works in progress

The first week of January is almost done. It was as wonderful to have various family members visiting at Christmas and to visit other family members, but it seems a long time ago, despite being less than two weeks! Even New Year’s Eve seems longer than a week ago.

WM has returned to a normal work roster after a four-day weekend for Christmas and a three-day weekend for New Year. It’s summer here (although you’d never know it from the cool temperatures and rain we've had this week) so my quilting class is in recess until February. I've had lots of time in the sewing room and I've tried to make it profitable.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I spent many hours pressing, sorting, cutting and storing scraps. This is after a couple of days of that activity (the strips were cut specifically for the project mentioned further down this post):

Some of my tubs (shoe-box sized plastic containers) were getting very full; most notably the ones containing 2 1/2" squares, 3" squares and strings/strips of all sizes.

Before Christmas I began a “leader/ender” project that took over my sewing time. The project I had planned required me to make lots of HST units measuring 2.5”. That took care of the 3” squares – I still haven’t made enough and I'm running out of squares! So far I've made 320 units (I need 400) and trimmed 104 of them! They call to me constantly from the edge of my cutting table where I have them stacked in groups of twenty for ease of counting. Here are 200 stitched HSTs waiting to be trimmed!

The unused squares call to me every time I sit down at my sewing machine – they are right beside hard-working Jan waiting for the next time a leader’'/ender is needed.

In November, DD and the Grandboys came for a visit. They wanted to sew and decided on ‘spider webs’ so we began making monochrome 60° triangles from strings which we had first sewn into 8.5” squares. They, of course, did very little sewing and little progress was made. After they left, I cut up 144 x 9” strips (of various widths) in five colours –yellow, green, purple, blue and red. I wanted to see how it would work out and sewed all the yellow strips into blocks then cut the triangles. It didn't take me long to realise that we were, in fact, not making spiders webs but giant hexagons!

I looked at pictures on the internet and discovered that spider’s webs were made up of eight triangular units, not six; and that they were generally not made in monochrome fashion!

So, when DD and the family were again for Christmas, we made the decision to use the triangular shaped wedges in a different way; inspired by this pattern in the book Scrap Republic (by Emily Cier). Emily’s pattern is called “Slices”.

We are not yet sure how we will put the units together – that is still quite a way off. We have made all the yellow, green and purple triangles, leaving some of the red and blue ones (their favourite colours) for the boys’ next visit (probably April). Here is the stack of “wedges” we had prepared by the end of December.

The good thing is, because we made squares first them cut the 60° triangles, I have lots of ‘wedges’ left over – there will be almost enough for another small quilt!

  

Despite being ‘surrounded’ by these two works in progress, on Monday, my first day of sewing without any need to go anywhere or do something else, I returned to an almost forgotten UFO. I started Green Strips and Triangles in July 2014 but abandoned it as being too much trouble. I distinctly remember I couldn't work out how to make sure the strips were long enough to make the 10.5” (unfinished) squares I required. I didn't want to make the blocks QAYG but somehow, the strips never seemed to work! Time, of course, gives a fresh perspective. I realised in the wee hours of Monday morning that I could use foundation piecing to make the blocks and, if I used a wide strip on the centre diagonal, I could make an 11” square (I actually made them 11.25” to give myself a little leeway), I could then cut the white fabric into squares, sew 1/4” from the central diagonal then cut it into two pre-made squares! Why did I not think of that back in 2014? (Although I had made QAYG blocks on wadding/batting, I hadn't ever done foundation piecing on paper back then but now, having learned the technique, it made perfectly good sense!)

Alas, all that preparing foundations then tearing them away afterwards became such a time drain – I decided there had to be a better way. Eventually, I marked out a ‘template’ on my cutting mat and used that. It worked pretty well; not as well as the paper foundations I admit but I got the job done more quickly!

In 2014 I had made four blocks, two of them  wrongly! In three days this week, I made the other twenty-eight blocks I needed! Here are three of them in the setting I plan to use.

