Solid fun

I love this book! There are so many great ideas for liberated quilts inside. I decided that it had been too long since I did one of these, and as I had some solid scraps I thought I would try one like the cover of the book. 

I really love the variety of quilts in this picture: my last little quilt all floral and ordered, and the crazy glory of my first liberated log cabin blocks. I think this is what keeps me quilting- the variety of it all. 

Here are my first set! I am afraid they are rather addictive so I don't think I have finished yet. I am wondering how to liberate these a bit more... Maybe adding borders, or making the blocks different sizes by adding some extra strips and 'filler' blocks? 

I wonder how big this is going to get? I think it might be a generous Lap quilt as I have plenty of solid fat quarters and I am having so much fun!

Seedlings stage 2

Greg Miller from The Joy of Wood made this vertical garden from a pallet which had been used to bring cement from Japan to Perth. He was kind enough to bring it to my place, so today I potted up the seedlings which I planted a few weeks ago into little recycled pots. 

You may remember that I decided to try harder to grow vegetables from seed, and inspired by the Perth City Farm set up, I turned an old plastic trolley into my seed raising bed. 

I got a pretty good germination from these seeds- better than ever before. The secret was that I put the trolley in a place where I had to go past it on my way to the car, so they were kept well watered. 

I have put some straight into the ground and some I have potted up to grow stronger before they go in the ground. 

If you would like to find out how to make a pallet garden like this and are in Perth, go to http://gregdmiller.blogspot.com/?m=1 to find out how. 

A little quilt finish

So this is my finished little quilt, all ready to have its hanging sleeve added. I like the more soft colours on the outside of each block. 

I am wondering, though, if the dark centres are too dark. Maybe something with less contrast would have kept the whole block as a visual unit. 

Still I enjoyed making it! 

Wild water and wild flowers

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The day started with a walk at the beach. We decided to have some fun today, so we decided to take advantage of the sunny day to go out this afternoon to Walyunga National Park to see the river at its winter best. 

We love this place! There is a walk right along the Avon River. 

Early wild flowers were in bloom. 

The river was high, the birds were singing and the afternoon was warm. Perfect. 

In the design wall

Trialling the borders for this little quilt 32 x 50. I used some 5 inch squares I had left over from other projects, and a variety of creams. 

The design was on the Missouri Star Quilt company YouTube this weekend. 

It is pouring with rain do the colour of the photo is a bit dull compared with natural light. 

Patio furniture maintenance

The patio gets neglected during winter. It faces south, so even if we have a sunny day, we won't sit out there at this time of the year. It comes into its own in summer, when it's shade and aspect towards the sea breeze is welcome. 

I went out to plant my seedling beans today, but the showers drove me under cover. I decided to take the opportunity to clean up the patio, evict the spiders and do some maintenance on the furniture. Here (above) you can see the table half way through being re-oiled. This preserves the wood and makes it look nice. 

I have washed the cushion covers too! 

Roll on Spring!