Thursday, November 30, 2006

Okay, here 'tis

You know what, I expected a little of the 'ewwww' factor when I mentioned my little birthday giftie from Marty and the kids. I didn't see any of that, but maybe it's because you're all so polite.

I was chatting to one of my friends the other day and said that I was perhaps going to put a picture of the ring onto the blog. She had an interesting point ... 'be careful how you do that, you could end up with a whole new element of odd people coming across your blog'. That concept hadn't even entered the realms of possibility for me, so I've cropped my picture down heaps, so hopefully it's completely uninteresting to anyone other than my buddies ... Hmmm ... ugly picture ... but there you have it!

On a completely different note, and much more relevant to the general nature of this blog ... I finished the binding last night on the Xmas table runner for Christine, so I can strike the 'gift' goal off my list for this month. I have a few goals still to achieve, hopefully this afternoon I can get a few more done.

My recently re-discovered friend from school is coming over for lunch this afternoon, which will be super fun. That means this morning I'm going to do some cute things around the house and get lunch ready. After school and this evening are the only times I'll have for quilting, and I don't imagine there will be much of that going on. Don't you just hate it when chores and life get in the way!!

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Happy Birthday to me!

This morning I was woken up by my kids letting me know it was my birthday! Now of course I knew that, but the kids enthusiasm is so cute, so I played along. Last week while we were shopping at the plaza, I had showed the kids a present I'd like, so in good form, I received it this morning. Some of you will say ewwwww ... but I had a cute gold toe ring which snapped during the year, and I missed it so much, especially with sandal season upon us, so I chose a new one. Let me know if you want to see it and I'll share ... or not :-)

I'm having lunch with Renee today, and coffee with my Mum after she finishes work, so it will be a fun and busy day. I also have some work I need to do before I head to the quilt store tomorrow.

For show and tell today, I have a picture of the holly table runner. This is from the Susan Murphy class I did recently. I just have to sew the binding down on the back. I will also sew some clusters of little red beads among the holly leaves. Susan had beads on the demonstration piece and it looked wonderful. This will be a Christmas gift for Cam's day care lady. Well, she's actually Amy's after school care lady too. Christine is very special to us.

I've shown a close up of the quilting too, cuz I'm just so thrilled with it! Now that I've put the picture in place, I can see that the quilting doesn't show really well, but you can see the applique. Mary mentioned the other day that she doesn't care too much for the machine applique, and I have to confess that it's not my favourite thing either. My particular favourite is needleturn, but I don't think I could face needleturning this project.

Well, that's it for me, have a great day everyone, I know I will!

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Sunday morning's exciting news

The house is all quiet. We've had a busy weekend with visitors etc. Marty is out with his mates flying their planes, Amy is at a sleepover, and Cam is still asleep (at 10.20??). I'm itching to get into the sewing room and take advantage of this quiet time ... but I just had to share something ...

Do you remember a couple of months ago, I was telling you about a project I was working on, but couldn't really show you the pictures ... well, the magazine just arrived on Friday! It's Australian Patchwork and Quilting, their Mail-Order issue, Vol 15 No 2. My project is called 'Never Enough Log Cabins'. Head to your quilt store and check it out if you can!

Also, I have become obsessed with knitted socks ... wonderful ladies from the quilt store have been giving me their vintage sock knitting patterns and wondering if I've lost my mind ... I've been crusing ebay for cute sock wool and more patterns ... I really need to check myself and finish one sock first ... working that toe may cure me of my new obsession for good! Having said that, the pattern pictured at left is my next purchase ... let me at em! For fun tales of sock knitting adventures, do check out the Yarn Harlot's blog ... it's a fun read, and I think may be contributing to my out of mind state ...

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Working away ...

The other day my friend Deb called. She had been working on a lap quilt, and wondered if I would have the time to quilt it for her. She's really nervous about machine quilting. 'Sure Deb, bring it to netball on Friday night, and I'll do it on the weekend' I told her.

