Wednesday 27 March 2024

Finally Finished

 It all started back in 2013 when Chooky and I went shopping at Spotlight.  You can read about it here and here.  The plan was to each make a Twister quilt from the fabrics, as we both had the ruler.  However, life got in the way, then one or other, or both of us couldn’t locate our pile of fabric. 

Anyway, in early 2022 we both knew where our fabrics were, so decided to make the quilt tops at Scrub Stitchin’ that year.

You can read about that here and here.

The centre of the quilt top was as far as I got on that retreat.  As I was getting ready for retirement and our three months on the road it was put away until another day.

I finally added the borders in February 2023 and once again it was put away.  This time the reason was that it is rather large and I wasn’t game to quilt it myself, as I had only quilted my first cot quilt on Monique the month before.

I am on another big push this year to finally complete several of my UFOs and the Twister quilt was high on that list.  It is rather big, but I am now confident enough to tackle it and I really like the pantograph I used.  It is a nice flowing design. I finished the quilting  a week and a half ago and attached the binding by machine.  At least I had previously prepared the binding, all ready to go.

Over the last week I have gradually hand stitched down the binding, finally completing it today at my patchwork group. We have had some lovely weather, so it was nice to sit and stitch some of it sitting in the sun on the back verandah.

I’m so pleased to have finally completed this quilt.  It has only taken ten and a half years from when the fabric was purchased.  You can’t rush these things. Now onto the next UFO.

Thursday 21 March 2024

The Third Week of March

Yesterday was the March Equinox, so in my opinion, autumn has now commenced, and the weather has confirmed that.  Our temperatures have dropped to the low to mid 20s C with minimums now dipping below 10 C. I have noticed that some trees are starting to get a tinge of yellow, orange and red.  We are now entering what I consider to be one of the nicest times of the year.  

It has been another busy week, starting on Friday.  I missed Stitch and Chat, due to helping set up the church fete.  However, I still caught up with some of the stitching ladies for lunch.  You see, quite a few of them adjourn for lunch after our morning stitching and are currently working their way down one of the streets in town, trying each of the eating establishments.  On Friday they were going to the flashest restaurant in the street.  There were just five of us, but we enjoyed a delicious lunch special of grilled barramundi and salad, together with a nice glass of wine, and all for about the same price that we would have paid at a pub.  A rather nice treat.

On Saturday, Mick and I both helped out at the church fete, which was very successful. (I’ve borrowed this photo from one of the other ladies.)  I was working on the white elephant stall there in the middle of the hall.

Saturday also saw Chookyblue host another of her Zoom days.  I was able to join in briefly in the early morning and then again once I returned home from the fete.  I felt rather happy at the end of the day, as I had completed my final spiked granny square, making that 30 squares completed.

I also stitched down the final half dresden plates on the border of the Blue Quilt.  It always feels good to finish a section of a project. That is the final border prepared.  Now to get it attached, but that is a job for another month.

I went on a bit of a nostalgia trip at the fete when I saw an old, somewhat ratty, version of the board game Battleship for sale for $2.  I used to enjoy playing this in the library at school in my late primary school years.  Mick has never played it, and I’ve never played it since then.  Despite the box being ratty, the game itself was in great nick and all there.  We had fun playing it on Saturday night.  Hopefully, we will play it again, but if not, we had more than $2 worth of fun on that night.

It started to rain late on Saturday, and by Sunday morning we had received 16mm, which was very welcome.  It meant that Sunday was a very grey day and quite cool.

On Sunday we stewed our motley crew of tomatoes, such that they were.  They were big, small, red and yellow.  Once stewed, they were blended and some were used to make soup that night with the remainder frozen for later use. It was the first pot of soup for the year and rather suitable, considering the weather.

I have finished quilting my quilt and added the binding by machine.  No photo yet, but it is the Twister Quilt I stitched at Scrub Stitchin’ two years ago. It isn’t finished, as I have only made a small start on hand stitching the binding down.  I’m kicking myself that I didn’t do it all by machine, as this is a rather large quilt, coming in at 77” x 86”.  I’m taking it to Stitching tomorrow to make some progress.  I’d like to have it completed by the end of the month, but won’t stress too much if it doesn’t happen.

I once again used the Plumeria pantograph, with a light pink thread, which suited it well.

Now that St Patrick’s Day has passed, it was time to put away the leprechauns and bring  out some Easter decorations.  This didn’t happen last year, as there was far too much else going on.  Firstly, the little shelf in the kitchen.

Next, the mantle piece with the vintage rabbit moulds.  Everything here has been collected at various op shops, white elephant stalls and the like.

Last year on the way to Scrub Stitchin’ I found this sweet little couple at the op shop at Coonabarabran.

I seem to have accumulated a nice little collection of  vintage egg cups, so they come out at this time of year.  I was running out of display places, so they are in the sewing room.  I made the calico rabbit wearing a straw hat at the back about 30 years ago and have just found it languishing in a box.  It’s nice to have it out again.

On the table we have far too many small eggs, but the bowls needed filling, didn’t they.  The eggs will be nice to nibble on over the next few weeks.

