Farewell, but not forgotten

Miz Lizzie is nearly ready for her last ride with us.

I have spent the days since we got back on Saturday afternoon emptying her out. It’s amazing how much you accumulate without noticing over 5 years. And also amazing that it’s been 5 years already. Still, she has done sterling service, and is now heading over to Yard 5, where Uncle Mitch the caravan whisperer will give her a makeover and prepare her to be holiday accommodation.  Less rollyness, more cosyness, as it were.

The Husband has to empty the tool box at the front, but everything else is clear. I’ve wiped and swept, but I’m not sure how much point there is to that, since Mitch will undoubtedly be ripping out some of the panelling and moving stuff around.

In the process of clearing out I saw that the blind for the clear top half of the door was stained from top to bottom, and I wasn’t able to wash whatever it was out.

I love this fabric. It’s furnishing weight, and I found a small piece of it and managed to eke out these two cushions (still going strong) and the window blind from it by piecing very, very carefully.

So I wasn’t going to just throw the blind away. I cut out all the motifs that were (mostly) unaffected by the stain, and I’m appliquéing them with blanket stitch to a piece of matching-ish fabric to make yet another cushion. Miz Lizzie’s heritage lives on. The original cushions will be migrating to VanEssa too.

Speaking of VanEssa, after we have delivered Miz Lizzie to Mitch, we are then having a new hitch connector fitted to the ute (flat 12 instead of 7 pins). Once that’s done, we can go fetch VanEssa, bring her home and I can start playing!  The previous owners have left stuff, but I’m not quite sure how much or where, or what it’s like, so it’s all to be discovered. I’m developing quite the list of things to make for her, first of all being new sheets for at least one of the bunks. The Husband’s original set fits his new bunk, but my set is far too small, since my original bunk was a lot shorter.

It’s hard to wait, I want to get in there and get cracking!

VanEssa: Inspiration strikes

Well, I was thinking about caravan furnishings.

As you do.

And then it came to me. I will take my inspiration from an earlier plan. What do you get when you mix black and white (ie, the new caravan interior colour scheme)? Yeah, grey. And what do I have that was going to be named Fade to Grey?

This beauty is the last of my F²F blocks, and I’d planned to make a big quilt. But now I might make two smaller quilts, with the addition of a few more appropriately coloured blocks. Or perhaps wide borders. Or something. There are a few more blocks which aren’t shown on this layout, which I would add to the Husband’s less, er, hectic version, but then I could top up with a few more bright ones for myself.

And then of course there’s a padded headboard, and a couple of cushions, and a nice bright rug or two. And this caravan actually has a curtain rail across the width of it at at the foot of the beds, so you can curtain that bit off for more privacy or to let one person sleep while the other does something that needs light. So a set of full length curtains is also on the list. Also pot holders, tea towels and…. well, you get the idea. There will be a textile frenzy, and the colours will be fresh and bright, to give a nice pep to the clean black and white theme that’s already there. Think turquoise, green, orange and pink, and you won’t go far wrong. Hehehe… story of my life. I don’t do minimal. Or discreet.

I want to be…. Vivid!