Golden Anniversary Quilt

This is a quilt that was started in January 2006, for my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. It has 50 different "golden" prints - 49 arranged in a 7 x 7 grid, and the 50th one set on point in the border. (You can just see it in the photo).

At this stage on Saturday afternoon the quilt, backing and batting are all pinned out, ready to start quilting.

Now I've started the "easy" quilting - the long straight lines quilted "in the ditch" while I think about the border and block quilting.

Ashley's Art Deco Lady

This quilt actually dates back to 2005/6, but Ashley only received it a couple of weeks ago for her 13th birthday.


The design is from an Art Deco Stained Glass Windows book (copyright free), and the central design is done using the stained glass technique.

Most of the coloured sections use hand-dyed fabrics, though some of hair sections are tone-on-tone prints.

The lady is set diagonally, with a double cross-hatching in the background of the central diamond. Each of the four corners has a feathered wreath, with single cross hatching background in the opposite direction (which overcame the issue of how to get the cross hatching to match up across the black "leading" between the sections).

"Hearts & Flowers" completed

This quilt is now pretty much finished. It should have a label, but since I'm not giving this one away, that can wait a bit.

I finally decided that I did need some additional quilting in the paper pieced heart blocks, and added a heart shape in the centre of each, and around the outside.

Although I photographed this on our bed, it won't stay there - it would get too grubby(!)

The last two photos are to show the corner quilting and how the corner motifs meet at the centre of the edges.




As mentioned in a previous post, the paper pieced hearts were a gift from a Squilter - Kate - and her friend Sue. So I think the full name of the quilt may be "Kate & Sue's Hearts & Flowers"

Quilt in Progress - Hearts & Flowers

This is my current "work in progress" - a quilt that is built around a set of 12 floral paper pieced hearts sent to me by two ladies as part of a wonderful group of "Comfort Hearts" sent after the bushfires. The remaining hearts are all appliqued and I plan to piece them with pieced borders to make two single bed quilts.

This is called "Hearts and Flowers" because I took the floral theme from the hearts and found all the floral fabrics I could in my "stash" for the 2.5" (2" finished) squares that make up the Irish chain design, with the paper-pieced hearts between the chains.


It has a narrow (1" finished) purple inner border and a wide (7") outer border in a cream on cream print.

So the point of these photos is to show the quilting in the outer border. I designed an undulating feathered scroll design that runs around 1/4 of the quilt, from half way along one side, around the corner and to half way along the next side. So there's 4 sets to complete the border.

This is the first time I've tried a double spine, and I filled the spine with free-hand circles.

Now I have to decide whether any filler is needed around the feathers. I could extend the diagonal lines from the quilting along the chains out into the outer border (skipping the innter border), or I could do a "pebble" fill that would be similar to, though less regular than the fill in the centre of the spine.

Of I might just bind it as it is - light purple binding, same as the inner border.

Questions for next weekend - should I do some additional quilting inside and around the pieced hearts? I'll take photos of some of the hearts soon.

Day 8 - Barossa Valley & Mt. Lofty Botanic Gardens

Monday. Time to head home.

But navigating via the Barossa Valley.

Morning tea at Linke's German/Austrian Bakery and tea rooms in Nurioopta. The photo of the beautifully gnarled grape vine is from there - another town with verandahs and grapevines.

From there we meandered through more wine label towns and to Hahndorf.

Harndorf is everything everyone has said - wonderful mainstreet full of craft shops and food shops with a strong german influence.

After lunch in Hahndorf we continued on to Adelaide, and found we were far to early for our flight so detoured to visit Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens.

As the name implies, the gardens are quite steep, built on the side of Mt. Lofty. We parked at the top, but that didn't mean we could walk down and avoid the steep climbs since we had to get back to the car.

The photo is of the view from the lookout at the top. And the next one is also from the lookout but of a section of the gardens.

One of the good things about the gardens on this slope is that I figure some of the planting ideas should be replicable on our slope.

I really liked this section with the vase shaped mediterranean shrubs along the side of the pathway, and the sweeps of ground covering plants.

And I also loved the colour of this Japanese maple (Acer palmatum var. heptobum 'Osakuzuki'). The photo really doesn't do the colour justice. I think it's the cold, and Kinglake certainly has that.

Finally we made our way to the airport, grounded the rental car, and we were sufficiently early still that they put us on an earlier flight home.

Great trip. Great to be home.

Day 7 (afternoon) Telowie Gorge Conservation Park

Telowie Gorge Conservation Park is in the Southern Flinders Ranges, not far off the road between Port Pirie and Port Germaine.
The blurb on the information sign tells us that this gorge was cut through the ranges by the Telowie Creek.
I have to assume it sometimes has a lot more water in it than it did when we visited. We found a few water holes, but a lot of it was just dry stone creek bed.



