Simply Serene Quilt is Finished

The main goal that I set myself this month was to complete the Simply Serene Quilt that I started at Scrub Stitchin’.  

All that I achieved then was to make the half square triangles, so I had a fair bit more to do this month.

I used a variety of plaids and related prints.  Some of these have been in my stash since I first started quilting in the very early 2000s, others have been thrifted or gifted to me in scrap bags.

Having the design curtain made the process so much easier.  After a bit of a fiddle, I had the lay out sorted.

Next. it was time to decide what to use for the setting triangles.  Some versions I have seen have the cream, others one constant plaid.  In the end, I decided to use a variety of the plaids.

Then, it was the tedious task of joining the blocks into rows and the rows all together.  No, I wasn’t going to attempt the webbing method for this one.  That's looking better.

Next, it was time to add the borders.  I had plenty of the cream for the first one, but not enough of the red for the second one.  A bit of a look in the stash revealed this russet brown that I had acquired somewhere along the way.  It had obviously been an offcut from a backing, as it was double width with a seam in the middle.  The border width was determined by the dividing the fabric left after cutting the binding strips by four.  It worked out perfectly, with nothing left at all.

I was liking the way it looked and thought it would need a rather blokey quilting design.  The one I used came with the software for Elly May, my quilting machine, and I think it suits it perfectly.  Cowboy bits and bobs are not something I would usually add to a quilt, so it is a nice fun design to have a play with.

The backing was made from various offcuts of a wideback from Spotlight.  The colour is a charcoal that is much darker than it is showing here.  I have used it a few times before and I also had some that came from a destash.  A great way to use them up.  I still have yardage for future quilts.

This quilt will be another donation quilt.  I hope the recipient likes it as much as I do.

And, of course, the outside photo.

Mick felt this one needed to have a photo shoot by the potting shed.

Before handing it back to me to fold up.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements -70" high x 50" wide

Pattern - Simply Serene by Pleasant Valley Creations.  I made it a bit smaller than the original.

Fabrics - All from stash, much thrifted.  

Quilting Design - Cowboy Essentials by QCT6

Batting - Cotton/Poly

Backing - Left over wideback from Spotlight and a destash

Thread - Glide - Warm Grey 4 on the front and Silver on the back.

Rockhampton to Carnarvon Gorge

Back to my travel tales……

After our week in the Rockhampton and Yeppoon area it was time to start heading back south.  This time we were going to get to Carnarvon Gorge, as the weather was predicted to be good.

Our route could be just backtracking to Banana.  Yes, there is a tiny town in Queensland called Banana, not after the fruit, but a pale coloured bullock, that back in the 1860s helped stockmen round up wild cattle.  We have the city of Orange just up the road from us here, named after the Duke of Orange, and further south in NSW there is the town of Berry.  Quite the fruit salad……I digress.

We saw no need to backtrack if we could find an alternate route to Banana. So, out came the map and we decided to head south down the Bruce Highway to Calliope.  I got in trouble for pronouncing it Cal-ee-ope.  I was informed that the correct pronunciation is Cal-eye-oh-pee.  Anyway, it is really just a satellite suburb of Gladstone these days.  From there we headed inland to Banana.  It was a nice, quiet, scenic drive that we thoroughly enjoyed, and was yet another new to us road.

From Banana, it was just a short drive to Moura, which was our destination for the day.  We had heard of the town, as our friends used to live there, but we didn’t know much about it.  It turns out that it is a major coal mining centre with a rich history.

We set up camp in the Rotary Park, with a lot of other travellers and then went for a walk to the museum, which is housed in a relatively new building, along with the library.  It was a really interesting museum, covering both the coal mining and agricultural side of things.

There is a painted water tower next to the building.

Also, outside, there is a small sound shell, and memorial to the coal miners, which was really well done.

After our walk, I enjoyed doing a bit of my knitting.

The next day, we headed further west to the small town of Rolleston.  We have actually stayed there when travelling on our motorcycle some years ago, but we just arrived as it was getting dark and left first thing in the morning, so didn’t see anything.  

It is just a small town, but with a nice park, complete with a community coffee cart.  

