Getaway

Last Tuesday evening The Golfer asked if I’d like to go for a drive the next day. Responding in the affirmative, we had a discussion and before I knew it he’d booked us to stay overnight at the Point Lonsdale Guest House. What a treat!

Up the next morning, we headed over the bridge and down the freeway, then took the scenic route around Geelong’s waterfront esplanade (mostly because there’s a convenient loo stop just before it!) admiring the seafront houses, then on to Point Lonsdale.

We checked into our room and took the short stroll into the village where we had a coffee and picked up a newspaper and some magazines

then enjoyed a quiet read sitting on our little verandah overlooking the pool and garden. So relaxing!

All done at a very leisurely pace we set off to get a fish and chip lunch at nearby Queenscliff which we took to the park overlooking the heads

and sat on a bench in the glorious sunshine to eat this special treat and boy, It Was Good! Thoroughly sated we set off down the stairs

for a walk along the beach, seeing things from nature

and some manchild made too

and I needed a paddle. The water was deliciously cool as it swirled around my feet, and quite strong as the tide pulled it away leaving the sand threatening to bury my toes.

This sign made sure we knew where we were.

The cloud formations were fascinating – think it was a bit windy up there

We did enjoy our stroll and getting sand between our toes

but The Golfer was after a different kind of walk (yes, he’s still at it!), so we drove back to the Guest House then walked into the village where there’s a path along the beach for The Golfer to hurtle along

and a nice sunny bench for me. See those sand dunes on the right? Just along to the right of them is a tall tree? That’s where The Golfer walked to……and back!

I did a little bit of magazine reading but really, was quite pleasantly distracted by these chaps dropping in every now and then (or maybe it was the same one returning?)

and watching the waves crash onto the beach/wall. I tried dozens of times to capture the spray but just wasn’t quick enough – this was the best of the bunch. Sometimes they went much higher even going over the wall there. Just couldn’t time that big seventh wave.

When I guessed that The Golfer would be almost back to join me, I strolled down to meet him seeing these images along the way. It was so lovely hearing the waves crashing onto the sand; I’d forgotten how loud that can be. And all the different greens and blues that this ocean contains. I’d love fabrics in those very colours.

Back on our verandah it was cider o’clock and time for just a tad more relaxation.

To finish the day we enjoyed a wonderful candlelit dinner in the Guest House restaurant.

As we had to get back to Melbourne in time for golf, it was up early and off to Queenscliff to catch the ferry over to Sorrento. After parking the car we ordered a coffee while waiting for the ferry to arrive. The poor girl making the drinks was a little over run and we had 3 minutes to drink our coffees by the time she got them to us. Luckily we’d had a nice view while we waited.

Then it was all aboard and set sail!

Another gorgeous day and a calm sea made for a smooth journey and looking back we could see…….

This huge freighter came into view

and was quickly gone to become a distant spot on the horizon

we passed the old Quarantine Station (and couldn’t we have made good use of that this year!)

we saw the other ferry taking the reverse of our journey

then it was time to dock, and so skillfully done by the captain, with narry a bump as he reversed into position ready for passengers and cars to disembark

as we were one of the first on, we were also one of the first off and we drove down to Blairgowrie for a scrumptious breakfast

then homeward bound (and in plenty of time for tee off).

We packed a lot into a little over 24 hours but felt like we’d been away for a week!

Hoping we can do a little more of this kind of thing.

Meredithe x

Moody blues

I know coming out of lockdown should be a good thing, and it is, but I’ve been feeling a bit discombobulated with all our new freedoms. And still very wary of large crowds even though we’re now at 23 days of double zeros – yay! Not sure why I’m feeling this way, but it’s put a jinx on my creativity – no posts, as you may have noticed, but no stitching either, mojo deficient! And there’s something wrong with my memory too – needed to get something printed today, went off to the store to do it but forget to take the empty printer cartridges and forgot to buy the new cartridges. And when did I remember what I’d forgotten? As I pulled into the driveway at home!! I’m sure it will all pass and in the meantime I’d better get to and show you some nicer things.

Friday week ago I met with some of my dear stitching friends and we had a Road Trip. Yes, an actual, physical, visit a shop, feel the fabric, talk face to face Road Trip. And it was wonderful. Not only for seeing my friends in the flesh but getting out and about further than 5kms.

We met at the quilt shop and had a delightful time with Alison and Sharon catching up on their news too while prowling around and finding all the new bits and pieces.

Aren’t the Tula Pink zebras just lovely?

