WHATS ON............................

The design wall.............

The flower fairy panels that I showed on a Photo Scavenger Hunt have now become a baby quilt, yet to be quilted & bound.  I don't know any baby girls, but it will be there when I need one.

The big machine...............

Well this was, when I decided to do this post a couple of days ago.  It's now off along with the smaller one & await their bindings.

The craft table........

A doily DD gave me one day when she was having a cleanup.  I embroidered, then did a crochet edging & will give it to Missy Moo next time I see her.  Hope she likes it.

The floor...................

A Rainbows pack (aka jelly roll), I opened & have decided to do another 2 quilts from the one pack.  In other words watch this space to see what I've designed & do with it.

On the washing line........

Two backing fabrics awaiting their turn for the machine.

DH's work bench......................

A very old Singer sewing machine we found for $25 at an antique place, lying on the ground, covered in soil, rust & dust, which hubby is cleaning up for me to use as a prop in quilt photos.  It doesn't have the usual bobbin, but a shuttle & I've looked up the approximate date from the serial number plate & as far as I can tell, it is around circa 1874.

The rug.................

A little basket hubby has made & which is now being stained.  Isn't it cute?

We had a little jaunt out yesterday, as it was warm & sunny.  We knew the weather today was going to be overcast, cooler & maybe miserable.  I got to have a water fix!  To Coronet Bay on Westernport.
Continuing with the ON theme.

The way...............

Looking across the hills, you'll notice that it still quite dry with patches of green.

The roadside................

A lovely old timber cattle ramp.  Could be worth remembering for those quilt photo shoots.

The water...............

Many black swans, which I'm not sure I've seen on Westernport Bay in the past.  Maybe we've not been at the right time, but there must have been hundreds scattered around on the water.

The sand.................

Many shells crunching under our feet.  You couldn't really avoid them, but they were so pretty.

The beach.................

Some small sailing dinghies.

A stone.......................

A large green grasshopper.  He did hop back to the grass that runs alongside the top of the beach.

A bench.................

This is a depiction of a Tasmanian Tiger & was part of a small sculpture trail with some information about Coronet Bay & it's surrounds by a local sculptor & also a few made by school children too-
A rock.................

One by the children.  I found it hard to take a photo so you could see it properly, but it depicted a birthday party with cake & presents.

A sign........................

Not much to say here, as the words say it all.

Enough of my nonsense today. 
I've been lagging behind on so much & I really must stop procrastinating & just do, not worry about what other people might think or not think and get on with life.
I've had a bit of fun with this post and am also trying to think outside the box for our April Scavenger Hunt, so spent a bit of time browsing my photo archives.  Best now get our tea on & publish this.
Hope everyone has a lovely weekend, take care all & huggles.
Susan.

FAVOURITE FINISH FOR MARCH.

I'm linking up today with Cheryl from Meadow Mist Designs to join in with her new monthly linkup party.  Hopefully I'll try have something to show each month.  A bit of pushing me along I hope.

I've managed to fit a few bits'n'bobs into last month, but only one proper finish, so whilst away in Ballarat for  4 days, I took this quilt along to try and get a few really good photos and
VOILA........................... Hubby found a perfect spot for me and although "very" windy, I managed this.

Mandalay in just the right setting with similar colouring from the surrounding dry countryside, rusty gate, bluestone ruins and murky sky.

Short and sweet today, but I really wanted to join in with linkup party.  I did tell more about this quilt and a few others in the making in this post, here.  We've only been home for a few hours & I've managed two loads of washing, putting most things away & now need to feed us for tea.  The caravan clean will be tomorrow, as well as a spot of grocery shopping & picking up the car club newsletters.

Ahhhh.............. I'll need another holiday.(just kidding).
Have a good Friday all, take care & huggles,
Susan.

MARCH PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT 2019

My goodness, is it really the end of March?  So much for me posting another Talking Quilts subject, but at least I've done this hunt.  Again, thanking Kate for making us really THINK outside the box.  I'm afraid I've been naughty this month and done some doubling up.  Whoopsy............

