Happy New Year!

Goodness me!  I cannot believe how long it has been since I have written a blog post.  Lots of things have been happening in my world, mainly to do with a beautiful little granddaughter and I've not got a lot of quilting to show as I have been very focused on stitching Stonefields. 

 



I'm down to the last ten blocks but still have lots of hexie flowers and flying geese to do.

Chris & Amy gave me these veggie pots for my birthday and I am now starting to reap the rewards and enjoying freshly picked lettuce, tomatoes, capsicum, parsley and soon some cucumbers and rhubarb.

 

In October I was lucky to meet Brenda Papadakis of Dear Jane fame at Quilts in the Barn.

 

Evie got to play with her father in his excavator (whilst digging up his lovely backyard).

 

I received a special parcel hand delivered from Holland from a special blogging friend - thankyou Ingrid xxx

 

 

I spent a wonderful day in Melbourne with friends, which included a visit to Lucello, beautifully decorated for Christmas.

 

We enjoyed a Christmas feast with our Saturday sewing group.  This year's Challenge was an eight pointed star so her follows some of the quilts made for the Challenge.

 

 

 

 

 This is my Challenge - a 4 inch star that was sewn into Evie's first birthday quilt.

 

 

 

This is the dessert I made - a pavlova wreath.  I'm pretty impressed with how it has turned out and have made several since :)

 

 

 We celebrated Evie's first birthday the week before Christmas and had a lovely day.  She looked beautiful in this stunning dress but unfortunately didn't stay pristine for too long and had to be changed into more appropriate clothing for playing and eating!

 

 She also had a visit with Santa and she was all smiles.

 

We also had a slight scare with a bushfire on the hills behind us but the CFA did a fantastic job of bringing it under control and extinguishing it.

 

Christmas Day and more presents for Evie - so much fun this year with her.

 

Buddy enjoyed Christmas too.

 

 

If you are still with me after this mammoth photo post, I wish you all  a very happy and safe New Year!

 

Sue-Anne xxx

 

 

 

Sydney Quilt Show & "Quilts on the Downs"

I went on an adventure in July.  I headed to the Sydney Quilt Show all by myself, flying up early in the morning, catching a train to the city, then a ferry to Glebe Island, the venue for this event.  It was fantastic, the weather was perfect, I got to relax and get a bird's eye view of the beautiful Sydney Harbour.

I got to catch up with some special people......

Julia, Chooky, Cardy, Jeanette, me

Linda, Susan & Chooky

Jean & Cardy

Quite a Gathering!

The quilts in Sydney are quite different to what we generally see in Melbourne and I really enjoyed this Exhibition.  Here are just a few of my favourites.  

My Drayton Hall - Lorraine Wheeler

Thoughts of Yesteryear - Lorraine Haworth

Errant Geese  - Jessica Wheelahan

(I really loved this one)

In The Night Garden - Liesel Moult

Metropolis - Hunters Hill Quilters

Birds of a Feather - Trish Gibbons

Aunty Greens Coverlet - Trudy Johns

Big Birds & Friends - Maureen Teager

Enchantment - Trudy Johns

Coxcomb & Currants - Janet Treen

(bloggers that follow Janet will recognise this masterpiece)

Of course, a visit to a quilt show is not complete without some shopping.  Two Kantha quilts and a bag later ........

I came up with one bag and went home with three!

After an amazingly fantastic day, I headed back on the ferry to Darling Harbour and then onto my son's home for the weekend.

On Saturday night we went into the city and Darling Harbour to watch the fireworks display and have dinner.  This is my new favourite dessert - Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart from I'm Angus Steakhouse.

It was a great weekend away and I can't wait to do it all again next year. 

This is the flyer for the Inaugural Quilts on the Downs Quilt Show and if you are able to go, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.  Heather and her helpers have been working really hard to put it all together and I think it is going to be a huge success.

I've had a bit of help writing this post today, and it's the kind of help I could probably do without but he is nice and warm from the heat of the laptop and purring his little heart out.

Sue-Anne xxx