September happenings

What a busy month September has proven to be, DH and I are busy planning our big adventure for next year, where Paducah, Kentucy will be  another thing ticked of my bucket list. I am busy attending quilts shows, flower festivals and finishing a number of UFO's. Enough to keep me out of mischief.

At present in Sydney, there are a couple of quilt exhibitions on at present, one in the Manly regional Gallery and another in Gymea,in the Hazelhurst Gallery, both are great and well worth a look. Manly has an exhibition of quilts from the collection of Annette Gero, this is a great collection of wartime quilts, mainly made from military uniforms, lapels, wool and intricate hand work. Photos were allowed to be taken for personal use only and not for social media.

Manly Regional Gallery

 Hazlehurst Gallery has a great collection of early Australian made quilts, no photos were allowed to be taken, I did manage to purchase the book, called "Labours of Love", which has photos of the quilts exhibited. Hazlehurst gallery is a great place to visit and have lunch. The quilts mainly from late 1800's were hand pieced or EPP. I have just completed one similar to one of the quilts on display, a quilt made with fussy cut shapes to make a hexagon.The quilt made by Fredriricka Mary Josephine was the inspiration for the Springwood quilt show raffle quilt in 2012, varied slightly with a centre reproduction panel, The quilt was called "Homage"

My finished version of FMJ quilt.

Another quite large quilt, measuring 2.97 mrts by 2.47mtrs. 

Entrance to Hazelhurst Gallery

Cafe and eating area.

 The year 2015 has proven to be a very productive year for me in finishing UFO's and making a couple of quick quilts for gifts to give to family. I have also dabbled into some Zen doodling, which has proven to be quiet therapeutic and created some cushions. Adult colouring books are quite the rage these days, a wonderful way to bring a little calm into very stressed lives.

I am in the midst of setting up a sewing area, rearranging my fabrics so that it can be a bit easier to find my fabrics when commencing another project, as I have so much fabric, I have set myself an amazing task. Whilst doing some tidying up, it is time to purge and get rid of some fabric as well. Windsor Downs annual garage sale is on the 14 th November, so the perfect opportunity arose to have a big clean up.

In the middle ofSeptember, 

 I took the opportunity to fly to Toowoomba to visit my sister and enjoy the festivities with "Carnival of flowers". The carnival celebrates a whole week of flowers, garden competitions, quilt shows, teapot extravaganza, clivia shows and craft demonstrations. My sister and I had a great time attending all the events that the carnival f flowers had to offer.

I will share with you a couple of quilts from the three shows we visited.

Aptly named "Cathederal Windows" all hexagons.

Susan Smith design" Stonefield"

 I had a wonderful time with my sister, touring gardens, visiting three quilt shows, teapot display and arts and craft at Geham.

The Geeham school hall where the arts and crafts display was held.

Me in the grand champion garden in Twoowoomba

My sister Esme, being a wonderful companion and holding her sisters purchases, interesting, seeing I bought a lot of plants and will be flying home .

Well this post has been in the making for awhile, got kinda busy with spring cleaning etc, now we are well into October, time to get a move on.

I will leave you with a photo of my adorable grandson.

2015 year of happenings

August is the month of birthdays in our family, as well as a few friends, it appears that I am surrounded by Leo's. What is special about the month of August is  delivery of our first grandson, born to our eldest son Nigel and his partner Sarah. Logan Anthony Raymond Hacker was born on the 15th August, weighing 3.1kgs. It was love at first sight, such a gorgeous little bundle.

 

 

 

Nannys first cuddle, sleeping and settled

Nigel and Logan baby photos, so similar in looks when born.

 

Such contentment, mother and son, my favourite photo.

Poppy having first cuddles

  Father and son

Father's Day celebrating three generations on the Nepean Belle

Nearly a month old and finally Uncle Alex has a cuddle.

One month old, focusing and smiling.

Being first time grandparents is wonderful and procreation from your children never ceases to amaze me.

Camden Quilt show- The Spirit of Anzac.

Being 2015 and the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli, the Camden quilt show, this year is dedicated to the Spirit of ANZAC.

The Camden quilt show is always held on the first weekend in August.