Then most of us made our way over to NunoNuno and had a lovely time wandering around Tudy’s gorgeous shop.

then lunch at The Boulevard (I’m not back in the swing of getting all the pics yet so no food photos – sorry) and a great natter.

Helen and I then went to the revamped Sewn and Quilted which now has the teaching area in its own room which will be fabulous when we get back to classes next year. So looking forward to that.

Picked up the felt to make a small bag, an idea which occurred to me whilst walking on that Friday morning. Was so keen and enthusiastic about it (hence the purchase) and now…..not interested.

The next day had another trip, this time out to Cranbourne to Patchwork Passion which I haven’t visited in years. So lovely to see Lorraine again.

then further on to the new Treehouse Textiles store

This was the only place I remembered to take pics at!

Shelves of fabrics

and patterns

and the other side of the window is also enticing.

It was a stunning day and the council had blocked off Main Street to traffic making it easier for pedestrians to make their way around the cafe patrons seated outside. Such a great idea.

Lunch was at a favourite cafe

(remembered that day!)

Then homeward bound after a very busy two days. Too much?

Bought some lovely bits and pieces though. Looking back at the pics, I seem to have had a yearning for pretties……..

Meredithe x

Around here….

~ This week started with some truly lovely Spring days. I was beginning to think we were doomed to have grey skies for the rest of the year. Sunday was just perfect; blue skies, loads of sunshine, warm but with a gentle, cooling breeze. After lunch I took myself out to the deck with a cool drink, my hat and a load of books from some of my favourite quilting people, including lots of Kaffe books.

Cecile and Corrine have announced the theme for their 2021 QAL which is “Curves” and I was looking for a little inspiration. I think I’ve decided what to do and spent the rest of that afternoon buzzing around drafting up a block, sourcing bits and pieces from my template drawers and drawing up a rough quilt……..we shall see in January whether it comes about or if I change my mind between now and then!

~ Over the weekend I started appliqueing the first round of Judy’s BOM, managing to bend a needle in the process! Thank goodness I had more in the packet tucked neatly away in the beautiful hexagon bag that Maree gave me.

~ Monday was another stunning day and I took my walk in the park reveling in the sunshine, and being “in the the bush”. It’s so refreshing for my soul to be out amongst the trees and shrubs. There were not too many other people either, so I felt I was almost on my own. I’m walking twice around the park path now and coping better with the uphill slog home.

The moon was still up, just a half moon, and I caught this pic of it

~ I rounded up some leftovers in the fridge, picked a few herbs from the pots on the deck and made a frittata for lunch. So delicious and healthy too.

~ Yesterday was hot! Bit of a shock to the system when, just a few days ago we had the heater on, to needing a fan and even the cooler. MyWalkingFriend and I just couldn’t sustain the pace and our walk was very slow. Arriving home I noticed the Blueberry
Ash had suddenly flowered. Truly, it seemed to go from just leaves to full bloom! I do wonder if the hit of heat helped.

The flowers are so tiny, but oh so delicate and pretty

~ Today’s walk was also a slow one after a very warm night – it was 24C when I got up at 7.00am! I plodded slowly around the neighbourhood and managed just over 8,000 steps; couldn’t face a park walk today after such an awful night. The bees were very busy in amongst our geranium this morning

Can you see them? Their heads are buried deep into the flowers

~ After such a hot and unsettling night I decided fresh sheets were the answer and a change – finally – from winter woolen blankets to the summer cotton blanket and also a different quilt. There’s a free pattern for this one which you can find here. I honestly don’t know if we’ve ever had woolen blankets on the bed this far into November. Our Spring has been surprisingly cool and damp. Fingers crossed I haven’t jumped the gun!

~ Downloading my photos I saw I hadn’t shown you one from last week, so going back a little, I had a lovely time on Melbourne Cup Day when Maree asked if I’d like to go with her to NunoNuno for an Actual Visit to a Quilt Shop! We were warmly welcomed by Trudy and had a delightful visit, catching up on news and wandering around her beautiful store. So exciting to be able to physically see and touch fabric again. And I scored these lovely purchases (including a mask kit – it seems they will be around for quite some time yet). We even had lunch out afterwards – such decadence!

How’s your week been so far? Hope you’re enjoying yourself. I have some more loveliness coming up at the end of the week – some things I’m REALLY excited about. More on that later. Better get back to my applique, in front of the cooler!

Meredithe x

Diamond TAW

It’s finished!! Well, the top is anyway…….wanna see?

