BIG News from a tired but happy blogger

WOW, what a day it has been today! I've been bouncing off the ceiling and grinning from ear to ear all day whilst working at the show, so I'm too exhausted to write too much. However, I'm thrilled and delighted to tell you that my Crossroads quilt won 1st prize in the Small or Wall Quilt - Professional section at the Sydney Quilt Show today. I am equally if not more chuffed to say that my client and friend Lisa Walton's quilt Squared Up won 1st prize in the Commercially Machine Quilted Section (Lisa also got a 2nd prize in the Anything Goes category for her Sheer Magic quilt). And to top it off my newest quilt, a wholecloth called Welcoming the Bluebird of Happiness won 2nd prize in the Traditional - Professional category.

I am absolutely over the moon! I'm not at home, so have no access to any photos. But if you check out the guild website you'll find pictures of all the prizewinners. And you'll see the spectacular Best of Show by Mariya Waters (one of my quilting heroes, and the quilt is just amazing).

Confessions of an Infrequent Blogger

This is the view from my front porch this morning - usually I have a clear view of the escarpment which you can hardly see here. It's amazing how quickly the novelty of rainy days wears off, even after years of drought. I have to drive to Sydney this afternoon & I'm hoping this weather will clear a little - I hate driving in fog and rain.

I've had a couple of days of enforced non-quilting, and below is the culprit. My Gammill threw a switch on the weekend, and I have been unable to source a replacement locally. My Gammill dealer will have one waiting for me when I see him in Sydney tomorrow. My usual pre-quilt show frenzy has been somewhat curtailed as a result.

I have been enjoying some relaxing knitting in front of the heater these past few cold evenings. I saw this diagonal knitted scarf at a market on Sunday, and figured out how to make one of my own - much fun! I'll be taking my knitting with me to Lisa's to keep me from snoozing in front of the TV after our busy days at the show.

I'm nearly all packed and ready to go. I couldn't have concentrated on work today anyhow - I'm a bit excited since I got a phone call yesterday inviting me to attend the prize ceremony at the quilt show tomorrow morning. Watch this space - I'll be bursting to share my good news as soon as I'm able.

If you're in the vicinity, don't miss the Sydney Quilt Show at Darling Harbour this week. I've heard that the quality of work on display is amazing. And if you're there, be sure to call by and say hello - I'll be working on the Dyed & Gone to Heaven stand (G26) with my friend Lisa.

Snippets & Snapshots from a busy fortnight

It's been even more hectic than usual this last couple of weeks, and I haven't found many spare minutes to blog. So I thought I'd do a bit of a catchup post with some pics of what we've been up to.

Emma participated in the local schools dance festival, after much rehearsing & preparation. They did a piece based on the classic "Madeleine" children's story, and looked very cute dressed up as the "twelve little girls in two straight lines". Emma's best friend Brittany played the teacher Miss Clavelle as she has already had her growth spurt & is taller than the rest (that's Emma beside her holding the yellow umbrella). We were all exhausted after a week of rehearsals and twice daily performances at the performing arts centre.

Last weekend we made a fast trip up to Sydney to visit Rob's mum who has not been well. My brother-in-law Chris and his family were also visiting from Queensland. It was lovely to catch up, we don't get to see them often enough. Little Ella had a lovely time catching up on playing with her big cousins.

Today was little Georgia's christening - isn't she a little doll in her gown that Grandma made her. My sister has a beautiful family, doesn't she?

After the church ceremony there was time to catch up with friends and family. Here I am with two of my Aunties, Chris on the left and Cathy on the right. I am often told how much I resemble these two - I don't mind too much, they are both lovely.

And last but not least is this great shot of my brother Dave and his family - sometimes I fluke it with the camera, and this is one of those times, I love this photo!

I'll be back soon with more of what I've been up to - there has been art school assessments and quilt show preparation and classes and more, but that will all have to wait a bit longer.

Scattergories

I'm in the midst of a busy long weekend, and haven't had time to post anything much. Just so you don't think I've wandered off again, here's a meme I picked up from Deb's blog (actually I've combined two because I liked all of the questions).

Instructions: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following…They MUST be real places, names, things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Nic
Famous Artist/Band/Musician: Nirvana
4 letter word: Name
Vehicle: Nissan Navara
TV Show: Neighbours
City: New Orleans
Boy Name: Nicholas
Girl Name: Nina
Alcoholic drink: Noble One (Botrytis, yum)
Occupation: Ninja
Flower: Nasturtiums
Something you wear: Necklace
Celebrity: Nicole Kidman
Something found in a kitchen: Noodles
Cartoon Character: Nala (from the Lion King)
Something You Shout: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
A Country: New Zealand
A Song Title: Nebraska
An Artist (painter, photographer, etc): Nancy Crow
A Reason to stay home from Work or School: Nausea
Something you’d see at a Zoo: Numbat
A Snack: Nuts
A Character in a Book: Noddy
Something Icky: Nostril hair
A Six-letter Word: Novice
Something Breakable: Nails (fingernails)
Non-Alcoholic Drink: Nice cup of tea (sorry)
Something you Whisper: No.

Painting Day Part 2

After a glorious morning's painting, we all sat down in the restaurant for a delicious lunch. The paintings will hang in the restaurant for the next few weeks, and they looked great - such a variety of work.

This was my attempt to capture the view - I'm not much of a landscape painter, but was fairly happy with this for a 2.5 hour painting under pressure.

I like this one better though - it is abstract (obviously) and was inspired by the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees onto the grass. It's not quite finished - I'll post another pic when it's done.

Wow - nothing from me for weeks, then you get inundated!

Painting Day at the Tullimbah Inn

This was the gorgeous setting for today's "en plein air" painting excursion. The quaint and historic Tullimbah Inn at the foot of Macquarie Pass provided plenty of inspiration for our group of around 20 art students.

Janine hard at work.

Odette and her fabulous moody tree scene.

These two set up their picnic rug and got stuck right into some wonderful pieces.

Kerry with her beautiful watercolour painting (Kerry is amazingly talented).

We had such a fun day - more pics in the next instalment.

New class update

Look at what my clever students did on Saturday! This some of the results from my brand new class I told you about a couple of days ago.

Can you believe the different variations they achieved? All beautiful, and all expressing the variety artistic directions in the class.

Delicious, aren't they?

Blooming in The Quilters Garden

At last we have a new quilt shop here in the Illawarra - The Quilters Garden in Albion Park. I was there for a sneak preview on Friday night (apologies for my dodgy photography).

This shot shows just some of the fabulous wares that are on offer. Cheryl & Robert have done a beautiful job in getting the shop set up - it is light, airy and welcoming.

This is the lovely Cheryl - she's earned that big, cheesy grin. I hope her new venture is all that she hopes it will be.

And you thought I'd dropped off the planet...

Didn't you? I know, I know - I'm sorry. I never meant to stay away so long, but my life is just ridiculously busy right now & sometimes I just throw my hands over my head & cry ENOUGH!! But now I'm back, and I promise to try hard & do better. Forgive me?

Here is one small thing I've been working on - my latest class sample. There's much more to show you and tell you about but that will have to suffice for now - I'm off to a sneak preview of my friend Cheryl's new patchwork shop, I'd better go get ready!