Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Escape to Canberra

Hubs and I have returned from a 4 day mini break in our Nation's capital.  Our accommodation was the Hotel Kurrajong which is set very close to all the major attractions that Canberra has to offer.


If ever you become lost in Canberra - which is quite easy to do as it is planned on a circular design - just keep on eye out for the flag pole that sits on top of Parliament House or Telecom Tower as they can be seen from just about everywhere in the city.  This will then give you an idea as to your location.  


Some of the famous landmarks around Canberra which include the National Library,  the Carillon, the Captain Cook memorial jet and the High Court of Australia.


Canberra is also well know for its many beautiful parks and gardens.



We also visited Cockington Green which is a family owned park featuring a fabulous display of miniature buildings based on an English village.   If ever you are in Canberra it is something to put "on the must see list".     This is the main entrance to the park.

These are some of the miniature buildings which can be seen when wandering through the "English village"


Every village must have a cricket pitch and railway station.  And of course there is even a miniature replica of Stonehenge.   The models are all replicas from actual buildings with the majority being handmade on site.   Construction can take anywhere from 500 hours to 3000 hours.  
   

There is also an international section which was developed in conjunction with High Commissions and Embassies to construct a building which would be representative of their country.


During the course of a morning walk I bumped into these two characters.   The one on the left is John Curtin and next to him is Ben Chifley both former Prime Ministers of Australia in the 1940's.   


All this walking around does call for constant fuel stops for us - not the car - as one needs to keep up their strength.


I did not feel the least bit guilty about having these two delicacies as after all they did contain two of the major food groups - fruit and dairy - so guilt free eating - well that is my story and I am not changing it.    

Well that is our break away which we thoroughly enjoyed.   Time to head back home and look forward to our next mini break - when and where that will be is under discussion.   I am heading off to my sewing room this afternoon to catch up with some bits and pieces that I started before we headed off.  

Back soon and in the meantime


Happy sewing all







Thursday, October 24, 2019

Back to the start

At the beginning of the month my goal for October was to get the 9 curved log cabin blocks sewn together, sandwiched, pinned and work out how to quilt them.     I am pleased to say that my goal was reached and over the last couple of weeks work has been carried out solidly on the quilting which  has resulted in a finish.  The many pins used to hold the binding in place while sewing it down.


 Back to where I started with the last stitch going into the binding.  Ooops my hand is in the way.


Once a quilt gets to a certain point with the end in sight I like to concentrate on it and see it completed especially this one as I have been making one coloured block every month since January for the rainbow colour challenge so it seems like it has been hanging around forever.

Here is the front.  Normally I  put a border on my quilts but felt that this did not need one.


As seen from the back


This is the first time that I have used a white backing and to be honest it was just as hard to work on white as it is on a black background.  Pulling the white thread through and trying to find it on the white backing to tie off and bury was quite frustrating at times.  

I am pleased with the result and the quilt is proudly hanging on a quilt ladder in the family room.

Linking with OMG
                      Oh Scrap 
                      So Scrappy
                      Peacock Party
                      Moving it Forward

Back soon and in the meantime


Happy sewing all



Monday, October 21, 2019

An Apology

They are back - that is the road workers and equipment - however it was a respectable hour of the day this time.    As Hubs drove into the garage this morning the Supervisor of the work approached him and profusely apologised for what happened the other night.    Apparently the hours that the work was scheduled for are what is known as "industrial area" times and should never have happened in a residential area.    Ooops someone got it badly wrong.

Hubs and I were in "slow motion" all day as a consequence but I feel sorry for those who had jobs to attend the next day and our next door neighbours have 2 small children who I am sure did not get any sleep either.

Anyway moving on I did spend sometime over the weekend going around in circles quilting the neutral space in between each coloured block.  It is quite time consuming but it is happening.

Today hubs and I headed to Swane's nursery at Dural which is about an hours drive from where we live.   Swane's has been operating since 1919 but not always at this location.


Of course one must have some morning tea before venturing into the nursery.


Some of the garden areas around the property.


And of course the roses which they are famous for.  Everywhere you looked were roses, roses and more roses. 


The postperson (being politically correct here) had been while we were out and there was a package sitting on the front step for me.   Much to my surprise was a set of mini quilts of the four seasons from June of June Jottings.


Aren't they gorgeous.  I was lucky enough to receive a few of these mini quilts from June sometime ago and these will fit in beautifully with them.  


