STUDIO AND GARDEN

A quick post before I set off for Vision.
The Quilt Show was great and daughter and I had a very enjoyable day, but ran out of time.  I wasn't going to buy anything, but did come home with a few items, much to daughter's amusement.  I did miss getting some small buttons for an old stitchery.  I will try and take a photo of what I bought, though one is destined for Xmas presents, so that won't be in the pic.

Below are some photos I took yesterday out in the garden.  It was a beautiful day, sunny and nearly 20deg.  I had the door and windows open and got plenty of washing dry.  It is quite wet and cooler today.

Anemones

The fairy ring of daffodils starting to flower.

Pieris {it smells heavenly).

Green Goddess arum lily which I thought I'd lost earlier in the heat and dry of last summer.

Bulbs -  daffodils, star flowers, bluebells and violets.  As you can see by the support, my gardens are very steep and I cannot stand in them to weed or anything else.

Now to the studio.  In April last year when I got the new quilting machine, I had to change my room around, but have never been happy with the arrangement.  Yesterday, after selling my old cutting table/desk, I decided to do a rejig.  This is how it has ended up and I hope to ask for some feedback as to ideas anyone might have.  I need to get rid of some larger pieces of furniture which are so bulky and have more streamlined storage.  Is that a good idea?  As we will be moving in the near future I really must get organised.
Excuse the mess.

The auction went well on Sunday, although I was terribly tired by the end.  Below are 2 photos.  The one of the three ladies waiting for the first lot of sheets has their permission to be on this blog.  I did take photos at the quilt show, but because of so many restrictions I haven't put any on.

F, Me and B.

Sale items on one of the tables.

All for now and hope to get some sewing, knitting and embroidery done this week  Keep your fingers crossed for me.  Susan.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!!!!!!

This will be a quick post as today is going to be another busy one.  Monday I had two appointments, then Tuesday is my day for volunteering at Vision, so that's 2 days gone.  I have a doctor's appointment this morning and off to pick a local builder's brains this afternoon, to see if it is better to buy a block of land and build or to buy an established house and put our own mark on it.  Tomorrow, I think is free except for seeing the estate agent and on Friday, daughter and I will meet at Jeff's Shed to go to the Quilt and Craft Fair, which we try and do each year.  We live on opposite sides of Melbourne, so it makes a special day out for just the two of us.  This weekend, hubby is actually off, but I am working at the Annual Auction of Antiques and Collectables for Vision Australia Radio on Sunday.  It is a fun day but also rather hectic, so by next week I think I'll need a holiday.  This is why my posts haven't happened this week so far and I've not even used my camera much.

Below is a photo of the knitting I am doing of a night while watching TV.  I picked up the pattern and ball of wool while staying at Lakes Entrance earlier this year and it is a very interesting pattern, but easy as we have been so busy of late and I can only do simple at the moment.

Curly scarf.

I am also interested in these quilting  books posted by Joy from Days Filled with Joy.  They look and sound very interesting.  She has them as a giveaway, which is very generous of both her and the author Sandi.

Books.

Well, that is my quick post for today, and I hope everyone has an enjoyable rest of week and I'll post again soon.  Now I will have my brekky and hopefully see the new wee Prince on breakfast TV.
Susan.

REMEMBERING MARY ELLEN HOPKINS

Just saw about the heatwaves the Northern Hemisphere is having and can't quite believe it.  Even the UK has been on the news.  I must admit that we've just experienced our warmest July day here near Melbourne.  We've also had more frosts than we've had for a few years, so I'm thinking the weather all over is rather crazy.

This is my first A is for Applique block that I'm doing along with Lucie the Happy Quilter.  Hope to get started on my next block soon and do some more on my Christmas QAL.

Today I need to clean the oven, (spilt something yukky in there) catch up on washing all the linen and more vacuuming and mopping.

Again my photos are placing themselves and they now don't want to move, so I hope you can follow this post OK.  I will post again tomorrow with our day out with the grandchildren, although I've only a few photos, because my battery went flat at the start of the day.  Very disappointing.

