Patchy Work of Mini Grey

Rainbow Squares Photographed.

2012-01-31T16:05:00.010+08:00

While doing my 2011 Quilt Review on the weekend, I realized that I didn't have any photos of this quilt finished. So I went outside and took some, its big, queen sized.

I love the back as much as the front!

We have just moved house, I have a real Hills Hoist clothes line in my back yard! I wound it all the way to the top but it still wasn't high enough for this quilt to hang.

Beautiful Bali.

2012-01-29T07:52:00.026+08:00

Daz and I are back to school tomorrow, the girls start on Wednesday so today is officially the last day of holidays. Thought I would share some snaps taken at Bali. We had an amazing time. So many West Australian's holiday in Bali because it is so close and so cheap, but this was my first trip. Daz has been before when he was straight out of high school with a group of graduating friends and doesn't remember much of that trip, this one was much different!

We stayed at a hotel in Nusa Dua called the Melia. The grounds were amazingly beautiful.

This was the view from the end of our corridor. This pool was private access only for the rooms on the bottom floor. You could swim from your verandah!! Next time we are staying in those rooms!

This was our daily view going to breakfast.

We had breakfast every morning at the hotel, buffet style, every single breakfast food you can imagine! Daz and I had omlettes made fresh for us, Milly had pikelets made for her. Both girls ate their body weight in watermelon each morning. Fresh pineapple juice and chicken noodle soup for me.

This man played this type of bamboo xyolophone every morning throughout breakfast. He always had a smile on his face and would nod hello. When a child approached he would switch from traditional Baliness tunes to Mary Had a Little Lamb. Milly loved it.

Daz's first bintang beer and nasi goring. I think we had been at the hotel for an hour when this shot was taken!

We stayed at the hotel mainly but did venture out a few times. We spent a day at Waterbom Park which was just awesome! Here is Grace being brave on the bungie jump thing.

Chips Waterbom Park style, served in a wooden cup with the sauce in a handmade coconut leaf basket! Love it!

Another outing we went to the Bali Safari and Marine Park. We rode a camel and also rode an elephant but I was so focused on hanging on I didn't take my camera on that ride and now of course I wish I did!

We had our photo taken with a baby orangutan also at the Safari Park. Her name was Chloe. The girls were trilled to touch a real orangutan.

Back at the hotel.... Kids Club was optional, Grace was so against going but of course when she got there, she loved it! They did things like crab catching at the beach, sand castle making and visiting a temple within the hotel grounds.

Dress up Bali style.

We had the traditional buffet one night for tea at the hotel. This was the fruit display at one end, on the side, behind this display was the real fruit to eat. We particularly loved the watermelon face here!

With the dancers after dinner.

My first of many pina colada's of the holiday! Happy hour was from 5 till 7, buy one get one free!!

This was my view poolside most days! I did go for a swim sometimes, but reading and people watching was just as much fun.

The girls had their hair braided on the beach. It took 3 ladies an hour to do Grace's hair. She was in tears the whole time. "It hurts Mummy!" But as soon as the last bead was put in, all the pain was forgotten. And now three weeks later as I write this post, both the girls still have the braids in!

"Mum we can't stand in the middle of the road!" On our last day there we walked 5 minutes down the road to a big shopping area called the Bali Collection to get the usual cheap dvd's and sarongs. It was a fantastic holiday, we all had an awesome time. The right mix of hanging by the pool and going out. It was perfect, I can't wait to go back!

2011 Quilt Review.

2012-01-27T11:54:00.013+08:00

Time to review the quilts of 2011 and ponder on what 2012 will bring. I was thinking on the drive coming home that 2012 might be the year of the table runner for me. I have so many quilts, some table runners would be nice. But we'll see. 2011 started off finishing the above quilt, Pink Squares which was donated to the Queensland Flood Appeal.

A quick jelly roll quilt which was also donated.

Two quilts made for DQS#10 in March, one for me, one for my partner.

Blue and Green Askew Squares back in June.

And another askew block quilt. The Pink Askew quilt, cot sized made back in July. Only just given to friends new baby last month in Perth. It pays to have a baby quilt stashed in the present box for those occassions!

For the DQS#11 in August.

And Miss West's wedding quilt in September.

A queen sized quilt for our very own bed! Rainbow Squares was completed for the Naked Bed Challenge.

And the last quilt, finished in November, single bed sized. My favourite of the year I think, sewn with blocks from Around the Block 2. I'm in another block swap this year and I think I might have the ladies do the same block but a different colourway, red, orange and yellow maybe?

Writing this post has made me realize I don't have any photos of the Rainbow Squares Quilt all finished. It's hanging on the line now. I'll have to go take a photo. * edited to add - done! But realized I don't have a shot of the pink and purple strippy square quilt now! Have to go over to the friends place that one is at and photograph it!

Hello Blog!

2012-01-26T20:11:00.015+08:00

Well I have been a bad blogger! 40 days betwen posts! That is terrible! But I do have a really good excuse, holidays. We have been on holidays since December the 19th. It has been a big trip, we drove 3,213kms to Perth which we did in three days. Here we are on one of our first stops, only 884kms down the road.

Only 2,240km to go! We spent Christmas in Perth then we flew to Bali for 10 days of pure bliss. That was our real holiday, it was beautiful. We then flew back in to Perth and drove another 3,213kms back up to Kununurra where we then moved house. The last five days have spent cleaning the old house and unpacking in the new house.

My sewing area has been downsized but that didn't stop me buying just a little bit of fabric while away. I won't be buying any for awhile now...

My Academic Achiever!

2011-12-15T15:27:00.005+08:00

My youngest child is continuing to astound me with her zest for learning. I've had a suspicion that she is smart this year, smarter than an average year one child. But every Mum thinks their child is smart don't they? And this week at the end of year school assembly with the book awards given out..... well now I know she really is a smart cookie. She won the Academic Achievement Award for Room 12, the inscription in her book says awarded for all your hard work, dedication and persistence that you have shown in all academic areas in 2011. Your enthusiasm towards learning is amazing to see. Congratulations Matilda. My photos of her walking up to the stage to receive the award aren't very good as I was crying with pride when she went up. Here she is afterwards with her beloved teacher Miss West. We are so very proud of her. Milly you are amazing!

Dolls Quilt from Anna.

2011-12-12T19:58:00.009+08:00

I opened my parcel from the EB Quilters Dolls Quilt Swap today. It has been sitting patiently on my bookshelf waiting for the one I made to reach its destination. I thought that was only fair. And it was worth the wait!!! I unwrapped this beauty made by Anna. It is so beautiful! The colours against the white, its no secret that I love the crispness that it creates!

The quilting is my favorite style, swirls! So time consuming, I know the work that goes into them but so worth the effort, it looks just fantastic.

I love the center panel, so whimsical! Its just beautiful Anna, thank you very much. :)

Sunday Stippling.

2011-12-04T13:28:00.003+08:00

This quilt is due to be given to it's new owner in less than 2 weeks. Which means I had better stipple it quick smart! So guess what I did today? I haven't stipple quilted for ages, I am plesased with how smooth my curves are. I only have about a 50cm patch to go - taking a blogging break, as you do! - and then straight onto the binding.

A Sunday Sandwich.

2011-11-27T12:18:00.002+08:00

I have spent my Sunday morning on my hands and knees sandwiching this quilt top. I'll admit that even though I finished this quilt top a few weekends ago, I have been putting off this bit! I don't like the sandwiching bit anymore! The piecing, yes, love that bit. The quilting itself, yep, bring it on. But the ironing, the taping, the smoothing out of wrinkles, the spray glue then all the pinning........ no wonder I have been putting it off! We are heading down to Perth for the Christmas holidays and already I am wondering just how I can convince my Mother to let me take her Happy Jack quilting frame back home in the car with me!

Sunday Sewing.

2011-11-13T15:02:00.002+08:00

Hi my name is Helen and I used to sew quilts. *sigh* Used to! Not that much sewing happening around here lately and as we approach the end of term and Christmas and all the craziness that goes with this time of year, can't see things improving! Anyway, I did finish this today. A jewelled square table runner or dolls quilt, take your pick.

Happy 7th Birthday Milly!

2011-11-01T19:25:00.011+08:00

Happy 7th birthday to our Milly Moo! Being a Tuesday you had to go to school, but you didn't mind as you love school, your teacher and your friends. You handed out 24 pink cupcakes before recess, you came home covered in stickers! You bring so much joy, happiness, laughter and pride into our house as you are our daughter. We love you very much Matilda.

Jewelled Squares Finished!

2011-10-24T19:41:00.015+08:00

I finished sewing down the binding on the weekend. I love it! I think it's one of my favorite quilts made ever. I'd love to make one for Milly in a yellow, orange, red, pink colour way. Next year maybe....

I think I like the back as much as the front. I didn't have enough blue just to do a plain background, so I broke it up into rows with some random placed squares.

I quilted it just lines across, back and forth, little bit wonky, to add texture. And here is the confession part. Those of you that read my blog regularly know that this quilt was made with the girls from Around the Block 2. After I posted a photo of my quilt top I received an email from Rachel asking where was her block? I didn't answer her as I didn't know what to say.... But now the quilt is all finished (except for the label) I am ready to confess. I wanted my blocks to come back in one of these layouts here, but Rachel's came back different. Not bad different, just different. And I wanted the same colour all the way around each square. Again not bad different, just different. I put it on the front most people wouldn't have noticed it was even different. Except for me, I would have noticed!! And I'm sorry but it would have irked me. So I decided to trim it a bit and resew it and then add it! The middle 3 squares are from one of the different blocks. The rest of her blocks are in there somewhere too, I did use them all. It actually inspired the blocks for the back, I mixed up the fabric for each square. So there you go, I have come clean. It's my ummmm Grace's quilt and I wanted to be 100% happy with it. And I am. :)

And here it is on Grace's bed. She loves it so much she has folded her beloved Rainbow Log Cabin quilt up on the end of her bed.