1.  FLAT.

This one certainly had me thinking.  I'd found most of the others before last weekend, but as hubby sat and watched the Formula 1 car races held here in Melbourne, I happened to mention something about they were going 'flat out' & that was my light bulb moment.  I hunted for this photo I took last year when we were down on Phillip Island, where there is a race track which gets used for bikes, V8's and vintage races.  Above is an Anglia whizzing past.  I know these cars quite well, as I had both a boyfriend with one & my first husband & I had one too.

2.  WHEEL.

I immediately thought of this photo when I saw the word 'wheel'. This was taken were in UK in 2014 at Roundhay Park in Leeds.  It was one of the exhibits for Chelsea Flower Show  at some time, though I'm not sure when.

BUT........................ Has anyone thought about how many wheels  make the world go round.  One of our greatest inventions I'm thinking.  Some I thought about were....carriage wheels, spinning wheels, potters wheels, bicycle/penny farthing/car wheels, along with my treadle sewing machine, paddle steamers, and many more. Even my rotary cutter has a very sharp blade which is a wheel, I realised, when using it yesterday.   I didn't think of the one below till I saw this at the Lost Trades Fair, which I attended with DD & family in mid March.

An astonishing clock on display.

3.  SWING.
Last time we did swing I showed a 'swing bridge', but couldn't work out which way I wanted to go for this one.  Again I've two.  Sorry!

I definitely lived through the Swinging Sixties as a teenager & love my music very much.  I still play my LP's quite regularly.

I also thought about the baskets of begonias SWINGING from the ceiling of the glasshouse in Ballarat Botanic Gardens.  I didn't get to the Begonia Festival earlier this month, but we are going to remedy that this weekend & hopefully they are still looking good.

4.  RAGGED.

The ragged end of a cross support on the Nymans Trestle Bridge on the Ballarat to Skipton rail trail.

5.  POT.

Whoa...........lots of pots.  Stacks of lobster pots on the quayside in Whitby.  I knew the photo might come in handy one day.😉
Oh and this one too.  Looking for the above, this one said, "What about me?"

            Maybe Bill and Ben, the flowerpot men with a visiting gardener..........................?

6.  MY OWN CHOICE.

Whilst looking for photos (quite an enjoyable way of relaxing & wasting time), I came upon this, which again has some old wheels, lots of recycled rubbish, cleverly put together & a gorgeous chimney in the background, so decided to use it for myown choice.  It was taken at Lake Learmonth near Ballarat a few years back.
OK, that is my curious lot and knowing my whacky nature, I'm hoping it has everyone's approval.
Thanks again Kate, take care all & can't wait to see what you've all come up with too.
Huggles,  Susan.

CRAFTY CAPER CATCH-UP.

Alas, time seems to have  whizzed by just lately & all those posts that I say I'm going to do, don't make it to the blog.  Time to rectify that with a small catch up post.

MY LATEST SILLINESS.
DD gave me a small game called Bananagrams & I've taken to doing the solitaire version to relax occasionally.  Similar to the tiles from scrabble, I take 21, turn them over & try to make sensible words that are interlinked & using every letter.  Just a quick snap from one I did, without changing any of the tiles.

DH'S LATEST WOODWORKING.

Pens he has turned from assorted timber & my acrylic one with rubber tip for my tablet.

My 'puddy cat'.
 We saw one of these on sale somewhere & when we came home he drew it up & here he is.

This beautiful lantern was made after I showed him a picture from the internet with some similar ones and about 2 days later, he sauntered down from The Shed, with his hands behind his back & "voila", this is what he produced.  I still need to varnish it & will use it as a prop in quilt photo shoots.  Aren't I the luckiest girl?

Joint Effort.

Filling in a bit of time.  DH made the Lazy-Susan base & I painted it, papered the tins & titivated, then loaded up my assorted colour pencils, which were held in various different places.

