Christmas is nearly here and I've finsihed lots of stuff!

Here's a quick and easy idea for a last minute gift for sewing friends.

You will need a piece of print fabric and a piece of felt big enough to cut a circle about 8" in diameter. (I used a cake tin to measure) Draw your circle and add a tab of about an inch to one side. Make sure the felt is about a quarter of an inch bigger than the printed fabric. Use pinking shears to trim the felt. Lay the print on top of the felt making sure you have the tabs lined up neatly. Pin well and either using the blanket stitch on your machine or sew it by hand, attach the two pieces together. Then you will need to divide up your circle into eight portions. Use a fancy stitch or do it by hand. Fold in half along a dividing line, then push the sides inwards so that they meet in the middle. This gives the fan shape. You will now need a piece of velcro for the tab. and your needle/pin case is complete.

I've finally finished a Christmas table runner that I started about 18 months ago. I don't know why it took me such a long time to complete. Maybe it was because I put it away in that 'safe place' and forgot about it! It came to light a couple of weeks ago while I was looking for something else. Anyway, I'm glad I finished it.

I also finished my Lovely Gollies in the Tree Tops. A little wall hanging I started in April, I couldn't decide what kind of eyes to put on them. I finally settled on those wobbly ones you stick on. They look quite amusing as sometimes one will get stuck and appear cross eyed or wall eyed.

I bought this cushion kit in England at The Birmingham Quilt Festival last August. I don't normally buy kits, as they don't work out well for me, but I really like the oriental theme and the bonus of this kit was, the pattern is also included. I am giving this cushion cover away as a present but intend to make some for myself next year in colours that will suit my room.

The Moda charm square pack I won in South Africa came in useful, for this little table topper for one of my side tables.

Finally, I made these two bags for presents. The Oriental one was for my Kris Kringle gift at the sewing breakup last Monday. The other is for a friend.


Hope this post finds everyone fit and well, and looking forward to Christmas.

Surprise Surprise!!

Finally, I'm back to some sort of normal. After a hectic couple of months travelling we came home to the countdown to our daughter's 'Surprise Wedding'. She had organised everything while we were away, so that was a huge weight off our minds. She has always been very independent and has always said that she would organise her own wedding if and when she ever got married.

Well, the day we thought would never come, is now all over with. It was a lovely day, not too hot and for once it didn't rain.

They didn't want the problem of having to have the 'hens' and 'bucks' nights, so the invitations went out as a Surprise 30th birthday party for Rowena, with David and his sister organising it. For weeks their friends were all saying how thoughtful David was to organise this special party for Rowena. A couple of times they nearly let it slip, but in the end everyone except the families were totally unaware of it until they turned up at the venue, which by the way was a winery.

Rowena and David have been together for almost nine years, they bought a house five years ago and had Jorja in June 2006.

Rowena and David Thompson

Jorja Thompson

The three of them are enjoying a little holiday in Tasmania at the moment.

We all had a wonderful day.

New Kid on the Block!

First off today I want to introduce you to Thandi. (Pronounced Tandy) While I was in South Africa I bought a book called, Quilt the Beloved Country by Jenny Williamson and Pat Parker. I was lucky enough to spend a week in the company of these two sisters while I was on White Glove Duty at the National Quilt Festival in Johannesburg.

The pattern for Thandi is in the book along with her brother, Sipho. (Pronounced Seefo) So this morning, I decided to make Thandi and this is her. I will make Sipho another day.

For those of you who love African Quilts, this is a beautiful book.

I was lucky enough to attend a class with the very amusing Linda Cantrell. Linda is American and was invited to teach at the festival. She also gave talks daily about her quilting life and she brought along some amazing quilts for us to see. If you have the chance to attend one of Linda's classes don't hesitate. You will learn a lot and laugh a lot.

I also brought home a kit for Santa Claus.

I made him last week. I know that I could probably have bought a kit here but this one was made up specially for me by a lovely lady call Tertia Duvenage as I was unable to attend her class. Thank you Tertia.

At the quilt festival, we had a twice daily Moda Liftoff Prize draw. I won TWICE! How lucky is that. The first day I won a pack of charm squares and on the very last afternoon I won a Jelly Roll in a tin. Wee Play by American Jane. I have put the strips to-gether and now need to buy fabric for the borders. Here it is without borders.

I have also completed another quilt since returning home but can't show it just yet as it is a surprise gift for someone who may read this blog. I will show you after the end of November when all will be revealed.

From UK to South Africa

My last post finished with a photograph of a pub. The Goathland Arms, aka The Aidensfield Arms, from the TV series Heartbeat. We visited Goathland on the way back from a day out at Whitby. This boat was in the harbour when we arrived.

The friend who came with us this particular day is called Margaret and me being Jennifer, the boat has to have a mention here.

Margaret and I on Ilkley Moor.

Look what else we found on Ilkley Moor! I have no idea why, but the South African flag was flying with the Australian and European Community flags.