Goodbye Holidays!

2011-10-16T15:12:00.005+08:00

Well holidays are over for another term. I have felt like I have been in a race this weekend, trying to get this quilt top finished but I'm not going to get there. I have all the squares now sewn into rows of four....

And I have sewn three of the rows together. Getting there slowly. It's a Christmas present so I have a few months to go to finish it.

A Dinosaur.

2011-10-13T16:23:00.005+08:00

I have been doing some hand sewing in the evenings while watching. The binding has been sewn onto this name hanger for agggggges and all it took was an hour to sew it down! Now just the label and I can post it away before the child in question is a teenager and doesn't want a dinosaur on his door!

Pink and Purple Stripes Progress....

2011-10-11T12:41:00.003+08:00

Look what half a day of uninterrupted sewing time can produce! 18 squares. I'm thinking single bed size, so hopefully I only need to do do 6 more purple and 8 more pink. Easy! Just need another half day left alone. I love school holidays!

Pink Strips.

2011-10-10T12:45:00.009+08:00

I have a week of school holidays left stretched out in front of me. Last week was spent here. Now this week is all mine! What does a girl do? Start a new project! I have wanted to do a strip-ish quilt for awhile. But not just strips, sort of a slash and sew back together strip block.

So I sewed lots of pink strips together till I had a square roughly 10 inches, using scrappy fabric from the stash.

Then I sliced it into quarters and rotated some of the quarters.

Then the finished block looks like this ready to be trimmed down. Thinking a row of pink, then a row of purple? Sashed with white, of course!

Ta da!

2011-10-09T12:22:00.002+08:00

Yesterday was the greatly anticipated wedding of Miss W and Mr H. Milly in particular has been very excited!! The ceremony was beautiful, she looked absolutely stunning. Afterward we bundled the children back home to go to the reception, we walked in, found our table, put our gift on the present table. All that stuff you do at the beginning before the bridal party come in. I then turned around to see the quilt hanging on one of the walls! At the reception!! I was so surprised! And pleased. I thought to myself this must mean she really, really likes it. Later in the evening when I got to have a chat with the beautiful bride I said, wow, your quilt is here. And she then said that I have no idea how special it is to her and how much she loves it and how she'll treasure it always. Awwww, I'm glad it has gone to a loving home. :)

Miss W's Quilt Revealed!

2011-09-27T20:17:00.013+08:00

Well today was the day! We gave Miss W her quilt today. I had to do it today as Daz is giving a PD tomorrow at school on Homework Blogs and part of his intro talk is how his wife blogs and he has linked back to my blog which has pictures of the quilt on it! So I had to give it to her before anyone else saw it! Not that it really mattered. I thought it would be nice to be in the classroom for a few days before term ended too. So we asked Miss W to leave the room for a few minutes while we worked out what child was going to say what. Then she came back in and sat, very puzzled and curious. Six kids spoke a sentence each. "Miss W, we are very excited about your wedding." "We wanted to make you something special." (She starts crying about here!) "Miss Helen helped us do some drawings at recess and lunch." "It was top secret, we had to pinky promise not to tell you!" (More crying about here!) "We hope you like your present." "We wish you and Mr H lots of love and hope you live happily ever after." Then she got to open it and because the kids hadn't seen the quilt it was zoom, they all rushed in. Then there was squeals of "Look there is my drawing!" "Look that's mine up there Miss W!" "Look Miss W I drew you holding Mr H's hand!" It was fantastic!

Here's Miss W with Alice. I told Alice her block was my favorite, she got all shy.

And here is Miss W and I in that happy post quilt gift giving glow. I am so looking forward to their wedding in a few weeks. She is such a beautiful lady, has a heart of gold, an amazing teacher, it's going to be a joy to share her day with her.

Here are the amazing kids of Room 12! Their art makes this quilt so special!

Miss W's Quilt Finished!

2011-09-24T14:25:00.021+08:00

I have finished sewing down the binding for Miss W's wedding quilt. I went for a white homespun, the same as I used for the kid's white squares. I figured black would have looked too heavy and didn't want to introduce another colour.

I am really pleased with it, except...... I don't like the way the kid's white squares "pop" out. I know its because the red area is quilted and the white squares aren't, so of course they aren't going to lie as flat as the red areas. And I know I can't quilt in the white squares as it that would just look odd. And maybe to a non quilter it isn't even noticeable.

Milly is all ready to give it to her on Tuesday! I just have the label to print and sew on the back and then we are ready for the grand presentation on Tuesday. Less than 2 weeks to the wedding!

AJ's Twisted Cathedral.

2011-09-19T16:45:00.006+08:00

I'll admit it's been awhile between blocks in the Around the Block 2 swap. I started out so well too! This lucky last one is for AJ. She wanted a cathedral Window with a twist inside a log cabin! I could do the log cabin bit okay but I did find the cathedral window bit a bit tricky. I hope it's okay AJ!

WIP Wednesday - Miss W's Wedding Quilt Part 3

2011-09-14T14:35:00.012+08:00

I have finished sewing all the red borders around Miss W's wedding quilt. I was waiting and waiting for one little girl to come back to school so she could write her name next to her drawing. But she has been a no show and so I got one of the other girls to write "by Eleanor" on her behalf. It's looking great! I just want to sew another 2 inches of red around it and then I'll start quilting it. Better hurry up as school finishes on the 3oth, I'd like the class to give it to her sometime that last week!

This is one of my favorite blocks. Alice is an indigenous girl, a mop of black curls on her head and the shyest smile. She was the wisest eyes of a 6 year old that I know. I think she has seen more than a 6 year old should see.

On a closing note, thank you all for the lovely thoughts and comments about Charlie. It was very touching to read them. And I do apologize not to replying to comments on that post. I usually try too, but..... you know. Thank you though. x

Charlie.

2011-09-07T16:01:00.002+08:00

Blogging is about the good times and the bad times, right? Monday was a bad time. Daz and I had to make the choice to put down our dog Charlie. Saturday morning we woke up to him just lying on his bed, awake but unable to get up. Picking him up Daz felt a large lump one side of his belly. We dashed to the vet, they took some needle biopsies. The results were inconclusive, they ruled out an infection or a bite from a snake or cane toad but left a question mark over what the lump was exactly..... He stayed there till Sunday afternoon, we were allowed to bring him home for the night and told to return Monday morning so they could do more tests. He was a little better that night, could walk but wasn't his usual self. On waking up Monday morning, it wasn't good, he couldn't move again, just lying on his bed. We dropped him at the vet and it became pretty obvious that all the tests in the world weren't going to fix him. He was 15 years old and we didn't want him to go through that. Daz and I decided he should go to sleep, hardest phone call I have had to ever make. We were there at the end, well Daz was, I was standing outside watching through the glass doors with tears streaming down my face. His body trembled and then just relaxed and was still. No more pain for him. We told the girls after school amongst more tears. We were allowed to take his body home and buried him in a quiet spot out of town. The back yard seems very quiet without him in it.

Milly's Merit Certificate.

2011-09-03T14:14:00.003+08:00

Matilda received a merit certificate at school yesterday. Every Mum thinks their child is smart, but this child of mine, she is switched on! She is reading at a higher level than Grace.... she'll stand behind Grace when she is doing Mathletics on the computer and while Grace is still thinking about the answer, Milly will call out the answer..... its a bit spooky! She's the model student, her work is so neat, her handwriting is lovely. And all this in Grade One! Well done Matilda, we are very proud of you!

WIP Wednesday - Miss W's Wedding Quilt Part 2

2011-09-01T15:37:00.012+08:00

Yes, I know technically it is a Thursday so it's not really a WIP Wednesday post. Things are just so busy up here at the moment I snatched 15 minutes of sewing yesterday and thought that was good! I am still working on the kids in Milly's class for Miss W's wedding quilt. There is 21 in the class, 2 little girls don't attend regularly so I was sort of hoping that I could do one block for the both of them, but then they both came to school that day! The above block is what one of them made, love the hair! So I have 21 blocks, not the best number to make a hanging from, so I have added 4 more blocks, one for each corner, to say stuff like "Congratulations Miss W" and "Love from Room 12" so that will frame it nicely into 25 blocks, 5 across and 5 down.

I have started to sew the red Kona around the blocks, 2 inches it will come down too. My camera is making it look pinker than it is. I haven't got enough of these two reds, so I am going to introduce another red and lay it out in sort of a Trip Around The World pattern. Sort of.... it will come together!

Very happy to see my dolls quilt to Sheridan has arrived safely too. Look how she has hung it here! On the same wall as a mini Dresden plate I made her! Perfect. :)

DQS#11 - Recieved from Rita!

2011-08-30T16:04:00.018+08:00

It is the exciting time of the DQS#11, the receiving! Mine should arrive at it's new home any day now, but look what arrived at my house yesterday! An absolute beauty from the amazingly talented Rita from Red Pepper Quilts! "Ohhh, that's very you" the husband commented when I showed him excitedly. Yes, bright colours on a crisp white background with a strippy binding, very me! Thank you Rita!

I had to pinch myself. Look at the back!

