On the Road...Return from Scrub Stitching...the Final Instalment...

The time had come to conclude the 2023 catch up tour and return back to reality from Scrub Stitching 2024...it was going to be a long day to fit in detours I wanted to make along the way, so the car was packed up reasonably early, with room for E to fit to travel back to Victoria so I could pop her on V/Line (the regional train) Saturday morning to take her into Melbourne to visit with her daughter...it was only 40 minutes to the first stop...across the border from the ACT into NSW to Murrumbateman...the painted water tank is located next to the cemetery but not in the cemetery so I was OK with that...

We were not disappointed with the first stop...the mural is gorgeous...onwards to the next on the list...Murrumburrah and the mill mural...

I think we may have missed some of it and not gone all the way around but it was a bit tricky to figure out as this part is on the side on the boundary with a private residence, not facing the main road. Might have to put it back on the list to visit again.

 

The next stop on the list was Tarcutta but I forgot to back track to Harden to turn down to the Hume Hwy so we ended up going to Cootamundra - not a problem, it was the other option I'd tossed up the night before when mapping what to do. Lunch time was approaching and where better than the Junee liquorice factory.  Every time I go there it has grown, the first time all those years ago it was just a production area with a small area for the shop! It just gets bigger and better.  Lunch was delicious and of course we had to visit the shop - a lot more products now...it's not optional! ha ha ha...

Back on the road as we approached Yerong Creek we spied...another painted water tower! Because the original plan was the Hume Highway and not the Olympic Highway I hadn't thought about this one...bonus!

The colours, the details, all the aspects of community life...great little reserve...very happy we stopped off for a view...we had to keep moving, I had a deadline to meet...

 

Next stop on the list was the painted silo at Walla Walla...a lovely little town and silo...

The deadline was to make it to Howlong in time to visit the patchwork shop Whatever Where-ever Craft...it took a bit to find as it isn't in the wee town shop area but in a residential area...but we made it before 5:00 pm and were greeted very enthusiastically by poodles (the lovely ladies were very friendly and welcoming too!). Where to look first!  A fabric just inside the door caught my eye...such a pretty colour...no you don't need it...move away from the fabric! Into the rest of the shop and I spied the prettiest variegated sashiko thread...a rummage through the sashiko cloths hanging next to the threads and one with water lillies...it was meant to be!  I couldn't leave the fabric behind, it was just screaming take me take me...so I did...being a bolt end it was 10% off if taking the lot so for a bit less than the price per metre I came home with 1.3 metres - bargain! I've realised since that the fabric and the thread are a match made in heaven! Very happy with my finds and would happily put this shop back on the visit list.

No more sightseeing stops, over the River back into Victoria as it was starting to move to dark, just a quick stop in Shepparton to pick up something to eat as it was just going to be that hour too far to worry about tea when we got home and back to reality...Scrub Stitching 2024 and the 2023 make up tour had come to an end....time to start planning for 2025! ha ha ha...

 

Happy Stitching...

Quilts in Capital Country...

The 2023 catch up tour continued with making it to the ACT to visit with my friends...and the bonus of the 12 month delay is the Rajah Quilt being on exhibition at the National Gallery! I'd seen it before when it was in Melbourne but there are some things you don't miss if you get another opportunity...

 

Thursday morning E and I headed off for a day of quilt viewing as in my interweb wanderings I'd found there was also a small quilt exhibition in Queanbeyan...A Stitch in Time at Rusten House Arts Centre.  A small one room exhibition of quilts from the Quilts 2000 project, the opening of the QBN Bicentennial Hall and the Centenary of Federation commemorations.

It was nice to see older quilts being brought out again and Rusten House is a beautiful old building.

Morning tea in a cafe in town and a look in a couple of shops before crossing back into the ACT and heading to the National Gallery and the Rajah Quilt!  These really interesting pots were passed on the way to the quilt exhibition space...created by Juz Kitson the collection is called A Lament for the Wildfires (the link goes to the National Gallery page for the collection)...they were incredible up close, the detail...

