This is the customer's quilt that the youngest Sweetie wanted to snaffle. I was going to freehand the feathers in the outer border, however the Hairiest Sweetie wanted his ute tonneau (see edit below) fixed and the only way I could do two things at once was to get the computer to do the outer border. Looks good, as does the ute cover. Bit of a story with the ute cover as part of the cover was missing and there was no matching weight or type of fabric lying around the house, so I sent him to the Op Shop to look for an old bag, fake leather jacket or lady's dress boots. He went off bemused and came back with an old matt vinyl bag, which I took the back out of, chucked the rest and sewed it the 'new' bit into the ute tonneau. All finished and a very happy Hairy Sweetie. Every now and then I have to show that I can sew other things besides quilts.

EDIT

TONNEAU /tʌˈnoʊ/ [tuh-noh] –noun, plural -neaus, -neaux /-ˈnoʊz/ [-nohz]

1. a rear part or compartment of an automobile body, containing seats for passengers.
2. a complete automobile body having such a rear part.
3.a waterproof cover, generally of canvas or vinyl, that can be fastened over the cockpit of a roadster or convertible to protect the interior.

I have been beavering away on my 365 (Insanity) Challenge and have nearly caught up with writing them on the fabric. I have sewn six of the columns, and have come up with a plan to have 2" strips in between the columns. If I don't do this the quilt will be 93" x 64" and that is too long and narrow for me. Soooooooo if I have 2" strips on the outside and 2" between the columns I will end up with, a big quilt, ummmm a quilt that measures, 98" x 97".
I quilted the Queen of the May quilt for Liz Arnold of Lizard of Oz and ordered some of her project packs and shape packs. The link for Queen of the May block and picture below.Liz's pack are always of the highest standard. Very detailed and comprehensively written.

I made myself a pincushion when I was in bed with the 'flu. This is the tutorial from Abyquilt's blog

So Close

There are 10 of the little suckers to go, so I will wait for a quiet interlude and enjoy the final stretch. The reason why I also writing this entry is that gingerquilts left a lovely comment offering me more of my addiction, however I was unable to reply as it just bounced right back, sooooo gingerquilts if you are reading this please email me again.

I ran out of available blues when I was down the donga but had a stash of hexagons hidden down there so I started making these. I see a main body of hexagons appliqued onto a border of dingy blue. I also see a strippy quilt, with the feature fabric replaced by these hexagons. I especially see a woman consumed.

The Day that Was

Well I still feel ill, however I have partially stripped two doors, a small cupboard and nearly spun a bobbin of alpaca fibre. So it's my own fault. And the hexagon count is at 157. That means....................23 to go.

Hexagon Fest

The lurgy that the Sweeties had, has a new host and I'm not a very hospitable one. I wasn't able to go for my bike ride this morning so I'm pretty miffed. Yesterday I made more 1/2" hexagons for my Christmas Wreath and no, I'm not giving this one away. I've already completed the middle wreath and I need 180 hexagons for the outer blue border. This is what 103 1/2" hexagons look like. These papers are available through Lizard of Oz and they get everywhere, so be warned. Some of these hexagons have been used three times and are a bit floppy so will be retired. I'm thinking of making a quilt with this size hexagon, just with all the little bits of fabric. It might be a very small quilt, but it will be fun doing it. I think I need to get out more.

Demise

I needed a picture of a pint glass, unfortunately all the ones I could find either had beer/Guinness in them or were empty with froth on the sides. Picture of a glass? Why? For the past 14 years my one constant companion has been a pint glass full of water. I dislike intensely drinking ANYTHING. However after much research and trying out of all possible combos ie hot water, warm water, cold water, flavoured water I found the best solution was a pint glass, filled with normal water and two straws. The two straws enabled me to drink the water as fast as possible and it was great when I was in bed as I didn't dribble water everywhere. Yesterday my pint glass hit the kitchen floor and smashed. There is a story behind this glass you see, from a time when I, and the world, was much younger. It was a time in 1994 when the Hairiest Sweetie and I, along with out beloved daughter Nina went to the UK to visit friends and relatives. It was while we were staying with a friend in the lovely village of Fladbury on the river Avon that we were out walking on a public footpath through a cow paddock (field) that I spotted my pint glass cushioned in a cow pat. Obviously some one had left with local pub with their drink, finished the drink and then hoicked the glass. I picked it up and the rest is history. So I'm after another pint glass, just like the one pictured above. It would be great if I could find another one in a cow pat, while with the Hairiest Sweetie and Nina. Wishful thinking.