And wait there is more! She knitted me this sweet little shawl. Even though Grace is modeling it in this photo, she will not be wearing it! We have a fancy school social event on Saturday night, guess what I am wearing over my little black dress?

And I took down a quilt I had made for the last round of the swap and replaced it with Rita's masterpiece for all to see that come in the house. Thanks again Rita. I feel very lucky to have a Red Pepper Quilt in my house.

WIP Wednesday - Miss W's Wedding Quilt

2011-08-24T21:10:00.005+08:00

Matilda's beloved teacher is getting married in the upcoming October school holidays. At first I thought I would make her a "normal" quilt for the occasion. But then after seeing the amazing quilt Andi had made with the 5 and 6 year old children in her daughter's class, I changed my mind and thought let's make a quilt for Miss W!

It's top secret from her, I have made each child pinky promise not to tell her and so far, so good! Because I work at the same school as my children go too, I have been able to sneak out at recess and lunch time and sit with 2 or 3 kids and assist them draw their square. I've told them that it's for Miss W and Mr H and they are getting married, what can we draw?

Lots of love hearts, flowers and smiling faces. They are on white homespun but my camera is making it look more cream. I have 6 more kids to get to do their square, then I can start sewing them together. Maybe this will help get my sewing mojo back cause at the moment it has disappeared!

A busy week....

2011-08-17T21:01:00.010+08:00

No sewing this week. As usual it has been a flurry of activity this week. Last Thursday we had the school sports carnival. It is a twilight affair running for 7 hours after our normal school day. It is exhausting but we do get the next day off school. Milly enjoyed one of the perks of having a Daddy who works at the same school she attends, getting to have a cuddle while waiting in our faction bay for events to commence!

We were pleasantly amazed to discover that week that Milly could run. I mean run fast. A few days before the carnival they had a morning of running trials. Every grade had to run around the oval, out of about 50 grade 1 girls, Matilda came third! Third?? So on the night of the carnival she came third again in the grade 1 girls first division! And then the grade 1 mixed relay team she was in, came first! We have a runner in the family!!! Very proud.

And this week we have had Book Week. Celebrated a week early for some reason...... We had the Kimberley Writers Festival a few weeks ago and Grace attended a workshop by an illustrator and cartoonist called James Foley who has just illustrated his first book, The Last Viking. She was inspired so we spent Monday after school with some cardboard, paint, brown wrapping paper, lots of staples and sticky tape to transform a beer carton and stack hat into making this costume. And we, oh I mean she won a prize, a book!

WIP Wednesday - Quilting Jewelled Squares.

2011-08-10T20:49:00.005+08:00

I finished the backing for my Jewelled Squares quilt on the weekend. I immediately sandwiched it and popped the walking foot on the machine.

Down and then back up. And then down and back up and then down again and back up. You get the idea. To make it more exciting for me I am using two spools of thread, a few lines of green, then some of blue. I haven't marked the lines, I'm just doing it by eye. As you can see some gaps between the lines are bigger than some other gaps. I like that. I am more than happy with that effect!

I love the back as much as I love the front! I hope to finish it on the weekend..... And am already thinking of doing another one. There is something about squares......

DQS#11 Finished!

2011-08-08T21:30:00.012+08:00

While watching the finale of a certain reality TV cooking show last night, I finally got around to sewing on the label for mt dolls quilt for DQS#11.

It's all finished! It measures 17 inches square exactly. Lucky, as the rules were 18 inches and under. I used a polka dot binding from some material my sister sent up last month. I know my partner likes polka dots!

The quilting was quite simple in the end. With the smaller tulips just a square around them and then a square around the outer.

And the same with the larger flowers as well as around the largest petal. Thought I would do it in white rather than a red or yellow so it added some contrast. My partner indicated that they do not require a hanger as discussed here. So that solves that problem for me!

WIP Wednesday - Jewelled Squares Backing.

2011-08-03T20:43:00.009+08:00

I'm working on sewing down the binding of my tulips dolls quilt at the moment, savoring the hand sewing bit. But the action under the sewing machine has turned to the backing for my jewelled squares quilt. It has been awhile since any WIP Wednesday post, I think it's time to get back in the Wednesday sewing groove. I don't have enough of one fabric to have a solid colour for the backing so I am taking the square theme from the front and making them bigger on the back!

And more random in their placing. Think I have enough blue in the stash to pull it off....

DQS#11 - Top Finished!

2011-07-31T11:46:00.005+08:00

I have sewn all the blocks together for the DQS#11. I'm pleased with it. I am going to quilt it simply, around the outer of each block and inside the larger petal in the four bigger blocks. I think that will be enough.

I'm a bit stuck how to sew the hanger in the binding though. From the start I always imagined it would be displayed on point as in the photo at the start of the post. But now I am thinking, how can I sew a pocket in for it to hang that way? It would have to be pinned on the wall. So do I go no hanger or sew one on the side like normal so it hangs like the above photo, which doesn't look that bad I suppose. Any thoughts dear blog reader?

Tulip Progress.

2011-07-28T15:20:00.005+08:00

I have made two more tulip blocks for the flickr DQS. With spots this time. This measures 4 inches.

And I have made 5 of these size blocks. The tulip here measure's 2 inches. So that makes a total of 9 blocks meaning I am 3 blocks in front of the swaps minimum of 6! Now too trim them all down and sew them together.

Pink Askew Squares Finished.

2011-07-26T21:37:00.010+08:00

I finished sewing the binding down on this little quilt the other night while watching a certain bike race on telly. :) It measures 29 by 37 inches. Grace had to kneel to hide herself in this photo.

I backed it in an old print of ummm, I don't know! I have had this meter of fabric sitting in the backing box for ages! Someone famous like Valori Wells or Anna Maria Horner. I threw the selvage out. The business of the print did seem to match the business of the squares on the front. I looooove the binding! That was one of those prints you see and love but never know what to sew with it.

Just straight up and down quilting here. My favorite quilting technique at the moment.

Grace getting restless now and about to wave the quilt around like a superhero cape. Time for the photo shot to wrap up then!

Around the Block Wrapped Up!

2011-07-23T20:17:00.007+08:00

Look what I found lying on my front verge in the sunlight! No, not really, I did place it there! It is time for an Around the Block 2 update.

I recently received my last block back from Rachel. Thanks Rachel! I can't believe its my last one back though....

So I lay them out on the floor very excitedly and very randomly.

Then made two more blocks with the scraps I had been collecting as each block returned home. Block one....

... and block two. And then sewed it all together!

Then I sashed it with a 2.5 inch border. More to hold it all together until it was time to be quilted, but it does frame it nicely. I absolutely love it! I am very pleased with how it turned out. Thanks to all the lovely ladies who sewed a block for me.

DQS#11 - Plan B!

2011-07-20T13:03:00.000+08:00

Hello plan B! I love this! Perfect!! It measures just under 5 inches down the sides, 6 inches from right point to left point. I took the inspiration from here. My google searches for "flower paper pieced block", "rose paper pieced block" or "tulip paper pieced block" all drew up blanks. Is there another name for this? It was quicker for me to draw up my own pattern in Quark and wolah, here is the first block. I'm thinking four.....

DSQ#11 - The Doubts!

2011-07-19T08:10:00.001+08:00

It is a good idea to do test blocks first isn't it? So then you can see how crap your idea is. How crap you are at lining up points even though its paper pieced and everything is supposed to line up for you?

And if you do three test blocks then you might get better as you go? Maybe?? Maybe not! These are appalling! Being so tiny their faults scream at you, look at me! I'm way out!! So back to the idea board I go.....

DQS#11 - The Beginning!

2011-07-18T11:59:00.009+08:00

It's that time again, Dolls Quilt Swap #11! Back to our roots for this round. We have taken the size back to between 9 x 9 to 18 x 18 inches, actual doll quilt size! No art quilts this round and it must have a minimum of at least 6 pieced blocks. So with those thoughts in mind I stumbled across the block crossed canoes. I drew this layout in Quark to get an idea of how I can play around with the colours.

I've pulled some fabric and its time to just get sewing now I think and see if this is going the direction I want it to!

Purnululu!

2011-07-15T10:30:00.042+08:00

I have wanted to visit Purnululu or the Bungles since seeing that Qantas ad on telly. And we have just come back from an amazing three day camping trip there.

I took 318 photos before my camera battery died. I thought I had recharged it before I left. It would help if the actual charger was plugged in though!

282 of those photos taken were taken from a helicopter! My Dad, Grace and I went up for an 18 minute flight over them. It was just incredible even if I spent the first ten minutes thinking what have I done?? I never go on those rides at shows that take you up fast and whiz you around and here I am in a helicopter with no doors for fun?

The view was just awesome though. Grace was breathless when we got off the ground. Something to tell for news when she goes back to school!

Oxidisation of the iron in the sandstone gives the range the beautiful orange colour. Darren tried to convince the girls the bee hive domes were giant dinosaur droppings from millions of years. They laughed at him.

On the last day we did the Piccaninny Creek Walk. Amazing views along an eroded creek bed.

We walked up to the lookout.

Running back along Piccaninny Creek. Matilda's energy was boundless despite the 32 degrees!

And another lookout!

Milly strolling through the Domes.

We did walk Echidna Chasm too. Initially you walk through a palm filled gorge, but that soon becomes narrower and narrower, and then narrower still till at the end it's less than a meter wide.

One last view from the sky. Can't wait till Daz's folks come backup so we can go again with them.

The Show!

