Rainbow Strippy Group Quilt

As I have previously mentioned, I have joined in with Betty’s merry band making blocks for group donation quilts each month. 

For the first half of this year the brief was slightly different, in that each month we were to make a strip in a colour of the rainbow.  

Here are mine.

Once all the coloured strips were completed and returned to Betty, she mixed them up and sent strip sets out to each of us to make into a quilt top.  Some were very creative and clever.

I finally got around to joining the strips I received into this flimsy.  Not very creative, but I think it is rather striking.

Instead of returning the quilt top to Betty for the girls down there to finish off, I have quilted and bound it here.  

I just used a gold thread for the quilting and a bright blue wideback for the backing and binding.

With Betty’s blessing, it will be donated to a local charity in Bathurst.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements -62" high x 64" wide

Pattern - None.  Rainbow strips for group quilts.

Fabrics - All from stash.  

Quilting Design - QCT6 - Loopmeander

Batting - Cotton/Poly

Backing - Wideback from Spotlight

Thread - Glide - Cleopatra

Cranky Rock Nature Reserve to Home

Finally, the last instalment on our recent travels.

Once we left Cranky Rock Nature Reserve we had to return to Warialda, before heading south the Bingara.  Everything was looking so green after the recent rains.

We visited Bingara last year, on our way home from Baradine in September, and were interested to see if the redevelopment of the former RSL site had been completed.  Yes, it had.  This is now the head office of the Gwydir Council and Visitor Information Centre.  It only opened a couple of months ago.  They really did a good job of preserving the facade of the previous building.  

Bingara has a nice streetscape.

We were happy to see that the cafe at the Roxy Theatre is once again trading.  Of course we had morning tea.  As it turned out, we were there on their opening day.  I hope they make a good success of it.

It was nice to see all the orange trees in the streets loaded with oranges.  These trees are a war memorial and on one weekend each year they have a festival.  Several shops had orange related window displays.  A part of the festival is the local school children picking the oranges.  The trees all had notices attached to them stating that it is an offence for members of the public to pick to oranges.

It would be a fun weekend to attend.

From Bingara, we just headed down the road through Barraba and Manilla to Gunnedah.  All places we visit fairly regularly.

At Gunnedah we had afternoon tea (yes, morning and afternoon tea in one day) with Lianne.  Of course we forgot to take a photo.  Too busy yacking away.

Our camp for the night was at the Gunnedah Showground.

The following day was just a leisurely one, travelling through Coonabarabran, Gilgandra and on to Eugumgerie, just north of Dubbo.  

We couldn’t get over how green everything was.  Such a contrast to when we drove this route on our way north. (I may have mentioned this once or twice before, but we continued to be amazed.) 

There is a camp ground at the local recreation grounds, just off the highway.  We have often seen the sign and thought this was a good opportunity to try it out.

We went for a bit of a wander around in the late afternoon.

Dinner was had at the Drover’s Dog Hotel, which has just had new owners take over.  We enjoyed one final pub tea. (Yes, morning tea, afternoon tea and a pub tea all in one day.  We were allowed.  It was our last day away.)

And, the following day, our last morning on the road.

We arrived home in time for lunch and to start unpacking the van.

That was on the 17th June.  Yes, it has taken me two whole months to get this written down.

Our holiday was for just on five weeks and we had a fabulous time.  We visited places we wanted to see, spent time with special friends and travelled on many roads that were new to us, despite heading north most years.  All in all, a very successful and enjoyable holiday.

Now to get ready to head off again.

Cranky Rock Nature Reserve

Following our night and morning in Warialda, our plan was to venture out to the Cranky Rock Nature Reserve, have a look around in the afternoon and then head off the following morning.

We travelled east from town and then turned down a smaller road.  The view over the river flats was beautiful.

When we arrived we discovered a rather lovely, peaceful campground, complete with several powered sites.  We found one and set ourselves up.

Once we were set up, it was time to go for an explore.  On the way to the actual rock, you have to cross a suspension bridge. 

Then, you can either go down to the swimming hole on the creek or up to the look out.  

We opted for the creek first.

How nice is that.  The reflections were stunning.  If you look to the top of the rocks, that is where the lookout is.

Next, we went up the path towards the lookout.  The granite boulders are rather impressive.  You have to love a balancing rock.

There is a viewing platform on top of the rocks, looking out towards the north and west.

Legend has it that in the late 1800s a “cranky” Chinese man jumped off this rock into the creek, while being chased by police, after having murdered a local woman.

There used to be a fenced off nature reserve in the area, hence the name, but the animals have since been released.

Back at the campground, there is a large aviary with galahs and red browed finches.

I had read on WikiCamps that there were chooks roaming around.  It wasn’t long before they came running over to see if we had any food for them.

They were very friendly and we did enjoy their company.

A couple of lambs were wandering around too.

When the afternoon closed in it was time to light our little camp fire.

We really enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the area and decided to stay for an extra day, as the weather was forecast to be nice.  A day of doing nothing at all, just relaxing.  Not something that is normally on our travel agenda.

The view out of the bedroom window first thing in the morning was rather pretty.

This is when I set up my little sewing machine outside and completed my June RSC blocks.  Mick enjoyed reading a book.

In the late afternoon, we returned to the lookout to watch the sunset.

However, despite not putting on much of a show, it was still nice to see.

And so ended our time at Cranky Rock Nature Reserve.  I can see us calling in here again one day, just to spend some nice quiet time.  Aren’t we glad the caravan park in town was full when we rang up.

More soon.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Complete for August.

The weather on Monday was rather feral, with the temperature only reaching about 6 degrees C and windy.  A good day to stay indoors and sew.

Therefore, I made the yellow RSC blocks for the month.

I only needed one crumb block, as I had made two yellow ones a couple of years ago.

It is good to be making progress.  Only two more colours before it is time to start putting the quilts together.  I do hope to have the three completed by the end of the year.

I have linked up with So Scrappy.