We made a quick trip to Adelaide last week, and left very early in the morning. The countryside was so beautiful, it made me wish that I was up early every day. But I'm in night-owl mode at the moment, staying up past midnight knitting and working on projects, so I usually miss out on the early times of the day. But you can't have it all, and I do love staying up.

We picked up another Ebay purchase, a lovely little Singer 185; Mereth is terribly jealous because it's green, and hers is brown. These don't come up for auction very often, so I sort of Had to buy it when I saw it. It needs some TLC; it's very neglected. It was jammed solid with thread, but half an hour of painstaking tweaking saw that all removed, so that it at least turns over. I need to drastically over oil it, as it's very dry, and then clean it up before I sew a test piece. Her name is Nell Green, and I think she'll like it here with all the others.

I also found a Featherweight 221, that sews a beautiful seam. No pictures, because she looks like my other one, nothing special. When I've sewn a block on her I'll post a piccie..

I spent the weekend pottering in my sewing room and tidying up baskets of bits, and cutting for my pinwheel quilt. I thought I'd made an improvement, until Mereth came round on Sunday. She chatted to me while I cut more strips, and without any seeming effort on her part restored perfect order to my strip containers. She has this genius for organsiation that I seem to be lacking; maybe she got my share of it as well. I shall have to invite her round more often!

This is the Double Irish Chain that I spent days quilting. It still hasn't been collected, and I'm quite fond of it. I may just have to piece one of my own soon. Clicking on the picture should give you a better look at the detail.I like the Continuous Curve quilting in the small squares, and it was fun to come up with the interlocking design for the large spaces. Our whiteboard is covered with even more ambitious scribbles, and I will have to photograph them so that later we can develop them into designs. In the meantime, we need our whiteboard back.

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This is the little felt needlebook I made on the weekend. I've had the mother-of-pearl star buttons for many years, and they were just right for this little project that I will use every day. The felt pages inside are a bit rough and ready, I intend replacing them with some wool blanketing, when I find where I put it. I know it's here somewhere.
I'm on to apron number 6 now, all basic patterns that take up about 1 metre of fabric. Our lovely dress form Matilda is modeling one of the creations in a vintage check fabric that was only 34" wide. It's nice being able to use our vintage material for something really useful. Mereth loves the 3 pockets at waist level, and hopefully we will learn to place pins in the apron bibs, instead of our clothes, where they end up in the laundry or bathroom, or even worse, the washing machine.

It was a day of backing fabric, huge lengths that had to be washed and ironed and squared up ready for loading on Millhouse. It seems like every surface in the workroom is buried under acres of fabric. We aim to have 4 quilts finished by the end of the week, so hopefully we'll have some room to move.

We're just tidying up the thread ends on a Double Irish Chain, and when the lighting is right tomorrow we'll take some photos. It turned out just the way we wanted it to, and I hope the customer is as thrilled as we are. She did a fantastic job piecing it, and it was fun to design celtic patterns for the border and blocks. I would have this quilt as my own in a heartbeat.See this chain of yo-yos hanging on our pin-up board? I'm making a yo-yo from the backing fabric of every quilt that we have quilted on Millhouse. We have scraps of nearly all of them, and I'm really enjoying making this tangible reminder of our work. I plan to have a folksy Christmas tree in the workroom this year, and it will be decorated with this garland and lots of homemade fabric ornaments. I hope one day to have many of these garlands on our tree.

Mereth arrived this morning with a bunch of freesias from her garden; lovely flowers, and sweetly fragrant. Spring has arrived.

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These first two photos are two crib quilts we finished recently. The Dresden Plate was done in '30s reproductions, and it was very sweet. It had to be finished without delay, as the baby was due to arrive any day!

The bear applique was very sweet and pretty, we thoroughly enjoyed working on it. The maker of these two tops has now completed a quilt for each of her six great-grandchildren, no small feat.



Our workroom has a drastic shortage of pincushions, so I combed the net looking for easy patterns. The pink gingham one is the easiest, just two circles sewn together and stuffed, and a button sewn through the middle. The two in pansy fabrics are bicornus, adapted from this pattern

They were fun to make and they look wonderful; I made them with 5"charm squares, and I will make a few more through the week. I also made a needlebook, but I left it round at Mereth's, so you can't see it just yet. Next on the sewing list is aprons, at least 10. Mereth and I decided we need to wear aprons in the workroom, especially as a lot of the quilts we've been working on are stitcheries or white-on-white fabric. So I need to whip up enough aprons for both of us. That will be a fantastic stash-busting exercise!