This is her quilt, how cute it is! It's not very big, I don't think it'd be even 50 inches, so it'll be a breeze to do it for her. She's even pieced the back with matching squares, just lovely. She's asked for just a simple meander, but I may suprise her with something a little more interesting. Deb is such a honey, I used to go to primary school with her younger sister, and now our daughter's play netball together. Funny what a small world it is.

But first, I'm just going to finish blanket stitch outlining the applique on the holly table runner for Cam's day care lady. I'll either finish the holly piece I'm working on, or continue until the bobbin runs out, whichever comes first.

This pattern is from the Christmas gift workshop I participated in recently, which was run by a wonderful teacher Susan Murphy. She does such lovely work and is a very knowledgeable and generous teacher.

I'll share a picture when more is done. I'm super pleased with how it's going at the moment. I may actually make another couple when I'm done, I'll need one of course :-) and I haven't decided yet what I'm going to make for Amy's school teacher ... school finishes for the year in 3 weeks ... I better get moving!

Friday, November 24, 2006

Friday already??

Heavens, where has this week gone? It just seems like yesterday that the week began. I guess when I sit back and think about it, a lot has happened during this week, I just forget things so quickly!

Yesterday at quilt group I managed to get half of the binding sewn down on my Winchester quilt, and finished the last of it last night watching TV. I can strike one more goal off my list for this month. I better get moving on my goals, the end of the month is approaching at breakneck speed!

Cameron and I are off to lunch this afternoon with my friend Jane, and we'll do a little shopping too. This morning I plan to dig some holly themed background fabric out of my stash and start a table runner for Cam's day care lady for Xmas. It's a pattern from the Xmas class I attended recently. It should be super fun.

Today's dose of eye candy is a top I made in the mid 90's. Some of the blocks were made up in a beginners needleturn applique class. This quilt has had a sad history. I started hand quilting it a long time ago, and became discontented with the way it was coming out, so I put it aside. As the years passed on, it was put further and further aside, until we moved house, and it was boxed up. After we moved, the box was unopened and is now in the attic. I have promised my bestie that should this quilt ever be finished, it will be hers. She learned long ago not to hold her breath waiting for this quilt. I would like to get this quilt down some day and have a look at what condition it's in. Maybe next year I'll pull out the quilting and resurrect this project. I'm not sure I have it in me yet.

That's it from me, I hope you're having a great day, and for those of you in the US, I hope your Thanksgiving has been wonderful!

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Ready to sew down the binding

Here is Winchester Weave, all ready for me to take along to quilt group today and sew down the back of the binding.

I had a lot of fun quilting this quilt, I did small stippling in the main body of the quilt, and a kind of swirly circle wave kinda thingy in the inner border. Does that make any sense, or resemble anything like English??

I have hand quilted for 14 years, and I've only been maching quilting on my domestic machine for 2, so I'm still learning every time I undertake a new project, and I'm happy to report that with each project I become a little braver and try something new. I figure the only way I'll learn more and more is to push myself to try something different each time. I never thought when I first started free-motion quilting that I'd get to enjoy the process, but hey presto, I really like it now! And the quilts sure get finished faster than when I hand quilted everything!

I had a response from Bloglines today, they have been very helpful. They have re-set the blogs I get no updates from, so I'll see if that solves the problem. Melanie told me yesterday that unsubscribing from a blog, and then subscribing again works. I have subscribed to my own blog, so I'll be able to report back and let you know if I can see updates myself. Could be back to the good-old-days of cruising around the rings. Let me know if you have any solutions that have worked for you ... of course if you see this post *s*

For my friends in the US, Happy Thanksgiving. I hope your day is filled with family, friends, fun and food!

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Quilting and Knitting

Quilting is one of my favourite parts of the whole process, so it's definitely not a chore to get quilting on the Winchester Weave quilt. Here's a picture of my progress in the past 40 minutes or so. For now I'm doing a small meander to fill in the background fabric areas.

I'm so lazy, I'm working with the camera phone again, so I apologise for the lack of quality of the pictures. It's just so much easier, the laptop can just suck the photos right out of the phone via infrared something ... so much easier than playing around with cables and stuff.

