A Very Special Book Launch

The Friday Girls attended a very special book launch last week at Avonleigh Country Quilting.  Our very own Marg Low has released her first book called Things I Love to Make.

L to R: Michelle, Marg, Jan, Sue-Anne, Helen.

Marg gave us all our own specially signed copy.

I'm extra excited because my quilt is in the book.

Over the Christmas period I did a little bit of Secret Sewing.  Marg had made a beautiful quilt called Magic Circles (pictured in the top photo) in lots of pinks and reds and my challenge was to do one in blues.  All the blue fabrics came from my stash.  There were 99 blocks to make and I am a little embarrassed to admit that I did not repeat one fabric.

I had decided that I was going to make this quilt for a soldier friend who is deployed to the Middle East so I made mine a different size to Marg's.  Once it was completed, I loved it so much I kept it for myself......

The leftover blocks didn't go to waste, they were sewn together and made into a little quilt and then given to my friend's grandson as a christening gift.

If you would like to purchase Marg's book or visit her blog, just click on the highlighted links.  It's a beautiful book and showcases Marg's designs beautifully.  Marg is a very talented lady and we are very blessed to have her as our friend.

Sue-Anne xxx

Where Am I Up To?

Has it only been two weeks since I last blogged?

I have finished the centre for Hertfordshire and it sits flat!!!!  I am extremely happy with how good it looks and I amazed that the stripes line up on the mitred corners.

Since my last post, I've had a couple of day trips to Melbourne.  First trip was to the Crow Gathering at Quilts in the Barn.  What a fantastic day we had!  Leonie & Deidre kept us entertained all day, they are so much fun!  Linda and her helpers did an amazing job, as usual, keeping us fed and watered.  And on top of all that, I got to catch up with friends, old and new.

Here is Jan, Michelle and Helen hard at work stitching their projects.

Left to Right - Kim, Elyte, Marina, Linda and me in front.

Sorry I didn't take more photos, I was too busy talking etc but if you hit the links above you will see more from the day, especially The Crows's beautiful quilts.

After leaving Linda's, we called into Needles & Pins, a quilt shop in Warrandyte.  My Saturday sewing group has a challenge this year to make a quilt in 1930's fabrics.  I had the perfect pattern but not one scrap of 1930's anywhere.  This is what I came home with.  They look so gorgeous stacked together like that,, I may have to just start collecting them......

So as if there wasn't enough excitement in the day, look who came into the shop to see her new book for the first time, none other than Di Ford! 

AND GUESS WHO ALSO GOT TO SEE THE BOOK!  We did!!!  As Molly Meldrum would say, "Do yourselves a favour and go out and get it".  It is a beautiful book and I can't wait to get my signed copy from Threadbear in a couple of weeks.

Notice the quilt in the background.  It is called the Unknown Quilt and is a Max & Louise design.  Its gorgeous and now another one I want to make someday.

Next up is Buddy, just after arriving home from a day at the beauty parlour.  We tried out a new groomer and he will be defiinately going back there.  Don't you love the little blue bow!  If my boys saw it they would say it is far too sissy for him but I think baby blue is his colour!

The very next day we celebrated Jan's birthday.  She'll probably kill me for putting a photo up but I think its a nice one.  We all put in and bought her a beautiful leather wallet.

Floral Beauty blocks

So then my other trip to Melbourne.  My darling little brother, who will be 50 this year, crashed his bike in a motorcross race last Sunday and had to be airlifted to hospital.  He suffered a compound fracture of the Fema (I saw a photo and it is something I would not wish on anyone) and they also discovered a fracture in his spine at T1.  It now turns out that the T1 fracture is an older injury and the surgeons have decided that it is stable enough not to warrant a fusion.  He is so lucky to not have a spinal injury.  His leg is not too good and I think there is going to be a lot of work to be done to get it alright again.

Waiting to be picked up from Rose after I got home was this quilt.  It still has to have the binding on and then I will have something for Show & Tell at Castlemaine.

Lastly, I am babysitting my Grand Doggy Lucy over Easter.  We were watching the football last night together and couldn't resist taking a photo with my scarf.  Christopher is a Hawthorn supporter so I can't wait till they play each other and I can send him this photo ha ha ha.

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter - hope the Easter Bunny brings you lots of chocolate!!!!

Sue-Anne xxx

Crow Gathering in the Barn!

L to R:   Michelle, Helen, Jan

Friday saw us up and on the road very early as we had a very important meeting - a Crow Gathering at Linda's famous Barn! 

We were welcomed with freshly made scones with jam and cream (still warm from the oven) and tea and coffee.  Our tables were beautifully decorated and we each got a huge goodie bag and a little gift bag.

The Barn was decorated in all manner of things from Crow Central and Leonie and Deidre instructed us on all facets of working with wool. 

This pincushion kit was in our goodie bag and this is my progress so far.  We learnt lots of interesting "stuff" and Leonie and Deidre were there to advise and help all day.  Thank you ladies for a wonderful time.

Linda, along with her wonderful helpers, put on the most amazing luncheon.  We had freshly made scones, club sandwiches, cheese and fruit platters, lumberjack cake and my personal favourite - mini merangues.   you can tell how good the food was, by the time I got my camera out, it was nearly all gone.

L to R:  Me, Rosemary, Elyte, Linda

A highlight for me was meeting Rosemary.  She is visiting from England and is Shirley's friend, a lady who I have become great mates with.  Wish you could have been here too Shirley!  Also pictured is our hostess, Linda - thank you so much for a fantastic day!!!  Also, thank you to Bev - why didn't we get you in the photo???

The day would not have been complete without our usual stop at Seymour Chinese on the way home, although I don't know why I ordered anything because I was still full from grazing all day!

Sue-Anne xxx

Show & Tell and a Kitchen Mishap

This is Helen's quilt that she made for her son's 18th out of brown and blue reproductions.  It is called Walnut Hill and is a pattern from Patchwork on Stonleigh.

On Friday we helped Michelle make a quilt for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  We managed to get all the stars sewn, then attached the sashing strips.  Michelle finished it off over the next couple of days and sent us progress photos of it. 

The quilt was made using an old 3 Sisters range called Wuthering Heights and she was lucky enough to find meterage for the border.

This is the Disappearing 9 patch from last post.  It is my mother's 80th birthday on Saturday and I made this for her.  The binding is stitched down and the label has been signed by all the kids and attached to the back.

Our eldest son, Christopher celebrated his 26th birthday on the weekend.  I decided I would make him a giant cupcake.  I have a special tin to make it with and it requires a double quantity of cake batter.  The above picture is how it looks.  I chose to make Chocolate Ganash icing to put on the top.  This pic below is the end result.....

I was worried about burning it and decided it was cooked (it looked like it was) and stupidly I didn't stick a skewer in to check.  I thought there was something amiss when it took a while to lift out of the tin.  To my horror, there was a massive hole in the centre of the bottom layer and it wasn't cooked all the way through.  I had already used a whole packet of chocolate for the icing, so I decided to cut up the cooked bits and ice them with the ganash.  This was at 4pm and as I was about to put the roast in the oven, I didn't have time to make another cake.  Thank God for the Cheesecake Shop is all I can say.

The weather has been really cold but beautiful sunny days and we have been sitting outside in the afternoon to warm up with the sun.  This is my guard dog Buddy.  He was concentrating very hard listening for the dog next door, ready to chase him up and down the fence line with his ferocious bark!

Milo, on the other hand, was quite content to lay in the sun and have a rest.  This photo was taken with my iphone.  Turned out pretty good I think.

Sue-Anne xxx