QATW and POSTCARD SWAP .....

 I joined in with QATW and signed up for a postcard swap. I made 5 postcards and sent them over the seas to the USA and a local one to Brisbane. It was fun to make them.

I only took a photo part way through while I was making them and not when they were completed. Hopefully I can get a photo when they arrive at their new home. These are the ones I made. I decided not to post the selvedge edge one. That’s still sitting here for the next swap.

I decided to stamp a postcard symbol on the calico and attach to the back of the card. A special message from Australia...

I did a fancy pattern around the edge..

When I got back from my special little holiday I had these waiting for me...

I must have known not to send the selvedge one as someone else was making them too. And I received this one from.  Robin - RsIslandCrafts - Florida

Robin made hers with card stock on the back with a little message .

Then I got this one from Sheila... in Colorado.

Sheila left the back empty so I can write a message and send it on to someone else. How cute.

The last one I received was from LaDawn in Texas.

How sweet are these hearts. I think they were made around Valentine’s Day. The backing was made with calico and was posted as a normal postcard. It was stamped and arrived as normal. The postmark was dated 22 Feb 2021. It was here by 12 March 2021. Not long at all.

This just turned up from Laura..

I do know that Tracey has received mine in Brisbane Qld 

but the others have not received them in the USA.  Mine were posted on the 16 February 2021. How long will they take...

Candis has received this one I made for her. I added these cute felt Easter shapes.

This was a cute owl bow tie block I had left over from my quilt. There are lots of gold beads sewn on too.

This is the one Laura received.

This one was sent to Tracey. Do you like the eye I added..

Then here is the one that Veronica received

On Ringo Lake is finished...

 Hooray, I have finished it..... ON RINGO LAKE

The binding is complete and I am so happy with this finish...

March UFO is done..

Thanks to Kathy at Slow Stitching done I got this finished.

. It was relaxing sitting and stitching. 

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/03/slow-sunday-stitching_28.html

Shopping spree.....

 While we travelled to the Barossa we made a few stops at quilt shops. My purse is feeling the hit but I came away with a few good things. 

Here are some.....

I am going to make another motorbike quilt for my hubbies groups AGM. He wanted something different to the last two I have done. So when he saw this panel that was it.

Then there were so many for me to choose for a special swap project I have going on. I ended up choosing something very Australian. Now that I am home I have to pull other fabrics and choose a design.

So the fun begins....

I have decided on a design and the fabrics. Now I just have to make it work...

Now for some of our time away.

We stopped at this great lookout. It has such a wonderful view.

It was an amazing view. We saw so many beautiful places. So many to post about.

We arrived at our accommodation in Lyndoch and enjoyed happy hour...

We were to get a nice cheese platter and some lovely wine. Mmmmm not much of a platter... anyway...

We had a bit of a drive and found MAGGIE BEER’S restaurant. The funny thing that day was we had just been watching her on tv with the tv show... The Cook & the Chef.

This is where they filmed the tv show.

The shop seemed a little over priced but it was good for a visit. You can book into some cooking classes too.  There were some turtles in the lake and lovely fruit trees in the garden 

Our last night in the Barossa, after visiting a few too many wineries we decided to stay close to our accommodation and support the locals. So for dinner we went to the local pub for a pizza and join in on the trivia night....

We came away with a few bottles of wine we had won. Yes, surprise, we won a round and a word competition. So we beat the locals. Very good night....

Well our stay was over and we were on our way home. We stopped for lunch at Renmark..

Look what we saw on the river. A houseboat. If you could tell. It was the most amazing thing. I’m not sure how it still was floating.

It had a bath tub, garden, large fridge & stove. It was a junk yard on water but I’m sure somewhere in there someone lived. You could Moore here for up to 76 hours in any 14 days.

It was fascinating to see... After lunch we drove home and had to unpack, do the washing and groceries. Back to reality and to plan the next trip.

