I ordered a new flowerpot, with fresher flowers, as the last one just didn't cut it..
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| block 37 flower pot |
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| block 38 four winds |
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| block 39 friendship |
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| block 40 friendship block |
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| blocks 1-40 fwqa |
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Falling in love again
It's true - the farmer and I have embraced Spring and fallen in love all over again. I think it was sorting out exactly what was bugging me about the whole affair:
I ordered a new flowerpot, with fresher flowers, as the last one just didn't cut it..
and I scattered the remains of the last one to the four winds
and re-cemented old friendships
It's wonderful to see the gang altogether
I ordered a new flowerpot, with fresher flowers, as the last one just didn't cut it..
Friday, 26 August 2011
Keep calm and carry on
I love boxes and tins and things that you can put things in - and it keeps me amused no end to look into all those boxes and tins looking for specific stuff...
Anyway, I was flicking through an English mag - can't remember which one, it was a crafty one - and I came across a picture of a little tin, marked 'first aid kit' with the 'KEEP CALM and CARRY ON' graphic on it. This sentiment, with many, many variations (some quite rude, but funny) is all over the place, on tea towels, posters etc, but I'd never seen it on a tin before.
Being the staunch Anglophile that I am, I had to have me one of these tins - but John Lewis doesn't mail to Australia. Lucky for me I have 3 gorgeous sisters in Britain, and Heather came to my rescue. The tin arrived on wednesday (well, 5 tins arrived on wednesday - I'm spreading the joy!) and it's exactly what I was expecting - with a seriously fun bonus.......all the bandaids (plasters) are printed with the same sentiment - joy, oh joy!!
On the back of the tin, there's information about how this image came about. The original phrase was part of the British Government's Ministry of Information propaganda agenda in 1939 when Britain was on the brink of war. The idea was to reassure the population they would be defended at all costs - "keep calm, carry on with what you're doing, we'll be fine". This theme was also continued in war time movies; "Mrs Miniver", starring Greer Garson springs to mind (and no, I'm not that old - it's just my mum loved Greer Garson!).
If you look at it another way, the phrase is also a bit of an oxymoron - 'keep calm' and 'carry on' - two diametrically opposed directions.......maybe this is why the poster wasn't ever offically used. Whatever the reason, the back of the tin goes on to explain that the image was all but lost except a crumpled copy of the poster was found by chance amongst a pile of dusty old books in Northumberland many years later, and the rest, as they say, is history.
This tin will sit in my sewing room, urging me to keep going - and will attend to my wounds should I get attacked by pins, scissors or the rotary cutter.........(fade out to the strains of 'Land of hope and glory....)
Anyway, I was flicking through an English mag - can't remember which one, it was a crafty one - and I came across a picture of a little tin, marked 'first aid kit' with the 'KEEP CALM and CARRY ON' graphic on it. This sentiment, with many, many variations (some quite rude, but funny) is all over the place, on tea towels, posters etc, but I'd never seen it on a tin before.
Being the staunch Anglophile that I am, I had to have me one of these tins - but John Lewis doesn't mail to Australia. Lucky for me I have 3 gorgeous sisters in Britain, and Heather came to my rescue. The tin arrived on wednesday (well, 5 tins arrived on wednesday - I'm spreading the joy!) and it's exactly what I was expecting - with a seriously fun bonus.......all the bandaids (plasters) are printed with the same sentiment - joy, oh joy!!
On the back of the tin, there's information about how this image came about. The original phrase was part of the British Government's Ministry of Information propaganda agenda in 1939 when Britain was on the brink of war. The idea was to reassure the population they would be defended at all costs - "keep calm, carry on with what you're doing, we'll be fine". This theme was also continued in war time movies; "Mrs Miniver", starring Greer Garson springs to mind (and no, I'm not that old - it's just my mum loved Greer Garson!).
If you look at it another way, the phrase is also a bit of an oxymoron - 'keep calm' and 'carry on' - two diametrically opposed directions.......maybe this is why the poster wasn't ever offically used. Whatever the reason, the back of the tin goes on to explain that the image was all but lost except a crumpled copy of the poster was found by chance amongst a pile of dusty old books in Northumberland many years later, and the rest, as they say, is history.
This tin will sit in my sewing room, urging me to keep going - and will attend to my wounds should I get attacked by pins, scissors or the rotary cutter.........(fade out to the strains of 'Land of hope and glory....)
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Farmers wife - Familiarity breeds contempt
Apart from slowing down the number of Farmers Wife blocks I make each week, I've noticed that the last few I made have not been quite right. Usually this means a date with the seam unpicker and a little cursing, but lately I've let them slide......a little bit short on 6.5" square? - I'll fix it up in the sashing....seams not matching? - no one will notice amongst 111 blocks.....points a little blunted? - what's a blunt point or 2 amongst friends?