The quilt show coincides with an antique market as well. It is usually a great day out with plenty to do and see. 

Camden is a lovely little village on the outskirts of Narellan in the south west of Sydney, with many small boutique shops and great cafe's. The drive along the Northern road usually takes 1 hour but on the way there was is a lot to see. My fist stop is at Luddenham where a little trash and treasure market is held in the church grounds. It is always on the first Saturday and it is rare, not to go home without a bargain. Next stop is Cobbity markets, this is a lot bigger market with all sorts of fine produce, collectables and quality handicrafts, also a great time out to grab a coffee and some delicious treat for the journey.

Upon arrival into Camden I park, pay my entry into the hall where the quilt show is held and I head straight to the stall holders table, where on display and for sale are fantastic handmade goods, fun is had by all and lots of handmade goods are purchased. 

Below are just a couple of quilts that I really liked.

English Blooms by Christine Burrows, a Margaret Sampson George pattern.

Summer Flowers by Nadine Capaldi, inspired by Sue Cody.

Noodle Box by Michelle Colbran, a design by Chris Jurd, this quilt was hand and machine quilted by Michelle.

Fire and Ice by Birgit Hoffman

Vintage Bloooms By Janette Looms, made and quilted by Janette, this quilt features 552 different fabrics.

Viv's Heritage Sewing Collectables

Viv at her stall and all the wonderful sewing memorabilia for purchase, a great selection of collectables, all sought, bought and beautifully restored by Viv herself, with the wonderful help of her dear hubby Ernie. 

Viv's stall is always beautifully presented, great to fossick through and pick up a bargain. The sewing memorabilia is sourced from all over the world.

Viv with her offsider, Virginia.

I hope you enjoyed the journey, until next time.

"Lest we Forget"

On the countdown

My how time flies when you are busy having fun, making and creating. I cannot believe it is 7weeks since we have returned from our holiday.  Our next holiday is being planned, we are off to Mexico and USA, ending our trip with 4 days in Paducah, Kentucky for the annual quilt festival. It will be wonderful to visit Hancocks fabric shop. In early June, I attended the Sydney Quilt show with a few friends. I must say the new venue at Glebe Island is very bright and loads of space, not sure but I felt that attendance was down in numbers as well as less stall holders.

This year was a red and white quilt challenge and lots of bright quilts were featured as well.

Below are just a few of my favourites.

This quilt was done by Merelyn Pearce, very intense stippling,also won the R &W category

Just love the redheads also, made by Colleen Harradine, so many others that were wonderful and hard to photograph all of them.

The Aussie true blue quilts were so creative and a pleasure to peruse.

Anzac quilt done by the Central Coast hand weavers, spinners and textile arts "Under pinned Anzac" won the group quilt.

Another favourite was "Round the Garden" by Wendy Williams.

There were many great entries, such a delight to look at and gather inspiration.

On the 5th July, my son Nigel and his fiancée Sarah, had a baby shower for our eagerly anticipated grandson, only 6 weeks to go before we meet our little man. I must say the baby shower was a great success and he will be one very spoilt little boy with all the wonderful gifts given by family and friends.

Both his parents are also getting very excited as the time of his impending birth draws near.

Kerrianne did a wonderful job of making the cake. The cupcakes were delicious.

Nigel and Kylie also shaped a fruit bowl into a baby, yummy fruit salad.

Not hard to guess what we are expecting in August.

With the impending birth of our grandson, time to whip up a few quilts, monkeys seem to be a favourite with the expectant mother.

Pinniocchio quilt

Beatrix Potter fun

Just a little red and white of my own, I bought this quilt top in Houston last year, circa1920-30's, I have just had it quilted to finish it off, I am very pleased with how it has turned out.

Great to own a vintage red and white quilt, a little history,  I Might call it " Lost Property "

Embroidery is stem stitch, and very nicely done.

Finally back from the quilters, continuing on with my normal tradition, not a small quilt, 2.9 metres long. This is my version of MSG "Anne Leven's quilt featured in Quiltmania 

Progress on my African quilt, modelled on Chris Jurds strippy sampler, I'm nearly finished.