Last weekend we had to go shopping for a client's quilt, and combined it with a trip to the beach. Moonta Bay is about an hour and a half south of here, and is a lovely little tourist town. The beach has acres of sand, and Macca was delighted by it all. It was his first time at the beach, and the expression on his face when he had a drink of sea-water was priceless.
Jessie never stopped running the whole time, except when she was digging through the drifts of seaweed. I was relieved she didn't find anything disgusting, despite her best efforts.

I don't think that belly full of salt-water is sitting too well.......

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For some time now I've been harping on to Mereth about an idea I had. Remember that old TV show, Queen For A Day? My idea was that I would let Mereth be QFAD, and I would sew whatever she wanted me too, I would tidy up sewing rooms or cut new kits or iron fabric or sew boring old bits together, in short whatever she wanted me to do. In return, I would get to be QFAD, and I already had my project picked out. My 4 drawers of green fabrics are a constant reproach, and I want a Sisters Choice quilt; so I want her to help me make a green Sisters Choice. Simple.

But she's not convinced. She doesn't need me to cut fabric, or sew blocks, or tidy up. And she doesn't trust me to be accurate enough, and I'm too messy to be allowed in her sewing room, and if I sewed on a project then she would miss out on the fun of making those blocks.... And she says I'm a control freak!

Hmmpphh. But I have been building up Brownie points here and there, quilting customer quilts, working out patterns for her, ironing backings and doing paperwork. And at last it paid off, when she agreed to help kit up 30 Sisters Choice blocks in exchange for some Creative Studio work that she didn't want to do. WIN!!N0w I just have to sew them up, but that will be pure fun. I didn't get to be Queen For A Day, more like Princess For An Hour, but it was fun while it lasted.

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My pinwheel blocks are made of 1.5" HST, meaning they are a 2.5" unit, finished size 2". The centre part of the block is 6" finished; 5 pinwheel blocks and four 2.5"(cut size) squares. The large triangles are made from 5.25" squares, cut once diagonally. the final block measures 9", 8.5"finished size.
I press all the seams of the pinwheels open, to distribute the bulk of the seam allowances better. The rest of the block is pressed the conventional way, seams to one side.

I pin the little HSTs together at every stage too, because I'm in the mood to be particular with this quilt.

I like seeing that all the seams meet exactly; if they don't I just shrug and accept it, but I try for perfect every time. That's what all the pins are for.
When it comes time for that last seam I line up the points that I want to meet and place a pin through them and jockey them into position; then I use another pin to hold them in that place while I sew. The vertical pin is removed as soon as that other one is in position.

I found my top intersections were consisently pushed past the bottom, so now I lean that first pin slightly to the left before placing that final one and the finished block is more accurate.
And because I have terminal distractability I am now making two leader ender projects while I sew the pinwheels. One is all my random 2.5" HSTs that have been building up for a while. I just want to make a heap of 8" blocks and use them with my orphans or something similar. The cross block is part of a huge stack of pieces I cut out in some mad spree at the start of the year. I must have been hallucinating, because I have no idea what half the pieces are for. I'm just sewing together what fits, and I'll puzzle over what's left. Maybe I'm at that stage of life where I need to write myself notes for the future......

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I have been a bit frivolous the last few days, spending my spare time making yo-yos. I saw a jar of yo-yos on a blog and thought that I'd like my own jar full. It's a valid Stashbusting exercise; I went through some of the stash drawers and weeded out the fabric that is too thin for regular patchwork, and I've cleared out several FQs and scraps already. I'm using the small Clover yo-yo maker, and it's very simple to do. I have a few more hours of work ahead of me before that jar is full, but that's OK. I plan to work on them when our night applique group meets, and I can sew and chat without paying too much attention to what I'm doing. I have a vague notion of making red and white garlands for Christmas decorating, and these little beauties would look great strung together, with maybe a button or two for embellishment.

I spent the weekend sewing more tiny pinwheels, enough for another 14 blocks. Incidentally, I'm rather impressed with the Omnigrip ruler I recently bought; the markings show up really well and it seems very stable when cutting. I might invest in a few of their other rulers, there's a 4" x 14" one that looks useful. I just love rulers and gadgets, obviously. I still adore this pattern, which is good, because I need a lot more blocks. I have 12 done, and I'm loving every bit of it. It's going to be Pretty, with a capitol P.Recently I've been giving the crockpot a workout. In the morning I chop up enough veggies to fill it up, throw in some chicken stock powder and water, and by lunchtime we have soup ready. Today was celery soup, and tomorrow we're having pumpkin; it's wonderful to have our lunch ready after a morning hard at work, quilting.

