Castlemaine Applique Group Quilt Show

I was lucky enough to be in Castlemaine for this wonderful exhibition. Well actually it was well planned as I had enrolled in Threadbear’s Appliqué School on Saturday 15 March.  I visited the exhibition after a full day of learning about the finer points of appliqué from the wonderful Di Ford Hall and Margaret MacDonald and was so overwhelmed by the number of quilts and the wonderful needle skills that I managed to not take one photo! Just as well other bloggers had their wits about them such as Hilda at Every Stitch who has some fantastic photos on her blog, and Carole at Wheels on the Warrandyte Bus has lots of great photos including close ups.

Made few purchases from Threadbear.  Margaret MacDonald used a little bit of this pink in her quilt Charlotte Louise, so when I spied that Threadbear had it, it had to be purchased. 

 It also comes in blue.

Speaking of blue, I managed to purchase a few more blue and white fabrics from Threadbear to add some interest to my postage stamp quilt. Threadbear will cut a minimum of 10cm, which is great if you only want a little bit of a fabric.

I have seen these lights on various blogs but when I saw them in action I had to have one, so portable and does not take up much space but is very enlightening, just perfect for workshops.

 Anothe useful purchase was these needle grabbers from Little House. I usually use a rubber a rubber finger pad that can be purchased from stationers, but these little things are far superior.

We returned home on Saturday after ten days away in Victoria, staying with friends who have a farm on the outskirts of Castlemaine.  It is so peaceful with just the sound of the birds and the occasional moo. They have just purchased a beaut new tractor, very useful when hand feeding the cattle, it is so dry in Victoria.

These two babies were abandoned by their mothers. Two cows had twin calves and as they could only manage one calf the other calf was abandoned. It is lucky for these two who have been hand reared that they have each other for company.

Aren't they cute.

Quilt progress?

Well very slow progress is being made with my tulip quilt for the Springwood Quilt Show, though in a sign of optimism I did drop off my entry form yesterday, so now I am committed to finish it otherwise there will be a blank space at the quilt show. I am very well known for procrastination (my mother says  it is my middle name, and often quotes "procrastination is the thief of time". So I have been doing things other than quilting.

Dead heading agapanthus so that their seed does not spread into the bush. Whilst in the garden I found our very overgrown and forgotten cumquat tree.

What to do with all this fruit? My son M said "Don't preserve them in brandy, they were awful when you did that". I had some very ripe bananas, so had to make a banana cake.

I managed to take a photo before my sons scoffed the lot. And then I did some quilting. I love the look of hand quilting as it progresses and you get that puffy look. I can't quilt using a bare finger underneath, for years I have been using this great little gadget (I am also known for loving gadgets) TJ's quick quilter. This is my second one as I managed to wear out the first one that I had.

Try as I might I cannot get my quilting stitches even in length. Any suggestions?

Weather report

Saturday was quite wet and misty. I attempted to take some photos of my garden in the mist but my little point and shoot camera only wanted to focus on the rain drops.

Then these two turned up looking for tasty morsels in the grass, and my camera managed to focus on them.

Still working away on the tulip quilt. I am quite enjoying quilting this quilt, as Rhonda Pearce at PO Patchwork, Glenbrook recommended the Hobbs Poly Down polyester wadding as good for hand quilting. I usually use Matilda's Own wool and polyester which I love for quilts that are going to be used on beds and for cuddling up in. So I am happy to use polyester in this quilt as it is not going to be used as a bed quilt.

Thought I would just throw thnis picture in as a reminder of sunnier and drier climes. I have always loved Sturt's Desert Pea since a trip to Broken  Hill when I was ten years old. They look beautiful in their native habitat growing against the red dirt.

This is a hybrid developed by Flinder's University "Flinders Flame" suited to growing in pots. I bought this at Christmas and it is still growing and flowering.

What have I been up to?

It has been some since my last post, and thinking back on what I have been up to, the answer is not much! Well Christmas always takes up a lot of time and then in January I worked six days a week for three weeks. I have managed to finally put some postage stamp quilt blocks together.

There are 729 one inch squares, so it is only 27 inches by 27 inches. I have to decide whether to leave it as a very small quilt, or keep going and make 8 more blocks like this, which would make a large (and very heavy) quilt 81 inches by 81 inches, and contain 6,561 pieces!!

This is my travelling quilt, I work on it in the car (when I am a passenger) or when travelling in the train to work with my friend Cecily.

I have also been working on a quilt that I hope to finish in time for the Springwood Quilt Show in April. This is the first largeish applique quilt that I have made. I commenced  the applique and piecing in the second week in January and I am now hand quilting it. I used two patterns from
 

and one block that I designed myself, after looking at tulip blocks in Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Applique.

Well I hope to be a more regular blogger from now on.

A day off work

I should be at work today but I injured my knee in a fall last week and as my occupation involves a lot of standing and walking I am unable to go to work, so I must spend my time recuperating and quilting (sigh).

We are still in the midst of some rather nasty bushfires, this was the view of blue sky from the front of house yesterday,

And this was the view from the back of the house, can hardly see to the next ridge through the smoke.

Today this beauty arrived in the post, Andover Jo Morton IQSQ Birdsong.

It is intended to be the backing for this when it is finished.

The blocks are made from one inch pieces so I think it will take some time to complete.

This is my quilt for car and train trips, it is always good to have some portable hand piecing.

Holiday

Last post I promised more holiday photos.

We had a lovely lunch at one of my favourite wineries Chandon at Green Point, where my favourite wine is made.

We also had lunch at another favourite place the Yarra Valley Dairy, where they make the most delicious goat cheese.

We also had another delicious lunch at the Kinglake Pub, I forgot to take photos as the food as I was too busy tucking in.  We did take photos of the trees, still not recovered after five years. This is from Kinglake looking towards Melbourne.

We also visited Marysville where the fires were even worse.

 For the last few days it has been hard to settle to anything as the smoke from bushfires swirls around.

Today was a bit cooler and not too much wind so I have been working on my Trip around the world using  the technique on Pomegranate and Chintz