I had planned to take a photo of the quilt top I won in the auction spread out over the guest bed, but the light was so bad at the weekend, I ended up pinning it to the design wall. As you can see it is rather large - and it is all hand-stitched!
the bigger squares are all made up of four smaller squares - I just couldn't contemplate sewing that much by hand!
of course I came home from Australia with lots of lovely things ........ some which I bought, and some which were presents from my lovely quilty friends. First is this pattern in my favourite French General fabrics, which was given to me by Glenda
why did she pick this pattern? The answer is on the back
you can't see from the photo, but Glenda embroidered the fabric - I saw a sample piece, and her work is beautiful. This is going right up to the top of the to-do list
Karen gave me this wonderful fabric
to add to this collection, which I just couldn't resist
you know that I like owls, and both Meredithe and Glenda added to my collection of small owly things
while Helen had made this stunning wallhanging for me (thank you so much again, Helen). I think I will quilt it with sashiko-style quilting
when we were on our way back from the retreat, we went via Bendigo, so that Meredithe could pop in to see her Mum and Dad. We had a delightful visit with them, with her Mum and Dad staging a show and tell of all the quilts that Meredithe has made for them, and proudly showing off the cutest photos of Poppet, their beautiful baby granddaughter. We then went on to Bendigo Woollen Mill, where I could quite happily have filled a suitcase with their beautiful yarns. However I restricted myself to a ball of sock wool and some patterns
mindful of the weight of fabric, I mostly bought patterns in the many quilt shops that we visited .....
but I did succumb to this cute kit
I spent all of my holiday money in Australia, but I did manage to bring some back from Singapore!
Stuart and Alison stayed at the flat in Berwick while we were away, and when we went last weekend, I was puzzled to see their oven gloves sitting neatly folded on the dining table
I couldn't think why they would have taken them to the flat ........ but then I had a closer look
when I spoke to Stuart on the phone, he said he thought that I might be able to repair them, but I think it will be easier to make new ones!
to finish ...... I have been busy in the kitchen both yesterday and today. Maureen had given me a bucket full of crab apples, so yesterday I made apple and vanilla curd, and started off some jelly. Today I finished off the jelly, and using the leftover egg whites from making the curd made meringues (which look golden, as I used unrefined caster sugar, which was all I had in the cupboard)