The latest block (no 37, Flower Pot) started with a great deal of promise. Remembering the issues I had with the very similar Bouquet (no. 8 - I'm doing mine in numerical order) I carefully cut out the templates for the flower bit and rotary cut the rest. I even remembered to cut the Pot on the diagonal so the effect wouldn't be lost on point. All good so far - even when I realised there was a Y seam I just went with the flow. I sewed and pressed and sewed and pressed and for the life of me, I can't work out how the block finished at 6.5" x 6.25". I thought to myself, I can fix that up in the sashing (there's a couple of others that have finished the same size) and went outside, in the glorious sunshine, to take a photo.
I uploaded it onto the computer and went to edit it for the close-up view - and that's when I noticed the Pot part will have a severe ding when it's joined to it's neighbours. As I said above, what's a blunt point or 2 between friends - but I'm making a bit of a stand I think - I'm going to remake the block and it WILL finish 6.5" x 6.5" and the points WILL be perfect - then I'll feel so much better about continuing with the Wife.
To keep the relationship strong, you just have to keep working at it - compromising when required and making a stand when it's important. Hm, in my head I can hear a robust version of 'Land of Hope and Glory' - I'd best just jump off my soapbox now.....
The latest block (no 37, Flower Pot) started with a great deal of promise. Remembering the issues I had with the very similar Bouquet (no. 8 - I'm doing mine in numerical order) I carefully cut out the templates for the flower bit and rotary cut the rest. I even remembered to cut the Pot on the diagonal so the effect wouldn't be lost on point. All good so far - even when I realised there was a Y seam I just went with the flow. I sewed and pressed and sewed and pressed and for the life of me, I can't work out how the block finished at 6.5" x 6.25". I thought to myself, I can fix that up in the sashing (there's a couple of others that have finished the same size) and went outside, in the glorious sunshine, to take a photo.
I uploaded it onto the computer and went to edit it for the close-up view - and that's when I noticed the Pot part will have a severe ding when it's joined to it's neighbours. As I said above, what's a blunt point or 2 between friends - but I'm making a bit of a stand I think - I'm going to remake the block and it WILL finish 6.5" x 6.5" and the points WILL be perfect - then I'll feel so much better about continuing with the Wife.
To keep the relationship strong, you just have to keep working at it - compromising when required and making a stand when it's important. Hm, in my head I can hear a robust version of 'Land of Hope and Glory' - I'd best just jump off my soapbox now.....
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| Block 37, Flower Pot - the dodgy one |
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
WIP Wednesday #2
A little action on a couple of things this week:
Finished:
Cam's I Spy, blogged here
Quilts in progress:
One more hexagon, bringing total to 9
Received another couple of blocks for the do. Good Stitches quilt
Block no.37, Flower Pot, for Farmers Wife Quilt - but while I could manage a 6.5" x 6.25" finish, when I took a photo I noticed that the 'pot' will be cut off horribly when I sew on the sashing - so that's back on the 'to be made' list
No action, 9
Looming deadlines for new items not yet started (eeeek!):
Baby quilt for 10th September
Slippers for my ma-in-law for 18th September
Pop over to the Freshly Pieced to see what everyone else is up to:
Finished:
Cam's I Spy, blogged here
Quilts in progress:
One more hexagon, bringing total to 9
Looming deadlines for new items not yet started (eeeek!):
Baby quilt for 10th September
Slippers for my ma-in-law for 18th September
Pop over to the Freshly Pieced to see what everyone else is up to:
Monday, 22 August 2011
New life
Spring is definately on the way - the seeds I planted about 2 weeks ago now look like this:
Lots of greenery has pushed its way through - leeks, cucumber, beans, sugar snaps, lettuce and one tomato plant - and we've had a beautiful couple of days of warm weather with the promise of a few more days - so that's sparked off activity in the rest of the garden.