2011-07-10T19:12:00.010+08:00

It was show weekend in town this weekend. There was squealing in the pavilion when we found out that Milly had got a first place for her entry in "4 - 6 year old drawing, any medium" plus a ribbon and prize ($20 gift voucher to local craft/stationary shop) for being "the best overall exhibitor aged 4 - 6 years". Go Milly!!!! Very proud. We are already thinking about what we can do next year, moving up into the 7 - 8 age category! I scored a 2nd for my Rainbow Squares quilt which I was happy with. I didn't take a photo of it as it was just folded up on the display, too big to pin out I think!

I was involved this year in the school's P&C committee, cleaning up the show grounds. So I was off doing that in the afternoon, turned around to look on the oval to find Milly had made her way into the grand final of the aged 6 and under Lawn Mowing Pushing Race! They had to push it under a bar and then around two poles and then dash across the finish line, she was excited to come in second and scored $15.00 for her effort. Which was immediately spent on the dodgem cars!

Grace joined in the Melon Olympics. You had too scoop out the flesh of two watermelons so you could wear them as shoes, walk down the slippery bit of plastic clutching a honey dew melon and throw it in a tub. Just for the fun off it! We are on school holidays now for two weeks and are off here on Tuesday. Can't wait!!!

Rainbow Binding.

2011-07-06T22:27:00.012+08:00

My Rainbow Squares quilt arrived back from the long arm quilter on Monday. It looks fantastic, I'm very happy with it. It's just a paisley flower all over pattern in white, but looks effective.

Now the binding..... The conversation went sort of like this between Daz, my Mum who is staying with us for a few weeks and myself. White? Hmmm, maybe not, no defined edge. Black then? No, too stark. Grey? Ekk, all that colour and frame it with a boring old grey? Okay, how about a scrappy rainbow? That might work..... I listened to my mother as anyone who has till Friday 7am to finish it because she wants to enter it in the local show would do!

So here is the action shot sewing the binding onto the quilt. I thought Lynne would like to see a shot of the background too! I don't usually sewing at the dining room table, but this quilt is so big, I dragged the machine down to the room for the task. Now to set my Mum to the chore of sewing the binding down for me. I usually love that job but am running out of time!

Sheridan's Mondrian Block.

2011-07-04T16:45:00.004+08:00

Around the Block is drawing to a close. I only have two blocks left, well make that one now. This Mondrian inspired creation is for our fantastic hostess Sheridan. As soon as I saw it I thought this is going to be a beauty to make! Clear instructions, 1.5 inch black strips, lots of white, max of three colours to be used, think less is more. I think she'll like it. Sheridan??

Pink Askew Squares Finished.

2011-07-02T17:02:00.006+08:00

Finished the pink askew squares quilt today, all ready to sandwich. It measures 29 x 38 inches. I did plan to sash it with white as usual, but then thought this pale pink Kona solid instead. Its called very suitably, Baby Pink.

More Pink Askew Squares.

2011-06-27T20:29:00.010+08:00

Thank you for all the lovely comments about my finished Blue and Green Askew Squares Quilt in the last post. I finished sewing the rest of the pink squares yesterday. These ones I aimed to make at least 9.5 inches square. I'll admit I am sewing these to fit a piece of wadding! Not too sure about that extra pale pink one at the bottom but hopefully it will blend in.

So here I have sewed one up, four quarters cut and sewn back to make a square. Thanks to my macro lense on the camera, you can see the center doesn't match up! I took this photo for the lovely Lynne though. She was asking about the size of the inner most square. Not big enough now I say Lynne! The little one above is now half an inch, so an 3/4ths and inch before it got sewn together and 1.5 inches before it got slashed in quarters. Too small I think for next time, learning curb as always, 2.5 inch minimum for the center square on the next one!

Blue and Green Askew Squares Finished.

2011-06-26T10:33:00.010+08:00

I feel like I should rename this blog the Weekend Quilter. The only sewing and blogging action seems to happen on the weekend. But I suppose that is better than no quilting action at all! I'm happy with the quilting on this, but next time I think I might try a white thread.

I did get the binding on this quilt though! I used Kaffe's blue and green cabbage print for the binding. At first I though nooooo, can't bare to cut it up. But then I thought if I don't use it in this quilt, it will just stay folded up in a drawer where no one will see it. Why not use it on a quilt where it will get seen and appreciated. So I sliced some strips of it!

I asked the girls to help me take the photos. We went across the road where there is a patch of tamed wilderness. Pink socks and thongs, nice look Grace! I'm going to enter this one in the local agricultural show which is on next month and then pass it onto it's new owners.

Pink Askew Squares.

2011-06-21T22:18:00.005+08:00

I started another Askew Squares quilt on the weekend. Just for something to sew. :)

A Quilting Weekend.

2011-06-12T21:48:00.010+08:00

Daz has worked all weekend. One word to say, reports! Ewww!! As a parent, love getting them to read, as a wife of a teacher, well I can say goodbye to seeing my husband for the next few weeks. But on the plus side, I have lots of time on the weekend to sew and Daz actually said to me during the week that he was lucky I had my quilting to keep me amused. He is the lucky one??! *ahem!* Okay, I'll let him think that! So I used my time on the weekend to do some quilting. I have had the above mini quilt pinned up on the felt wall for months, just waiting to be quilted. So I started on that. White thread on top and pink underneath which is creating a shimmering effect. I always used to swear on same thread top and bottom, but for this one, hey living on the edge in quilting land!

Then I put the walking foot and got started on my Askew Squares. Just straight lines here. Up, then down, snip the thread then up and down again. Took 4 bobbins of thread and this time I did use the same thread top and bottom. I measured my lines by eye and the seams of the piecing, I didn't mind the wonky look. So hopefully during the week I'll get the binding on. Hopefully.....

Askew Squares.

2011-06-09T18:16:00.008+08:00

When I was sewing squares for my Rainbow Squares Quilt recently, I sewed a few extra for an idea I had. I'm sure it has been done somewhere before in flickr or blogland, but this is something I thought of while sewing all those squares, sort of a wonky Bento Box but all the Bento's coming from a different box. I don't know what to call it. I've just spent the last 20 minutes googling other words for wonky and square. How about Askew Squares? I've had the idea since the start of the year to make a blue and green quilt for friends who have left town, green to symbolize where they used to live, and blue to symbolize living by the ocean where they are now based.

So I took 9 squares, sliced them into quarters....

Then rearranged them back together in pairs and sewed them back into a square. Maybe next time instead of cutting them into quarters, it could be cut on another angle? Possibilities!

Then wolah, 9 new different blocks trimmed down to 13 inches.

I decided to sash it with white and wolah, lap sized quilt top finished. Milly came in as I was loading this picture and I asked her "What does this quilt look like to you?" Her answer, "A square quilt that looks like green patchy grass and blue sky." Which is perfect.

Around the Block 2 Update.

2011-06-02T21:15:00.007+08:00

I received this block from Louise recently, love all the combination of dots!

And then this week from Kate this one arrived. Thank you ladies! I love them both!!!

So I now have 18 blocks and spread out on Grace's bed, it looks fantastic! This is 3 blocks wide, I think I'll make it 4 and then it will be finished!

Birthday Fabric!

2011-06-01T16:06:00.002+08:00

I used my recent birthday as a treat to buy myself some fabric. I know, one doesn't really need an excuse to buy fabric, but that was how I was justifying two purchases! So this is what 14 yards plus two charm packs look like. 8 yards of Kona Solids from the Fat Quarter Shop with delicious names like daffodil, clover, honey dew, pansy, peony and pistachio. And then on the top a bundle from the lovely Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works. She had a 15% off Facebook page special the other week, bingo, I was there! A bundle of Oval Elements FQ's, two of which have already made it to the backing for my Rainbow Squares Quilt. And a bundle of FQ's called Filigree which I have no idea what to sew with, they just looked pretty. Some Kaffe on top including two charm square packs which I'll quietly admit, some of the prints in this collection are ugly! Uggggggly! But I don't want to untie the ribbon.....

A Spiderweb for Amy.

2011-05-31T15:49:00.007+08:00

I have finished an extra Spiderweb block for the lovely Amy for Around the Block2. I used this fantastic tutorial here. Nice and easy. This quilt top is going to look amazing when finished.

Thanks for all the lovely comments about finished the Rainbow Squares quilt. That was nice to log back into this afternoon and see. :)

Rainbow Squares Quilt Top Finished!

2011-05-30T18:07:00.013+08:00

I have finished my entry for the Naked Bed Challenge! With only 2 days to spare!

It is massive. 82 by 105 inches. I don't know how to photograph something so big!

Daz tried to hold it up on the step ladder but his arms weren't long enough!

It's nice and bright. I'm happy with it.

It sits nicely on the bed.

I've started piecing the backing. More rainbows. With a bit of luck I'll get it in the mail by the end of the week to be quilted.

More houses!

2011-05-28T13:49:00.003+08:00

More houses! These ones sewn by me. The birthday on Monday was overshadowed by having to go into hospital on Tuesday to have some minor surgery. It was supposed to be done on the 10th but due to the nature of country hospitals, it got rescheduled, so it wasn't it a surprise. About two years ago I noticed a lump to the right of my C section scar. I poked it and thought nothing of it but then it sort of got bigger, pea sized, 10 cents, 20 cents. So then I got it checked out September-ish last year. They didn't know what it was, so sent me up to Darwin for a needle biopsy. That was fun, NOT! Then the results came back after Christmas, sort of Endometriosis but in the muscle tissue around where my C scar is. As I understand it, a bit of my uterus has popped through the scar and so grows a little bit bigger after each cycle. So they decided to cut me open and cut it out.