QUILTING.
These 4 quilts have all been shown at various times in different stages of construction.  All have been quilted & bound during December, January & early February.

Water Meadow (left) & Judy's Promise (right).
Both were designed on my Quilt Wizard program.

Jacob's Medallion, also designed with my Quilt Wizard.

Magnolia Mystery quilt was a mystery quiltalong last year.
I followed along with the Meadow Mist blog.
It was designed by the very talented Cheryl Brickey.

The next two quilts I accidentally omitted from my Talking Quilts post.  The stars I used on both of these quilts also came from the same book by Nancy Johnson -Srebo.  Both are again my settings.

The 7 Bronwyn Hayes embroideries, set together with the stars to my own design on graph paper.

This was made many, many years ago to use the lovely old-fashioned panels I'd purchased way back, when?.

CROCHET.
Below is a scrap crochet granny square.  Just using up some of my Stylecraft leftovers.  This was one of those easy relaxing evening pursuits.

And what do you do on hot smokey days?
Why, a WASGIJ...................... or two.

This one was bought many years ago as it had a Morris Minor on the front.  I think this is the third time we've done it.  Now this time, it was because we'd found another with a MM on the front, and I bought it for DH as early birthday present.  His birthday is next Friday, but we've done it already.  Well mostly, he's done it.

Not the best quality, but on the table in this corner of our loungeroom is quite dark most of the day, so that is the light shining off the puzzle and box.  We thought it may have some of the elements of the first, but no, it is to celebrate the 20th anniversary of WASGIJ's.

LASTLY, A BIT FROM OUR RATHER FORLORN GARDEN.

A poor butterfly I rescued from the bird's water bowl, which must have later flown away.

The roses are looking good at times.

My tiger lily actually flowered despite the heat, after not flowering for the last two years.

Ah, I think that is enough chattering & chuntering from me.  We are off to the Lost Trades Fair tomorrow, so need an early night.  It was car club meeting today, got home well after lunchtime and bustled around making blueberry mini muffins, picnic lunch, folding clothes, preparing tea, then this post.  Think I'm ready for a much needed sit-down break.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend, take care & huggles.

FIRE UPDATE.

Thank you for all your thoughts on our fires that I mentioned in the comments.  I decided to put together a post about the weekend that we've been through here in Victoria, Australia. 
Not wanting to go near the fires to interfere with the many fire fighters, volunteers & other personnel involved  in the ongoing operations, I've relied on the internet to supply a few photos, mainly from the news channels.  I was trying to find decent maps, but not much luck (or tech knowledge), so I've supplied 2 & although I don't exactly mention where we live, this time I just may, to give you an idea of where they are related to us.
Today, the smoke is really thick & I've tried my best to take a few photos & the situation immediately west of us, has eased somewhat, but we are in for, the weather bureau thinks, a windy change this afternoon.  The fires in the high country have worsened throughout the day, though.

MAPS.

 This map shows an overview of the eastern part of the state & we live in the mustard area of Baw Baw.  I have tried to mark in where the fires are.  You should be able to see Bunyip fire on the far left.
I've marked 2 others (not clearly though), to the right with a ring & little arrows.

This one shows the Bunyip complex of fires all started from lightening strikes on Friday.  As we've had so little rain this summer, our bushland/forests are tinder dry.  The green road snaking through from Melbourne is the Prince's Freeway, the main thoroughfare to  the east coast.  It has been closed now between Drouin & Pakenham since Friday, along with the railway which runs parallel to it. They are running trains from the east to Warragul (us), then buses to Melbourne, the long way round or from Pakenham on the electrified service. 

A FEW PHOTOS.

I tried making a collage of a few from the internet.  Theses are from the Bunyip fires.  In the top right one, you can see a helicopter with a bucket of water hanging below, which is just one method of the many that they use.
Now for a few I've taken from home on Saturday & today.

                                           Looking down our street & beyond at lunchtime..

                                                                            Saturday.                   