As soon as I saw Brigitte’s pattern I knew I wanted something special for the corners, so I fussy cut the same Elizabeth head as I’d done for the centre, then thought I’d add a ring of hexagons

so I chose my set of 24 and proceeded to “kiss” sew them together (kiss = just a couple of stitches at the meeting point) with the rest of the set all neatly lined up in the lid of my box.

there we go, all ready to stitch down

except……

oops – the green one is joined on the wrong corner! Easily fixed……

and then all appliqued into place. I thought I might add a hexagon “flourish” on each side

After some tweaking I was happy with the flourish. I also thought I’d try some broderie perse and did two corners with the hexies

and two with the broderie perse

so finished, it looks like this

I actually finished sewing the four corners on on Sunday evening, but just haven’t had the where-with-all (end of piecing blues?) to do more until yesterday when I made up a backing using this fabric that I picked up on special many moons ago

and I’ve decided to try, for the first time, a “Summer Coverlet”, meaning there’s no wadding between the layers, so I cut the backing to the same size as the front, stitched them right sides together leaving a gap, turned it right sides out and hand stitched the gap closed.

Sometime over the weekend (maybe!) I’ll do some pin basting and then start hand quilting

but done this way will be perfect for those Summer nights when you don’t need a blanket but a sheet just isn’t enough (the last two pics were just ‘cost!)

The incentive to finish was the arrival of a parcel from Tambourine to Tilba, containing these

all for my Vermont Summer Medallion BOM with Judy Newman, with the fabric on the right being for the border. I think the ones on the left will work well with my fabric pull for this quilt. Have I shown you the pull? Maybe not…..

here it is, all ready and set to go in its own box. I delved deep into the recesses of my Fabric Library, drawing out of hiding some very old fabrics. Mixing a few eras here and adding in some Liberty, checks, and modern prints, but all in a more subtle palette then normal for me……

So now I’m off to make a start on Month 1 (hopefully finishing before Month 2 arrives!)

Have a lovely weekend Dear Peeps.

Much love

Meredithe x

On my walks

Some of these pics are a couple of weeks old now, but nonetheless nice to see, I think.

More gorgeous blossom, and such an unusual colour

and in the same colourway, this

and this wisteria which promises to be a similar hue

I wonder who hides in here?

such a pretty grevillea

and such a tiny one too, my thumb in the photo for perspective

This tree, in the park where I meet MyWalkingFriend, was severely chopped about a few years ago; not sure if it was diseased or was just hacked back

the bark on it is amazing, so many colours and textures

and it’s been so very pleasing to see that it has started to regrow with new shoots coming through everywhere!

I’m not sure how this tree has managed this “viewing” section. Yes, it is one tree

one front garden I pass is made up of this rockery/pond

not keen on the ornamental frogs but hope they get some real ones before too long

I often wonder if there are fish there too, but don’t like to stare over the fence for too long!

Meredithe x

Diamond TAW

I CanNot Leave This Alone!!

Just loving playing with this Diamond Trip Around the World set for us by Brigitte Giblin.

Since last writing about this……..

I’ve added the green for Round 10

As I was working on the next round The Golfer came in with a find from his shop at Aldi – my favourite chocolate in mini form (although why that’s a good thing escapes me. If one wants chocolate one wants lots of it, surely?). There are 5 of these “minis” in a pack and, seriously, they didn’t last long!

That last round was a looooooong way around, but here it is, Round 11, done!

So glad I broke my code and bought fabric for the last two rounds. I think it gives it much needed cohesion. Don’t get me wrong, I love the multiple fabrics in the other rounds, but I think it needed just the one fabric for each of the last two rounds.

Working on the corners as we speak…….

Meredithe x

Happy mail

The postie has been just a tad busy with deliveries to p and c of late (and not all of them for me I might add…..)

We took a drive to collect a parcel the other day (‘cost we’re allowed to go to 25km now) and as we came back into our driveway the postie pulled up with four (four!) parcels and yes, all these were for me (big, happy, smiley face)

~ from Tambourine to Tilba ‘cos I can

~ from Clair’s Fabrics for the last two rounds for my Diamond TAW and two bonus squares – thanks Clair

~ sumptuous Capel Liberty pieces from The Strawberry Thief – aren’t these colourways just swoonable?!

