I Can't Believe It - It's Raining Again

It's such a lovely day today - showers coming across the Bay all day. Such a great day for being inside with the light on. I've spent a fair bit of time on the computer, quilted and sewn the binding on Chloe's little quilt, and made some ricotta cheese. I've never done it before, but thought I'd give it a go after reading about it in a magazine. It's funny how you see a group of things that relate to each other now and then. Mum gave me a yoghurt making kit recently, and then I saw this article which talked about making ricotta, yoghurt and soft cheese from yoghurt. As you are away from the shops here, it's good to be able to make stuff like that occasionally, so I gave it a go.

I now understand why fresh ricotta is so expensive, as you don't get much cheese from your milk. This is what I got from 1 litre of low fat milk, but I think that I could've maybe got more if I had added some more vinegar/lemon juice. I had a look in my vegetarian cookbooks and in a Hare Krishna one I have it said I should add more lemon juice til the whey is clear, whereas mine was still a bit milky. It was really interesting reading, as it talks about why cows are sacred in that religion, mainly because they produce milk which is a major protein source, and that milk is good for your physical and spiritual health. A cow that feels happy and content because she knows she will not be killed once her milk runs dry, gives better sweeter milk, so they say. Interesting stuff.

Anyway, the next thing I'll try is to make it from LongLife milk, which would be ideal. I also want to make some yoghurt cheese, which is just yoghurt with the water drained out of it. You can add herbs and spices to it, or use it as the base for dips and so on. I feel in the mood for cooking - must be the gloomy day, but there isn't much food here to cook. I have a bit of a tomato harvest from the garden, so I might cook them up. The egg or Roma tomatoes look great, but they're a bit floury inside which I don't like that much, so I've been baking them along with the cherry tomatoes with some olive oil and herbs to make a sauce for pasta.

I have been doing a little sewing today too, and have finished the quilting on Chloe's little quilt. It's a really quick job and I've put the binding on too. Just the hand sewing to do now which I might get done tonight. My eyes, my right eye in particular, has really deteriorated lately, so I may have to start using my reading glasses more often. I'm still a bit in denial about it, as I've always had perfect eyesight, and can't get used to the idea that I'm getting old. Plus I prefer to not have the house brightly lit - mood lighting works for me - so that doesn't help with night-time sewing. I'll have to get a lamp just for sewing I suppose with a 100 watt bulb in it!

It's starting to get dark now as it is 6pm and still raining. The dogs are both asleep here on the spare bed, and I could have a lie down too, but I'd better not - too late in the day now. Better think about dinner and have an early night I think.

Travel Bug Tracking

Just a quick post as a few people have asked about watching our "I've Got the Quilting Bug" Travel Bugs.

I have not released mine yet, but I will this week, and Holly's has been picked up by someone but not yet put back in a geocache. The waiting is going to be torture!

If you would like to check in on them occasionally, go to this page http://www.geocaching.com/track . It is the Trackables page and is appropriately headed "Live vicariously through inanimate objects".

All you need to do is type in- I've Got the Quilting Bug -in the 'search by name' field, and they will both come up together. So far they have both travelled 0 km.

Maybe I'm Back...

I might just have the quilting mojo back. This is the little top I have done for Chloe's bed - I'll just bind it in red. I had to wonder to myself if I washed the red fabric, but I think I did. It had the look of a piece of fabric that had been washed then ironed, so here's hoping.

I even did a bit of blog surfing just before, and saw some lovely Repro fabrics that I instantly desired. My mouse went to Start-Favourites-fabric stores and hovered over Z & S, then I thought NO! The budget is tight and I don't need any more fabric (well not at the moment). How strong was that? I'm just not even going to look.

Tomorrow I'm going out on the Bay. Mum and Dad have a boat and they are swinging by the jetty at 10am to pick me up for a day out. I have even been thinking that I should take some hand work to do, but my big hexagon quilt is too big for that now. I did start some small 1930s hexagons ages ago, so I might try and find them tonight. I must be getting better...

I've taken my Q4P badge off too. I can't really keep up with the ring requirements at the moment, and now I find that it is folding all together. It seems someone is going to start the ring all over again using the same name, but I actually feel fairly good about making the decision to drop off. I know this is a quilting blog, but I would like to be able to post more often about some other things, so it's all for the best 'for me'.

It's a Start

Well, as I say "it's a start". I forced myself to start sewing by giving myself permission to sew for just 10 minutes. Did the trick. I have been making crumb blocks from scraps for a little quilt for Chloe's dog bed. The photo shows the 4 blocks and I plan to put the red in the centre between them.

So, I'm on my way again. The rain helped too I think, as I find it hard to sew when it is hot and humid.

A bit short of time so this will not be much of a post, but I'm also excited to report that my Travel Bug arrived today, and I have assembled the components tonight and it's ready to start its journey to Oregon to meet Holly . The photo isn't the best as the flash is bouncing off the plastic, so tomorrow I will take a better one. Holly's Travel Bug is already on its way, having been picked up by a geocacher whose Grandmother is a quilter, so fingers crossed for them both to reach their destinations safely. When I activate it I'll put up its number so it can be watched if anyone's interested.

