The Colonial Squares project took on a life of it's own during the week, and I started working on it exclusively. That seems to happen to all my leader-ender projects, and so I just shrugged and gave in gracefully. I definitely needed mindless sewing; my laptop died, and I've been busy buying a new one, loading all the software, retrieving backed up files and trying to track down all those serial numbers for the software. Most of what I had on the old computer is set up and working, but it's just like the whole week was in aid of getting back to where I was originally. Oh well, it could have been much much worse, if my files weren't backed up. Thank heavens for squares to sew together, it was a great stress reliever.

Mereth gave me a great tip about sewing it together; she said to make the centre square first, then make the corners, thus avoiding all those long, long rows of blocks on the diagonal. It's been a breeze so far, just three corners to go and it will be a finished top. Then I will just have to deal with the leftovers, of which there will be a pile. I was a little enthusiastic when I was cutting for this quilt, but that's nothing out of the ordinary for me. I'd better think of a block pattern that uses lots of 3.5"squares....

And because it felt wrong not to have a leader-ender, I substituted these cross blocks. For some reason I have a whole drawer full of these pieces, and if I ever had a plan for these blocks it's long forgotten. I thought I'd better get the blocks made, and then I can start thinking about what to do with them. Maybe they would make a nice border, with a set of simpler blocks in the centre. It will be a while before I have to decide, I must have 50 of these to make. I wish I would write myself little notes, to remind Future Me what on earth I was up to.

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I spent the weekend working outside, and made a start on my summer vegetable garden; lots of capsicum, tomatoes, chilli and lettuce seedlings planted, and seeds sown for baby spinach, salad greens, beans and zucchini. My hands look dreadful now, with broken fingernails and scratches, and stinging nettle rashes. It will all wear off or grow out, but right now I have hobbit hands. I had planned to bind three quilts, but that hurts my fingers anyway, so I have to let my hands heal a bit before I tackle that job. Binding is tough on the hands.

I did manage to do a bit of sewing in between the outside work. I put these Framed Crosses into a top, which has loads of white space to show up the quilting that I plan for it. As soon as I had the blocks in one piece I decided I needed to remake the quilt with a smaller block, so I drew it up in EQ6 and resized it to 9.5". I will end up with two nearly identical quilts, but there's no way I've had enough of this block after just one quilt. I need to make another 40 or so...

I've been using my 3.5" squares as leader-enders, and the Colonial Squares has grown to this size. I'm probably about 1/3 of the way there, and I'm liking it so far. I'm not in any hurry to finish it, so it's a good project to have as a leader-ender; no temptation to race ahead and work on it exclusively.

I succumbed to another temptation, and added this litte Singer 538 to my collection. I usually sew on my Mum's 201P, and I decided to give it a holiday. It's very precious, full of memories, and I don't want to overwork it, so it will be my paper-piecing machine; I can leave it set up with a small stitch length, and sew regular seams on the 538. Which incidentally does the most awesome 1/4" seam out of any of my machines; my Framed Cross blocks are so perfect it's eerie! I normally don't achieve that degree of perfection without a struggle. I haven't named this machine yet.

Good thing I worked in the garden over the weekend; there's thunder and lightning outside, and rain threatening. It's a day to stay inside and tackle more UFOs. That's no hardship at all.

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In my quest to cut down on UFOs I pulled out a pile of blocks and put them together over the weekend. Choosing the fabric took more time than actually sewing it, and it was a pretty painless project overall. The top turned out much prettier than I expected, and when I took it to Patchwork yesterday quite a few people offered to adopt it and take it off my hands. As a favour of course. It came home with me despite the offers.

I made these as a Colour Sampler, which is a workshop I teach. All the blocks have the same construction, it's just that the fabrics are in different places in each block. It's an exercise in learning about colour and tone, and I always enjoy making one of these quilts, or watching students build the blocks. There are always surprises, and something to learn about how colour and pattern interact.

