Pink and Blue and Purple Too

Hot summer days and school holidays bring a change in focus and pace. The blue and white sewing I shared a teaser of last post is now a completed quilt and listed in my Etsy shop. I'm very fond of  classic blue and white and a timeless design.

The garden still provides splashes of colour despite some sizzling hot days. I find some quiet watering and weeding in the early morning cool rather therapeutic and rewarding.

Jodi from Tales of Cloth will soon be hosting a quilting Block of the Month club featuring the beautiful flowers/ice-cream design above (English Paper Piecing - EPP). Jodi generously gave away a number of trial paper packs, the perfect motivation to cut into some special fabrics to create these sample Ice-Cream Soda Quilt blocks. I have enjoyed making these even more than anticipated and plan to make some more soon.

Yesterday I added some organic fabrics to my Etsy shop, something I have thought about for a while and hope to add to over time. Another new addition to the shop are the Extra Fine Bobbins which I wound and prepared today (as above). Gutermann Extra Fine polyester thread is my personal favourite for fine hand sewing of EPP and appliqué as I have shared in detail before. A bobbin is a convenient size for portable handwork and is also an easy way to sample this specialty thread which can be difficult to source. The plastic bobbins fit Janome machines for reuse too. 

Green and Gold and a Touch of Blue

Our intense summer heat gave way to cooler showery days this week - much to everyone's relief. The garden looks more vibrant and the surrounding dry countryside is looking fresh again, a pleasant break before things heat up again in the next few days.

Miss V spent most of this week in a nearby city (130km/80 miles away) for a cricket carnival. This was her first time away without any family. She managed very well and had some great successes in the field too. Some of us traveled up to watch her on two separate days. We enjoy the quiet back roads rather than our major coastal highway, especially during the busy summer holiday season. The Australian 'bush' is refreshing to the soul, especially when Master T drove the long home stretch of 100km from the next town to ours both days while I relaxed and took some photos. 

After several false starts last year, I finally found inspiration for utilising the beautiful blue half square triangle off-cuts from a quilt I finished over a year ago. Hoping to share more of this one soon.

Signing off with a couple of kookaburras spotted on my neighbourhood walk late this afternoon.  :)