I found the Quilt Bug！

When I planted my Pollinator Garden I had hoped for some Blue Banded Bees and a few Beneficial insects.  I was not prepared to find this Visitor sitting on a piece of Floral Fabric in my Scrap Bin...

"Well Hello - What are YOU doing here?"

From a bit of research we have determined she is most probably a Clown Beetle.

Saprinus cyaneus cyaneus (Fabricius)

Regardless of your beauty and affinity for fine fabric -

You belong in the garden - so off to acquaint yourself with the Hollyhocks!

With that distraction out of the way I settled down to do some more of my Temperature Quilt.

I had hit a 'road block' when I could not settle on an appropriate print to represent the Winter months

Having found a Print with Seagulls against a Pale Grey Sky - I was "good to Go"

Just had to go back into the already constructed blocks and change over my "Autumn" fabrics ...

Today I should be passing the Mid-way point of the year and leaving the Teals behind for the Cool Blues of Winter.

Hoping to keep ahead of the calendar - the plan is to at least get the top finished  by June 25.
Well, that's the plan......






Linking with cleverchameleon

New Chair - Old Chair

Have you ever had that sinking feeling when you sit on your Office/Sewing Chair and it sighs into the carpet?
No - you haven't had too many TimTams with your Cuppa!

Chances are the Gas-lift on your chair has failed.

A trip to Officeworks to replace your chair ends in frustration and confusion or great expense.

$279 for a new chair and the dilemma as to how to recycle/dispose of the old one ... OR





Fix It!

After all it is JUST one bit that is not working - everything else is FINE!

$15.00 for a new Gas Lift

5 mins watching a "How To" video

a Rubber Mallet (of course we ALL have one of those - I do...)

and some WD40

basically once DH admitted to needing the WD40 (lubrication)

the Job was done!

I now have a "New" Chair
and I can eat as many Tim Tams as I like without feeling guilty   :D

Playing with Colour - Swapping Fabrics

I think I need to have some stern words with the person that coined the phrase "Quick Quilt".   Around this place - Nothing is simple and Nothing is Quick!

And so I come to an update on my "Distraction Project". 

Fabric Changes:

The fabric I chose for my Accent pieces was nice. Patterned shades of Yellow which when placed, lined up perfectly to show - Large Cabbage Roses! 

Not really the look I was after, and I knew there was nothing better in my stash.

Enter DH who had coincidentally, decided he wanted an outing - 

"Where is that Nursery - The one with the Cafe?"  - Huh, What? OK. 

So, I pointed Bessie "East" and kept driving until we found a Nursery/Cafe that we had not been to before.  And, at the bottom of the Garden was a wee Cottage that was Filled with - - - Fabric! (Yay!)

All boxes ticked in the one venue - Has to be some kind of record!

With the new accent chosen I settled down to .... 

"Um Mum..... Your Background doesn't work - It should be Black - sorry........."

Problem was, once I saw it I couldn't un-see it.  He was right the colours just didn't 'Pop' against the Ice Blue background.

Another trip to GJ's (my closest Fabric Fix Shop) - more Background Fabric and some pieces to replace the NQR colours in the Jelly Roll. 

The Original background fabric goes into the "Strip Scrap Drawer" and the thoughts for a second Quilt start. 

NOW maybe, I can start to actually work on this Project.

I have my fabric colours all sorted and cut and I am NOT changing anything else!

All my strips have been numbered and I have even made myself a MAP - so I don't get lost with my colour changes.

The video instructions suggest sewing these strips one at a time.

Which means that there is a lot of 2.5" seams.  And a LOT of thread tails...

I actually measured them - 8 cm of thread by 6 seams per strip = 48 cm of wasted thread each row.

And now for the Face Palm moment.

I had never got the point of "Leaders and Enders" because I always thought you sewed off the end and started again each time instead of Strip-piecing them...

Duh!

No more wasted thread and I now have an enormous pile of 'little patches' that may one day grow up to be a big quilt.

And the "Northern Lights" Quilt?

Just passed the half-way mark and wondering now if I could Quilt it myself QAYG style.

