The Couch Quilt Top

Well, Christmas is over - quite a pleasant day it was too. Not too hot which was a blessing, especially in the kitchen. Not that we had much hot food - in fact baked potatoes were the only things cooked on the day. All the family was there, with no dramas.

Here is the finished quilt top for the Couch Quilt, as it has come to be known. This project has been notoriously difficult to photograph. The light is bad during the day as it is overcast with showers, and at night the flash makes it look lighter than it is. The flash picks up the lightest parts of each fabric and accentuates them. Also my camera is far from great. I did put in a few lighter blocks, but made them less obvious by putting red in the centre rather than a dark brown fabric.

The most worrying block is the greyish one with the brown diagonal lines on it, with the pink centre. It is the experimental block I made before I started the quilt, and although it is brownish, it stands out a bit, not just in the photo. I have two other blocks I could replace it with, but I'm not too keen on undoing that area to put another block in.

I have been watching/listening to the cricket today. The Boxing Day Test Match is always popular, and Australia is playing India this year. In India they say that there is only one sport, and that cricket rivals religion in that country. There has also been a lot of talk about Australia's domination of the game worldwide, and what should be done about it. All the other cricketing nations ought to train harder - that's what ought to be done about it! Poor losers. However, I must admit that things looked a bit grim after the first day's play, with India's bowlers making a meal of the Australian side. But, today, Australia returned the favour, and we are now over 100 runs ahead. I know Tracey will be as relieved as I am. She is also a "cricket tragic". Then there is the sailing to look at.

Quite a cornucopia of sport, luckily, to distract me from the fact that everything you could want to buy in the shops is on sale. In fact it was reported on the news tonight that so much is being spent, mainly on the plastic, that inflation is tipped to rise to 4%, which could trigger an interest rate rise in February. Amazing, isn't it? Only 8 weeks or so ago people were crying poor because interest rates had gone up 0.25%, and now we (Australians) are spending billions of dollars in the shops. Hard to come to grips with at times. Anyway, I'm not there. I'd rather spend my limited funds on fabric - I've got my priorities right!

Fabric

I couldn't manage to stop myself buying a little bit of fabric for the latest quilt. I went to a fabric shop nearby called the Bargain Box, which has dress materials and quilting fabric. The lady who owns it quilts, and sells all her quilting fabrics half price at A$12 per metre. Still expensive by US standards, but there's nothing like some instant gratification!

She has quite a few reproductions, but not the latest fabrics, and only assorted fabrics of different ranges. She is having a 20% off sale between Christmas and New Year, so I may have to go and have another look...

Tonight I am going to some friend's for dinner, so I have to go to the Mainland today. I thought I might take the opportunity to do some geocaching, as I have found 92, and although a lot of people say "it's not about the numbers" (as they scurry around clocking up their 1000 mark), I feel suddenly that 100 finds is just over the horizon. So if I can find 8 today I'll be there, but that may be too many for me to find in 1 afternoon. Still I'll go and look for some and see how I go.

Otherwise, Christmas looms, and I don't have to worry about it as all gifts are bought, I have bought the food I need to take on Christmas Day to my Sister's, so that's that. Too easy! The weather forecast for Tuesday is 30 deg C (86 F) with afternoon showers, so hopefully it won't be too hot and humid. We will be having lunch outside in the BBQ area, while the kids jump on their new trampoline, I'm told.

Couch Quilt

I can't seem to get a good photo of these blocks tonight. They look so different when I look at them with the naked eye. Much darker... and bigger. Perhaps I'll try again in the morning.

I have about 43 of these made, and I'm only going to make 49. They're not all up on the wall obviously, but this is a good representation. The neutral one is only an audition - I was thinking of making 3 or 4 neutral ones with a dark centre, but I'm not sure.

This is all from the stash. I have the urge to buy some plain brown or coffee coloured plain, but the budget is tight, and I'm sure I can get by with what's in the cupboard. When looking at them on the wall, I get the feeling that it would be best not to overthink it, and just sew them all together and it will be OK. I'll have another look at it in the morning.