Here is my sock picture that I promised the other day. Hmmm ... if I were a better photographer I could have illustrated the lovely turned heel, and the cleverly picked up stitches so much better. But since that's not me, you'll just have to trust me that the heel is lovely and shapely. See there how the stripe is wider ... it's evidenciary support in favour of the turn!

I've read about a syndrome ... it's the second sock syndrome. I should have read about it earlier so I could have addressed it at this point. Apparently many people complete one sock, and just can't face making another. One school of thought suggests that at the point I'm up to with this this sock, I should set it aside and start the other. This would have required planning on my part, and splitting my ball of wool into two, so I can't work this way. The theory is this: You haven't experienced the exhilaration of a finished project, so finish the other sock. You feel you can't face another sock, but hey presto, the second sock (which is actually your first) is almost complete, so it's not such a chore to complete it. I'm not sure my mind can be fooled, but I'm going to try it next time. Thank you Small Hands for this interesting insight.

A quick note for my lovely blogging friends. It would seem that Bloglines doesn't like to visit with me now that I'm changed over to beta, or any of the other of us changed over to beta. So, if you'd like to be updated about when I post, it may be a good idea to add me to Bloglines anew and see if that helps. I'm going to give it a try and see what happens. I'll keep you posted. Of course, this message may be in vain ... as darling Bloglines won't let you know that it's happened ... Ohhhhh it's a vicious cycle ...

Monday, November 20, 2006

The thing with Knitting ...

... is that you can knit for quite a while, and not have much to show for it.

I didn't end up doing any quilting yesterday, it was just too darn hot and humid here. I did however manage to do a little knitting. It was hot doing that too, but I have a real problem with sitting around doing nothing, I like to have busy hands.

The exciting thing to report is that I have turned the heel! Only just, I was working on that part from about 10pm to when I went to bed at midnight. I don't have a picture to share right now, as I've just put my phone on to charge and I'm too lazy to go find the camera, but I promise to take a picture to share tomorrow.

It's hot and humid again today, but my plan is to get some quilting done today after I've done my chores. Possibily finish up the bag I made last week, and then get quilting on the Winchester quilt. With my new sock obsession, I've been neglecting my goals ... they're crying for some attention!

Have a great day everyone! x o x

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Bits & Pieces

Yesterday I refolded my Sisters Choice quilt over the bannister. Whenever I do that it reveals fabrics I haven't seen in a while, so I end up spending a little time staring at it and patting it :-) I know I've shared a picture of this quilt before, it's one that Linda from San Jose and I made together. She made 100 blocks, and so did I, and we sent each other 50 of our blocks. I think Linda placed her blocks randomly, but I have alternated our blocks so I can remember who's is who's. The one with the red is Linda's, so that means the one diagonally on the left is hers etc. Such a fun quilt, and thank you to Bonnie for the pattern on her website.

I don't really have anything exciting to share this morning. I'm feeling very flat after a big party at a friends house last night. It was a late night ... and just super fun! I think we've a party a weekend heading up to Xmas now, it gets like that when Summer draws near.

I noticed yesterday that Bloglines wasn't playing nice. Either that or everyone was very quiet ... and that isn't often the case. I hope it's getting sorted out, I have so many blogs I like to visit, it's hard to get thru everyone without Bloglines help. I don't think I'm Robinson Crusoe there!

Hope you're having a good weekend, I'm off to get another coffee ... yes, that's what I need ... some more caffeine!

Friday, November 17, 2006

Sock it to me!

Now, I was able to knit before, and I've knitted a few somewhat tricky things, but I've never knitted on four needles before, so I was really nervous about tackling a sock. After seeing so many people knitting up lovely socks, I just knew it was something I had to try.

This is a much simpler sock than something that the Yarn Harlot would take on, but I'm super proud of myself so far. I'm nowhere near working thru the heel yet, but I have a buddy who has promised to help me with it so I don't tear my hear out.