As I sewed and pressed and cut and sewed some more, I thought about how I will quilt it... The strips are easy; I'm pretty sure that will be straight line quilting, running parallel to the strips themselves. But what of that self-striped triangle -- what should I do there? I am not competent at FMQ and this is a donation quilt. On the other hand, it might be time to start practising!

What do you think?

I'm linking this post with WiP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

finished flimsy

In September, DD and the Grandsons came to visit for two weeks – which was wonderful. It seems so much longer than five weeks since they left. After his experience at Easter time, Older Grandson wanted to sew! This time, Younger Grandson wanted to sew too – but the truth is, he just wanted to be allowed to play with the buttons and dials on my sewing machine!

Older Grandson decided that since he had made blocks from strips last time, this time he was going to make blocks from squares. He chose my container of 3” squares. There was no way that I was going to be left making a quilt entirely from 5” four-patch blocks (b-o-r-i-n-g), so I looked through a book which I later gave to DD (so I can’t tell you what it was called – WM found it at work and brought it home in case I was interested in it) and decided to make a block comprised of two four patches and two units containing half-square triangles. In the unknown book, the block is called “Road to California” but in my “Encyclopaedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns” by Barbara Brackman, the block with this name is a nine-patch block. I couldn't find the block we were making in the Brackman “encyclopaedia” but I eventually found it on EQ7 as “Road to Oklahoma”. The version we made has a light square in the corner where EQ7 has a dark square but, essentially, it is the same block.

OG quickly lost interest when he realised that more care had to be taken when choosing a light square and a dark square (as opposed to randomly selecting any strip) and aligning them carefully before sewing them together. He also realised that all his younger brother was doing was pushing the start/stop button and so that’s what he decided to do too! Therefore, I really can’t say this time that the blocks were made by either grandson. DD, too, lost interest because of the matching of points that has to take place – she’s a perfectionist and if it wasn't exactly right she got frustrated (I can live with a millimetre or two out!) So, in essence, I made the entire flimsy.

At first, I really didn't like it. The lights and darks weren't working as I thought they should. It just seemed too scrappy, too disordered; I like scrappy but need it to be controlled somehow -- usually by the pattern of lights and darks, and this just didn't seem to be coming together. I still don’t have a design wall so I have to use the floor to see what I'm making. Because the blocks were ten inches finished, I needed to have five and a half blocks across and six and a half blocks down to make the flimsy within the size requirements of our quilt group. I, therefore, could see no other way to set the blocks but “straight”; that is, every block (or half block) facing exactly the same way. If I’d had an even number of blocks both ways, there all kinds of permutations on EQ7 that I could have used. But it was not to be!

What is surprising is how quickly this came together; especially considering there 715 pieces in this quilt top. I really didn't want to work on it but had to keep moving the finished blocks and part-blocks every time I wanted to do something else (like play the piano or use the computer). So I bit the bullet and got to work on it. It took three days but I finally completed it last Thursday. So, here for your viewing pleasure, is my Road to Whoopi flimsy. (“Whoopi” is the nickname given by the locals to Woolgoolga, the town where DD, SIL and the grandsons live). Don’t look too closely then you won’t see all the places where the points don’t match exactly! ;-)

It’s not by favourite quilt by any means but, seen in this photograph, the lights and darks are working as they should and the extreme scrappiness is under control. I think I'll quilt it with a light thread through the diagonal light squares (going down from left to right) and with a darker thread through the diagonal dark squares (going the opposite way). But first, of course, I have to make a backing.

Hopefully, I'll be back sooner rather than later to show you either the finished quilt or some photos of our garden or of the grandsons on their recent visit.

In the meantime, may your stitching bring you joy.

there is work in progress

At Easter, DD and the family came to visit – it was so good to be able to spend time with them again; especially since DD and I got to spend some time together in the sewing room. Older Grandson helped to sort scraps and it wasn't long until he wanted to sew too. He loved sitting on my lap and feeding fabric in to the machine that was running on the slowest speed possible. At the end of the weekend, we had nineteen scrappy quarter-log cabin blocks of varying sizes made (they weren’t square and ranged in size from 9” to 11.5”). Unfortunately, I didn’t thing to take photos of the blocks that we made but I do have some photos of Older Grandson hard at work!
 