Now that all the granny squares are made, it is time to add a final round of cream before joining them together.  The cream tones down the bright colours nicely.  It doesn’t take long to do the round.  I’ll thread in the ends once they are all crocheted.  I have three balls of cream yarn that were in Mum’s and my stash.  However, they are all slightly different thicknesses.  I’m working with the middle one at the moment, but I’m sure there will not be enough for all the blocks, so will just go with what I can.  Hopefully, it will still work out.

Remember I was starting the Octagon and Square mystery project.  Well, it turned out to be a pincushion in a fabric tray.  Very sweet.  However, I don’t really have room for that in my sewing room.  As you know, it is already over filled.  So, I decided to just make the pincushion.  I made it yesterday and think it is rather cute.

The fabric was ideal for fussy cutting for this little project.

As well as being out and about and stitching I have read a couple of books.  That’s three for the month, rather unlike me.  

The first was “Blood on Snow” by  Jo Nesbo.  Mick enjoys reading this Scandinavian author, but I have never read any of them.  This was a very quick read and not too bad.  I read it in an afternoon.  Not one I’d rave over though.  Mick is currently reading it and says it is different to his other books.  

After recently reading “Scrublands” by Chris Hammer I was on the lookout for the sequel “Silver”.  The lady at one of the local op shops said she’d keep a lookout for it and I was pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call from her on Tuesday morning to advise she had a copy for me.  As I’ve said before, I’m a binge reader, so I had it read by Thursday morning.  I really enjoyed it, so I’m now on the lookout for “Trust”, the third book featuring the main characters.

Today, it was lovely to catch up for lunch with fellow Chookshed Stitcher, Jennifer of Bronze Wombat, as she and her hubby passed through town.  We had a very enjoyable time chatting about this, that and the other and the fellows found that they had quite a bit in common to chat about as well.  Hopefully, we will see them again in the future.

So that finishes another week.  As we only have a bit over a week left in the month I think it is about time that I started working on my One Monthly Goal of finishing my Moda Love Quilt.

Yes, I managed to stitch for at least 15 minutes each day.

Friday 15 March 2024

The Second Week of March

I can’t believe we are already half way through March.  The weather continued to be more summery than autumnal, but today a cool change has come through, dropping the temperature by 10degrees C from yesterday,  now being in the low 20s. This last week has been rather full.

On the garden front, we have been enjoying the show put on by our dahlias.  Out the back, after a very prolific second flush of beans, they have now finished and the bean and zucchini plants have been removed and composted.  That only leaves self sown tomatoes, eggplants and spinach left for this season.  It looks rather bare.

Inside, I have my little shelf in the kitchen where I make little seasonal displays.  

I didn’t get around to sharing my summer display, which was rather simple this time.

This has now been replaced, for just a week, with a St Patricks Day show.  On Monday they can go away and Easter can come out.

We have been out and about.  

On Saturday, while Mick was at bowls, I took myself along to Kings Parade, in the middle of town and listened to a Carillon recital. You may remember that Mick and I went on a tour of the Carillon last winter.  Pop over here and read a bit about our visit to the wonderful feature we have here in town.

Back in the day, there were regular recitals on the Carillon on Saturdays at lunch time.  It was just a background to our normal lives.  We didn’t consider that this was something rather special.  Once the carillon was automated, those recitals stopped.  Now that the clavier has been installed and local carillonists trained they are starting up Saturday recitals again.

I took a folding chair and parked myself in the shade of a big tree, as it was a really hot day, and listened to the music while doing some crochet.  I may as well crochet, as you can’t see anything, you just listen.

Anyway, the draw card was a visiting carillonist by the name of Peter Bray.  He is a young man, who is a senior carillonist at the National Carillon in Canberra.  This was his final performance in Australia, before travelling to Belgium to compete on the world stage. He went four years ago and did very well. He played a mix of traditional, popular and contemporary music for about an hour.  I have just discovered a YouTube clip of some of the performance. It’s worth have a short look at.

By the end of the performance I had completed another spiked granny square. It was a delightful way to spend some time and I think I will keep an ear out for future recitals, and if the weather is nice, go down with some handwork and listen to the music.

Last weekend I had participated in one of Chooky’s impromptu Zoom sessions, during which I completed two more squares, with another added during the week.  There is just one more to make before I consider that I have enough to turn them into a small rug. I am getting down to the dregs of some of the colours, which is a great result. Hopefully, the last square will be made before the end of the month.

On Sunday we had an early start to drive up to Oberon.  The sunrise over the town was pretty.
The reason was the Oberon Swap Meet, at which we had a stall selling some bits and bobs.  The weather was lovely, not too hot, and it was a nice social day out.

I even read a book this week.  This one was shared by Lou.  A very interesting read.

It was about time to try a new recipe.  I used one of the last of our zucchinis, that had grown a bit too big, and made some zucchini chips.  Yummo!  All you do is slice the zucchini, dip the slices in an egg wash, then crumb with a mix of 1 cup panko crumbs, half a cup grated Parmesan and a teaspoon each of garlic powder and Italian herbs. Lay out on baking trays and give a little spray of olive oil.  Bake in the oven at 200C for 20 minutes.  We initially served them with aioli, but in the end preferred homemade tomato sauce.  I’ll definitely try them again and will also try with egg plant cut into chip straws.

