Hmm, I just counted up and it’s eight weeks today since I arrived back from America!  Wow – that time has flown but in another way it seems like ages ago. I had a lovely time and as usual Kellie’s quilts and patterns  were incredibly well received.  Although it’s old news now I hope to post some photos in the days to come.  But since being back lots has happened……..work to catch up on, change of working arrangements for my husband, his 40th birthday party and my ‘baby’ girl turning 9 just to start the list.  It’s all good though – it’s been a fun type of busy and there’s exciting plans ahead.  It does mean though that blogging has yet again taken a back seat.

It’s back to school and routine today – holidays have been relaxing which was well needed by all in our house – but it’s nice to be back into everything with fresh energy.  There’s even been a bit of crafting over the break which I’ll show soon.  For now though there’s 2 things to ask:

1.  There’s a couple of spots in the Don’t Look Now class at Sewjourn next Tuesday and Wednesday.  Please let me know ASAP if you are interested and I will email you the details.  You can either come each day for the class or choose to stay at Sewjourn overnight as well.

2.  The Sewjourn copy of Nikki’s new book ‘You Sew Girl’ has gone missing……has anyone picked it up by mistake when packing up their belongings??  Please let me know if you find it at home.

And lastly, if you haven’t seen the Hottie Exhibition at Open Drawer  yet it’s on until July 24th.  There’s loads of amazing hottie covers on display and all funds raised go to the Margaret Pratt Foundation which supports research in Lung Disease and Transplantation…….a really worthy cause.  There’s a good coffee shop next door as well.

I said that I wanted to make some more time for sewing this year…….and in January I mananged to get a bit more than usual.

My yoyo count  is steadily increasing and I’m just about up to the number required to make the curtain for the Princess Room.

And I sewed all my Around the Block  pieces together into a quilt top which fits perfectly on the bed in the Princess Room.  It went together really well in a couple of hours one night last week up at Sewjourn.

I started a cute little sewing bag using a Rosalie Quinlan  pattern that I’d had for ages and some fabric from my Houston stash.  Now I’m up to handquilting the outside with some Perle thread.

Which reminds me that I haven’t shown my purchases from Houston. 

Fabric bundles from Sample Spree including  the gorgeous Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey, Quite Contrary by My Mind’s Eye for Riley Blake, Anna Griffin’s beautiful Carmen and Just Wing It by Momo, which is really special.

Anna’s divine stand was opposite us at Houston – so nice to look at for four days. 

Not that we had much time to look as Kellie’s patterns and stand attracted LOADS of attention as usual.

Including attention from two of the best – Kaffe and Brandon!  And speaking of which, the Kaffe Workshop at Ballarat Patchwork  in February was great fun…..more on that later but here’s Kaffe talking about my quilt.

I was lucky enough to spend the following day at Sewjourn with some lovely girls and so got most of my quilt top sewn together…..just need to finish the middle section but haven’t actually pulled it out since then.

March didn’t see me doing much sewing even though there was a short stay at Sewjourn during the holidays – I did make lots of Welcome Cards for the guests coming to Sewjourn though. 

Oh and I did go to a Sashiko Class at Kimono House  which was lots of fun…..I think sashiko could become quite addictive.

And in April I spent lots of time sorting out my stash and did make two cushions that I love.  I was especially happy with the way the zips worked out as I’ve had a bit of a block when it comes to zips…..but really it was very easy.

It would be nice if I could say at the end of May that a few of the half done projects were finished…..we’ll see as there is 2 weeks in the US and then planning (and cleaning) for a special birthday party at the start of June.

PS  Sorry for photo overload……you’ve done well if you have made it to the end of this post!

The crazy pace of things has continued on here…….on the down side no time for blogging – and that includes reading blogs as well as posting……….but on the up side it means there’s lots and lots to tell now that I’m back.

A belated Merry Christmas to everyone – hope it was full of joy and peace.  I’ve pinched this gorgeous photo from Kellie’s blog…..but I think that’s OK because this quilt actually belongs to me now!!!!  How lucky am I???

