My new quilting space

So far it working well.  My Lovely New Bernina (13 years old this month and still going strong) sits in its Sew-Ezi table; the darker table behind it is a typewriter table bought more years ago than I can remember in an office supply place, it has a shelf which slides out on which ever side you need (it's out on the left side here); and the lighter table in front was bought a very very long time ago, at the time it was the latest and greatest thing to hold one's sewing machine.  Usually my overlocker sits on the dark table and my Singer Featherweight on the light one, but when the tables are needed for quilting those machines have to sit elsewhere for a while.....like the floor.

 As you can see this set up works well - the tables to the back and left hand side support the weight of the quilt nicely.  The challenge quilt is finally being quilted, it posed for you so you can see how this works.

This is my suggested colourway for the Coronation block, for my quilt group tomorrow - what do you reckon?  Dark blue with brights.  If several blocks were being made there wouldn't be any repeated fabrics, this happens when you make only one.

The k-niddling is also coming along nicely after having to buy a longer circular needle, because more than 300 stitches is a lot when crammed onto a shorter needle.  It's now been divided for the fronts, back and sleeves with one sleeve currently being worked on - 72 stitches per row is an improvement on 300, let me tell you.

This week we have really been back in the depths of winter, with heavy frosts and a cold wind.  Towns barely an hour away had snow.  Today is sunny, and the wind isn't so strong or cold, for which we are thankful - but it's quite dry, some rain would be very welcome.  We have both noticed our skin is drier since moving here so I for one am making sure that vitamin E lotion is daily applied to lots of me, even the bits that never see daylight.

Some family history stuff: recently I found out that one could apply for divorce records online, so I applied for a copy of the record of my maternal grandmother's divorce from her first husband in 1923.  It must have been a deep scandal in those days.  The divorce was instigated by her husband on the grounds that she had been absent for at least three years, and the decree nisi was granted in April 1923 with the proviso sternly stated "If you marry before this decree is final you will be committing bigamy".  No beating about the bush there!  The decree absolute came through in 1928.  However in September 1923 she married my grandfather - no doubt my mother's birth seven months afterwards provided a reason - but I am now wondering, was that a bigamous marriage?  And if so, does that make my mother and her brother illegitimate?  Skeletons in the family cupboard!  Yesterday was open day at the local family history centre but the lovely folks there couldn't shed further light on the matter, except to agree with me that yes, her second marriage was probably bigamous.  Perhaps if I took the papers to the local court house, there might be someone more versed in legal matters than I am who could tell me.

57 days until we start our holiday.  Better get cracking on that sewing, hadn't I?

"Intruding on privacy.
Never enter a private room anywhere without knocking.  Sacredly respect the private property of others, and let no curiosity tempt you to pry into letters, desks, packets, trunks, or other belongings of another.  It is ill-mannered to read a written paper lying upon a table or desk; whatever it may be, it is certainly no business of yours.  No person should ever look over the shoulder of another who is reading or writing.  You must not question a servant or child upon family affairs.  Never betray an implied confidence, even if you have not been bound to secrecy."

Does digging into one's family history constitute an intrusion on privacy - bringing to light matters which have been hidden for years, or indeed never known at all?

Enjoy your days!

58 pieces in one 12inch block

They smallest piece is cut two inches square.

 When several blocks are joined together a secondary pattern of smaller stars emerges where the corners join.  Next week is my turn to provide a block of the month at quilt group, and I thought a challenging block would be more interesting to make than a block made entirely of squares.  My sample block (in progress as we speak) will use this same deep blue background with different coloured pieces for the various star points.  The block is called 'Coronation', and if you should fancy making one for yourself the instructions can be found here.  My block doesn't quite follow those directions but the result is the same.  This blue and gold block was made a while for our Canadian girl-in-law.

