Avalon Retreat!

Wow! We are home from a wonderful few days at Avalon Homestead, Toodyay, Western Australia. All retreats are great - I think this one, perhaps the BEST! Everything was soooo perfect! We had wonderful hosts, Delveen and Peter, thanks so much to you both, great food, so much quilting inspiration and such wonderful camaraderie in a group of 25 people!

I must admit, quite a few of us were a bit naughty, so many laughs, singing and dancing. Quite a few bubbly drinks, too! Here we are suitably attired for our Christmas Dinner Saturday evening. That's Delveen seated middle of front row and Peter, in the dark shirt, back row!

These teddies, made by Felicity, graced our sewing tables! The sewing room was a buzz of sewing machines and always lots of chatter and laughs. We had a couple of little shops there, so lots of time was spent stroking fat-quarters - yes, I want these - no, I don't really need them!

The lighting was wonderful - beautiful sunshine filtered into the sewing room in the morning and the electrics were so great, very few of us used Ott Lights.

I have taken so many pics, so will have plenty to talk about this week. Here below is a great Sudoku quilt sewn by Janet over the weekend. Show and Tell yesterday was full of surprises!

I don't think any of us will ever forget this weekend - oh, to be waited on and pampered constantly! We have booked for next year, so here's hoping for more happy times ahead at Avalon Homestead!

Enjoy your week - I am on such a high, I know I will - hugs!

Retreat Tomorrow!

I'm off to Avalon tomorrow and really must not visit Blogland before I go!

I'll leave you for a few days with a couple of thoughts!

Dear grandson, Byron, said to me this afternoon, "Nanny, how come you are going away again - you have just been to Thailand with me?" That's him in the middle - as John Lennon would sing "Beautiful Boy"!

"It was by chance we met, by choice we became friends!"

Stay safe - hugs!

More Bags - Busy, Fun, Weekend!

Peg from Happy In Quilting wants to know if I have a shopping problem or an addiction - work out what you can, because I really don't know (lol)! I do know I had a lovely day yesterday sewing.

Homespun Workshops visited our patchwork group on Thursday and had a lovely bag pattern so I popped in Friday to their shop to pick up this pattern, and, of course, a wee bit more fabric! I'm so happy with the way this bag turned out - lovely shopping bag size! A really neat pattern, nice pockets and all and I'm very into these lovely happy, modern fabrics at the moment - I think the feature fabric here is Summer in the City! Hope to get some more fat-quarters through the week.

Now this cutie above, is an enlargement of Pink Penguins tutorial for little fabric baskets! I did something silly (now, that's not like me!) - the lower fabric is too busy for the contrasting squares and it is a beautiful piece of fabric - a reproduction of Gustave Klimpt's work - now he was an Austrian Symbolist painter (1862-1918).

Anyhow, I am really happy with the way the basket turned out, so thanks again, Ayuma - wonderful inspiration for me! It is about 12" wide, 10" deep, 3 1/2" base and 14" handles. I also put pockets in the lining. It's big enough for a quick trip to the shops or a nice size for a hand project, such as knitting!

Mmmm, might be a nice Chrissie present for a sock-knitting girl! We are having a sock-knitting demo here on 2 Dec.

Today I must become a domestic engineer again - not a good thought!

Hugs and thanks for visiting - Lurline!

Shop Hop & Charlotte!

I wasn't going to Post today - I was going to be really serious about sewing! Seeing I had to go out to lunch and am now waiting on a storm to pass to walk the puppies, I decided the sewing will wait until tomorrow!

Here's my 'goodies' - Aunt Millie's Garden applique pattern - I have been chasing it for quite a while! Another 3 patterns, a bag, a cushion and cute little clowns and caterpillar designs done with yo-yos. In the middle, just glorious fabric I couldn't resist - maybe a cushion top for Ronald McDonald House and plenty left over, because I just love it! Then on the right, fabric for a new bag as per pattern, Perle threads and into the lower middle a Liberty hankie for a Christmas gift for someone!

