Post Christmas news

 

As it is the last day of the year, I better report on the last few days and make my final blog post for 2014. It hardly seems any time at all since the last day of 2013. And I suppose it will be hardly any time at all again and I will be reporting on the last day of 2015. It promises to be a big year ahead with lots of things to happen.

With all the build up to Christmas, it is just a blink of an eye and a week has gone and it is New Year. It was a special time with family and I had people here from the Tuesday before Christmas until last Sunday, which was lovely.

First photo is the wrapping from presents on Christmas Day!

This photo is the cricket match Christmas afternoon, and you can see that we now have a wicket, and a new bat!

The next few photos are a bit blurry, as I could not get close enough and they have been cropped. A farmer nearby has been busy and these caught my eye when I was travelling up the highway on Sunday. It seems that Santa has finished his work now, and having some fun. First he is riding his motorbike in the paddock.

This Santa is going out on his surfboard, although doesn’t seem to be any water close by!

These 2 Santa’s are having a tennis match!

And this Santa is going fishing. He needs to meet up with the one going surfing and they could look for the water together.

On Boxing Day my extended family always get together, and this year it was my turn to host them. There were 28 of us here, and it is always a fun time when we gather near the tree for the exchange of presents.

I had a couple of my grand daughters to stay after Christmas, and they like to cook with Grandma. They made pizzas, banana cake, and custard slice.

A Christmas gift which was received by one of the girls was a make up kit for Special effects. Busy making up the injured arm that you can see in the bottom photo! Very realistic isn’t it?

Well that’s about it for the last week of the year. I am back at work doing quilts now. I do have some more quilts to show, but that will wait until next year. I have also started piecing the commission quilt that I have to make, and rather enjoyed my sewing time yesterday.

I wish you all a Happy, Healthy, Blessed New Year for 2015 and I will be back with more  news next year!

Blessings, From Jude

‘Tis Christmas morning

and all the rest of the house is still sleeping! Santa has been and 2 little boys have not woken up yet!

They must have been so tired after their day yesterday. They spent time at the farm, and doing little boy things, and then last night was an impromptu game of back yard cricket on the lawn at The Sanctuary! You can see that the bat is nearly as long as this little man is high! But a good time was had by all. They managed to hit some balls, and were happy to chase the balls that the adults hit hard over the top of the trees! (Notice the chair they used for a wicket.)

I best get to the shower before the day’s action begins. Don’t want to miss the excitement when the little ones do wake up.

I have meat to cook for lunch, and church to attend. More family will arrive from Melbourne by lunch time. Unfortunately one of mine is unable to be here today, but will come tomorrow. And tomorrow we get to do it all again when there will be about 30 of my family here for our traditional Boxing Day gathering.

I do hope you enjoy your day, wherever you are, and what ever you will be doing. Remember the real reason for the season as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour, who came that we may know Love, Joy, Hope and Peace.

Blessings, From Jude

Quilts, and this and that

 

Time for another blog update and first up are photos of Cheryl’s quilts.

The first 2 are both hand pieced scrappy hexagons, both quilted with edge to edge patterns. I just can’t imagine hand piecing anything, and I have another one of Cheryl’s waiting in the queue, with very tiny hexagons. It’s just amazing. The first one is quilted with Simply Feathers, and the second Soft and Sweet.

Another one from Cheryl, very pretty with little girls and cupcakes appliqued in amongst the squares. Simply custom quilted.

And this is an Embroidered Christmas quilt, made by Cheryl’s friend, and with simple custom quilting.

This is a photo of 3 of my grandchildren, taken at the beach last week. (I “borrowed” the photo from their mother’s facebook page!

Yesterday I had a trip to the city (3 hours there, and 3 hours back) for an appointment. I did a little bit of shopping, for a quilt backing that I had been trying to match for colour, and quick visit to Officeworks, and also to Bunnings. I am so glad that I have done my Christmas shopping in our local town. It was bedlam in all the shops, the traffic was awful and the queues at the checkout long. And there were grumpy, stressed looking people everywhere. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I leave the city behind, and head up into the hills for home.

