Should be ...

It's summer and the eucalypts are shedding their bark. A great time to be collecting it for dyeing. I should be ... picking it up.
I should be ... dyeing some fabric.
I should be ... doing lots of things but I am not!

Today I took the dog out for a walk before the day heats up and I saw lots of bark lying around. Didn't pick up any. Gave it some thought but didn't do it. Holidays!
The lemon scented gum next door has lots of bark lying around, that will be accessible till we clean it up, so that can easily be used. At least it is not making the mess that some trees make, leaving their bark hanging down so that fires can run up to the crown of the trees and give them a chance to only burn at the top.

It is nearly a year since the Black Saturday fires and so far the weather hasn't been so horrendously hot and drying up all the undergrowth. Let's hope it stays a mild summer and we get through with minimal fires.

Looking out while sewing

I have just been away to Warburton for a few days. That's where I actually got the sewing machine going and almost finished the cot quilt (previous post). I have a fabulous view out the window. I knew when it got to be close to 4.30pm as the cockies would fly, screeching. They did not come quite close enough for my camera to get a good shot.

But while I was trying to get the cockies, a kookaburra came and sat on a nearby branch. My camera has a digital zoom that seems to come out a bit blurry, but here are the shots anyway.

A lovely room to work in.

Back to basics

Since I've started my Studio Textiles and Design course, I have done very little patchwork and quilting. So I am pleased to say that I have almost finished a cot quilt. The baby was born last August and I started the quilt with months to spare but even that was not enough. Part of the problem was that I decided that I didn't like one of the colours that I had used, so I had to pull

out all those bits and then I lost my impetus. Fortunately, just before Christmas I decided to finish it whether I liked it or not. So I put the new bits on before going away and now have done all but the binding, which I hope to finish tomorrow. Now I can send it off to the relevant baby before she grows too big!

Shell

We found a shell at the beach yesterday and I brought it home because it reminded us of a pitcher. We were wondering if it could have inspired the first person to make that shaped pitcher or if we are inspired by our knowledge of pitchers. Chicken and egg type discussion.

I seem to have posted a bit lately about visits to the beach, what with Sag Bay, Lorne and Green Point. This is all a bit surprising for me as I rarely go to the beach, especially in recent years.

Going to the Beach - again

This morning I went to the beach with my sister and the dog. It was a lot different from my last excursion to a beach.

Today the weather was overcast but warm. In fact, we all had a swim. It is a great beach for dogs, they are allowed on the beach till 10.00am in summer, all the time in other seasons. There were not a lot of people around and most of those had dogs with them, at least at the earlier time. As we got closer to 10.00 there were more people without dogs.

I do not go to bayside beaches in Melbourne very often, so it was a lovely change of pace, as well as a wonderful way to start the day.
We had a good view of the city. What looks like sunrise isn't, unfortunately, it is smog. There was a smog line visible right around the horizon but the view was still very peaceful.

I took some photos of the water, it was quite flat and grey but had lovely tones in it.

There were a few dead jellyfish on the beach and some smaller ones floating around in the water, fortunately not many. I tried to take a photo of one in the water but the camera cannot see into the water as clearly as the human eye (not today anyway). It is just visible, if you look carefully.





If you want to see the dog at the beach, go here.

Rugs

While we were at the quilt museum, we also saw some American Indian weaving. Once again, we were allowed to take photos. I was most interested in the patterns and colours used.

Going through my photos

I am spending some time going through my photos and trying to decide what I want to do with them. Here are a few from our visit to Lancaster, the area where you can see LOTS of quilts. We started off at the Amish Quilt museum (I'm not sure if that is its actual name but that will do). I was once again surprised that we were allowed to take photos.


There were some beautiful quilts and explanations of how the traditional Amish quilts are made and why they are like they are. Most of the quilts on show had exceptions to the traditional style, I don't think I saw one that was totally in traditional style.

We then walked around and had a look at some of the shops that sell quilts and supplies. It was amazing. I have never seen so many quilts for sale in the one place. It made me realise that I don't actually know where I would go here in Melbourne if I wanted to buy a quilt. All the quilt shops here sell supplies for making your own but you rarely see quilts actually for sale.
I have discussed this with friends both in the USA and here and we have come to the conclusion that it is not as cold in Australia, so we have not had the historic need to have such warm bedding.


However, that does not mean to say that we don't have a history of quilt making. There is a very interesting site that gives quite a good overview of Australian Quilt history. Here is the link to the National Quilt Register. It has some fascinating stories about the women who migrated to Australia and lived in difficult circumstances and still managed to make these amazing quilts. It is an interesting view of Australian history from a very different perspective from the one I was taught at school.