First up, my youngest son (an apprentice builder) has started replacing the back verandah - it's actually the entrance we always use (and those who don't know us, go to the front door - so out front door is the tradesmans entrance!) and termites got into it a few years ago. The termites have long gone but their damage has been exacerbated by the wet weather so it's got a little saggy (bit like me really!) Three posts have been sorted out today, and a new fascia board fitted. There's still the rest of the posts to be fixed and a couple of extended deck areas to be added, but he'll do that over the next couple of weeks. He tells me that he'll also make me a couple of chairs and a table to put on the new bit of decking, se we can sit and have a cuppa out there - that'd be just great - and I've already started thinking about cushions and plants. This area gets all the morning sun and is nice a shaded later in the day - and in Oz in summer, that's a good thing. I have a huge rose bush over this entrance - in spring, the perfume and flowers are spectacular - and it has survived being hacked back out of season, being blown over by wind storms and attacked by aphids. It's really lovely and a few years ago I propagated another few bushes and planted those in the front garden. I'm seriously thinking of digging this rose bush out though - it will allow a lot more light into the verandah area as well as provide a much safer entrance way (it has the propensity to snag unwary visitors) I can then plant more herbs and maybe some lettuces, so we don't have to go to the vegie patch if we only need a couple of leaves for a salad - I'd best talk it over with my dear husband before I get the rip saw out. Having that bush out will make the whole area a lot more usable and people friendly.
While Benjo has been sawing and nailing, I've been digging up spring bulbs (which have already sent up their leaves) because they were in the spot one of the new decks it going - I've pulled up about 300 bulbs and some gorgeous deep purple irises my sister-in-law gave me. I've replanted these in the front garden and the bulbs are still in a tub waiting for a new home - best get them in quick smart if I want to see any flowers this year. I've also pulled up several agapanthus, ivy, another rose bush, a potato vine and lots and lots of weeds. The chooks are in 7th heaven around the newly bare(ish) dirt and I am absolutely knackered!! I guess that's what happens when you don't do a great deal of anything physical for 12 months. It's a good knackered though - I did despair about ever getting interested in the garden again - it took all my energy to keep the vegie patch ticking over last year - but I feel like I'm back to my old self again - albeit it with a far greater apprecition for life and what's really important.
So, in a few weeks, this should look entirely different......
Lots of greenery has pushed its way through - leeks, cucumber, beans, sugar snaps, lettuce and one tomato plant - and we've had a beautiful couple of days of warm weather with the promise of a few more days - so that's sparked off activity in the rest of the garden.
First up, my youngest son (an apprentice builder) has started replacing the back verandah - it's actually the entrance we always use (and those who don't know us, go to the front door - so out front door is the tradesmans entrance!) and termites got into it a few years ago. The termites have long gone but their damage has been exacerbated by the wet weather so it's got a little saggy (bit like me really!) Three posts have been sorted out today, and a new fascia board fitted. There's still the rest of the posts to be fixed and a couple of extended deck areas to be added, but he'll do that over the next couple of weeks. He tells me that he'll also make me a couple of chairs and a table to put on the new bit of decking, se we can sit and have a cuppa out there - that'd be just great - and I've already started thinking about cushions and plants. This area gets all the morning sun and is nice a shaded later in the day - and in Oz in summer, that's a good thing. I have a huge rose bush over this entrance - in spring, the perfume and flowers are spectacular - and it has survived being hacked back out of season, being blown over by wind storms and attacked by aphids. It's really lovely and a few years ago I propagated another few bushes and planted those in the front garden. I'm seriously thinking of digging this rose bush out though - it will allow a lot more light into the verandah area as well as provide a much safer entrance way (it has the propensity to snag unwary visitors) I can then plant more herbs and maybe some lettuces, so we don't have to go to the vegie patch if we only need a couple of leaves for a salad - I'd best talk it over with my dear husband before I get the rip saw out. Having that bush out will make the whole area a lot more usable and people friendly.
While Benjo has been sawing and nailing, I've been digging up spring bulbs (which have already sent up their leaves) because they were in the spot one of the new decks it going - I've pulled up about 300 bulbs and some gorgeous deep purple irises my sister-in-law gave me. I've replanted these in the front garden and the bulbs are still in a tub waiting for a new home - best get them in quick smart if I want to see any flowers this year. I've also pulled up several agapanthus, ivy, another rose bush, a potato vine and lots and lots of weeds. The chooks are in 7th heaven around the newly bare(ish) dirt and I am absolutely knackered!! I guess that's what happens when you don't do a great deal of anything physical for 12 months. It's a good knackered though - I did despair about ever getting interested in the garden again - it took all my energy to keep the vegie patch ticking over last year - but I feel like I'm back to my old self again - albeit it with a far greater apprecition for life and what's really important.
So, in a few weeks, this should look entirely different......
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| Potato vine on the left is now gone (it was growing all over a rose bush, which is also gone) and the large rose bush on the right is what may be removed |
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| The entrance way - the ramp was all rotted and saggy and the posts and fascia damaged by termites. Buster thought I was taking a photo of him! |
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Hangin' with my peeps
Is the abovementioned title just a little bit bit sad being written by a mature woman?? My son is rolling his eyes, but I don't think I care - I find it very amusing and it aptly describes how we spent yesterday.....