I am relieved to say that my appointment went well, and after an ultrasound I have the all clear. I had been quite concerned about a strange mark that appeared on the boob. It is close to the site of my cancer surgery, so all sorts of scenarios go through the mind!

In the middle of my day, I had a lovely early Christmas lunch with family that will not be here on Christmas Day, although I will see some the day after.

Photo below is of my other 3 grandchildren in front of their tree with the presents they had just opened.

I left home at 7am and arrived home again just after 9pm, so it was a big day, and today I am very tired, and “in recovery”!! I had intended to get another quilt done and that did not happen. So I thought that while I was bludging, I may as well do a blog post. The next few days will be fully occupied with family arriving later tonight, and others later, and some here until Saturday.

So I wish you and your family a Joyous, Blessed, Peace filled Christmas. I will be back in a few days to update you on the happenings over Christmas, in this house.

Blessings, From Jude

Retreat page is updated`

I have just been into the pages of the blog and updated the scheduled retreat page, to include what has been planned for 2015. Check out what is there and come join us for some fun, or plan a few days with a group of friends for your own time at The Sanctuary. I would love to hear from you.
Some of the weekends have a list of names already, and I thank those who keep coming back again!

The weather here has warmed up this weekend, so I am glad I have finished my garden tidying up. And most of the house has been cleaned and today I have done some baking, and my personal Christmas cards! It feels so good to achieve this, although there is still a quilt on the machine waiting to be done. Will probably get to that on Tuesday, as I am off to the city tomorrow for an appointment, and to catch up with some family.

I do plan on doing some sewing soon, as I have a commission quilt to make. I am so looking forward to a bit of piecing as it seems like a long time between sewing sessions.

Well time to turn off the hoses and head for bed ready for an early start in the morning.

Blessings, From Jude

Blue Christmas Worship

 

Last night in our church there was an ecumenical service of hope, a Blue Christmas service, and it was a first at our church this year.There were many present from all churches in our town.

It is an expectation that everyone will be happy and joyful at Christmas time, but there are many who do not feel that joy. And for those who don’t share those feelings, it can be a time of feeling guilt and alienated from those who do. There are those who are grieving the loss of loved ones, both recent and past. There are some who have no family, or where there are broken relationships. Some are facing health issues, problems at work, financial pressures or are feeling burdened and weary. There are so many hurting people.

This worship service provided a place for many people to come together and know that Christ understands because he faced all those things, and to know that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Candles were lit during the service, and it was a shared time of knowing God’s peace.

Furniture Removal

Today was the day for my cousin to come and pick up the first load of furniture from my shed. One more load and it might be possible to actually fit my car into the shed!!

After the trailer was loaded we had a late lunch and coffee at the local cafe. It was great to talk about old times and shared family memories from years ago. As children, our families spent a lot of time together. Note to self- make more time for catching up with people.

So it has been another busy day, and the cleaning up still is not finished. But I said I am not going to be stressed out over Christmas preparations and what gets done is good, and what is not done, too bad!

And I am glad I made the choice to go to the Blue Service last night, and place a few burdens and issues at the cross and come away in peace. Today has brought different, unexpected issues to deal with and I know that God is in control and will give me strength for whatever lays ahead.

Blessings, From Jude

Christmas Tree Display

 

Our local Hospital Auxiliary Group organised a Christmas Tree Display at the local Civic Centre. It is on display for 4 weeks, and the public are able to vote for their favourite tree by placing money into a tin, and the money raised goes to the hospital. I visited last week, and was amazed at the creativity of our locals, and the diversity of ideas. Hope you enjoy our Christmas tree display.

I can’t remember all the titles of the trees, but have listed some of them.

First is “The Christmas Line” by the local Breastfeeding Association.