Of course we had to stop for coffee and delicious home made cake. 

A lady was taking photos for their facebook page, and took our photo, so we're famous.  Well, my hands holding the coffee and cake are famous.

Next to the coffee cart is the former post office, which houses a gallery and has a kitchen out the back where the food is prepared for the coffee cart.  

It was a fun exhibition inside.

There was also an old hut that had been relocated from out of town.

From there it was time to head south to Carnarvon Gorge.  The road was fairly rough in places and some nice person had actually painted signs on the road warning of the worst potholes and damage.

It was a very pleasant drive and before long we came to the turn off to Carnarvon Gorge.  The road into Carnarvon Gorge, once you leave the highway is only narrow, but in much better condition.

We have stayed here once before, with the motorcycle, in 2003, so quite some time ago.  That time we stayed in the caravan park down near the gorge.  Since then, a new seasonal campground has opened, situated up on the ridge surrounding the gorge, so we took that option this time.

It was good to have finally made it here, after our earlier aborted attempt on the way north.  

More soon.

A Finished Crochet Rug and Wrap With Love Knit In

I have my first finished project for July, being the crocheted Corner to Corner Rug for Wrap With Love.

I started this way back in March and have been plugging away at it ever since.  

I thought it was finished at the end of last month, but a few more rounds on the border were needed to make it wide enough.

It is good to get it finished in time for the knit in.  

As the co-ordinator is one of my neighbours, I generally give a hand with setting up.  At the last minute, a lot of squares were donated that needed to be joined and have an edging added.  I was given the job of doing the crochet on one.  It didn't take too long.

We set everything up on Monday, ready for yesterday’s Knit In.  

There ended up being just over 200 rugs ready to deliver to Sydney for distribution around Australia and the world.  Not a bad effort for a little band of women who only meet up to knit together once a year.

There was a wide variety of styles and techniques, in both knitting and crochet, as well as a vast array of colours.

There were about a dozen women who stayed most of the day with others dropping in for just a little while to just have a look at all the rugs.  

Of course, most of us brought along a plate of food, so no one went hungry.

I have started my next rug.  For me, this is just a fill in project that can be picked up when I have nothing else planned.  This time I am also using the Corner to Corner pattern, but just making ten inch squares to be joined together, as it will be a much more portable project.  I seem to have ended up with quite a few pastel yarns, in both variegated and solids, so will have a play with them.  It should be fun.

Great Keppel Island

Remember this photo I showed looking out to the islands from Yeppoon?

Well, the largest of those islands is Great Keppel Island.  Despite visiting the area many times, we have never managed to visit.  The weather had either not been cooperating or we haven’t had the time.  This time we were making a point of visiting.

It used to be a very popular holiday resort island, but the resort is now defunct.  However, there is still a small amount of accommodation, a couple of shop/cafes and that’s about it.  There are a few permanent residents. You can also take day trips, which is what we did.

We caught the ferry out, and it was the perfect day.  I’m not a good traveler, but I had no trouble at all. The weather on the days before and after weren’t nearly as good, so we were blessed.

When you reach the island the boat just runs up to the beach and you disembark down a ramp onto the sand.

We then boarded another, smaller, glass bottomed boat to do a tour of the coral, as this area is at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.

We were all rather intent on looking down into the water.

It was hard to photograph, but we saw a variety of corals, some giant clams and various fish.  

This is a Barracuda.    We also saw one small shark and a stingray, among others.

The hexagonal structures have been put in place to give the coral something to grow back on after storm damage.  Apparently, it is working well.

The island had been battered by cyclones in recent years, causing a large amount of beach erosion.  These giant sand bags are now stabilising the worst affected areas.

Now, isn’t that the idyllic tropical island beach.

The tide was low, so we could see all the little shell inhabiting creatures crawling around the rocks and sand.  Intriguing to watch.

Yes, I picked up a few more shells and took their photo.

Someone had done a rather clever drawing in the sand.  Not us, we just got it admire it.

Mick and I had a play with our shadows.

And then, before we knew it, it was time to return to the mainland, enjoying seeing the hazy light on the other islands as we went.  A rather lovely way to spend the day.