I see in the US that people track dollar bills by their number - what next? The site is called "Where's George?". Amazing the stuff that goes on out there that you don't have a clue about.

Have to dash, will post more when I finish Chloe's quilt (said in confident tone!)

Still Slack

I still haven't touched the sewing machine. I don't know what's wrong with me. The Quilt Show is on this week and I'm not even going. It's raining on and off today, so maybe that might motivate me - rainy weather is quilting weather to me. Shame it doesn't rain that often! I might try and make some string blocks later.

I thought I'd make Chloe a little quilt from scraps for her bed, as the cushion she has is really a winter thing. I probably just need to start on something, anything, to get back into the groove.

It was interesting to read the responses to my geocache post - Tami have you found one yet? I'm still looking for them when I can. Here is the keyring that will be attached to my 'Got the Quilting Bug' Travel Bug to send in Holly's general direction. I am still waiting for the actual travel bug to arrive - something else I ordered is on Back Order, so the whole order has been delayed. It will be fun to see how far they go. I'm tempted to release mine at the Airport so it gets going to the US straight away, but then it would be nice for it to travel a bit in Australia. I think it would be more fun watching it go to places in the US though. A local cacher here has just started a similar swap with a cacher in Portugal (I think), but their travel bugs have to go to a particular cache in Greenland (!!) join up, travel together to Portugal, then back to Australia. Sounds a bit ambitious to me, but you never know.

Otherwise there isn't much happening around here. Life goes on regardless, doesn't it?

If You Hide It, They will Come

I have fallen for the Geocaching Addiction, thanks to Holly from And Sew It Is. I was asked in the comments from my last post what it is, so I will give you the short version, as it isn't really quilting related. Well there is a little bit later on.

Geocaching started in 2000 I think, when the US Govt made it possible for civilians to get an accurate GPS signal and fix. Before that only the military could get an accurate fix. After this happened a guy in the US thought "if I hide something in the woods and post the GPS co-ords on my website, will anyone use their GPSr to look for it?" Someone did, and the whole thing started from there. Now there are Geocaches hidden all over the world, and a bit of a subculture of people who go looking for them, just for the thrill of the find. Once you have a handheld GPSr and a way to log onto the internet, the rest is free. The original cache was buried near where Holly lives, and she has been there.

Geocachers hide a geocache, give the GPS co-ordinates, rate the difficulty of the terrain and "the hide", log it on the internet, and other geocachers go and look for it. Sometimes they are at a beautiful scenic spot at the end of a long bushwalk, other times in a suburban park or even in the centre of the City. The other issue is that it's important that the general population (or 'muggles' as per Harry Potter) don't see you extract the cache from its hiding spot, nor see you put it back. This can be the hardest part, sometimes requiring 3 or more visits to the hiding place to grab it without detection.

The cache can be the size of a thumbnail, magnetically attached to something (see Holly's blog and the bridge), a 500ml plastic food container, an ammo box up to a 20 litre drum hidden in the bush. Depending on the size there are different things inside - if tiny there is just a log book to sign your name - up to toys for the kids to swap, or even dressup clothes and a disposable camera to take your photo all dressed up! Some are intentionally easy to find, others practically impossible.

When you've found it (or not found it) you log it on the internet, describing how it went. Some logs are really funny, others give little clues, others record a find only.

The other part of it is that there are Geocoins and Travel Bugs that travel from cache to cache, moved by people then logged on the internet. This way the owner, and anyone else interested, can follow its progress by its trackable code. The red Chinese Flag coin I found in a cache has as its goal to continuously travel between the US and China. I knew of a cacher going to China so I put it in the cache at the airport and she picked it up and it's now in China. The Berlin Bear Travel Bug (above) started his journey in Berlin in 2002 and his goal was to reach a town in the South island of New Zealand where the owner's brother lives. I passed it to a visiting Kiwi cacher, and he took it to NZ, where he has nearly reached his destination. I also moved this lovely coin - there are some really beautiful ones.

Now to the Quilting Content of this post. Holly and I have decided to each send a Travel Bug off, hopefully to reach each other. She lives in Oregon, USA and I live in Queensland, Australia. We are going to attach a quilty keyring to our travel bugs and call them "Got the Quilting Bug" North and South Hemisphere, to tell between them, and let them loose. We can follow their progress on the internet.

As my 8 yo nephew and I were scrabbling in the bushes the other day looking for a geocache, my Father who was waiting nearby told us he thought we were mad. But my answer to him was that it's a bit of harmless fun, that gets you off the computer (good for kids these days) and into the outside world. It's amazing how far you'll walk if you think that cache is just around the next bend! Lots of families do it together, and there is friendly rivalry between people to be the first to find a newly hidden cache, sometimes running into each other in the bushes at 2am!

