Calling it done!!!!!

After more fiddling around, including turning all the lighter diamonds

to the reverse side to give better distinction between light and dark,

hating it and changing them back again, I moved pieces around

and changed out some of them.

I'm happy with it now and on with the stitching next week.

The odd fabric here is in the bottom row left hand side,

black fabric with pears. In the early days of our friendship

J was a great bottler of fruit. She would visit the market gardens and

come back with cases of pears, peaches, you name it she bottled it,

hence the pear fabric. I had to put that one in for her.

One of the consequences of spending so much time

trying to get the setting to my liking was not checking on my zucchini

plants for three days, this is the result

9" long zucchini and one marrow sized.

Sometimes they hide away under the giant leaves and are

easy to miss.

However, I had the makings of our evening meal with two of these

along with freshly picked beans

 a little fresh Genovese Basil

pasta from the cupboard, a hunk of Pecorino cheese
and store bought tomatoes - delicious!

Life then took a different turn.

Our eldest son, following the removal of a mole, had a diagnosis of melanoma he's

now due for wider excision surgery.

One day later we learned that our 17yr old grandson

had been in a crash in his car, thank goodness he wasn't hurt but

his car is a write off!

Two days later I had a 'phone call telling me that my long time friend 

living not too far from me had passed away.

We had similar health conditions and used to support each other

with many long telephone chats.

I am so glad that I had gifted her a quilt in July when  she became

very unwell.

Time spent flower gazing has been excellent therapy

and I love it when the hydrangeas begin to turn from their

usual vibrant hues to the colours below.

Oh my, I just have to show you this photo of a beautiful silk scarf made

in India but bought in Portugal as a gift for me from my ex-daughter-in-law,

she called in an hour ago to see me. She thought I would
like the rich colours!!

Have a happy weekend!

Maureen

This and That

Not a wildly exciting post I'm afraid due to

a gastric bug which laid me low for a while.

Luckily I was good for my grand-daughter's wedding on the

11th of this month - a super, super day!

I have all the pieces for my friend's quilt up on the wall,

tweaking is definitely needed and I feel

as if I lost my way as I reached the bottom

but I can play around some more during the week

Most of the diamonds are made up of two pyramids using

two different fabrics but with some with just the one

I've been using my electric GO to cut squares ready

for my Colourwash, the ones going through the machine

first up are from a 6" pack. The machine does have a little noise

during operation but the fact that it cuts with really

not much effort is a bonus.

The garden is very dry at the moment but the nasturtiums

are enjoying the heat

and I picked a few to brighten up the kitchen bench.

Back during the next week, hopefully with more to show!

Happy Quilting

Maureen

New Year, New Decade, New Word

I wonder what this next decade will bring for us all and

for the planet!

The disasters happening presently around the world and

close to home in Australia are unbelievable.

However, enough said on that subject, on to things to lighten our hearts.

My word for this year is a little different in that it's Greek

and there is no English equivalent word!

Basically it means to do something with soul, creativity, passion or love,

to put a piece of yourself into what you're doing.

It could be applied to so many things in life.

I don't remember where nor when I came across Meraki, I've hunted

for my Greek language book from aeons ago but can't find it. 

I looked for translations on the internet and they more or less all

have the same interpretation as above.

For me right now I'm putting Meraki into the making of the quilt shown

in my last post, and below, for my friend who haas cancer.

A few more mixed diamonds are on the wall, I will be shifting

them around when all are up there, but given the layout above

measurements would be

49" across x 72" down

and I don't want to go any longer but wonder if the width is sufficient

for a lap quilt, feedback would be welcome!

That's all from me today, I'm hoping to have more quiet time to work

out quilting goals and projects for this year over the next few days.

Maureen

Sue and Elle, thank you for your comments, I am unable to reply as you are showing as noreply-comment bloggers.