Following a lovely Christmas with family we are enjoying spending a few days at home doing some sorting out and a spot of gardening (well overdue!)  (Oh, and the other 4 members of my family are spending quite a few hours each day on WII Fit Plus……and I’ll bet you can’t guess who the most competitive is????)  We are off to Lancefield tomorrow for a few days of relaxing (not to mention the hours of gardening that need to be done up there as well) and who knows I might even do some crafting.

And it’s SO good to be home!

Our 3 month camping trip to the north of Australia was truly magic……..fantastic family time spent in an incredibly beautiful part of this amazing country.

Then my 3 weeks back here were a blur…..no time to post or even to catch up on other blogs.  It involved settling back into school and routines, lots of work, dealing with a broken washing machine, back into organising our School Fair and even a quick trip to Sewjourn with the UFO girls which involved as much gardening for me as sewing!

And what little time for crafting I could fit into that was for the school fair…..but we have some amazing goods for sale so more about that to come.

There was the excitement of lots of packages  waiting for me on my return……..thanks girls and I’ll post more about that in the next couple of days as well.

Before I really even had time to unpack my bags it was off to Houston and a busy time at Quilt Market…….yet again Kellie’s amazing work was admired by all and my favorite American gal kept me entertained.   And yes, there will be more of that to come too with photos of market and a sneak peek at the fabrics I bought (because I really need more fabric!!) at Sample Spree.

And last but certainly not least it was off to Sewjourn (less than 24 hours after my plane had landed) to celebrate someone special’s 10th birthday.  (Why do they call them ‘Sleepovers’ when not much sleeping actually occurs???)  Happy Birthday gorgeous Lucy – we are so proud of you!

So it IS great to be home today.   And this is where I intend to stay for a while!

…I was sipping champagne and getting to know the other 6 girls at our workshop at Sewjourn whilst Kellie entertained us with the story of her quilting journey (and showed us her gorgeous quilts and cushions…….up close!!)

It was the start of an amazing weekend. Lara summed it up beautifully. It’s sometimes hard work learning a new skill. And for me who is used to precise rotary cutting, sewing straight lines and matching seams and points this was out of my comfort zone! But Kellie is a fantastic teacher and her patience and encouragement nutured us all towards producing pieces we could be proud of.

We appliqued…..

And quilted….

And watched and listened….

And unpicked….

And practised….

And stayed up very late………

Needless to say I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the weekend between concentrating hard on learning and cooking for everyone as well.  But it was worth it!  I came away inspired by Kellie and by the other 6 lovely ladies who had joined us. By early afternoon Sunday we were at the stage of hanging the fruits of our labours on the new design wall. 

It always amazes me to see the different color combinations that people come up with……they were all so different but all looked fantastic!

These are the faces behind the masterpieces…….

Back L to R: Me, Kerry, Mary (one of the gorgeous girls who made the drive from Canberra to join us), Kylie, Donna (Mary’s travelling companion)

Front L to R: Lara and Leah

What a creative group of girls………and hopefully they all had the chance to relax and enjoy as well.

And here’s some close ups of my first attempt at raw edge applique and free motion quilting………..there’s lots of room for improvement but it’s not too bad (especially when it’s home here and not sitting next to Kellie’s exquisite work!)  The plan for this weekendis to make it up into a cushion……and then there’s the Pretty in Pink pattern to start on……..

because it’s only one more sleep until Kellie’s workshop at Sewjourn!!  Along with 6 other girls I’ll be spending the weekend sewing, learning and eating!  I’ve gathered together all my threads and fabrics and I’ll be heading off in the morning.  Can’t wait.  So come back next week and hopefully there will be lots to tell……..and who knows even some photos of finished projects!!!

Meanwhile last weekend we had our Giveaway Day at Sewjourn.  A few friends and I spent the day chatting and sewing along with 6 other creative ladies.  Here’s a few photos…………

And Saturday we spent the day doing this!  We’d always planned on having a design wall here so finally it’s ready to go…….just in time for this weekend’s workshop!