So that's Geocaching. What intrigued me was that I found out there were 2 geocaches on the 2 x 1 km island where I live. The thought of these people coming here especially to find them, doing so secretly possibly right under my nose, just about killed me. I had to know. If you want - or "need" - to know, go to www.geocaching.com and have a look. There is a feature where you can download a little thing that puts all the geocaches in the world onto Google Earth, so wherever you look you can see where they are. To do this you have to log in, it's free, but I suspect if you go that far you will probably end up hooked anyway...

Bored With Me

I'm feeling a bit bored with me - not bored - just bored with me. It's very hard to write on your blog when you don't want to do the things you normally do (quilt), not to mention when you don't want to talk, think or write about yourself. I did try to blog a few nights ago, but blogger was so uncooperative that I gave up in disgust.

I don't feel like cooking, and have been living on strawberries and raisin toast, with the odd banana, glass of milk or olive thrown in. I truly love olives.

I've even gone off the garden a bit, as I took some photos the other day, and was disappointed when I was reminded that the camera doesn't lie. I see the vision, the camera doesn't. I'm trying to keep at the vege garden though, as the price of veges here is so scandalous that I really must try to grow some.

I will show this before and after shot though of the front garden to show that things are growing. This is 10 months growth. I had to move the waterpot and put a plant there instead, as the cane toads were jumping in, and I couldn't take the stress of having to get them out. Too low to the ground.

The other problem is that the wretched Holly (grin) from And Sew It Is has got me hooked on Geocaching. I promise not to turn this into a geocaching blog - Holly is doing really well with hers, mainly because she is actually quilting as well, unlike me!

I'm quite enjoying it - who'd have thought I'd enjoy sneaking around in the bushes so much? In fact what I really enjoy, is sneaking around in urban areas - I think I missed my calling. I should've been a burglar. I've met a few local people that are also into it, and find that everywhere I go I have some caches planned 'just in case I get time'. I think that's a bad sign.

I took Chloe to dog training class tonight, and managed to squeeze a find in on the way, but on the way home there was a big storm hitting, and Chloe and I were so traumatised that I resisted... She was fitted with a head collar tonight - like a Halti or Gentle Leader for those who know dogs, but with a little spring adjustment so that it fits better. Nevertheless, dogs usually hate them when they first wear them, and Miss Chloe was no exception. She tried to get it off, rubbed it on the ground, refused to walk etc - rather distressing, but I know that they usually get used to them, and even by the time we got home she was a little better.

Still, I worry that she has only been here a few weeks and is just starting to settle in, now I torture her with this.

But if she will wear it, walks will be more enjoyable, which means we will go more often. We'll see how it goes, as there is an alternative harness type thing, and if need be we will swap to that.

She is so pretty, and is a perfect dog considering that she has been pushed from pillar to post.

Another Slump

Just can't seem to get into the sewing at the moment. I am still doing some sewing to try and keep the many projects alive, but nothing exciting to show. I am still sewing pink squares to 4 patches, still doing the pink/orange and lime/aqua string blocks (19 now) and not much else to be honest.

I read a comment from Elin today about my Civil War Diary Quilt, which she is about to start, and that made me think that maybe if I made another block for that it might get me doing something different.

The canine visitors have gone home, but may be back this weekend. Another pair of dog lovers and I are sharing the responsibility this week, so I am to ring on Friday and see if they need a rest from it all. Chloe is doing well, and we are starting some basic training classes next week to see if she will walk better on the lead, and just be a bit happier and less anxious if she knows exactly what she is supposed to be doing. She is in the room with me at the moment, moving from bed to floor, trying to find somewhere cool to sleep. She has a warm cushion on her bed, so maybe I need to make her some cool cotton quilts to lie on. She is a nest builder, so likes to have a few layers to puff up.

Other than that I am trying to keep the small vege garden alive as the cost of vegetables here is absolutely scandalous at the moment. The boring old round tomatoes were 3 times the normal cost this week, so I refused to buy any. I have cherry tomatoes in the garden so I am eating those instead. I have some more cos lettuce coming on, and the snake beans are up, so as long as I can keep the water up to them all should be well.

I put a birdbath in some weeks ago, and am pleased to report that I have finally had some visitors. I'm told I was being tested by the local birds to see if I was going to be a good birdbath owner and keep the water supply constant - it seems I have passed. Oh the responsibility of it all!

While my sewing is in a slump I might take some garden photos and bore you silly with those. You have been warned.

Dog Sleepover

We are having a 4 day dog sleepover, and frankly it has been semi- chaos. Neddy and Lucy belong to my friends on the island who have International visitors, so have gone away for a few days. It's school holidays so you'd never get them into a kennel, and anyway, nobody likes sending their dogs to the kennel, me included. So I offered to look after them, and now that we have sorted a few things out, all is well.