This one was by the Embroiderers Guild.

 

Made by the local Childcare Centre.

Very creative idea by the local Library staff.

This is the entry from the Gumtree Quilters, and features hand made gum leaves.

“Starry, starry night”.

“I must always have Flowers” by the local Garden club.

Made by the local Primary School.

“A warm, woolly Christmas” by the local Retirement Village. Even the tree was knitted.

“A Bush Christmas”.

“Rusty Relics” by the local Historical Clayton Farm.

“A Wheelie Good Christmas”, by the local Mens Shed.

“The Reason for the Season”.

“Christmon” by the Lutheran Ladies.

This blog post has been my sit down time in amongst my busy day today. I have at last started to think about Christmas. I have written some lists, and started on my cleaning. I have washed windows, and floors and attacked cobwebs and dust in places not seen for awhile. I even took down some curtains and washed them for the first time in ages (should I admit to years?), and whoops, they might have shrunk a bit, and you can see daylight coming in at floor level now!! Still only half way through my house yet, so tomorrow will be another day. I have unpacked the Christmas tree and hung some of the decorations, and put out the nativity scene. Now it feels like Christmas and the real reason for the season.

There is one more quilt on the machine to do an edge to edge on sometime in the next few days. And maybe some shopping will be next on the agenda, and then some Christmas cooking. But I am making a real effort to make this season a stress free time, and not go “over the top” with lots of spending. Christmas has become far too commercial, and everyone feels under so much pressure to spend more than they can afford, or need to.

Time to get back to work before I go to have a hair trim. We are enjoying lovely weather this week, not too hot or cold.

Blessings, From Jude

Heather’s quilt

I posted a little glimpse of this quilt earlier, showing the light I used to see while I was quilting this. Now a few more of the finished quilt. Heather was pretty pleased with this.

If you look at the following photo closely, you will see that all the applique has been fussy cut, and each side is a mirror image of the other. Even the scrolly (?) bits on the side are all cut from the same pattern of fabric. Well done Heather, and the machine applique stitches were so neat and tiny too.

I must admit that when I first saw this quilt, I was a little taken aback at the blue colour. I had only seen this quilt done with a black or a cream background. But as I worked on the blue, it grew on me, and by the time I finished I loved it.

I managed to get some more quilts finished on the weekend. The weather was rather warm, so inside jobs were the go. I did have a few visitors, starting with my cousin and her hubby on Friday on their way back to Melbourne. And yesterday after church my brother called in for a chat which was great. And later in the afternoon, the darling Faye and her hubby called in for coffee on their way back from Melbourne.

That’s it for another posting. Time to get busy for the day. I need to go and put some sprinklers on at The Sanctuary, and I have another custom quilt on the machine ready to do. Am on the countdown now, a couple more and then I really need to start making some lists and think about getting ready for Christmas. I also need to seriously look at doing some housework here. I need to keep busy this morning, as I can’t have a coffee or eat breakfast until late, due to having a fasting blood test this morning.

Catch ya later,

Blessings, From Jude

Catching up again….

I know that seems to be the blog title more often than not lately. It’s time for a few more quilt photos, these are the last from November.

First up is Sherrel’s quilt, simply quilted all over with Asti.

Above and below are 2 quilts made by Jenny, and quilted with edge to edge patterns, and sorry, but I can’t remember which ones, unless I go and look up the work sheet. The quilt above is made with Figgy Pudding fabrics, and the bottom one from a jelly roll and both are “Christmassy”.

This is Pauline’s Paper Bag Mystery quilt, which she is giving as a present. It is a Disappearing Hour Glass Block pattern.

And another Bedford quilt, made by Jean, with edge to edge quilting.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend, whatever you are doing. I am still working on quilts, and have about 4 more to do before I can start preparations for Christmas. I know time is running short, and the only job I have done so far is to send out customer Christmas Greetings! Christmas, coming ready or not!??

Blessings, From Jude