~ Judy Newman‘s new BOM – so very excited about this one but have promised myself I’ll finish the Diamond TAW first (I’m thinking some of the fabrics from the Tambourine to Tilba posting will go into this)

~ and speaking of the Diamond TAW, the collected parcel was this fabric for the four corners, with thanks to Alison and Sharon at the quilt shop for helping a woman on a mission!

Need to keep sewing…….

Meredithe x

Around here

~ After 112 days of staying safe, Melbournians are finally allowed “out”! The Golfer has lost a bit of weight over this time (through careful eating and long walks) so we’ve been out this morning to his favourite shop (Gazman) where he was able to buy some new golf pants, jeans and shorts (two sizes smaller!) and some shirts. It will be so nice to see him in some fitting clothes – in both senses of the word!

~ We’d decided a coffee out would be a treat and ventured to one of our favourite cafes only to find they’re doing work on the premise and still having take away only. OK, fair enough, off to another favourite cafe and they too were only doing take away as they’re rearranging the cafe. Not to be defeated we bought take away coffees and a raspberry muffin to share and came home to cafe p and c instead!

It’s a stunning Spring day in Melbourne town and as we sat on the deck basking in the sunshine we figured we couldn’t have done better with our view

~ the dahlias I replanted in the pot are coming up! So excited

~ The Golfer has bought me a couple of toys to play with; firstly a stand for my phone (which will also take the camera but haven’t tried that yet)

this means I can now do videos for my students when they ask technical questions; so much easier than trying to balance the phone on something or work one handed. It’s worked a treat and I’ve already done a little applique refresher for a student and two little ones on how to prep/sew circles for a friend interstate. Very happy girl! It also makes my video chats with friends easier as I can maneuver the phone more readily with its bendable legs and adjustable head.

~ the second toy is a speaker for my phone. Over the last weeks months I’ve established a little routine; walk first thing, come back and have breakfast, shower and dress, then in to the front room with a cuppa and try to do the sudoku from “The Age” (with varying degrees of success), then start on the stitching with a tv programme. With this new toy I can play my music while attempting the sudoku or playing with fabric

~ Congratulations to all Victorians for our new found freedoms, but please, let’s not go overboard – I for one couldn’t stand being tucked up for safety again. Take care out there, wherever you are.

Much love

Meredithe x

Around here

apart from my Diamond TAW obsession…….

~ still having Thursday stitching with my students via whatsapp in the mornings and zoom in the afternoons. They’re all doing well and projects are progressing/finishing/starting although some have been put away as they require some physical help which I can’t do over video and will have to wait until we can get back to class. I’m also still enjoying my weekly video calls with my besties and sometimes prepare myself a little afternoon tea just to remember how we did things pre-2020 (and NO I didn’t eat it all!)

~ my orchids are still bringing joy

~ the first of the roses have bloomed and I was able to pick a small bunch to appreciate inside

~ the azaleas out the front have put on a splendid show

~ and apart from real flowers I’ve been appliqueing some Anna Maria Horner fabric and have started to embroider it……more soon!

~ I signed up for Lisa’s “Alfred” which arrived in the mail

but I’ve dutifully put it away in a labelled box as I concentrate on getting a couple of other things done first – are you proud of me??!!

~ and Melbourne readers, are you having trouble adjusting your mind set to our new, albeit limited, freedoms? Even though we can, I’m feeling guilty traveling further than 5kms and being out for longer than 2 hours (not that I’ve done that yet!). I think it will all take a little time. And I can’t wait to get my hair cut!!

Much love

Meredithe x

Diamond trip around the world

I’ve been somewhat obsessed with Brigitte Giblin’s Diamond TAW (you can find info on Brigitte’s Facebook page or on her Instagram feed) and if you don’t follow me on Instagram thought you might like to see how it’s grown.

After the pink round I showed you last, it was time for some green

I had lots of this grey so it went on next

Elizabeth was calling out for more aqua – only too happy to oblige!

then I wondered about some coral to link back to the centre octagon and the flowers around Elizabeth’s face

luckily I’d bought two lots of the tree fabric (knew there was a good reason for doubling up!)

then a bit more grey, and as I wanted to fussy cut the stripe

had to bring in some other pieces

I’ve come to a grinding halt with the diamonds as I’d like the last two rounds to be one fabric each as the rest is so scrappy, and as I don’t have the required amounts there’s been a bit of internet browsing and purchasing. So while I wait on the mail delivery, thought I’d make a start on the corners

Might not look like it, but these are for the corners, all ready to go…..

……after a bit more browsing for a substantial piece to cut up for the corner triangle background.

Having sooooo much fun!

Meredithe x