Lucy (the big brown kelpie) is the top dog, and likes to make sure that Neddy doesn't have too much fun. Neddy is a maniac, who wakes up at 4.30 am and seems to keep on going til bedtime. I didn't quite believe them when they said he would be bringing me presents at 4.30am, but now I do. My fluffy slippers, Chloe's toys etc. Then failed attempts to get on the bed, then successful attempts landing on my head. So last night Ned and Chloe slept in the loungeroom, but I don't think Chloe was impressed being sent down there with him. They are friends though, and play together like fools part of the time. This is Chloe and Ned, with Chloe on Lucy's bed which I don't think she wants to give back.

Lucy and Simon slept with me, the first night it was one on either side with me squashed in the middle, but last night I insisted on having my own side, and there were no problems.

Feeding time rivaled the zoo, but now we have one feeding time for all dogs - no chance to be precious here! Then to cap it off, I walked them today. Ha ha ha. The good thing is that Lucy walks off the lead, but this means you have to be watching for the dog catcher. The other 3 were a joke, so it will be 2 dogs only tomorrow.

As for sewing - who has time after supervising this lot? Plus it's getting hot now, and all I feel like doing is lying down having dozy afternoon naps, which isn't good. The day's nearly over and I've hardly done a thing. Oh well, I suppose I should enjoy it while I can. Maybe I could do some sewing tonight. Maybe. If you have come this far, sorry about the lack of sewing content.

Heartstrings Blocks

It is pink month at Heartstrings, so today I made a couple of blocks to get me back into sewing. As the end of the month is rapidly approaching, it was a good motivator to get started. It's amazing how once you start something you soon feel like moving onto something else.

As I am cycling around between 3 projects at the moment, it isn't very thrilling to keep seeing more of the same everytime I make a few more blocks of something.

I really enjoy making the string blocks - the big String Quilt I made some time ago I did without a foundation, but this method isn't really that much extra work. It certainly makes the blocks stable, whereas the long panels of strings were a bit stretchy.

Nothing much else happening really, just the little trials of life. I went to the Mainland yesterday as I was feeling a bit stircrazy, plus I really needed some petrol for the Island car, and I wanted to register Chloe and to do this I had to go into the Council office. You only keep the minimum petrol in the Island car, as it isn't uncommon to have it siphoned if it is down at the jetty at night, and I tend to run with the fuel gauge on empty, just below empty, half below empty, getting pretty empty, and SH*T it could run out any minute. Well it was on the latter.

When you bring petrol over on the WaterBus the deckie puts it on the front deck as it isn't allowed in the boat. The big risk then of course is forgetting to get it from them and off it goes to the next island. I often sit there saying the "don't forget the petrol" mantra, but yesterday I met Kirsten on the boat and as we were getting off we were talking and I was offering her a lift. We got in the car, got a bit up the road, and the car stutters and stops. It's dark, and my first thought is sh*t I've run out of petrol, closely followed by SH*T I've left the petrol on the boat! Aaargggh.

It could have been worse - I was quite close to the jetty and the car did actually start again so I was able to go back. Poor Kirsten had to walk, and I had to wait 40 mins for the boat to come around again to get my fuel. I must get sewing, but Kenny is on TV tonight which is a must watch Australian film, so you know what I'll be doing...

Repairs Only

This is the only sewing I've been doing this week I'm afraid to say. This is Chloe's squeeky toy, which didn't last very long at all. She squeeked it for about 20mins til the squeeker was puntured, then started to rip the poor dog apart to get at the insides. I took it off her and got the squeeker out, and she was most upset. Then the stuffing started to be pulled out, so I will sew it up and see if there will be any more life in it, or if it has lost its appeal.

Chloe is doing well. For a 3 year old who has had 2 homes and ended up in the pound, she is a very good dog. She has dug up the garden a few times today to bury her bone, right where I had just planted some seeds, the little wretch! But she is out in the yard with me when I am gardening, and loves a walk. She is keen to play with other dogs as well, and has a great time with Neddy who lives up the road, when they get together.

Someone asked to see the Ute we hired to move some stuff. There is nothing too exciting about it, but here it is.

I've mainly been gardening this last few weeks as the weather is starting to get hot now even though it's only the 3rd week of spring. I've got to get as much done as I can before it's too hot to do it - it's going to be 31 deg C today. I've been planting things, and trying to grow a few veges. I've put a birdbath in but I haven't had any visitors in it yet. I've even put some bribery bird seed out, but no bird has fallen for it. I'm told that the birds will make sure the water source is going to be permanent before they start using it, so the pressure is on me to keep it full. They're testing me.

Chloe

This is Chloe, our new beagle girl. We are both exhausted having driven 11 hrs (including brief stops) on Friday and Monday, combined with the stress of staying at someone else's house (I'm much more comfortable at home). She was very good in the car though, and slept most of the way on her cushion in the crate.

We got home last night on the 6.40 pm Waterbus - she shook a little on the trip, but was starting to relax by the time we reached the island. Simon doesn't understand how Swampy could have changed so much in one night. He is behaving as though she were Swampy, and Chloe is doing her own thing. She slept part of the night on the bed and part in a dog bed, and had a growl this morning when she obviously thought to herself "how did I get to this strange place?"

