Another job jobbed

Some more things off the list today - and it was the all important spring vegie garden planting that was completed.

So, we've got:

• tomatoes - 5 varieties
• pak choy
• bok choy
• cucumber
• zucchini
• leeks - 2 varieties
• spring onions
• capsicum
• beans - 2 varieties, both climbing
• snow peas
• sugar snap peas
• pumpkin
• lettuce - 3 varieties
• carrots - 2 varieties
• eggplant (haven't grown this before so we'll see how we go)
• french garlic
• sweet corn
• rhubarb (permanent crowns)
• asparagus (permanent - planted last year so it'll be ready to pick next year)

I still have watermelon in the greenhouse, which isn't ready to be planted out as yet - haven't grown this before either so it'll be interesting.

Winter rains certainly gave all the fruit trees a bit of a spurt - The lemon tree is groaning under the weight of its' fruit so lemon curd will be on the to do list, the apricot tree is laden - and hopefully the cocky's (cockatoos) won't come and strip it like they did last year.  The avocado tree has new growth, but it was only planted last year so it won't fruit until at least next year.  The apple tree is full of blossom which bodes well for a good harvest.

So a couple of photos:



Top left to right: Seedlings ready to be planted, the avocado tree, apricots
Bottom left to right: Lemon tree, vegie garden after planting, garden bed 2 with tomato and cucumber seedlings

 I'll post again in about 6 weeks to show how everything's going.

Now I'm going off to have a bath and a read before veging out in front of the telly with my DWR binding and a good movie.

Ker-knackered with a capital K

My husband is taking 3 weeks off work - so this week has been about maintenance jobs that never seem to get done- he's bogged the joins in the new posts my son built - which was changing this (and I just realised I haven't shown Benjo's work - will rectify that once we have the new posts painted - which won't be for at least 2 weeks because my darling read the instructions on the wood putty after he'd used it and you have to wait 2 weeks before you can sand and paint.... )

He's cleaned the pool and mowed front and back.  He's snipped the growth from from the root stock on the fruit trees and spent some time examining the inside of his eyelids....and today he ordered 2 cubic metres of vegie patch grade soil.  It arrived at mid-day and given we've been inundated with heavy showers all day, it's amazing that we got the lot shifted where it needs to be - I can't say how many barrow loads we moved - it was a hell of a lot - and how much onion grass we removed - again, it was a hell of a lot - but it's done.  We then set up a huge A frame (surplus pool fencing) to accommodate sugar snap peas, beans and snow peas.....and tomorrow morning I'll be planting.  So just now, I'm pooped.  I don't normally do that much physical labour - my physical labour usually consists of moving fabric from one spot to another, cutting it and sewing it - the most strenuous part of my day is shifting the rolls of batting around - or fabric around, because I can't find anything in my sewing room - heh!

But, whilst chatting with my bff last night, I got out some of my hand-dyed fabric that I chose to use as the binding on my double wedding ring quilt - she's convinced me that because I have done the rest of the quilt by hand, I should put the binding on by hand (hmmm - it grieves me she's right!!)- and made up some 'real' bias binding to accommodate the curves...



this hand dyed fabric was supposed to be red, but turned out a gorgeous watermelony orange - poifect



and started to sew...




pardon my toes!

 I hope to have this finished by next wednesday's WIP - and given we're going to be watching the AFL grand final on saturday afternoon (Liz, we are coming to yours on saturday for the GF and for dinner - will call you tomorrow!) I think I've got a good chance.

Now it's time to rinse out the wine glass (cheeky NZ rose) and go to bed - lots to do tomorrow with planting and visiting and card making and sewing.

Next week I REALLY will have to make the samples and lesson plans for my new class (which starts the following week) but this has to fit in with the fact we're going camping to Daylesford with my sister-in-law and her husband for a couple of days - omg, running out of time.....

WIP Wednesday #6

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced, who despite being under the pump, is hosting WIP Wednesday again - thanks Lee.

