Winter Beaching

Along the country back roads and down to the coast we went today for my brother and his family are holidaying at the beach.

Mid winter, every second year, they make this interstate pilgrimage for he loves fishing and the memories he holds dear of this place. It is also the time of his birthday. We always visit for the day and have a wonderful time. Two years ago the weather was glorious, not so much today.

Photo by Miss O

 

Photo by Miss G

Photo by Miss N

My brother, snapping his youngest son

Taken through their holiday rental kitchen window where they enjoy spotting whales

Butcher bird - native to Australasia

We all had a wonderful day together. The weather forecast for this week suggests they will be having some splendid warm sunny days before their holiday is over, perfect for beach play, fishing and celebrating a birthday!

Projects and a New EPP

Every now and then Miss O (11) adds a little more detail to her current wonky star block, it is a delight to watch.

She has completed her first block, Home Sweet Home, and has a few more ideas to try.

 Miss V (9) has completed her second block (above) which shows more thought and skill than her first (below) yet she has decided she is more comfortable playing outside than creating with needle and thread.

Late last week I make good progress sewing more pieces for my Musical Stairs quilt. I have nearly used up all my white fabric but more should arrive in the mail soon.

For many weeks I have been wanting to start a new English Paper Pieced (EPP) project which is great for those times when setting up the sewing machine is inconvenient or not possible (I sew on our dining/homeschooling table). Winter weather seems just right for a little hand sewing and I love to have a portable project on the go.

Last night I experimented with a new design, a mix of two which I have seen recently, firming up my ideas and deciding on a size which seems to suit the block and be easy to work with. 

 I'm really pleased with this selection from my stash for my EPP, I just love them together. Contemplating a beautiful mix of geometry and fabric.

I set about cutting some paper shapes this afternoon, ready for tacking/basting the fabric onto. At this stage I'm not sure if I will make just a single block for a pillow or if I'll keep going to make something larger - time will tell..... 

Whatever you are working on this week, I trust you are enjoying the process.


Sharing at WIP Wednesday.

Stopping for Happiness

Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, 

not because they never found it, 

but because they didn't stop to enjoy it.

            

                               William Feather

 A solitary walk in the fresh air, a pleasure to body and soul. I like to walk hard but at times like tonight, there's nothing better than stopping to savour the splendour around me before moving on, refreshed, enriched.

Sharing at SkyWatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven.

Weekly Snippets

Remnants of Miss O's baking and making Monte Carlos

Further progress on my new Musical Stairs quilt

Gentle winter days filled with making and baking, learning and growing. Miss E loves any excuse for encouraging older siblings to "help" her make cake. There aren't enough birthdays in our family for her so she insists that Mr Darcy, from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, is due for (yet another) birthday. Such is life in a house where the elder Miss E has educated all her siblings on the literary classics......

Miss E's birthday card for the Queen is now well on its way to Buckingham Palace, England, thanks to Bloom's comment    :)

A wander around the garden this afternoon revealed the first pure white camellia for the season, hidden on the cooler shady side of the house. Our African Daisies are still blooming and the weeds still growing, all be it at a slower pace.

Miss O came shopping this morning in search of cake pops sticks. We found a nice little set so she has been busy baking (from scratch) and making all afternoon. If there are any left I may share one later..... She has done an amazing job for a first attempt. Looks like she may have another blog post shortly.

Musical Stairs

A little chain piecing is being done as I make a start on a new quilt, this time for our 15 year old twins' bed.

One of our twins looked through my quilt books in search of something she liked. This was one she chose which both her twin and I also liked, plus I knew it would be fun and easy to make. It's called The Bass Line from Sarah Fielke's new book Hand Quilted With Love - I think I'll call mine Musical Stairs.

In her book Sarah explains a little of the history of this beautiful quilt -
This quilt is very special, and although I designed it, I didn't actually make it. 
Each block was made for my friend Amy by quilters and bloggers from all over the world.

You can read more about Amy and this quilt in Sarah's book (and also Bloom's comment below - thank you Bloom).

10" lengths at the back, smaller strips at the front - all 2" wide

After reading Sarah's instructions I decided to make the quilt a little differently, using her photos as inspiration. I'm in the process of cutting many 2" strips from my fabric stash as well as white. From each strip I have cut four 10" lengths. The 10" lengths are being paired together, one white to each print, chain pieced both along both the top and bottom with right sides together (first photo).

Each 10" pair is then randomly "opened" and positioned for cutting to make two finished "stairs" of varying height.

Each end fold is trimmed off.

This results in two "stairs" for each chain pieces pair without any wastage. This works very well except for fabric which has a directional print. The directional prints as well as smaller pieces of fabric from my scraps are individually sewn to a long white strip and trimmed to result in a finished length of around 9". I'm sewing seams which are slightly wider than 1/4" for greater durability.

Each stair is then ironed with seam allowances to the print side. I'm hoping the twins will become involved in the sewing, or at least in arranging the stairs ready for sewing into blocks when the time comes.

Sharing at WIP Wednesday.

Snippets

Through my kitchen window

Miss E's handiwork appears everywhere.....

Miss E and Miss E enjoying a movie together on a laptop

Miss E made a birthday card for the Queen on Monday as we celebrated the Queen's birthday with a long weekend in Australia. It shows her crown.  After a little explanation on where the Queen lives (England) and the difficulties of sending it to the Queen, so she was happy to give it to me.

Our neighbour's orange tree is providing us with a fresh bounty - again.

A walk over the bridge and back revealed where the flock of noisy native corellas has been roosting, chasing away the resident pigeons. 

A track maintenance team on the go after the train had passed through.

Pondering another project.....

Miss E has been patiently counting down the days for months until she can go to the movies and watch Despicable Me 2. Every day she tells us how many more days to go. It's due for release in Australia this coming Thursday but our local cinema is having an early screening today! We didn't tell her until an hour before it was time to go.

She was so excited....

She is still there now with Miss O, Miss E, Miss V and her Daddy! Miss N and Miss G stayed home to make celebration cake for afternoon tea - the boys are off watching a local Australian Rules football game....

Hope you enjoyed the peak at our week! Never a dull moment....