For a rescue beagle she is very good so far, so I am waiting to see if there is a skeleton in her closet - as long as it isn't the ability to scale a 5 ft fence, the ability and desire to dig under it, or excessive howling and separation anxiety, I will consider myself very lucky. She is a pretty girl and very soft, she loves to play and likes squeeky toys.

We are having a very quiet day today. I'm doing the washing, a token amount of housework, and seriously considering an afternoon nap.

Simon is sitting back and watching to see what happens next. I've had a message from Shane - he and Swampy are out and about today, so that's good for her to get some stimulation. Hopefully all will be well...

Getting Late

I should be in bed - it's getting late and I have a big day planned for tomorrow. A friend and I are hiring a ute and will be picking up furniture, birdbaths, terracotta pots, 25kg bags of dog food, gypsum, downpipes and so forth to bring over on the barge.

Then on Friday I'll be driving down to Newcastle which is a 9 hour drive so I will be leaving at the Crack of Dawn. It's a fair way - I plan to make it in a day, but if I get tired I'll stop for the night. I'm staying the weekend with some friends and catching up with some others who will be driving north to see me, then all going well I will be coming home with a new beagle who will live with us. She is a rescue dog and is 3 yo. Swampy the cattle dog is going to move back to live with the Ex (she is his dog), and then I will have 2 beagles.

All paws crossed here for a compatible relationship between Simon and his new sister, but having spoken to her foster mother this week about her behaviour, I am hopeful.

So lots of organising going on, and not a lot of sewing. I have been making a few more of the string blocks from the previous 2 posts - I have done 17 now, and I have been working on the Repro 4 patch. Here are a few blocks pinned up. I like the pink, and realised after I had quickly snapped the photo that the quilt will be on point, so please turn your heads 45 deg to one side. I can see you doing that!

Better go to bed; I will be away 4 or 5 days, so will catch up then with all the exciting dog news (we hope). She has to like me I'm told, so she may choose someone else. But I know The Secret Way of the Beagle, and plan to have tasty biscuits in my pocket at our first meeting...

PS it's raining and my tank is over half full. Knew that would make your day ha!

Cheryl's Idea

Thanks go to Cheryl for the idea for the blog banner. I've thought before about doing one, but have never found a photo I like. I had this idea of making this really long piece of fairybread, but then I'd have to eat it.

I'll try it on for size for a while and see how if fits. It's very bright.

Where's This Going?

Please excuse my total lack of humility, but I'm really loving this string quilt. As you can see I've finished 12 blocks, and now I'm not sure where to go with it. The original project using this fabric was to be a wall hanging for above where I sit at the computer. My walls are cream with a pale green feature wall in front of me here, and I thought it would be good there.

I'm not really a wall hanging person you know. I have decided to hang the doll quilts in this room, but never before have I made a wall hanging. But as I am really liking this, of course I want to make it into a quilt.

Then comes the "how big do I make it?" dilemma, and of course my answer to that question is always "huge". There are only 2 beds in the house and both are queen size. What's the point of having a smaller quilt?

I can't see one. It's not like I don't have enough fabric, because surprise, surprise, I do...

The blocks are untrimmed in the photo, but they will be 9 inches finished. To keep the pattern going that means multiples of 4. The top of a queen size mattress is about 60 x 80. I don't think it needs a border, so to cover the top of the bed and keep the pattern that means 72 x 90 inches, which = 8 x 10 blocks, which = 80 blocks! 12 done. Oh why does it always get so out of control?

Here it is from a bit of a distance - even as a wallhanging the pattern will be incomplete, unless I added one more row to the bottom and made it square.

Or other options to the left for a quilt with an odd number of blocks. It doesn't do it for me I'm afraid. Any suggestions or experiences gratefully received.

Short Attention Span

What do you think about the bottom two string blocks? I made the centre strip as bright as I could and used the less bright pink/orange for the diamond. I think it might work OK if I do it that way. Thoughts?

I was asked about my house being up on stilts - it is a pole house, and it's so high to get the view and for coolness, also helpful for looking for termites. Plus one day someone will build right between me and the sea, so I wanted to be as high as I could for that eventuality. I'm currently planting tall shrubs and trees in front of that fenceline in preparation. Ages ago I did a post on some of the different houses around here - I'll put a link to it. Also here. All the houses are very different, as it has been the sort of a place to have your beach shack or weekender in the past, but now more people are living here permanently. The land has been very cheap and the place attracts people who tend not to want to live in a 4 bedroom brick house with a family room. Also due to the difficulties of getting stuff over here, my house is a kit house that came on the back of a truck ready to be put together, as it was impossible to get a builder at the time.

I have also started on my 4 patch blocks. I'm a bit hopeless with my attention span - I need 3 projects to do at once or I get bored with it. So I make a string block, sew a few 4 patch blocks, cut a few Zig Zag strips and round I go. I look at a few blogs as well and play a couple of games of Freecell.

Today the sun is shining, so I'd better go and wash some clothes too. I hardly have anything left after the week of rain.

