March

A whole month has gone by with no blog posts. Here's what I remember of it.

Inspired by Jo's post in February, I made myself a couple of project boards. Here's one of them with 2 hearts I made for the March Rainbow Scrap Challenge:

The boards are A3 size, and were very useful for the heart blocks.
 

A sad thing happened in the garden. The largest of my crepe myrtles, which was just beginning to flower, blew over one very unpleasant hot and windy day:

It snapped off at the base. It is very disappointing. My imagined row of lovely crepe myrtles along this part of the garden is just not working. Of the 5 trees, 3 haven't flowered for the last couple of years, and are struggling to look like trees. None of those three are taller than a person yet. The two that have grown taller and did flower have now been reduced to one. They also flower very late here - they are almost ready to drop their leaves before the flower buds open. So I need a re-think.

In the background of that photo you might just be able to see the very first dahlia flowers of the year: 

They have been very slow this year, too. And some from previous years seem to have given up and not grown at all.

I've finished the piece I posted about in January. If you look at that link, you might notice that there is a significant difference between the starting point and the finished piece:

There are various reasons for that, which I won't go into, but at least I have a finished piece for the show.
 

Late in the month our very good neighbour who has helped us with so many projects around the house was seriously injured in an accident. We wish him well for his recovery journey, which will probably involve many months.

One morning as I was eating my breakfast, I looked out and saw this bird looking back at me:

It is a sacred kingfisher, a bird I have never actually seen before!
 

I had a few outings in March. We had a field trip to Melton Botanic Gardens, a family get-together in Ocean Grove, and I went to Colac to see a quilt show. In Colac we also went for a walk around a wetland bird sanctuary and saw several new species.

I ventured into the city one day and met up a friend to visit the Rone exhibition, "Time":

 It was an amazing installation, and quite an overwhelming experience.

There are sounds and lighting effects in each of the 11 rooms of the show. So many details, probably more than you can take in at one viewing. Windows along the corridor were covered with newspapers from the 1930s-50s, which also made fascinating reading and triggered childhood memories for the two of us.

We booked some weeks ago, and this was the first time since the pandemic began that I have planned something weeks in advance and have had it actually happen!

So that was March in one blog post. 

Imaginary Blog Posts

So for the last little while I have occasionally taken photos for a blog post, then not written that post. So here are a few of the things I didn't get round to posting.

The 29th September was my 13-year blogiversary. My first post in 2009 was of aphids on a rose bud. But here the climate is a bit different, and the roses hardly even had leaves at the end of September, definitely no buds. However, tulips are budding at that time:

And daffodils are flowering:

On the 8th October I attended a quilting meeting, and a few other people brought along their blocks for the birthday quilt I made blocks for in September. Here are most of the blocks laid out:

They looked pretty good! (I think I have a photo somewhere of the whole top assembled. Will have a look for it.)

Also on 8th October, the crabapples were looking great,

I had a couple of magnolia flowers,

and pots full of tulips looking lovely:

 

On the 9th of October we had a field trip, and on the way home saw a sign pointing to Nimon's Bridge, so took a side trip to check it out:

It is an old rail bridge, now just for walking across. Next time I will take the path that leads to the bottom of the bridge, as it is probably more spectacular from down there. The view from the top was pretty nice, but I didn't photograph it.

On 13th October I started quilting my Positivity quilt:

It was a good day for it, as this terrible photo of the weather station shows:

27mm rain that day.

On 22nd October, I sewed down the binding, and Positivity was officially finished:

Closer view of the quilting:

 

Just found the photo I was sent of the birthday quilt blocks assembled ready for quilting:

Made by 8 different people. I'm glad I didn't have the job of assembling it. There were the usual issues of blocks not being all the same size, which for a design like this was a bit of a problem as you don't want to trim blocks and lose the points. But I think the assembler did a good job of making it all work. I hope the person it is for loves it!

The last 4 days of October were a bit mad, as we participated in the Great Southern BioBlitz, trying to do as many iNaturalist observations as possible. But I did take the time to notice on 31st October that my tree peony flowers are beginning to open:

Also October was the wettest month ever since we moved here, with a total of 115.4mm! Everything is mud and the lower half of the block is under water.

That's it for all the posts I didn't write in October. I'll see if I can do better for November.

A Finish

It seems quite a while since I had any finished items to show. But look!

Not one:

Not two:

But four!

Cushions for the caravan finished today.

