And so its another month and life is pretty much the same as it was last month. we are at the end of the first part of STAGE 4 LOCKDOWN….but as the numbers are still not what they want its been extended for another 2 weeks !!!! Then it will be a week by week review and restrictions tweaked. So lets see what the next two weeks hold for us….

For me days are pretty much the same as it always is as I work from home managing my husbands business and have been doing this for the last 27 years… We are lucky we can still work and feel very Blessed to be doing work during this time as there’s lots who can’t work or is out of work.

I’ve been quilting up a storm as always … trying new things and adding to my collection of lovely things…and I have a few scraps from these in the last month. There’s two I would like to share ….

The first one I would like to share is a placemat that I made out of Hexies. Both front and back were hand stitched and then I did some FMQ to finish it off.

The second piece I did was a Wall Hanging. I have a little room just outside my family area which is all mine. Its a room I have decorated the way I want it …and I usually sit there and read or catch up on my social media with a cup of coffee. Im patiently waiting for Kate to visit so we can sit there and have a good natter. I have hung this Quilted piece of art in this room … I can see it from inside the main house so it works well there :))

I’m so so enjoying myself 🤩

Here’s to next month !!!

Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline,
Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin and Vera (me!)

After rehydrating my starter I needed to now start on my first loaf. I was nervous to say the least…. but I definitely wanted to use the starter.

Thus my first Focaccia was born …..

100g starter

10g salt

440g water

Stir to combine

512g flour

Stir to form a sticky dough ball

Cover for 8-18 hours

When it doubles drizzle olive oil on it

Deflate by pulling from sides to centre.

Second rise in a lined tray 5-6 hours

Dimple / stretch and oil & salt

Bake @ 218degrees for 25 minutes

There’s nothing left !!!!!

My Sourdough Journey

I was asked by a friend if I wanted some sourdough starter and as I love baking and absolutely love making bread I of course said yes.

A few days later my dehydrated starter arrived from NSW with instructions on how to rehydrate.

I was excited to start a new & hopefully lifelong journey into another form of creating 😍

I was also told that when starters are shared they usually come with a name and would be nice for me to name mine 😊

Chatting with another friend about this journey she suggested the name PARVATI.

The name PARVATI means OF THE MOUNTAIN & is of Indian origin. She is a Hindu Goddess of fertility love and devotion.

What better name than that as it rings true to both my heritage and the fact that this starter will be the beginning of many a happy hours of making and baking.

My journey started yesterday with the rehydration process and I was rewarded this morning with a bubbly mixture in the bowl which means I’ve reactivated her and she’s ready to go.

“A small gift of sourdough- a dried starter dubbed from our 7 year old Priscilla. I hope it gives you many years of baking joy “ The starting lines on my Doc with the rehydrating instructions …. & I’m so looking forward to this journey 😍

Because when you stop & look at things that you create you can see that life is pretty amazing.

It never ceases to amaze me how much each piece I make steals a piece of my heart. This quilt started out being a gift but now that’s its completed I’m not so sure….

Yes the colours make my heart sing… so I’m thinking I’ll be keeping this one for myself… seeing as one of my sofas does not have a quilt gracing the back of it…. this way anyone sitting on any sofa has a lovely warm quilt to snuggle into :))

What do you think ??

Well its been a month already & the love for All things Quilt continues. We are in Stage 4 lockdown for another 4 & a half weeks !!! Hopefully the numbers will come down …

This cushion cover came about as one of my first few scrappy pieces. I had tried my hand at a quilted quilt cover and long story short I had these scraps left over.

I love bright colours and these colours make my heart sing 🎶

Heres to another month of quilting…..

Kate, Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire, Jean,
Joanne, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki, Pauline,
Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin and Vera (me!)

When lockdown has been a way of life for a few months you just carry on …

The Virus 🦠 has not been good to us in our state of Victoria even though the rest of Australia seems to be back to a new normal…

As of midnight Wednesday we entered a new stage of restrictions. We have had a state of disaster declared which generally means the police force has a few less limitations in enforcing rules.