Back in the sewing room, I have completed my two fish for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, one using the feature colour of purple for the body and the other for the features.  Such fun.

I mentioned previously that I want to make a second fish quilt using batiks and this month I made a start. What a difference to my colourful version.  I’m loving how they look.  I have the first three months’ blocks fused, ready to stitch down the appliquĆ©.  The stitching will be a project to work on at Scrub Stitchin’.

Yesterday, I started to prepare to quilt my next quilt, getting the backing pieced and on the frame.  Now I’m off to cut the batting and make a start.  Hopefully, next week there will be another finish. No, this is still not my One Monthly Goal, but another UFO I want to get over the finish line.

As you can guess, I have continued to manage my 15 minutes of crafting a day.

Monday 11 March 2024

Chookshed Challenge for March Completed

The number selected by Deana for March was Number 4, which for me was to make a donation quilt from a panel.  

I had plenty to select from and chose the teddy bears’ picnic one.  This wasn’t my favourite by any stretch, but I wanted to push myself to do something with it.

I’m pleased to now share the completed quilt.  From a panel I wasn’t fussed on I now have a quilt that I love.

I used the Plumeria pantograph again, which seemed to suit it.

It is fairly sizeable, as the panel was the full width of fabric.  This will be ideal for a single bed, coming in at 46 inches wide by 68 inches high.  As usual, all fabric came from stash.

I’m so pleased that Deana suggested and administers this challenge.  It has pushed me to work on projects that would otherwise still be sitting in the “To Do” pile.

Friday 8 March 2024

The First Week of March

March is the official start of autumn here, but the weather, other than one day, has definitely not been autumnal, with every day for the next week forecast to be over 30 C.  There were storms all around our area yesterday, with lots of thunder, but we didn't get any rain.  No rain is forecast for the next week either.

We have had some lovely sunsets.

I have been playing in my sewing room.  I mentioned that it needs a bit of a tidy up before I can get productive.  

Well, I made a start, cleaning, not jut tidying, my sewing table, cutting table and the little shelf above it. 

Not only that, we finally hung my new items on the minis wall, being Sunbonnet Sue, the vintage felt picture of a girl stitching and a silly picture I found at a markets.  

I may know things, but most of them are of no consequence.

Mind you, it is not as tidy now and the rest of the room still needs lots of work.

Once that was done I started to contemplate my panel quilt.  Despite being a juvenile design, it would need to be a sizable quilt as the pane is the full width of fabric.  I decided to just use the simple pattern that I used last month.

Firstly, I did a little drawing to work on colours.  

For that I needed to get out my pretty tin.

This is inside.

And inside the pretty cardboard box.

These are my colouring pencils from school.  Some date back to kindergarten, all duly marked with my initials so they wouldn't get lost.  Not today's throw away society.  They were well used, and yes, I still used some of those tiny stubs for this project.  One thing about pencils is that they don’t dry up or go off.  The pencil at the top of the photo was precious to me, as it was the perfect colour for skin when colouring in.

I digress....

Anyway, after a couple of days of fiddling, I now have a quilt top and the binding prepared.  Monique still needs to be excavated before I can quilt it.

While stitching the quilt I pieced my RSC split nine patches as leaders and enders.

On another note, while working on the quilt I noticed that the steam wasn't working on my iron.  Blast!  Then, I realised that not only that, there was next to no heat coming out of the iron either. Double blast!!  Time to go shopping.  I had received a gift voucher for Christmas that I could use for it.  Perfect.  Once an iron had been purchased it was time to get working again........but when using steam, the iron was spitting all the time.  Not good.  Time to be returned to the store.

I started to see what other options there were for irons, as most stores all sold the same models, and discovered that Spotlight had a sale and Oliso irons were reduced.  Whenever they come on sale there are never any in stock at our local branch, but this time there were.  Bonus! 

So, now I am the proud owner of a pretty pink iron that matches my sewing room and it works beautifully. 

I even tidied up and cleaned the dresser behind my ironing board so that I could take a photo to share.

While I was going, I set up my second display cabinet of thimbles.  I have have one for years and about a year ago found an identical one.  It has taken me until now to fill it, with thimbles that have been tucked away in all sorts of odd places.  

Some are rather beautiful silver ones, even down to tiny child sized ones.  It's good to have them on display.  The tiny house at the bottom is a thimble holder.

Also, about a year ago, I came across an antique half doll with beautiful features and mohair hair for next to nothing.  She has just been laying around until now.  

She is now sitting upright in a vase in the china cabinet.  I don't think I will make her into a doll.

So what next?

The March fish block pattern released, so it is time to start playing with colours. I have already cut more background fabrics for the rainbow version as well as the batiks.  I need to get three month's blocks prepped for the second quilt.  It will keep me amused for a while.

I still have to make a start on my One Monthly Goal, but that will be after I complete the panel quilt.

But first……start sorting out the rest of the mess in my sewing room so I can use Monique.

Yes, 15 minutes has been spent each day.