Ready for Saturday?

Sooooo an early and rainy start, but by 9am I was installed in the main hall ready for screen printing with Karen.

OMG why have I not discovered the joys of printing before!?  I promise you I will be printing on anything that doesn't move this summer; I may even let the kids have a go!

I cut a little Carpenter-esk star for my template, and it actually worked, which I was having my doubts about at first.

Trash's pair got everywhere!

The 3 hours flew by, no doubt aided by the fun I was having next to Cindy, Nicky and Reene.

Karen was an awesome teacher, and everyone in the class came away with great printed fabric, bags and the like.  If you have followed the hashtag #FQR2014 in Instagram you will have seen loads of pictures, and everyone is smiling… or similar!

Pinched from Karen again!

Another top class that I cannot recommend highly enough.  I had to buy some scrap bags and Karen's beautiful book, it was the law!

On to lunch, I enjoyed an hour in the company of Jen Kingwell and Amanda; I probably spent an inordinate amount of the conversation just thinking 'I am having lunch with Jen Kingwell, behave!'

Then after a quick swap over of supplies I was in class again with Jen, this time for hand-piecing and appliqué using her Green Tea & Sweet Beans pattern (which we all got a copy of!!).

Again, wonderful relaxed teaching, Sonia and I settled on a sweet flower and petal block and may not have progressed very far in class, but that wasn't important, it was the being there that counted again.

Top tips abound; placing a sheet of sandpaper under your fabric to grip it when marking templates, who  knew!?

I will make the whole quilt one day.  I am planning on making a cushion from a few of the blocks for now, but I am so keen to get on with my Midnight At The Oasis again now Jen has worked her magic!

After class was the sample swap.  Hilariously Sarah, who one my blogiversary giveaway tote was in my group and now has another!!  I came home with these…

The little house is a lavender bag from Bettina, the purse from Cara and mug rug from Sarah.  I am a happy bunny!

Then onto the evening, are you keeping up!?

Market night first; I collected pre-ordered Cotton & Steel from the lovely ladies from The Village Haberdashery, and supplemented this with a yard more from The Eternal Maker…

I scored a Kona Colour Card from Cindy to add to my Fluffy Sheep pre-order…

A little bit of Oakshott…

Some little extras from Beyond Fabric…

Oh and then back to the Village Haberdashery for a little Far Far Away…

I couldn't go the evening without purchasing a pack of Jess's cards from Reene…

And after all that, there was the grand Siblings Together handover - the Jacks did a great job holding and folding…

Look at that pile!!!

So moving to see Delma taking these away for such a great cause.

Then Quiz night and pot-luck Bingo!!!

Winner winner, chicken dinner!  Go Team Butler, (named by Thomas Knauer's love and theory that all things come from Amy Butler), won the day; that's two years, two wins, just saying!!

℅ Sandy

I pulled Thomas into the team on the assumption that he knew everything; that was not strictly true, but good enough, and I laughed so hard, especially at the lateral thinking that guessing the names of the new Kona colours required; a yard of Sandstone anyone!!?

For my winnings and Bingo pick, I claimed a couple more Jen Kingwell patterns, including Gypsy Wife!!!  I am set up for the next 8 years I reckon!!

That little finger pin cushion up there was a present in the hand quilting class, but has ended up in this stalkerish collection!

So by then it was near 11pm, and I headed back to bed absolutely shattered in the best way!

Hope you have the stamina for Sunday!  See you tomorrow, (it'll be the last day of term and work - yippee!!!) xxx

Winners!

I mentioned last night that I was a member of The Team who won the Retreat Pub Quiz, (not a quiz about pubs, as thought by some of our overseas friends); we were lucky enough to win handfuls of Jen Kingwell patterns courtesy of the uber-generous Amitie.

These are what I came home with...

The Midnight At The Oasis was on my 'wants' list, so I am sooo chuffed.

Obviously all of us who were there were winners, what with amazing goodie bags stuffed with fabulous freebies from the amazing sponsors... Liberty, Aurifil, Pat Bravo, Moda, Ahkaban, Riley Blake, Makower, Eternal Maker and many more I have forgotten...

I think I did mighty fine in the winning stakes, especially when topped off with the sample swap.  I swapped my Liberty pincushions for this amazing haul...

... a fantastic cushion cover from the amazingly cute Rachael, perfect Pezzy pouch, pencil and ribbon from Amanda, a beautiful heavy-duty Retreat pin cushion from Mary and the prettiest fabric basket and extras from Sue.  I think we owe Trash big-time!  Thank you ladies for a super swap.

I still have selling, shopping and even sewing to show you, I know!  So more tomorrow.  I spent so much time and energy building up to Retreat, I am most certainly going to eek a weeks worth of posts out of it!

And so onto another winner; the winner of my big 3! giveaway.  Thank you for all your lovely comments, I am sorry I could not respond to you all individually, but please be assured that I value everyone of you who takes time from their day to pop by here.  

Right, enough; schmaltz over.

I will add in a couple of the Jen Kingwell patterns and other bits into the mix, because I am nice like that.  The winner is...

Congratulations Rachel!!!

I may well have emailed you already, if Blogger is having another 12 hour posting delay like last night, apologies.

Laters xxx

Is it Tuesday already?

Doesn't time fly when you are eating chocolate?!

