drenched

Long story short . . .

The way we were . . .

It rained. A lot over 24 hours. Two month's worth in fact.  Most of it travelling sideways at about 55 miles per hour.

I know, a mere rain shower in the tornado belt but a lot for here and not particularly welcome when it's pouring through the ceiling.

Turns out that my Swedish designed, Chinese made, chipboard and melamine storage cupboards are not water repellent. In fact, they are super absorbent (like Simpson's Emperor Stringettes).

Memories

Luckily, the fabric stash was spared much damage. Thank goodness for the spare room. Not spare anymore! And the family room. And the dining room. And the hallway. You know, it's surprising just how much stuff was in that little sewing room. And by surprising I mean embarrassing.

Spark Joy!

We are also in Stay-at-Home ~ Work-from Home mode.  So there's been some serious Marie Kondo-ing around here let me tell ya! 

It was time to take a deep breath and dig the Janome out from under the pile. 

I've set up a temporary sewing station in the family room, dusted off the rotating cutting mat and rustled up an ironing mat.  There's no holding me back now!

I enjoy making these Cat's Cradle blocks - no fiddly triangles because I have the funky ruler. Which is a good thing and I'm nibbling away at the stash.

I hope you and those close to your hearts are safe and well.

torpor

When it's 28 degC at 9.00am I don't feel much like sewing but before the sewing room became too unpleasant to work in (no aircon in that room), I put the another side on this quilt.

I still want to add another plain border before it goes away for quilting. 

rain

At last we've had some - it is most welcome and even though it's causing flooding in areas, it is extinguishing some of the bushfires.

Thank you for your comments on my last post. For unknown reasons, Blogger is not sending them to my email. You know, I may just move this blog to Wordpress.

With Christmas and New Year out of the way, visiting family gone and the house restored to some semblance of order, sewing has recommenced.

I've picked up where I left off (last October - yikes) working on the scrappy Cats Cradle blocks. So easy to make and no triangles. You do need the special ruler. Mine was a gift from a fellow blogger, crafter and quilter Kelli H - thank you Kelli.

Gotta love chain piecing.

bushfires

You may have seen news on the TV or Internet about the terrible bushfires raging across all of Australia.

It is supposedly the worst season in recorded history - loss of life, wildlife, livestock, pets, homes  and businesses. Small towns cut off, tourists and locals trapped for days. Smoke and fire blocking out the sun. It is truly dreadful.

The Australian Defence Forces have been mobilised to support the rural and regular emergency services in each state. Many small country towns have been devastated but the Aussie spirit is alive and well. It will take a long time to recover from this catastrophe and the fire season isn't over yet.

My family have been incredibly fortunate. We live in the suburbs of the city and have been spared all but the smoke.

A heartfelt thank you to the men and women of the volunteer bushfire services; emergency services; wildlife services; various organisations such as Australian Red Cross and the Salvation Army; not to mention thousands of nameless people who stepped up to help a neighbour, a friend, a stranger, or a creature that needed help.

It has been a sobering end to the year and the start of the next.

mistake

A new quilt has begun.

Yes, I went with the scrap quilt from my last post. I kept returning to it again and again. 

As usual, I'll be modifying the layout a wee bit. The Cat's Cradle blocks were made using the Creative Grid ruler. It makes two blocks with very little waste. I'm determined to use some of every fabric from my collection* of random fat quarters. 

I'll be substituting those tiny triangles. Too fiddly and my first effort to make one *by eye* looks like this.

Yes, well. Let's see. Probably should have measured it up first. Never mind, I think I'll use it for the label.

The Cat's Cradle ruler lets you make a number of different sized blocks - the smallest 1 3/4 inches finished!

Hope you found time to sew a little.

*Collection - don't you like the way we quilters call our stash that. Gives it some credibility and gravitas.