This sock is from a pattern I purchased from a local store called the Knitting Nook, and the actual sock is longer than most that I've seen online. The leg part of the sock is 12" long, so I thought it would be a fun one to do. I hope I don't get bored half way, but I'm going to maximise the use of this ball of yarn. It's a really nice 4 ply sock wool, and I love the way it works the pattern out, hubby is just fascinated by it! I'm not using the wool that I got from the craft fair, that will be for my next project ... so I should be all set until around 2008!

Forgive the quality of the photo today, I was just too darn lazy to work with the camera today, so I played with the phone instead. There is not much left of this morning, so I may knit a little until lunchtime, then after lunch do a few chores before pinning the Winchester quilt this afternoon. Well, that's the plan ... let's see how I go ...

Thursday, November 16, 2006

I've been working on ...

... a couple of things this week. Firstly, on Monday I finished making up the mug mat for Amy's netball coach. I packaged it up in the same way that I made up the one for my school friend a while ago. In stealth mode, I discovered that Bev's favourite colours are pink and purple, and had these strips already in my 1 1/2" scrap strips, and the binding was already in my 2" strips. How cute that the fabric in the centre square matches the mug so well, that was a happy accident!

The other fun thing I've been working on this week was at the Christmas gifts class. I made up a bag. We had the option of many projects, but I've never made a bag before, so decided it'd be best for me to try that while the teacher was around. Thank heavens I did, as I can quilt just fine, but I'm no seamstress!

I probably shouldn't have taken this picture on top of a different quilt, as it's made it hard to see the bag, and the bag is a bit rumply from being in my own bag, but you can get the idea. I now just have to sew the binding down on the right side, and attach the binding on the left side, and lastly secure the doilies so they don't flap around. I quite like the concept of this bag, it uses 2 1/2" strips, so I'll make another. I have so many 2 1/2" strips in my container, so it'll be good to put them to use.

Also this week, I started knitting a sock! I know, I've lost my mind, we're in the last month of Spring before heading into Summer. Even in Winter I don't wear socks a lot, but I have been fascinated by everyone's knitting and had to jump on the bandwagon. I think I may be hooked! Or should that be needled!! I'll show you some progress soon. I'm knitting with 4 ply sock wool, so it's slow going. Heading off now ... the sewing room is calling me ...

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Winnie the Pooh progress

Whew! The Winnie the Pooh top is done! I managed to find a navy fabric I was much happier with, and the top managed to go together quite painlessly in the end!

I have marked two of the setting squares with the quilting design I've chosen, and now I need to motivate myself to mark the remaining six setting squares. I've even managed to purchase the batt for the quilt, and this morning I'm going out to get the backing fabric for the quilt, and also for the Winchester quilt.

It would be fun to piece the back for the quilts, but right now I feel just too darned lazy to do it. It's not the most stash friendly option for the back of the quilt, but gosh it's a good feeling getting this quilt moving after being on the UFO list for such a long time.

I had the very best time at the quilt store yesterday, and it was super fun being on the other side of the table. We made Christmas gifts, and I made up a bag. I'll share a picture of it tomorrow when I finsh the last of the binding. It's super cute, and I'll be giving it to Grandpa's wife along with the scarf I knitted for her.

I also made up the mug and mug mat for Amy's netball coach the other day, and I'll share a picture of that tomorrow also when I have a little more time on my hands.

Have a great day everyone! x o x

Monday, November 13, 2006

Don't fall down ...

... but I'm working on the Winnie the Pooh quilt!! I took out all the bits, and found that I have enough of the original navy fabric to make up the corners and centres of the borders, and I've decided I'm going today for one last look for a more perfect match for the fabric. If I don't find it today, I've decided I'm really going to live with the one I picked up not so long ago. If I find a better match, the one I purchased earlier can be used to line some of the bags I plan to make. It's win-win.

The next thing I'm going to work on this morning is a little log cabin block. You can see the foundation right there. It's going to be a little mug mat to go with the coffee mug I purchased for Amy's netball coach. She likes soft pinks and purples, so I'll hunt thru the strips for something that will work.