Tank Photo

I know you're all sick of hearing about my rainwater tank, but as the last word on the subject, here it is, the photo taken during a brief period of sunshine. I emptied the rain gauge too, and I have had 145mm (nearly 6 inches) of rain during this storm. The green tank is the new one - it is 4500 litres, and the cream one is the one from when the house was built, and it is 3000 litres I think. You can see the lovely mud. I am standing under the corner of the deck, and the rain drips down through the deck to make the mud. The actual house starts behind that metal post on the left. I might put a photo of the house so you can see what I mean. The cream tank is full, and the green tank is just over 1/3 full. This is a photo of the house still under construction, and the photo shows the back of the house. You can see the old tank under there if you look closely. The new one is to the right of it.

I was on the Mainland all day yesterday so nothing was done here. I had coffee with my friend Di - we were there 2 hours and only got half way through catching up really. I bought some more plumbing supplies and went to the RSPCA as I have in my mind that I might get another dog if Swampy is going to spend a bit more time at Shane's. Just looking - not rushing into anything. I was surprised that there weren't more dogs there for sale, but of course this is a good thing. Years ago I volunteered there, so I know there are lots more dogs behind the scenes. I didn't see anything suitable, but there was a lovely girl there called Rosie who was a cattle dog x kelpie type of dog, and she looked very sweet. But I wasn't tempted. There was also a rough coat Jack Russell who looked lovely, but I watched him springing up about 5 foot into the air with excitement, and I thought he would be a handful!

I did get started on the pink and green string blocks, and I'm pretty convinced I would have to cut down the 3 inch centre strips which would be waste of fabric. That would leave a heap of 1 inch strips, which is pretty skinny to do much with. Lily made a comment on my last post about the perils of using large scale patterns as strings, and I have taken this on board too. If I go ahead with it, perhaps I should make sure the strings are not too wide, and make sure I use the brightest colour fabrics for the centre strip and the paler ones for the diamond.

The other thing I thought I might do is cut some of the setting squares of my lovely new double pink for the 4 patch, and try and get a start on it by making it a leader ender project.

So as you can see there is lots of thinking and not a lot of sewing. What's new?

New Fabric

My new fabric has arrived today. This is the fabric bought with the proceeds of the ebay sell-off of boring stash. This is much nicer. The photo is taken under a slightly yellow light without the flash, so the pinks are a bit pinker than shown. All those lovely double pinks - and see the big piece of pink to the left at the front? This is to finish the 4 Patch UFO. They didn't have quite enough, so I will use the new Charleston IV pinks when the other runs out. How unlike me to actually have fabric in a quilt that has not been bought on sale? The Charleston is the first full price fabric I have bought in a long time, but it was so lovely I just 'had to have'. That's it at the front, except for the big piece, which was on sale.

What an exciting day I've had - water is going into the new rainwater tank, and I get fabric in the post! Obviously I have to get out more, and that isn't the first time I've written that on this blog.

Otherwise today it has been housework, then a quick batch of scones when a friend came over to marvel at the tank (we're weird, I know, but when you love your garden...), then fabric fondling, and a couple of string blocks.

While I've been making these string blocks, I've been looking up at the pink, orange, aqua and green 'thing' on the design wall, which has officially gone from UFO to abandoned project in the last UFO census. I was just going to put the bits of fabric back in the scrap box and forget about it. But then I thought maybe I could use it to make a string quilt? I could use the pink/orange pieces for the centre stripe, the greens and blues on either side, then maybe a pink/orange triangle at the end which would make a diamond when the squares were sewn together. I had a look at the pink strips, and they are all cut 3 inches, so I might make a test block with the 2 1/2 inch stripe in the centre and see if it looks too wide.

Now how many quilts does that make underway? Lets not go there, ok?

Extreme Weather & Red Mud

Not much sewing, just one more string block. What is happening here is some extreme weather with winds to 90km/hr, and a bit more rain thank goodness.

I have been under the house in the red mud trying to get the new rainwater tank hooked up. It is now connected in a dodgy sort of way, but connected, as I was desperate to get some of this rain into it. It's a big sucker (considering where it had to go), and as we tried to tip it from its side to an upright position, it looked like we weren't going to be able to do it. But on the last try, we moved it just enough to get it to clear the roof. No photos of it today as it is dark and gloomy under there and it's pretty miserable outside, and I tell you what - I'm not going down there into the mud to take a photo, blog or not! I will share my shoes with you so you can see what I have been playing in.

Unfortunately the weather system is now moving north, taking most of the rain, and just leaving the wind. I tell you it's pretty exciting down on the jetty, and I saw someone's back verandah roof which had blown off today.

Think I will do some sewing tomorrow, as the weather will still be miserable.