We had planned to have lunch at the National Gallery and then see the quilts, but when we got there we discovered the restaurant has been shut leaving only a coffee cart type arrangement outside which had no food left, after all it was about 12:30!  So we went in to see the quilts...

 

At the entrance...possum skin cloak...I didn't remember this from the exhibition in Melbourne but I'm told it was there so there you go...

There is so much detail and so many elements that make up the designs on the cloak...a relatively recent make revitalising cultural practices...And then...there it was...front and centre when entering the space...The Rajah Quilt...the sheer size of the coverlet, I forgot just how big it is...325cm x 337cm (that's about 10' 8" x 11' 2/3")...huge!

Then it was on to the rest of the exhibition A Century of Quilts...smaller than what we saw in Melbourne but still plenty to ooh and aah over...a selection...

 

Fortunately, after we'd seen the quilts and were wandering around as we made our way back down to the front door, one of the security guards told us the cafe at the National Portrait Gallery is still operating - literally across the road on the other side of where we'd parked the car, so we walked over there and had a nice late-ish lunch.  Seeing as how we were there I had a look around the exhibitions as I'd never been there before.  There is so much to do in Canberra really.

 

Only a quick trip to Canberra this time but I achieved the objectives - seeing my friends and seeing the Rajah Quilt again.

Happy Stitching...

On the Road - Tooraweenah to Tuggeranong...

Tuesday morning meant packing up and moving on... I wasn't sure how long I wanted to stay in the area after Scrub Stitching but the decision was made easier by the cabin only being available for two nights.  I wasn't unhappy, I needed the decision to be made for me! ha ha ha...

Still on the 2023 catch up tour I headed from Tooraweenah to make my way to Dunedoo...and while passing through Mendooran stumbled on an open handmade artisan cheese shop - Blue Sky Cheese. The cheesemaker owner was just lovely, and while the other customers were having taste tests I didn't bother.  I picked out my choices from the fridge and carried on. Yummy and worth the stop. Onwards to Dunedoo to see their painted silo and I was more than pleasantly surprised to find it came with metal bird sculptures!...

 

The silo complex murals are awesome...so many aspects of the community are represented...Hugh Bowman on Winx with Chris Waller (trainer)...

a local scene of sheep grazing, black swans and a cheeky frog...

Reading poetry and a barn owl...

The Lions Park the silos adjoin has these amazing metal bird sculptures...each one has a very informative plaque all about the particular bird including its Wiradjuri name...

The shops looked inviting for a browse but I needed to keep moving I had a long way to go.

 

I had some more silos on my list but after I left Dunedoo the wheels fell off the plan...roadworks, missing a turn and ending up on the outskirts of Dubbo (where I had no intention of being!), slow moving traffic (for no good reason!) when re-routing to get back on the original route, it all went pear shaped and I still had a long way to go!!!

 

I did see the water tank in Molong but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to get to where I could safely take a photo (it's at the entrance to town - the opposite side to where I came in).  I continued to Manildra for another stoppage for bridgeworks! Once over the river I couldn't figure out where to find the silo painting...and it's only a small place...there were so many parked vehicles that when I saw the small mural on the side of the flour mill it had all become too hard and I just kept going. Time was fast marching on, it was taking forever to get nowhere...maybe I should have just stopped in Dunedoo!

 

I finally made it to Cowra and stopped for something to eat (I'd not had lunch and it was well into late afternoon) and a short rest before moving on...I still had to get to the ACT.  The sun was setting as I was approaching Boorowa and I pulled over to try and get a photo...it was so much prettier than what I could quickly snap through the open car window...

I finally made it to the ACT well after dark...a good couple of hours later than anticipated and I was very glad to finally turn into my friend's street at the end of a very long day.

 

Happy Stitching...