 Back soon and in the meantime


Happy sewing all



Friday, October 18, 2019

Pleeeeeeease turn the light out

It all started last night around 8.30 when hubs and I were comfortably settled in front of tv that we became aware of noise outside the front of our house.    Upon investigation we found that the street was busy with machinery, workers and road repairs being carried out.

The large machine that was ripping up the existing bitumen worked up until 1 am and then all of a sudden everything went quiet - much to our relief - until this happened right opposite the front  our house.  


Well that was the end of hoping to get any sleep as the light was not turned off until 3.30 am.  and a very noisy small steam roller moved up and down levelling down the new bitumen.     Needless to say that hubs and I are a bit zombie like today.    

Somehow the machinery used during the night looks quiet during the day as it sat idle on the side of the road.



My good intentions of trying to achieve a fair bit of quilting tonight did not eventuate as I found that I could not concentrate for too long on going around in small circles with white thread on a neutral background.  I am going to have an early night and try to catch up on my lost sleep.  


Thanks Wendy for organising another fun FNSI.  I hope those who took part achieved more than I did.   

Back soon and in the meantime
Happy sewing all







Monday, October 14, 2019

The Coal Loader

Today was spent with my walking companions taking a trip back in history as we ventured to Waverton to visit an historic part of Sydney Harbour known as the Coal Loader.  


Walking towards one of the tunnels where the coal was loaded into rail carts


Looking through the tunnel to the other end.   You can see on the roof the shafts where the coal was dropped down into the rail carts waiting below.


The area now is used as a community garden area organised by the local council. 


Some of the garden areas



Walking back to the station we enjoyed some fantastic views of the City and Harbour Bridge.


We found this rather eclectic café to enjoy some lunch and coffee before heading home.


It was an area that none of us had visited before which we all thoroughly enjoyed  with the added bonus of having done over "10,000 steps" as recommended to walk each day. 

I did spend sometime over the weekend quilting my curved log cabin.  I am pleased with it so far.


So far 3 blocks have been quilted and this time I am tying off and burying the ends as I go in order not to have that boring job at the end.    I intend to get a lot more done during the week.

Back soon and in the meantime
  
Happy sewing all









Thursday, October 10, 2019

Tools of Trade

Whilst sewing my curved log cabin blocks over the last 9 months thought was given each month as to how I was going to quilt this at the end but as no idea came to mind  this decision was put off until this week.    My frixon pen, iron and I have had a good workout trying to find a quilt design that I was happy with.   After much drawing and rubbing out with the iron and consulting Pinterest I found what I thought was the way to go.   Then came the dilemma that I could not find a plate or dish with a big enough arc to draw the design and just when I thought back to the drawing board I found a wooden lid that did the job so here are my tools of trade that were used to draw the design.


The wooden lid was used to draw the largest arc and the plates and cup used to draw the smaller arcs with the ruler to measure 1 1/2" inches between them.   This is how it now looks all drawn up and ready to go.



Sitting under the needle waiting patiently to be quilted.    I plan on using coloured thread matching each block and changing to white thread where each blocks meets in the centre.   Sounds good to me and hopefully will look good when finished.  



The plan is to quilt a coloured block each day so that will take 9 days if all goes well then comes the binding and tidying up.   

Linking with Finished or Not Finished Friday 
                      Moving Forward

Back soon and in the meantime


Happy sewing all




   

Friday, October 4, 2019

One decision made

I had originally planned to use the QAYG method  when putting together my rainbow curved log cabin quilt but having laid it all out it looked to be manageable to sew the blocks together and quilt it as a whole quilt.    During the week the 9 blocks were sewn up and an early start was made today to get it sandwiched and pinned.


I really needed to get this done before tonight as the room that it is spread out in is where the tv is and I felt that hubs would not appreciate me bobbing around in front of him while trying to watch tv. 

The next decision to make is how to quilt it but that can be for another day.   At least it is pinned and ready to go.

Time to hop on over to Cheryll's blog and check out what has been happening with the other crafters who signed up for FNWF.  

                      Moving it forward

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Play day

Now that all of the curved log cabin blocks are finished time to get them into a pleasing design.    After much shuffling and moving about of the blocks I have settled on this layout.


I wanted the strong colours on the outside corners and filled in the gaps with the lighter colours.   Next step is to get the blocks sewn together, sandwiched,  pinned and with a bit of luck work out how to quilt it.   Those tasks will be my OMG for October.  

Linking with Moving it forward
                      OMG

Back soon and in the meantime

Happy sewing all