In May, it was announced at our quilting group that there was going to be a log cabin challenge for all of us to use up scraps! Seems like I was already ahead of the game! LOL

I searched the internet for inspiration – I had absolutely no idea how to put those blocks together given their different sizes and shapes. But sometimes, I just have to be patient and let ideas percolate. In the end I decided to go with a wonky setting but I still had no idea how to go about it. I started looking at tutorials, but all the ones I found were for making sashing on all four sides of he block. I wanted to add sashing on only two sides. In the end, I found my own away to do it – the wider you cut the sashing and the more fabric you are prepared to ‘waste’, the better this works. Again, it didn’t occur to me to take photos of my work in progress – you can see how out of the habit of preparing for blog posts I have become!

Armed with twenty blocks (I made the extra one), I headed to class at my LQS. They have a design wall – I do not! My teacher, who loves traditional patterns and Civil War fabrics, is quite bemused by me sometimes, I think! Here I was with a totally radical modern approach to quilt blocks and I hadn’t even consulted a pattern! I did take a photo of my layout on the design wall but have since deleted in from my iPad – because I’ve finished the quilt top. Here it is for your enjoyment:
 

I have also finished the backing.


The fabric used for the sashing and the backing is Saffron Craig’s Ginkgo Blossoms (c.2009). I used about three and half metres to make this quilt which will finish at 52” x 64” and is made up of twenty 12” blocks plus extra sashing down one side and across the bottom.
This one is basted and in the process of being quilted.

While I was on a roll, I made the backing for another quilt which I had finished in October last year.


It is made from ‘Disappearing Nine Patch’ blocks with one modification – I made the neutral pieces of the nine patch smaller than the coloured parts; thus giving a thinner sashing than would otherwise be seen.


Here is the finished backing, containing my signature panel. the blue sashing gives a completely different look to the neutrals on the front! I have laid the blocks differently too – to form a type of ladder. The backing fabric is a small yellow check, not the solid it appears in the larger photo.
 
My sewing time is taken up with quilting the Wonky Log Cabin quilt; then I’ll get to the Scrappy Disappearing Nine Patch.

In the meantime, my knitting time is spent trying to catch up with my mum who is powering ahead knitting blanket strips. Come back for my next post and see another of her knitted blankets that I have finished.

I'm linking this post with WiP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced blog. Why not pop over and see what other crafters are up to?

May your stitches bring you much joy.
Lynne

good to be back home!

edited to add photos

Between last Friday and Tuesday, we (WM, mum and I) notched up over 2,000 kilometres (1250 miles) by driving out to Bathurst to collect my nephew from university then to drive to Tamworth, where my sister lives. Saturday was the wedding of my sister’s older daughter – the wedding itself was held in Quirindi (the town where my niece lives) and the reception in the village of Duri. After the wedding we returned to Tamworth where were staying in a motel; DD and SIL had the room next door – it was lovely to spend some time with them.

the bride and her maternal grandmother

 On Sunday, we drove the 153km (approx 95 miles) to the town of Bingara, where my parents retired twenty-nine years ago. We spent a couple of days going through mum’s extensive wardrobe and her personal possessions and WM did an amazing job of cramming as much in his small sedan as was possible. It took him more than four hours and I never thought the unloading would finish when we arrived home at 8pm on Tuesday (after stopping for lunch at my sister’s in Tamworth).

goodbye to mum's newly-roofed house

Most of Wednesday was spend unpacking and finding homes for all this paraphernalia! It won’t all fit in mum’s bedroom so it’s going to have to be culled again when we finally find a room for her in an aged care facility. Right now, we are waiting for my sister to get an appointment with Centrelink (the Australian government’s Department of Human Services); we can proceed no further without their approval and assistance. Today my sister is seeing a solicitor and the only real estate agent in Bingara to get some guidance in how we proceed from here.

