Avalon 2009 - Part 1

Another great weekend - Thursday lunchtime until after Sunday lunch and a 2 hour drive home! We were a group of 24 girls staying in gorgeous accommodation and looked after by our wonderful hosts, Delvene and Peter! Thank you so much, Barb for all your organization to bring about such a memorable retreat for us all!

Gorgeous Girl, Raelene with her courthouse steps - not finished yet and I know some of you have seen a small strip before!

Raelene's 9-patch. She has a wonderful way of bringing charm to her quilts!

This stunner is Sheila's quilt made for her daughter - the top was started and finished over the weekend!

Here's Louise quilting her Christmas quilt, joined by Carole with her delightful cross-stitch!

Gloria's great block - I was so thrilled to see it as it on my 'to-do' list and I have fabrics, patterns and ruler on hand - I could jump in today and make a start, but I have to put in too much time to put in as a domestic engineer!

Too cute! Fran's blocks for a baby quilt.

Indulgence! Teena enjoying her reflexology.

Coffee! This machine went day and night.

One of the biggest thrills of the weekend - twin goats were born!

Ten frogs on one leaf - how wonderful is nature!
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I hope you have enjoyed your little visit to Avalon - there's more to come - oh, I am feeling so refreshed!

The Night Before Avalon Retreat!

It is so like the night before Christmas - I feel like a kid again - so looking forward to a four day retreat at Avalon - near a quaint, charming country town north east of Perth in Western Australia!

I have been lucky enough to spend the day preparing some stitching to take with me. My chosen fabrics are working beautifully, now to make sure the tiny little stitches will complement the applique nicely.

Yesterday I spent quite some time in a nearby shopping centre while DH had cataract surgery - all went well and I posted four parcels, three to the US and one to Narromine. Other than that I had lunch and bought a nail file and buffer - certainly not exciting and neither was the coffee and lunch - if there ever is a next time like that it will be spent doing a quilt-shop-hop, lol!

'Til next Monday - stay safe - happy stitching!

A Great Weekend!

I would like to start expressing hopes and prayers for our fellow Australian on the east coast - here we are languishing in just the greatest weather, warm days and cool nights, while the east coast is suffering in heat and bushfires - I sincerely hope things improve for everyone!

I've been having a little play - the block on the left using Stitch'n'Wash fusible, and the block on the right, my old method with freezer paper. Oh, please note my beautiful new scissors, name engraved and all, lol!

You can't teach and old dog new tricks - I will be sticking with freezer paper. I did enjoy my little experiment, but found I am not really keen with the way a certain amount of the Stitch'n'Wash isn't totally removed from the shape after soaking in water.

I press my pieces toward the shiny side of the freezer paper and where possible remove the paper with long nose tweezers before I do the final few stitches.

Our family (well quite a few of them!) had a great day out to lunch again yesterday - we came home dressed Heidi in a dance costume Ayesha wore many years ago - I love, love, love them!

Byron with piggy-tails - the children rolled around the floor with laughter, music to my ears! He has posed in front of Heidi to get this shot, in case you hadn't clicked on!

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I have had little time to Browse, Comment and Reply - I am truly sorry about that - unfortunately life gets that way at times and I don't want to take sabbatical leave, I would miss you all too much!

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Happy week everyone, stay safe you folk on the east coast!

Down Under Quilts!

What an exciting magazine - that is Issue 938, 2009 - one of the best late night reads I have ever had! Congratulations to Deborah and all concerned!

Below, Big Blooms by Wendy Williams!

As you can see Kaffe Fanfare by Kathy Doughty!

Our very own Western Australian, Ruth de Vos!

Octagon Tiles, made by Lorraine Downey, who found inspiration for this quilt in The Patchworks of Lucy Boston by Diane Boston! I am quite smitten with this quilt and will certainly make sure the pattern is kept in a safe place for 'one day'!

Very sad and expensive, I haven't found my scissors and guess I won't now - to be on the safe side I have sent to the Scissorman who imports these little gems!

Here are the fabrics I have chosen for Sleep Baby Sleep, pattern by Christine - please pop over and visit her if you would like the pattern, she has it for sale! I have taken quite a different slant colourwise - hope it turns out nicely!

Happy weekend everyone - I hope to get lots of preparation done to take to a wonderful retreat, Avalon, next weekend!

The Bride Has Arrived!

Here she is - finally finished - for me it was quite and effort to get her made-over and looking beautiful - never mind!

This beautiful rose bush greets me as I walk our my front door - I feel like I am in heaven with my roses!

The sweetest gifts arrived a couple of days ago - thank you so very much 'Angelina' - no, no, really they are from Helena all the way from Sweden and I really love the time and thought she has put into my beautiful gift - thank you so much, Helena! I am using this new? fangled thingo to Post and have yet to familiarize myself with it and as I am off to the WAQA Christmas party now, I must dash. Helena can be visited on http://www.syverkstan-helena.blogspot.com/.

Thanks you for all you lovely Comments recently and I will get to say hello individually, hopefully tomorrow.
Happy Day!

A Day at Home!

The last two days have been long days, with lots of driving, so it is nice to have a quiet day at home!

I had a fun a day on Tuesday visiting WAGS group - hello, Pam! - a large group of quilters who welcomed us with open arms. It was a great day, thanks to all you girls and we were given a little insight by Kay into the wonderful missionary work being carried out in orphanages in Cambodia.