Friend Barb basted my Charisma quilt on her long-arm machine, so of course I had to start stitching last night - if you click on the quilt to enlarge, you may be able to see how the big stitches look - I'm looking forward to completing it to see how it all turns out! Georgina didn't pose for this picture - this is just how she is about anything I am hand-sewing - even if I throw a block on the floor to view it at a distance she is straight onto it - lucky Maltese don't have a doggy-smell or shed hair!

By the way - Charlotte, 'Char' has contacted me and it was great to visit her - she's at TobycatCreations - maybe you would like to visit to tell her how gorgeous her little quilt is that she sent to me for DQS5!

The sun is coming out - so, we didn't get much rain out of that - better walk the puppies, then maybe a bit of sewing, or maybe just some hand-quilting!

Hope you are having a good weekend!

Hugs - Lurline!

PS - Peg from Happy in Quilting is having a party today - there have been updates all day - worth a visit to join in - she really shows how crazy we Aussie girls can party. Go back to Older Posts to enjoy it all!

Beautiful Dolly Quilt - Dolly Quilt Swap 5!!

Oooh - I am so lucky! Look at this beautiful little Dolly Quilt - I just love it!! I received this in the mail yesterday and it came from Charlotte in Mishawaka. I have yet to make contact with Charlotte as I don't have her email or blogspot address - will certainly be trying hard to track her down. Charlotte, if you are watching, please contact me!

This little quilt is so me and there is a lovely quote on the label "Your work is to discover & then, with all your heart, give yourself to it. Buddha" - how beautiful! Charlotte has certainly put a lot of time and love into this little quilt - again - thank you!

It's Friday again and guess what - I'm off to Shop Hop again! Hopefully will have something nice to show you next Monday. Until then, have a great weekend!

Hugs!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas!

Little Smarty Pants here was wrong - we didn't win any prizes for our WAQA party theme - Countries! Oh, well, nice for somebody else to win for a change (lol)! Above here we have the ladies representing China - they won a prize for Best Decorated Table and certainly well deserved.

This group here won for Best Dressed and oh, my, they looked just fabulous! Santa's Elves from the North Pole sure stood out in the crowd. Their outfits were wonderfully co-ordinated and whoever before has seen green elves hats!

Dear friend, Gwen, joined in with the spirit of it all , Reindoor Poo (no - chocolate covered peanuts, really). Oh, and notice the Little Fabric Basket Robin had made and filled with choccies! Once again a great day!

Chookyblue will be happy to know my Secret Santa parcel was posted to the US yesterday - I'm looking forward to hearing lots of comments when everyone opens their presents at Christmas!

Must away - I'm off to my local patchwork group - expecting to see lots more fabric baskets for Show and Tell - I'll take piccies if that happens - I had 12 prints done yesterday to give to the girls who took part in the mini-workshop last week!

Hugs!

Charisma - Split 9-Patch!

Well here it is - I have been telling you about the gorgeous fabrics I bought from Kerri and Julie at Provincial Patch!

What a weekend I had sewing - lots and lots of interruptions! Initially, I had 9 fat-quarters and border fabric - had to add another 2 fat-quarters to make finished quilt something like 60" x 53" including a 4" border. Fortunately I had the extra fat-quarters on hand and they all play beautifully!

I cut my squares 6 1/2". Easy-peasy to sew - not so easy randomly placing blocks, which I wanted to do! Usually I throw blocks down - look good - okay - let's go! Blues couldn't sit against border then the red blocks that madly "pop-out" had to be strategically placed. You see, I want to hand-quilt in big stitches with Perle thread using a stand-out design with cream thread on the red blocks.

So far, I'm very happy with the results - let's hope it looks as nice as I envisage when quilting is done!

Off to our state guild's Christmas Bash today - the theme is "Other Countries" - we are representing Canada - we are a cheeky lot and have been known to win best display a couple of times - here's hoping! We'll certainly stand out dressed in red and white - all decorations in red and white! I've just taken a leek and asparagus tart out of the oven - 9 eggs I used, the recipe by well known Australian chef said 14 - the tart shell I made would not have taken that many!

Hugs and best wishes for a happy day!

Donkey Blocks!