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This photo is innocuous enough; my Singer with the light on. However, it actually represents 5 hours of work. When I bought this machine the light didn't work, and on Sunday I decided to put a new bulb in it. The old bulb had broken off in the holder, so it was a case of getting the pliers and trying to work the base out. About half an hour later I decided I'd better pull it to pieces so I could get at it more easily. An hour later, after ferreting around for the right size screw drivers and memorising each bit as it came apart, I managed to prise the old bulb out. Success!

I put it all back together, feeling quite chuffed, only to have the bakelite casing fall apart in my hands as the last screw went in. Damn! So I hunted through the other 20 machines, to find one with a similar casing. The worst machine, one affectionately nick-named Maggot, was the perfect donor; another half an hour had the casing stripped off, and installed on the newer machine. I plugged her in and flipped the switch; nothing! Grrrr. So I pulled it all to pieces again, and discovered that the switch wasn't making contact with the little copper pins, so I fixed that. And the light worked! Wonderful.

As I was cleaning it up I noticed a lot of yellow dust under the motor; on inspection I saw with horror that all the yellow plastic had crumbled off one lead, and there were bare wires sticking out! We always use Shocksafe cords on our old machines, but bare wires are Bad! I was a bit sick of being an electrician by this time; how can changing a light bulb lead to so many extra chores? I wrapped the wire with electrician's tape, after a trip to the shop to purchase some, and by that time I was so sick of it all that I didn't want to sew any more. Hmphh!

On Monday, after packaging up 6 finished quilts, we ran away for the afternoon. It was the most glorious day, it really felt like Spring, and far too nice to stay inside. We took the dogs and went to Wirrabara Forest for a walk. There are miles of radiata pine forests there, some planted 50 and 60 years ago, and it's a beautiful place to wander. The dogs adore it, Jessie took off like a tiny rocket and never stopped moving for the next two hours. She's such a little busybody.

Matt and I did the 5k walk on the Ipinitchie trail. Along the way we came across this enormous gum tree, absolutely massive. It was very mis-shapen, it must have had a rough and varied life to end up so twisted and convoluted. Mereth did the shorter Nursery walk, to the site where they once raised all the seedlings for the plantations. The photo shows some workers sowing seeds into thousands of bamboo tubes; once they germinated the bamboo tube could be planted out and the seedling just grew happily with no transplanting shock. Pretty clever for 1905.

The ground was carpeted with lots of these tiny gum blossoms, about 1/2" across. They could barely be seen on the trees, but they were pretty on the ground. On the way home we stopped to photograph some almond trees, already smothered in blossom; spring is on the way.Then it was corn on the cob for tea, and a sleep in front of the fire. It was a busy day for these two.

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Watching the gymnastics during the Olympics has made me remember when I was 9 years old and learning the basics. It was a fun way to pass the time, and both Mereth and I were keen and enthusiastic. The photo above is our Saturday class on the balance beam; Mereth is the first girl in black leotard, and I am the second. That photo took a while to set up, with all those little girls giggling and overbalancing and not looking in the right direction.

I remember being praised by the instructors, and someone approaching Mum about us trying out for the state team and being picked for special presentations, but it all went over my head. I just wanted to muck around and turn cartwheels and somersaults and soar upwards on the trampoline. I didn't want to be serious about any of it.

It was just a small country town gym, with not much equipment, and after two years I started to lose interest when I realised the risks of landing on the floor with not enough safety mats. The uneven bars and the beam were the worst, with huge metal stands underneath, right where you landed after you fell off. Once we'd learnt all the easy things, and started attempting the difficult manouvres, it started to involve real committment. And after taking some heavy falls, and seeing a girl carted off screaming by the ambulence folks after a mishap on the tramoline, I sort of lost heart. I just didn't want it badly enough.

Those girls at the Olympics do want it badly, enough to take all the falls and the bruises and the disappoinments. I really am amazed at them, and it's one of my favourite things to watch. But when they're on the balance beam I remember exactly how much it hurt to smack your shoulder on it, tumbling down on the way to the floor. I admire their courage.

But the fear of injuring myself didn't stop me riding horses, oddly enough. I did want that badly enough, and even though I fell off, I always got back on again, once with a broken coccyx and once with concussion that put me in hospital. I guess when you're out in the paddock you have to get back on and ride home no matter what. But riding was always worth the risks involved.

