28th July, 2015…..

 

is the birth date of my seventh grandchild. Today we welcomed Bridie Grace, who weighed in at 8lb 9oz, and 51cm long. She made things difficult for her mum, (and dad too!), and was delivered by C section in the early hours of today. She is just gorgeous, and her parents are very tired, but happy. I have just arrived home from a quick trip (well 3 hours there and three hours back!), for a cuddle. They tell me she has a good set of lungs, but she was the perfect angel while I was there.

And just look at this head full of dark hair. It might be a bit lighter when it is washed tomorrow, so we shall wait and see.

For some reason it was easy to see my daughters have their babies, and I never thought twice about them being parents. But this time, it is my son, and he is my baby, and it is harder to get my head around that, although I am not sure why. When I commented today, about him being my baby, he said, “Mum, I am 27 years old!!” And when I stop and think about that, I realise that I had 3 children when I was 28 years old!! So when does your baby stop being your baby??

My son and I have had some good conversation today, about lots of different subjects, and he has a whole new language now that he is a parent. This is just the start of a journey for both of them, as life will never be the same again. They have a beautiful little girl who is totally dependant of them now.

I have gone through lots of emotions today, from excitement, and joy, and being thankful for a safe delivery, to tears and sadness that our family has an absent member who is not here to share in this occasion.

I look forward to watching her grow up, and maybe we could have another quilter in the family one day?? I had 3 grand daughters first, then 3 grandsons, and now we start on the girls again. Welcome Bridie Grace.

Blessings, From Jude

Christmas in July 2015

 

Well, it has been a fantastic weekend, and it will be sad for it to come to an end in the morning. A couple of ladies have departed this afternoon, but most will leave in the morning. The weather has been very cold, and we have had good rains, but it has been lovely and warm in the house. The wood fire has been working flat out, and it has been so cozy.

There were a few decorations and the red hats put out for the girls.

The Christmas tree is a bit tiny, but doesn’t take up much space.

This ornament plays Christmas music, and helps to set mood.

Time to settle in and get to know each other. The laughter has started, and did not stop the whole weekend. The 2 new ladies did not stay strangers for long. They said they had not laughed so hard in ages.

One lovely lady brought some Christmas nibbles, and they tasted fantastic. Thankyou Raelene.

Lots of different projects were worked on. It was a work on your own project retreat.

Kathleen was working on a pattern by Margaret Sampson George called “Going Green Gradually. Now to start on the whirlygig that is going in the middle of the green stripe.

Val missed out on the June Mystery weekend, so has been catching up this weekend, and has made good progress.

Pauline heading for a finish on what she did in a  Heather Ridley workshop back in May.

Marlis spent the whole weekend working on flying geese blocks, and you can see the pile has increased.

Some took the opportunity to relax and chat. There is no stress to work on anything, and it is good to take time to “smell the roses” sometimes.

One lovely lady stitched the binding on the Pink Retreat Raffle quilt, and I thank her very much. I shall post a photo of the finished quilt soon, and will have tickets to sell.

Saturday evening we had a Christmas dinner, and the girls usually “dress” for occasion in red or green, and wear the hats that are on the table in the first photo.

A few were very creative, and one lady sewed Christmas baubles onto her jumper! Another had a necklace of sparkly lights, but sorry, no photo.

Don’t they all look very festive.

We had a special visitor between main course and the pudding. Santa came and handed out pressies to those who had been good. One lady was rather “forward” and tried to get in first to see Santa, and jumped the queue before her name was called out. She had to wait until almost the end before her name was called out.

This lady got a bit cosy and grabbed Santa’s hand. A few of the others even were forward enough to kiss Santa!

Wondering if Pauline’s halo is slipping a bit, as she is looking up at it??

The group photo out on the front steps and don’t they all look good?

Then is was time to get back to the table for the lovely Christmas pudding, that was made by Raelene. Thankyou for all your organising and delegating!

Sunday morning it was time for eggs and bacon for brekkie, cooked by Pat. And a morning to be decadent and sit around in the dressings gowns for ages. (I think that one lady was not showered and dressed until about 11am!) That’s what time out at retreats is for isn’t it?