My life continues on my usual path of cooking cleaning looking after the kids looking after the Business as I have done for the last 27 years. My new normal is not going out at all but finding more time to do the one thing that I absolutely love.

As the months seem to be rolling by faster and faster we find ourselves in the month of August. Lockdown is supposed to be lifted on 13 September but then again who knows…

So during these months which is usually occupied by the kids birthdays… Getting ready for parties and entertaining… Which cannot be done now… My mind has moved to the next big occasion which is Christmas.

A couple of days of working with a new idea for a table runner for Christmas which I found on Pinterest I came up with this. There’s lots that I can see which need to be fine tuned but seeing as it is for the house I’m happy with the result and extremely happy that my first Christmas project is complete.

When you have something lying in your cupboard for over 27 years and you find them after a good clean out and wonder what you are going to do with these.

Yes a thing of the past called handkerchief. Something we don’t use very often now but there was no way I was going to get rid of them.

I looked at the number of sizes and thought I could make something with these and what else could I make but a Quilt!!!

So after joining each of them with an embroidery stitch so they did not need to be positioned exactly all butted up against each other meticulously I came up with the following haphazard pattern, but it worked really well.

Next I found an old quilt cover which was well worn and well washed and backed my vintage quilt

I thought this was a good time to do some more free motion quilting as the quilt was not too big and was easy to move around.

A few days later with all the quilting done to the best of my ability and found my shapes and swells were getting a little better I found the edges and my quilt is ready…

Can’t wait for the next one to start

Doing small things with great love makes your soul shine !!!

This I believe with all my heart. I had a few Fat Quarters in orange and olive and knew I was going to make a quilt with it. Being a newby at this I haven’t learned the skill of setting out patterns and layouts before starting. I opened them out and ironed them and laid them flat on the table and admired the colours in front of me. I knew I had a whole lot of cream embossed material from a huge swatch of curtaining given to me years ago. I know that oranges olives and cream will go together beautifully . So to my box I go and the long strips are brought out.

Now knowing the type of person I am, I’m impatient to see how these colours are going to match up.

I don’t want to cut the quarters to make a design. I want it whole so as to give maximum effect. A few hours of sewing and the pattern comes together . A very simple but effective design. The colours dance in front of my eyes and there’s a constant smile on my face. Oranges & creams bring out the joy in my heart.

Once I had all the pieces together I decided I wanted to try my hand at free motion quilting. I look at all the videos and I absolutely love the whole idea of letting the machine do the thinking for you and your hands just guide….. I know this isn’t really the case but the feeling of freedom is intoxicating.

So onwards I trudge with yet another new concept and as easy as it looks to do it really isn’t…a few thousand yards of thread later the quilting was done.

Look closely and you will see what a lot of higgledy piggledy curves and circles make up my “free Motion quilting” But what joy this has brought me. I have a lot to learn and the quilt is by no means even a semi professional one … but its all mine and I know I will get immence joy from it.

As anyone can see I’m totally obsessed… but I cannot be classified as a “conventional” quilter.

I take ideas and make them my own… the basics are the same … but I just gotta add ‘me’ to it… so taking that into account I’ve added embroidery to the mix …. and thus my ‘Bluey’ was born… each square has been made with a choice of Jelly Roll pieces and then joined together …

Look very closely and a professional eye will pick out every mistake I’ve made … but I’ve loved the process of doing something new ! Hopefully in a few years I’ll iron out the mistakes but in the meantime I’m very happy with Quilt #7 …

DAY 3

Good Morning….A beautiful day to relax & catch up on much needed stretching of limbs as we had covered 1230kms in 2 days.

It poured with rain that evening and we even had a power cut. But of course that would never ever phase us … Jonathan cooked dinner by the light of our little battery pack…..thank goodness all appliances were gas !!

There is absolutely no phone coverage at all out here and being off social media makes it easier to listen & pay attention to everything around you.

it was refreshing just sitting and and doing nothing …

We are off for a walk around the park. Lets see how much we can cover….