I think this is my favourite block in the quilt, and it's not my usual choice of fabrics, but I love how soft and sweet it looks. Everyone agreed that it wasn't Me at all, but I must have loved all the fabrics or they wouldn't have been in my stash. I think there are a lot of Pretty quilts waiting to be made from my stash, not just 1800s reproduction lovelies. I do love most fabrics, except for that piece of sock monkey stuff that Hancocks threw into one of my orders. That found a home elsewhere quick smart.

I vowed that if today was a nice day I would be out in the garden, and that's where I'm heading. I have loads of cuttings to repot before our hot weather, and things need to be tidied after the winter of neglect. I'm becoming more and more interested in succulents, not only for their drought tolerance but for their amazing geometry and superb symmetry. I bought this one from Ikea (honestly, you can buy anything there!) and I love the patterns of the spines. I have to keep turning it round in the light, or it will grow lopsided, and we can't have that. You can't see it very well, but each of those bumps has a long sharp spine, about 1/4" long. I'm very wary whenever I put my hand near this plant; it bites!

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I felt like the blue and yellow top wasn't quite finished, so I added a border of 2" half-square triangles. Now it looks complete, and I'm really happy with the result, even if it drove me insane for two days. It seemed to take forever, and I came so close to sewing one strip of triangles on the wrong way round, discovered my mistake just in time and repinned. If I'd had to unpick it I would have wadded the whole thing up in a cupboard, I'm sure.

I needed some frivolous sewing after that, and these Messenger Birdies by Melly & Me were perfect. Sonia and I bought the pattern for them, along with the reindeer, at Moonta on one of our excursions, and were determined to sew whole flocks and herds of them. Mereth and our other friend Sonia were most unimpressed, and thought we were nuts. Hah! Who's silly now? We made 3 complete birdies in one sitting, and they are so cute. We all love antique buttons, and chose to attach the wings by sewing through buttons on either side. This has the added benefit of making the wings movable, which is seriously cute. They need eyes, but we're waiting on black seed beads.

Next up are the reindeer, but there's no way I'm doing those antlers in fabric, I think they'll be thick felt or something. I have a limited patience for fiddly bits.

My son sent me this picture of his cat, Squeak.

'I haz died in sympathy'

That's one tiny mouse; he said she was well pleased with herself!

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Here on the ironing table are four tops that I'd like to get quilted soon, along with their backings. Backings are great for stash-busting, there's 19 metres there, about the most painless way to get rid of yardage apart from giving it away. My friend Kaye uses plain fabric on the back of her quilts, to show off her gorgeous quilting, and I have thought of copying her. But I just can't resist the chance to use these large print fabrics in great chunks, so the beauty of the design isn't lost in little pieces.

I now have 6 tops on hangers, waiting for quilting, and I'll have to step in quicksmart and grab the machine in between customer quilts. The zippered leaders work great for us, so I don't have to finish the quilting in one session, I can put my quilt on the spare bed when Mereth starts work in the mornings.

We've had a few diversions lately, quilty trips away. There was a dash to Jamestown, to pick up a backing. Dolly loves car rides, and after a few complaints, has resigned herself to the harness. She manages to make herself quite comfortable on the back seat, and gets some quality nap-time.

"Are we there yet?"

That's the window and door of the quilt shop in Jamestown, so yes, we are there!

On Tuesday we went on a reconnaisance trip to Adelaide with our mate Sonia, to suss out our group's Christmas excursion. We went to a discount fabric store first, with predictable results, then on to the lovely Hettie's Patch, with a similar outcome. Honestly, what's the use of going to these places if you don't buy something? And anyway, I just used up 19 metres in those backings, so I'm allowed to restock, surely. We had a lovely day, and came up with a plan for the group outing, so it was time well spent.

The lemon tree is loaded with beatiful fat lemons, and I will have to find some recipes to use them up. There are still a few oranges, and I have bowls full of fruit everywhere. Matthew picked me a bunch of wattle on one of his walks, and my kitchen table is glowing with green and gold.

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Is it really September already? I can't believe that most of the year has flown by already, and I wasn't paying attention. I know I was busy doing things, but if I didn't have the blog I don't think I'd remember any of it. I've been reading a few blogs lately that agonise over why they blog, and whether they should go on doing it. My attitude is that it's a great way to keep a record of what I'm up to, and so long as I enjoy it I'll keep posting. Simple.