Back to the sewing tables, and time to check the ipad and emails, and have a bit of a sugar fix as well.

Pat is working on another candlewicked quilt for her daughters and is making good progress. This needs to get to the quilter soon so that it can be finished for our exhibition in October.

Jean was working on the binding of a Mystery quilt from a retreat last October, and is pleased to have it finished now.

Sunday afternoon and time for a tipple and winding down.

Time to sign the guest book before you leave. There are some lovely comments written by ladies in the almost 5 years since the Sanctuary has opened.

Well, it’s time to eat some of the leftovers, and finish up another great day. Tomorrow will be clean up day, and then back to the quilts after saying good bye.

Thankyou to the ladies who came, for a fantastic weekend. I love to see the fellowship and fun that we have. Thankyou to all those who helped in any way. Thankyou to Santa for being a good sport and doing a great job. It was a lot of fun and made a special memory for us.

Hope to be back soon with news of a baby, that is keeping us all waiting.

Blessings, From Jude

Exciting news

 

Last night I received a phone call from Sherrel, pictured below, who entered her crane quilt into Vic Quilters Showcase this week. I blogged about this quilt last year sometime after Sherrel made it and I quilted it. She received a phone call early in the week asking her to attend the awards ceremony, which was held yesterday. Her quilt received a Highly Commended award! And the good part is that there are 2 ribbons awarded, one for the quilt maker, and one for the quilter. As Sherrel said, there’s another one to hang on my curtains.

A close up photo of the quilt when I had finished the quilting. All SID around the cranes and sashing, and patterns in the outside blocks.

This is the quilt when it was hanging in the Kaniva Quilt exhibition last October.

Well done Sherrel, for having a go and entering your quilt. It is such a buzz to have your quilt hanging in a State exhibition, even if you don’t win a ribbon. The quilt was entered into the Traditional category, and that usually has a lot of entries, so this is a great result.

Well, it’s time to head across the road to The Sanctuary for the weekend. There is one arrival, and a few more anytime now. No baby news yet, but a weekend to look forward to with old friends, and new friends to meet. Be back soon.

Blessings, From Jude

Checking in….

 

There are a few more quilt photos to show after a busy week or two. I quilted 2 of these for Margaret, which were made using all her scrap fabrics. Sometimes you can look at a quilt, and you can tell whose it is by the fabrics. And these are the colours that Margaret has used over the last few years that I have been quilting for her. She always tells me that the quilt she is sending is the last she will make, due to her increasing age and deteriorating eyesight. But then, she sends me another one, so maybe there will be more to come yet!

This quilt was made by Val in a Paper bag mystery retreat. It has been simply custom quilted. It is very bright with all that Pink!

This was made by Helen, also in a Mystery retreat. It has been quilted with a pattern called Sticky Buns, and I love the texture it has given the quilt. One of those that I love to touch!

This was a large quilt, made by Sue with Avenger fabrics, for her son, and quilted all over with a pattern called Popcorn.

I have to report that I have finished the hexagon quilt. I have been told that the hexagons are 1/2” and not 3/4”. There will be photos in due course, as the quilt is still on the machine, as I have been doing other things today.

This morning I went shopping, and then spent the afternoon in the kitchen cooking for the weekend retreat. The decorations have been hung, the Christmas tree is out, the pressies are wrapped, and all is ready for tomorrow and the arrival of 10 ladies for a fun weekend. There is rain forecast, but it will be cosy in the house with the wood fire burning.We did see some sunshine today, and the temperature was up to about 16, instead of 10-12! Still cold, but the appearance of the sun just makes everyone feel a bit warmer.

I am enjoying some time with my feet up in the recliner, by the warm fire, laptop on my knees, to post this update of newsfromjude. Some more food preparation is on the agenda for the morning, and I expect the first retreat arrivals by midday tomorrow. And tomorrow is also the due date for THE BABY, so it is all very exciting!

Be back as soon as I have some more news.

Blessings, From Jude