 I missed out on doing this last week, so there's a couple of weeks worth of progress (and I say that loosely!)

The Farmers Wife and do.Good Stitches got a little work out




  The last 2 blocks are the Cherish Circle's do.Good Stitches for September.  We've just got the instructions for October so they're now added to my list.

I got my 3 Quilties made - just have to post them off to the US now - and I made a birthday gift for my nephew's girlfriend,

Finished:

Quilties
4 long-arm quilting commissions (yay, we can have bacon with our beans now!)
1 birthday gift
3 birthday cards

Quilts in Progress:

7 Farmers Wife blocks completed

No action at all:

Blanket Box Hexies - need lots more - but we're going camping next week and given these are hand pieced, I think I'll get a couple done
Double wedding ring - needs binding (and all by hand, so could be a while!)


UFOUFN's:

Psychedelic tartan - who knows??
Double diamonds - still needs something......
Which way to go - needs quilting
Dancing with the stars - needs quilting
Kimono mini - needs binding
Sashiko qayg - needs finishing!
Red and white challenge - needs properly starting
Whirleygig II - needs quilting

Please click on Lee's "Freshley Pieced WIP wednesday" button on the right to see what others are up to

Modern Christmas Table Runner Swap

You may have noticed a new button on the right - it's a swap I've joined, being hosted by the talented and very funny Susan of Canadian Abroad.

The idea is to make a table runner for another of the participants, in secret, which incorporates elements of their favourites - we've all added a mosaic in Flickr showing what we like.

Here's  mine - so hopefully there's enough here for my partner to get a sense of what I like - I'm pretty easy going so it shouldn't be too difficult......I love stars, wonky or otherwise, red & white (and a little Kaffe Fassett pop of colour theory) and a little hand quilting

When I started looking at the other participants, I must admit to quaking in my boots - there is some seriously talented ladies in the mix - so I can see some procrastination in my future - but don't worry Susan, I won't miss the deadlines!

There's still time to sign up if you'd like to join - you've got til the 2nd October - so jump on in and get your christmas mojo happening.

A little Farmer love

After the last couple of weeks, which seem to have been secreted away somewhere I can't find, and which were filled with other things I do besides sewing, last night I decided on a little Farmer love.

Blocks 45-48 were completed which means there's 63 more to go - and I'm still determined to do them all - even though there's nowhere in my sewing room, nor a spare wall to display them all (because I won't be putting the quilt together as suggested - my reds need to be evenly distributed and I've noticed that there's a couple of concentrations), so when that time comes, it'll be a bit of fun on the floor methinks!

Maybe I can cajole my youngest son into making me a folding display screen.....

Anyway,

Grape basket, block 45 - I really wasn't all that fussed about making this one as I was a little over 'basket' types - but it went together somewhat effortlessly so now I don't mind it at all!

Block 46, Hill and Valley - this was a bit of a chore - and there'll be a couple of cut-off points when I join it to the rest of the blocks - but not so 'pointless' as to make me want to do it again - I have a cunning plan with regard to my varying block size finishes anyway, so the points on the edges won't be such an issue....

Block 47 - Homemaker - I foundation pieced this one, but still had a little trouble with the 'Y' seams - again not enough to worry about.  I like it though - painting, pets, flowers and sewing - very important elements to making a home huh?

Block 48, Homeward Bound - I changed the corners of this block - couldn't see the point of making 2 x 1 1/2" squares when 1 x 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" would suffice - and the bottom right isn't wonky in real life, it's just my rotten photography!

After I finished these last night (well, very early this morning really) I printed out the instructions for the next 24 blocks and there are some doozies coming up....should be fun!

Coming over all quilty

I joined the Quilty Trade with Sandra Kaye and have been working on my quilties - they've taken longer than I expected, but that's ok, I am really enjoying the creative process (the theme is buttons) - I actually drew a sketch for a couple of them (which I won't show you, my sketching leaves a lot to be desired) but found as I was working on them, my mind went a bit sideways, as it is want to do, and I came up with something different - and in one case, changed tack altogether.

