Show and Tell

Finally our first patchwork day arrived. Everyone is already running head first into 2009 so unfortunately all couldn't make it, but those who were able had a lovely day.

Ruth was busy catching up on some mending. With that out of the way, she can get back to some serious sewing.

Patty came along with a bag in a kit and left at the end of the day with a very nice, completed bag.

Kath was able to pop in after lunch and brought some hand sewing with her. A long term project that she can 'grab and run' to work on whenever.


Narelle also brought along some hand work to do, after the regulation cuppa of course.

Margaret was busy quilting a panel for her mum. Very Nice!

Margaret's been a busy girl over the break and brought along some show and tell. Oven mits made from fabric purchased on our shopping trip.

And an gorgeous cushion.

Here's a close up of the embroidery and lace hat.

Hope everyone is finding time for a little sewing in their lives and looking forward to catching up with others on our next day, the 18th March.

Does anybody feel like sewing?

We have the opportunity to have our lives return to normal with our first sewing day for 2009 on Wed February 18. All of us have been grieving for the families suffering after the events of the last 10 days in Victoria and in North Queensland ( please don't forget the flood victims) who will probably never have their lives return to how they once were.
As with any tragedy, questions are always asked but sometimes the answers are never found.
The tales of survival and loss have been incredible. Dijanne Cevaal has reported on her blog that KraftKolour has been burnt down at Whittlesea but the people survived. They have vowed to rebuild their wonderful mail order business and ask for our continued loyalty during the process.
How many other flow on effects are there from this natural disaster?

Wednesday, come along and be prepared to sew to lift our spirits.

Sewing Days Are On Again

Back to the grindstone for most of us and after much discussion we have managed to find a day that suits most people for some of the time. Patchwork sessions will recommence on Wednesday 18 February in the Hall.
They will hopefully occur every 4 weeks to suit some of us who " have to earn a living outside of patchwork and are bogged down with rosters".

The dates booked for the hall are February 18, March 18 and April 15.
April 15 may be a formal workshop yet with a meal at night before we rest from the busy day's sewing .
The account for the Toowoomba Shopping Trip has arrived and contained a pleasant surprise. Not so expensive as first thought. Darn we could have spent more money on fabric!!!!
We have also received an invitation for an expression of interest to attend if the Bundaberg Quilters organise a Friendship Day on June 13 2009. More details available Wed 18 February. So mark your calendars it looks like it could be a busy year again.

Toowoomba Trip Story 2

It was a fascinating trip experiencing the different methods of retailing.

The first shop in Toowoomba was beautifully laid out though cramped and full of nice displays enticing you to part with your money.

The usual " chain stores" were similar to our Bundaberg environment etc. but the sale time made a difference though.

This shop in Margaret St Toowoomba is not a fabric shop but a gift shop where one wonders about their retailing methods. If you can squeeze in here you may find what you want. That is if it is open when you wander by.

This is the view from the front door. The girls found less expensive Royal Doulton pieces in Myers though as they were having their annual sale.

When are we going again??

We're Back

Well it's Sunday evening and it's been two sleeps since we returned from our shopping expedition.

Four girls headed out from Mt. Perry late Wednesday afternoon and collected 2 more girls from their pick-up point and we all headed for our first night of accommodation compliments of Ruth and her Hubby. The idea was to get a headstart on Thursday's shopping.

Here we are Thursday morning getting ready to travel on to Toowoomba. Check your feet girls, we don't want to dirty the bus.

Shopping Day #1 ~ We managed to visit 6 (please correct me if I'm wrong girls, it was a big two days!) fabric shops on Thursday including a curtain place where a couple of the girls took advantage of the New Year Sales. Timing our trip to include late night shopping, we managed our shopping time wisely and had a good look around Grand Central as well.

After a good nights rest, we strategically packed the bus and headed off on shopping day #2. Friday we visited two more fabric shops before heading the bus north for home.

These feet could walk for miles if they had to.

A quick refuel for both vehicle and ourselves at lunch time, then we squeezed in two more fabric shops before the final leg home.

