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….

Day 2

Another amazing day…. We had a long day ahead of us so it was an early start for us.We head out of Mildura …this time it was bright as we didn’t want to ride country roads at dawn or dusk as the Roo’s & Emu’s come out to play then.

We did see a lot of road kill & a fair few Emu’s prancing around … but thankfully they never ventured onto the road.

We left Victoria behind & rode into South Australia.we rode through Paringa & Renmark… this was a quarantine point where we had to stop and get our luggage inspected.

Tarlee…. Morgan….Burra….Whyte….Yarcowie….Terowie…Peterborough…Orroroo & then Hawker.We stopped and did bit of grocery shopping & then rode on toRawnsley Park Station.

Overlooking the southern side of Wilpena Pound, this park is the perfect base to explore the Flinders Ranges. We visited this station as it was meant to be a gathering of our club members… however it was only my hubby & me who ended up there.

3 years ago we had stayed at another cattle station called Merna Mora and we had explored the Flinders Rages extensively then. So this time it was going to be a relaxing 2 days before we hit the road again.

So again another solid day of riding with some extremely strong winds going from Hawker to Rawnsley … but we made it in one piece.

we had covered another 600kms today and I was ready for a couple of days of walking and reading and generally doing nothing.

A MOTORCYCLE trip from east to west & back again in Australia. 19Th September

Day 1:

This trip is something we have wanted to do for many years and being my hubby’s 60th birthday we decided this was the year …!!!

Our bags were packed and it was a feat as we had a top box & two side paniers to hold clothes/food & water/tools for a months worth of travel… we left home at 5am so as to beat the morning traffic and not get stuck on the freeway.

We started with a morning temperature of 7 degrees but by the time we got to Kyneton it had dropped to 1 degree…. talk about freezing !!!! We stopped for a cuppa and a couple of egg sangas. anyone knowing us will know we rarely eat out and having a sandwich in our food bag takes us a very long way.

Back on the bike and we keep going.We ride through small Victorian towns called Lockwood…Bridgewater on Lodden…Wedderburn…Teddywaddy….Wycheproof….Berriwillock…Sea lake & then stop at Nullawil where we see our first Silo Art.. It was a good opportunity to stretch our legs once more & take in the awesome art.

We get to our first nights stop in Mildura, having covered 630kms overall. not a bad days riding with spectacular weather.

And so it comes to pass … the mini quilt is finished and on her bed.

I have loved working at keeping the lines simple and letting the print work it’s magic…..

Quilt #5 is in progress. Yes another Rag Quilt.. this one is for my youngest who loves blue & likes the Rag style as it ‘makes her feel warm & Cosy’

Well what they want isn’t usually what they get … but this time it is 🤩

I love the print as well …

Hoping to finish this by the end of the week as she keeps asking 😄