All I need is to find my Quilting Foot...

and THAT is another story, for another day!



Linking with cleverchameleon.com.au

Working with Colour

It all started when I found an easy pattern on line that used a packet of Jelly Roll Strips.

I don't know why, but I have several and they are VERY bright.  One in particular goes by the Title of "Northern Lights" - 

Should be a nice break from my Temperature Quilt.  

I had decided also this year, to not buy any fabric and just work from my stash.

That resolution failed after 3 hours of searching through my very neat piles of fabric and realising that I have "Too many Principles and not enough Cast"! 

- I had NO background fabric.

Road Trip!

I scurried down to GJs in Fairfield as I had a fair recollection that, in their "Great wall of Fabric" there was an awesome variety of Batiks.

I was not wrong. 

With that sorted all I had to do was decide what ACCENT fabric to use for this selection of colours

At this point I asked DS#2 his opinion.

His response was to give me a One Hour tutorial on Colour Theory using the Colour Wheel that I found online.

It's not perfect, but after all it was a child's colouring sheet.

He found a better one.

and apparently I need an Orange/Yellow.

This is going to take me way out of my 'comfort zone' but after all- 

Isn't that the point of working with Colour?

Fry-day

They said it was going to be 41℃ today
So I got out early and gave my new Garden beds a good watering to help them through the day.

The water mist looked beautiful in the rising sunshine.

It didn't get to 41℃

No, currently it is sitting on 42.8℃

Good to see that someone at the Weather Bureau thinks it  "FEELS  like 38.2"

[FYI: as I am doing a Temperature Quilt, this day last year, we had a Min of 17℃ and a Max temp of 22℃]

And for all my readers in the Northern Hemisphere that may be snugly tucked up with a cosy fire and some hand Quilting
I have done the conversion for you....

There is another dust storm on the way
followed by Rain
and a Bushfire outside of Ballarat

I managed to made a weeks worth of my Temperature Quilt Blocks before the air-con decided it was too hot to work so "downed tools and packed up for the day"

It is too sticky to sew anyway.....

Just as well we have some good old fashioned fans as backup, only problem ... 

the cat is frightened of them!

What Goes Up ...

Jan 19th, 2020

"An Intense Dust Storm has swept through a huge area of South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria, reducing visibility and prompting a warning to drivers on outback roads"

It looked like a scene from "The Mummy" -only this is not CG Sand and this is not a Movie. This is the Heart and Soul of Australia. This is Red Outback Dust!

Jan 20th, 2020

Then we had a bit of Hail - NSW and Canberra had what was being reported "Golf Ball Size" hail.

Melbourne also copped a battering - these ones were not Golf Ball Size... and they made quite a mess of anything caught out in it.

Jan 23rd, 2020

And then it Rained.  We need Rain...

But, as they say - "What goes Up Must come Down...."
We slept to the sound of rain on the roof and woke to what can only be described as "A Generous layer of Topsoil evenly distributed ... EVERYWHERE!

That night it rained MUD.

...and Our Famous Upside Down Yarra was turned into something that looked more like -
Willie Wonka's Chocolate River!

Jan 26, 2020

The Weather I am relieved to report has been delightful since. Perfect for being 'Out and About'
And Friday it is going to be....

41℃  (that's 105.8℉)

Australia Day 2020

On Australia Day, we reflect on our History, 

It's highs and it's lows.

We respect the stories of Others.

And we celebrate Our Nation, it's achievements and most of all

It's People.

If you are Visiting Australia - you may notice different flags flying together.

Our Three Australian Flags are Flown at Equal Height on individual Flagpoles.

The National Flag - is always flown to the far Left 

with the Aboriginal, and Torres Straight Island Flags beside.  

Should a State Flag be flown, it is usually positioned between the National Flag and the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island Flags.

(Researching these Flags and Studying Flag Protocol has proved to be a very interesting topic, and one that has taken up most of my afternoon!

 - Happy Australia Day everyone!!!)

*Consider Visiting  www.australiaday.org.au and read The Australian Stories!