Pink and Green

Here's a hellebore looking pretty,

And here's my completed quilt top!

Catching Up

Where have I been for a week?

Sometime in the last week I noticed the first daffodil was open:

We had a couple of warmer days (well, days with sunshine and a top of more than 10 degrees), when we took long walks and looked for wildlife, like this yellow-tailed black cockatoo:

There was lots of worry about covid19 in nursing homes. Not at Mum's so far, fortunately, but all visits have been banned since last Thursday. We are waiting to hear what the new regime will be - are visits going to be re-started or not? There have been cases in two other homes in Ballarat, so it is a worry.

And in the background I have been chugging along with my 100-day project, the Laundry Basket Quilts mystery designed by Edyta Sitar. Today is day one hundred!

I was hoping to get the whole top together this afternoon, after completing today's block. But I didn't quite manage it. Right now it is in three pieces.

Here's two of those pieces:

There 4 x 10 blocks in each piece, with a chunk missing out of the centre.

The centre chunk consists of 20 blocks. Here's the middle, which looks very dark in this flash photo:

I am planning to finish the assembly tomorrow, and hoping for nice clear weather so I can get a good photo of it. Then I can decide if it needs a border or not...

Day Ninety-Two

Here's the 92nd block of my 100 day project, ready to sew:

I'm making blocks 11 and 14 at the same time, as they use the same components. I've economised on sewing time by using a couple of different techniques. For example, the larger HST in the bottom right was made using the "Magic 8 at a Time" method, as I need eight of them for these two blocks. The smaller HST at the top right was made the same way.

To create the upper right and lower left components, I used the "Mary's Triangles" method.

That involves no triangle sewing, just rectangular shapes,

Then sewing along some diagonal lines. Once sewn and cut apart, each of these makes two units.

So here's how the quilt is going:

The design is by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. It was run as a mystery earlier this year, but I decided to do it the slow way. I have half the block 11s and half the 14s to make, then the block 15s which will fill in the centre square. I'm looking forward to having them sewn together so I can finally get a picture of the whole thing, instead of just this one corner pinned up on my design wall.

When I started this project back in April I said that I'd be making the last block on 29th July, "by which time I sincerely hope the current restrictions on human interaction will be over." Wrong on both counts! I'm actually going to make the last block on 28th July, and restrictions are being tightened, not lessened. In fact, like nearly everyone else, my other current project is mask-making. Masks have only been "recommended" in our area, rather than mandated as they are in Melbourne from this Wednesday, but it is a recommendation I'll be following.

Exploring

Rather than just walking around the regular block, today we took the dogs in to Ballarat, and after doing a couple of other things, took a walk through unfamiliar territory. We started with suburban streets, then we saw this:

You probably can't really read the sign, but it says "Yarrowee Trail Access". So we went to investigate.

It turns out that the Yarrowee Trail is a picturesque track beside the Yarrowee River. We might have to investigate more of the track another time, but today it was pleasant to follow it for half an hour or so.

We left the trail to avoid someone with a large dog that was not on a lead, and found ourselves walking between huge mounds apparently made up of broken bricks and concrete:

I found out through googling when we got home, that it is a business called Ballarat Concrete Recyclers. I don't know how long they have been at this location, but some of the trees and shrubs growing on the piles seemed quite large.

It was an interesting walk, and we will have to check out other parts of the trail in future.

I have now completed 80% of the blocks for the Laundry Basket Quilts mystery:

This is one corner of the quilt as I don't have a big enough space to pin up all the blocks. If you can work out where the centres of each side are, you might be able to see that there are only 5 blocks missing in each quarter.

Sixty-Four Percent

Today's block of my 100-day project lined up ready to sew:

This is the last of 16 blocks like this. I am looking forward to making something different!

Sewn and pressed:

That is the 64th block made. Almost at the two-thirds mark.

Here's how a quarter of the quilt looks now:

It's getting there.