Here is a photo of Ms Chloe reclining on the spare bed, who has graduated from Dog Obedience 101 tonight, far from trained, but much improved. She was the best there, so that doesn't say much for the others! They really train the owner who then has to train the dog, but she is responding well, and will get much better with ongoing training. We picked up Simon, who survived the tick incident without any symptoms thank doG, from my friend's place on the way home - he has been going there while I've been out with Chloe as he yelps and cries if left alone. Chloe celebrated her graduation by disappearing into the dark of Jettie's vegetable garden when it was time to go home, and wouldn't come to get in the car. Great! It turns out she found a bone in there, and had to be flushed out to go home. Once a beagle, always a beagle I'm afraid...

Oh What a Night...

Oh what a night, all right. I was going to bed last night at about 1.30am, when I found an engorged paralysis tick on Simon's shoulder. Panic Stations! I tore downstairs for the tick brochure on the fridge, then the tweezers, and removed it trying not to squeeze the toxin into Simon. He yelped (I've had one and they are really painful to remove), and gave me the Death Stare. My mind did a fast rewind through the day looking for symptoms - breathing? Ok. Swallowing? Ok. Vomiting? Did I hear someone having a chuck outside about dinnertime?? Walking? Ok. I rang the 24hr Vet and they advised me to keep him as quiet as possible, and watch closely for symptoms over the next day. Also to check for another one - good advice as I found another one in his groin.

The level of co-operation to remove the second one was quite low, as he knew it was going to hurt, and at one stage I thought of waking the neighbours to help me, but after I wrapped a crepe bandage in a figure 8 around his neck and mouth, leaned on him and pulled it off, we were right. He let out another (muffled) yelp, and tried to take off. Luckily I had closed the door, and he was trapped, but I was thinking to myself that he was far from 'kept quiet' during that little procedure. I checked and checked him all over, checked Chloe a few times, then went to bed with the alarm set for every 2 hours through the night.

The bottom line is that we have been very very lucky, and all plans for the weekend have been cancelled so I can stay home and watch him. His normal daily routine consists of sleeping and following me from room to room, so if I leave the room for a quick dash downstairs I just shut the door so he can't follow me.

We have been able to have a big sleep in (awakened every 2 hours), so I am not too exhausted, but I still feel a bit anxious that symptoms could yet develop. What a drama. Made worse of course by the fact that it isn't just a 'jump in the car and off to the Vet' when you live on a small island, but wait til the first Waterbus (4.40 am on a Saturday, 6am on a Sunday) somehow getting 19kg (42lb) of dog down 2 flights of stairs, into the car, out of the car and onto the boat, walk to the car park to get into the other car, then a 15 min drive to the Vet, when he is supposed to be "kept quiet". There is another alternative, as a Vet lives on the next island who will pick you up in her private boat and take you to the Mainland, but it still is quite a carry-on.

So fingers crossed, and to all of you who have pets, anti-tick treatment is worth nothing - examination of the entire dog or cat every day is the only chance you have.

Onto quilting news. Inspired by my new couch and Diary of a Mad Fabriholic, I have started a new quilt. It is hard to get a photo of the couch as it is quite a dark brown, but it is a great improvement on the 40 year old hand-me-down I had, that was in poor repair.

It hasn't been easy to get a photo of these blocks either, as I havent' had them up on the wall yet. Thought some of you might enjoy the sight of a little bit of sunshine in photo 2.

I am using the brownest browns primarily from the Repro stash, with red, mauve and pink centres. I learnt my lesson from the blocks that have the fabric beside the coloured bit around the wrong way, and have since cut them out differently. The blocks are 10 inches finished, so hopefully it will go together quickly. This quilt is to sit on the new couch, providing something to sit on in the hot weather so the backs of the legs don't stick to the leather, to lie under in cold weather, and to keep dog toenails off it, as they will get up on it when my back is turned.

I am enjoying looking at all the blogs that have snow and 'proper Christmas' stuff to look at - it feels hard to get enthused about it in the heat. If you have children I expect it is entirely different. School is out for the summer as of yesterday, so I will have to go and visit my sister's house to get some Christmas Spirit. The family is going there for Christmas this year, so that lets me off the hook for another 12 months. I think my turn must be coming around again.

