Well, that's not going to work

The Great Plan for making tumbling blocks has come to a grinding halt.  Something about the way the diamonds came together didn't look right so I traced out a few on paper, and sure enough - where the points of the diamonds meet there is a hole.  So...that has been shelved for a while, new templates ordered (this time with seam allowances included) and a temporary halt called.

Never mind.  Onward and upward......

During the week the sashing was cut for my house quilt.  Cutting one inch strips is a slightly fiddly-diddly thing to do but it is all done, and the narrow sashing will provide paths between the houses.

They remind me of those old cloth tape measures with black markings - or road crossings.  Some of the strips may be slightly less than straight, there could be a bend caused by the fabric fold, but as many of the strips will be cut into nine inch lengths that bend won't be obvious in the finished quilt.  I hope.  The straightest strips will be used for the longest paths.

One corner was mocked-up to see how it looks......what do you think?

You can see why I wanted those pieced green setting triangles, and why I was so pleased to rediscover that yellow and black fabric in my stash!  The blocks are also being trimmed to finish at nine inches square; it would have been easier to do a couple at a time as they were made, but my brain wasn't thinking that far ahead.  It often doesn't.

My goodness, the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, doesn't it?  The powerful try to become more so, and the little people end up being trampled underfoot....sadly, it was ever thus.

Some of our restrictions are being eased, for which we are exceedingly thankful.  Masks are no longer necessary everywhere we go (except, of course, for places such as hospitals and aged care places and anywhere where distancing isn't possible) which will make daily life better for most of us.  Many will still choose to wear them - that's their choice.  It won't be mine.  It will be good to be able to go places without feeling as though there is a bag over our heads cutting off communication with the world around us; people with hearing problems have been feeling shut out, it has been very difficult for them.

After all these years - I don't remember how many - my signature (from a site which these days seems to charge for everything, as so many do) seems to have dropped off my blog!  Never mind, there is a new free one.   Green of course.  I am quite fond of green, you know....

We are still proceeding with plans to head south in April, even though we won't be at the folk festival this year.  The Cunning Plan is to leave here on Easter Tuesday and arrive in Canberra on Thursday afternoon, enjoy the beautiful autumn colours on the way, shop, catch up with family and see how The One And Only Grandkid has grown, shop a little more.....while Canberra isn't the Big Smoke it is getting bigger and smokier every time we visit.  At one stage, many years ago, it was on our list of places we could retire to once we shook the dust of the Big City from our heels, but it has grown so much since then we are glad we didn't choose it.  Then, blow me down, less than a year after we moved here our older son took a job transfer to where else but - Canberra!

Oh well.  It gives us an excuse to visit.

Kevin's family history research continues.  One interesting thing:  his great-grandfather, and his father, were both tailors.  Great-grandfather John Dolan is described on his death certificate as being a "master tailor", while his father - another John Dolan - is said to be a "tailor's cutter'.  One of them, we don't know which one, was declared bankrupt in 1884.  There were possibly more than two men called John Dolan who worked in the tailoring trade at the time, but surely there wouldn't have been too many; John Jnr would have been in his late twenties at the time, we don't know how old his father would have been.  It's interesting - and throws up many questions, some of which we can answer and some of which we may never be able to.

More 'Duties of Guests':

"It is the duty of every person to arrive as early as possible after the hour named, when it is mentioned in the invitation."

Not, however, too early.  You don't want to catch your hosts unawares with their hair still in curlers and their dancing shoes still needing to be polished.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

Up and running again

Recently I had to drop out of the human race for several days, but all is well now.  Like a good person I did as we are being told and had my booster for the covid plague, but while Kevin sailed through his with no after-effects I had a nasty reaction which totally wiped me out.  I'll spare you the gruesome details, suffice to say it's a long time since I have felt so unwell....but normal programming has now been resumed.

A couple of trial blocks have been made.

I really like the little one, it's so cute, but the larger one is easier to mark and cut......so, the larger one it is.  Seam allowances were pressed under so the finished size could be seen and measured; pieces for several of these blocks have been cut and more will be done in the odd moment or two, but not a stitch will be taken - not one! - until we go away in a couple of months.  It's not as though I lack for other things to do here at home, after all.

Fabric has been purchased for the back of the house quilt.

Last year I bought a wide backing from a store which specialises in wide fabrics so when the "annual sale" email came through early last month I thought to myself......"hhmm" I thought.....and checked out the fabrics.  This design came in different backgrounds, green, orange, blue, red, purple, but the yellow is bright and cheerful (although the pic is a little dark) so yellow it is.  The green was very tempting though.....

