Lady Antebellum Concert

Just a quick post today as we are going to see a  Lady Antebellum concert at the Convention Centre tonight.  I am very excited to see them as I have loved their music for quite a while.  We decided to stay in the city over night due to River Fire ( annual concert / fireworks display)  being on at South Bank which is near the concert venue.   They are expecting huge crowds with street closures and traffic diversions, hence a parking nightmare we won't have to face now.

Well must go and drag my hubby out of the garage so we can get ready to go.  No stitching today.......  

FNSI Progress

I really enjoyed stitching along with Friday Night Sew In last night.  Didn't get a lot done but made some progress with my Gail Pan stitchery that I started back in July whilst participating in Quilt Fabric Delights Christmas in July. I am pleased to say that the top has been put together and pinned ready for hand-stitching.

I have been collecting a few two and half inch charm square packs, so I decided to sew 40 of the 42 squares together into a rectangle and make journal covers out of them.  The first one is Hometown by Sweetwater and the second one is Garden Party by Blackbird Designs. Just need to quilt the tops, add a lining and a journal to complete.

Well, that's my post for tonight. Now to check out some of the other girl's posts to see their progress.  Thanks Heidi and Bobbi for running another great FNSI.

FNSI on tonight

Tonight is Friday Night Sew In so if you want to join go over to Heidi's blog  here to sign up. Not sure what I will work on as yet but am going to sort it out this morning so I can be prepared and ready to start tonight.  Maybe some of those UFO's , and I do have so many, or maybe something new will grab me.
Lots of people have signed up already so will be checking out their blogs and what they have been sewing over the week-end.  Till then.....

More Retreat Photos

I am back to show you a few more photos from my retreat.  The challenge for the camp was to make something using doilies. I'm afraid I cut out mine (a bag with doilies on the pockets) but I just ran out of time to stitch it.  Below are some of the items that were entered and received a prize. The doll with the umbrella was judged first. My favourite was the tablecloth but they were all beautiful and it just goes to show what can be done with old doilies.

After dinner on Saturday night we were given another challenge. We were put into groups of three, asked to choose some fabric from a pile and make as many Breast bags as we could in 90 minutes. These bags are distributed to hospitals and given to women who have had a mastectomy and are sent home with drains  in situ for up to 3 months. These bags enable the drain bottles to be carried around inconspicuously.  In all, the groups  made over 45 bags on the night. The pattern for these bags can be found on the net.

Show and Tell was on Sunday morning.  I took lots of photos but I will only show a few.  The first one is the quilt top I put together on the camp.  I have had the stitcheries done for quite a while so it is nice to finally see it in one piece. I am going to scallop the border so can't wait to get that done. Sorry it is not a great photo but the stitchery is very cute. A Birdhouse design. 

Above and below is the same quilt. Amazing  how different it looks in the black, red and white. 

The above quilt is a Mystery Quilt that the Lismore quilters did for the retreat.  I managed to get the pattern from Marilyn (on the right) who organized it.   No curved pieces in this, just the way the blocks are put together.

Just a few more.

Made using a jelly roll including the pieced flowers

Above made using a layer cake and below another jelly roll quilt

Well I think I have given you a photo overload again. Till next time........ Happy Stitching........

Great Quilt Retreat

I had a wonderful time at Evans Head last week-end.  Hit the road about 10.30am on Thursday and after a two and a half  hour drive down the motorway arrived at the Lismore Quilters retreat.  The beach was was about 5 minutes walk away although the water was a little chilly for swimming.

 Here is the building where we stitched, shared quilting knowledge, laughed and generally had a great time.  

We slept in this room that had been used for the athletes in the Sydney Olympics. Late nights, early mornings so not much sleep going on.

One of the reasons I attended this camp was because I have been part of a group of ladies doing a Mystery Quilt that was arranged by my friend Christine who is on the left in most of the photos below. We had our reveal at the camp and below are everyone's quilts.  We had to either have it quilted or at least the top finished.  They all look great. It is surprising to see how different they look. The first two below were sent along by ladies who did not attend the camp so I 'm not sure of their names.  

My quilt above and Lyn below

Ellen above and Christine, then Liz  below

Sandra's above and  Jenny's below

The last two have the pieced borders on which were optional.  I chose to make the lap size quilt. I think my favourite one is the black and cream but they all looked pretty good on the night.
Well have lots more to share as there are lots of talented ladies living in Lismore area and its surrounds but will leave those photos for another day.
Till then........... Happy Stitching........

Camp, Sneak Peek

Packed and ready to go to camp at Evans Head about three or so hours away.  Looking forward to a few days of undisturbed sewing. Thought I would show you a sneak peek at my mystery quilt top.

I think I might have been a bit conservative in my choice of fabric, but I am still happy with how it has turned out.  Well must be off.  Will post about the camp when I get back.
Hugs........

Joined SSCS 2012

I have joined Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap again this year.  Looking forward to checking out my secret partner's blog and working out what I am going to make to send.

Next week I am going to the Evans Head Quilting Retreat run by the Lismore Quilters Group.  I joined my friends, Chris and Liz in a Mystery quilt along this year and so we are going to have a reveal of our quilts at the camp.  I won't have a chance to quilt mine so will just be just taking the completed top. Several other ladies have been working on this as well and they will be bringing their tops or finished quilts along as well.  Can't wait to see them all.  I have a couple of borders to go on mine so I had better get to it as time is running out.
Till next time.........Bye for now.....