Conversations with CW

Hi Lovelies!

You’ll be pleased to hear that my idea with the paper shapes worked and thankfully nobody sneezed while I transferred paper pieces to fabric pieces. And, best of all, it all fits together. Thank goodness!

I’ve since been just a tad obsessed with this project and currently have 9 of the 11 CW blocks made

and I’m working on number 10

and have chosen the fabrics for number 11 and the other three corner filler blocks

so hoping to get that far over the weekend. Then it’s just (just!) a matter of choosing for and stitching up the remaining filler sections…….and hoping I don’t out-puzzle myself in the process.

Did you know, well I guess you wouldn’t unless you were making these blocks too, but did you know there are 56 pieces in each of these blocks?

no wonder it takes me the better part of a day to choose, trace, cut and stitch each one (that’s in between walks, meals, washing, text chats with Mum and friends, computer games………)

What’s on for your weekend?

Meredithe x

On my walks

My goodness there’s lots to see at the moment on my walks…….here’s just a sampling

MyWalkingFriend and I have chosen a new walk for ourselves, both wanting something/somewhere different to our normal BC walk. So we’re traveling streets we used to walk down many years ago and some that we hadn’t ventured down before. The Council must have heard of our new venture and have kindly laid a path for us in the section of park we’re traipsing through. Wasn’t that kind of them?

This little caterpillar decided he wanted to try out the new path too. He’s such a bright green little fellow

there have been several adventurous snails around too, this one climbing a fence

these pretty boys let me walk right up to them, garrulously gossiping and probably wondering why I was dressed so drably in black and white compared to their beautifully coloured plumage

How sweet is this little patch of pansies beside someone’s gate?

and these lilies basking in the sunshine

I do wish I could share scents here. I don’t have a strong sense of smell but even I could smell these freesias through my mask and all! There are so many of them and they appear to have escaped from the garden beds into the lawn at this house

the flowers on this azalea are tiny but oh so pretty

and yet another gorgeous blossom

Going out for our daily 1 hour exercise (soon to be 2 hours!) is an especial joy at this time of year.

Meredithe x

Around here

~ my cyclamen wasn’t fairing so well inside, so I sat it outside on the table and look!

~ remember I had left over yarn from my knitted blanket? Well before I got the chance made the time to put it away I saw this granny square by Lucy and decided to give it a try and made one square……

and before you know it, it had multiplied!

Oops! (Just what I need, another project!)

~ I noticed the other day that only one side of our Silver Birch has started to leaf. It’s the north side, so gets most sun……maybe? Will be interesting to see how quickly the rest of the tree catches up

~ The Golfer has been excelling with his cooking, including this delicious pizza

~ and while he was making that, I made a pair of fingerless gloves for MyWalkingFriend

and not too late either as the mornings are still quite cool for our walks, so gratefully received.

~ in our garden the daisies are flowering across the front

and the bluebells are starting to show

~ the first of the azaleas have popped and there are many more to follow

~ I’ve found a brilliant new-to-me author, Cara Hunter, who’s fast paced, un-put-down-able style has seen me up to the fourth of her novels already. I just hope she’s writing as fast as I’m reading!

~ and to celebrate Spring I put a new “Spring-like” quilt on the bed

light and bright and……yes, it’s to make me feel better about lockdown!

Meredithe x

Spring

Spring is starting to feel very much here. The evenings are lengthening and I’m guessing the mornings are brighter earlier too; we’re sleeping in these days so I can’t say for sure! It’s been so much nicer to wake naturally than with the alarm clock.

Wattles have been in bloom for a while, some with their almost iridescent yellow eye catching against the green leaves. Wouldn’t this be a lovely place to sit, if we could?

and there are trees of wattle too

daffodils and jonquils are out, shyly displaying their yellows and whites

there’s loads of blossom which cheers whether its cloudy

or bright

and with all the sunshine we’ve been having of late the blossom is rapidly making way for new leaves, shining and that brilliant green of new growth

don’t know what this blossom is, but it’s very pretty

and look at the colours here – vivid red leaves amongst the green and those pretty white flowers.

Our days are getting warmer too; Spring is fighting off the cold days of Winter. It’s still very windy and I’m a bit worried about our side fence. We had two trees taken out before lockdown (one dead, one dying) and I think they and the gate were the only things holding up the fence which now sways alarmingly in the fierce strength of the winds. Thank goodness for the gate! We’re in for an additional 2 weeks of lockdown as our figures still aren’t great – coming down, but too gradually. The Golfer thinks he’s come up with a contingency plan until we can get a fencer in to repair it. Fingers crossed!

Hang in there Melbourne – we can do this!

How’s the weather/lockdown been where you are?

Meredithe x

Celebration

Today is our 30th Wedding Anniversary. I can’t believe we’ve been married this long – it seems to have gone by so quickly.

Last year we had thought about marking this milestone with a celebration overseas somewhere

then when COVID hit and Australia’s borders closed we thought, why not Queensland? An island maybe?

then when travel was being discouraged we thought, how about a weekend in the city (Melbourne)?

then when Melbourne city and suburbs went into Stage 4 and we’ve been restricted to going out only when necessary and have an 8.00pm curfew…….

how about a romantic dinner at home?