So ends our shopping expedition. Busy schedules have already taken their toll and our first sewing day for 2009 is yet to be appointed.

Happy Sewing Girls

2 Sleeps Girls

Yes ... that's right ... only 2 more sleeps till we depart on our Fabric Acquisition Road Trip.

What ARE we letting ourselves in for?

Mozzies?
Snoring?
Shopping till we drop?

Stay tuned!

Christmas and New Year Activities

Yes it is a new quilt top! completed by Ruth for her upcoming teaching stint for QCWA at Yeppoon in Jan 09 as an exercise in blending a print with some hand dyed fabrics. She has been busy along with everyone else. Just had to include a pic of a quilt.
Kerry has also finally been allowed to tell the world about her success in the DUQ Blankets of Love 2008 competition.
Narelle is still getting everything in order to meet all her Christmas and New Year Deadlines.
The rest of us are no doubt busy also.

Our Christmas trip ( a bit late in early January but who really cares) is organised for Jan 7,8,9.
We are off to the WagnerHilton at Proston for Wed night. (just don't forget the aerogard) At least there is a hot water system that now works there.
Thursday, is continuing to Toowoomba for 2 days of Shop til we wilt. Notice we are going to a cooler place.
We have accommodation organised in Toowoomba O/N in a self contained unit. The Myer store is open until 9pm so our wallets can really be emptied. We hope to arrive back in Mt Perry sometime Friday. So save your dollars, forget about the Chrissie shopping and save up for patchwork shopping.

The itinerary of shops is still being worked out but there is more there than Mt Perry has so we should have a good time.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are off to an early start and I heard a whisper that we are going to be really busy with STUFF in 2009.

Still Here

Yes we are still here and some of us are still managing to fit in some sewing time. Demands on everyone seem to increase at this time of the year which has made it more difficult for us to co-ordinate the next sewing day.



We hope to organize one more sewing day before Christmas but be warned, it could be at short notice. A nice morning tea followed by a lovely lunch, with some sewing in between of course. And don't forget the chit-chat.




Plans are in the pipe-line for a shopping trip sometime in January. Fabric dyeing is also on our 'would like to do' list along with another retreat so stay tuned.

A Sewing Frenzy

In answer to the previous post question, yes we have been sewing. While we can usually squeeze in a bit of sewing time at home, it's when you move out for the weekend that the sewing really begins.

On Saturday, five of us girls set our sewing machines up in the local hall, had the regulation cuppa, and off we stitched. Sewing late into Saturday night, we were then back at the hall bright and early Sunday morning to finish what we started.

By Sunday afternoon and the last cuppa, we packed our things up and headed home. Everyone was very pleased with their achievements for the weekend. At last count we have . . . 2 bed quilts well on the way . . . 1 doll quilt completed . . . 1 table topper completed . . . 3 mug bags almost finished . . . 1 lap or bed quilt well on the way . . . many cups of tea/coffee consumed, good food enjoyed and wonderful company cherrished.

Thanks ladies, lets do it again.

Has Anybody been Sewing??????

Looks like we've all been too busy doing other things.
BUT preparations are being made to fix that problem.
2 days of sewing are planned for the Sat 8 and Sun 9 November. The girls have a project organised for the lucky ones who can attend.
The busy social calendar is hotting up in Mt Perry again with the Truck Pull and Art Show this weekend. So even less time for sewing but I'm sure all these other activities make our sewing life better.

Girls Night In

Drawn – October 3rd, 2008
Winner – Angelene of Gayndah

Ticket was purchased at Arts, Beads and Crafts,

Targo Street, Bundaberg.

An amount of $1907.00 was raised through ticket sales
and the “girls night in” function held on 3rd October.
This amount will be forwarded to Qld Cancer Council.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

There was also a table of donated craft work

for on the night prize draws.

All the Mount Perry Quilters deserve a pat on the back

for this wonderful achievement.

Special thanks to anyone who helped out in any way.

A movie; chemo friendly beauty treatment and lessons in self examination were all part of the evening. All who attended were rewarded with a fun night out.

