Where has the time gone.....it is already past the middle of January......I know I'm a bit late but I do hope that everyone had a lovely break over Christmas and New year......it is a bitter sweet time for me and my family as it was this time 9 years ago that my brother passed away....so we celebrate this time with mixed feelings.
Jens and I drove out to Central Queensland visit my sister Caroline and her hubby Sparkie and their families for Xmas.
We picked up Mum and Dad on the way through as they live just over two hours north of us. Dad is not into driving these days. I have some great photos of our trip out west but they are still on the other computer. I will upload these photos at a later date, when I get a little time to spare. The two following photo's are taken near Dysart.....along the way.
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| This dragline is at Peak Downs |
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| This coal train has about 70 - 76 carriages and 4 loco's.... |
We all certainly did enjoy our family gathering, there were 15 of us in a 3 bedroom house with one bathroom, and a camper van. Caroline put on a lavish spread for us, there was the usual aussie fare of mudcrabs, prawns, reef fish, home made spring rolls (yum), ham, potato salad. and so much more. Oh yeah the mangoes there were bags and bags of fresh Bowen mangoes..... We feasted for 4 days and then drove home again. Mind you the drive took nearly 10 hours......just to Mum and Dads place where we camped for the night.....then drove home the next day.
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| What a great day, everyone was having a lot of fun.....mind you it was about 36 degrees...the younger ones had good sun protection for the blow up pool......... |
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| After a big day and quite a few Mia Tia's |
I have finally got myself organized in the Studio, there is still some more tidying to do. The longarm machine is in......it took a bit to get there, I had to get a technician to come and look at the machine as it did not sound the best when we started it up. All is good now.....purring like a kitten....just have to get some practice in. It sure is a bit daunting when you go from a normal sewing machine to a 30" longarm. I don't think there will be a problem finding enough quilts to practice on. I have about 10 of my own and I have been offered a few from friends.
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| We have about 200 bunches of grapes ready to be picked and they now taste delicious, and hardly anyone took any home. Oh well the water dragons and chooks enjoy them. Dad and I picked about 5kg and you couldn't tell where we had been.....I frozen the ones I picked to make jam later on...... |
I invited the Thursday ladies to come out to visit last Saturday. They are often asking about my Studio and the garden. So after class on Saturday they came for afternoon tea and we had a show and tell between the two groups.
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| This is Margaret's quilt. it is so bright and colourful |
A good time had by all I think. There were other quilt during the afternoon, but I was so busy that I forgot to take photo's. I also offered everyone the chance to grab anything they wanted from the two tables I had piled with all my stuff, that I do not want anymore.
And they could help themselves to picking some grapes. Now I'm left with 3 boxes of books and a very large bag of scraps still. I am going to take the fabric to the Neighbourhood Centre and offer a class in English paper piecing in March. There must be enough fabric to make at least five queen sized quilts, but the ladies will be making a table runner.
Now that I look at this photo I see some orphan log cabin blocks that I might send down to Jan-Maree at http://aussieheroquilts.blogspot.com.au/......
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| This is my favourite scrappy hexagon quilts |
Anyway enough for today...until next time......happy stitching and don't forget to take thyme to smell the roses.
Cathy