We've been having Spring weather for weeks, so the official start of the new season isn't a huge thing. I even have a tomato on a volunteer plant that came up over the winter months. There's something not quite right about a winter-flowering tomato; where's the cold winds and the frost? We had one frost this year, and while I'm grateful for the mild weather I also miss true winter. Maybe next year it will revert to normal, and I'll be complaining bitterly.

I've been in my sewing room whenever I can, attacking ancient projects. I kitted up these blue blocks before I left Rockhampton, so it was at least 3 years ago. As I unpacked the pieces I remembered where my conversationals had gone, cut into pieces for these blocks, and then forgotten. Life is a constant surprise for me these days!

I sewed these 30 blocks in two sessions, and put them together into a top in a third session. I am so glad I have a nice DVD collection to watch as I work; I watched Law & Order and Morse, and it does help the time pass pleasantly.

Once I had the ancient pieces together I started on a more recent project, red and white blocks from 18 months ago. I haven't worked on these blocks for the strangest reason. I love making them sooooo much that I don't want to finish them, because then I won't be able to make them any more. Is that odd? Obviously I just need to get on and finish this lot, then make a blue and white set, or scrap, or brown or.... I've wanted a red and white quilt for so long, you'd think I should be happy to be getting closer to a finished item, but it's not working that way.

I'm really trying to work through my UFOs, which are a whole year older than when I catalogued them. So I've pulled out these vintage hexagons, from 2000, and I'm sewing them together at night, by hand. The hexagons are 3" along each side, which is huge, so it grows very quickly. It won't be pretty, the fabrics are too disparate for any sort of harmony, but I'm sure I'll be very fond of it, uglies and all. I remember fabric shops from my childhood when I see some of these prints, and how I desperately wanted material of my own to play with. What is that saying; Careful what you wish for, for you will surely get it. I surely did!

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I've never grown daffodils before, so I'm thrilled to bits to have these three flowers. I've always loved daffodils and jonquils, but couldn't grow them while I lived in the tropics. I have lots of others coming on, but they aren't ready to flower yet. I just hope Dolly doesn't decide to investigate them too closely.

I finally have Row D of my Dear Jane finished, a couple of the blocks seemed to take forever. They had to be pieced with tricky set-in seams, and as if that wasn't enough, tiny pieces appliqued onto them afterwards. It took hours to get them done, I was shattered by the effort. Mereth sort of said 'I told you so' while I muttered over the little bits of confetti I was trying to stitch in place. However, I'm still enjoying the overall process; it's just that some of the blocks are more daunting than others. And some are plain ugly, which isn't encouraging.

I gathered up all the printouts and templates and freezer paper bits and sorted them into this ring-binder. The yellow post-it tags mark pages where I've made the block and filed it in the plastic sleeve. In the software I placed all the blocks into a quilt project, then printed the quilt out as a reference. I have been printing out random blocks up till now, but I made a concerted effort and printed out each block. Some are foundation pieced, some are rotary cut, some need templates, so I just worked through the blocks, deciding on the various methods to use. I refer to this blog quite a bit, for good ideas on how to tackle the hard blocks

Each block is filed in the correct order; all the blocks from the first four rows are sewn together, but the random blocks are stored in the plastic sleeve with whatever is left of the printout. When I print out the block outline, I choose the option to print two to a page. It's making use of paper that would otherwise be wasted, and if I want to make the block again I have the printout there already.

Now I'm all ready for Row E, which I hope to finish before I pack the whole lot away again and get on with some larger projects. As much as I love the little blocks, the fiddliness drives me wild. I need to work with some 3" strips for a while.

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To say that I've been busy for the past two weeks would be an understatement. I've been Frantically Busy!! But I think I'm about caught up on everything, so I'll be able to stop and draw breath soon, and then get into my sewing room. I can't wait for that.

I had to go shopping at the Janome dealer in the next town, and they are having a promotion where they take old machines as trade-ins. This little green Singer was traded in, and I thought it should come home with me. It's been well looked after, the paint is spotless, and I intend to make sure it stays in good condition. I'm powerless to resist green sewing machines it seems.