Back to the blurb ...

"Other features include the ridgeline, slopes,
gullies, creeks and plains. These create a variety of habitats. Plants and animals from both the southern temperate and arid regions are represented in this Park".

Day 7 (morning) Port Pirie & Port Germaine

On Sunday morning we headed back to check out some of the towns that the train had passed through on Friday, along Spencer Gulf. Port Pirie is a very industrial town, built around the port, but it has some beautiful old buildings in the central part of town - commerical buildings with verandahs and verandah posts still intact, and stone houses with old fashioned gardens.
This photo is the old part of the port. All the newer part is private property and out of limits to the public.

Then we continued north along Spencer Gulf, with the southern end of the Flinders' Ranges in the distance.

Next stop was Port Germaine. We were intrigued by the commentary on the train that had explained that Port Germaine has the longest wooden pier in the southern hemisphere. It had been built to support the farmers and graziers moving onto the land to the north of Spencer Gulf during the end of the 19th century. For the first few years they had good returns and needed a faster way to get produce and animals to market than taking them all the way to Adelaide by road.
Unfortunately the boom wasn't sustainable. The soil was poor and once the initial nutrients were used there was nothing to replenish the soil. Plus the few good years were followed by drought - the more normal state for this part of the country.

But the pier survived. You can see why it had to be so long - Spencer Gulf is very shallow at this point, and when the tide is out it is out a very, very long way.

Like so much of this part of the country, there are beautiful old buildings made of local stone. This one is the pub in St. Germaine, right opposite the start of the pier.

Days 5 & 6 - Adelaide and Clare Valley

Next morning we woke approaching Port Augusta and the "steel triangle". The train continued down through Port Germaine, Port Pirie and while we enjoyed breakfast we continued "stop - start" through more familiar landscapes - we'd left the desert behind somewhere overnight.

The train made its way through the outskirts of Adelaide and to the new Adelaide Railway Station on the edge of the parklands surrounding the centre of the city. As well as the landscape becoming familiar, so had the weather - it was rainy and cold when we arrived at the station. Unfortunately our arrival also coincided with a rally by bikie groups in central Adelaide that created gridlock in the city. So the queue for taxis was long and not getting much shorter as the taxis couldn't get out to the station.

Eventually we caught a city shuttle bus and the driver obligingly tried to get each group of passengers as close to their destinations as he could. We were heading for the car hire office in central Adelaide. (For future reference, we might have been better opting to pick up the car at the Airport office). Eventually we collected the Falcon sedan and were on our way ... in the wrong direction ... I'd got "turned around" between the rental office and the multi-story carpark where the car was parked.

After a scenic drive round the perimeter of central Adelaide - Parliament House, Casino, University, Arts Centre - and pointing in the right direction again, we headed north and a couple of hours later (and a couple of hours late) we made it to Clare.


The B&B was in the grounds of a working farm and vineyard. The rooms were in a converted dairy and other outhouses - lovely local stone with this great pergola covered with grape vines (of course!)

The door opened directly into the bedroom, with brass bed, and then a door though to the living/kitchen (with all the makings for breakfast and a couple of bottles of local wine and a combustion coonara-style heater), and another door through to the bathroom. All beautifully done and fully equipped.

Next day (Saturday) we drove back into Clare. The main street is so very pretty and the weather was gorgeous - blue skies and sunshine. Most of the buildings, both old and new, have verandahs with posts and these have strands of wire for the ubiquitous grapevines to grow on. And in early May the grapevines were starting to change colour and really added to the picturesque appearance. This first weekend of May was also their gourmet Food Festival, so there were samplings and sales of cheeses, olives, breads, ...

And the first weekend of May was also the Antique Fair in Burra. So that is where we headed Saturday afternoon. Burra is a small but old town (made me think of Rutherglen), so was perfect for an antique fair. The fair was spread three venues, plus the regular antique stores. And there was a quilt show! (What a surprise!)

The "antiques" were fascinating - probably a sign of my age? Do people actually buy "antique" Fanta cans, and "It's Time" badges, and all manner of things from my childhood, teenage years, and even more recent times. Alarming! (I was reminded of visiting Henry Handel Richardson's restored childhood home in Chiltern with my mother and grandmother, and they recognised and commented on almost every item in the kitchen - mangle, meat mincer, etc.)

I found and bought a Brownie Downing wall plate that the seller carefully wrapped in tissue, bubble wrap, then newspaper to ensure it would get back to Melbourne in one piece. Mum had broken one when it's hanging string perished and broke and it fell off the wall, but I couldn't remember which one had broken. (Unfortunately it wasn't the one that I bought - so she now has two identical plates!) I also bought some antique buttons.