The property market in major towns and cities in Australia is booming; houses are selling in less than a month of being on the market. But in small country towns like Bingara, where there are no jobs and no prospects, the population is mostly elderly and more and more properties keep coming on to the market as they move into aged care facilities or die. The last home mum and dad owned in Bingara took several years to sell; and it was less than ten years old. Mum’s current home is nearly 100 years old, in need of TLC (it will probably be a knock-down-and-rebuild) so we are under no illusions that this home will sell in an over-saturated market. We are considering renting it rather than having it stand empty; but that means clearing out the accumulation of fifty-plus years of marriage – and both my parents were hoarders in different ways! Much of dad’s stuff is gone but there is still a lot of stuff to be sorted!

Today WM has gone back to work and mum and I are having a quiet day at home – just three loads of washing (laundry) separate me from my sewing machine! Mum is not happy in new or strange environments so it’s good to have a day where she can completely relax!

How’s your week shaping up?

gifts and give-aways

Before the year closes, I’d like to show you some of the quilt-related things I have received in the last few weeks.

You may remember that, in November, I joined the linky party over at Vrooman’s Quilts called “Let’s Book It!”. This was the first time I had joined the party and, much to my surprise, I won that month’s give-away: a beautiful little quilt barn pin and a quilt charm to attach to it. So cute! Thanks so much, Sharon.

Sharon was one of the most regular followers of my now-defunct linky party, “Something Old, Something New” and her blog inspires me with quilting ideas and links to other “scrappy quilters” that it should be me sending her a gift not the other way around!

Christmas has been and gone for another year (although in my family tradition, Christmas begins on 25 December and ends on the Feast of the Epiphany, 6 January, so our lights, decorations and tree are still up. That may change this weekend!). It’s time to show you the quilt-related gifts I received (exactly when did this blog stop being primarily about knitting? LOL) :

Firstly, my mum gave me a book called Scrap Quilt Sensations by Kim Brackett.

I first saw this book on Sharon’s blog and fell in love with this quilt called “Island Chain”.

Sharon made hers in a very different (and prettier IMHO) colour combination. I just had to have the book so that I could make my scrappy version. I would have been happy to find one pattern that I liked; there are several so that’s a bonus. You can expect to see quilts made from patterns in this book (or at least inspired by them) over the next couple of years.

Then WM surprised me with EQ7 software – since I am an inveterate computer-user (DD says I am not a nerd but I love computers and my iPad; I have to force myself to stay away from them to do other things, even the things I love – luckily my sewing machine is also a form of computer! LOL) and like to design my own quilts, this is a perfect gift for me (when I make the time to read the 250+ pages of the manual!) I am looking forward to playing with it but first I have projects I need to bring to completion. (No, I didn’t get a design wall but I have a birthday in April – if I can wait that long!)

DD bought WM and I Lindt Lindor chocolate balls packaged in a giant Lindor shaped container. To give you some idea of scale, I have photographed it with my 4” red-work pin-cushion (made by Anorina who blogs at Samelia’s Mum – another give-away win! I love it and use it a lot, Anorina – thanks heaps! BTW, Anorina has made the pattern for this embroidery available on her blog)

DD also gave each of us a class from Craftsy – WM got a photography-related one, I got Art Quilting 101. I can’t show you a photo because the picture on Craftsy is a hyperlink to my class!

If you’ve never tried Craftsy and you’re into Sewing, Quilting, Knitting, Drawing, Photography, Gardening, Woodwork or Cooking (to name a few) you really should have a look. There are many free mini-classes to whet your appetite; they are always available after you enrol and Craftsy has some great sale prices at frequent intervals! They also do patterns (both free and available for purchase), kits and supplies, as well as showing projects and having their own blog. And, as a disclaimer, I am not being paid for this, I have no affiliation with Craftsy except as a very happy consumer. I have had reason to experience their customer service (I ordered a class for WM and it ended up on my classes because I pressed the wrong purchase button) and it was unbelievably fast and excellent!