I had to make a trip to Adelaide for printing supplies, so we went down on Thursday night to take advanage of late night shopping, stayed the night with Mereth's No.1 Son John, and came home early the next day. We all had tea at Ikea, and finally managed to do some real shopping there, even though I was hyperventilating half way through and muttering 'I gotta get out of here!'

A chirpy voice kept announcing on the sound system 'It's easy to shop at Ikea, if you know how!' and then giving details of guided tours about to start. Surely you shouldn't have to have lessons on how to shop? John and I got lost, and he expressed grave disappointment that his 20 or so years of navigating through tricky computer game scenarios hadn't actually helped him remember where he was in Ikea. I suggested someone should make a game set in an Ikea store; it has possibilities.

Mereth bought a Billy bookcase, which she's been wanting for ages, and I got some modular shelving for my laundry. And big terracotta pots. And an ex-showroom sideboard. It took some creative packing to get it all settled into the back of Wilson, I'm so glad I've got a station wagon; a normal car just wouldn't be adequate.

Mereth always has the gluten-free almond cake at the Ikea cafe; when I was putting the furniture together I realised they are both very similar. Is the cake made of leftover furniture? Or is the furniture made of leftover cake? Hmmmm.....

Stolen moments of time in the sewing room have resulted in several more Dear Jane blocks; I have around 65 now, and I should be able to sew Row 4 into one piece tomorrow. I am making steady progress. I was getting hopelessly confused with all the pattern printouts and templates and stuff, so I'm collecting it all into a ring binder, which should make things easier to find. I'll show you that tomorrow, I'm off to help Mereth put together her bookcase. It's just like adult Lego.

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When Mereth and I walked up to the Post Office this morning we were somewhat surprised to see lots of strange vehicles in the local park, and some very dubious looking men in red skirts hanging around the public toilets. It turned out to be a comfort stop for the Variety WA Great Deserts Bash 2009, which began this morning in Adelaide. They will drive this mad assortment of decorated cars through the outback to Alice Springs, then on to Kalgoorlie and Perth. They looked like they were having fun, with sirens and air horns to announce themselves. These Bashes have been held for decades, and raised loads of money for sick children, and everyone supports them.

What a way to see the country! I particularly liked the Harry Potter car, and this Kombi-van pretending to be a fire-engine was cute.
I hope they all have a great time on their trip, they have a loooong way to go.

And this is my favourite ever Dear Jane block, I adore this one. I want a whole quilt made of these blocks, but not 4.5", more like 9 or 10". I have 63 blocks now, I need 4 more to finish Row D. Once I start on the little blocks I get obsessed and just want to keep making them; pity I have all this work to do instead.

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The sum total of my sewing for the past week is this Dear Jane block, all 4 1/2" of it. I should be grateful I had time to do that much, as I've had a frantically busy week. I sat and made this block as a stress reliever, while I watched an episode of Inspector Morse. I started sewing as the opening music played, and I was pressing the finished block when the final credits rolled. So that means this tiny block took 90 minutes to make; unbelievable! I just can't seem to get up any speed with foundation piecing, but I should be happy with the accuracy and not fret because it takes so long. I need to get into the zen of foundation piecing; when you are foundation piecing, KNOW that you are foundation piecing. We'll see if that helps next time.

I often modify the suggested piecing; I couldn't see the sense of adding a triangle of the same fabric in the corners, so I just extended the sewing lines. The block looks the same, but it's two less seams to worry about.

My garden is producing a few winter flowers, but Dolly has proved to be an avid gardener. She likes smelling all the flowers, then rubbing her face in the plants, then grabbing them with her nouth and uprooting the lot. I guess she just gets too enthusiastic, but it's disastrous for my flowers. I have growled at her, but she keeps reoffending. If she shows up with dirt on her nose it means there's trouble in the garden. As soon as she realises I've discovered the crime she's all cringing and contrite, but it doesn't stop her from doing it next time. I'm considering barracading all my pots behind the potted roses, because she has a healthy respect for anything with thorns!

