16/365 a sign of the (summer) times

1301 16/365 a sign of the (summer) times
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Today: 35degC. Tomorrow 38, Friday 42. Hot, hot, hot.

(The shop was, as you may have guessed, closed.)

15/365 followed me home

1301 15/365 followed me home
Originally uploaded by rooruu

These two hanks of Rowan Colourscape yarn followed me home. Amazing. Lovely.

It's going to become a self stripe scarf in the Noro striped scarf style like this: http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com.au/2007/04/noro-scarf.html
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/noro-striped-scarf

I will practise doing a long tail cast on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN9cNEozOLc
And am so happy that YouTube makes it easy to find out how to do such knitting things as long tail cast ons and i-cords.

14/365 Bar Beach, Newcastle in wild, windy weather

1301 14/365 Bar Beach, Newcastle in wild, windy weather
Originally uploaded by rooruu

The wind was so strong! Some gusts enough to nearly knock you off your feet. But it was neither hot nor cold, but salty-sandy, exhilarating, blowing all sorts of cobwebs away.

On Nobbys, there were flags out but no one swimming. At Bar Beach, from this lookout, it seemed like only a red ?warning flag.

We stopped at several lookouts on the coast road. Each one windy, the waves whitecaps of energy.

At the Ocean Baths, a bridegroom, his attendants, celebrants and guests awaited the bride. I hope they weren't blown away! (A picturesque wedding location for sure, but the Victorian wedding cake bandstand in the park a couple of kilometres down the coast might have been easier...!)

13/365 weathered door

1301 13/365 weathered door, Morpeth
Originally uploaded by rooruu

My second 'old door' photo in thiteen days. I suspect not my last of the 365. They engage respect and invite imagination about the lives which have crossed each portal. Going out. Coming home. Visiting. Enquiring. Kept in. Shut out.

This one, weathered grey, looks so sturdy with its ironwork hinges and the thick timber supporting beam/lintel, and the large blocks of sandstone.

12/365 Key Lime Pie

1301 12/365 Key Lime Pie
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Sweet and tangy with melt in the mouth pastry. An excellent morning tea.

I've known of key lime pie from American books and magazines but hadn't actually tasted it till today. It won't be the last time.

11/365 Victorian tea set

1301 11/365 Victorian tea set
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Pretty tea set. More gilded than I might be expected to like, but I do like the colours and stripes and pattern.

Another spotted-but-not-purchased item in a vintage/old wares/antique shop. (But a couple of other things did follow me home...).

10/365 blossom rosy hat

1301 10/365 blossom rosy hat
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Seen in a vintage wares shop. What a mad, pink, leafy, blossom rosy (?50s) hat!

9/365 cool drink

1301 9/365 cool drink
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Not as hot a day as yesterday's 43degC, but warm enough to enjoy an icy cool drink with lunch. Lots of patterns in ice and condensation and reflections.

And then back to today's To Do list. Which isn't short and may be ambitious...

8/365 scraps into gold

1301 8/365 Scraps into gold
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Something I will certainly take away from making Easy Street and thus reading Bonnie Hunter's blog is the idea of consistently having leaders/ enders while piecing. (Starting and ending each run of chain piecing with scraps, which build into blocks, slowly but surely).

In this blog entry she shows another quilter's leader/ender project, 1 1/2 in squares.
quiltville.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/time-zones.html

I am not as methodical; I've been using the cutting scraps in the size they are. After all, when cutting for a quilt you often have similar size cuts, 2 inch or whatever. I began by piecing pairs with one side the same size, and built from there (sometimes skimping on the 1/4in seam so I could use a piece). I built each assemblage until it was slightly bigger than 4 1/2in square, then trimmed it to 4 1/2in square. I've pieced these into nine patch blocks.

There are four of the ninepatch blocks in the photo, 36 of my little leader/ender scraps-into-gold blocks. I like 'em!

7/365 gingerbread men

1301 7/365 gingerbread men
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Made by a friend. I like the different expressions. The jar was rather emptier by the end of our morning's work of organisation and imagination

6/365 duck

1301 duck 6/365
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Yes, there were the regulation three in graduated sizes. They will be flying away with the friends who own them, to live in the country.

5/365 craft & conversation

1301 5/365 craft & conversation
Originally uploaded by rooruu

At these gatherings, I overestimate how much craft I'll get done (at present, the Poems crochet blanket) because I underestimate how many engaging and engrossing conversations I'll get involved in. Am I bothered? Not in the slightest.

4/365 velvet cushion

1301 4/365 velvet cushion
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Cotton velvet, not synthetic, and a face that is interesting and wise and sort-of instant ancestor.

FJÄLLTÅG from Ikea.
www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/10249444/
Limited edition, Ikea says. A mere $7.99, which is an excellent price for the cushion (complete with inner).

Easy Street block A, rooruu version

1301 Easy Street block A, rooruu version
Originally uploaded by rooruu

I tweaked this block in a couple of ways, to make it more effective in my quilt. So it's not identical to Bonnie's original. My fabrics are busier, less tone on tone (my eye doesn't get much drawn to tone on tone fabrics, it's patterns that I love best) and so my tweaks aim to focus/strengthen the design to accommodate this.

Easy Street layout

1301 Easy Street layout
Originally uploaded by rooruu

A test run to see how it looks.

I'm happy!

(More blocks to make before I can assemble it).

3/365 red dahlia

1302 3/365 red dahlia
Originally uploaded by rooruu

There's the lifecycle of the flower bloom in this, from the faded petals on the edge to the vibrant red in the centre. Not the prettiest flower I saw today, but the most interesting.

2/365 green door

1301 2/365 green door
Originally uploaded by rooruu

I've seen this door plenty of times, on an old stone building that's been a craft shop, sold vintage bric-a-brac and is, in its current incarnation, a cafe. But project 365 prompted me to photograph it. Good. Love that worn paint.

Easy Street step 8 block B

1301 Easy Street step 8 block B
Originally uploaded by rooruu

There's a block A, this block B and the final layout has been revealed. Still working on my blocks: I might change the centre of block A (which is why I started with B. Yes, that does make sense!).

More tomorrow, or at least in the next couple of days. Because now I want to get the top finished.

1/365 Changing calendars

1301 1/365 Changing calendars
Originally uploaded by rooruu

From Typo's dreamlike pastel images to Floranova's striking flowers.

Time to try a photo a day again. It's a good way to pay closer attention to the world around. I'll see how I go. No pressure...

Easy Street step 7

1301 Easy Street step 7
Originally uploaded by rooruu

Two sets of pieced triangles for step 7 of the mystery quilt. One step to go, it seems.

How to spend a hot day, 39 degC outside (around 102 degF) and with the fan going steadily while I pieced and pressed.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com.au/p/easy-street-mystery.html is the main page for this mystery quilt.