                                                                            Today.
On a lighter note, we've tried to stay busy & not be too uptight.  We can't go anywhere, unless we detour, but don't want to hinder the people who need to travel to Melbourne or elsewhere, so keeping out of the way is best.
ME.
I've worked on this quilt & will show also, my messy way of designing/sewing.

                  Nearly all sewn up on Saturday, but it got way too hot in my sewing room.

Sunday saw the main body of the quilt sewn together & testing the border.  I really think it needs a small spacer of a pinky/mauve or pale blue, before the focus fabric border?

One of the weird ways I work, with the graphpad drawn design on the floor surrounded by all manner of bits'n'bobs, including the fabric I was working with.  I've realised I must have designed this all of 10+ years ago.  I've not been able to find the exact same block, although some come close.
And, what was I watching on the TV?

A DVD called, "A Walk in the Countryside", which is beautiful scenery in the UK, set to music.

K. was busy making me this little beauty, that I've already named Whooty.  He's not finished yet, as he needs varnishing, but I just had to take a photo.
Sometime through the week I'll compile a crafty catchup of what we've got up to over the last couple of months.  I  also need to post a day we had out, before our next big one, which is the Lost Trades Fair with our DD & family & also her in-laws. 
Before I go, I did snap this earlier today.  I've tried to capture the doves or sparrows at the feeder many times, but they always fly off when I go to snap them.  Wheeeeeeeee,  I got 2.

That's all from me & hopefully this fire weather will ease soon & we are all praying for rain, though the weather bureau are saying there is none for the next week or so.  Please, we need it!!!!
Take care all & huggles.

FEBRUARY PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT 2019.

Sorry everyone, but I published this last Friday by accident and have had trouble with getting  it to post as I scheduled, so hopefully this will work.  We've been having i'net maintenance "AGAIN" & I've been so, so, so hot today & very lethargic.  It was 40.8deg this arvo & the weekend isn't going to be much better.
Anyway, let's see if this appears.

Here we are again linking up with Kate over at I live, I love, I craft for the monthly hunt.

I have found this one extremely difficult & the words may be limited.  My mood over the last few months hasn't always been up to scratch with little brother's health woes, DH & his cold, missing family so much these days, no close friends near where we live & some who have difficult times ahead.  The weather lately hasn't played ball either, with some weird extremes & not much gardening happening, which I do miss.  The walking has also been on the wayward side.  Must start remedying some of this soon.  I sometimes wonder why I blog, but the friends I've made out there in blogland, are so very supportive, so I thank you all for taking time to read what I ramble on about.
Here goes......................

1.  SOUND/HEARING.

This is the Panopticon known as The Singing Ringing Tree outside Burnley in Lancashire and it certainly sounds amazing on a windy day.  Photo taken in 2016.

2.  SMELL/SCENT.

The jasmine in full flower on our pergola up at No. 4, our old house.  The perfume of this climber is sometime overpowering, but very beautiful.

3.  FEEL/TOUCH.

Now to tell the truth, I don't know what this actually is.  When we go walking along some of the beaches in the South Gippsland area, they are washed up on the sand at low tide.  I very carefully picked one up last time & took this photo.  They basically look & feel like warm, firm jelly.  Not sure whether they are a living creature or whatever?  I didn't hurt it I hope & placed it back again, very carefully.

4.  TASTE.

Home grown TASTES best.  Although my garden has been quite neglected this year, a photo from 2 years ago, will fit the brief.

5.  SEE/SIGHT.

To me, this is a wonderful "SIGHT".  Ribblehead Viaduct, which is just so Yorkshire, a place I dearly miss, although I'm a born & bred Aussie.

6.  MY OWN CHOICE.

A bowl of colourful hellebore flowers, taken a few years ago at Post Office Farm Nursery, where they specialise in these plants.  There has been a lot of "Hellebore" talk amongst my UK blogpals lately & I just couldn't help myself.
OK.  That's my lot for this month.  Do hope you enjoy & thanks Kate for making me really think this month & hope I've come up trumps.
Take care all & huggles,
Susan.