After an email exchange with Sandie, we decided until the trade has taken place, we should only show a bit of a tease of what we've done thus far, so:

This is quilty no.1 - and that's a found button - this quilty I hand sewed together - there was actually something good on telly that I wanted to watch so I sewed in the front room while I watched it - and for the life of me I can't remember what the 'good' thing was!

This is quilty no. 2 - it's a bit of a theme - boys will be boys and all that entails - hope customs don't get too upset over big lippy kisses!

And quilty no 3 - a few more buttons on this one and a little more colourful.

So, a few more things to add, then label and send to Sandie in the US ready for the swap.

###%*&^@@#$) (or words to that effect)

Last thursday I was entrusted with someone elses quilt top and asked to quilt it on the long arm - the quilt top has rocket ship appliques, as well as planets and aliens and is asymetrically pieced - it's fabulous (I forgot to get permission to take a photo so I can't show you) - and after some discussion, it was agreed the simple, organic 'straight' lines with variegated thread was in order.  We also agreed it'd be ready tomorrow (wednesday).

Fast forward to today - time to load the quilt and get cracking.  I was thinking to myself this will take a couple of hours, go to whoa, easy peasy japanesey, then lunch, then maybe a bit of my sewing.....so, quilt was duly loaded and because it was a quilting commission, I changed the needle and threaded up.....and then noticed the light on the machine wasn't working - oh well, I can get around that until I can buy a new bulb, or whatever it has....

The first couple of rows were ok - these stabilise the quilt and are necessarily slowly worked - and then it was time to start the organic lines - so switched to 'regulated' and off I went. About 2 seconds into the first line, the top thread broke - so checked the threading, rethreaded the needle and off I went again.  About 7 seconds later, the top thread broke again - did the usual checks, rethreaded and off I went again......and you guessed it, the top thread broke again.....what the????

Took the bobbin out - gave it a super clean, put it back - took all thread out of the top and rethreaded from scratch, rechecked the tension and then started a little sewing off the quilt to check - now I was getting skipped stitches and more broken threads - starting to get very frustrated now, and swearing.  My organic quilted lines were now starting to resemble something with a nasty growth...

I took the commission quilt off the machine and loaded my practice piece (thank goodness for zippered leaders), located my instruction manual for the machine and went through their check list - same result....and I'm hoping it's not a timing issue because resolution of that is a great big pain in your posterial end. 

I was thinking I'd have to quilt this quilt with my domestic machine and I wasn't looking forward to it.

In the end, I phoned the company I bought the machine from - and the wonderful Rick of Elizabeth Machines suggested a few more reasons why the thread kept breaking - including the dreaded timing issue - and I was to try with different thread, check to see there wasn't a piece of broken needle in the hook which was shearing the thread and failing that, check the timing.  While I was on the phone, I ordered a few supplies and mentioned I needed a new light bulb - Rick asked me to check whether it was a fluoro or an LED - it was LED - so he said, "might sound like a dumb question, but have you switched the light on??"  Switched the light on???  I didn't know there was a seperate switch for the light...........and lo and behold, I flicked the switch and the light came on.......hallelujah.......and that's when I noticed the needle I had so professionally changed at the beginning, wasn't in straight (the long-arm needles don't have a flat back like domestic sewing machine needles, they're round all the way round, so you have to be careful that they're exactly aligned front-on, or you get skipped stitches and your top thread breaks.....).

Funnily enough, once I fixed that, the stitching behaved beautifully.........so, unloaded the practice quilt, reloaded the commission quilt (after spending an hour removing all the previously stitched lines) and  an hour later, I had one, very nicely quilted quilt - and the only time it stopped was when the bobbin thread ran out. 

I had plans to make a couple of farmers wife blocks this afternoon but after my quilting adventures, I've decided a glass of wine and a veg in front of the telly is much more beneficial to my mental health!