A quilt inspired by my friend Kate. She is the one who gave me the courage to get started and keeps encouraging me each and every time.
Her latest quilt “Twilight” has stars in my eyes and following her latest blog I thought it would be a wonderful way to tutor myself into making a similar one for myself.
Now believe me I am her ardent follower but by no means am I even close to her level of skill and expertise….
I started with the same window blocks but added another row. I have followed the patterns as best I can seeing as I have limited colours to work with.
I’ve planned this quilt the two jelly rolls I picked up at half price from spotlight… I had left over squares in blue from a previous project and it seems like it’s worked.
I’ve enjoyed making the blocks and putting them together… I’ve used a simple QAYG method and it seems to have worked ….
The border is in blue as I’ve run out of the pinkish colours in the jelly roll. The blue seems to bring out the pink in the quilt so I’m happy…
Patchewollock is bit off the beaten track but while looking for Silo’s … we also came upon another interesting bit of art & history.
Patchewollock is 40km south west of Ouyen in north-west Victoria, you can get to it from the Sunraysia Highway to Mildura or the Sturt Highway at Walpeup near Ouyen
The Big Mallee Fowl are one of the other things we saw on our visit to Patchewollock. The giant corrugated birds stand next to a fine example of silo art by artist Fintan Magee and the well preserved Patchewollock Station Precinct. There’s antique farm machinery on display in the same park and the Patchewollock Hotel is just across the road….. where J bought a bottle of Red to have with dinner 🤩
The big Mallee Fowls are constructed from corrugated iron and painted to give the impression of feathers.
The sculptures which were installed by artist Phil Rigg in 2013.
Every where I go I find so much of beauty and history come to life. Outback Australia never disappoints 🥰
The GrainCorp Silos at Patchewollock were the fourth set of silos to join the Australian Silo Art Trail Collection and the second to be painted in the Wimmera-Mallee region of Victoria.
They were painted by a Brisbane artist by the name of Fintan Magee. For inspiration for his silo mural and to get to the know the people of the area, Fintan booked a room at the local pub so he could mix among the local community.
It wasn’t long before he met the subject for the Patchewollock Silos. A hard working lanky local by the name of Nick “Noodle” Hulland who exemplified the no-nonsense, hardworking spirit of the region.
This twin silos were built in 1939 and was transformed in late 2016.
Another beautiful Silo …. Fills my heart with joy 🎶
The artwork is a celebration of the still and silence found in outback Victoria, and the associated feelings of wholeness and freedom. The young girl, swinging from a Mallee Eucalyptus, looks over Lake Tyrrell and reflects on her Indigenous heritage.
The Indigenous name ‘Tyrille’ means ‘space opening to the sky’ as the colours of dusk and dawn are reflected in the shallow saline bowl. The Boorong People were known to have more knowledge of astronomy than any other tribe, and their stories are rich in culture and connection to the lake. The artwork aims to connect and bring the viewer closer to some of the relatively ordinary and overlooked elements of the outback landscape and allows viewers to see these elements from a new perspective.
Again another Silo done to perfection… each one better than the last.
Nullawil is a small country town in the Wimmera – Mallee region of Victoria with a population of approximately 300 people on a good day. On the 5th of July 2019, the local silos in the middle of town became the new centrepiece when artist Sam Bates, aka Smug, took to a cherry picker and commenced painting. Just 14 days later, they were complete. Prominently featured on this silo is Jimmy the kelpie dog as he sits with a close companion; could it be his owner Darren?
The Dog Tag As a ‘nod’ to the history of Nullawil the registration disc worn by Jimmy has a ‘galah’ and ‘stick’ engraved on it. The name of the town is derived from two Aboriginal words, ‘Nulla’ which means killing stick, and “Wil’ derived from the term “willock’ meaning Galah.
Nullawil is now the 32nd silo to be included in the Australian Silo Art Trail,
We first saw this in 2019 on our trip across the continent on the motorcycle and had to stop again to see it as it is spectacular 🤩
This was meant to be a quilt but as I started making it and putting the pieces together I decided it would be a lot nicer to have as a homemade patchwork quilt cover…. And so the process started…..
I’m so not the type to plan out a complete quilt. I have piecesi buy at random when they have sales. I then start my day by looking at them and deciding how I want to pattern them. As the colours come together I then decide what I’ll do next …. I know 🤦♀️I know 🤦♀️ my quilting friends will be holding their heads in their hands with dismay 😩 but try as I do I cannot seem to work within that structure…. I’m seriously a fly by night sort of quilter. But I get so so much joy by just being at the machine creating…. So on that note I present my next patchwork quilt cover 🤩
It’s the middle of the month again and the middle of the year already !!!! Days and months seem to fly by & the days are cold and beautiful.
It’s the day Kate’s friend Gun in Sweden and Kate host ScrapHappy, a day for showing something made from scraps.
This month I celebrated my 55th birthday & since I’m always making Scrappy presents for my friends I decided to make one for myself. It’s not colours I usually use but put together it looks glorious. It’s a simple table runner but it looks quite pretty.
ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Either email Kate at the address on her Contact Me page, or leave a comment below. You can also contact Gun via her blog to join.
Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).
The anniversary of the day on which a person was born, typically treated as an occasion for celebration and the giving of gifts.
Definitely the anniversary of the day I was born 55 years ago !!! Just saying the number makes my eyes 👀 widen coz it seems like such a large one. But in saying that my mind feels like I’m a young ‘chook’ though my body says otherwise 😀
The “typically” treated occasion for celebrations…. hard as we are in lockdown again 🤦♀️…. but nonetheless I celebrated & what a couple of days it was ….
I celebrate life every day in my life and always have. My clouds always have silver linings … I know life will always have good days and bad days but my good days always take centre stage and always will.
I started my birthday celebrations with visiting The Australian Garden on Sunday … a place spectacular to say the least. It was within my 10km radius and my hubby & I walked and walked and walked. It was cold but the sun was out and the afternoon was glorious 🤩
THE BIG DAY …. 7th June dawned cold but beautiful. It’s the first time in 28 years we did not have a long weekend for the queen’s birthday… & fitting as being in lockdown there wasn’t too much we could really do… first time in 28 years I have not had a party 🎊…. but I had an amazing day !!!
It started with me looking up and giving thanks for another full & busy year . Looking up at the clouds is the most restful thing for me. The constant movement and changes in the sky gives me perspective and keeps me wondering about the ever changing things in our lives…. makes me think that no matter what the day holds for me the clouds will keep moving and the skies will keep changing….my life is part of that and as long as I look up the rotations will keep me grounded.
The next thing that happened was a knock at the door, and on opening it I saw this present at my door which my friend had dropped off …😍
Then my day started… I went for a walk in the park & two friends met me to walk and exercise and wish me for my birthday 🥳
Then my sister called me and again I walked … this time in the park nearer my house & couldn’t resist the next pic with the trees dropping their leaves ..
It’s been a birthday of walking and talking but what a day it was !!!
The evening brought me the best present of all … family time. The kids cooked me dinner and then we cut cake while zooming with my parents and sister as they couldn’t visit.
All in all my birthday exceeded all my expectations & here’s to the next year of love & laughter.
HAPPINESS IS..... 