Rainy Days

Gosh we've had a lot of rain over the last few days and howling winds.  I had a lovely weekend - lunch with the Schoolgirls on Saturday followed by dinner with friends then most of Sunday in the sewing room putting "Kiss Me" together.  Last night I added an extra border outside the flying geese border.  I might finish the quilt top tonight - only the final borders to be added.

No stitching group tonight - way too wet to go out.

Big Weekend

Slowly recovering from my big weekend in Sydney - had such a fantastic time.  Always so lovely to spend time with friends with no real itinerary/agenda, except to visit the Quilt Show and go to Kristen Chenoweth's concert.  Very few photos were taken.

The Quilt Show was wonderful this year - so much talent on display and many tempting goodies to buy.  Lorraine, Diann and I did our bit for the economy, especially Lorraine.  I found everything on my list, so was a happy shopper.

Lorraine was in charge of the purse for the weekend  - we even had change at the end of our time together.

Enjoying post-quilt-show/pre-dinner drinks.

Had some time for a bit of knitting - squares for the "Wrap with Love" annual project.

Lorraine left us on Sunday morning to travel to her next destination and Diann and I spent the day in the city before it was time to take Diann to the airport.  That evening my friend Barbara came up to Sydney and we stayed in a lovely hotel.  On Monday morning we went to the cafe where Michael is the chef for breakfast then spent the rest of the day shopping - once again was able to buy everything on my list (plus a couple of extras).

Monday evening we met up with Elizabeth and Barbara's husband at the Opera House for dinner followed by probably the best concert I've ever been to.  Aside from having The Most Incredible voice, Kristen Chenoweth is genuinely delightful and this was so evident throughout the concert.

Back at the salt mines yesterday - was a bit tired by the afternoon.  Thank you Diann, Lorraine and Barbara for such a fantastic weekend - loved every minute.

More Secret Sewing

While I was making the presents for Teresa, I thought my friend Barbara would like "Coquetterie" and a jewellery wrap, so I made a set for her as well.
 

That's is for secret sewing for a little while.

Had a self-imposed deadline to have the "Kiss Me" quilt top together by the time Diann came to Sydney but that didn't happen - hopefully over the next couple of weeks I'll sew the quilt top then I'd like to get back to the yellow/grey/black quilt "Picnic".

Swap Presents

Our on-line group had a swap opening last night.  I was very lucky to be receiving a present from Sue and she hand-delivered these beautiful presents earlier this week on her way to a holiday down the coast.  I opened the presents early on Friday morning:  Anni Downs' lovely bag and Travel Document Wallet from "Some Kind of Wonderful" made in beautiful French General Fabrics.

The bag is lined in this pretty floral fabric

I was thrilled to bits with these beautiful presents.  My other partner was Teresa and for her I made "Coquetterie" designed by Ros Mirrington

as well as a Vintage Jewellery Wrap (I'll add the designer name when I remember):

 

So, there's been lots of secret sewing out there in Blogland.

A Couple of Finishes

Last year at the Quilt Show I bought a mini-quilt stand and this week I got around to finishing off my first mini-quilt from Lynette Anderson's "Stitch it for Christmas Book".

A cot quilt was quilted over the weekend and finally the pile of unfinished quilt tops is starting to dwindle.

Jenni assembled her Ikea purchases on Sunday - they look fantastic.

My long weekend starts at lunchtime - woohoo!

Joey!

In amongst my hectic social life, I received an offer I couldn't refuse: a free ticket to see "War Horse" last night with Michael, Peta, Peta's parents and a few friends. What a magnificent show. So inventive and very cleverly staged.


The story is so well told. We were all in tears at the end.

1 sleep.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wow!

After our trip to Ikea on Saturday afternoon, Elizabeth, Jenni, Barbara and I had lovely afternoon tea at the Guylian shop in Darling Harbour, tapas and pizza for dinner then went to see "Jesus Christ Superstar" - to say I LOVED this show is an understatement.  It more than lived up to my hopes - fantastic modern setting - and it had me riveted from the opening moment.  Tim Minchin - sensational, a star; Ben Foster (Jesus) singing "Gethsemane" was the highlight of the show for me, closely followed by Andrew O'Keefe as King Herod (so much fun); Mel C as Mary Magdeline was lovely.

This is the fifth version I've seen of the show, starting with Jim Sharman's original 1972 version with Trevor White, Jon English and Michelle Fawdon (pre Marcia Hines), and each time I've loved it.  I suppose because it's 1970's rock, it's music of my time.  I took Elizabeth and Michael to see the John Farnham version, which was fabulous.  Elizabeth remembers so much about that show - blew me away each time she mentioned a little detail here and there.

________________________

At long last a couple of quilts are finished.

Ruby Chain - this quilt is based on "Island Chain" from "Scrap Basket Sensations"  by Kim Bracket.

"Ruby Chain" 57" x 68"

I love Bonnie and Camille's fabrics and am really happy with this quilt in their "Ruby" range along with the turquoise dot fabric for the background.

I sewed down the binding on Imagine Little Apples last night.  The pattern is "Imagine" from Carrie Nelson's "Schnibbles Times Two" book and I made is using Aneela Hooey's very sweet "Little Apples" fabrics, using the charm pack version of the pattern.

"Imagine Little Apples" 34-3/4" square

The backing

I should start assembling "Kiss Me" today but I'm going to quilt another cot quilt then I think the "to be quilted" stack may be down to two.

I love long weekends.

PS:  4 sleeps.

7 Sleeps

7 sleeps until Diann and Lorraine arrive - can't wait - and on the Saturday we will be visiting the Quilt Show.  If anyone wants to meet up for afternoon tea, leave a comment and I'll send you my phone number.

But, before the visits and quilt show come around, we have have a long weekend and I'm so looking forward to 3 days off, especially tomorrow - shopping at Ikea with Jenni and Barbara, then Elizabeth is joining us for dinner and "Jesus Christ Superstar".

Secret sewing left the house yesterday on its way to Teresa.

Next secret sewing is so close to being finished and I started sewing down the binding on Ruby Chain last night - very warm and cosy sewing a binding in winter.

Quilting, Stitching and a Movie

On Thursday night Barbara and I went to see "The Great Gatsby" - 3D version.  I really enjoyed it, especially the "look" of the whole film - costumes, sets etc were fabulous.  Saturday evening I went to see it again - this time with Mum; the 2D version.  Enjoyed it just as much - probably easier to watch because I didn't have to wear the 3D glasses over my own glasses, but I think I prefer the movie in 3D.

Over the last few months I've been stitching a Lynette Anderson Christmas mini-quilt (from "Stitch it for Christmas").  It's taken me ages to stitch this at work during lunchtimes - crosswords take up a fair bit of our break.  Hopefully the mini-quilt will be finished for Christmas this year.

A few little pencil marks to be washed out.

My quilting sewing machine has been away for a service and I needed to try it out because Paula is coming back to quilt her Floral Bouquet.  I put Ruby Chain (based on Island Chain in one of Kim Brackett's scrap books) onto the frame.

 

72" x 60"

It took just over an hour to quilt and the binding has been stitched on ready to be sewn down some time soon.  The binding is made from the backing trimmed off after the quilting was finished.  I love Bonnie and Camille fabrics, even more with polka dot background fabric.

Some of the secret sewing is finished.  A bit more sewing on the second part and I can post it away.

10 sleeps till Diann and Lorraine arrive in Sydney - can't wait!