Quiet Patchwork Day

Yesterday was a very quiet day for our patchwork girls. Ruth was beginning to wonder if she was the lone patchworker until Kerry and her Mum arrived. Narelle sent a text to say she was feeling under the weather. Everyone else had other things crop up that had to come first. That's life.

Ruth has completed her runner for the girlsnightin and Narelle has just a little more hand sewing on the binding of the small wall hanging. All other preparations are well in hand.

Hopefully next patchwork day a few more can make it. It's getting close to that silly time of the year when we are just all so busy.

Happy Sewing

Sewing Day = Busy Girls

Yes, Friday we finally made it. Seven of us were able to make an appearance for varying amounts of time. Kerry has things well under way for the Girls Night In and Ruth has made a good start on plans for our Christmas Shopping Trip that most likely will be a New Year Shopping Trip due to hectic schedules for the rest of this year.

Kerry has also been busy making a few items for a raffle on the night as well as finishing off another minky baby quilt.

Ruth was busy adding another prize for the night and something for herself.

Narelle made it by lunch and was able to stay till the end. She was multi-tasking while working on her PIF gifts. Except while winding the bobbin and enjoying a piece of banana cake and coffee, the cotton slipped off and lets just say the bobbin got a "little" messy.

Fay was working on a beatiful wall hanging for her daughter. She also squeezed in a hair appointment so had packed up when the camera came out.

Margaret is almost done on this stunning cream quilt, not her first.

Patty popped in during her lunch break and Irene was able to visit before and after work committments.

Wouldn't it be lovely if it was maditory for every woman to spend one day per week wholely on themselves and nothing and no-one else. We can dream.

Ideas For Spring Sewing Activities Please

Next Friday should be an interesting sewing day. Planning for some activities such as The Girls Night In, A Dyeing Day, Our Christmas shopping excursion and anything else that we are keen to do. So roll up with some great ideas please everybody.

Our Non Event Day AGAIN!

Our last sewing day was another non event day. This time due to ill health and work commitments ( really it was the cold weather wasn't it girls? Or was it the Olympics ?
Isn't it a shame that living gets in the way of patchwork. Both activities form a symbiotic relationship as patchwork looks after your mental health but isn't it a shame when the balance sometimes can't be achieved.
This is what happens when you only have a small group.

Plans are well in hand for our Girls Night In Cancer Fundraiser and Awareness Night in October. Keep an eye on the countdown. Hope the raffle ticket sales are progressing well.
Lets hope for some sewing action on Friday 29th.

Next Sewing Day

Hopefully our best laid plans for a sewing day on Friday 15th will happen. Some of us have been super busy doing anything but sewing.
At least Kerry and Narelle have been busy entering the Blankets of Love competition. No pictures are allowed so you will have to wait and see if they are successful.
The raffle tickets for our Cancer Quilt are being sold in many places. They are available from Arts Beads and Crafts in Bundaberg , various locations in Mt Perry so hopefully we will have some sales.

The Bundaberg Quilters Exhibition has been and Patty's sister Denise was a lucky winner of a daily raffle prize. The quilts were good to look at also. I think the white machine embroidered quilt made of all the small blocks won the viewer's choice award and the black and white challenge quilt winner was the penguin quilt above the challenge desk.
Ruth has been for a quick visit to the RNA Ekka and saw the Quilts Across Queensland show.
There were about 120 quilts to see. The hanging space is a bit crowded but well worth the viewing so if you have a chance to visit the Ekka put this on your must see list.
The dairy goats were very interesting animals as well at the Ekka. One was asleep with its head in the feed bucket. The dairy cows were also being prepared for their judging. Some have shaved tails and some have completely shaved bodies. The manufacturers of electric shavers and hair dryers must love showtime.
Back to patchwork on Friday so hope to see everybody there.

It's Rainin Again

As the song goes, yes it has been raining again. So much that it has disrupted our planned sewing day. Now we all love the rain in this dry continent but it would be better if the road builders would give some of us bitumen roads. Once our roads get wet some of us slip and slide in our cars so we decided to cancel our sewing day.