This morning a re-organisation took place in my sewing room.  When we moved here a large desk came with us, as it was a good surface for my sewing machine and overlocker - it wasn't ideal because it was a bit high for me (I'm fairly short, you know) but it had sufficed for quite a while.  Then one day I bought a Sew-Ezi table, and some months later a Horn extendable cutting table with storage cupboards, and that room was becoming crowded and getting difficult to work in.  This week the desk was given away and now there is so much more space in the room!  I can even open the cupboard without having to move something first.  The only time the desk may be missed is when I am machine quilting....it was handy behind the machine to take the weight of the quilt being worked on.....but that can be overcome.  So My Lovely New Bernina sits in its Sew-Ezi table, and my Bernina overlocker sits next to it on a table bought many years ago at an office supply shop - it's a typewriter table, remember when we used typewriters? - and my Singer Featherweight sits on a table bought nigh on 40 years ago.  These three small tables plus a four-drawer chest don't take up much more room than that one large desk did, and the space is used more efficiently.

We have had some more wintry weather this week - Thursday was the coldest August morning for goodness  knows how many years and the water in the bird bath froze again.  Days are sunny and pleasant but when one steps into the shade, or rounds a corner into the breeze, there is a distinct coolth in the air.  The actual temperature feels several degrees less than the numbers would have you think; for instance the latest temperature reading is 18.3 deg, but it only feels like 13.5 deg.  But spring won't be far away, and then summer, and we will be complaining about the heat.

The knitting is proceeding very well and the lace pattern is giving no trouble at all; I wonder why it wouldn't go right during the first/second/third/whatever attempt?  Mind you, it takes forever to knit one row as there are now over 300 stitches on the needle......I had to buy a longer circular needle to take them all.  There aren't many rows left until it's divided up for the fronts, back, and sleeves.

It is 64 days until we start our Canadian holiday.

"Keep yourself quiet and composed under all circumstances.  Do not get fidgety.  If you feel that time drags heavily, do not let this be apparent to others by any visible sign of uneasiness."

I shall keep myself quiet but busy in the meantime, even if I am quietly panicking when I think of what I want to achieve in that time.

Enjoy your days!

K-niddling

When my nieces were little sprogs and saw my mother knitting (their mother didn't knit) they called it "k-niddling".  So here is my current k-niddling project, a cardigan in 'Highlands' woollen yarn from Bendigo.  The colour is a deep peacock/teal called Ness and I fell in love with it when it appeared a couple of years ago.  This is the umpteenth time I have started a project with this yarn, and even this project had its shaky moments when I mucked up the lace pattern at first, but it is coming along beautifully now.  I have been knitting for very very many years and done all manner of patterns in that time, so I don't know why this one gave so much trouble.  Perhaps it's the pattern writing style?  It has changed since I first started knitting.

 It will be a thankful day when the cardy is finally wearable.  Design is"Peasy" by Heidi Kirrmaier and was bought as a download on Ravelry.  Heidi's pattern has 3/4 sleeves but as I have plenty of yarn I am thinking long sleeves might be more practical.

The challenge quilt is finally layered and pinned, and quilting of it will be started this week.

It's been a long time since we had a wombat on the blog, hasn't it?  So here is the latest addition to the collection, a little clay wombat recently bought from a local garden centre.

The little wombat is very useful for holding open the pages of the book I am currently reading, "Bad behaviour" by Liz Byrski.  I have enjoyed other books by her and this one is good too......it says so much about what growing up and coming of age in the late 60s was like and how those events shaped what some people became.  That and "Last chance cafe" were borrowed from the library during the week - I'm looking forward to reading it too.  They are a change from my usual book diet of murder books.  Yes, folks, I am a great fan of murder mystery stories.  And you all thought I was gentle and sweet.

When we watch TV it is with a finger poised on the mute button to block out ads, we don't have one of those fancy-nancy (and hugely expensive) gadgets that let you fast forward through ads or record something to watch later with ads edited out.  Have you ever noticed how humorous some ads are without sound?  Especially the ones with a nicely dressed young woman gazing ecstatically at a basket of clean washing.  My heavens, if that is all it takes to make her happy she has a good life, doesn't she?

So far nothing has been heard from the radio station, the application form was duly filled out and lodged with them, and a small sum of money paid - as it's a community station it runs on subscriptions and volunteers - but no doubt it won't be long.  Perhaps there aren't enough volunteers to write letters of approval.  Never mind, no doubt they will contact me in due course.