It's Been 9 Days

I can't believe I haven't posted for 9 days! Can it be true? Maybe - I haven't really been sewing much, instead I have been in the garden. What's different about today? It's RAINING. A miracle. We have had 2 inches and my rainwater tank is full and overflowing, so I have been outside this morning in the rain watering the garden. "What?" you say? Well if the tank is full, the extra water just goes down the overflow never to be seen again, and I can't handle that. So the idea is to water the garden from the tank while it is still filling up so that you get every last drop. The rain doesn't always penetrate the mulch, so it isn't as silly as it sounds. The thing I'm really peeved about is that I've bought another tank, but it hasn't arrived yet. If I'd had it in I could've half filled it overnight.

As you can see we are a bit obsessed about water here. The major dam is at 17% and the fish will die at 10%, so you can imagine water is a hot topic. If you want any sort of garden you must have tanks, and then pray that it will rain so that there is actually something in them.

So yesterday when the rain started I came upstairs and sat at the computer and the sewing machine for a while. I am way behind on my blogs - 1750+ to be read on my bloglines - and the sewing is going very slowly. I have been doing a few things though. I had to cut all the threads off the Over-Pink Flowery Number, which took quite a long time. Then I somehow got conned into darning a jumper (like I knew how to do that!). Anyway, a bit of google later, and what I don't know now about darning could go on the back of a postage stamp. I finished that yesterday, then made a couple of string blocks to send in the parcel to Heartstrings, as there is plenty of room in the PostPak.

The first one will probably not be sent as I stuffed up the trimming without thinking, and now the red stripe is not in the middle. I didn't even realise til I was trimming the 2nd one, but I'm onto it now. The dud can go in the Orphan Block container - I'm determined to have Orphan Quilts like some of you bloggers, one day.

I haven't done much more on the Zig Zag Quilt. I have finished all the strip sets and have started to cut them up, but there is a long way to go. Other than that, not much happening. The jumper finally was finished and Daniel was more excited to get a parcel in the post than he was to get the jumper I suspect, but he had it on when he rang up to say thankyou, so what more can you ask for? Apparently the sleeves are too long, but as winter is nearly over here, it will be good for next year I'm told, as boys grow taller and arms grow longer.

In beagle-related news, Simon has made a full recovery from his traumatic 2 weeks wearing the lampshade. I decided not to take him to the Vet for the suture removal, so my friend Jettie and I took them out on her back verandah. I tried to get a photo, but he sprung off the table so fast, that this is all I could get. This shows Jettie rewarding the patient with some liver treats.

Simon and I are having some quality time alone together this weekend, as Swampy has gone away to the beach. We've had a lovely time. Simon has been able to relax for a change, as he is constantly monitored by Swampy when she's here, and he can't do a thing on his own. We had a little play together last night, and he is now asleep on the spare bed while I sew and use the computer.

I might try and make a few more string blocks, then the day is nearly over.

Double Pink Alert

For those reproduction fabric lovers, have you seen Charleston IV? It has a great range of double pinks, which I often find hard to source - maybe that's because I'm cheap and like to buy things on sale, and these fabrics always get snapped up... Anyway, have a look at this range if you are interested. I bought a few yesterday when I had to scratch a shopping itch with the money I made from selling my unwanted stash. They have them cheaper at Z & S, but they must have sold out of some as they are no longer showing the full range.

As I said, I did a little bit of BUY NOW button pushing yesterday which was fun. I bought some of the double pinks, and also a large piece of pink to finish off my 4 patch UFO. I will use the big piece for most of the setting squares, and add some of the new pinks in as well. I bought some other repros too, so I will start watching out for the Post Man in a weeks time. Oh and I bought 1/2 yard of Kona Solid red to replace my red fabric that had to go in the bin, so hopefully the dye will not run as I expect the quality will be a lot higher

I also bought these brights at the only local shop I buy from who were having 25% off their already very low prices. Thought I'd make some string blocks.

I'm still going on the Zig Zag quilt. I haven't finished the strip sets yet, but I'm getting there. Of course I'm making the biggest size quilt (is there no hope for me?), and I have been thinking about how I am going to most easily do the next step. Once you finish the strip sets you cut them into 1 1/2 inch pieces, then sew them together offsetting them by 1 inch. The original size of the yellow strip is 1 1/2 inch, so with seam allowance that makes it a smidgen bigger than 1 1/4. I wanted to figure out a way to eyeball it, not have to draw a line or anything, and I think I've figured it out today.

The bottom one is right but the top one is a bit off. It might seem like I'm being fiddly, but when you have all the strips together, you have to slice off the points of the yellow 1/4 inch from the edge of the coloured bits, so there isn't a lot of room to manouver. I am thinking positively, as there are a hell of a lot of the little suckers to sew together!

By the way, the maroon jumper is finished too - good on ya Mum. Mum sewed it together and we posted it from her place yesterday so I don't have a photo of it. Myabe my sister will take one when it arrives. I've decided that I like knitting, but I don't have the staying power to finish anything that takes a bit of time.

Finished UFO

I have finished the Over-Pink Flowery Number, as it has come to be called, and off it goes to Heartstrings. Maybe it will suit an elderly lady. It is a real relief to just have to finish the Flimsy then put it in the post. I will have to spend a fair bit of time trimming the threads though, as these strips have been cut for about a year and are all fraying.