They have zips in the back, covered by a flap:

That meant I could use zips of various colours that I had on hand, rather than having to buy new ones. I used the instructions on Chris's blog here. You can find her pdf file if you scroll down her page, to the section on the right-hand side called "Patterns". I tapered the corners, as shown on this site: How to Taper Corners, which makes the cushion corners plumper.

Some time in the future those bench seat cushions will be on the list for new covers. And the curtains could do with updating. But for now I am just happy to have got them done (even though it is 8 days since the birthday they were for.)

June Happenings

Catching up with the second half of June (so far).

We were lucky that the monthly trip with the Field Naturalists Club, which is normally at the beginning of the month, was postponed due to dreadful weather. By the time it was rescheduled we were out of Covid isolation, so could attend.

Highlights of the day included a swan on its nest:

It could be the male or the female, they both incubate their eggs.

A wombat burrow:

We were in the Wombat State Forest, so it was nice to see evidence of wombats, even if we didn't see the actual animals. You can get an idea of the size of the burrow if you notice the field naturalists at the top left of the photo.

Slime moulds!

We saw several different coloured slime moulds. I was pretty excited by that, as I have never seen one before.

This cutie is an Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis):

The main focus of the outing was fungi, and we did see many many different species of them. I'll spare you the photos, though.
 

At home this is happening:

Who knew we needed more shed space?

I finished the Scrappy Mountain Majesties quilt with a blue-grey binding:

It is nice to cross something off my list. Then I took it to the guild's Sit and Sew day on Saturday, but the person who collects the donation quilts was away so it came home with me again. It was my first Sit and Sew day for a long long time. I wore a mask the whole time but no-one else did. We made little hexie rosettes as a gift for a member whose husband has just died. Here's mine:

I may do a couple more before they are collected next month.

My other sewing for the month has been blue bits for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I have not been very productive so far:

Given that I made one of these last year, this is not impressive. I do have the parts for two more hearts nearly ready. I have some squares and triangles prepared for the Scrappy Sprouts blocks, but haven't sewn any of them at all yet. There are a few more days left this month... next month is going to be purple, but I may be sewing blue as well to catch up.

I don't know what Blogger are doing with the comments process. It is frustrating when they keep changing things (seemingly for the worse) without warning or explanation. Some people's blogs still have the normal comment box, and I can easily comment on them. Others have a new process where there are 3 choices, Anonymous, Google Account, or Name/URL. I can comment on those by the Name/URL option. But some blogs have only Google Account as the method, and for those I cannot make it work. Unfortunately mine seems to be in this third category. I cannot comment on my own blog! I am logged in to my google account for my email, my calendar, and for blogger itself. But I just get an error message: "Unable to sign in to comment. Please check your browser configurations to allow sign-in."

If you are also unable to comment on my blog, I am sorry! I don't know if there is anything I can do to solve this, but I will look into it.

New Year

 Happy 2022!

2021 threw one more horrible thing at me right after I wrote my last post for the year. I got an email saying that 4 residents at Mum's nursing home had tested positive for covid. The home was locked down immediately. Anyone who had visited since 21st December should monitor themselves for symptoms. So I spent the last day of the year upset and worried about Mum, unvaccinated and vulnerable with the virus around her. I expected that she would catch it and die without ever seeing anyone from her family again.

Then late in the day on new year's eve I received another email telling me that the pathology lab had made a mistake. All 4 of the positive tests were actually negative. The home was reopening to visits, residents were allowed out of their rooms again, everything back to how it was. What a relief! 

First job of the year was sewing these shorts. A finish for the first day of the year! According to my note on the pattern, I first used it in November 2001. I've made something like 60 pairs since then, but never photographed any for my blog.

The next clue for Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, Rhododendron Trail, was released on new year's day. Unusually, she has us assembling blocks before the final reveal. I like that idea! I've assembled 6 so far, with several more half-sewn. I'm sure I will have them all done in time for the next clue on Saturday.

Our covid case numbers are soaring. This screenshot from the Guardian tells the story: 

What we thought were major outbreaks in the first and second waves are just little blips on that graph, barely noticeable. What we have now is an unbelievable increase every day. Today over 64,000 new cases were announced around the country. And the testing system is overwhelmed so probably there are thousands more who have not been able to get tested. I'm visiting Mum every couple of days, but apart from that I am going nowhere and seeing no-one. I am not so much afraid for myself, having had 3 vaccinations, but of potentially catching the virus and passing it on to my mother.

What will the rest of this year bring I wonder?