Last Sunday we went out to lunch a day early, to celebrate Kevin's birthday.  We hopped into our red rental car (ours is due home from car hospital on Tuesday), drove half an hour north to a village up in the hills, and had a very nice lunch at a local pub.  They have a pretty garden with flowers and trees....and the trees are changing!  We are also noticing down here in the valley that some trees are losing their summer brightness and beginning to look faded and tired, a sign that summer is on the way out.  A sports ground that we drive past on our way into town has a deciduous vine covering its fence -  and it, too, is changing.  We have had some hot days this summer, but on the whole it hasn't been as unpleasant as it sometimes is.

The dreaded mask has had to be worn of late for things such as the annual eye exam.  My eyes aren't as good as they were a year ago - threading a fine needle is more difficult, for example - so a new prescription is needed for my glasses.  Probably a good idea to have a task light too, they said.  Probably a good idea, said I....so now I am on the hunt for a light to sit beside my chair.  Hopped online, found one I like...gulped at the price...still gulping, but will talk to the helpful folk at a lighting shop.  The alternative is the Big Green and Red Shop which has a large stock including the light I like, but not always helpful advice.  That will be this week's conundrum, hopefully to be soon solved.

Also looming, when I get around to making an appointment, is the necessary medical check for people who reach A Certain Age (which I will in May).  This now becomes an annual thing, much as I dislike the thought.  The aim is to get this out of the way before we head down south, assuming the world is open enough that we can go, so I don't have to worry about dates expiring and stuff like that.

More 'Duties of Guests'.

"It is the duty of every lady who attends a ball, to make her toilet as fresh as possible.  It need not be expensive, but it should at least be clean; it may be simple, but it should be neither soiled nor tumbled.  The gentlemen should wear evening dress."

'Freshness' is easier for us now than it would have been in those far-off days, I think.

Enjoy your days!

Jennifer

A shocking thought......

.....has popped into my mind.

We are hoping to be able to go down south in April to catch up with family and to enjoy the autumn colours - and I will have no hand-pieced travel project!  Isn't that too terrible to contemplate?  My flower basket quilt is so big now it's at the stage where it's not portable any more; there is a jumper in progress which has stalled for the moment as not a stitch is knitted in summer's heat; it's a cooler weather project so it could be taken along.  Over the past several years I am quite enjoying the peace of hand-piecing, and miss it when there is none.

So......over the past little while my thoughts, as a song by Tom Paxton (one of my long-time favourite singers) says, are a-tumblin' round and round, and Tumbling Blocks fell out.  Late last year I was given a 60 deg diamond template which can be used for a one-patch project, so pieces have been cut in two different sizes.

The smaller pieces are cut around the template with seam allowances on the inside so it will be smaller again when joined, while the larger pieces have the seam allowances added to the outside.  Neither are yet joined - this is a trial to see which of the two sizes I prefer, but I suspect ease of marking and cutting will mean the larger one gets my vote.  Sides will be two inches when finished.  There is still a heap ton of reproduction fabrics, leftovers from my tumbler quilt, begging to be used; I think they will do nicely, don't you?

Finally Mother Nature has taken pity on us and cooled down our part of the earth, and it is very pleasant.  The past few nights have been downright cool; we are sleeping better, not feeling wrung-out, and are looking forward to autumn.  A couple of nights ago the news showed footage of a small town north-east of us where their trees are already changing; admittedly it has a colder climate, but it does mean that summer is heading in the right direction - away from us.  Days are shorter now too.

Great excitement in our street last weekend.  Over a few days Kevin had been noticing, in his comings and goings, several police vehicles set up outside a house further down our street - then we read in the local paper that a house was raided and a bloke arrested for manufacturing and dealing drugs, not something we want in our normally very quiet street.  Our house is number 68, this took place at number 11 so not very near us.......and now all is quiet again.

Some excitement we didn't want, though: earlier in the week someone ran into our car while it was parked, leaving the front damaged.  They did not hang around to exchange details, no one else saw anything, so we have no idea who did it - but we're the ones who have to negotiate with the insurance company, and we're the ones inconvenienced.  Cowards.  I hope their wheels fall off.

'Duties of Guests' is quite a long paragraph, so it is being broken up into smaller bites:

"It is the duty of every person who has at first accepted an invitation, and subsequently finds that it will be impossible to attend, to send a note of explanation, even at the last moment, and as it is rude to send an acceptance with no intention of going, those who so accept will do well to remember this duty."

It is very frustrating when one organises an event and people neither accept nor decline, something which I believe is becoming more prevalent in today's casual lifestyle - and something which is very discourteous to the hosts.  In fact, I would say it's downright rude.  Perhaps they are hanging out for a better offer?

Enjoy your days!