We spent Christmas Day with SIL’s parents. They gave me six fat quarters of Christmas fabric – what a lovely, thoughtful present for a quilter. Thank you, J&A.

Finally, a Christmas present from “Santa”; an item that has been on my Book Depository wishlist for quite some time: Connecting Quilts, Art & Textiles by M. Joan Lintault. This only arrived yesterday so I haven’t even opened it yet!

I believe in shopping locally where possible but sometimes I can get books from The Book Depository for almost half of what I would pay for them in Australia. The Book Depository has free shipping worldwide so there is a great saving to made. Plus books are delivered right to my door!

So, I’m set with quilting-related material for the New Year. (Speaking of the new year, I hope you’re all enjoying my new blog header – that view was taken from my deck! Gotta love those trees!)

Knitting? What’s that? LOL

Did you receive any books or other items related to your hobbies recently?

PS Thanks, WM, for the photos!

Christmas in Australia snapshots

Posted from Blogger app where I have no control of photo size or location!

Up at 6am to a cry of "Santa didn't come!" -- his Santa sack wasn't at the end of the bed but in the lounge room near the Christmas tree.

  

Raiding of Santa sacks, playing with toys and posing for photos followed by a breakfast of bacon and eggs cooked on the barbecue.

Presents -- the first time the boys have had a tree at home with presents underneath it. Mummy was almost as excited as the boys!

Off to Ma and Pa's place for more presents (no photos) and Christmas lunch. So much food!

Watermelon -- yum! 

But I'm not letting go of the scooter Santa brought me.

I hope you had (or are having) a lovely Christmas Day. 

God bless you.

Christmas: home and away

Warning: lots of words, no pictures!

As Christmas approaches, my sewing time has diminished to next to nothing. The reason for that is this:

Yesterday (Tuesday), I got some knitting and some reading (three quilting magazines) done as I travelled for nearly ten hours by train to Coffs Harbour where I was met by DD who took me home to her place. I arrived after the boys were in bed so they had a lovely surprise when they awoke this morning. Around mid-morning, the four of us left for my home. Unfortunately, SIL was not able to join us due to work commitments; which is why I had to make the trip; 591 km – 370 miles is a long trip for one adult with two active toddlers! We arrived home at 7:45pm, just over nine hours after we left Woolgoolga.

Tomorrow evening, my mother arrives by bus and train from her home town of Bingara – a ten-hour trip. I am sure she will be very tired and very hungry (she never eats or drinks on the trip; Dad would be so cross if he knew) but pleased to see her great-grandsons.

On Friday, apart from entertaining my guests, I have an appointment for a  haircut and have to take Mum shopping for some personal items. I also need to do the last of my grocery shopping and cook the turkey for Christmas lunch (we have it cold – it’s summer here).

On Saturday, my uncle (my father’s brother), my aunt, my brother, DSIL and four-year-old niece, will join mum, DD, the Grandboys, WM and I to celebrate Christmas. Saturday evening we will spend in front of the television watching the Carols in the Domain.

On Sunday, after church, we will join WM’s extended family at the retirement village where his mother lives. It is next to a school and there is a large fenced sports oval for the little ones to run around in (and not escape). Some members of the family will bring gazebos for some shade. Lunch is basically a bring-your-own-meat for the barbecue and a standardised pot-luck (in the sense that the women tend to bring the same thing every year – I always being a cheesecake for dessert; apparently if I didn’t, I would be told to go home and make one!). It will either be served in the “rec room” which MIL has booked for the day or on the oval. All very Australian, isn’t it?

My niece will arrive on Monday to take Mum home and DD, the Grandboys and I will spend a quiet 

day before making the return trip to Woolgoolga on Tuesday. WW will follow by train on Christmas Eve (after work). It will be a long day for him: he gets up at 5:45am and the train arrives in Coffs Harbour at midnight! At least he can sleep on the train.