I can't wait for the day when we get to choose our own Olympic coverage, and see our favourite sports and none of the others. I will be watching every minute of the gymnastics and the equestrian events, that's for sure. Team synchronised swimming? Don't think so. Distance swimming? As Mereth says, it's like watching mice drowning; not much of a spectator sport. Give me the horses any day.

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There has been knitting activity during the Olympics; the scarf is just a $2 ball of acrylic, but it was fun to knit and a scarf is always handy. It's the One Row Scarf from the Yarn Harlot's blog, and was a great pattern to knit while I was travelling. No pattern needed, and easy as pie to do while concentrating on the current Olympic action. I completed the second sleeve of my Tilted Duster jacket, now there is just the collar to knit, but seeing I have to pick up an awful lot of stitches for that I will wait till I have the time and patience. I really hate picking up stitches, and these have to look really neat afterwards. It's tough when all the fun bits are finished and the hard bits have to be tackled.

We took a quick trip to one of our favourite patchwork stores, at a little town called Moonta. It was business, choosing fabrics for a commissioned quilt, but I bought a few FQs for my latest quilt, which is languishing untouched while I watch TV. Maybe a bit of fresh fabric will entice me back to it. The sewing basket is one I admired at an antique shop last summer, but rejected as too costly. It was half price, so I brought it home with me. The inside is ruined, but I plan to find some silk and reline it; it will be a useful learning project. If it turns out nicely I may refurbish some of my other antique baskets with dreary interiors.

I have been quilting each night, and I'm about quarter way through; I had to give it a rest tonight as my fingers are too sore. The cold makes them ache anyway, and I've stabbed them with pins on the longarm, and they need a few days to recover and toughen up. I'm loving the rythym of hand quilting again, and basting it on the longarm was a success. I have several more to do once this one is finished.
My parcel from Hancocks arrived, and it wasn't as big as expected as they had sold out of two of the backing lengths I ordered. But it was still substantial. The fabric fanned out on the left was one of their packs of ten 1 yard lengths, and there are some beautiful fabrics there. I'm so pleased with what they sent me, many of them I would love yardage of. But no more fabric buying just yet, I need to get this stashed away in the fabric drawers first.

There was one dud fabric......
I mean, if you were a clerk packing that order, and saw what my preferences were, you'd stick a piece of sock monkey fabric in too, wouldn't you? Luckily we know a couple of mothers with small children, and they can fight over who gets this. (If anyone wants it at all, that is.)

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I'm home again, after a week in Melbourne teaching at Michelle's Sewing Basket. We had a lovely time in the workshops, and I found a few goodies in the shop that had to come home with me. I stayed at Michelle's home in an upstairs flat, with my own TV so I could watch the Olympics in bed each night. Luxury.

It was soooo cold, but I handled it quite well. I've always found that quilters tend to warm up a room fairly quickly, so once we started working in the morning we were fine. It must be our high levels of enthusiasm. Or the heat coming off our machines. Or the quilts we're working on. I am a bad blogger, because despite a new camera, and leaving it in full view each workshop, I didn't take a single photo. I am such a ditz.

I've spent the last two days catching up on work related things, and hopefully I can start off next week with a clean slate. I would like to spend the weekend rearranging my stash and getting it all sorted and organised. Mereth took advantage of my absence to shift 70% of the furniture in the workroom, sewing room and office. It all looks much better, I have to admit, but there's a bit of a muddle to deal with; lots of baskets and boxes and miscellaneous things to put away. She worked Matt so hard that I will have to bribe him to set foot in here again.

There's a customer quilt on the machine that I hope to have finished before Monday, but I can monitor our Olympic progress while keeping an eye on Millhouse, as there is now a TV in the workroom. It's wonderful to see the medal tally mounting up.

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This is the BOM quilt that we are putting together for a customer. It's an Annie Downs pattern, and we're enjoying the lovely fabrics and cute stitcheries. The owner has done a lovely job of the embroidery, and it's up to us to complete her good work. It's like a jigsaw puzzle, sorting out which bit goes where, but there have only been minor hiccups so far. I have some final applique to do, and then we can have the top in one piece ready for quilting.

I put the binding on my three quilts today, so I'm caught up again. I should calculate how much material I've used in backings, bindings and the three flannel quilts, it would make me feel better about the Hancock's blowout.
I usually put my bindings on entirely by machine , but I hand-stitched the flannel quilts. It felt really good to be sewing on that luxuriously soft material, and it was a lovely way to spend the evening. I sat on the floor in front of the TV at Mereth's, and Jessie immediately snuggled up with me. Macca crawled underneath, and gave it his seal of approval by falling asleep. These dogs know how to make themselves comfortable.

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