Progress

I had to go down to the shop to wait for a friend to drop off a top for quilting, so I took the Plaid top and it's border strips, and used the waiting time productively.

The 2.5" border framed the blocks nicely; it feels good to have a finish on a very long term UFO.

On Thursday friend Deb, Mereth and I ran away to Adelaide to indulge in a little retail therapy.  First up was Spotlight for a smidgeon more fabric, then to a favourite plant nursery.

Yes, more $1 FQs.  Seems I can't resist.

As for plants, I bought a strawberry basket loaded with runners from 3 healthy plants. I plan to establish another raised bed at Seonaid's place so the kids can learn about keeping plants alive, and eating the results. The other raised beds they have are flowers and succulents, not much to interest children there.

I also got a few more seedlings of petunias and parsley, to pop into spots where other things died during our hot spells.  My garden mantra is " A small well-tended garden can be a joy." I always over-commit myself, so limiting the garden to just this space has made it much easier for me to maintain.

It took me a day to recover from that adventure, and several medical appointments here in town, but last night I managed to start cutting up some FQs.  I like to cut 7.5" squares to make these kite blocks, but I'd lost the directions I wrote out.

It took me all afternoon to track down the box of blocks, re-engineer the instructions from the pieces, then test them. All of that is resting in the newly labelled project box, ready for when I make a start on those super easy blocks.

My aim is to completely cut those FQs into parts for projects, so I'm working on a cutting plan. They are a mix of quarter yards and quarter metres, so I have to be a bit flexible about what strips I cut. A 7.5" strip and several 2.5" strips accounts for most of one, and then I can decide whether I want a 4.5" strip. And I'm amassing 1.5" strips from the bright FQs for my Film Strip top.

And, in what passes for excitement in a small town, a council crew have been digging up a stormwater pit in the road outside my building. The drains haven't worked properly for the 16 years I've been here, and this might have something to do with it.

The whole pit was clogged with tree roots and dirt; the council planted those trees on the footpath, and the sneaky things sent roots 20 feet away into the drain to keep alive, and then the council had to spend 4 days clearing them out. Past councils planted a lot of unsuitable trees on our footpaths, so it will happen again, but I won't be around to observe.