Home Again after a fun filled weekend at Loxton

Gail and Lorraine have already beaten me to it and Lorraines account is very in depth so make sure you go and have a look. Unfortunately I made the top of Gails (thanks heaps).
Well we made it to Loxton safely thanks to Lee the GPS (left) though I was a bit worried when he sent us down the Port Adelaide Express way and they are still building it so it was a no through road. Never fear we did a u-turn and he "Recalculated" I could almost hear the sigh (my GPS does a lot of recalculating when I disobey his directions).


Here is Gail and Lorraine. Showed Gail my Seasons whcih is nearly finished and she loved it must admit wondered if she would because it is not exactly her colours.
I bought lots of patterns from each of the girls and of course Rosalie's book Gifts which is wonderful. Got the fabric for Gail's Summer Bouquet unfortunately I've lost the pattern, hopefully it will turn up when I finish unpacking. Here is a close up of Leannes quilt.

Saturday night was dinner at the pub which was wonderful but we didn't stay late as lack of sleep was starting to get to us. Here are our fabulous teachers for the weekend. Viv, Rosalie, Gail and Leanne.

Still had a bit of money left over on Monday morning so called back into the shop on the way through to pick up a couple of extra things and today I went to Hetties to get some fabric for Little Blue Birds from the Janelle Wind Collection.

From the Mouths of Babes

Only 4 more sleeps till Loxton, all plans are in place and Sue and I are both very excited. I did have 2 fat quarter bags filled to overflowing but have now reduced that to one which still has room to add the requirements for Rosies doll. So I think I have done very well. As this is our second trip we know they lay of the land and what can be purchased at Loxton so I think I am fine. Have some needles (machine and hand stitching) ordered from Ozquilts because I like to have extras and they should arrive on Monday.

On Friday I received the first pattern for Little Blue Birds and have signed up for the Pin Cushion Club at Quilt Fabric Delights.

During the holidays I took my 5 year old daughter to the Central Market as it was just the two of us she was quite excited and was talking and we were talking in the car on the way in. She asked me if I have ever been to the market before and I told her that I use to go every week with my mum. She then asked me if I did this when I was going to school I said no it was when I was a grown up and Mum would drive us into the Market I would help her with the shopping and then walk to the other side of the city to work (not very far in a town the size of Adelaide).
My mother died in 1991 when I was 23, so my daughter has never met her though she knows (though probably doesn't understand the relationship) that Grandma isn't my mum. Then she asked do you miss your Mum, which with eye's welling I said I miss my mum every day. As I turned the car into the carpark she said to me "We had better stop talking about this because it is going to make me cry". I told her that might be a good idea cause it is making me cry. As she got out of the car she grabbed hold of my neck and gave me a big kiss and told me she loved me.

Sneek Peek

Here is a sneek peek at my of what I have created for the birthday swap that I am in for the next girl on the list. I am really pleased with how it came out, really don't want to give it away, will have to make one for myself. I will post the full picture in August after the birthday girl has had a chance to unwrap it. I have used techniques that I learned last week in the mixed media play day and had a play with the heat gun, soldering iron, dye pots and lots more.

Only 10 more sleeps to Loxton trip..

Ironing Avoidance...

Well it is school holidays and actually I am enjoying them, don't have to be anywhere in a hurry, except chess school for my son this morning, but otherwise pretty laid back. Took my daughter to the Central Market after dropping off my son and his mate at the chess centre and we had a lovely time taking in the smells, having a coffee (and hot chocolate for her), picking out some lovely fruit and veg and of course something special for morning tea.

On the weekend I attended a Mixed Media Play Day with Susan from Essential Textiles Art last class till she heads up to Brisbane to live. Played with a lot of mixed media bits a pieces and spent far to much money. Had a bit more of a play yesterday afternoon getting some stuff ready to make something for one of the birthday swaps I am in. Might have to get down to spotlight next week to find some texture plates to use with the paper clay I bought which is fabulous stuff the kids just can't wait to get their hands on it. So we might have to do that soon too.

It was another good week for the postie, Cloth Paper Scissors arrived as well as the 2nd season of Quilting Arts TV on DVD the first couple of episodes are fabulous and full of lots of inspiring stuff. As I said I am avoiding the ironing but really must get on with it soon, and also listen out for the postie because my requirements list for the Loxton trip is apparently on the way..... Where is that DVD might put it on and do some work for a change.

Loxton excitement is building

Drum roll please I have lost.......51 cm on my diet. Might even venture out and purchase some scales. Actually since I wrote this this morning I went and bought some jeans and got into wait for it .... SIZE 14 haven't been able to purchase that size since before kids and even a bit before that I think.


Well emails are flying thick and fast and the planning is nearly complete for the big Loxton trip. Must say I am more relaxed than I was last year, we know where we are going, we know a few of the ladies we will be seeing again and we have all our travel arrangments made to our satisfaction. More importantly we are going to take as much luggage as we want as long as it will fit in the car and although we don't have all the requirements or know what two of the projects are going to be I think I will be able to cover every contingency with my stash. Most importantly both Sue and I have Travel Coffee Cups so I think the first point of call will be to a good coffee shop to fill them.


The weekend is with Leanne, Gail, Rosalie and Viv at Almond Grove and I have been looking forward to this trip since we left last year. We really enjoyed ourselves last year and we are looking forward to more of the same and possibly a better time this year.

More Embellishing Goodies

Just received some yummy recycled sari yarn and some sari ribbon yarn to use in the embellishing course. There is so much variety in these bundles should be able to match with just about every think I have been doing.

Here is the latest sample, I painted vlisofix and then ironed it to the felt then applied some foil. I then cut up samples from Lesson one and covered them all with a piece of chiffon and embellished.

Here is some of the recycled sari embellished on top.

Decided to have a bit of a Change

Wanted a bit more room so decided to have a bit of a change to the blog template. Must fix up the banner but can't be bothered at the moment.

Day after Cyber Stitching day and I came down with a tummy bug so missed out on my final photography lesson which was a bit of a bummer because it was all about macro photography which I thought would be good for photographing craft. Still feeling a bit yuck today especially seeings I pushed it a bit last night going out with girls for dinner, food was yummy but suffered all night and today feeling a bit blah again, so onto the protein shakes today very bland.

I have been very slack on my embellishment course too, but I did manage to start lesson 2 on Tuesday night when I was feeling a bit better so here are the results. I now have 300 messages on the group email list to catch up with ugh..... Just found out that my lens doesn't do real close ups like I just wanted it to do so looks like after Loxton I will be saving up for that macro lens that I have been looking at.