Friday morning.

"Dining should be ranked among the fine arts.  A knowledge of dinner-table etiquette is all important in many respects; but chiefly in this: that it is regarded as one of the strong tests of good breeding.  Dinners are generally looked upon as entertainments for married people and the middle aged, but it is often desirable to have some young unmarried persons among the guests."  

Perhaps lunch would at a restaurant could also be considered among the fine arts?  The youngest unmarried person we could see was a young baby whose mum was lunching with a group of women.

Enjoy your days!

Is done!

We have new electronic gimcrackery for the fancy-nancy new computer, so now pics can be downloaded from my camera card.

Some finished half square pieces for what is hoped will be a gorgeous quilt.

 Block number one from the Canadian mystery quilt - New Brunswick, with a covered bridge and a black-capped chickadee.  We've seen those little birds in Canada, they are very cute with a sweet call.

Block number two - Nunavut, snow, ice, glaciers, an inukshuk and a ptarmigan, a bird which is white in winter and brown in summer.

These are 'lick and stick' applique using fusible web, the pieces still need to be stitched down.  The cunning plan is to do these quilt-as-you-go, a process I haven't tried before.  Two are done, several more still to go.

Some of our own white birds, a flock of sulphur crested cockatoos on the hill.  As you can see there had been a little rain so there were small patches of green......and now it's green all over, because we have had more rain!  Had to zoom in on these.

 A spectacular sunset last week, rubbish bins, neighbour's car and all, taken from our front verandah.  The faint lights in the far right distance are from the airport.

The best news is, we have had rain and there is more to come!  Not as much as we would like and nowhere near enough to break the continuing drought, but each and every little drop is welcome.  People are feeling more optimistic than they have done for quite a while.

Fires elsewhere in the state are still burning but some are out, and people are coming to terms with what has been lost.  The rest of us are being urged to visit these places and spend-spend-spend to help local economies......but there are still fires burning, and many people aren't inclined to travel for that reason; none of us want to be suddenly evacuated or possibly trapped.  Also, while there is enormous sympathy and both monetary and practical help being given to those communities, a lot of people just don't have extra cash to splash around.  At the end of the day we all get to decide where, when and how we spend our money and no amount of emotional blackmail will change that.

My passport has been renewed.  Merciful heavens......if the person in that picture is really me, then I certainly need and deserve a holiday!

"Use no strong expression either of delight or disapprobation at anything presented for your inspection.  If a picture or a statue please you, show your approval and appreciation by close attention, and a few quiet-well-chosen words, rather than by extravagant praise."

That passport picture certainly elicited no extravagant praise from me, I can tell you.

Enjoy your days!

Today was going to be the day

We have a fancy-nancy new computer, and the plan was to load new pics from my camera and update my blog......

but alas......

......it was not to be.  When Kevin (acting on instructions from our computer guru son) ordered said fancy-nancy from the computer building people, it seems that one seemingly unimportant feature was forgotten.  A photo card reader.  Fingers are not being pointed here.  Now there are pics on my camera and no way to get them to the computer until we buy a card reader, which won't be until tomorrow morning as it's way too hot to go out this afternoon.

Sigh......

So you will have to take my word for it that Stuff has happened in the sewing room, because I can't show you. 

The spotted fabric for the backing of MUSIC was bought yesterday, tiny rainbow coloured spots on white.  Just the very thing.  Two blocks from the Canadian mystery quilt from 2017 have been prepared ready to have the applique stitched down.  Lots more tumblers have been joined.  Believe it.

Regardless of whether the latest pics can be used, we can still have pictures.  These were taken at a lovely old house an hour north of here; because they are a higher altitude than we are they have a very different climate, so they can grow plants that gardeners here can only dream of having.  I think these may be California poppies.

 I don't know what this is - white flowers on a bush, will do.

 This was the first house on the property.  Once the family had grown and had become more prosperous they moved to a larger house.

At first it was a also single story house, but with more money and a bigger family a top floor was added - the architectural details, while balanced, don't match on top and bottom, but on the whole the various styles live happily together.  The house is called "Saumarez" and it has about 30 rooms, many of which still have furniture and articles belonging to the White family. 

There are several lovely vintage sewing machines.  I would happily give each and every one of them a home.

It has been, and is, very hot.  It has also rained, for which we are most thankful - the hill behind us is now green!  Such a change from dry, dead and brown. 

We survived the country music festival, the ukulele group had fun, and we had visitors to town join us - we even had people just coming along to listen.

"A lady need not lay aside her bonnet during a formal call, even though urged to do so.  If the call be a friendly and unceremonious one, she may do so if she thinks proper, but not without an invitation."

The day we visited "Saumarez" was warm and sunny, so I wore a hat which was taken off inside.  Outside in the blazing Australian sun is another story.....we need our hats.

Enjoy your days!

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!

My brain cells have been slowly frying

It has been so very very hot.  Thankfully today is cooler (although you couldn't describe it as cold) and there is the possibility of a rain drop or two.  We have had two storms this week which did give some much-needed rain, we'll take all we can get.

