Summer and Hydrangeas♡

 

Hello lovely lovelies♡ How are you all?? Is this new year being kind to you?? Life has just rolled into another year.....much the same as the last year, really. War mongering, political intrigues and other such  world-shattering matters; such as gladiatorial battles in the tennis arena, where lies and subterfuge are being combatted, blow by blow, the likes of which has never been seen before. =) Sorry.......just my droll sense of humour. Us Aussies are a funny mob! Thank the Good Lord for my sense humour!! It truly keeps me sane......as does all things stitching. 

Down here at the bottom of the world me and my Pete welcomed the new year in by standing outside blanketed by inky darkness with only the spectacular theatre of the night sky as our witness. We stood awe struck with The Milky Way glistening just above our heads; The Southern Cross and The Saucepan (Orion) shining down upon us, too. Both of us silent, lost in our own thoughts.....prayers; awe struck by the beauty that is the night sky. If ever one feels a bit how's-your-mother, one only needs to step outside in the death of night, look up at God's sky and feel a sense of wonder and astonishment; a sense of majesty. Though, is it only 15 days ago the new year rolled in; really?? 

I love this time of the year in Tassie. Long summery days filled with sunshine and warmth that seem to go on forever, punctuated by cooler, rainy days for good measure. Fabulous lazy days filled with sewing, reading, gardening.......and more often than not, not much at all, really. Also, it is hydrangea time♡ The hydrangeas this year are spectacular! It looks as if my pruning regime in early spring has reaped amazing results. There are hydrangeas everywhere. So, so gorgeous. Truly, the mop heads are huge.....and some of the bushes are towering above me.  So many different blues, purples and a few pinks; all happily jostling for space. It always amazes me how hydrangea bushes can be planted next to each other but the hues are vastly different. 

My Hydrangea Cobblestones quilt top is finished. The last time you visited my sewing room all the EPP octagons and squares were sewn into a central panel and a pretty border fabric had been attached. I wanted to applique hydrangeas dancing around the border in a relaxed fashion, but this didn't quite eventuate as I didn't like the look of the flowers. Try as I might the several designs I came up with were not pleasing to my eyes. The flowers didn't look symmetrical, and though more often than not, I am perfectly content to live with assymetrical, this time the seemingly haphazard fashion in which the hydrangea flowers were placed didn't make me jump up and down with great joy. So......I decided upon a rather stylised design and I must admit I love the way the design finishes the quilt top. Not as free flowing as I would've liked but I think a good resolution. I think the border is a good fit with the EPP hydrangea cobblestones.  Actually, now I am jumping up and down with delirious joy. =) Gosh, it took an age, though. This mathematically challenged gal had difficulty working out the maths. I am afraid the very word 'maths' causes my brain to go into an apoplectic shock and shut down! When it came to the leaves I was going to embroider the veins with stranded cotton, but decided against this as I didn't want the leaves to stand out. Also, there was no embroidery anywhere else on the quilt. I machine stitched the veins and am happy with the look.

Now for the quilting. Some hand quilting to enjoy over the next couple of months. I have a few thoughts re the quilting but haven't decided on a final pattern. For the back, because I don't want to purchase fabric, I will piece together some fabrics from my stash.

Thank you for stopping by my little place to see what goings-on have been happening down here......not that there's a lot going on. =) Me thinks relaxing, summer days will be the order of my coming week. Oh...and there is a birthday, so that is a wee bit exciting. Sending some warm sunshine your way (because I have a notion some of you are in need of a little warm sunshine to shoo those wintry chills away).....and a basket overspilling with drop-dead-gorgeous hydrangeas. Cheerio from my  paradisiacal, hydrangea place♡ Have a beautiful week, lovely lovelies♡ 

Until the next time........... 

Linking up this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching and Judy's Design Wall Monday and Frédérique's Patchwork and Quilts.........when of course, Sunday and Monday roll around in my little paradise, once again♡