WOW with Esther 16th April 2014 http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/

So much has happened this week I get tired just thinking about it. LOL.   We have had school holidays,  two very sick wee DG Children,  Dr’s appointment with lots of X-rays and mix it all up with a cyclone.  But his week end it is Easter and a new start.  SO happy Easter every one and I hope you are able to share it with family.

Esther has uploaded part 11 of Love Entwined this is such  a lovely border.  Thank you so much Esther.

To me it is the original quilters personality of  Love and Marriage in her dreams this border. What comes to my mind when I have looked at this border is the angels first and then the ovals but I think of them as  the laurel leaf which represents nature and the continuation of life from year to year. Small round flowers Pomegranates for Life and the other flowers  Roses for Love. For me this is the quilters romantic personality been displayed.

Vase 3. Not much to see but I have been working on it on and off all week. Now working on the little leaves and dots, those dots are tiny LOL. My borders are just lying there, I'm playing to see what it will look like in this corner.

I have drafted a template for all those wee Ovals in part 11 that Esther uploaded for us yesterday.  I think of them as Laurel Leaves.  As there are so many of these wee leaves I have made my template out of some X-Ray sheet  ( I read this in a sewing mag some where. ) It makes a wonderful template; it has a sharp clean edges and it will last for at least 100 or more copies.  I’m making washaway freezer templates then thread basting the fabric over them all before appliquéing them on to my backing.   What I have noticed is that the centre oval at the top and bottom of the circle is a fraction smaller than the rest of the ovals  so I will not make these ones till I have finished all my other ones and see how they fit in to the design,  then I will make them all that faction smaller if necessary.   I know what fabrics I would like to use for these leaves but  Love Entwine has a mind of her own so that may change over the next few days but I want to try these  colours below first.  I have now ironed my washaway templates to my two silk fabrics and this after-noon I hope to baste them.

My first Laurel Leaves ready to be appliquéd, hopefully tomorrow I can make enough to make another circle to see the cross look.

Most of you know that we had a close call with cyclone ITA.  I would like to say a big thank you to all of you who contacted me through Esther’s quilting group and friends and family from around the globe a very very BIG thank you.  Once you have finally done all you can to be prepared for a cyclone all you can do then is sit and wait, so when you recive lovely phone calls, texs and emails it helps to know you are not alone at all.   This time we were extremely lucky as by the time it passed right over top of us it was down to force  1  from 5 when it hit land further North.  In out small village area we have lost 100s of trees which is sad as it is part of the heritage rainforest.  But no lives were lost. Over time trees will regrow but  loss of a life won’t so we are all very lucky.

Before cyclone ITA

Winds from cyclone ITA took out around 15 trees to the right of our property down across the railway line and on down to the river. It is sad to see this scar each morning. I will never see it regrow as it will take around 40 years to grow back. I have added more on cyclone ITA to my blog earlier in the week. With the loss of so many trees we can see a lot more of the river now?????

I’m back to rescuing an old copper and brass jug.

A copper and brass jug soaking in a salt and white vinegar brine

After removing the jug from the brine it always gives me a surprise at how well it removes all the years of grim these jugs came out around 1950

Unbelivable this took all of 15 mins to get rid of the dark grime. Now the hard part starts polishing it with brasso and elbow grease this all ways takes a long time but is worth every rub.

I was unable to finish polishing the jug the other day with a copper and Brass polishing agent and this is what happened in 12 hrs.

There she stands in all her glory waiting to be loved again even with her few dents after a lot of elbow grease rubbing. Made of copper bowl and brass handle and base. From around 1940 to 1950's

A beautiful large blue vanda orchid. Nature never stops surprising me, this orchid is out in the garden and survived the terrible winds we had during the cyclone and then flowered the day after????? there were four other buds to bloom when yesterday My DDIL saw the buds lying on the ground a caterpiller had chewed through the stems of them, after all they went through a tiny tiny wee caterpillar destroyed them???????

Would you make a quilt with bright pink purple and green???? Nature puts these colours together and Bingo?????? Again nature surprises me.

I hope to be able to visit the beach tomorrow and will take my camera and let you see how my beloved beach survived the Cyclone Huge sea surge.

Thank you for dropping in; my blog is for family and friends to know what I’m up to.  As I don’t write letters now like I use to, age catches up with you and that means arthritis in the hands and wrists which makes it difficult to hold a pen for any length of time. So thank goodness for key pads and blogs LOL. Cheers Glenda who is off to link with

Esther on her WIP’s    http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/