I love pansies, but these flowers are almost tooo big, the stems can't hold them up. They are such sweet flowers, I love all the variations in the colours.
But the violets are my favourites I think, they smell so wonderful. The pink ones came from Mereth's MIL, from the family farm. Mereth has planted them in every garden she's ever had, and carried pots of them from place to place and shared them with many friends. They are like a family heirloom.

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7 aug 09

I quilted this top last week,with a new panto of mine called Sassy, (US version here) which I rather think is my new favourite; it quilted up quickly and makes a lovely allover pattern. I'm very pleased with how it looks on this quilt. I've been sneaking a few moments here and there to work on my nine-patches, and Cheryl and Dawn each sent enough ninepatches for another four blocks. Dawn's are on the left, and Cheryl's are on the right; I'm going to mark the finished block so I know who contributed which. I think I have enough for the whole quilt, once Kaye sends her four then I can begin setting the blocks together. This quilt is going to have a lot of happy memories stitched into the ninepatch blocks. I've been collecting conversational prints for 10 years, and decided to use them in these blocks. I can think of no better place for them, it will add to the significance of the quilt to use my treasured conversationals. I'm dismayed at how few I have though; I thought there were lots more, but I must have been nibbling away at them over the years. I just hate using every last little bit of my favourite fabrics, and conversationals are rare enough that they are not easily replaced. I'm thinking of departing from the original and not using more ninepatches in the sashing; I like how the blocks seem to float separately with just plain sashing. I'll have to have a good ferret through the sash to find enough fabric for that. And I still intend to do a pieced scrappy border. I've been putting together odd blocks as leader-enders, and the design wall is scattered with unrelated items. I can feel a sampler quilt coming on, though that Milky Way block may end up with a lot of brothers and sisters. I've always wanted to do one in blue and green, and I think it's time to do some serious cutting for that. The block is 6", which is ever so cute, but it will take a few to make a quilt. I'm up for it; The Jane Stickle blocks have made me think anything is possible, given enough determination.

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Last week was just a blur, lots of places to be and appointments to keep. The night away with our DB and SIL was wonderful, a nice little holiday. We had a very nice anniversary dinner at the hotel, but the service was hardly great. After the first course the waiter picked up the plates but put the used cutlery back on the table, saying, 'You'd better hang on to that.' ??? SIL very nicely said 'Oh I think we'll have fresh cutlery for our main meal', and smiled sweetly. So he went off with a bad grace, came back with new sets, and scarpered off without picking up the used knives and forks. Hmmm. SIL gathered it all up and put it on another table, where the waiter came across it in due course, and tutted disapprovingly, with a few black glances in our direction.

It wouldn't have been annoying, except that it was a swanky place, trying very hard to be upper crust. And the waiter obviously thought he was little bit better than his clientele. Never a good attitude. It says a lot that there were more staff than customers. But the food was OK.

After airport duties the next day we popped into Ikea and did our best to shop, but there's something about that place. Mereth and I both get totally overwhelmed by all the stuff, and we just want to go home without having to make any decisions about what to get. One of our friends has the same reaction, and we're planning a joint assault where we can egg each other on. It may not work; we'll probably talk each other into leaving empty-handed.

I did pick up a set of these bathroom organisers; they are good to keep by the sewing machine to corral all the little bits of stuff. There is a cabinet that these fit into, and I may splurge on that one day, if I can ever make a decision; I tried to find them on the website, but I have no idea what they are called. I like the lids to keep out the dust, we have a lot of dust in this town, so a little protection is good.They fit nicely behind my sewing machine, so I can keep spare cotton and needles and gadgets handy.

Over the weekend I was determined to finish the nine-patches, because they were taking up every spare inch of room, so I put on an Inspector Morse DVD and gritted my teeth and began to sew. It took Forever! (Three ninety minute episodes). I still have to do the border, but that can wait a while; I'm a little tired of this particular project. It's used up three pieces of cream fabric from my stash, and lots of the conversationals, so it's been a good stash-buster, even if most of the blocks came from Kaye's stash originally.
And I may have sewn a few of these squares together as leader-enders. I'm liking how it looks so far, but I need to cut More!

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