A Special Birthday Girl!

Our Lyn had a Very Special Birthday on October!

We took advantage of her holiday and pieced a blue and white quilt for her!


To make her day even more special, who should turn up but Jenny, our absent member who quietly returned from eighteen months 'down south' in Albury, N.S.W. I made her promise to keep mum and give all of us a great surprise! Welcome home, Jenny!

Margret brought in another Phd - it looked spectacular with the colours she had chosen - the savannah hues of gold and brown with black. Stunning!


My hand pieced hexagon quilt coming together at last! Using reproduction fabrics - (of course) - been working on it all year - on and off!

and then ............................................ along came 'the committee' and 'another coloured border please! And just when I thought I was nearly there!!! To my shame I had to go around and take back some of the 'left-over' (not) hexagons previously given away (with relief) and carry on! Will it ever end?

close up view of fabrics

Inspector Barnaby Rubble

The Inspector

Our newest family member - such a cute little fella! He is third generation shitzhu-maltese and at nine weeks of age, just an adorable and very cheeky bundle of delight!


Unfortunately he failed promotion boards and eventually found himself on probation and tagged as Inspector Puddles!

Spot the Dog

Eventually, as we learned to understand him, he lifted his game and the puddles diminished (a little) Help arrived in the form of a crate - had never heard of crate training - and his promotions back to Senior Constable have been remarkable!

Week in Melbourne & Visit to the Craft Expo

This Naomi Miyaki Quilt won Bernina Best in Show Award
by Happy Magic

With much anticipation I ventured down to Melbourne for an enjoyable week of Melbourne weather - as instructed, my sister ensured that the weather was picture perfect - great to get out and visit the old haunts and just generally chill out! Bought the UGG boots in Mordialloc and my walking shoes at Southland. With that out of the way, we were able to concentrate on the real reason for choosing a winter trip - the Melbourne Craft Expo!!

Having bought a couple of tickets in the Civil War Bridal Sampler Quilt, I offered (as apparently had others) to save on postage and just take the quilt back home in my bag! Alas - this was not to be and some other recipient will now have the joy of it in their home! Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the raffle quilt, but then I spotted this magnificent Bridal Sampler made by Ronnie Heagny of Glen Waverly! It was exhibited in the mainly applique amateur class!!!

It was the first time that I was able to sit in for the announcement of winners and the presentations for the various quilting sections! I had permission from some of the exhibitors to take some photographs and add them to my blog

Chris Sarong was delighted with the red ribbon adorning her "Jacobs Coat with Buttons" quilt. It is hand pieced and also traveled to Houston for the Quilt Exhibition there! The colours are stunning and the quilting was very much admired!

This quilt caught my eye - called 'The circles of Friendship' it was designed and made by

Margot Pritchard of Corowa, NSW

Then I was ready to do some hunting around for the 193o's fabric I have been collecting, in readiness for a hand pieced quilt - design not yet decided. I enjoyed chatting with various stall holders - and of course couldn't resist adding to my stash of civil war fabrics!

Catching up on 2010

Hello everybody- it's been sooooooo long since I blogged that you've probably all forgotten me! I have a lot of catching up to do but must hasten slowly as my shoulder is still in its repair stage! Thought it best to back track a bit and slip into the latter part of 2010 and when the weather was still glorious

Our Judy had a great year working on her Phd's. We particularly loved this quilt, she whipped it out and just flung it down for our approval - a big gold star, Judy!

But wait - there's more

Judy's embroidery is to be envied. This Bronwyn Hayes quilt suits her talents and we just love to ooh and aah over her beautiful stitches

Don't you just love this portrait of one of us?

Happy Birthday Dear Jacqi

Well done, Secret Friend! As usual, we all enjoyed celebrating Jacqui's Birthday - leftovers for dinner tonight!

6 June - Ella's Pink Lady

Early Morning at Mooloolaba

It was a picture perfect weekend when we headed down to the Spit for our early morning walk on the first weekend of June. Although it was now officially winter, the sea was calm and the sky a deep blue.
We walked a few kilometers along the foreshore, sidestepping quite a few bush turkeys that were strutting out and about. Deciding not to return home for breakfast, we stopped off at the Surf Club for a hearty breakfast - not originally on our agenda but the tempting smell of bacon and sausages as we walked past proved too difficult to resist!