So that’s what we’ll do.

No matter where we would have been, we would, and will, still be celebrating our love for each other. And I have to add, The Golfer has been a stalwart companion, a tower of strength, my biggest champion, the love of my life and remains, and always will be, my best friend. And I love him dearly; for the laughter and the tears, for the joy and the heartache, for adventures shared and magic moments, for the everyday mundane.

Together.

Meredithe x

Conversations with CW

You know how I was having that internal argument between brain and heart?

And I listened to my heart?

Shoulda listened to my head!

All the while I was stitching, my head, and CW, kept repeating, “it won’t wOoork. it won’t wOoork” in that annoying tone. You know what I mean, don’t you? And worst of all they WERE right. See? Not Square!

It’s because the blocks are 1½”bigger than that filler section. How do I know this? Because I measured the blocks themselves, and just to still that query in my heart, measure out the template pieces too. Yep, 1½”.

What to do? Even though I only wanted to use the template pieces throughout the quilt, this called for sensibility so a strip needed to be added between the filler and the block

Right here

So, more unpicking, piece added in,

on both sides and yay! square now.

But how do I fill in this weird looking gap?? Another star?? Hmmmm…..

First up, I think these corners need to be attended to

Being done!

and all the while my brain kept wondering how to fill in the jigsaw section that was left.

After much deliberation and even thinking I might need to graph it out on paper (eeek!) this morning I resorted to cutting out lots of paper shapes of the template pieces

then getting down onto the floor and playing with the shapes.

I’ve been there for a while this morning/afternoon and oomph! why is it so hard to get up these days???

I think there may be a solution in sight…..

That extra 1½” will have to be added all the way around, and it looks like a replication of the bottom section of the filler block might work but I’m not sure what fabrics to use. Guess I’ll just have to play.

In the meantime, Please, nobody sneeze!

Meredithe x

In the garden

It’s been lovely to watch the orchids coming into bloom

likewise the daphne with its delicate petals and amazing perfume

the cutting I took from Mum’s daisy at the unit is growing so well and has flowers too

the little piece of mint I found and planted up is finding its feet

and we’re enjoying picking fresh herbs for our dinners; pasta, pizza, casseroles all tasting better with whatever takes our fancy from basil, coriander, parsley and chives

Meredithe x

A finish!

Sitting beside my chair is a bag with a project, a yarny project, and it’s sitting there because Helen kept asking how it was progressing and suggested placing it beside my chair as “inspiration” to get it finished.

I say “is sitting” but it should really be “was sitting” because the other night I got it out to investigate and saw that the next “block” was started and would only take a few minutes to finish. Well, I say a few minutes, but I needed to view the websites again as a reminder of how to actually “do”.

Then it was finished, that started square

and when I threw it out onto the floor I kinda, sorta, thought it might be big enough??

Sleeping on this happy thought I called Helen the next day for a detailed discussion, and with her blessing went to my trusty crochet hook bag

and this book for some technical help

and then scoured Lucy’s blog for a border (and sent her a donation for the privilege).

Armed with knowledge(!) I then proceeded to crochet a border or two, three, four and now I have a finished lap rug

It hasn’t been blocked, but who could wait for that? I had to show you!

So pleased with the borders

It’s such a tactile rug

and I do love the “hump” down the centre of each block and the flow it creates

it’s so cosy to snuggle under, as I found out as I was crocheting the borders, and it shall live on my chair when not being used

and looks pretty good there me thinks.

Now to find a home for the excess yarn and that bag can leave its sentry position beside my chair.

What next Miss Helen?

Meredithe x

I used this site to knit the squares, and this site for how to join them as you go and a variation of this crocheted border.

Around here

~ Some days life feels like this tree; bowed down with grief and just wanting to put my head in my hands and weep for what’s happening in the world

~ but then there are days of brilliant sunshine and even with the cold wind it means getting the washing out and dried.

~ and you get special mail from a friend to help support another of our group going through breast cancer treatment

~ then a walk in the garden surprises you with orchids which are ready to be picked to enjoy inside

plus enough to send over for Mum to enjoy too

~ there are video calls with friends where we share our stitching exploits and enjoy a great chat and lots of laughs

~ Sometimes it’s the little things that matter most.

Meredithe x

Conversations with CW

After filling in that section I felt it was a little unbalanced, so decided to create the same section mirror imaged and set about cutting out the various pieces

Then sewed them together

and added it on

Now I could add another block at the bottom, so I stitched another up

and added it on (I’m leaving the corners out in case a different “shaping” is needed)

So how’s that looking overall?

OK, I can live with that………but what next? I figured it would be easier to fathom if I created a corner and worked in. That means doing another mirror image section

and making lots more blocks

so I am.

Still not quite sure where this is heading. For the idea I have in mind, my brain tells me the maths won’t work, but my heart says go for it, and being Piscean who listens to their brain??

Meredithe x