What was that "!!!! I am finished, off to the quilters on Tuesday.

This one measures 3.3 metres long.

This was a challenging quilt with lots of creative blocks, a pleasure to sew and I must say I am happy with the overall effect. until next time!

End of our epic Journey, highlights recapped.

The YWith a few days rest in ultimate luxury, it is has given me some time to reflect on how fortunate I am, I feel that with all our  hard work and dedication all, that we have strived and achieved has paid off. DH and I Feel blessed, we have a wonderful marriage, two gorgeous sons, a wonderful daughter in-law and are 

soon to be grandparents. With the end of our seven week sojourn, it is time to step back into reality and get on with everyday life. In reflection of our holiday, a friend asked me to do the highlights of our trip. So with a few hours to spare, what I mention below is what has been most important to me on our trip.

What was so wonderful about travelling to our destinations, was to meet up with old and new friends, met either through travelling or friendships developed when living close and then friends migrate.

So the highlight for me was to meet and greet two friends in particular we met 2 years ago whilst travelling in South America.

In London, Allan Hymers and Jill, loved catching up with you both, a great evening, thank you Allan and Jill for a wonderful evening and your wonderful company.

The Churchill arms, a great night.

The V & A museum. London, Kensington South.

In Lisboa, Portugal, Teresa, great to see you and have you show us Lisboa from your perspective, thank you for a wonderful evening and your hospitality, very much appreciated.

Santini  ice cream.

This was an unfinished embroidery work, with beads and stump work, I could not stop looking at it.
Sintra Royal Palace. I just loved visiting this palace and Sintra is well worth a visit.

Gorgeous tiles in Portugal.

In between our UK tour, Spain, Portugal and Morrocco, we spent a couple of days with our dear friends from Australia, who migrated to Wales in 2010, we had a wonderful few days catching up on old times, sightseeing and washing. Joana knows me very well and tailored what exploring we were going to do, so I felt quite privileged to be taken to a flea market, quaint villages and world heritage sights.

Our enjoyable day in Llangollen.

Bridge with aqueduct.

Aqueduct.

Jo feeding the geese and chickens, faithful dogs following.

Thanks Jo and Allan for an enjoyable few days your generous hospitality and allowing me to do three loads of washing forever grateful. Next when we visit, we are now aware of a few travelling tips.

When in Spain, we visited the Sevilla cathedral with Christopher Columbus coffin, so ornate.

Cathedral Sevilla

Esplasa, Sevilla, amazing tiles and coat of arms for every city in Spain, well worth a visit.

The Scottish highlands was a great place to visit all being cold. just loved the highland cows.

The English countryside. the Cotswold, Bath and Chester in Wales.

Cotswold

Chester.

Bath, Jane Austin country.

Bath and shops over footbridge.

France, visiting Nantes and Paris was enjoyable, using the rail system was excellent 

Meeting authors of quilting books published by Quiltmania was pretty special, also seeing Di Fords Mountmellick quilt in the flesh was wonderful. it is being hand quilted..

Hand quilting Mountmellick.

Overall we had a wonderful time. Morrocco, was a disappointment, I am pleased that I visited, but also pleased to leave. Fez had a little more culture, but again, not a wow factor, my trip to Egypt was way better and more enjoyable. DH and I both enjoyed our cosmos tours, but felt that they were quite large, we had thirty people on our UK trip and fourtyfive on our Spain trip, everyone was punctual and the trips went generally well, but we are both used to doing a smaller group and will continue to do so in the future.

With our stay for three days in Abu Dhabi, we made the decision to rest up and enjoy our six star accomadation, did a little shopping and enjoyed some R & R.

My Surf and Turf meal at Jummeirah.

Some buffalo wings for starters and a ginger mock tail.

Our breakfast room.

Pool area.

Fountain, pool in foyer of hotel.

We finished off our holiday in Abu Dhabi with a little luxury and R & R, we chose not to do any more sightseeing as we were over it,  we took this time to chill,  last day of our holiday, our flight home Is tonight, home to family and friends.  We  finished off with a bit of decadence, high tea on the observation deck of Jumeriah at Etihad Towers.

Until next time....