I feel like I have had my cooking, eating and watching TV 'empty handed' fix, and now I am raring to get making again.

It might be something to do with these gorgeous goodies that have been in my possession since Christmas Day...

Fat 16ths of Lotta - Echo from my sister x

Echino, Aurifil and Liberty book from darling husband xxx

Or these that arrived Christmas Eve...

I was drawn in by Julie at the Intrepid Thread!

Winnings from Katy/Ginger Monkey x

More winnings, from Alison - Little Island Quilting x

I think I need to pick a last little project for 2011 before I go stir crazy!

Saturday Surprise!

When Peg and Becca let me know on Tuesday that they were posting out my goodies, the ones selected after winning the AtS gift certificate, I wasn't expecting to see my parcel until at least the middle of next week. 

So you can imagine my sheer joy at getting home from my shopping expedition to find a Sew Fresh package waiting for me!

So here are the things I chose...

A Terrain charm pack, just because I would kick myself if I hadn't succumbed at some point, and I am so glad I did.  I also got the remaining Little Apples needed for a repeat of my Confetti Pips quilt.

I also chose these FQs with no other thoughts than 'they are soooooooooooo lovely'!

And aren't they just!?  Thank you Peg, Becca, Jennifer and Sarah xxx

So I am a happy bunny, and having bought a couple of cushion pads, and gathered some buttons, ric-rac and the like, I have happily pulled everything I think I need for the 'Grandma cushion'.

I won the blue fabrics from Sew Hip about a year ago, and now I have the perfect, (and to be honest, only), project for them.  I was going to get on with it this afternoon, but it has been another warm and cloudless day, so lazing on the deck was all too tempting.

Seems like not a lot of real making going on round these parts, but I have been busy, behind the scenes, with November Brit Bee stuff, but no peeking just yet!

Rock the Kasbah!

Today when I got home from work, my lovely bundle of Moroccan Mirage had arrived from Julie at the Intrepid Thread...

I won these gorgeous FQs from Annabella, who actually lives in Morocco, which doesn't make me jealous in the slightest, much! 

If you are not familiar with North Africa, according to Annabella it is just like 1001 Peeps, and I suspect her poor mother is currently hiding in a basket, or wrapped in a magic carpet, whilst her clothes are being laundered, as the only luggage she was allowed to take to visit her daughter was fabric!

The colours are so stunning and I can't wait to have time to sit back and think of something that will show them all off to their best.  Thank you ladies, these were just the cheery sight I needed after my day of database interrogation!

Tomorrow I have a tonne of errands and phonecalls to make, but hopefully I will have time for some sewing.  I need to come up with a manly use for a Layer Cake!

Speaking of manly, here's a better shot of the blocks for Bee Blessed, last nights' pictures made them look a bit 'bleugh', especially the blue/green man-block; a bit of sunshine makes a lot of difference...

So for now, a Pinning session calls!

In Out, In Out, Shake It All About!

Well 'In' the door today came my winnings from Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio.  Earlier this week I won her giveaway for a copy of this fab book.  Woo hoo!

I've had a quick flick through and it is going to answer so many of my daft questions without anyone-else catching on to my ignorance - bonus!  If you have any questions, Nancy and I are obviously here to help x

'Out' the door went my two Goodie Swap parcels.  They are now winging their way around the globe, hopefully as quickly as possible.  I can't wait to reveal all - and now it's my turn to play the waiting game too.

I had a little trouble wrapping the second one and finding suitable packaging.  So it went from this...

... to this, classy but the perfect size!

... and then this, to disguise the box that I have now shown you - doh!

I think you should stick the music on partner, and play a game of lonesome Pass the Parcel!

Speaking of party games, we endured enjoyed an afternoon of Potty The Pirate.  Obviously, any excuse to pose, and our three are right there...

Tomorrow IKEA!

Awesome August!

A whole month of school holidays passed by in a flash!  So here I am again linking up with Lily's Quilts and Fresh Sewing Day.

We took a week away near Weymouth and had another week of family time, but I still managed to clock up a few finishes in August.

Firstly, I was able to reveal the mini-quilt prize I made for Rhonda at the end of July...

There were Bee blocks for Sarah...

... and also an eventual finish with a zip! ...

Phone cases...

Hexies...

... and a little Mystery...

A mini prezzie for Lizzie...

FWQAL blocks at long last...

... and my first 241 Tote...

I was lucky enough to win some lovely fabric from both Lizzie and Renee & Yvonne, plus a Jelly Roll from Mandy at Simply Solids; I got a spot on Rhonda's podcast and Cindy's Name Game, and also won a place in Pings' Japanese Scrap Bag Challenge!!

Some wonderful pressies came my way too...

There was the start of the Across the Sea QAL...

... and also a little shopping and behind the scenes preparation for my November Bee blocks (Mwaah ha ha - so excited!), and quite a bit of secrecy with Project 51, which I am so proud to say can be revealed really soon.

Oh, and this bargain baby...

I have to admit that even I am surprised at how much I was able to fit in!

September is going to be an even busier month, with Goodie swaping, QALs and the competition to make for.  School will be back and the girls will be starting for the first time on Tuesday!  I go back to work next week too and I'm shattered just thinking about it. 

Anyone got any energy going spare, I think I am going to need extra!