Goodbye Autumn

Today is the last day of autumn, and tomorrow we welcome winter. The weather is finally getting cooler, but there is still little rain to be seen here in Victoria. It seems they got it all up in Queensland.

I'm enjoying quilting the Falling Star quilt, though its going to take a while. So far Ive quilted two strips of the design across the quilt, and I've probably got about 15 or 20 strips to go.

I planted a second batch of broad beans and snow peas today; I plan on having a super-productive garden this year. I've not had much luck with peas before, but the broad beans are really taking off!

Winter weather means winter food; tonight a yummy beef casserole with parmesan dumplings ( I added carrot and potato to mine)

And a very simple apple cake, served with a good scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Hope everyone else had a good weekend; I look forward to seeing what you've all been up to!

Work-Free Wednesday

I love Wednesday; I get to sleep in, then spend my day gardening, cooking and quilting to my heart's desire.

Today I planted onion seeds; something I've never grown before but I'm being adventurous this year. I also set up a trellis for my snow peas to grow up.

I baked an orange cake, which I've iced with a lemon icing. Super easy to make, it's all done in the food processor. I'm also making Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice) for dinner.

And I basted up my Falling Star quilt, and got stuck into the quilting. After a bit of umming and ahhing, I finally settled on an all-over feather design, which I'm doing using my usual tracing paper method. I figured a quilt this pretty deserved more than just a stipple.

I'm using a brownish coloured thread which I used on the table runners I made at Christmas; it shows up just enough without taking over the actual quilt design.

When it rains, it pours

I thought I was escaping the cold Melbourne winter for the sun, surf and sand of Queensland. Apparently I was very, very wrong. Not only did it rain, it flooded, the beach in front of my hotel vanished, and they officially declared it a natural disaster. Oh, and apparently their drought is over.

My week in pictures...

The originally view from the hotel; Surfers Paradise seen at sunset, and the view of the beach out front.

Getting overcast.

My aunt got her own personal waterfall down the front stairs.

The beach started getting smaller.

And the ocean went brown and foamy, as the river to the south funneled out flood waters from further inland.

Yep, all that white is "nature's bubble bath".

Before and After photos of a near-by beach.

The beach is all but gone.

Finally the sun comes out for the first time in four days.

Time for food; the local cafe makes the best muffins fresh every day (and a new flavour every day; this one is lime and coconut...and I wonder why I've come home a tad heavier...)

and the most amazing looking juices! (pineapple, orange and ginger)

The beach started to reappear yesterday, but with a foamy tide line.

An amazing final sunset.

And a bumpy flight home.

Now I've got lots of blogs to catch up on, and quilting to get back into.

Falling into Winter

Autumn is on the way out, and winter is definitely approaching.

I've just collected the first big lot of Feijoas from under the tree; the funny thing is I don't actually eat them, but I'm finding there are plenty of people willing to take them off my hands.

The broad beans have sprouted (and the peas are all planted):

The silverbeet is finally taking off:

The rhubarb is huge!

The creeper on my chimney is a beautiful colour:

Bella has taken to "hiding" inside the hamper I got earlier in the week:

And 4OT is all finished, trimmed, and ready to be bound.

I'm off on holidays tomorrow, to sunny Queensland. I shall see you all in a week!

On the Air

I had a bit of excitement last week; I was on the radio! The radio station I listen to, Fox FM (which people from Melbourne will know) does a top 5 hits every morning at 9am. Each day they have a listener give their thoughts on each of the songs, and last Wednesday that was me!

I was in the car, so I had to pull over, and it was all very exciting and nerve-wracking. Afterwards I was able to listen to it while I was driving which was pretty strange. You never sound anything like you think you sound. And for my efforts I won a hamper which I collected today.

The goodies include champagne and glasses, shortbread, a couple of boxes of chocolates and lots of other yummies.

In other news, 4OT is almost finished; just got a couple of border flowers to go! Hopefully will have it done on Friday, then I'm heading off on holidays on Saturday!!!

Still Here!

I've been a bit quiet this week, but I've been slowly making progress. My back problem from my fall in Feb flared up, so I've been quilting in small lots rather than going for it for hours on end, and working on my scarf when it gets a bit much. However, I have finally finished all the centre blocks of 4OT!

I've still got the borders to go; 24 triangles with feathers, then I need to decide what to put in the other blocks. I'm thinking I might use a larger version of some of the patterns from the centre blocks, but I'm not quite sure yet.

I'm also looking forward to this quilt being done so I can get onto "Catch a Falling Star"; it's been sitting, neatly folded, in the lounge room for months! I want to be able to quilt that one a bit faster than 4OT, so I was thinking maybe a spiral stipple...I've been practicing and it's not looking too bad, just need to get the size a little more consistent.