a few thousand hexagons...

... make up this huge and wonderful quilt completed recently by my friend Bronnie, with some help from her sister Joan.

Though it is not not the sort of quilt I'm ever likely to be making, it is an amazing grandmother's flower garden hexagon quilt worked on over many years by a lady called Joyce.

 The unfinished quilt was brought to our Guild early last year to see if someone would finish it. Over the years Bronnie has put her hand up and finished several hexagon quilts, but none so fine as this one.

It needed a only a few hexagons stitching in place, but then borders and quilting. The flowers are all carefully (fussy) cut and no 2 are the same. To reflect the care with which they were all pieced, Bronnie has hand quilted it. The various forms of paper in the back took hours to remove. but revealed a lot about the maker and the making.

 Well done Bronnie.

Something quite different now. I was walking on the beach on Sunday and although it was cold it was a fine sunny day with a bright blue sky and interesting white cloud formations.

 

the other pictures...

The last few weeks have flown by with special birthdays in the household, Mother's Day, wedding anniversary and preparing for a talk to Fleurieu Quilters for their Biggest Evening (High) Tea fundraiser for the Cancer Council. The promised posting of more Tasmanian photos got forgotten some how, so I am about to make amends. At least it gives me a chance to mull over and remind myself of the highlights.

We stopped at Chudleigh to visit the Honey farm. What a delight. With a working beehive to look at, 60 odd flavours of honey to try (anyone for Chilli Honey?) and yummy icecream.

 I also spotted these beautiful roses, which go through an amazing range of colours as they open and then fade.

This is Sheffield, the mural town. There were quite a few when we visited 10 years ago. Now there are many more and they have an annual competition/festival. The mountains around the town form a wonderful backdrop to the town

We stayed at Cradle Mountain Lodge in a lovely quite cottage amid the trees

 This is the leech (uggh) that I found on my clothes one morning - he's looking the worse for wear with bits of tissue on him where I pulled him off!

 I did a couple of the short walks. The scenery, the trees and mosses and lichens all look so ancient.

 The green and brown is only broken occasionally by touches of red  - a strange bright red fungus...

 ... an odd red gum leaf.

a heath (?)

 and another flower

 We saw plenty of the little kangaroo they call pademelons,
 

  and possums

but the quolls (above) and Tasmanian Devils we saw were in the Devil park

 There were native hens near the Lodge

 and a kookaburra reserving judgement on our movements - he probably had a good laugh when  we left!

We went in to Dove Lake and the day was a photographer's delight. I remember on our last visit waiting for the clouds to rise to see the peaks.

Last time we did the walk around the lake
These views are on the road to Devonport

 and this time, the real thing ... an echidna we spotted crossing trhe road.

It was a short but great trip. If you haven't been to Tassie - go!

This week I had chance to remember my trip last year to India and Bhutan. It was quite an effort reducing the number of photographs to something manageable  for the talk, but it was very enjoyable recalling the sights and sounds and experiences. Thanks to the Fleurieu Quilters' Committee - I thought it was a good night. I hope everyone else did too.