Roses

It seems to have taken a while, but the roses are finally realising it is spring. A rainy day with a top of 13 isn't the most spring-like day, but yellow roses (this is either Gina Lollobrigida or Friesia) glow on a grey day:

Raspberry Tiger always looks good with its red and white stripes:

And speaking of things that are red and white, here's what I did with my placemat binding:

Very happy to have it finished!

A Finish

 Plaid-ish is quilted and bound:

I haven't managed to finish much this year, but it felt good to cross one project off the list!

If you are interested, Plaid-ish is a free pattern from Kitchen Table Quilting. It is a real exercise in value - you have to get your lights, mediums and darks right to see the pattern. I can see a couple of mediums that were a bit too dark, and some that were a bit too light in mine. But overall it came together well I think.
 

Successes

Lockdown 6+ or whatever number it is started almost 3 weeks ago. That day I posted about two new projects; a mushroom growing kit, and a wallhanging.

During the lockdown I have worked on the wallhanging, and regularly misted the mushroom kit. Most days we took the dogs for a walk, and on those walks we came across some interesting wildlife.

A swamp wallaby, seen on 4th Sept:

Actually there were two, but I only got a photo of one of them.

A koala, seen on 6th Sept:

I think there might actually be two, because the shapes seem to not be quite right for just one. It could be a mother with a largish baby. But it was a very long way up in the tree, so it was impossible to get a clear view.

A mob of kangaroos, seen on 7th Sept:

They were suprising, as initially I only saw three or four of them. But once they started moving, more and more appeared that had been lying down resting in the long grass. There are 16 of them in this photo.

Yesterday we got the news that this lockdown is finishing at midnight tonight.

I finished the wall hanging this afternoon! I was so excited to have it finished, I forgot to take it outside to get a good daylight photo before it went up on the wall.

It is hanging above the dresser that came from my parents' home last month.

And the mushroom kit?

Tiny mushrooms are appearing. Another success!

Finished

Today I had a lovely sit and sew day with a bunch of quilting friends at Millrose Quilting in Ballan.

In the course of the day I finished the binding on my Trail Mix quilt. Someone held it up for me to photograph:

I was going to crop the photo, but decided to leave the background so you can see a little bit of the shop. It is in an old hall, and the high ceilings allow the display of various quilts around the walls. 

I was quite taken with this one:

There was no information as to the designer or name of the quilt. I searched through the patterns for sale, and couldn't find it. Does anyone recognise it?

PS: Many thanks to thornberry who identified the quilt in the comments. It is Emma Jean Jansen's "Daisy Quilt".

Apron

A couple of days ago I had to jump up in the middle of a meal and throw the top I was wearing into the washing machine, as I had just splashed some tomato-based sauce on it. Fortunately it did not stain, but it did push me to finally make myself an apron.

I've admired the Japanese style cross-back aprons on various internet sites, and downloaded 3 free patterns over the years. It was time to actually try one out! I decided to use Tessuti's pattern as it has an A0 copy-shop file included, so I wouldn't have to assemble lots of smaller sheets of paper. I got the large scale print done at Officeworks for $4.35 - worth it to avoid sticking together the 25 pages of the print-at-home file, I thought.

Picture from Tessuti's site

One potential issue with the pattern is the sizing - "One size". I am probably outside the size range they had in mind when drafting the pattern - taller and wider. So rather than use anything too precious, I found a couple of remnant pieces in my fabric stash that I could use for a trial version. I made the pattern exactly to the instructions, and it looks pretty good on a coat hanger:

Front

Back

However, on me it is a different story. The apron is obliviously too small. No photos, you will have to take my word for it! The cross-over, which on Tessuti's sample and on a coat-hanger is towards the waist, is between my shoulder-blades. There is no rear coverage - which perhaps doesn't matter for practical reasons, but it is not a good look.

On this close-up you can maybe see how I had to use a different fabric for the straps. I didn't have enough of either for the whole apron:

The top edge is too close to my face, which adds to the impression that I am wearing an apron a few sizes too small. I could fix that by cutting longer straps. I think they will need to be quite a bit longer, as the "armhole" section, which looks like it is at waist level or below on the Tessuti models, is well above my waist. The apron length in the Tessuti photos appears to be at least knee-length, but on me it is mid thigh - only just below finger-tip length.

So, I can wear this apron, and it should offer some protection for my clothes. But it does not have the look I wanted.

Adjustments required:

Add length to straps.

Add length to apron - above the waist, and at the hem.

Add width to apron - centre front, and also under the arm (slash and spread pattern).

Don't add the pocket until the apron is made, so it can be put where most useful.