Holidays!

Relaxing in Mollymook, looking out over the ocean as it gets darker and darker. The surf has been filled with board riders this afternoon - a bit too cold for my liking.

Yesterday I attended a paper making workshop at Primrose Paper. It was great fun, although I'm not sure I will take up this hobby!

This was embossed with a doiley! I thought it was lively though possibly hard to write on.

We are off to dinner soon - out into the cold and wet but I'm sure the food will be good.

Fun times ahead

I think my life has finally quietened down enough that I can spend some time relearning blogging and post something interesting perhaps.

Today I took delivery of an HQ Sweet Sixteen to do some free motion quilting on a pile of quilt tops waiting to be finished. I attended a class at AQC in Melbourne with US quilter Debby Brown higheredhands.blogspot.com. She was an inspiration and a very giving teacher. We used the Sweet Sixteen in class and I was hooked. There was a great deal going so the machine I used was put on layby and we picked it up today. I am looking forward to becoming more confident and learning new designs and putting them to use in my quilts.



This quilt, Easy Street, was the mystery quilt designed by Bonnie Hunter that I started in November last year and finished ready for Eastwood Patchwork Quilters exhibition in April. It was then, of course, ready for the Sydney Quilt show at Darling Harbour, pictured above. It was quilted on an HQ Avanti 18 Long Arm Machine at Hobbysew Top Ryde. I learnt how to use the machine before going to AQC so that I could compare the two machines before purchasing. Needless to say I chose the Sweet Sixteen.  I just hope I have plenty of time to get to know the machine well and produce some quality quilting.

 

 

 

A Photo at Last!

My first photo upload! thanks to my dear IT expert.

This is a Sudoko quilt I made with fabric purchased in Millthorpe when I attended the Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc. Away Meeting in Orange. It was a great weekend away and this is a great memento of that time.

All I have to do now is quilt it! I am waiting to do a class with Debby Brown, a quilter from the US, who is coming to AQC in April. I am really looking forward to this class and am hoping to learn heaps before I think about purchasing a Sweet Sixteen.

I think I have had enough playing with the computer for tonight - time for bed.

Busy Busy!

Life has been hectic over the last few weeks. Christmas has come and gone in a rush. I have been participating in Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street Mystery Quilt - what a great thing and fun to boot. A new instruction was added each week for 7 weeks and a large number of people all over the world have been busy stitching strips, squares, triangles to make the bits that make up the quilt. All of my bits are sewn and about 2/3 of the blocks are now done. I have not finished it yet as we have had other things happening.

Last Saturday we had a baby shower for my daughter Sarah, organised by her very capable sister, Leah. It was a great afternoon despite the rain. Leah spent a lot of time making signs and bunting and generally being the hostess with the mostest.

We all thought that Sarah had at least 3 weeks to go before the birth of her child but the baby wasn't having any of that - Sunday morning and Sarah's waters broke and Monday morning she was induced. Lovely Rachel arrived at 4.38 on Monday afternoon. They are both well and seem to be settling in well together. Rachel is a real cutie and we are very proud of our daughter. Our next adventure is the learning to be grandparents.

I also spent the best part of Monday and Tuesday doing a workshop making a book in a box thanks to the expert tutor Peter Stanford. It was a really fun time and I enjoyed book making - not that I need another hobby to add to the list.

Now all I need to do with my time is work out to add photos to my blog! Maybe tomorrow.

After attending the North Shore Craft Group's Christmas sale last weekend I have been involved in a huge discussion about options for selling one's wares. As a member of ATASDA that has been the forum for the discussion. The NSCG's sale was awe inspiring - absolutely beautiful items ranging from various textiles, to paper, jewellery, glass, ceramics. A very talented group of people. This led to the discussion about opportunities for selling - pop up shops, 2 or 3 day sales etc. We have a long way to go before something actually happens under the umbrella of ATASDA but it is great to have this discussion and share ideas, brainstorm, get excited and do something. That is what I love about ATASDA - the myriad of ideas that get bounced around.

Now I just have to go into my cave and get producing instead of spending time on the computer!

Well, here I go into the world of blogging! I dearly hope that I can write about some interesting things - a huge learning curve is about to begin.