That was on Tuesday. I stayed overnight in hospital, back home Wednesday lunchtime. Luckily they could do it here at our local hospital and I didn't have to go to Perth or Darwin. Daz had a few days of work and sat with me on the couch watching Glee. I have been walking around the house like an 84 year old, bent over and shuffling. It hurts to laugh and cough. Suprisingly though sitting up straight in a chair with wheels is good! And so I have dabbled in a little bit of sewing and sewn these houses. I can wheel from the ironing board to the sewing desk, perfect!

Houses for Helen.

2011-05-26T21:28:00.002+08:00

I had a birthday on Monday. A significant birthday. I turned 40. I had a lovely day, a fantastic day. I woke to presents. I received a champagne diamond and pearl pendent from Daz. It is beautiful. I had flowers delivered to me at work, not one bunch but two! I had phone calls and sms's all day and was feeling very loved. Then I went and checked the post office box and found two parcels there. One was squishy and addressed from Ad. I knew she was sewing me something but had no idea what.

My jaw hit the ground when I opened the card. I thought huh? Then it slowly dawned on me.

She had organized 20 of my quilting/sewing/blogging buddies to sew a house block for me. For me? The brief was simple and effective, a mini wonky house using bright quilt fabrics and plain white homespun. The house size to be between 2” x 1” and no bigger than 4” x 4” square with white sashing to bring block up to 5” square. And look at all the beautiful blocks that then came in!

Carmel did this cute little robot!

This cute little birdhouse is from Emma.

The car under the tree is from Milly and the chook house from Joy.

They are all just stunning. Thank you so much to all the girls who made a block or two. Bec, Lily, Amy, Amy P. Ingrid! AJ! Cass!!! Karen! Mands and Natalie. Denni and Anna, Rose and Sibylle! And Leah!!! Every block is just wonderful, thank you to you all. I'm just blown away by the fact that you had a secret Facebook group going and I knew nothing about it! Sneaky girls! Very sneaky! Big thanks to my dearest sister Ad, she is the one who put it together, did all the quilting and even the binding! She is 5 years younger than me so that gives me a lot of time to think of something to come up with for her 40th!

Rainbow Spikes Finished!

2011-05-21T21:06:00.013+08:00

Remember this quilt? It's all finished now. The label sewing on took me just as long to do as the actually quilting I think! It is all ready for me to pass onto my friend now.

I ended up pebble quilting this one up to the edge of the circle that contained the foundation piecing. I stitched in the ditch in matching thread of every second point.

I decided to do it that way instead of all over pebbling like my first one as look what happens when you do that? It sort of bubbles up and becomes a lump! Photographed directly in front you can't tell but from the side..... interesting!

Here they are both together. The one on the left is done in Kona Bone I think. The one on the right is in Micheal Millers Dumb Dots, white dots on a white background. Subtle. My sister sent me 6 meters of this last year, I'm working my way through it slowly, it's my favorite white tone on tone.

72 4.5 inch squares.

2011-05-16T18:59:00.001+08:00

This is what 72 4.5 inch squares look like. Finally finished them. Finally!!!

Started trimming them down and adding the sashing. The Naked Bed Challenge deadline of June the 1st is looming!

Milly's Wonky House Quilt - Bloggers Quilt Festival Time!

2011-05-15T11:07:00.004+08:00

Here is my submission for the Spring 2011 Bloggers Quilt Festival! Milly's Wonky House Quilt. It was sewn as part of a block swap with 11 other ladies around Australia as part of the flickr group Around the Block.

I sent off my fabric back in August 2009!

I requested wonky house blocks. This one I sewed as a trial one.

And then over the next few months the blocks came back in the mail.

Here are all the blocks I received back (minus two that were still in the mail when this photo was taken) plus my block. I was so pleased with them all!

I then sashed it with 1.5 inches of yellow for some zing leaving 3 blocks to work into the backing.

Then added a red wedged kinda border....

Then I sent it away to be quilted by Kathy. Wrestling with it under my machine didn't fill me with joy, so I mailed it away and I was so pleased I did! It looks fantastic. Really stunning.

I choose a simple swirl and stars all over pattern. In yellow thread.

The back looks as good as the front!

And the photo that sums up why I quit! Here is Milly snuggling with her new quilt that she sleeps under every night. I gave it to her just before her 6th birthday, that was in November 2010. So it took 14 months and the kindness of 11 ladies to sew the blocks to make this quilt. Thank you again to all the ladies involved, you know who you are! The joys of blogging and flickr!! Now to sit back and go through all the other amazing quilts in the festival.

Mothers Day!

2011-05-08T16:08:00.005+08:00

Today was Mother's Day. I'll admit the day doesn't usually excite me. Maybe cause we spend it running around after my Mum and Daz's Mum. But this year seeing as though they are 3,000 plus kms away, today was all about me!!!! I got breakfast in bed, accompanied by some pressies and cards from the girls. Inside Milly's card is classic. Thank for for making luck for me everyday Mummy. Luck I said? Lunch Mummy, it's lunch not luck!

We got in the car and went for a little drive to here for lunch.

I had a beef Vietnamese noodle soup which was very yummy. Along with a few glasses of bubbly!

We amused ourselves by taking funny face photos waiting for our meal. As you do!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Here Fishy, Fishy!

2011-05-06T21:22:00.022+08:00

Back to school this week so to mark the holidays ending, on Tuesday we went for a little drive. Haven't had any rain for a month, but the water is still coming out the ground. We drove through muddy puddles.

And we drove over rocks. Lots of rocks.

And we passed beautiful scenery like this.

And we put our fishing rods in a big muddy brown river.

And taa daa!!!! I pulled out this!!!! The elusive barramundi!

It was a family effort. I held the rod, Grace wound it in and Milly cheered us on. Grace thought holding it was "gross!"

Milly was happy to pose with it though. This is a photo that will be displayed on her 21st birthday. 59cms! Not bad! I'm happy with that for my first barra catch.

Grace was much happier hanging with a green tree frog that had hitched a ride in the bag of one of the chairs.

And then as the sun set, the girls built themselves a tee pee! The perfect end to our holidays. Only something like 43 working days to get through till the next break! But who is counting?

74 Rainbow Squares!

2011-05-02T22:40:00.004+08:00

I did the maths, I need 74 small rainbow squares to do around the border of the Rainbow Square Quilt. 74 times 4.5 inch squares.... so I have 7 colours in my rainbow so 10 of each colour and then I just sort of wing it with the extra 4. That is the plan! I have done yellow, orange and red. Am up to pink, have done one, the others are in various stages, so 31 complete, 43 to go! Can I admit I am getting bored of this project and am itching to start something else?

Thanks for the comments on the last post too. I think I have the balance right. :)

Lake Argyle Swim.

2011-05-01T21:19:00.005+08:00

We interrupted the sewing for a few days out here, as the big weekend was here. The Lake Argyle Swim. Daz and a team of 3 fellow teachers were competing in the 10km team swim across Australia's largest body of fresh water, Lake Argyle. That little orange buoy in the distance on the right? That is the 1km to go mark.

We went up the Friday before and camped at the Resort to soak up the view and the atmosphere. The view is just stunning!

Hanging at the beautiful infinity pool at the caravan park before the big day. Such a tough life being on holiday's up in the Kimberley!

The swimmer doing a few laps warming up for the big day.

Waiting at the boat ramp.

The cheering squad by the boat ramp.

And later over that day, over the finishing line they go! They swam in 5 minute stints during the race but for the last 30 meters, they all jumped out the boat and swam across together.

And he got a medal/coaster saying he survived the swim! Does he look happy or what?

We spotted a croc on the way home while crossing over the bridge to Spillway Creek. Krista, this photo is just for you!! Glad it was on the way home, would have been a bad omen if we spotted it going there! There are crocs in Lake Argyle but the swimmers were in the middle of the lake, so safe enough. So it was a great weekend, Daz is keen to do it all again next year!

Quick question of the day. When I was at SIT, I got several comments about how people loved the photos of the scenery up here and what we did out and about. Which was lovely. I know I live in an amazing part of Australia that not many people get to experience. So I love to share that. My question is, do I share too much or just the right amount?

Rainbow Squares and some more Rainbow Squares!

2011-04-27T09:12:00.006+08:00

Are you sick of seeing this quilt top in action yet?! Here is Daz trying to hold it up outside, he's on a step ladder, he's not that tall!

I then got rid of all the background. Looking good! In hindsight (and isn't that a wonderful thing?) I should have added white around the borders twice the width of what I did and just left it at that. But I didn't!

So what to add in the border to take it down to the 8 or so inches needed for it to sit neatly down each side of our bed? How about some more squares? Lots more squares! Better stop blogging and get sewing!

Around the Block - April.

2011-04-26T19:45:00.003+08:00

It was time for some Around The Block action today. I decided to sew Louise's block.She asked for a whirlygig or any star block. I found this Wisconsin Star from here. It's paper pieced, I thought the red made the star explode. I hope she likes it.

Rainbow Squares WIP.

2011-04-25T16:33:00.003+08:00

As I promised myself, today I sewed. I have added a 5 inch border of white to the sides and am about to do the same to the top and bottom. Then to ponder a little peep strip of colour like here or smaller squares? I need to get Daz to stand on a step ladder holding it, snap some photos and then play around in photoshop.

Easter Camping.