So the good news is that now that's finished I have allowed myself to start the 1930s Zig Zag Quilt. This photo is from the magazine's kit page, but I am using my own fabric. I see there is only one kit left so they may take the photo down soon.

I've had the fabric for a while now, but felt a bit guilty about the UFOs. Now one is finished, my guilt level has dropped considerably, and it is exciting to start something new. I have started the strip sets, then they all have to be cut into 1 1/2 inch strips and sewn back together off line. Might not be so excited about it all by then!

Otherwise all is quiet here. Simon is back to his normal self, but still has the lampshade on. I'm supposed to take him back to get his stitches out on the weekend, but if the last visit was anything to go by I'll probably end up doing that too, so I think I might just take them out myself. I have a friend here who is also a nurse and dog mother, so we will do it together. Save another trip over on the waterbus. Still trying to catch up on blog reading, and the red fabric has gone in the bin.

5 Days in the Tub

You know what? I think I'm going to have to throw this fabric in the bin. It has been in the laundry tub for about 5 days now. It has been treated with salt and with vinegar a number of times, to no avail. You just couldn't trust it, so I think it will have to go.

I've never had such a problem. I bought it from the shop I usually buy my plain colours, so I'll tell the girls it is a dud next time I'm in there. I also bought some egg yolk yellow, and it ran a bit but quickly stopped.

I have not done any sewing since my last post. I have been nursing the invalid beagle (this really involves trying to keep him from springing on the beds and tearing up and down the stairs), and gardening. The winter days are really nice - in fact quite warm really. It was 26 deg C the other day, but down to 4 overnight. There is a place near here called Indigiscape, and once a month they open the nursery where they sell tubestock of plants native to the area. It is a native botanical garden, and usually if you go there you can see a koala way up a tree. I went on Saturday and got a heap of plants, so I have been putting them in. The soil here is fertile red soil, but it is clay and like a rock. A lot of time is spent digging a hole with the mattock, adding gypsum, organic matter, fertiliser, soil wetter etc before the tiny little plant even gets into the ground.

I have been nursing a little Lilly Pilly that came up from a seed, and the other day went to check on it and it was out of the ground roots and all. It is possible that a kookaburra pulled it up looking for a worm, but somehow I suspect Swampy who charges through the gardens to bark at all and sundry at the fence. So today I am calling the Steel Man, and I will be erecting a temporary fence around my new little plants.

There is very good news about Simon's lump. The Vet was very negative about it, suspecting a Mast Cell Tumour, which would involve toe amputation etc, but it turned out to be benign, so I am very relieved. You get so attached to them - especially we lonely single women who have noone else to come home to! We had to go back to the Vet yesterday to get the dressing taken off and the wound inspected, but the young lady Vet was so timid she gave me the scissors and I had to do it myself. Could have saved a trip over on the boat. Above is Si on the jetty looking into the boat - I couldn't get a very good photo as he wouldn't stand in the right place.

As this is supposed to be a quilting blog, I will put in the photo of the pink flowery number which is nearly finished. Just 2 borders to add. It has turned out better than expected, I think due to the borders. It is still a bit too pink for me though, so to Heartstrings it will go. I am a bit (very) behind on my blog reading, but hopefully I will catch up soon.

Busy with the Beagle

Poor Simon has had an operation, which has kept us busy. We went to the Vet on Monday for his vaccinations and to get his 'old dog' lumps and bumps looked at, and we were back Tuesday morning (with an empty stomach!) for surgery. I spent the day on the Mainland and didn't get home til late, and then with a drugged and dazed boy who needed supervision.

His beagle instincts were not affected, as he tried to follow a lady off the boat at the wrong island as she had a BBQ chicken in her bag. Typical. In the 10 years I have owned him he has never once been off his food.

So we are trying to stay downstairs as much as possible, because otherwise he is up and down, then jumping up and down off the beds. Sadly the sewing machine and computer are upstairs, so I feel mean spending more than half an hour up here.

On Tuesday I managed to con Mum into having a go at sewing up the jumper - I'm so bad. But she is doing some thing with a crochet hook, so I let her go for it. SOON it will be finished, and soon it will be summer.

As for sewing, I have nearly finished the pink flowery number, and frankly it has turned out better than expected. I just have 2 borders to put on, which I may get finished today, but I have promised it to Heartstrings, so off it goes. Then I think I'll reward myself by starting the 1930s Zig Zag quilt. I have my big string quilt in the washing machine at the moment, and I am hoping it won't run. I've had half a yard of plain red homespun in the laundry tub for 24hrs now trying to get it to stop running. I have put salt in, but still it runs. What to do? I don't think it will ever stop.

DQS 2 Flickr Photos

Photo of my Doll Quilt on the DQS 2 Flickr photo album.
Closeup photo.

I would suggest having a look at the Flickr album for the swap if it interests you - there are some lovely little quilts.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/dollquiltswap/