Photos of progress

Finally got around to photographing my piecing progress.  I got the whole top together from all those half square triangles - it will have to go into the pile awaiting quilting.  I am not sure if I mentioned before, but our downstairs isn't really finished, as they ran out of floor tiles - big drama, red faces, much embarassed foot shuffling - the next shipment is supposed to be arriving this week, so hopefully it will get finished soon - until then, I can't set up my quilting frame.  I do have about six tops waiting to be quilted now - am quite looking forward to getting to them.

And yes, the picture is a bit wonky - I am still figuring out the best place to hang a quilt around here to photograph.  This was hung from an extendable line we put up on the beach side of the house, where it is always a bit breezy, so getting it to hang perfectly straight was a challenge.  I have since had a fold down washing line installed at the side of the house, which is where I hung the next top.  My builder will be pleased - he keopt grumbling that having laundry strung out at the back of the house (which is the side that faces to road and the beach) made it look like a gypsy encampment.  Yes, well,  the laundry had to dry somewhere!  The new fold down line is in a discreet, but sunny spot on the north side,where no-one but us can see the unmentionables flapping in the breeze.

When I finished the above top I opened another box and found some pink and green blocks which, I think, were left over from a couple of baby quilts I did for friends a while back.  So I pulled them out and added various width strips around the blocks to make them BIG - then cut them into fours and reassembled.  It still needs borders.  I really must brush up on my Photoshop skills and figure out how to fix these photos.  I'll add that to my 'to do' list.

I have also been accumulating a satisfying pile of string blocks,well on their way to becoming a top.

I have had my fill of piecing for now - what I am really keen to do is get out my paints and mark making tools and have a play at printing, stamping otherwise making my mark on some of my hand dyed fabric .  That will be today's play activity.  In preparation, I set a large tray of gelatine so I could do some gelatine plate printing, which I have been dying to try since getting Rayna's book ages ago, but what with moving and everything being packed away, living in the apartment etc, I just haven't had the chance to do - so, today is playday!!

I have been going for a bike ride every afternoon and really noticing things around town.  I took the camera yesterday - here are a few of the things that caught my eye.

Settling in

Karl went fishing the other day and came back in no time with three salmon.  We gave the red flesh to the dogs - who love fish - and turned the white flesh into fishcakes with chilli sauce for us.  OK, but I wouldn't go out of my way to have it again.

I have finally been able to just sew, which I have sorely missed over the past five months of being between houses.  When I unpacked,  I found all sorts of boxes of projects in various stages of unfinished-ness.  I could never start something and see it through to the finish, without starting other things in between, so I have something of a collection of  'works in progress'.  Rather than do a stocktake of all the UFOs and depress myself with a list, I just took the first box I opened, and went from there.  It happened to contain a whole pile of half square triangles in greens and florals.  I remember deciding to use them up when Margaret Rolfe's book came out.  It must have been sitting there for at least 7 or more years.  I distinctly remember that the green squares were cut from a pack of 7 inch charm squares - I did wonder why I had all these three and a half inch half square triangles, as they make up to 2 and 5/8th inch finished squares!  Anyway, I sat and sewed them all together and now I have a quilt top which has one  border on, and the outer border is cut, just waiting to be attached.

I also have a big pile of very annoying  little offcuts from trimming off the pointy bits - I won't be doing any more quilts like this - way too tedious!  I have a huge  bag of strips, so will do something based on strips next.  Although in between, couldn't resist doing up some string blocks.  I do love scrap quilts, of all types, and have wanted to do some string quilts for a while.  I have had this book on my library shelves for a while, and recently acquired Gwen Marston's book on string quilts.  So I have been happily accumulating a pile in between doing other things - very satisfying.

Karl has made off with the camera so I will post some photos tomorrow.