2011-04-24T17:24:00.015+08:00

We are on holidays at last! 12 weeks is a long term for teachers and students! Last Easter we went to El Questro and this Easter we went again. We had planned to go here or here but with all the rain recently, nowhere is open! So we packed up our camping stuff and away we went for a few days of adventures. We ran across a stretch of the Pentecost River.

We did some rapid riding as well. This stretch of the river was right next to the camping ground so while it wasn't 100% safe from crocodiles, everyone was doing it! The water here was waist height and fast! It was heaps of fun.

Only two of the Gorges are open at the moment, again, due to all the recent rain. One of them, Amelia Gorge was only open to the halfway point but we haven't walked it so we choose to do this one. I thought that the three logs and all the stones here were placed on purpose to make a little dam but Daz thinks it's from the force of the water over time. Still debating this one.

Taaa da, we made it! The water at the end was chilly but so refreshing. We walked this gorge early, left the car park at 8am so as a result we were the only ones there to enjoy it in the hour or so we were at the end. Walking back to the car people were starting to come in.

A rest spot along the way in. Usually this would be just a trickle of water.

One day we went to checking out where the water got up to at the Pentecost River where the Gibb River Road crosses. It's a bit hard to make out, but in the photo on the left of Daz, see the sign sticking out of the sand? It says Pentecost River.......

Driving back to camp from here we counted 52 water crossings in one morning! Mind you that did range from the above to a mere few inches trickling across the road. Still, 52!!! That's a lot of water.

And because we were so close, we stopped in at Zeebedee Springs a few times. Now we are back home for a few days to recover before packing the camping gear again and heading out to Lake Argyle for a few days to cheer on Daz and his team in the Lake Argyle Swim. We are going to need to take a holiday from our holiday!

Rainbow Squares.

2011-04-17T19:05:00.004+08:00

Well I sewed all my rows of rainbow together today!

Pebbling.....

2011-04-16T17:56:00.006+08:00

Hi, my name is Helen and I used to quilt when I wasn't having a child turn 8, spending afternoons cruising on boats and receiving packages in the mail! There hasn't been a lot of sewing action my way lately but with school holidays starting on Tuesday afternoon, I'm ready to get back into some sewing action! I finished the pebble quilting on this today. Then I trimmed down all my blocks for the Naked Bed Challenge. It's a start.

DQS 10 from Marilyn.

2011-04-12T22:39:00.002+08:00

My dolls quilt from the DQS 10 arrived a few days ago. And I will admit I have been busy with Grace's birthday and the unexpected but lovely arrival of the in-laws to stay for a week and so I am only getting around to blogging all it's beauty now! It is from a lovely lady called Marilyn and when I opened it up there were lots of ohhhh's and ahhh's of excitment!

I opened the box to see all this beautifully wrapped parcels. Everything was colour coordinated and a little note explaining how she saw all the pink and orange in my photos and it gave her the idea of a California sunset. The colours she has used are just stunning.

She even sent the girls a bundle of goodies too which was very sweet. Very, very sweet. These girls love these swaps more than I do as they usually seem to score something in the package for them! I don't expect this, I think the stunning quilt is enough, but it is always a lovely, touching thing to do. Thank you Marilyn. x

And I got goodies too! Marilyn is from California and so she enclosed a beautifully photographed book on California. And she had made a mix tape of all these songs about California! Classic tracks like California Girls and Hotel California. It is great! But wait, there is more! Also a lovely bundle of fat quarters by Anna Griffin from her Riley Collection.

One last shot.... *sigh* Lovely! Thank you again Marilyn!

Lake Kununurra.

2011-04-10T09:26:00.001+08:00

On Friday afternoon, after school, we went on a boat cruise with the School's Social Club. Usually it's just down to the pub, but this time it was on a boat with Triple J Boat Cruises. This is called Elephant Rock, because it looks like an elephant? See if you can make it out.

Because we have had a very wet, Wet Season, the waterfalls are still flowing down.

You can drive a smaller boat right up to this one, get out and climb up to that first pool.

It was nice to get out on the water again. Half way through the cruise Daz turned to me and said, "We really have to get a boat." That would be very nice!

Grace is 8!

2011-04-09T16:27:00.002+08:00

Happy 8th birthday Grace! Growing up too fast. I have asked you all week if you can stop growing and stay 7 years old to which you have answered, "No way Mummy! I want to be 8 now!" I love how you still call me Mummy though, still haven't grown up enough for that to change!

DQS #10 Sent.

2011-04-05T18:29:00.007+08:00

I posted my quilt for the DQS#10 today. I really like the the scrappy border. Think I might keep that in mind for my quilt for the Naked Bed Challenge.

I ended up stippling it. I had forgotten how much I enjoy stippling!

And what quilt would be complete without the label!

The Naked Bed Challenge!

2011-04-03T12:36:00.010+08:00

I got excited last night to see on Sarah's blog she is hosting a Naked Bed Challenge! Going along with the idea that those who quilt don't have a quilt for their own bed should make one for themselves. While I do have a quilt for our bed, this one here, I was shocked the other week to be told by my darling husband that the quilt in question was ugly and he didn't like it, despite having slept under it for the last 18 months! hmff!

But it is the perfect inspiration for me to pick up this quilt again which was started back in January with the purpose for our bed. Rainbow squares. I have already made 5 blocks in each colour, I now have to trim them, sash them with a crisp spotty white and then I'm going to raise the bar and even try and quilt it in the time frame....... I have two months from yesterday. Come and join in the fun!

Unpicking.....

2011-04-02T21:22:00.006+08:00

Last Saturday at SIT, I spent the day hand quilting this. Well hand quilting three of the spikes, that is all I managed to do for the whole day. And today I unpicked it all. My hand quilting is crap. All uneven and yuck. Such sharp points and then to spoil it all by dodgy quilting. So I have unpicked it and am going to machine quilt it. Same as the other one I think. Thank you for the great photo Michelle. I look like I know what I am doing here! Ha!

SIT - Day One.

2011-03-31T17:56:00.001+08:00

It was a rainy Thursday that I boarded the plane to Darwin for the much anticipated SIT! After a restful night in Darwin it was back on another plane for Sydney!

The lovely Cass picked me up from the airport and whisked me away to join the ladies on the Friday Shopping trip. It was great to finally meet the amazing Sheridan at last! I joined them at the second stop which was the beautiful Calico and Ivy shop in Balmain. Here are some of the girls loitering on the steps! It was great to meet ladies that I have known through blogging and quilting forums and block swaps. Hello there Leah!

Inside the shop it was just beautiful, lots of colour and light.

I brought just a little bit of fabric.....

Then it was back on the bus to the Prints Charming studio. I have purchased a bit of their fabric over the years, I love their colours and designs, it was like visiting an old friend. These ladies have a dream job in their studio, a lot of hard work I know but can you imagine anything better?

They had some scrap fabric packs for sale. I purchased 3..... Not sure what I am going to sew with them. But I have them tucked away for that day when I do know!

Here is the lovely Karen holding up one of the colourful designs from Prints Charming. After seeing them in real life I wish I did sign up for the stitching session!

And here is Kylie holding up one of their dresses. Hello Kylie!

And this was hanging up. Pure inspiration. This post has taken me two days to write! I'll pop up day two of SIT next.

Around the Block Update!

2011-03-22T15:19:00.000+08:00

Due to the road closures, mail has been slow getting up here. So it was with great excitement I got two packages for my round of the Around The Block Swap today! This one above is from Abbe. Thank you Abbe, I like how the dark green and white dots are just one line.

And this one from our lovely leader, Sheridan. Thank you Sheridan! My thoughts turned today to "I wonder what swap Sheridan will organize next......"

And this one from Becky. This one actually came the other week but I put it aside to blog together with the next one. Thanks Becky!

And I have been trying to sew a few with the scraps as they come back. So I made this one....

And this one! They are very therapeutic to sew.

So you put them all together, and you get this! These are just randomly placed. 16 blocks so far. Just for my notes, there are 4 x 12.5 inch blocks. 3 x 8.5 plus 5 x 4 inch blocks. 5 x 4 by 6.5 inch blocks. 4 x 10.5 with lots of little 2.5 inch squares. Looking good!

Grace's Merit Certificate

2011-03-21T19:07:00.002+08:00

First merit certificate for 2011! Awarded to Grace at assembly on Friday for "always actively participating in all class activities and discussions with enthusiasm and good humor". Well done Gracie!

Due to all the rain, one of the internet cables linking Kununurra to the rest of the world was washed away - so the story goes! - and we had no net access for 3 days! The horror!!!!! I logged back on yesterday evening to find 191 emails, including one from Modern Day Quilts to say that my Blue Squares Quilt I made was featured here. Cool!

Cut Off!

2011-03-14T22:18:00.001+08:00

We have had a bit of rain lately, just a bit. I must be getting old as the weather fascinates me now! We have had 179mm for the month of March so far, last year we only had 84mms for the whole month. The sky is looking like this colour most of the time and I'm using the tumble dryer to dry clothes!

So after 88mms of rain since Friday, word got around town that the water was rising! The road to Fitzroy Crossing has been closed since Friday which is the link to the rest of Western Australia. The road to Darwin is open still but all the food and mail comes from Perth. The supermarket shelves in the fruit and veggie section have pumpkin or lemons! We went down to Ivanhoe Crossing after school today to have a look. It's all under water! It should look like this but it's all under water.... that green tree top island on the left there in the water? I think that is the tree that the warning sign about crocodiles is under.

Then we drove over to look at the Dunham River, which was raging under the bridge! Its about 4 times the width of what it normally is! It's all very exciting, besides not having any fresh fruit it's all good!

DQS10 - Take Two!

