Blackbird Singing In The Dead Of Night

Yikes, can you see that?  2011!
The last time I worked on this quilt was around July 2011...that's four years! Four years!

So I've picked it up again. Why? I hear you ask.  For a couple of reasons.
1.  Our regular Wednesday Patchwork and Quilting class is on school holiday break and I don't want to work on my Celtic quilt unassisted. (The truth is, Anne is such a wealth of hints I don't want to miss anything she may have to offer if I continue to work on the quilt top on my own.)

2.  I've lost a project I'm making for my Sister.  Can you believe it?  I've lost a whole bundle of fabrics with which I've promised to make more cushion covers for my Sister! So in my hunt for the elusive project I unearthed the French General quilt top I have avoided for the past four years.

On closer inspection I realised that there is not much to do to finish off the French General so I've added some sashing and a border. 

Layering the quilt and machine quilting will be easy as it's not large, more a single bed topper size. If I'm organised enough I can have it ready for Mum's 82nd birthday in September.

In the meantime, I've made these upbeat drink coasters.

I know...they could also be mug rugs but for some reason I have an aversion to mug rugs, and the person I've made them for is slightly eccentric and I think he probably has an aversion to mug rugs too but I can totally see him using these to place his crystal cut glass scotch whiskey tumbler on.
The graphic fabric is the infill out of a panel of Milvale Quilt Labels.  I fussy cut these very carefully as I didn't have much area to play with.

The binding is a remnant from my Youngest Son's 21st birthday (Yikes again...in 2008!)quilt which I can't show you as that was before my blogging days.

A few weeks ago, feeling excited about the capabilities of my upgraded sewing machine, I practised  applique and free motion quilting on a square of fabric. 

 I'm always loathe to discard anything and the end result was a very scrappy raggy quilt made with some boring fabric.  The end result turned out much nicer than I imagined.

Now, I wonder where I've stashed that fabric?
Have you ever lost a quilting project among your stash?  And did you find it?  Was it where you expected to find it?

Have a happy sewing week.

My Mother's Garden

I've been spending a bit of time with my Mum this week. 

The resumption of her home by the State is still looming and I know how frustrating it must be for her to go through the process which is now into its second year.

The garden has become run down but there are little surprises everywhere that are reminders of what once was.

It was a dewy morning on Tuesday, as reflected by this lone dandelion.

This spiky cactus is decades old.

And sits on a decaying window sill along with its companions.

My Mum has lived in this home continually since 1960. 

It will soon be time to say our good-byes.

Day 193/366

Mr Honey Pie and I were surprised at breakfast by a visit from a flock of birds.

This is less than half of the total number of birds that perched themselves outside our front windows.

I have learned by experience that the moment you put up a camera before a wild bird, that is the same moment the bird flies away.

Being so unprepared, I opted for the point and shoot camera. Nor did I even bother to venture outside onto the verandah.

So, this photograph is opportunistic, taken through a window and it is cropped and highly edited.

But I hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed the visit.

(By the way, I've no idea what these birds are called...a native dove or pigeon me thinks.  Their visits are very seasonal, we see them for a few weeks each year and then that's it, they're gone.  Never have we seen so many in one go ... eight?)

Day 179/366

A visitor to the garden.

Day 142/366

Red-browed Finches are newcomers to our garden.  I don't recall ever seeing them before last summer.

Over the past few months they have been regular visitors and frequent our southern birdbath, along with Bulbuls and Eastern Yellow Robins.

The finches are very shy little creatures and I have attempted, on many occasions, to photograph them.

This is the best result so far.  Perhaps they are becoming a little more comfortable with sharing the garden with us humans.

The Bulbuls like to dive bomb the other birds so at times we witness quite a bit of competition for the use of the bath.

Although there are three birdbaths in the garden, this one seems to be the favourite and I have to check it regularly to ensure that the birds haven't splashed it empty.

Both Mr Honey Pie and I love to sneak into a camouflaged position to observe the antics of the feathered creatures.

Sometimes we can come within a few feet of the birds but, for some strange reason, when a camera is produced they seem to sense its presence and dash away.

The robins seem to be the friendliest of the smaller birds that frequent the garden and at times even seem to follow us around as we do our gardening chores.

Day 92/366

Enjoying the early morning sunshine.

Day 85/366

Come Autumn

Come Autumn and the bowerbirds visit no longer.  Despite me leaving some bright blue objects for them, as offerings, they have returned only once since the first of March.  On that day, the birds did remove some of the offerings left to them, but the rest remain where I left them.

The Woop Bird.

Aka, Bronze Wing Pigeon.

Bronze Wing Pigeon.  Blue Mountains, New South Wales.

A flock of these ground loving pigeons have taken up permanent residency in our garden.  Usually they scrounge around in the leaf litter on the south side of the house. 

This morning I was startled by this one on the north-western side.

The human residents of the same plot of ground call these birds Whoop Birds because that's the sound they make when calling.

A bird bath is always on hand for them because they love to drink from it, especially in hot and humid weather.