Below is an aerial view of my cousin's house in North Wales.

They are undergoing alterations at present and will open as a five star bed and breakfast next year. It is situated in Denbigh next to the castle.

I was going to show you my friend Judy's garden next, but for some reason I can't seem to upload the picture.

We left UK on 3rd September arriving in South Africa on the morning of 4th. The next day we were right into pre-quilt festival activities. The hanging of the quilts took the best part of the next four days. Here are a few of my favourites.

The next three quilts were made by my sister-in-law Irene.

Windows into India

I Love Jozi

(Jozi is the name the locals give to Johannesburg)

Dear Jane

Here is Irene looking very pleased with herself after her Dear Jane Quilt was voted viewers choice. The quilt was made completely by hand, she used the South African fabric known as Shwe Shwe and the result was very pleasing. Well done Irene.

Oh yes! This is me and my new boyfriend.

Back at Last!

We've been home from holidays for two weeks. Had a fabulous time in UK and South Africa. It has taken me these last two weeks to drag myself into the real world and now that I have, I must admit to feeling guilty for not updating my blog earlier.

I'll begin with the flights. Firstly, Virgin Blue from Melbourne to Perth was very good, I can recommend them to anyone who just wants a no fuss and extras short haul flight. South African Airways were very good from Perth to Johannesburg. The flight was just over nine hours, the food was quite good and the cabin staff very efficient and polite. We arrived in time for supper, which was good because it was really something like 1am Australian time. By the time we got to bed it was more like 4am but we managed to wake bright and early the next day.

We no sooner unpacked and we repacked for the UK.

We flew to Frankfurt and changed there for Manchester as the only direct flights to England are to Heathrow! (We didn't want the Heathrow experience again). Frankfurt was much quieter, the connections were on time and we arrived in Manchester at 9am.

Had a great weekend in Rochdale with some old friends from Kevin's Navy Days. Thank you John and Sue for a great weekend and seeing us safely to Merseyside on the Sunday.

We visited Leeds, Whitby and Goathland (Heartbeat country) North Wales and Birmingham for the Quilt Festival. Sarah and I thought it was better this year as there seemed to be more space between the aisles. Apart from one little incident were Sarah was almost pushed over the top of a counter by a woman who must have thought that Sarah was going to get the last bargain of the century the day was very pleasant. We bought some lovely fabrics and Sarah found some Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler fabrics which are her absolute favourites.

Here are a couple of quilts from Birmingham which I thought quite spectacular.

Well done to these two. They may not have won any prizes but they got my vote in viewers choice.

And, lastly for today. Does anyone recognise this pub?

Kisses from Jorja!

At last I have a photo of Jorja in the sweater that I knitted for her birthday. Here she is blowing kisses because we are going on holiday tomorrow and will be away until October.

We leave for Perth tomorrow morning and will spend two nights at Miss Milly's Swedish Hotel in the centre of Perth. Meeting up with a Liverpool friend, Joy and her husband on Saturday night for a meal and a few drinks. Sunday morning we fly out to South Africa, where we will spend four days before heading off to the UK for three and a half weeks. Then it is back to South Africa just in time for the Quiltfestival in Johannesburg.

The table runners are now all finished and safely packed away in my suitcase.

I took the photo at sewing last Monday. We have a great wall there to hang the things we make. Really looking forward to relaxing and catching up with everyone. We have planned a couple of trips in the UK. One to visit a friend in Leeds and from there we will have a day trip to Whitby.

Whitby is a place I have never visited but after watching 'Heartbeat' we are in the mood! We mustn't forget that James Cook came from Whitby so we might learn a bit of history. Of course his home was demolished years ago and brought to Australia where it was rebuilt in Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne. Still there must at least be a plaque to commemorate him somewhere in Whitby, (One would hope).

Be good while I'm away, I'll try to post at least once a week, but this will depend on where we are and if I have access to a computer.

One down, Three to go!

I'd never survive in a 'sweatshop'! I completed the table runner below yesterday and have three more with side bindings on ready and waiting for me to sit still long enough to stitch them down.

We leave for our holiday on 1st August and with so many people to visit and places to go my mind is starting to whirl. I seem to be hearing from people daily who I haven't seen for decades. (and I really mean decades!) This is all thanks to the Friends Reunited site which I have been a member of since it began way back when. Probably has something to do with the fact that my school friends turn 60 this year. I suppose that has had an affect on us all. Perhaps we want to start the memory bank going before it's too late. So, it will be a very busy few weeks in UK.

We will be visiting the quilt festival in Birmingham with Sarah from http://everythingstopsfortea.blogspot/com If I don't get a chance to tell you about that, I'm sure that Sarah will.

Next Thursday, I am off to Melbourne for the Craft & Quilt Fair. My friend Carol and I are going by train. We both get a free ticket being holders of The Victorian Seniors Card. That will save a lot on petrol which means that we can spend more on fabric!

That's about it from me today. I'll show the other three table runners in my next post.