2011-03-13T19:51:00.019+08:00

After much pondering over to send or not send this quilt off for the flickr DQS, I have decided not too. A girlfriend came over today, just popped in too drop off something and she saw it on the wall and I could see on her face how much she loved it. Really loved it. Appreciated the work in it. And it is her birthday in a few months so I am going to leave it hanging there until then. And then watch her face when she unwraps it. Of course when she was viewing it this morning I said nothing of that and told her about doll quilt swaps. She thought I was mad!

So with that decision finally made it was time to turn my attention to what I would now send.

I had made these stars during the week. Using scraps from my white tone on tone stash for some interest.

So with the four completed it was time today to think layout. I was originally thinking in an arch but it would have made it too long so I played it safe and just sewed them in a square pattern.

Nice and safe as you can see! Then the border...... after thinking wonky flying geese I thought nope, little squares in a row, inspired by this block here.

So I sewed a long strip about 7 inches long, then sliced it up into four strips.....

And sewed it to the stars. Frames it nicely, I like the colour against the white. So all ready to sandwich and quilt during the week.

There has been a few emails going behind the scenes and messages on flickr about swapping and not sending if your partner hasn't commented on what you have made. Just want to point out I don't expect gushing over my quilt, not at all. But I do expect appreciation for the hours gone into making something special. I have been in a lot of dolls quilt swaps, a lot. One of the last ones I sent, I got the feeling it wasn't appreciated and that was a bit hard to swallow as I know a lot of people would have loved that quilt. Maybe that is just the risk and joy of swapping? So rather than take that risk again, I'm keeping a quilt that was originally made for someone else and give it to someone I know will love it. That's all I really have to say about that. I have a quilt to sandwich. :)

SIT Badge from Amy!

2011-03-10T21:16:00.002+08:00

My badge for SIT arrived in the mail today from Amy. Thanks Amy! I opened it in the car in the carpark of the post office and the girls in the back and I went awwwwww, how cute all at the same time! Can't wait to wear it! Not long now!

DQS 10 Finished!

2011-03-09T15:41:00.016+08:00

I finished sewing down the binding on my quilt for the flickr DQS 10. All finished except for the label! But still deciding if that label will say made by Helen for Helen. Or made by Helen for ? I'm really torn between sending away something that took ages to make to someone who hasn't expressed an interest in appreciating it. I do have another already to sandwich, but still....

One side of the rainbow....

Can't get enough of those pointy points!

I have it hanging on a rod next to Lynne's Rules quilt. It looks great. The husband suggested a queen sized bed in this pattern for our bed would look fantastic. Yes, it would........

SIT Houses Finished!

2011-03-07T18:13:00.009+08:00

I finished my houses for the sample swap for SIT. This time next month it will all be over! But I am not thinking of that at the moment, instead savouring the anticipation of going!

The one on the right does light flat. Just my dodgy quilt styling there!

I think the one on the right above is my favourite. I used my last scrap of Jan Mullen leaves for the grass hense the jaunty angle of the ground the house is built on.

I just have to sew this label on five times. Not long to go!!!

ETA - Blogless Lisa has pointed out I'm a year behind in my dates! LOL Good thing I haven't sewn it on yet!

Molly Springs In the Wet!

2011-03-06T11:00:00.002+08:00

It is the wet season up here at the moment which means lots of rain! According to one of my favorite web sites BOM, we had 249.4 mm in January and then 425.4 mm in February! So we try and get out on the weekend amongst the showers! This is a pretty typical view from the front seat of the 4wd, water on the track, green lush tree's and grass and grey clouds.

A few weekends ago we ventured to Molly Springs which usually looks like this, a gentle little waterfall but you could hear the water crashing down 5oo meters away as you walked up the track to it! This is as close as we got to it, the water was just rushing by too fast for us to cross or the girls to swim in. I had visions of them being swept away.

So we walked back down the track and swam in a quieter section that is usually just ankle deep. There was still a strong rush of water here, Daz and I were standing in the water just out of shot on the bottom left, and if I faced the current and did breast stroke, I didn't move anywhere, the force of the water kept me swimming in one spot. It was amazing.

SIT Badge

2011-03-04T22:28:00.003+08:00

My badge for the SIT Secret Name Badge Swap has arrived safely at Lara's house so I can reveal it here. Not long till I get to see it dangling from her lanyard in person!

WIP Wednesday - Pebble Quilting.

2011-03-02T12:04:00.004+08:00

Well since I deleted my time wasting "game" of Farmville on Facebook on the weekend, I suddenly have all this extra time to quilt! I have finished the time consuming thread changing echo quilting on the spikes and sewn all the loose threads in the back. Then I echo quilted around the outside of all the spikes and then put the FMQ foot on the machine and started the pebble quilting. Just a little more to go and then the binding!

Spikey Quilt Quilting!

2011-02-28T07:24:00.001+08:00

I started quilting the Spikey Quilt yesterday. I decided on a simple echo stitch near the ditch in matching thread for each second point. I was going to do for every point but quickly realized that sewing every second point was just as good. A tangle of rainbow threads!

I love my walking foot! It just glides over the fabric so nicely. I'm doing white around all the spikes and then am going to do some textural pebble quilting all over the white. I'm really pleased with how it is looking, its starting to grow on me with each stitch and I'm hoping that the person that receives this will be appreciative of the work gone into it. Even though the last quilt I made in this swap was ohh'ed and ahhh'ed over on flickr, I get the gut feeling that the person didn't really like it and I don't want that to happen to this little quilt. I know that is the risks of swaps, but..... you know what I mean don't you?

Around the Block - February.

2011-02-27T10:40:00.004+08:00

Ohhhh, just slipping in for this months round of Around the Block 2! This month I picked Becky's envelope. She asked for triangles, as long as it had a triangle in it, she was happy! I noticed in her inspiration gallery though she had two of these flying geese in a circle. It's always been a block I wanted to do, so I printed out the free pattern found here and some sewing, unpicking, more sewing, more unpicking later, wolah! Hope you like it Becky! Now shall I post it over or hand it to you in person next month at SIT??! :)

SIT Name Badge - Part 2!

2011-02-26T12:56:00.002+08:00

One of the other lovely ladies going to SIT next month is posting me up a proper pin fastening for the back of the name badge. As usual Australia Post is traveling on a camel, so I have been looking at this all week thinking something is missing........ So I added another row of petals in yellow to make it pop! I like it better now.

SIT Name Badge!

2011-02-20T11:43:00.007+08:00

I got an email yesterday from the airline carrying me from Darwin to Sydney for SIT next month to say they had had canceled my flight, booked back in August thank you very much and put me on another flight leaving 8 hours later than the original time. Not impressed to put it mildly, not impressed at all..... So after I sorted out that on the phone and accepted there wasn't much I could do about it, I turned my thoughts to the name badge swap and thought the deadline for posting is approaching, get cracking Helen! It has to be in the SIT colours and it is a secret swap....

I went for an oval flowery thingy. These little petals were fiddly to do, they measure .5 an inch across and under an inch long.

I sewed the yellow and brown ovals together, hand stitched the name on it, but I can't show you that bit yet! Then glued the petals in place and also a back panel to keep it all neat. Just have the pin clasp to sew on tonight and then ready top post away!

Jelly Roll Quilt Finished.

2011-02-19T16:06:00.006+08:00

I finished the binding and the label on this quilt for Corrie's Quilts for Queensland during the week. I used some Amy Butler Midwest Modern for the backing.

We are on the tail end of Ex Tropical Cyclone Carlos this weekend which really just means a lot of rain. Hence the photos taken under the patio here!

Not bad for a quick little quilt. All ready to pop in the post on Monday.

Spikey Quilt Top #1 Finished!

2011-02-16T21:26:00.007+08:00

Look at those pointy spikes! You could take an eye out with one of those!

With the man away fishing on the weekend, I got a lot of sewing done! I'm very happy with how all the quarters matched up, I was expecting to do some unpicking but it all went smoothly. Now how to quilt it? I was thinking pebble quilting in the white but then for the points, maybe a straight line of hand quilting along the longer point's edge? Thoughts dear viewers?

As I have been looking at it I questioned too myself, why did I do the colour wheel going around twice? So for my second one I am just going to go around once. I have my material cut and labeled, ready to go for another big weekend of sewing!

Catch of the Day!

2011-02-14T16:19:00.003+08:00

The husband went on a boy's only fishing trip on the weekend. They went somewhere off Cape Domett. He caught a BIG fish! This is a 1 metre and 10 cm Jew Fish or a Mulloway.

This one was smaller, about 82 cms.

It's almost as tall as Milly! So it's fish for tea tonight as well as last night..... and a lot in the freezer!

Spikey Quilt Update.

2011-02-11T20:39:00.011+08:00

Another quarter done of my Dolls Quilt Swap. Looks good hey?

Yes Helen, it looks fantastic until you put it with the half already done only to see that you totally stuffed up the color direction!!! It should have been green going around to yellow, orange and then red. D'oh!!!!

So I have folded it up and tossed it aside in frustration. That is what you get from sewing for 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there after work when you are tired. So I spent this afternoon laying it all out and numbering it so tomorrow being the start of the weekend, I can just sew it! Looking at this photo though, think I better add A to one quarter, B to the next etc, so I don't get them mixed up. Oh the confusion!

Hidden Valley.

2011-02-09T20:29:00.005+08:00

What to you call a bunch of teachers that walk into a valley on a weekend? I am not sure, but I did ponder it as I made up the rear party of an afternoon outing to Hidden Valley or Mirima National Park on Sunday. This park is on our doorstep practically, I drive past it every day and despite being here a year, we have never been for a walk in it! So we packed our towels, snacks and drinks and took a 30 minute trek to this.......

