summer school and new year's resolutions

Its been so long since I posted, but life has ben more than a little hectic. My daughter has kept me busy having some surgery, Christmas, a few trips to Sydney and most of all getting ready for summer school.

Summer school in the Blue Mountains this year, was terrific. It was especially wonderful not having to organise it! Lots of girls who attended our summer school at patchwork on Stonleigh came back ( so nice to catch up with you), lots of girls from fabric club ( so nice to put a face to a name) and lots of new girls, from all over Australia. Everyone had a great time, so next year we will be back.

The Blue mountains is such a lovely place. The last time I had been there was for my brother's first birthday and he is now 46 years old, so quite some time ago!

Each day at lunchtime we had show and tell. Some beautiful quilts, antique and new were on display each day, sooo much beautiful work to be seen and inspire everyone to go home and finish a few more projects this year. I just loved this antique sampler quilt from the 1930's.

Classes each day were busy busy, and a few great shops from Sydney came with lots of gorgeous fabric. Unfortunately I found a few new pieces of fabric I needed to take home.

I came away from summer school, tired, but inspired to get into my sewing.

So my quilting resolutions for this year, are to finish the applique, quilt and bind  my Ann Daggs quilt. This photo was before the final border was attached.
I want to complete the quilt top of Irish Circles ( so much to do this might be impossible!!!) but I will give it a try. First I need to find the box of blocks I have already started, and hope it has been busy growing inside without my help.

I want to hand quilt my St Neot Band Sampler

and finish my little sparrow quilt. I wasnt happy I didnt quite get this done before summer school.

I have a few other quilts to complete the top- my sparrows nest

and of course two new quilts for summer school next year. At least this year I have decided what I will make, so the worst part is already done.

I hope this year is uneventful!!!

road trips

This time of year is a really busy time for me, it's ballet season, birthday season ( we have seven birthdays in August in our family and extended family), summer school quilting underway plus a few roadtrips to Melbourne for doctor's visits and a few trips to Sydney for work. Somehow everything gets done and I enjoy the time to myself in the car, to ponder over what I am planning to make over the next few months.
I make many quilts in my head, few ever happen!

However, I am zooming along with my summer school quilt "The St. Neot Band Sampler". I am totally enjoying making it. I hope to have it almost completed when I go to Essendon Quilter's quilt in in two weeks time- Saturday 3rd September. I am the guest speaker and looking forward to it.

When I was in Sydney a few weeks ago, I said to Karen Cunningham, I was a bit stressed about getting two new quilts completed for summer school, but at this stage, I think its possible, so I hope to get started on the other one in about two weeks time. It will be just handpieced, no applique.

Meanwhile, Pleas, Christine's sister from New Zealand has emailed a picture of her finished "Little Sparrow Quilt". I have not touched mine since summer school. I'm jealous!

summer school

Firstly, Christine and I are both alive and kicking! Christine has her daughter and granddaughter visiting from Dubai at the moment. We meet most Saturdays at the Aspect school in Albury to sew, with lots of other girls who regularly came into our classes at the shop.
I have been doing a bit of sewing, a bit of knitting and lots of procrastinating over what I would make for summer school this year.
Karen Cunningham is running summer school this year in the Blue Mountains. We met up at the Sydney quilt show and discussed lots about what we were sewing etc. Karen is much more organised than Christine and I ever were. Summer school is going to be great!

I have made at least 100 quilts in my head for summer school but finally started putting my hands to some fabric the other day. I know lots of girls are wondering what I am making for summer school( I was too!!!) but I actually have done a bit of gluing this morning, so I have something to photograph.

The quilt is just a small quilt "The St. Neot band sampler". It will be in pinks and blues with little bits of greys and stone. I am hoping to get lots done over the next few weeks and will keep updating.

life after the shop

It has almost been a month now since we closed the doors of the shop. After a few days of cleaning out the old building and filling up our houses with everything, a new life has started. It feels quite strange for me. I had the first two weekends heading to Melbourne but this week I have got stuck into the cleaning up. The living room is so full of "stuff" even Douglas, one of our dogs couldnt find me in there a week or so ago. My deadline for cleaning up this room has been Easter, but somehow it might not get finished today.
meanwhile I have been doing quite a lot of knitting, but not a stitch of sewing. I have been thinking though of what I might do for summer school.
Karen Cunningham is taking summer school to the Blue Mountains. How exciting! Christine said to me the other day, she thinks she will go up and her sister said she thought she might fly out again. It will be like old times, without all the work, so we are very excited!
I have enjoyed my quilt thinking time and at this stage have several ideas, so as soon as Easter is over and the house empty of visitors, I need to start.
Christine's little granddaughter, Lucy broke her arm again a few days after we closed the shop, so she has taken up a bit of Christine's time as she missed the last bit of school, but when I went over to Christine's a few days ago, she also had some time off from sewing, but was about to start making some stars.

This month in Quilter's Companion magazine, is the special Civil war edition with the pattern of my little Civil war baby quilt. It is a great edition of the magazine with some really lovely quilts included.

Today I am going to try to sort out the problem of all the quilts I have at home. I need to have something built to house them!

happy easter and happy sewing, Susan 

new templates

Christine and I have been frantically trying to get everything done before we close our shop in a month's time. As that date approaches, I have been madly thinking of things I want to make in the future, and what I might need for the projects.
Last week I had to go to Melbourne to the doctor, so I made the most of the trip and had some new window templates made for fussy cutting.
I loved the little clamshell from the V&A museum quilt, so I had one of those cut to size, then a tiny little tumbler as I may as well cut out one of those quilts when I cut out the clamshell. Tumbler quilts make great hand projects.

At summer school Karen Cunningham was making beautiful little stars with her class, and it reminded me I needed a template to fit the 1 1/4" diamond, so I may as well get a 2" diamond template also, then the only one I didnt have that I use often is the 1/2" hexagon. So now I have them all, and maybe I might become fussy cutting addicted! There were so many wonderful little fussy cutters at summer school. BTW we do have these at the shop now in sets.

I also had a set of large circles made on three sheets. The sizes range from 1 1/2" to 5 1/2".
One of our most beautiful customers just made a gorgeous quilt for her granddaughter appliqueing circles onto 6" squares. She joined the fabric for the back of some of the squares and it looks divine, all in citrus colours. Christine and I are very tempted to copy!

....and some really gorgeous quilts

I am still going through the cd of the show and tell of our summer school. These are a few more of the gorgeous quilts we viewed

It is very nice as a teacher to see one of my students have this quilt all completed. "Stevie's Garden" is a huge task! But then again, I know of a few girls who have made two.

"The Wickersham Quilt" was such a wonderful quilt to make. We made our Wickersham quilts in a class over two years.  I still have to put my quilt together and applique a few of the side blocks. Its one of my quilts at the top of my list to finish this year.

Karen Cunningham brought out some of her quilts from past summer schools. "Bluebell" is one of the loveliest quilts we had at out summer schools

And this one "Yorkshire Dales" made from one of Karen's classes two years ago was a real stunner!

Happy quilting, Susan 

and more show and tell

I just have five minutes to spare so I will add a few more show and tell from summer school

Christine made this quilt and its a gorgeous scrappy quilt I think!

over the years in the shop, we have raised over $50,000 for different charities and great causes with raffles of different quilts. This fun and bright one is our current raffle quilt. we will draw the winner on the last day at the shop in March

and this circle quilt is part of Christine's addiction to circles following her "Eggs on Toast" quilt. The japanese border fabric is divine!