PS what is going on with my header I just don't know. Last week the frame had gone from around the photo. Now it's back. Then the last word jumped off the photo - now it's back up. Now the photo is to one side of the frame instead of being in the centre. It's not me...

Weather Report

I've just looked at Joyce's blog and she has a weather report there, with words like "Temp falling to minus 21 in the afternoon. Wind chill minus 34!!"

This is mine: Cloudy periods with a shower or two. Moderate SE winds.
Max 27 (81F) min 19 (66F).
UV index 13 (extreme) UV alert from 07.40 to 15.50.
Relative humidity 70%.

It is just after 2pm and I have been doing some vaccuuming as my new couch is coming today (at last!) and I had sweat dripping off me in minutes. It's ok if you sit still, but any time you do anything, the humidity kills you. I wouldn't mind a bit of that wind chill when I'm going for a walk later!

Talking About the Stash

There is always a lot of talk on quilting blogs about using up the stash. I love fabric, and have never been tempted to go on a self-inflicted Fabric Diet. The only thing that sends me into a zero fabric buying period is lack of funds.

I certainly bought my fair share of duds when I first started quilting. For quite some time I couldn't toss anything out, even though I knew I wouldn't use it, especially as fabric is so expensive here. I still feel that way a bit, as I often read about quilters who use their ugly fabrics in a scrap quilt and the ugliness miraculously goes away, so you never know when it might get used up. I was reading Mereth's blog today, and she shows a quilt just like that.

Then I discovered the joys of fabric buying from the US via the internet. So cheap! Then I got smart and started selling half of what I bought on ebay to pay for the half that I kept. Free fabric - can't go wrong there. But of course that leads to having to think about what would sell and what wouldn't, and there starts the complicated business of buying for the market. I quickly learnt that just because I like it, doesn't mean other people would - in fact I was constantly amazed by what would sell and what wouldn't.

So then I found I was left with fabric I didn't like. I quickly figured out that I had to buy fabric that the customers might like, that I also didn't mind being left with if it didn't sell. In the meantime though, I ended up with some fabric I didn't really want.

I stopped selling in the end as the competition was becoming fierce and ebay put up its fees, so it wasn't worth it anymore. About 6 months ago, I was in need of a bit of extra cash, so I went through the stash and dragged out everything I didn't really want, and listed it all on ebay quite cheaply. I sold most of it, and then spent the money on a big internet fabric buy, just for me! So much for needing the money for other things - but I did need fabric too! Here is what I bought.

So now I have quite a big stash I feel - big enough for me, but most of it is fabric that I like and will use, or else fabric that I'm not in love with, but could use in a scrap or charity quilt. The 'over-pink flowery number' springs to mind.

Also my tastes have changed and broadened over the last few years. I just love the reproduction fabrics, the extra benefit with them is that they never go out of date. I have a large Japanese fabric collection (container top left of photo that is only partly visible), and also some more modern fabrics like Kaffe and Amy Butler. I have the black and white bins, the plain fabric bins, and a few other bits and pieces, mainly brights and neutrals. The 1800s fabric is by far the largest category, and I love it all. I can spend time just looking at it all, refolding and rearranging. I'm also now trying to keep my scraps and strips sorted out, and have even cut a few fabrics into strips that I don't think I'll use in a particular quilt. I've started an orphan block bin too.

So no voluntary Fabric Diets for this girl. What happened to Tazzie could happen to me - and we don't want that!

Nearly There

Nearly finished. Just have to add a few corners, and the borders. I have the pink for the outer border, but no blue for the inner border as yet. Might have to do some shopping after all.

Can you have 2 humility blocks? I'm feeling pretty humble after this experience! I've just found a second block turned the wrong way - it's right in the middle. The quilt should be nice and big when finished, as the centre hangs just over the sides and bottom of the bed.

What a relief to have the main part done. I must be the only quilter in the world that can stuff up a 4patch - is there any easier a pattern?

I might do the corners, then have the rest of the night off and watch some TV, not that there is much on now that Christmas is almost upon us.