Someone recently showed some donkey blocks - sorry! forget who - and they jogged my memory of a UFO! Something else jogged my memory again this morning, so decided to drag these out to show you!

Makes me feel a bit sad and sorry - I put so much thought into the design and the choice of every little piece of fabric and there it is half-finished! Maybe in the New Year, to finish it will become a priority. Somewhere ... there are tiny foundation pieced log cabin blocks and also quite a few Japanese Dollies blocks. I could probably put it together in no time, once I find the missing blocks

A few years ago, our Creative Threads group (now Girlfriends!) decided to do a Recipe Quilt - some of the ingredients being applique, flowers, curved piecing, stars. I think the three circles grouped as they are represent stars in Japanese. Very few of the girls finished their quilts and those who did, the quilts were stunning!

Oh, well, move on Girl! ... off to finish piecing Split 9-Patch quilt - will show you soon - seems to be coming along okay.

Hugs!

Baskets Galore!

It's Friday again! Yesterday, the girls at the Rockingham Patchwork Group were so enthusiastic about a mini-workshop on Pink Penguin's tutorial, just look what they achieved - nineteen little baskets were made in a couple of hours! They had their fabrics pre-cut and ready, brought their sewing machines along and with a little help and guidance from Robin and this Little Black Duck they came up with Baskets Galore! Wendy had almost completed her second before we left! I'm sure lots of Christmas gifts will come in little baskets!

Kerri and Julie of Provincial Patch dearly wanted to tattle-tale on me about more retail therapy that I have been having, but they didn't let the cat out of the bag! These Darlings came from their online shop - arent they just beautiful? The range is Charisma by Chez Moi for moda fabrics and I just love them!

Out of bed early this morning, ready to Post then start sewing! Separate phone calls from both dear daughters who needed Mum - I love them both so much and they are my best Girlfriends, but I lovingly tell all my kids 'they should have been drowned at birth'! They all know they are my greatest priorities in life!

I am thinking of making a split 9-patch with the above fabrics and hand-quilting with the big stitches that I have become so besotted with lately - a bit late in the day to start now, but I'll think about it!

This little guy, Pinocchio, I love so much - he recently came from Thailand and now hangs just over my kitchen bench - maybe not the best place to hang him, but this is where I can see him most and enjoy his company !

Enjoy your weekend - really hope I can get some sewing done - hugs!

Tuesday ... Girlfriends' Day!

My goodness! This Post is so skew-wiff! I'm having a technically bad day - firstly my camera is on a blind? setting, but still working! Maybe you should read the latter first - anyhow! above is a bathmat I made over the weekend - I'm sure Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville would be so proud of me - I made this bathmat using an old towel as the 'batting', lovely black and white striped ticking for top and backing and a few fun fabrics 'backed' with flannelette. then shaggy-snipped! Of course, then thrown into the washing machine and dryer. I'm sure it will be beautifully absorbent and will be used for years to come - after all, we are all very clean after we get out of the shower or bath!

What a lovely day we have all had together - lots of catching up with news of each others lives and chatter and book swapping and Show and Tell and mini-tutorials - my goodness! - thank you Girlfriends for coming and so sorry to those who could not make it! It was lovely to see Lynnie again - such inspiration with her knitting and crochet prowess AND she works in Sophie's patchwork store Materialise, so how good is that?

Dear Robin brought along The INDEPENDECE of Miss MARY BENNET by Colleen McCullough. Mum can't wait to get her hands on it - Robin says it is a good read - let me know if you enjoyed it. On the back cover there is a quote, the first sentence being "All that I want is to be of use, to have a purpose." Isn't that what we all want?

I'm a bit embarrassed about this great cushion above! Dear friend, Pat, has made it for our donation to Ronald McDonald House that we do annually - my naughty mother cadged it to put on our piano stool to elevate her legs which she needs to do. How bad is that! Ninety years old and I'm supposed to embarrass her not she embarrass me! Isn't it just so gorgeous!

Have lots more to talk about, but shall leave the rest 'til next time - a couple of very busy days ahead - shame we have to sleep, isn't it? Hugs!