Yesterday I had my first lesson with Kate and I was so excited I couldn’t wait to get home and start sewing…….unfortunately I had to be patient and do the school pickup, gymnastics drop-off, Cross Country training and cook tea (all with two extra children tagging along) before gymnastics pick-up, watch this movie together as a family (a special treat that had already been promised)…….you get the picture but by 9pm my fingers were itching to start stitching!  (Needless to say it was a very late night!)

AND I’m in love with the quiet purr of the motor.

In love with bright white lighting.

In love with smooth stitching minus the tangles of my old machine.

And in LOVE LOVE LOVE with the knee lifter!

I found this half done quilt when I was cleaning up the sewing room last week. 

It’s actually the very first quilt I started in 2003 following my one night Rotary Cutting course and I was wondering why it wasn’t finished………..then I remembered that I’d just gotten started on it when I discovered this lady and was completely taken by her gorgeous first range, then the second, then the third…….and before I knew it this poor little quilt was buried under my ‘stash’.  But looking at what’s already done I’ve rekindled a desire to finish it and am ignoring the fact that I wasn’t quite so accurate at cutting and stitching back then and just going forward.  A night of stitching and all the blocks are finished so hopefully the top will be pieced together over the weekend.  The fabric is Luci’s Cottage by Blackbird Designs for Moda and the Pattern is Rosalie Quinlan’s Laura Bethany.

After a week of celebrating (and not doing much else!) it’s time to come back to the real world and catch up on all the things that have taken a back seat ……. there’s plenty of work to do, blogs to read, stitches to make…..and of course get organised for our next Bushfires Quilting Bee.  I’ve emailed everyone (I think) who was at the last ‘Bee’ to touch base and see where they are up to with their quilts – sorry if I have missed anyone – please send me an email if I have.  It sounds like all the quilts are coming along nicely!  Well done girls!  And my Mum’s sewing group have kindly stitched up lots of bags to store and gift the quilts in.  And the gift cards are done.  So that just leaves finishing off and probably doing a couple of ‘quilt as you go’ on the day….then we can get the quilts to the people that need them.  If you would like to be involved in any way please contact me.   

Here’s a couple of photos sent to me of quilts that lovely girls have been working on……

As for me…….I’m off here for a lesson on the new machine tomorrow (it makes me laugh how all the instruction books call it a ‘Sewing Computer’ not a machine!) so hopefully I’ll have some good things to show soon too………

Yep, today’s the day…….no longer can I claim to be in my 30’s! (Something that I’ve done quite often over the last couple of years as most of my friends are just that BIT older than me………unfortunately the other adult member of our household (aka husband) is a BIT younger…….)

Anyway, there’s nothing we can do about it so I figure embrace and enjoy!  The day started with this yummy breakfast……..

and will continue soon with coffee then lunch…………I feel like I’ve eaten non-stop for a week already.

And as for what was in the present pictured in the last post…………..

WOW, WOW, WOW!  I am so excited and spoilt!  (Thanks to all my lovely family and friends who contributed!)  I got my faithful Janome for my 21st and it has served me very well and will be lovingly used by my girls I am sure ……….but……..WOW!

I’ve even cleaned up my ‘Creative Space’ to set it up and show it off!  (Just ignore all the mess pushed to each side………..)