The house is smelling good at present, the slow cooker is full of vegetable soup spiced up a bit with chicken and bacon, and some chocolate slice is setting in the fridge.  The nice young couple next door have been very good to us lately so some of the chocolate, and a jar of marmalade from last year's huge batch, is destined to go to them to say 'thank you'.  Their 3YO daughter has been in here a couple of times to visit our cats, they have two dogs but no cats and Emily likes kitties.  I'm not so sure that our kitties like Emily in return, but so far they have been tolerant of her pats.

"An absurd idea is held by some that intelligence and domestic virtues cannot go together; that an intellectual woman will never be content to stay at home to look after the interests of her household and children.  A more unreasonable idea has never been suggested, for as the intellect is strengthened and cultured, it has a greater capacity of affection, of domesticity and of self-sacrifice for others."

The nice young woman in the TV ads is definitely a picture of domestic virtue,......although we know she is only being paid to look adoringly at that basket of washing.

Enjoy your days!

Leaf me alone!

Not really, I don't mind company.....do you like the leaf I made during the week?

 If it is turned inside out it looks like this.

A link to the instructions can be found on Bev's blog here.  When it first appeared I thought to myself "that looks like fun", I thought, "I shall make one of those" I said to myself, printed out the instructions, and bought the stiffening.  And there it sat.......last weekend the fabric was fused to the stiffening and cut out, then it didn't take long at all to sew the seams and round the edges.  It was so easy I may make more.  The link appeared on Bev's blog in January last year, 18 months ago - if anyone had asked me I would have sworn it was earlier this year.  My life is flashing by before my eyes, you know.

The fabric on the table behind the leaf is a pale gold wool blend textured knit for which I have A Plan, but first new sleeves need to be traced as my pattern only has short or three-quarter sleeves and I would like to make them long.  My recent foray into clothing shops has made me determined to dip into my clothing fabric stash and sew.  And yes indeed, there is green fabric with the gold; three different green fabrics (one of which I don't even remember buying), all destined to be tops.

Our little visiting grey kangaroo has been back a couple of times with her joey.  Binky saw them through the window and was intrigued - do you remember the Sylvester cartoon about the giant mouse?  Here it is, just to remind you.  Perhaps Binky thought it was really a large mouse - she was a very good mouser in her younger days when we lived in the Big Smoke.  Frequent renovations and construction in the neighbourhood meant there were piles of timber in which to go mouse hunting, and of course there was always something to bring home to show off.

The poor birds who use our bird bath had a shock last week, as one morning it was so cold the water turned to ice - first time it has happened all winter.  Our feathered friends would have had to wear skates!  Birdy skates must be quite small, mustn't they?  Come to that, can you imagine the size of the bones in a bird's toe?

"To remove wrinkles.
Put powder of best myrrh upon an iron plate sufficiently hot to melt the gum gently, and when it liquifies, cover over your head with a napkin, and hold your face over the fumes at a distance that will cause you no inconvenience.  If it produces headache, discontinue its use."

I think I will keep the wrinkles......

Enjoy your days!

The weekend rolls round again.....

.....and once again it has been a very relaxing week in which not much has been done.


We have had some lovely rain over the past few days, so much so that the river flowing through town has flooded.  No damage so far as it's only a minor flood, but the river level is well up today with muddy brown water spilling over the bank.


The rain has greened things up beautifully - before it fell everything was dry and winter brown - yesterday we had some visitors who thought the grass just outside our back fence was definitely greener.

 Two wallabies, or they could be kangaroos, I'm not sure; both are macropods.  Looked like mum and a young one - Mum is perhaps 150cm (four feet) tall.  You can see how near they came to our fence; while we have often seen kangaroos and wallabies on the hill this is the first time we have seen them so close to our yard.  They were only a few metres away and obviously enjoying eating the grass.

Then the young one hopped off, so the older one stayed in the rain looking at me for a little longer before hopping back up the hill.  We can recognise her (we're pretty sure it's a female as she seems to have a pouch) by her ears, one is a bit droopy.  The land is crown land leased by a local bloke who runs a small herd and a couple of horses on it.  At times we get a whiff of something.....rural........but it's not bad enough to be a problem.


