Autumn bricks

I didn’t plan to quilt on Sunday as I invited the kids for supper.  I made lamb liver cakes (similar to fish cakes but with ground liver) served with mashed potatoes and caramelised onions. My kids still enjoy traditional South African dishes, and I love making them for them, as very few youngsters nowadays grow up with or appreciate them.  Not as if my kids are ‘youngsters’ anymore. Occasionally, when they have birthdays, and I realise their age, I actually feel sorry for them for being that old.

On Monday, National Women’s Day, as I started gathering ingredients for supper, hubby said I should not cook, as we have several plates of leftover food in the fridge and we should finish that first.  Music to my ears!

The weather bureau warned about a sudden severe cold front from Monday with wind, rain, hail and snow, but when we got up, apart from being cloudy, nothing much of the forecast was seen.  I just finished cleaning the house when it started to rain.  By then, the wind had also gathered speed; soon afterwards the hail started.  It was bitterly cold!

Not able to work outside on the paving, hubby brought in wood and started an indoor fire in what is supposed to be the indoor barbecue.  He, however, is not much of a barbecue man, so it mostly serves as a fireplace.  Many moons ago, he promised to start cooking once retired, but 5 years in, I had no such luck.

With the ambience from the fire, I didn’t feel like doing anything chore-related, and we settled by the TV and watched no less than 2 movies.  I took a mean afternoon nap under a thick, warm blanket, and for once I enjoyed National Women’s Day.

With me having plenty of R&R on Monday, it was back to normal yesterday.  I got to finish this one.

Not all quilters name or label their quilts, and then I try to come up with a name, just not to start every post with “another quilt”.  This is exactly what happened here.

Second owl quilt

 I got this loaded right after I finished the first but had some grocery shopping to do and only started the actual quilting later in the day.  Being for one of a twin, the same edge-to-edge motif was used.

When I opened this and saw the blue background, I wondered if I had the sexes right.  I initially believed the red was for the boy and the other one (whilst still in the package) would be for the girl.  Now I am not that sure anymore.  It is, however, nice to see how different the same main fabric turns out when used with different colours.

I managed to finish this one too.  

I made hake with a creamed mushroom sauce for supper yesterday, and the smell had me hungry from the time I finished cooking.  I always had a soft spot for any fish dish.

First owl quilt for one of a twin

Friday turned out to be a rather normal day as per daily routine, and I appreciated it.  I did some quilting but didn’t push myself, did laundry, ironing, lunch and supper and watched rugby on TV.

This grandma made two of these owl quilts for her twin grandbabies, who are turning two in March 2027.  That I call organised!

I started with the red owl quilt for no particular reason; it was just on top of her package, and since it was for toddlers, we needed nothing more than an edge-to-edge design.  She wanted the same motif on both quilts, so not too girly or boyish, as the second quilt will be for the little girl.

I woke up on Saturday morning and started quilting before I even showered or got dressed, but managed to finish this one before 8 am.  A productive start to the day!

Terrace tiles quilt

This is only one version of a quilt going by this name and from out of town.  This quilter used to be local but, after retiring, moved away.

Yesterday I had this quilt on the frame after the interlocking squares, and hopefully this won’t take 14 days to complete.  I took out frozen soup, which we enjoyed with cheese buns and for the little one, I made pizza for lunch.

The quilt maker purchased a fleece blanket with the size noted on the tag, but when I measured it, one side was not remotely as long as the tag said.  I will barely have enough space on the sides, but luckily this won’t need any ruler work.  I might just get this to work.

It turned out to be a productive quilting day as I finished this before we had to fetch the little one after school.  I still have 3 quilts in my house and 3 more on my waiting list.

House hen is losing her feathers. Whenever I took a break from quilting, I walked into a scene like this.  It feels as if I am constantly bending over to pick up either the feathers or their poo.

Hubby is fixing and levelling the paving around the swimming pool and has selected an intricate brick pattern, having to grind through them to get them to the size he needs.  I can already see all the dust gathering in every nook and cranny.  Looking at his pattern, I think he should really consider quilting.

Almost interlocking squares

 We had a hectic two weeks; everything that could happen, happened. Our plans collided with others; appointments overlapped; I had more-than-normal social events; and it felt like nothing got done.

When we moved into this house 4 years ago, the layout was everything I wanted: enough bedrooms, enough open space for the grandkids to go bonkers and the private spaces separate from the living areas.  During the first winter, though, we felt the living areas were as cold as a freezer.  I am not the toughest cookie when cold.  This year I even decided not to watch TV in the lounge at night but to get into bed on the electric blanket and enjoy the TV in the bedroom.

We had 4 humongous palm trees by the swimming pool.  Soon after moving in, hubby chopped down one.  I cannot recall the reason for this one being chopped down.  Still 3 by the pool left, and I think a cold person gets colder when older, as we really did not have a harsh winter this year, but I am struggling more.  I layer so badly, I can barely bend my elbows to work.

I made a sudden decision: the remaining palm trees had to go; they block most of the light and sun from the house, and something needed to be done to improve the situation.  Made the call, and the tree fellers quoted one day, started chopping and finishing the next.  Shame, they really worked tirelessly, and I am glad I got them to do it, instead of hubby, which would take him months.  When I decided to get them, hubby added to the list of trees to be chopped or trimmed, and since moving in, we’ve now chopped about 23 trees in this garden.

 The palms around the pool gave the look of an island resort, but I prefer comfort before beauty.  We definitely have more natural light, although I cannot say the heat has improved.  I will have to find new ideas without using electricity, as this has become a luxury in South Africa.

In between the chaos of life and the trees, I received this queen-sized quilt from out of town, and it took me 14 days to complete.  I just didn’t get time to quilt.  I forced myself to at least do one of the 56 blocks a day; if I managed more, all good, but one a day meant progress.

With the blocks done, I started with the sashing and again hoped to do one row a day, and finally I just had the border to finish.

I forgot to ask the name of this pattern, but without the sashing in between, it can count as an interlocking squares quilt, so I’ll stick to that.  When writing this post, it was 5 am, not a good time to ask someone the name of the quilt.