Tomorrow I'm doing a class at the quilt store. I'm super excited, I haven't participated in a class for a really long time! It's a Xmas class, we can make bags, wall hangings or table runners and receive the patterns for all the items. I need to get my bits and pieces organised and make sure I have everything I need.

Ohhh, and this is my second post with the blogger beta, I'm actually finding it to be great.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Changed over ...

I've finally succumbed to the pressure and converted over the Blogger beta. So far I don't see anything significantly different, however this is my first post with the upgrade.

One thing I'm not happy about, and I know I'm not alone on this ... is that 90% of the comments I now receive come up with no reply address. I think it's some sort of issue between beta and non-beta. I do like to reply to people when I can, and it's hard for me to do that now, please don't be discouraged if you ask a question and I take a while to get back to you.

Maybe someone that's been on beta a little longer and has a bit more technical knowledge could let me know if this is a setting I can change or if this is just going to be an issue while there is a change-over period?

Hope you're all having a good weekend! x o x

Saturday, November 11, 2006

40 + 60 = 100 blocks

Well now, that didn't take as long as I thought it might! I already had 40 of the blue and cream blocks made, and yesterday I finished the other 60. I now have my 100 blocks ready to put together the blue and cream quilt top. Strike one off the list of goals for this month! :-)

I'm not going to put the top together just yet though, I have some other things I need to get to first. Yesterday I received an email from the magazine letting me know that they would like to commission the Winchester Weave quilt for the magazine, and my deadline is 13 December (hey, that's Amy's birthday).

The top of that quilt is complete and it's at the quilt store, I just need to get it back and quilt it, and then complete the directions. That means the goal of 'complete one quilt to binding' will undoubtedly be the Winchester Weave quilt. The on sale date for that magazine will be April 13, so keep your eyes peeled for Australian Patchwork and Quilting around that time!

Friday, November 10, 2006

It's easy to fall behind ...

See what happens when you have a few really busy days ... you get soooo behind. I have over 120 new posts waiting for me in bloglines, and I have been sporadic on the blog! Don't give up on me friends *hugs*

I promised the other day that I'd fill you in on 'the long story' about cupboardy. I worry now that it won't be terribly interesting, but here goes ... Cupboardy was from Little Britain. There was this hypnotist, and he was visiting his Mother in a nursing home. They were playing scrabble, and the hypnotist put the word Cupboardy down on the board. His Mum told him that cupboardy isn't a word. Hypnotist looks at mother and says 'Look into my eyes, not around the eyes, look into my eyes ... and you're under ... cupboardy is a word ... and we're back" Mother looks at the board and praises him on his good score for the word cupboardy. Nurse comes into the room and looks at the board and tells them that cupboardy isn't a word. Hypnotist tells nurse 'Look into my eyes, not around the eyes, look into my eyes ... and you're under ... cupboardy is a word ... and we're back" Nurse looks at Mother and says "You're right, he's not a very good hypnotist". Mother looks embarassed.

I guess it stuck in our minds, because when the cupboards were installed, hubby and I went around all day saying we're all cupboardy.

Quilt group yesterday, gosh I love it! I hand quilted some more on my Christmas wholecloth. It's one of those super pre-printed ones from Holice Turnbow. Let's see how the picture comes out.

I also managed to get all the half square triangles pressed, and made up all the little four patches for the 60 blue and cream blocks. Today I should be able to finish putting them together and strike them off the list!


Have a great day everyone, while I get busy catching up on everyones blogs!

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Strawberries and Blocks

What a busy couple of days I've had! There has not been much stitching going on in this house, and I'm kind of feeling withdrawal setting in! There may not be much quilting today either, as I'm working at the quilt store this afternoon, and hubby gets home this evening. Anyways, I just thought I'd share one of the things I got up to yesterday.

