Catching Up

A surprise birthday present received last week from one of my dearest Stitchy Friends. Thankyou.

Leanne Beasley's 365 Challenge - March block and "Stairs to the Stars" block from Quilters' Cache. One more block to write up and one more red star block to piece and it will be time to put the quilt together. "Bubbles the Fish"; "Thomas Turtle"; "Miss Bee" and "Caterpillar". Capricorn Quilts' Stitchery BOM - April and May blocks. Lynette Anderson's Noah's Ark BOM Months 2 and 3.

I'm in Love

The Phantom of the Opera was everything I'd hoped and more. I can't rave on enough about the fabulousness of Anthony Warlow - I was in tears by the end of the show. "Christine" was delightful - beautiful voice. There was enough comedy to lighten the mood when needed.

The current show is far better than previous versions. The costumes, sets, lighting, magic tricks etc are stunning. Oh, to have the imagination to design those costumes!

It's pretty obvious that our family loves musical theatre and great singing/dancing so I was tickled pink that the children thought last night was so wonderful.

"Music of the Night"

Tonight my 3 children and I will be heading off to Star City to see The Phantom of the Opera starring the fabulous, super-talented, Wollongong-born-and-bred Anthony Warwlow - I'm hoping and praying that he will be performing tonight. This will be the third time I've seen the Phantom since 1992 (and the second time for my children) but tonight is the first time I will have seen it with Anthony Warlow and is by far the most anticipated.

I saw Anthony Warlow in a local production of The Wiz when he was about 17 and was blown away by his voice, so have been a huge fan ever since.

Cyber Stitching

3 posts in 3 days - unheard of.

Mrs Martin from Mrs Martin's Quilt Shop is hosting a Cyber Stitching Day to coincide with one of the regular stitching day organised through her shop. I've joined up - not sure if I'll be stitching on the same day, but it's a great excuse to receive goodies in the mail from some of our favourite designers.

In the Pink

One Baby Butterfly and one Little Frog:

The lime green quilt is sewn together but I won't take a photo until it's quilted - maybe this weekend ("Sharon's Roses" has been put aside ... again).

Reading

I love to read almost as much as I love to stitch. I am about halfway through Jodi Picoult's "Change of Heart" and am finding it pretty difficult going. One of the reviews on Jodi Picoult's website says "Do you remember the last book you read where, after each couple of pages, you had to set the novel aside and regroup?" - I am finding this very much to be true. I think she's a wonderful writer but can only take this book in small doses.

Jennifer Chiaverini's "The Winding Ways Quilt" is waiting on my bookshelf and I'm looking forward to reading this next. I have loved every one of her books.

The stitching on the last two "Sweet Pea's Quilt" blocks is finished and, with a bit of luck I might have time to stitch the whole top together this weekend. My brother, the expectant grand-dad, is here for a surprise visit. If I'd know earlier, I could have had a mental health day today to put the quilt together. Can now start stitching the pink version. The on-line stitching group I belong to had a Cinderberry Stitches swap. I made "Spring Medley" wallhanging as a cushion for my partner. I hope the Narromine Club Quilt girls have a wonderful weekend away at their retreat.

Who's a lucky girl?

Arrived home from work today, collected the mail from the letterbox and found an unexpected parcel. Pulled off the brown paper wrapping and inside was this lovely fabric-wrapped package.



Undid the fabric wrapping to find a beautiful set of "A Yuletide Blessing" fat quarters. Thank you so much Peg - this has been such a lovely surprise. I am thrilled to bits.

Baby Butterfly and Octopus

Two more "Sweet Pea's Quilt" blocks:

One more is finished but not photogaphed yet and I'm onto the last block. Can't wait to sew all these blocks together - hope it's as gorgeous as in my imagination.

How to have an Excellent Birthday

All this happened yesterday:

1. Early morning visit from brother who is here from Queensland for the weekend. Lots of phone calls and text messages.

2. Lunch with The School Girls - Lynell, Denise and Gail.

3. Flowers from John delivered to the house while out at lunch.

4. Flowers from Peta (florist daughter-in-law).

5. Dinner in Sydney with John, our children and Mum.






6. Presents, presents and more presents - I think the older I am the more presents I receive.

Followed the next day by Mothers' Day with my Mum and John's Mum.

To quote my friend Peg: "I am blessed". Happy Mothers' Day.

... and a Big Red Whale

Here are "Miss Bee", "Little Frog" and "Big Red Whale". Nothing much else is being done around here 'cause I love stitching these little guys.
How gorgeous is this bathroom? This is at Patchwork Angel - had to take a photo.

Fabulous Weekend

Last night John and I returned from the most fantastic long weekend in Queensland where the weather certainly lived up to its reputation: "beautiful one day, perfect the next".

As a surprise for John, I booked a PT Cruiser Convertible for the 5 days - he has always wanted us to buy one and this was a great opportunity for a test drive. The look on his face was great. Thursday we spent tootling around Brisbane (Powerhouse, Emporium, Patchwork Heaven in Clontarf), then we went out for dinner at Manx (Portside) with Paul and Lynette - delicious.

Friday we picked up Diann (who shall remain blogloess) and went to the Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show, where we met up with Helen and Jenny. So wonderful to see the girls again - we had a ball. Jenny spent 9 hours on the train that day travelling to/from Bundaberg. Didn't buy very much - had a shopping list but most shops didn't have what I was after. We were invited to Diann's daughter's home for dinner (Angela is a fabulous cook) and we met the rest of the family, including the 3 gorgeous grandbabies.

Saturday saw Diann and I take off to Eumundi Markets for the quickest visit on record (the traffic leaving Brisbane was dreadful), then we visited the Patchwork Angel - what a shop! Was able to buy everything on my list (and more). John and Bill rode to Noosa (where we were staying overnight) and met us there later in the afternoon. Lots of laughs over dinner.

A bit of stitching before breakfast at Main Beach Noosa, a drive around the Sunshine Coast (calling in at Peregian Beach Markets) before returning to the hotel for the boys to collect the bikes for their ride back to Diann and Bill's.

Spent most of Monday stitching and chatting before our trip to the airport.

Some of my Queensland loot.
A top, top, top weekend thanks to my brother, SIL and dear friends. Life is great.