A beautiful pool. Deep enough to jump off into. See that figure in the white top on the left clapping as the others jumped in?? Notice how there is a gap in the ladies jumping off, almost like the person in the white was supposed to jump in too but at the last second stepped back and said "No WAY!" Well that chicken is me! Just couldn't do it!

There was a smaller ledge that the girls were happy jumping off.

I jumped in off this one just fine. :)

A Slight Hiccup!

2011-02-06T09:54:00.010+08:00

I got all excitied yesterday after posting and finished two of the quarters and then decided to sew it together to make the half. Spot the hiccup?? Look! Can you see it?? It took Daz a few minutes to find it but to me its glaring in the face! Okay, see the dark pink strip in the middle? Firstly its supposed to be a bit thicker, when all four blocks are joined there will be a cross that stands out a bit more than the spikes, thats part of the pattern, so its not that. But it is to do with the dark pink. See on the right it comes down to a nice sharp point meeting the lighter pink? That is good. But see on the right? It comes down to a point, all good, looking nice, then it goes straight! Argh!!!!

I know exactly what I have done wrong which makes it more fustrating! You are supposed to sew on the solid lines. I decided at the beginning to make the points a bit longer, so I decided to sew on the solid line for the first side of the spike and then on the dash line for the other side of the spike. And that worked fine until it came time to sew the two quarters together! I trimmed it before I sewed it to get the bulk down, and I should have trimmed one side on the solid line and one on the dash line, but instead I trimmed both on the solid. Bugger!!!

And here is the colour selection for the other side of the spiky wheel.

So here I am ready for round two. I suppose its not really that noticable..... but I'll make another one anyway. Good thing I like to make two versions for these quilt swaps!

The Spiky Quilt - DQS#10!

2011-02-05T15:44:00.006+08:00

We have had rumbling thunder here all afternoon, the sort of thunder that makes the window's rattle, a hot and steamy day, perfect for starting a new project! I have decided to make a start on my quilt for the 10th round of the flickr DQS. I'm going for a rainbow palette and am using some sheets from my Judy Niemyer Japanese Fan pattern I purchased over the holidays.

I have called it the Spiky Quilt or rather Matilda has, she came in and said "What are you sewing Mummy?" and had a look at what was on the ironing board and announced "Ohhhh, you are sewing a spiky quilt!" Not too sure if I'm going to do it in a circle yet or an S shape or something else. Here is the first quarter done though.

SIT Houses.

2011-02-03T18:41:00.005+08:00

The dates for SIT are creeping closer and closer! The girls on our little Facebook group are getting excited! I can't wait!!!! 3591kms and two flights to get to a weekend of sewing and shopping and gossiping. I was so disappointed I couldn't go last year so this year the dearest husband had no choice but to say of course you can go sweet heart...... Besides I have a birthday this year that ends with an 0 so I'm thinking of it as a little birthday pressie to myself.

But back to the houses! The wonderful Cass organizes a Sample Swap held on the Saturday Stitching Day. It works along the lines of you make five of one item, then in the afternoon Cass will break us into groups of 6 people, a circle is formed and we do a weird dance (which is very important apparently!) And I'll get something from each person in my circle and they’ll each get something from me! So I thought I'd make 5 little mini house quilts. I thought I'd make them a little bit special and incorporate the Sew It Together logo. I duplicated it on an A4 sheet in Photoshop and then printed it out on the printer at home on a sheet of Matilda's Own printable fabric sheets and wolah, roof fabric!

This one is ready to sandwich. Think I'll make up the other four and then sandwich and quilt them together.

First Day of School for 2011!

2011-02-02T15:08:00.005+08:00

My what a difference a year can make. This time last year at the start of the school year, Grace was less than impressed as you may remember from this blog post. And now look at her this morning! Very confident and more than eager to go. One if the perks of working at the same school your kids attend is that you know who their teachers are, so we knew all throughout the holidays that Grace had Mrs H and Milly had Miss W who was the same teacher she had last year so she was extra happy. Milly is in year one this year and Grace is in year three. Year three? How did that happen? I still remember her first day of kindy! She didn't want me to hang around and see her in the door this morning, lucky I got to chat to her teacher in the staff room about how it was going. Milly let me walk her to her room and come in for a few minutes, then I was shooed out of there too! We have two happy confident kids so should be proud of that. 2011 is going to be a great year for both of them.

Confessions of a Walking Foot.

2011-01-28T16:27:00.005+08:00

I have finished quilting this quilt. It was quick, just a quarter of an inch on one side of each row. Since taking this photo this morning the binding is all one ready to be hand sewn down. We are back to school next week and I am cramming as much sewing in as possible in these last few days as term 1 is a big one this year, 12 weeks long! The teacher, teachers aide and two students in this house are going to be exhausted at the end of it! Thinking about planning a trip here at the end of those 12 weeks, something to focus on.

So I quilted this with my walking foot, I have a love/hate relationship with it. Was so disappointed in the quilting that I produced with it on this quilt last year. I was getting quilt drag with that quilt, so with this one I was determined to do it the proper way, down one row, rotate and then back the other way, so you aren't going in the same direction all the time. I did that for maybe 8 rows and it was pulling badly on the back, getting dragged again. So then I decided to go just one way and everything then clicked. No drag, lovely smooth quilting. So then I unpicked those first 8 rows and redid them going the same way as the others and it is perfect. Flat and smooth and no drag. Go figure. Walking foot I don't understand you but thank you for doing what I wanted you to do on this quilt.

Pink Squares Finished!

2011-01-27T19:38:00.003+08:00

Wow, that is a lot!!! Well done to everyone involved, a great effort. Congratulations go to Cristina who won my quilt with her generous bid of $200!! I'm designing a label for Cristina now and then hopefully it will be in the mail to her by the weekend.

Also in the mail tomorrow is this quilt to Corrie for her collection of quilts.

Pebble quilting all finished, binding sewn down.

Label on. I put my email address on it as I don't know who is going to get this quilt so it would be nice to think that one day, maybe, to get an email saying hi, I got your quilt. I loved the binding for this one. There was no red in the pink squares, but somehow it just went!

Bit of pebble quilting close up.

And just from another angle. The vine on the right is that one with the purple flowers, it is a weed I know, but I love how it crawls along the back fence. We are hopeless gardeners Daz and I but up here everything is so lush and green. Anyway, I hope whoever ends up with this quilt likes it as much as I do.

Around the Block - January.

2011-01-24T18:20:00.012+08:00

I received this from Kate last week. Just perfect!! Thanks Kate. And a good reminder for myself too of this months Around the Block 2 commitments.

So without further ado I grabbed an envelope and picked this for Abbe who requested stacked coins. Reminds me of book spines. Nice cool colours to work with.

And while in the mood I used some of the scraps Kate had sent back along with the scraps I had received from others to who up quickly 4 more 6.5 inch blocks to mare another 12.5 inch block! I'm hoping to make one for each I receive.

Then with Grace's help I lay them all out. A nice balance so far!

My auction closes tonight! Still a chance to bid here!

365 days ago....

2011-01-23T17:45:00.015+08:00

A year ago today we moved here to this town called Kununurra that we now call home. Stepping off that plane, dazed, immediately wrapped in a warm blanket of heat and humidity. Welcomed by strangers that have become friends. Our thoughts ranged from "What have we done??" to "How exciting!! What an adventure!" We think we are pretty lucky to have scored Kununurra as a placement, such a beautiful corner of Australia. I can see us staying up here for awhile.... To celebrate 365 days here, we went out this afternoon to Middle Springs. We had been here once before, but this time we went to the same place but somewhere a little different.

We walked up the side of the falls, followed the stream. It wasn't a hard walk, 10 minutes or so.

Took in the sights along the way! We have had a few decent days of rain this week and so the waterfalls are flowing.

And up the top is a collection of flowing pools. Some where waist deep, others knee deep, others a few meters deep. All connected by the stream rushing through. I tried a self timer shot but couldn't get back in time! Yes, I am wearing shoes in the water, we all wear them, our trekking shoes we call them. My camera battery died after I took the first photo in this post. The pool in the first photo was on the other side of the pool above. The water fell into the next pool, it was so beautiful up there. I was cross my camera battery died, we will just have to go back again.

Sewing Frenzy!

2011-01-18T11:27:00.018+08:00

I love summer holidays! Now we are back from the "official" holiday we are all relaxing at home and I am on a sewing frenzy at the moment. Finished the pebble quilting on the pink squares quilt, binding is all pinned into place, ready to hand sew down.

Inspired by Corrie, I whipped out the jelly roll I had left over from making Ruby's quilt and sewed all the strips together in a few hours. Wolah! Quilt ready to sandwich. This one is going to her Quilts For Queensland appeal too.

And in between that I have started a new quilt. Rainbow squares. Pretty much like the pink squares but bigger and brighter, I love sewing these blocks. Picking out a centre then thinking oh yes, that would look nice framing that, sew it, then ohhhh, how about that spotty fabric? Yes, perfect, sew it!

These are my favourites so far. I'm up to purple, green and blue to go next.

But we haven't been sitting around home all the time. Have taken advantage of the rain and having our own 4WD and getting out and seeing some of the waterfalls around only in the wet season.

This one is Black Rock which we have been to a few times before. It holds a special place in my heart as it was the first place we ever visited when we came up here. Okay, back to the sewing!