My Day

It has been a while since I posted, but when you don't go anywhere every day feels the same and it doesn't seem like anything is worth mentioning. However today was a bit different.

Here's today's block for the Laundry Basket Quilts mystery which I am making one block a day:

And here's what a corner of the quilt looks like so far:

I haven't made the block 5s yet, which complete the outer round. I wanted to first get some of the inner blocks done to get a feel for how it was looking.

My last post was about grocery order anomalies. This week's was even more remarkable. When I went to collect the order yesterday afternoon, their system was down and the order wasn't ready. They weren't sure when it would be, but offered to deliver it rather than have me wait around for an unknown amount of time. Later in the evening a car pulled up at our front door, with the grocery order and these bonuses:

A box of "Favourites" and a $20 gift card, to apologise for the inconvenience. Thank you Woolworths for the amazing service, and the early birthday gift.

Nearly 2 months ago I was given another early gift:

It is a large planter box made of rusted metal, which is now in the outdoor living area. I guess I can officially start using it now!

Not a great picture because I forgot to photograph it in daylight, another gift:

And some more:

A beautiful hand-woven scarf which I had seen progress shots of, such as here, but had no idea I would be the lucky recipient of! And a Tuckfields' bird card album, with all the cards! Lots of childhood memories there. Plus some nice warm socks.

A chocolate cake:

No candles, of course, due to the new pandemic-altered lifestyle we are living.

My next-door neighbour brought me a bunch of flowers, all from her garden:

Plus a nodding-violet plant (Streptocarpus caulescens) she propagated from a cutting for me:

So it was a good day all round. I even got a phone call from my son, a very rare occurrence.

I'm told there is another parcel on the way as well, but the post is very slow at the moment. It gives me something else to look forward to though.

Twenty-Eight Percent

I have now completed part four of the Laundry Basket Quilts mystery from earlier this year, and each corner looks like this:

The Ohio Star blocks at each end were among the eight made for part four. Part five will complete the outer edges of the quilt. I'm making the 100 blocks over 100 days, so it will be some time before that empty grey bit in the middle is filled in.

Twenty Percent

This morning I made the last of the blocks for the third part of the Laundry Basket Quilts mystery from earlier this year:

The part three blocks were the same as the part two blocks, so I have been making this block for 16 days. I am looking forward to something different now; the fourth part is an Ohio Star block.

Here's what each corner of the quilt will look like so far:

It doesn't seem like much, but I have now made 20% of the blocks.

Day Twelve

Each day I make one block of the Laundry Basket Quilts mystery which was run about a month ago. There are 100 blocks in all. Today I finished the second clue, meaning that I have 12% of the blocks made. Here is what each corner of the quilt will look like:

Stash report for the end of April:

Thread:
No spools emptied, none added.
Year to date - no change.

Dress fabric:
None used, 3m added.
Year to date - up 4.25m.

Quilt fabric:
1.4m used, none added
Year to date - down 5.7m.

Sewing and Sewing

Six months ago (although it feels much longer now!) we visited Hahndorf, where this print was purchased:

"Sewing (the artist's wife)" by Hans Heysen.

Over the last few days the lovely frame was made, glass was obtained, and today the print is hanging in my sewing room.


My 100-day quilt is now 5% done:

This is the Laundry Basket Quilts mystery quilt from a few weeks ago. Part 1 (4 blocks) on the left, and the first block for part 2 on the right.

New Project - 100 Day Quilt

A few weeks ago, Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts ran a mystery quilt over 15 days, finishing on 5th April. I saved the parts, although I didn't think I really needed a new project. Now I have decided to make it after all. The quilt consists of 100 blocks, and I will make them over 100 days, rather than the original 15 days. That will have me making the last block on 29th July, by which time I sincerely hope the current restrictions on human interaction will be over.

Here's number one:

I won't post a picture a day, but maybe once a week or so I will photograph my progress.