My SIL came over to use the Gammill - she's made a really pretty quilt top for her mum for her birthday (my ma-in-law, and I still haven't made her gift yet...) and wanted to get it quilted.....
Then my bff finished piecing the back of her sampler and we loaded that one too
Unfortunately she had the same issues as I usually do with 'stitch in the ditch' so there was a bit of unquilting in front of the telly later, whilst watching 'Limitless' (not a bad movie), followed by what must be the worst movie ever made (and I've watched some stinkers) - I won't say what it was called because you just never know - but O.M.G. - it was filled with oddly timed close-ups (reminiscent of those awful daytime soaps), an amateurish and predictable script and terrible staging. The DVD cover was so promising too - and we watched it to the bitter end, hoping against hope that it would get better - it didn't! Ah well, it created a lot of amusing commentary...........
I made pea and prawn risotto for dinner followed by chocolate or butterscotch self saucing pud with cream or ice-cream (or both - Weiss vanilla bean or Ben & Jerry's chocolate cookie dough - mmm) contributed by Sparky.....an excellent saturday all round really.
My SIL came over to use the Gammill - she's made a really pretty quilt top for her mum for her birthday (my ma-in-law, and I still haven't made her gift yet...) and wanted to get it quilted.....
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| Robyn just sewing in a couple of threads after quilting |
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| Lizzy having a bit of a meander |
I made pea and prawn risotto for dinner followed by chocolate or butterscotch self saucing pud with cream or ice-cream (or both - Weiss vanilla bean or Ben & Jerry's chocolate cookie dough - mmm) contributed by Sparky.....an excellent saturday all round really.
Friday, 19 August 2011
One down - yahoooooooo!
One of the things about making lists - other than giving you heart failure when you realise how much needs to be done - is that when you finish something - YOU CAN CROSS IT OFF!!!!
.............and so I can - Cam's I Spy that was sitting on the long-arm just yesterday, is complete - it's bound and labelled and rolled up ready to give to my gorgeous, little great nephew. Given that Cam chose quite a few of the fabrics himself, I'm guessing he's going to love it - in fact, when he was here last monday, he wasn't feeling very well and he asked for his quilt to snuggle under - unfortunately it wasn't ready and I made a promise to him to finish it this week - and promises are big in our house - so, here it is, flung on one of the benches on the verandah - and we actually had sunshine today, so even better.
When it was being constructed, I was just a little concerned it was going to be completely OTT - but the blue sashing has calmed it down and the red and bunting borders ensures it'll match somewhat to the colour scheme in his bedroom (so his mum will be happy). There are 2 blocks of each fabric (except for a couple I didn't have enough of, so I 'matched' the theme, ie cats) and they've been sewn in every which way - that way it won't be too easy when he tries to match them. The backing is a piece of fabric from Ikea (which was about $3 a metre - why didn't I buy more??), plus a cartoon farm animals piece I've had in my stash forever. Quilting was simple, straightish lines with a variable thread, and I'm very, very pleased with it - will do this type of quilting again - it's sooooooooo fast and sooooooo effective. From concept to finish, this quilt took around 3 months - but actually sewing was about 2 days.
So here you go Cam - enjoy - love in every stitch.
.............and so I can - Cam's I Spy that was sitting on the long-arm just yesterday, is complete - it's bound and labelled and rolled up ready to give to my gorgeous, little great nephew. Given that Cam chose quite a few of the fabrics himself, I'm guessing he's going to love it - in fact, when he was here last monday, he wasn't feeling very well and he asked for his quilt to snuggle under - unfortunately it wasn't ready and I made a promise to him to finish it this week - and promises are big in our house - so, here it is, flung on one of the benches on the verandah - and we actually had sunshine today, so even better.
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| the front |
When it was being constructed, I was just a little concerned it was going to be completely OTT - but the blue sashing has calmed it down and the red and bunting borders ensures it'll match somewhat to the colour scheme in his bedroom (so his mum will be happy). There are 2 blocks of each fabric (except for a couple I didn't have enough of, so I 'matched' the theme, ie cats) and they've been sewn in every which way - that way it won't be too easy when he tries to match them. The backing is a piece of fabric from Ikea (which was about $3 a metre - why didn't I buy more??), plus a cartoon farm animals piece I've had in my stash forever. Quilting was simple, straightish lines with a variable thread, and I'm very, very pleased with it - will do this type of quilting again - it's sooooooooo fast and sooooooo effective. From concept to finish, this quilt took around 3 months - but actually sewing was about 2 days.
So here you go Cam - enjoy - love in every stitch.
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| the back |
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| a close up of the little cartoon farm animals in the panel on the back |
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