I've just learned that Mary Ellen Hopkins passed away on the 10th July, this year.
I remember Mary Ellen's workshop that I attended in 2000 was so much fun.  I have many of her books and had them all signed, along with many other participants.  I also shared my birthday with her, though she was born many years before me.  She had so many amusing tales to tell, that I'm sure she lived a full and interesting life.  Below is a photo of me taken with Mary Ellen in 2000.  It is not a good one, as I had to take a photo of the photo.  My picture is a shocker and I seem to have blurred it a bit while trying to snap it.

Not a good photo, but at least it brings back memories of a wonderful weekend.

The little quilt below is one we all started called Bricks and Mortar and I am using it to cover my legs on cold nights.  Some made theirs a lot larger.

Bricks and Mortar Quilt.



The quilt below has blocks made by other participants as an exchange after we all went home.  There were supposed to be 14 exchanges, but I added a few of more of my own as a couple didn't end up sending anything.  They were a bears paw block design given to us by Mary Ellen.  My setting was an idea from one Sharyn Craig's books called  "Setting Solutions".

Friendship Bear's Paw.

First daffodils and wattle in the studio.

The little wall quilt that is hanging in the hall this month, was started during this workshop. (posted at beginning of July).

Best go and catch up on the housework as mentioned above and hopefully have a little more time tomorrow to get on top of my blog, others and some emails I must reply to.

Thanks for any comments I haven't replied to and have a great weekend.
Susan.

CHRISTMAS QUILTALONG, 2ND POST

Late on Sunday and all guests have gone to bed and I am waiting for hubby to arrive home from work at about 11pm.
Today granddaughter E and I ironed the applique to my first block.  She loves to watch and help me with my sewing etc.  We decided to have a lazy Sunday as the weather was awful, being both cold and wet.
Below is a photo, so now you will have an idea of what that block is to become.  I may sew it tomorrow, as guests are off to the Melbourne Aquarium to see the "seahorse feeding".  Hubby has to go to work and I have an osteopath appointment, but Tuesday will see us all head off for Arthur's Seat and visit the Maze and also tour the Mornington Peninsula.

First block in progress.

 

Thank you to everyone who left comments on my last post.  I've not had time to reply, but greatly appreciate you popping in and hello to a new follower.  Have a lovely week.
Susan.

CHRISTMAS QUILTALONG QUICK POST.

Just a very quick post while I'm having a cuppa about 10am on Saturday morning (which won't be at the top of my post and I don't know why), so you can all see that I've actually made a start on the Xmas QAL.
I also took a quick walk around the garden after hanging the washing out.  Below are some photos, though I must say I'll have to try and do something about the settings on camera as they are definitely not the best.  Youngest son who is coming late this afternoon, knows plenty about cameras so I'll have to pick his brains.

First block pieced.

Others, cut and waiting to be sewn.

Ahh!!!  There's the orange and some vliesofix.  Wonder what that is for?
Not telling yet.

My first hellebore in flower   This one is Ivory Prince.

First daffodil nearly ready to open.  These are under the weeping cherry.

Last year I planted 3 "The Bride" gladioli, but only 2 have reappeared this year , but do have buds.

This morning I disturbed some Eastern Rosellas that have been visiting our garden to eat the seedheads from the silver birches.  I also heard above the noise of the traffic on the freeway (one of the reasons we want to move) a couple of kookaburras laughing.  I will now see if I can find some pics of these to show everyone.

Kookaburra.

Eastern Rosella.

Have a lovely Quiltalong to those ladies who are participating and to my other blogging buddies, have an enjoyable weekend.  Till next time, Susan.