Higher Duties

Last weekend the Hairiest Sweetie and I were called to higher duties and went with the two younger Sweeties plus another two young Sweeties, belonging to other families, on a camping expedition. We all had a ball. As one of the new Sweeties had never been camping before, he was excited to say the least. The Hairiest Sweetie and I slept very well when we finally arrived home. Where did all OUR energy go?

I promised BK this recipe - it's for savoury impossible quiche and a family favourite that's great hot or cold. I normally double the recipe and keep one for school lunches.

1/3 cup plain flour

1 1/2 cups milk

3 eggs

2 rashers bacon, chopped

3 green onions (shallots),chopped

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

130g can corn kernels, drained & rinsed (I use frozen corn-works well)

2 tabs of chopped fresh parsley (I've run out of parsley-works well without)

Oil shallow 23cm round flan dish (I use a square one as well-works well). Whisk flour and milk in medium bowl until smooth; whisk in eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients; pour mixture into prepped dish. If I'm making two quiches, I spoon the solids kind of equally between dishes and then pour over liquid. Bake in a moderately slow oven (160 C/325 F) for about 1 hour or until set. Can't freeze or microwave this one.

BK also asked for a recipe for muffins. A great one to play around with and they freeze really well and are a great lunch box addition

One of our pumpkins grown hydroponically, it weighed over two kgs.

Over 10l of tomatoes

Only 1 rockmelon.

With regard to the curcubits - next time I set up the hydroponic system, I'll put the curcubits on the corners as I think there was a problem with cross pollination. The cucumbers were all right, however there wasn't too much of anything else and I think the bees were getting confused.

This weekend the Sweeties are ill and all horizontal and have been for a while and I'm the last (wo)man standing. They'll all probably get better when I get it and go of to work/school and leave me to groan alone. Between you, me and the gate post there has been A LOT of groaning. Maybe a tad too excessive, but hey, they are Sweeties.

A picture of the Sweeties when they were feeling better. And standing up. And smiling.

Christmas Wreath

A long time ago, like January last year I became all excited (again) and found these little hexagons by Lizard of Oz, and I embarked on many journeys always carrying these little hexagons with me. They have been everywhere because they were so handy to carry, even if I was riding my bicycle I could take them with me as they are so small and light. It was one of these trips that I decided that it was to be for Blogless Kathy. I finished the piecing and then prevaricated big time with how to quilt it. In the end I took a leaf out of Lazy Gal Quilting and did the Baptist Fan treatment. I did mine with Aurifil 12wt variegated yellow thread (not that it is very clear) and fairly large stitches (I'm out of practise)
At the end I was so excited to give it to BK, I forgot to photograph it, and I had missed Christmas again, so BK took these photographs for me. The quilt that it is hanging on is one that BK created from a Dresden Plate Swap that I organised to teach people the different ways to create Dresden Plates and primarily how to draw their own, BK as usual has done a magnificent job quilting her quilt and experimented with trapunto whilst doing it. The hexagon quilt is titled 'Christmas Wreath' however BK is using it everyday where it can be seen.

I had so much fun that as soon as I finished BK's I commenced another, which is for my family.

Light Relief

For some very light relief yesterday we went to see Fool's Gold. The oldest youngest sweetie was 12 yesterday. Matthew Mc spends a lot of time making sure he looks great - very nice for us - and some of the sea scenery was gorgeous. It was so bad it was good. The younger sweeties thought that it was great and the oldest sweetie thought that he had seen better many times.

So just a bit of eye candy.

As it is a long weekend here - Labour Day - I'm just cruising and having a general cleanup, so I thought that I would show a quilt that went outside of my comfort zone. It was made for a Machine Quilting challenge. The pattern was supplied and the colour had to be red and white. I don't do white real well and combined with red, too stark, too primal and the quilt ended up being too small. However there you go. I called it 'I'll give you a daisy a day dear' as I finished quilting it on Jed Strunk's birthday, who unfortunately died, in 1981, due to an aeroplane crash(why doesn't that surprise me) at the age of 45. I really like the song.

I found the daisy fabric on sale in the dress fabric section and it is a tightly woven poplin. It was even on special. Two years ago I gave to my good friend Sharon W as she had commented on the quilt and loved the starkness. It has gone to a good home.

The daisies are freehanded and the butterfly is a Janice Heitbaum.

I experimented with no Stitch in the Ditch. Probably a quilt this size is ok without.