Funny Christmas Story

I just read the funniest Christmas story on Kim's blog. I know some of you have already read it, but I couldn't help myself - it's priceless! Scroll down to the pink lady shown in the post ...

I can't seem to find the Christmas spirit here. It's hard when it's so hot and humid, and I will be going to my Sister's house for Christmas so there doesn't seem any point in decorating the house. Some of the neighbours have their Christmas lights up, so I may put my fairy lights on the deck railing, but that will be it I'm afraid.

As for the 4Patch, I've decided to "pull myself together" ( a bit of a family joke) and crack on with it. I have resurrected the disaster from the other day, and made it into a corner that is 90 deg from the original corner, and I will adjust the lengths of the rows I have already sewn together. It isn't much of a photo, but this is the bit I saved. There is one block in there around the wrong way, but I have decided that it can be my 'humility' block, as God knows I could never make something perfect even if I tried! It's not going to beat me.

Otherwise, not much to report. We had a big storm at 2.30am this morning which woke me up with the thunder and lightning, and the torrential downpour. The tanks will all be full, and we will have another humid day today. I had to get up and run around closing all the windows, as it wasn't expected. The sky was clear when I went to bed. I've been for my morning walk with Simon - Chloe had a relapse this morning and wouldn't come - so back to square one. When I got home she let me put the lead on her, but it didn't seem right to reward her for that.

So the rest of the morning will be devoted to the 4patch, so hopefully I will make some significant progress. I'll have to make the rest of the quilt top then join it to this piece.

4 Patch Disaster

Oh it's a disaster! I just haven't been paying enough attention. I sewed and sewed at one of the corners of the 4 patch, then I looked at it and thought 'hang on - something's wrong!' How did I not notice? The longest row I had added on had all the 4 patches pointing the wrong way, and some of the ones below it were wrong too. So I took off the long double row, took off the end bits with the triangles, thinking I just had to turn it around. I turned it round, and it still wasn't right! Huh?? I look again, turn it again, scratch my head, look again... What I've done is sew all of those blocks you can see in the corner bit turned 90 deg compared with the blocks in the rows I've already sewn. So to cut a long story short, the whole corner bit has to be dismantled and the 4 patches turned 90 degrees! Sob sob sob. What was I thinking? Or what was I thinking about, as it obviously wasn't the quilt...

I'm so mad at myself. The whole project has gone like this - maybe I ought to put it aside to 'rest', and work on something a bit less complicated (what could be less complicated than a 4 patch one might ask?) Perhaps the string quilt that still hangs on the wall?

Or maybe I should just get changed and go to the shop and buy a big bar of chocolate and forget about the whole lot. I could look at fabric sites, but I have already put the Scarlett Sturbridges into and out of an online shopping basket twice this week, giving myself a stern lecture about the sad state of my budget and the need to buy Christmas presents, pay the Car Rego, phone and internet, and my parking bills. Too depressing for words!

I have already done some gardening today, and we have just had an afternoon storm so everything's wet, and I finished my book last night. What a state of affairs!? I think I'm leaning back towards the chocolate idea...

Picked some long beans today (some call them snake beans), and I've given some away as I have a bumper crop. The cucumbers are producing, I have a few pumpkins that have come up out of the compost, and I have some lettuce and rocket growing under shade cloth. I have 1 passionfruit on the vine, and some more cherry tomatoes coming on.

I'm trying to encourage good bugs to the garden with the flowers that you see there. I buy seeds from Green Harvest, and they have a mix called "Good Bug Mix" which has marigolds, cosmos, queen anne's lace, coriander and all sorts of plants that encourage bees and the good bugs to eat all the bad bugs. We only like the 'right sort' of bugs to visit here!

Chloe is doing well - we went to Dog Training Class last night, and the Training Lady was quite impressed with her progress. She has a lot of experience with beagles having been a beagle handler at the Quarantine Service, and she likened the white tip of the tail visible in the grass to a beagle version of giving the owner "the finger". I had to laugh - so true. Chloe showed up the smarty pants Border Collies, and that is always an achievement!

They each had a large bone today, so all is well in beagle land, and they are now both fast asleep in the room with me.

Well, off to get that chocolate I think!