Next week it is the Bundaberg Quilters Exhibition and certainly well worth visiting. Wonder how Patty's Challenge Quilt will fare ? She is so proud that it is finished. Much better than Ruth's effort which is still in the fat quarter stage in the shopping bag.
Narelle is currently participating in a finish items by July's end challenge so with her enforced stay at home because of the roads hopefully that is happening.
Do all quiltmakers need a deadline to actually finish everything or does boredom with your current project win and it becomes a UFO while you start something else?
As Ruth has been sitting quietly handquilting her "must finish by 30th August project" she has been pondering her next project. It's amazing how many experienced quilters are right in their advice about this craft. Maybe it is better to start 10 things and work concurrently on them so the dreaded boredom does not set in. This at least allows you to live comfortably with the mess from that number of projects and be guilt free about your number of UFO's.

Our last posting about our cancer fundraising quilt was would you believe our 100th posting.
It is amazing that we have been online for 2 years. We try to post weekly so we are not doing too bad. Must give ourselves a congratulatory pat on the back.
Hope to catch up with you all next week at the Exhibition in Bundaberg.

Cancer Quilt

Here it is!! Finished at last, and tickets are selling hot! We are very proud of our efforts and hope that we can raise heaps for the cancer foundation. We're off to a good start and drawing date is not till October 3rd.

Last patchwork day (July 11), proved to be a great catchup for most. Narelle even came along; bringing with her both daughter and mother to join in the fun.

Inspirational Moments

Sometimes life cannot be all patchwork. Mt. Perry has a natural attraction on it's doorstep called Mount Perry Mountain. Sometimes we get the urge to go for an inspirational climb to the top.

BUT does it have to be in the ( fog) more like mist. Some of us started a trek on Sunday morning with some doubts about the weather. Raincoats came in very handy as we made it to the top. Up the cow paddock hill, through the wattle scrub, over the rocks, through the hoop pine forests, over some more rocks and through the eucalypts to the top. A small rest at the top and back down the way we came up. You could see nothing but cloud at the top.
Here is someone pleased to stand and overlook the town in the misty background on the way down.


A bit over 4 hours of climbing, laughter, puffing and panting and questioning our motives and sensibilities, and we were home again to a hot shower, feeling that sewing in front of a log fire is a better option on a rainy day.

But when you see scenery like these mossy rocks around the massive fig tree you have to be inspired by your surroundings to enjoy your own backyard.

BUT How come every time Patty has a suggestion lately it involves getting wet.
She has taken us kayaking on Paradise Dam, climbing Mount Perry in the wet, so where will she take us next?

Maybe the Bundaberg Quilters Exhibition????

Sewing Day 27 June

As usual our sewing days show the easy come easy go nature of our group. Some members took the opportunity of a free day from work to stay at home and sew. By all reports it was just as well as the dreaded lurgy hit and lots of doses of panadol were required to get through the day.


Other members grabbed the unexpected opportunity to attend and had an enjoyable if a bit cold kind of day. Mt. Perry Hall is notorious for being cold in the mornings.
A new patchworker also joined us for the first time, vowing to come back with her work completed in 2 weeks.


The Cancer Quilt raffle tickets have arrived and booklets have been handed out. Kerry has had very brisk ticket sales meaning the rest of us had better find other people to ask. That might be hard in a small place like Mt. Perry. A photo will be displayed when it has been photographed hanging in a commercial place in Mt. Perry.


Kerry actually finished blanket stitching her cot quilt bears in between selling raffle tickets to any person she saw in Mt. Perry that day.
Ruth has been hand quilting her large " secret quilt'. She has now finished cross hatching the centre panel.



Fay was designing another granddaughter quilt.
Margaret was still working on her applique blocks and talking about art.
Irene continued on her new project she had started a few days earlier with Kerry's assistance.


School holidays are a good time for catching up with small projects while the usual school trips and catching the blasted school bus does not have to happen. Next Friday 11 July we might see some young ones visit with us. Hope so.