Day 4 - Alice Springs

Next morning (Thursday) we woke up to the sun rising over a desert landscape - a beautiful red sun. The change of landscape between Katherine and the approach to Alice Springs was amazing.

In Alice we chose to take the shuttle bus into town instead of taking any of the "whistle-stop" tours.

The collection in this photo is some of the things I bought - mainly fabrics with aboriginal designs from a fabric shop just off Todd Mall. The rhythm sticks were from a gallery. I rather like the idea of using the designs on the rhythm sticks as the basis of a strippy applique quilt. (Another future project).

I also bought a book about the art of Dorothy Napangardi - "Dancing Up Country". I couldn't afford any of her original works, so this was a good compromise.

(Did I tell you that on the way back from Litchfield National Park we stopped at the "Didg Hut", and there I bought a very small piece of aboriginal art and a book on the subject. I'll have to take a photo and post it separately).


Still in the same gallery I bought some postcards of aboriginal art to go with the ones I'd bought in January at the National Gallery. I think the aboriginal art appeals to me for its very graphic quality - any of these pieces could so easily be loosely interpreted as a quilt.

(Also in this display on my cubicle wall at work is a Degas sketch, a close up photo of a caterpillar on a grevillea flower, and one of my textile postcards).

Back on the train, we were again greeted with a lovely glass of iced tea, and then lunch. We spent the afternoon watching the changing landscape through our picture window before another delicious 3-course meal and good wine.

Overnight the train seemed to stop several times, sometimes for several hours. (Later I confirmed this when I found a detailed schedule for the train. It stops to allow the long goods trains heading north to pass it).

Day 3 (evening) The Ghan

When we returned to The Ghan from Katherine Gorge a lovely glass of iced tea each was waiting, and we watched the "floor show".
Outside our window was this pool of water, and a jabiru (yes ... I know it's had a name change) along with various other water birds.









The cast of water birds grew, so we had two jabiru (jabirus?), a couple of egrets and various others.
Then a raptor arrived, which all the others totally ignored. He swooped a few times from a fence post across to a small tree - its' the blob in the twiggy tree in the centre foreground.
This is when we missed Paul's camera with it's 10x zoom!





Once the train got going we spent some time in the lounge car, and watched the scenery going by - still tropical top end, as we headed south from
Katherine.
After dinner we returned to our room, which had been converted from sitting room to bedroom in our absence. It was as comfortable as it looks, and the bed was quite high - pretty much the same height as the window-sill.
We put the venetian blinds up and the next morning we watched a red sun rise over the desert landscape - beautiful. (But too early to get up and hunt for the camera to try to capture it).

Continuing the tour of our space on the Ghan, this is a photo through the bathroom door, showing the basin and the shower door. The shower is a full-sized shower (90cm x 90cm?)
You have to ignore our towels and the bathmat. This photo was actually taken on the next evening. The bathroom started off beautifully neat with towels etc. all folded on their rack.
The showerscreen, complete with bathmat, is reflected in the mirror over the basin - it's so hard to take a sensible photo in a space with lots of mirrors.








And the other end of our en-suite. That's another mirror above the toilet, reflecting the towels (again) and me taking the photo.

Day 3 (afternoon) Katherine

The train left Darwin mid-morning and rolled into Katherine early afternoon. The "whistle-stop" tour we've chosen is the "Cake and Coffee Cruise" - no walking on uneven surfaces (for Paul's ankle).

Katherine Gorge is actually a network of many gorges, but with the limited time for the Ghan stop-over this cruise is only on the first of the gorges.


Gorgeous, isn't it? (Sorry).

These are Pandeus Palms. There's a similar variety that we saw in Litchifield National Park on the previous day.


I loved the tenacity of this tree. That regardless of how solid and hard the rock walls of the gorges are this tree's roots have managed to seek out little crevices with enough sustenance to survive and even thrive.


At the end of the gorge is a gallery of aboriginal rock art that has survived under a rock ledge. Our tour leader - Russell - is a young Jayowyn man and was able to explain the stories that the art depict.

After returning to the boat he also showed us his prowess on the didgeridoo.



Then the boat continued back to it's starting point. On the way back we saw a freshwater crocodile on one of the beaches, but didn't manage to get a reasonable photo of it.

Katherine Gorge (or gorges) are in Nitmiluk National Park - the Jayowyn name for this area - it means home of the Cicada.

The bus back to the train diverted along the main street of Katherine so we could see the local town. The bus driver pointed out that when the Katherine River flooded that the waters reached the canopies of the shops in the main street!