Yesterday was a very long bus trip with my local patchwork group. I left home at 8am returning at 6pm, having visited four quilt shops. I was a Good Girl (for a change, LOL!) and bought only two pieces of fabric - the newspaper print on the left (isn't it wonderful?) and a lovely, closely woven Quiltgate fabric, in khaki-green, that will have a multitude of uses (stems for my CWBQ, background for Blessings)!

I ordered the Blessings pattern (top pic) from The Quilted Crow girls in Tasmania - it arrived two days later Express Post, beautifully presented as above, too special to open! It is encouraging to deal with special people like Leonie and Deidre!

I'm off to prepare some sewing - happy weekend!

Can't Find My Scissors!

I am in the middle of a big tidy-up of sewing baskets - I suspect it may be in vain! I have lost/mislaid my favourite scissors - small/medium sized Kai, with lovely sharp points. I am a 'habitual loser', lol! Perhaps they have been thrown out with rubbish? I have bought 3 pairs of different brands since and nothing is like my Kai's!

Not a lot happening sewing-wise - but loads of pics anyhow! My Bride so far - she is slowly evolving! I must get some applique prepared to do this evening.

My new Kaffe FQ's from Hancocks - I've been waiting for ages and I do love them. They cost roughly $2.50 each, which is excellent value for Australia! Also, a piece of French repro by Anna Griffin - just gorgeous, but a pinky red and that is not really what I wanted - never mind! Oh, this came from Reproductions Fabrics - I have been having a little spending spree while the $ is so good! Here bottom right, we have Christine's new patterns - those and top right a gift from her! I really like Rasant thread for piecing and it is up to $13.50 a reel here - not good! So I am thrilled with the threads, thanks, Christine - of course the patterns, too! Left - the latest BOM from Green Tea and Sweet Beans applique, I'll really enjoy this!

Heidi Rose - oh, this is all a bit jumbled because I'm rushing again! We had a lot of fun on Sunday with this little sewing kit, stuffing included and yet to be finished! I would like to come up with something similar for her - any ideas?

Here's a close-up of her Dad's quilt - stolen from me when they came back from England nearly 6 years ago. It is dearly, loved, washed and worn - a real scrappy with quite a story and made in the quilt-as-you-go method.

I certainly try to make utility quilts that will be loved and used and I am so happy to show this dear old thing!

My grandchildren - 2 sets of twins 13 and 5 - how lucky am I? We went for a Sunday lunch at a nearby new hotel at Secret Harbour - it was a gorgeous venue and a gorgeous day!

My little Halloween Girl - looks a real little lady here, but I am not sure about that - love the nearly-black fingernails!

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Back to my scissor-hunt - happy day everyone!

Yo-yo Demonstration!

It has been quite a non-productive week! I really don't know where time has gone and here we are, it is the weekend again. I have made and sewn together quite a few yo-yos for a cushion I am making! You will need to buy a large Clover Yo-yo Maker and the included instructions are very explicit and written in English, French, Spanish and Dutch. They cost around the $10 here in Australia, so it is not really an expensive little gadget. Very worthwhile!

The translucent yellow plastic is the plate and the bright yellow the disk. I have used some charm squares, but scraps approximately 5 inches square will do nicely!

The wrong side of the fabric is placed behind the disk and the the disk is inserted into the plate. plate. There are little markers showing you where to align the plate and the disk.

The fabric is then trimmed back approx 3/16" from the edge of the plate.

Oopsy! A storm was brewing while I was trying to take pics, so I had to step outside to get a nice clear picture.

This is a little difficult to explain in pics, but I will try! I use fine quilting thread for this step. See the little slots on the back of the plate - the needle is inserted from the other side and carried in and out around the plate through these slots.

When one has finished stitching right around the plate, the plate is then removed and this is what you will see. Look closely and you will see the little stitches. Perhaps I should have used a dark, contrasting thread - never mind! - as I said, you will get great instructions if you decide this is for you.

Now, by drawing up this thread, and with a little bit of manipulating, you will have a beautifully formed yo-yo with a diameter of 1-5/8" approximately! I think 8 x 8 = 64 will give me a nice 14" cushion!

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This little demo is to illustrate just how easy it is to make lovely, neat yo-yos very quickly. It is a nice portable project, good for times when you are at a sewing gathering - quite mindless, allowing quality time to chit-chat, LOL! It is intended to give you an insight into this method should you wish to have a little play!

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Happy weekend!

The Race That Stops a Nation!

Hello Melbourne! It is your day! Today the Melbourne Cup will be run - this is Australia's richest horserace - so I hope all you punters out there will go home rich! Have fun at your luncheons and parties!

Flemington Racecourse will be stunning with the display of roses and I have picked a few little buds from my garden - the yellow ones are for you Miriam !

' The small rocking horse quilt you've posted appears in the book, "Wisconsin Quilts: History in the Stitches," written by Ellen Kort. It appears on page 166. It dates back to 1935-1940 and was part of a WPA Handicraft Project in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Maribeth Schmitin historic Cedarburg, WisconsinNQA Certified Quilt Judge'

I received the above email this morning - it came Anonymous, but I guess it was written by Maribeth - a nice little bit of information to have, thanks!

My Stitcher's Angel parcel is jetting its way to Sweden and we've had a SSCS reminder from Chookyblue today about our SSCS - I'm almost there with posting later this month!
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I still have PIF's to do and of course, friends pressies! Oh, maybe I should get to that sewing machine today! Have a wonderful day everyone!