Thursday 21 November 2013

A Week with some Surprises!

This last week I took my elderly parents away for a little holiday. They are 88 and 89 years old so the pace is slow. We rented a little waterfront villa near Port Macquarie and settled in. Not much happened! They will take short walks but they like to snooze and read. I did manage to cajole them into a river cruise, and while the weather was wet, wet, wet at home, we had blue skies.



I settled in for the week and made a little progress on my Amitie BOM and Lucy Boston blocks.
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I was glad to get home to the quiet after a week away. Both Mum and Dad are a little deaf, you see, so they have the TV UP REALLY LOUD ALL THE TIME, speak LOUDLY to each other and everything is REPEATED LOUDLY OFTEN. They can't hear what they are doing either so doors are BANGED and drawers CRASHED. Our little villa was also close to a main road and the traffic NOISE drove me to distraction, but of that, they were blissfully unaware, both my discomfort and the traffic.
I think they had a good time.....so job well done!
Upon arrival at home I was excited to find that the postman had left me two long awaited deliveries!
This is my first instalment of the "Charmed 2" club from The Quilted Crow. It did not disappoint! The little hand stitched charms are lovely with more to come over the next year!




The other parcel was from Quiltmania. Somehow, I had missed renewing my subscription so had missed quite a few issues. They were very obligingly sending me all the issues I missed as well as my new subscription. The parcel was a bit tatty but I could see this sticker.......so all must be good. Right?



It was good. The girls at Quiltmania had sent me a few issues extra and free, as well as a shopping bag.




But wait there was more! Can you see the brown thing around the bottom magazine?

WARNING: DO NOT ZOOM IN ON THE NEXT PICTURE IF YOU ARE AT ALL OFFENDED BY BAD LANGUAGE!!!!!

I got this, too! A wallet. Lucky me!!!!!!!




Really Quiltmania!!!! (Or could it be a bored repacker person at Australia Post)!
You could be offended but, for me, it made me laugh, too funny!
Just wondering now to whom I can regift this delightful item!!!!!!!
Happy Stitching!
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Monday 11 November 2013

A Weekend Away

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to a sewing retreat with a lovely bunch of ladies. We headed off on Friday to a farmstay near Dungog in the Hunter Valley. First stop for me was the town's patchwork shop then lunch at the local pub before heading off the beaten track to Main Creek. The weather was hot, my car was telling me 44 deg when we left town, not the most perfect weather for stitching, but what a difference a day can make!
We settled in to our little house quite quickly, then off to the big farmhouse where the sewing room was set up......and blissfully air conditioned! Thus began an intensive three day sewathon and eatathon, with a lot of laughter thrown in!
As the weather turned stormy, rainy and cool, perfect for sewing, Cathie was the first to finish a quilt top......a lovely I spy quilt for a soon to be born grandson!



Debbie T. turned this.......


into this work of art, with still more to go.


Debbie C. finished this show stopper, one of the most intricate quilts I have ever seen in real life, done as only Debbie can do, perfectly!



While all this awesomeness was happening, I was beavering away at some blocks from the Amitie BOM that have been giving me grief.



and Tiffany was beavering away at some lovely star blocks to be made into a new quilt for her bed.



It is amazing that anything at all was achieved, because if we weren't fronting up to eat Marion's amazing lunches and dinners (and morning and afternoon teas), we were crying with laughter at each others stories. Tiff caused quite a hooha with stories of her younger and wilder days.
The buzz word for the weekend was awesome......and we all know who that is.....she who completed almost three quilt tops in the weekend, she who cooked for us, she who cleaned machines for those with fluffy bits, she who bought me a cup of tea in bed, she who always knew the best way to do things...



Cristie........Awesome.....LOL!
Thanks for a great weekend ,girls!
Happy Stitching!




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Thursday 7 November 2013

Stitching Soirée

One of the lovely things that I have managed to organise this year has been a casual sit and sew evening at my house each month. The boys disappear for the evening and the girls get to spend a whole evening doing what girls do best......talking and stitching.



No. 1 son calls us a "quilting coven". Is he implying we are all witches?
Last Wednesday saw Wendy working wonders with wool......


Sue was working on little sparkles of colour.........



Chris was whipping up wheels of reproduction sunbursts.......



And others just turned up for the tea and cakes......you know who you are!



My potholder quilt is growing. I had to do a few rows to see if it was going to work and I think it will be ok! It is super easy and not very challenging, but I think will look quite pretty as it grows.



Then there are these two girls, Googy and Cardy..........just needed to get your smiling faces in there.


Happy Stitching!


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