I’m off to see what else was worked on over at the link up at Wendy’s.

https://www.sugarlane-designs.com/2021/03/friday-night-sew-in-sign-ups.html

Other things happing on retreat.

 It was a great work with so many things going on. My friend was working on a lovely blue quilt. Look at this lovely block she has put together..

This block will look lovely with a few more to make a great quilt.

Then there was a lady here for her first time. She was making a real scrap quilt. She spent the whole weekend just sewing scraps together. Making them bigger and sewing the blocks together. Until this happened.

One side done

A bit more added.

Then WOW. LOOK AT THIS. IT IS HUGE...

Doesn’t it look great. Now I know I have to get mine out of the box and make some progress on it. It hasn’t seen light for 8 years... Maybe next years retreat I can take it and show her my progress..

Oh WOW it’s March and I need to do a big update.......

 I have done so much since my last post. Sewing, going away, celebrating a birthday, an anniversary, going on a quilting retreat. Oh I have been busy. I have done some sewing, completed a quilt, joined a panel swap. WOW, where to start.

Maybe I will start at the first Friday in March...

https://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-bit-of-this.html 

Well I was away with 22 women on a fantastic sewing retreat. The first one in over a year due to COVID..

Look at the view of Tranquil Waters at Lake Cullulleraine 45 minutes from Mildura.

We were well looked after. No cooking or cleaning was needed. 

We enjoyed Chicken mingions, roast beef & pork, stuffed baked potatoes, chicken kebabs & rice, home made pizzas, lasagne, cooked bacon,eggs,mushrooms &beans for breakfast. Of course we had desserts... cheesecake, pavlova, fruit salad, cream, ice cream, fresh fruit and cream. We didn’t need to worry about going hungry. This is a new owner just before COVID hit. It is the local caravan park that people take their boats out, camp, swim and relax. The new owners have started a cafe so you can get coffee, take away meals from 12-8pm. They have space for birthday parties. Actually, while we were there, a one year old party was happening with 110 people. They even bought some cake over to us to enjoy. Luckily it was my birthday so I got to celebrate with cake. Now for some sewing.

I saw this picture on Pinterest and wanted to give it a go..

I liked the idea of scraps in Red, White & Blue.

So I started here. These blocks were cutout earlier with my new go cutter...

Making progress.

Keeping in mind this was the first night of the retreat. I worked all day, hubby took me out, I unpacked, got fed, started sewing

And I got all the blocks made.

Next morning I got the top joined together. It’s taken home to work out if I want it bigger or do I just want borders added.

The Friday night was my anniversary too. Hubby was understanding as we are going away for a few days next week. That will be the next post...

Now, on to more sewing...

I made some growth on my scrap blocks. These strips were given to me and I couldn’t let them go to waste. They were cut into 1 1/2” strips. I got these done on the Saturday- 10 blocks

Then on the Sunday I continued and got a few more done.

Add these to the ones I have at home. Here they are now. I still need a few more...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. What better way to celebrate than with like minded friends, sewing away and not having to cook. Of course I had a drink too.

Now on to Monday. INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY.

This was our sewing room set up. With our eating tables in the centre. 

Sharing the space with women I didn’t know, sharing ideas and making friends.

What was I working on.

Of course it had to be my INTERNATIONAL SISTERS blocks. And the fabrics I chose to sew with were sent to me from Preeti. Preeti drafted her own pattern from a block she saw and the quilting world has gone crazy.. https://sewpreetiquilts.blogspot.com/2019/05/international-sister-block.html 

I mad a little error on some of the hands but they are still ok as everyone is different. The hands were sewn to the sleeve fabric instead of the background fabric. They are now just shorter arms. It is ok...

Happy INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S, SISTER’S, BIRTHDAY & ANNIVERSARY DAY TO ALL..

I came home after a great weekend. Unpacked the car, repacked the car and the following morning went away for a few days to the Barossa Valley South Australia with my hubby to celebrate our Anniversary.