I planted some more strawberries. We love strawberry jam in this house, and for a little while I've been making my own. We don't have lots of space for tons of plants, so I freeze the strawberries as they ripen, and when I have a lot of them I make up a batch of jam. This year our plants were past their prime, so I purchased some new ones a couple of weeks ago, and they have been going gangbusters! So I purchased six more on Monday and yesterday morning planted them out. We have the most houdini-like blackbirds you ever saw here, so Marty has rigged up this 'cage' with watering system pipe and a fruit net, and so far we've been able to keep the birds out. They are fruit bandits and must watch the fruit, while it's unripe it's safe, and the very second it's ripe 'boom' it's gone!

I did manage to get a little something done yesterday, but not much. I cut the half square triangles I need for the blue and cream blocks. 120 of them! I managed to sew about half of them together. I may do some more this morning if I get the chance. I'm just amazed at how fast people like Bonnie and Judy must be able to sew ... I think I get distracted easily ...

Amy asked yesterday about the blocks and their 'diet block' status ... ummm ... it's like this ... they clearly weren't working as inspiration so I'm just gunna make them! Ohhh, and she asked about the long story ... I promise I'll tell you tomorrow, this post is becoming like a thesis ... I worry now that it just won't be that interesting *lol*

Thank you so much to everyone for your kind, thoughtful and inspirational messages. I'm so sorry I haven't been able to respond to everyone individually, but please know they all mean so much.

Have a great day x o x.

Monday, November 06, 2006

November Goals

How did I go with my October Goals?
  • Mark and pin Winnie the Pooh quilt
  • Make two gifts for Xmas
  • Quilt and bind miniature quilt
  • Piece repro top for shop
  • Draw up zig-zag quilt
  • Stick to fabric diet
Only that one elusive quilt remains untouched this month. I'll pop it back on the goals for November and see how I go. I wonder if subconsciously I'm reluctant to work on the Winnie the Pooh because I didn't match the fabric I ran out of as perfectly as I wanted to. Let's hope I can get it moving this month. I don't have any super pressing deadlines for November, other than continue to get ready for Christmas, so I can have a little play with what I would like to do this month.

Here are my November goals:

  • Mark and pin Winnie the Pooh quilt
  • Make three gifts for Xmas
  • Piece 60 blue and cream blocks
  • Make four DJ blocks
  • Complete one quilt to binding
  • No fabric purchases other than Osnaburg or fabric to
    complete a quilt
I think I may have set the bar pretty high, so here's hoping I can come close. Well, that's it from me. I'm off to buy strawberry runners, and put some stuff in the post from ebay. Have a great day everyone. x o x

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Cupboardy

If you're a watcher of Little Britain, you'll understand the title of this post. If not, it's a long story.

Here is the before picture of (one side) of our kitchen. It's okay ... it's functional ... plenty of bench space ... just not a lot of storage space.

I've showed the kitchen before, you've seen me painting it, and putting up the timber blinds. Now you can see the hole in the ceiling where we've taken out the extractor fan in readiness for the ducting for the range hood.

But enough of before ...

Here is the after picture! Got cupboards!

Only a few more bits and pieces to do. We just need to repair the ceiling where the hole was, and fit the little hidey-box around the flue for the range hood, and we're all done. The last thing for me to do will be fill the cupboards with stuff!

Super fun! The kitchen is all cupboardy!

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Scary stuff & Fun stuff

Late yesterday afternoon I was feeling soooo tired. I checked on the kids, and they were playing happily, so I thought, a little kip would be just the ticket! Half an hour later I wandered out of our bedroom, and thought the house was very quiet.

Hubby had gotten home in the meantime, and was in the backyard with the camera. Apparently while I slept, a helicopter started buzzing around our neighbourhood and the kids wanted to check it out. Amy, hoisted Cam (who is 4) onto the roof! *horror* Well, then he didn't want to come down! Marty had to coax him to the edge and get him down. We of course had to tell the kids that it's not a good thing for them to be up there, and I learned never to sleep while the kids are not!

This morning was fun, we went to the Adelaide Christmas Pageant. It's an annual tradition and just super fun. We live in a city of around one million people, and on the morning of the pageant, around 350,000 people line the parade route.

