Seeing Green

Today I'm showing off an afghan I finished earlier this year. In March (yes, I am a terrible procrastinator) my husband and I spent a few days in the Blue Mountains to celebrate our anniversary, and I decided to take advantage of the backdrop for a little photo shoot.

The place we stayed was called Possums Hideaway, in Blackheath. We had a private and very cosy bungalow which had it's own little fireplace, which we enjoyed despite not strictly needing it at that time of year...

I could blather on about the stunning vistas and perfect weather, but I suppose I should mention the afghan I made, given this is supposedly a craft blog.

I used a free pattern I found online consisting of alternating V and shell stitches. It was so simple to work, and yet the effect is quite striking, I think.

I chose three shades of blue-toned greens and black to create an ombre effect. The two darkest wools were Panda brand Magnum Soft, which is 100% acrylic but such a pleasure to work with and reasonably priced -- especially if you're buying on sale in Summer!

I was having a great time pottering about in the bush around our bungalow taking photos in the early Autumn sunshine. It was our last day, and we were taking our time getting ready to drive home.

I was pretty surprised to find myself nose to nose with this little fellow, up way past his bed time! He gave me a bit of a fright, but given he was inhabiting a "feeding box" attached to the bungalow, he wasn't phased by his human encounter at all. I don't imagine we're the first (nor the last) people contributing to his furry rotundness, after all.

I guess they don't call it Possums Hideaway for nothing!

Blackheath is beautiful. I suspect we'll be coming back. :)

Cow Quilt

Back in March I posted about a cow quilt I was piecing for my husband. I actually finished it by May (I think that's some kind of record for me) so he had it in time for Winter, but I never got around to getting photos of it. Since we actually had a holiday this week, I thought I'd get a few shots while I had the free time and the nice back drop.

Trent holding his quilt up for me. :) This was take from our balcony, which overlooked the pool bar and the ocean. Sadly we didn't spot any whales (apparently a common sight for this location).

This was the first quilting I did using my new sewing machine, it made such a difference! Nice even stitches...

For the back I made some little cow "paddocks" based on Elizabeth Hartman's Picture Day pattern. I think it's maybe a bit too bright but it's the back of the quilt so meh...

And finally here's Trent back in May enjoying his new quilt while we watch BSG. :3 (You might also notice a bunch of other cow patterned things in the background... Hehe)

A quick update on the garden, first sugar snap pea spotted before going on holidays on Monday, and some jalapeños that have been happily growing in our absence.

Layouts

This long weekend I'm making a cow-themed quilt for my cow-obsessed husband, after last winter he confessed to being jealous of my lap quilt. :3

So far I've finished the cutting and layout, which is inspired by this brick quilt from Tallgrass Prairie Studio. I spent ages umming and ahhing over the layout, making sure there was a good distribution of colour and pattern. I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this!