Realising that today was the homecoming of Ella's Pink Lady and her young Skipper, Jessica Watson, we decided to head up the coast a little towards Caloundra and find a shady spot and wait for the little flotilla to sail past. There were quite a few spectators and well wishes all along the beach as far as the eye could see, and even more closer to Mooloolaba.


The closer she sailed to Mooloolaba the larger the flotilla surrounding the little yacht. It must have been a thrill for Jessica to see the well wishers and I'm sure she would have heard to beach goers cheering her on as she sailed past!


Standing at the end of the Spit we were able to join the throngs of people, many dressed in pink and waving pink streamers, as they cheered and waved to Jessica and her little pink boat as she motored past us into the marina



The apartments at the rear of the photo seem to have an abundance of pink bed sheets draped over the veranda rails!!!

The weather has become a bit unpredictable and on this day in early June we had plenty of rain during the night. I just the love these early morning vistas and the variety of effects the weather has on the views from our balcony

It was a coolish day and what better way to spend it than at home with a good book - NOT!!!
After procrastinating about the state of the cupboards I had no choice but to get stuck into the kitchen pantry after that dear man that lives here too decided that he would help!!!

I must admit that it is a thing of great beauty and worthy of inclusion in this weeks blog! Probable by next week the doors will be nailed shut because even a thing of beauty takes a bit of wear and tear!!

The fifth Wednesday of the month has rolled around again, and the girls decided that we were overdue for some retail therapy. Once again we piled into four cars and headed off for a delightful hour or so with Sandy at the 'Crafty Lady'!

Get into it, Girls!

Sandy was happy to be included in the photo, as she measured and cut and chatted away with us. We all enjoyed a delicious morning tea in the sewing room and then cleared out and off to Everton Park and then lunch at the tea rooms next door. On the way home we managed to squeeze in one more shop, before then arriving home a little the worse for wear and more than ready for that welcome cup of tea

The following weekend found me wandering around the Quilt and Craft Fair at Gympie. This time Norm had a newspaper to read in the car, so I didn't feel so guilty about leaving him out there! Saw a few familiar faces - Ann Ferguson from Quiltopia buried amongst a throng of eager ladies, Margaret from the Gympie Patchwork Factory, working away at a huge pin cushion, and Edna & Julie from Nimble Stitches here on Buderim.

MAHJONG LADIES DAY OUT AT FLAXTON GARDENS

Twice a year the Mahjong Ladies head out to lunch. This time we went up
the range and had a lovely meal at the Flaxton Gardens Restuarant

Come on girls! Looks like quite a lean on there. Are you sure it was water in that there bottle!!!!

The food was delicious -
I think that this was Barbara's dessert -
looks good enough to eat!!

On our return from a day trip to Noosa and surrounds, we captured this view of the magnificent beaches that we are so fortunate to enjoy on any day that we choose. This view is from around Peregian Springs and not too far away from home!

More of the same beach - looking down from the cliffs!

Another Skinnicinno production!

The month of May has been and gone, but that doesn't mean that we haven't been busy little bees! Here we can see Sandy giving Lyn a helping hand to show the beautifully embroidered 'Girl on a Swing' quilt that has kept Lyn off the streets for the past few months. It will be a gift for her gorgeous granddaughter, Skye, who has recently relocated with her family from Canada to Paris.

A close up of one of the blocks - Skye will just love it!

We never quite know how we manage to fit everything into the day, but rest assured we are not just sitting around looking busy! Whilst our fingers might be busily stitching away as we work on our Phd's, our conversations are quite interesting and soooooooooo informative too (bet some of our husbands would just love to be a fly on the wall)!!

Generally referred to as 'the committee' if an issue arises, a discussion usually ensues and someone from within will provide some words of wisdom and may be a solution as well! We consider ourselves to be rather remarkable and just love to have an opinion on everything!!

This cheeky threesome are planning a kaleidoscope quilt.
Even moving them away from the main table didn't seem to slow the chatter

ANOTHER HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

This month we celebrated another birthday - Well, it was the month of May so who better than to party! Our May of course! She was tickled pink when Jayne presented her with the presents from her secret friend!

Sadly, the excitement was too much for the camera, which went flat at the sight of the cake! Rest assured, the cake did not suffer the same fate, although there was a minimal amount left over at the end of the day!

The camera made a full recovery following a re-charge that evening