Brrrr! IT'S COLD THIS MORNING

Just a quick post as I may not get as much time in the coming week, as we are having visitors next weekend till probably Thursday.  Our son and his partner along with 2 children (B & E) will be descending on us from Canberra.    I'm really looking forward to it, but being only us two, for most of the time, I do find it a little stressful.  Just me being a pain as usual.  Thursday this week we have the Financial Adviser that was cancelled before, so we will be off to Melbourne for the day.
This morning we awoke to a heavy frost and the paddock between us and the hospital is still very white in places where it is in shade and it's now 9.30am Tuesday.  I looked at the outside temperature at 7am and it registered -1.9deg.  I know for some that is not cold, but here in Oz it is.
I was going to join in the QAL over the weekend, but may do a quick post on Friday night.
Sewing has been a bit of hit and miss affair so far over the last few days as I have a rather painful split on my right thumb.  It is positioned just where you hold a sewing needle and I've also tried crochet and knitting with the same problem.  Hopefully I'll let it heal properly this time and it maybe won't come back.  It is just the cold weather.
On Sunday we finished pruning the roses and I brought a couple of things inside to put in a couple of vases.

3 Nerines on the dresser.

A dark pink camellia bud, a jonquil and pieris with a couple of flowers just  opening.

I picked these as it looked like rain and I knew with the frosts as well, that the camellias aren't going to be very nice once they go all brown.  If you click on the picture you can see the little flowers on the pieris.  The jonquil smells lovely.

Christmas QAL cutting in progress, but that's all I"m saying.

The three table runners are rather slow going, but this is the second one on the machine.  It is my Country Charmer table runner done as part of a project with Lynne of "Sewn Wild Oaks".  Most are making the full quilt, but I just don't have enough time.  My A is for applique has also stalled, but I just found some dressmaker's carbon, so should be able to get the wording on, ready for embroidering.  I tried to use my lightbox, but the fabric must be a tad too dark and I couldn't see the letters.   I have fabric ready for the next one.

Well, I must away, as it is Tuesday and my day as a Volunteer at Vision Australia, so till next time.
Susan.

GOOD WEEK, BAD WEEK.

A beautiful sunrise one morning this week.

TAKING STOCK.

Quick bit about my health and letting others know to find out as much as you can about your medications if you are not feeling as good as you did some months ago.  I've been unwell now for about 15 months and the pharmacist decided to do a check on what I was taking.  It seems blood pressure tablets can have quite a few side affects when taken for a long time, so this may be the root of all my problems and once sorted I may feel like my old self.  My high blood pressure is probably hereditary as I'm not overweight (being approx. 49 kgs and 149 cm tall), don't smoke or drink and was going to the gym twice a week till about 15 months ago when I started getting these bad chest pains.  Ok, you probably didn't need to know all that, but just so people have an idea of "medications" which are sometimes needed anyway.

This has been the strangest week.  On Wednesday two letters arrived to tell me my Dentist had sold his practice and moved on, my favourite bookshop is closing down and to top it all off, the Sister I speak to at my father's nursing home is leaving.  Why on earth all in one week.  I suppose the best thing was finding out the above and hoping to get that sorted.  We also have had a couple of nice sunny days, although the breeze was cold.  Oz has even had it's first decent snowfalls of the season.  I also received my Yorkshire Life and a parcel, which contained the 3 books below it, which I ordered way back in March from Amazon.  The Andre Rieu book my hubby found whilst browsing in our bookshop, which is of course having a closing down sale. I am a big Andre fan and we've been to two of his concerts when he's been in Australia.  I also love Celtic Woman and Helmut Lottie, which is probably a bit of a mishmash to most.

My lovely surprises.

Now for what I've been up to this week.

"Starlight, Starbright".
Changed the wall hanging in the hall at the beginning of the month for this one.  I seem to be remembering to do this little challenge so far.

A spot of baking yesterday resulted in a quick chocolate brownie and a 1 cup apricot cake.  This is not what I was originally going to make, but my kitchen scales had decided to die on me, so I needed to find recipes that didn't need ingredients to be weighed.  Notice my first snowflake in the little vase.

Today I will hopefully get some binding sewn on my "Lace Circles" and some cutting and maybe some piecing for the Christmas Quiltalong ready for next weekend.  I hope to get the writing onto my "A" is for applique block done, so I can start embroidering that.  I have also got 3 table runners on the longarm, with one already done and hopefully the other 2 sometime today.
At least I had a good night's sleep, so maybe today I will not be so tired and achieve these things easily.  Hubby is already at work and won't be home till late this afternoon, so the day is my own.
Have a lovely Sunday bloggers.