Day 3 (morning) - The Ghan

Wednesday - the day the Ghan adventure begins. It started with a curious case of class hierachy. After we checked out of the Holiday Inn Esplanade we had to wheel and lug our luggage "next door" to the Holiday Inn Darwin to catch our bus to meet the Ghan. When the bus finally arrived and collected its passengers and luggage it drove back along the Esplande and past "our" hotel where there was another Ghan bus collecting the "Gold" and "Red" class passengers - we were travelling "Platinum".

When the bus approached the railway station (built outside Darwin) it stopped so we could take this picture - the Ghan with the Darwin skyline beyond.

The train - all three quarters of a kilometer (725 metres) or 28 carriages. This shot and the following one are taken from the same spot, looking towards the end and the front of the train.

And a shot of the engine. In fact, there are two engines until the train gets to Alice Springs because there's not too many bits of double-track on the new bit of track between Alice and Darwin, so they need two engines to protect against one breaking down in a spot that's inaccessible. The extra engine is de-coupled in Alice Springs to return with the next Ghan heading to Darwin. (It runs two northbound and two southbound trains per week).

The inside of our cabin. The bit with the two seats folds down to make the bed (not that we actually did the folding down) - more on that later. And the little desk/table also folds down out of the way.

The cabin has a full (though compact) bathroom with standard sized shower and toilt (more on that later too).

There's not a lot of storage space, and we followed the recommendation to take an overnight bag each on board and checked our suitcase through to Adelaide.

Next post I'll cover the afternoon - our "whistle-stop" for Day 1 is Katherine.

Day 2 - Litchfield National Park

Another early start to get breakfast before meeting the tour bus for the trip to Litchfield National Park.
First stop inside the park was at this Cathedral Termite Hill. The name comes from the sheer size of the termite hills, and the butress formations.

















Then some more termite hills -these are called magnetic termite hills because they are built aligned to an East-West axis. Scientists think this minimises exposure to the sun to keep the termite hill as cool as possible, though they don't know how the termites can read directions.

Then, on to the first of the beautiful waterfalls in Litchfield NP - this is Florence Falls. The walk down is lots of stairs. Fortunately there's a gentle (though longer) walk back through the forest to get back to the car park.

After lunch, on to more waterfalls - this one is Wangi Falls. It has a great and very accessible swimming hole beneath the falls, but it was closed for swimming as this was the end of the wet season so the water was still quite high. This leads to two public risks - the first is the strength of the water and the risk of getting caught under the flow of the falls and not being able to surface. And the second is the risk of salt-water crocodiles getting into the water system while the water is high.

And one last waterfall before we headed back to Darwin - this is Tolmer Falls, and is quite spectacular. The viewing platform for this one is quite high so you look down on the crystal clear green pool below the falls.

Day 1 - Darwin

This is the first post of a series to chronicle Paul's and my special 25th anniversary holiday and to show some of the photos we took.



Day 1 we were up VERY early (4am) to catch a flight from Melbourne to Adelaide, then Adelaide to Darwin. The benefit of starting so early is that we were at the hotel by early afternoon.
The package included the hotel - not just a room but a suite - a living room (with powder room) and a bedroom with en-suite that included both a shower and a bath. Very nice.
#1 job was to get a camera - we'd managed to forget Paul's good camera! - so we strolled along Darwin's main street - Mitchell Street and found a camera and a coffee shop (competitive research for Paul).
Also included in the package was a dinner cruise on Darwin Harbour on the Alfred Nobel.


The cruise started in daylight, so I was able to get a few photos of Darwin landmarks. This is Darwin's Parliament House. They've only had self-government for a relatively short period of time, so this is quite a new bulding. I think it's supposed to reflect some of Darwin's Asian heritage. (However the bus driver told us it's affectionately called "The Wedding Cake", not because of it's pastel colouring but because it's full of nuts and fruit soaked in alcohol).


Also on the harbour, next to Parliament House, is Government House.

From what was visible beyond the beautiful tropical gardens, it looks like a lovely place to live, and certainly has great views of the harbour.

This is our hotel from the harbour - Holiday Inn, Esplanade Darwin. Our suite was on the top floor, so had a good view of the harbour.

The boat also cruised by the Naval facility where the patrol boats live. There were several in port including Ararat and Armidale. (I wonder if they are all named after Australian towns and cities that start with "A"?)

These are the boats that look for illegal fishermen and illegal immigrants on Australia's northern coastline.

When it got dark (quite quickly, being closer to the equator) there was a thunderstorm - lots of spectacular lightening, but not too close and without any rain. It was end of April, and getting towards the end of "the wet" but still humid.

The food was a taste of "the Territory" and it's eclectic ethnic heritage - starter of chicken satay, then entree of prawns and oysters, main course of local beef (steak) and barramundi, and tropical fruit for dessert.