Stop the presses!!!

Dear All,

Di sent a link to a wonderful pattern to make Dad's quilt - a Modified Bento Box from Film In The Fridge.

Thank you for kind words and encouragement - now I am neck deep in cutting, sewing, cutting and mroe sewing. Just putting the last round on 12 blocks before cutting them into quarters and resewing.
Shall put up some photos when I get a minute's break. Living on cups of tea and slices of toast and cheese cos there isn't time to cook...

What to do????

The Sweetheart's Dad is seriously unwell in the Royal Melbourne Hospital. He isn't going to come home this time.
So sad - he has had a long and very interesting life - the war (Rat of Tobruk and then he got sent to New Guinea for a change) and came back to a Soldier Settlement Farm out of Colac. He didn't know very much at all about farming - he grew up at the Paris End of Collins St in the City (Melbourne).
And later, in the 70's, he took off to be a hippy - grew his hair and smoked dope and had a child in his 60's (who is younger than his grandchildren...). And became a wonderful potter. He recently figured out he had made over 40,000 pieces.
And now he has to go to a Nursing Home rather than his lovely home with his lovely glowing translucent pottery tiles all over the bathroom wall and photos on the walls of him and his kilns and his life, and lovely paintings and treasures he has collected over the years in his travels all over the world.

I am going to whip up a quilt for him.

Got 14 metres of Harvest Melody from Benartex flannels, mostly half metre cuts and some FQs. The sweep of colour in the first photo looks lovely, they are great colours.

BUT - what to do with them?

Give me some ideas, please. I went Googling and found a few quilts including this one. Maybe stars? Something quick - there are a few with lovely hand appliqué but I don't do hand stuff very often. And certainly am not quick about it.

XXXX

Thank you Noela!!!

I DO love playing with my new toy! If it wasn't for that Best Sister of mine I would never have this machine to play with, so -

And it is so easy even a bloke can make quilty patterns with it!

Back to playing...

Saturday's Slack-arsed Skite

Because I am too late for a Fearless Friday Flaunt...

On Wednesday the quilting frame and machine finally arrived from Brisbane.
Without it's chairs ("Oh" said the Pack and Send sheila, "I put them out the back. Must have forgotten to give them to the truck driver". Must have indeed, girlie. Now she is Having A Little Think about how to get them to me. Without me paying - cos I already paid for them to be under my bottom...).
This isn't the fault of the removalist company - they are still lovely.

Wednesday evening The Sweetheart helped me to get the table together and then I got too tired and had to have a sleep. At 7.30 p.m. Bit worn out from all the excitement, really.
And Thursday I did a bit more, and went to bed early. Yesterday I did a bit more and got it all together except for the rollers all loaded. And then went to bed at 7 p.m. and slept for 12 hours.

Today I hooked it all up.
AND I DID A BIT OF QUILTING!!!!!!!!


Yesterday my nephew Warwick and his Ammi had a baby. They named him Orson. Isn't that the most Awesome name? Well done you two!!
I sent them an email about 5.30 yesterday morning cos I dreamed they had a boy - but here at my place. And told Ammi it was hard work, but worth it in the long run. Turns out to have been the short run for her cos they went in to hospital about the time I wrote the email, and Awesome was born about 10 a.m. I never had labours like that - especially not Smellie 1. He was 30 hours before he hatched...
Awesome.

Back to the machine for another trial run. (Have not broken a needle yet).
xxxx

Friday's Fearless Flaunting(s)

Friday's Fearless Flaunting is some house blocks I have been working on. All scrappy yellows, scrappy red chimneys, with I Spy doors and windows, nad now I am adding lovely blue sky on three sides and different scrappy green gardens on the bottom. I have got about 35 or so blocks made so far - there will be more!
Colour is really hideous - the battery is a bit tired tonight in the camera...
The blocks are 11", maybe there will be sashing too...

And some yearnings:
I have wanted one of these ironing presses since forever, and also one of those irons with a reservoir so the steam NEVER finishes. Always far too expensive until this week when Aldi had a super spesh (and I see the press is exactly the same as the Sunbeam one - except for the price...he he he).
Haven't used them yet, but I DID unpack them today and admire them.
There are ironing piles around this place to make Uluru envious.

Ah well, there is a week's income spent in a sensible manner....


And on Wednesday Smellie 4 and his darling girl friend went to Japan for a month. There is a solar eclipse, and a music festival, and the Bullet Train doing 500 kms in 70 mins and climbing Mt Fuji in the night to be able to see the dawn, and staying for a week with friends in Kyoto who have the loan of a 300 year old house.

Travelling light lessons:
S4 had the clothes he was wearing - jeans, tshirt, jacket, hiking boots, and 7 pairs each socks and underpants, 2 tshirts, shorts and a pair of Dunlop Volleys. Gorgeous GF had much the same and two tiny scrunched up silk skirts.
I am so impressed! That really is the way to travel. (Tho I have been around the world and to work in Thailand for 12+ months with just carry-on back in the day when you could carry on a decent and realistic amount of stuff!!!!)

Food glorious food!!!!!!!

I do love food. And I love cooking. It is really tough now that the Smellies have all fled the nest and I don't have anyone to cook for. Generally. And I always do far too much at The Sweetheart's and stuff gets chucked on the compost heap.

This is a bit of stuff I have whipped up in recent times...


Some Rocky Road.
Heaps of Rocky Road really.
Lots of tiny pink and white marshmallows; toasted almonds, walnuts and macadamias; multicoloured cherries; Turkish Delight; peppermint chocolate; Cherry Ripe; toasted coconut (too much coconut - next time I wont use so much because it stopped all the layers sticking together completely in the end); and all held together with a kilogram ( or more) of mighty fine really really good dark chocolate.

Most very fabulous Rocky Road!!!!




And this clever tromp-l'oeil on the front of the Palmerston pub in South Melbourne.



I made muesli as well. Buckets of it and shared it between The Sweetheart's household and mine. Even his Smellie ate it. And not just cos there wasn't any sugar fix cereal in the pantry either, apparently! This originally started with a recipe that called for 4-6 cups of rolled oats and 2-3 cups of dried fruits but I swapped the measurements around (and then tripled them...). And then glued it together with honey, maple syrup and rice bran oil. Toasted the lot in batches in the dear old Rayburn. It is yummy just as a topping on stewed fruit too.


Speaking of stewed fruit...

Strawberries and rhubarb were born for each other. Sometimes I also add a packet of strawberry jelly when I am cooking it up. Didn't have any the other day so added some sago to thicken it. Look at the SIZE of that strawberry at the front. Larger than a large egg even. Bigger than lemons. I had to hack it up with the cleaver. I lied there. However, it was sweet and delicious which I wasn't expecting at all.



And this week my quilting frame and machine will arrive from Brisbane. Hooray!! I had the BEST service from the trucking company (B.F.R. in Sydney doing a backload from Brisbane to Melbourne). They weren't the cheapest nor were they the most expensive but they were the very best with everything else. Rang me to follow up on their quote, and then again to see if I had made up my mind, were really helpful about everything. And their saleswoman wants to learn to make a quilt for her Gran (who fell recently and broke a bone in her neck and NEEDS a quilt to cheer her up). So I made a friend as well, and they are always the best days!