The big news, of course, is the dreadful fires burning so much of our beautiful country.  So many homes lost, so many businesses.......heaven only knows how many of our native creatures gone.  Lives have been lost.  Even hearing about it has become so stressful that I have stopped clicking on news stories, and have also stopped watching the news on TV - I can't begin to imagine what it must be like for those more closely affected.

On a happier note (because sewing has been keeping me sane) - stitches have been taken!  This is a project bought on our last trip to Canada, a Junior Row by Row bought at The Cottage Quilter in Corbeil outside North Bay, Ontario.  Isn't this fun?  I couldn't resist it.

The original design has the letters butted up against each other, but I have decided to add a half inch strip of white background between them.  This, of course, means some finagling with the already-cut outer borders - some of which will have to be re-cut.  My stash has yielded a print of tiny black stars and spots on a white background which will be used for binding - all the coloured fabrics in the kit are spotted, although it doesn't show up as well in the orange fabric I. 

This, of course, meant that many leaders and enders have also been made, but they are waiting to be pressed before showing their glorious autumn faces to the world.

The last, the very last, set of eight tumblers is on the needle right now, so the spare bed is being used as a design wall to spread out all 888 pieces.  The placement is totally random apart from a light-dark theme; I don't want the same fabric adjacent in the finished quilt, hence the shuffling around of fabrics.....except that the bed is not ~quite~ big enough.

You know how bright ideas pop into your head out of nowhere?  Well, I had one the other day.  My supply of summer sandals includes beige sandals with wide adjustable straps (sadly the feet which now swell in summer mean that adjustable straps are a must) that I have never really loved.  They are comfortable, for sure, but that cream/beige is not pretty.  It makes my feet look enormous - I think it does, anyway - so they are hardly ever worn, which is a bit of a waste.  Back in the days when I was young and slender......sigh......we could buy a product to paint on our shoes to change the colour.  I contacted a local shoe repair place - and it's still available!  A very long time ago I used to have some orange sandals, and green ones too; I can feel green sandals in my life once more. 

Our town is getting quite busy.  Many people are away on holidays, but the visitors have started rolling in for the big country music festival.  We like to play "spot the tourist" because they just don't look like locals, they don't dress like locals, and many seem to have a sense of entitlement that locals lack; you know the "I'm visiting your town so I'm very important, you have to kowtow to me" type.

"Limit of a prolonged visit.
If no exact length of time is specified, it is well for visitors to limit a visit to three days or a week, according to the degree of intimacy they may have with the family, or the distance they have come to pay the visit, announcing this limitation soon after arrival, so that the host and the hostess may invite a prolongation of the stay if they desire it, or so that they can make their arrangements in accordance.  One never likes to ask of a guest, "How long do you intend to remain?" yet it is often most desirable to know."

Some of these visitors stay for three weeks or more.  While we like to have them (because they spend money) we don't always like the way so many seem to push their weight around......and some are a considerable weight.  (I didn't say that)

Enjoy your days!

Well, here we are......

....we made it to another year.  At our age, another year is a bonus for sure!

Did you all go out and party hearty last night?  We didn't; we stayed in and didn't even make it to midnight before we went to bed.  Didn't even open the bubbly.......might do that tonight, to toast a new year.

The family came, The One And Only made it this far north.  They arrived early on Friday afternoon, whirled around like dervishes for a few days, and departed on Monday morning.  The One And Only was intrigued by Bianca The White Cat as they have a dog.  He patted her every chance he could, she hissed at him occasionally and spent quite a bit of time tucked away in our bedroom.  She is obviously not into small boys; having spent far too much of my life having to deal with them, I can sympathise.

The worst part of the new year is the devastating bushfires, fortunately nowhere near us but so many houses and businesses lost......and several lives lost too, the saddest part of all.  We are hoping for weather changes this year; some rain would be good, lots of rain would be even better.  Relief from the current heatwave would also be welcome.

We didn't watch last night's coverage of the fireworks in the Big Smoke.  Considering whole towns are burning up just a few hours south, it seemed insensitive and tasteless to spend millions of dollars sending sparks up into the air.

New year sewing has happened!  Three blocks, BOM obligations for my quilt group, were made today and will be handed in next week, one slightly late and two early.  Pieces for the new autumn leaf quilt made handy "leaders and enders", so a few pieces have already been joined.  First project for 2020 started - yay for me!

Spent a little time pairing up print triangles to background triangles, and wouldn't you know it - there are two background triangles over.  Either I cut two too many, or I cut two too few print triangles.  Either way is easily fixable and the world won't stop spinning on its axis.  It's only fabric.......

Have you all made your new year resolutions?  I decided many years ago to make none, and have kept to that.  Be good to each other, be kind to yourself.  Eat chocolate.

"Parties in the country.
Morning and afternoon parties in the country, or at watering-places, are of a less formal character than in cities.  The hostess introduces such of her guests as she thinks most likely to be mutually agreeable.  Music or some amusement is essential to the success of such parties."

We listened to a classical music radio station last night - that does that count?

Enjoy your days!