Cameron has never been to the pageant before, and he loved it! I've only included a small selection of pictures, I took a lot of them, as the pageant is about an hour and a quarter long! Nipper is the first picture. Nipper and Nimble are a pair of rocking horses, and each year a little girl is selected to ride on the horse.

This is another of the floats, I thought it was cute I should have paid more attention, but I think it's Toyland. On the top there is Humphrey Bear, he's an Aussie institution, and has been around since I was a kid. I haven't really been paying attention, but I'm not sure if he's on TV anymore.

This is the Bandstand float. It has a jazz band swinging away on there. The reason I included this float is because when I was seventeen, I was on this float! It was red and gold at that time, and we had to wear these cute glittery red and gold outfits (with pleated miniskirts!). I was a dancing girl at the back of the float way up high. It was really fun and really scary all at once! As a child I had always wanted to be in the pageant, and when I left school I worked in the office at the department store that sponsored the pageant, so I was so happy to be included. Every time I see this float it brings back memories!

This last picture I included for my friend Linda. I remember Linda showing me a place near her beach house where Monarch Butterflies are at a certain time of the year, and this float always reminds me of those butterflies.

This has been a huge post, so I better sign off. Our friend who is installing some more kitchen cabinets will be here any minute. I'll show you the result tomorrow!

Friday, November 03, 2006

Got second!

Hi everyone, I was so exhausted yesterday after my big day out at the quilt show that I just didn't get to the computer. But, here I am, refreshed after a good nights sleep, ready to declare ... "I got second!!" I'm just thrilled, I really didn't know how I'd go, we have some super talented quilt makers here, so there is always stiff competition.

Here is a picture of my quilt with her ribbon, I did have more of the other quilts in the picture, but I had to crop them out. In the guild booklet from the show it tells us that we're allowed to take pictures, but we are NOT allowed to publish them anywhere, in publications, or on the web due to copyright laws. I sure don't want to get into any copyright trouble, but I figure it should be okay for me to put a picture of my quilt here, as it's my copyright.

My friends and I had the very best day. I picked up my friend Verna, and met up with my wonderful friend Jenny in the queue to the show. Our friend Lorraine joined us shortly after we got in, and we spent ALL day in the quilt show and cruising around the vendors. Lorraine emigrated here from Scotland early this year, and has not been to a show like it before, she was just loving it! I showed remarkable restraint, there were so many things I could have purchased, but I only purchased two patterns, a Better Homes & Gardens 'showbag', some sock wool with a pattern, a small piece of 'pink ribbon' fabric, and a cute tassel.

One of the patterns was an Amy Butler bag pattern, and I plan to use the tassel on the zipper of the bag, the other pattern is a lovely applique design by one of my favourite local designers, Colleen Archbold. I know her, and Verna and I bumped into her at the show, so we embarrassed her terribly by getting her to sign our patterns *ggls*. The BHG showbag actually comes in a really cute striped totebag, and has some issues of the magazine and lots of other products. I always love to get it, cuz a girl can never have too many bags! The pink ribbon fabric was for Amy. Her Godmother has struggled with breast cancer. The outcome is looking good for her, and we're seeing her next week. When I dropped Amy off at school, she asked if I saw any of the fabric, could I please get some for her. We'll make something sweet up for Karen with it.

Well, that's my day, we had the very best time, I'm thrilled my my place in the competition, and I was so very happily exhausted at the end of the day. Thank you everyone for your wonderful words of congratulations, you're all just lovely people. *Huge hugs* for you all!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

I got the call!

Sitting at home last night ... just minding my business, and I got THE call. "Are you available to be at the presentation on the first day of the Quilt Exhibition?" "Ohhh" I said, "Yes, I was planning on being there ... have I placed?" "I can't give you any more information" she said "but it would be wonderful if you could be there."

Well, I have had a huge smile on my face all day ... and of course I'll be at the Quilt Exhibition, with a gaggle of quilting friends ... and bells on!!

That's tomorrow, and I promise to let you know all about it when I get home!

Super excited Tazzie ... signing off!!

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