Last weekend's lemon slice is all eaten.  It was very nice.  This morning I bought some rhubarb at the local farmer's market.....wonder what to make with it?  Rhubarb pie is good, crumble is yummy, muffins would be tasty too.  Perhaps it should be frozen while I decide.


Although the farmer's market has been held for some time this morning was our first visit.  As today is Bastille Day there was a French theme with a band playing, and staff (the market is run by a local French restaurant) dressed appropriately.  We bought some fruit and vegetables, some really really good cheese and loaf of just-out-of-the-oven bread.  Guess what we ate for lunch?


"It is the duty of parents to accustom their children, by example as well as by precept, to be attentive and polite to each other at every meal, as well as to observe proper rules of etiquette, and if they do so, they need never fear that they will be rude or awkward when they go abroad."

Our visiting macropod friends had very nice manners.  The young one was eating grass very daintily and the older one also nibbled quite delicately.  Don't you wish all children could be as well behaved when eating in public?

Enjoy your days!

Would you like to join me for afternoon tea?

Following a link on Debra's blog I found this recipe for lemon squares, so yesterday a batch was made.....it's very yummy, and I can recommend it.  Recipe is here, so do yourselves a favour and make some.  Many thanks, Debra!

 The lace doiley was made by my mother's Auntie Laura who died when I was a wee baby and is tatted lace.  Not tattered.  There is a difference.......the pretty plate is part of a Royal Doulton set which was a wedding present when my parents married in 1946, as was the silver fork.  Life was more genteel in those days, wasn't it?

 The backing for my pinwheel quilt has been pieced.  I couldn't bring myself to waste these last three little blocks so used them in the backing.  As the fabric had to be joined in width, a strip of background fabric with those three remaining blocks was inserted - so now all 128 blocks have been used!  The quilt and backing are on the spare bed waiting to be layered and quilted.  But first they need to be pressed.....

This is the design which will be used for the border quilting, it compliments the rose-printed white on white background fabric beautifully.  All designs for the 16 alternate blocks and 20 setting triangles have been traced, as has some of the border.  The paper is sold here as unwaxed lunch wrap and is excellent for this purpose as it is easy to quilt through and tears away afterward with no trouble; freezer paper could also be used, but the paper is easy to position as it is semi-transparent.  The design is from one of Mary Covey's packs, 'Follow the line'.

You will notice that this blog is a sport-free zone.  Nowhere here will you find mention of any tennis games, or sweaty blokes in lycra cycling round Europe, or the sports carnival which will happen one of these days in England.  All that money just so one bloke can run faster than another bloke.......our dancers, musicians, writers, scientists etc travel overseas and are much acclaimed everywhere they go, but as soon as they come home they disappear back into their own world.  However if a sports person runs faster or jumps higher than someone else they have the world at their feet.  Not to take away from anything they may achieve - but isn't it time that all fields of human endeavour were recognised, not just sport?

There is no danger of my running faster or jumping higher than anyone else, I can tell you.  Since it has got so cold even the walking routine has suffered because getting outside bright and early on a cold frosty morning has no appeal for me.  But when the weather warms up again I won't have that excuse, will I?  If someone could invent a gene that could be magically turned on to make us enjoy exercise they would make a fortune, I'm sure.

You will also notice no gossip here about so-called celebrities, because frankly I have no interest in who is divorcing who or what they had for breakfast.  Wouldn't it be ghastly living one's life in what amounts to a goldfish bowl?

"Even when persons habitually eat alone, they should pay due regard to the rules of etiquette, for by so doing they form habits of ease and gracefulness which are requisite in refined circles; otherwise they speedily acquire rude and awkward habits which they cannot shake off without great difficulty, and which are at times embarrassing to themselves and their friends."

So if you are eating a lemon square, make sure you are dainty.  Don't stuff the whole piece in your mouth at once.

Enjoy your days!

To my American friends.....

........best wishes for July 4th!