We will stay in Coffs Harbour that night but join DD and the family early on Christmas morning. Christmas lunch will be held at SIL’s parents place, which is nearby. J&A, SIL’s parents, are kindly giving us the use a car while we’re in Woolgoolga, so we will have some freedom to come and go as we please.

We plan to spend the Friday and the Saturday with DD and family and, hopefully, some of that time will be spent on the beach (10 minutes from DD’s home). On Sunday we will catch the train home so that WM can return to work on Monday!

Then, with Christmas behind me, and most other commitments on a summer hiatus, I plan to sew and sew and sew and sew! There will also be more ironing, cutting, sorting and storing of scraps since I am nowhere near done and I’m obviously not going to get much done in the next ten days!

How about you?
Will your Christmas be as hectic as mine?
Or do you plan on a quiet celebration?

vacation photo journal

“A picture paints a thousand words” so I hope this gives a small indication of our time away from home (in Australia, we call this ‘holidays’). Warning: as the title suggests, this is a photo heavy post.

We spent a weekend catching up with friends that we haven’t seen in seven years, except for DD’s wedding and my dad’s funeral. They live in a small town called Bellbrook, a community of 360 people. We spent most of our time talking but WM got up early and took some photos. Here is a photo of their house and part of their 18 acres. The second photo is taken over their dam as seen from their back patio.

We spent a few days with my mother – she spends most of her time reading.

WM did a few small jobs while there; including getting up on the roof and turning on the evaporative air cooler. Can you see him up there?

From mum’s, we drove east to the coast, passing through the town of Grafton the weekend they celebrated the Jacaranda Festival. I took these photos out the front window while WM was driving. Jacarandas are an imported species; the tree with gold flowers in the first photo is Grevillea Robusta ( common name: “Silky Oak”) which is an Australian native.

 

Our ‘real’ vacation began when we took possession of a beachside cabin at Woolgoolga, just a few minutes drive from DD’s home.

 

This was the view from our front veranda early one morning:

We had lots of walks on the beach.

Both grandsons were fascinated with these little balls made as the sand-crabs made little holes for themselves.

The seagulls didn’t take any notice of us – unless they thought there might be some food on offer! WM took a great photo; I love the reflection.

We went whale spotting up on the headland and were rewarded with seeing whales every day. The whales were travelling south; returning to the cold waters of the Antarctic Ocean after going north for a few months to while away the winter in warmer water. The return journey is usually slower and more in-shore, given that there are calves to be taken care of, and therefore better for whale spotting.

They were much further out than WM’s camera could capture so don’t expect professional photos.

The first indication that there is a whale is the sight of a spout as they surface to breathe.

 

Sometimes you catch a glimpse of some body part out of the water, like this faraway tail!

And sometimes, they jump out of the water. We saw several whales breach but they were always too far away to get a clear photo. This was WM’s best shot of a humpback breaching.

Our best experience was when a mother humpback and her calf came in relatively close to the shore. They were close enough that, with the onshore wind, we could hear the mother slapping the water.

On our final day in Woolgoolga, we made Christmas puddings. Both boys love to cook so they were very excited when we arrived at their house. “Did you bring the ‘gredients?” was our greeting!

Our Christmas puddings have threepences in them; an old English tradition from my mum’s family. Threepences are part of Australia’s pre-decimal currency – they contain a large amount of silver so don’t harm the food as modern coins would. These photos show some members of the family throwing their threepences in (and making a ‘wish’). Next year we’re going to add the threepences to the dry ingredients to make it easier for the boys to stir.

SIL came home from work just in time. We ended our holiday/vacation with a family lunch at a popular tavern nearby which has a great play area for the kids – it was much more crowded than we expected; we forgot it was Halloween (a ‘tradition’ that is only just taking on in Australia) and celebrated here mostly for fun and dressing up in ghoulish costumes!

WM and I had a good trip home. With the boys, the trip is nine hours; we did it in seven and a half!

I’ll leave you with one of my favourite photos from our holiday – Younger Grandson doesn’t usually wear his hair like that; we’d just come in from the beach and Grandad had towel-dried it!