What’s top of my mind: Quilting.

This is the finished quilt top for Tom33’s girlfriend Sophie. When I was on a bus in Borneo, I was scrolling on my phone, and I saw a very pretty bundle of fabric from Cutting Cloth. On a whim, I ordered it.

When I got back home, I was a little disappointed to see that they weren’t really ‘my’ colours. But when I was finishing up the baby quilt for Georgia’s friend, I realised that they were actually Sophie’s colours.

How lucky is that?

Hazel is there, convinced that she’s helping. She’s so big now.

Where I’m going: to an auction house.

Today I’m taking Dad’s model car collection to be assessed for sale. Yes, I finally got around to it. The actual auction won’t be until June/July, but today they’ll take photos and decide which lots to put them in.

After this, there’s an indigenous bark painting, my old car and Dad’s watch collection to go.

Where I’ve been: To Cutting Cloth again.

I’ve had the second of my 3 lessons in how to drive my new sewing machine. Yesterday’s lesson was full of dressmaking tips; things like buttonholes, hems, gathering, etc. I’ll probably never use them, but it was interesting to see what my new baby can do.

What I’m reading: What We Can Know – McEwan.

This is a slow-burning kind of novel, but I’m really enjoying it. It’s set in the future, after climate change and human aggression have radically changed the planet.

The protagonist is a university lecturer. on the hunt for a lost poem that was written in our time, was read aloud once and then was never seen again.

What I’m watching: ‘The Old Man’ on SBS.

They had me at John Lithgow.

What I’m listening to: ‘Within The Wires’ podcast.

I tried listening to this when it first came out, but that was when I was travelling to work on the train, and I couldn’t get into it. I gave it another go, and I’m loving it.

Basically, every season is a different story, told totally within a sound format. Series 1 was relaxation cassettes, and season 2 is audio guides from an art gallery. They appear to be from an alternate universe to ours.

It’s made by the ‘Welcome to Nightvale’ people, which is a podcast I’ve been listening to for YEARS.

What I’m eating: out of the pantry.

Now that I’m living on my own, I have so much food here. With Georgia taking her hormones, her body was burning up uel like a teenager, so she was eating a lot.

I’m hardly going to the supermarket, except for a few fresh things.

What I’m planning: To finish the Seaglass quilt.

Around 3 years ago, I started a quilt with 5,000 pieces, all 1.5″ squares. It is a beautiful Isish Chain pattern, devised by Kellie, the owner of Cutting Cloth.

My last lesson is in 2 weeks, and I have 3 rows of blocks to complete. It’s a big ask, but it’ll be nice to turn up to the last lesson with the completed quilt top. I’m a finisher, after all!

Who deserves a ‘thumbs-up’: The Seaglass quilt.

I threw the quilt into a drawer when I put a dark square in the wrong place, then had to unpick row upon row to fix it. I thought my ‘fix-it’ job was terrible, and I couldn’t bear to look at it.

Two and a half years later, when I finally got it out, I couldn’t see where the repair was.

Kate says that my standards must have slipped. I prefer to think that the quilt quietly got better in the darkness of the drawer…

I’ll be working on it for the next two weeks.

What has made me smile: the baby arrived.

Marcus is now a Dad! Baby Leon finally decided to make an appearance a few days ago. Georgia31 already has the quilt to give them when she goes to visit the new little family soon.

Dad joke of the day: