Reporting in again......

It's time to head for some sleep after a big day today, but thought I would update the last few days, so that I can get straight into the quilting in the morning.

I have packed a lot into the last few days, since I said I was loading another custom on Saturday morning. I am pleased to say that I should get that finished tomorrow. The remainder of Saturday was spent sitting at the desk doing more of the bookwork, and I am so close to being up to the end of March, which is almost a record for me. Another hour or two's work and I shall be able to print off a financial summary for the first 9 months of this financial year! Another thing I can cross off my list.

Sunday morning I attended church and hurried home to pack a lunch and my "stuff" to work on for the afternoon. Our group were meeting with another group from the nearby town of Kaniva, which is just over the SA Vic border, about a half hour drive from here. We were meeting in a little hall in the small town of Lillimur, which is in the middle of both towns. Lillimur is one of those places that you could easily drive past and not realise it was there. It was once a much larger town, but now has many empty buildings, and a lot of history. I did manage a few photos, which follow.

It was a gathering of 19 ladies from both groups, the Gumtree Quilters of Bordertown and the Windmill Stitchers from Kaniva, and was hosted by the Kaniva group. As usual when quilters gather, it was a day of fun, laughter, sewing and sharing as the ladies got to know each other.

Jenny finished a scrappy log cabin quilt.

 Helen was sewing another purple quilt.

Val was sewing up scraps.

Pat was adding the borders to another candlewicked quilt.

Sue was appliqueing (sp??) names.

Kerryn was working on a One Block Wonder quilt.

Pat was putting the borders on a QAYG William Morris quilt, which is a wedding gift.

This is a group photo of all who attended, except Jenny, who took the photo. (Thankyou for the photo Jenny!)

It was a lovely day out, and I worked on more cutting of the applique for my blocks for the Dear William quilt. I have 1 1/2 blocks out of 9 left to cut out now, and then I can press to the background and start stitching.

Right next door to the hall where we were sewing was an old derelict building which used to be the local post office. It is sad to see an old building like this, and I guess it would have a lot of stories to tell us about bygone days if it could talk.

Before I left for Lillimur I received an unexpected visit from GS5, which was a lovely surprise. We did manage a few precious minutes as I was packing the car. His 2 missing front teeth are finally starting to grow!

On Monday I worked on the Oriental quilt, that has the cranes on it! And then it was time for our group committee meeting, where we are in the planning stages for our group's exhibition which is to be held in October.

 Today I have been up the highway again for the day. Last week I heard about a friend who had fallen and sustained a few injuries, which required an appointment with a specialist in the city. It so happens that I had been to this doctor before, and knew exactly where his consulting rooms were. So I offered to take her, and it was also an opportunity to deliver some sewing machines which needed to go for services and repair. We set off at 7.30am and stopped for a fuel and coffee break on the way. This lady has an eye for old cars, and couldn't help herself when she saw this one! And she also chatted up the male driver as well!

After we arrived in the city, and had delivered the sewing machines, I stopped on the side of a road, to check my street directory and work out the best way to get to the hospital. We must have looked lost, (although I wasn't)  and I can just imagine the scene, with 2 "older" ladies sitting in a car, holding the map book, and flipping the pages, and me with it held out further, as I did not have my reading glasses on!? A much younger man walked by, although we did not see him, and then came back soon after, and had noticed the sticker on the back of my car, which named a country car sales firm. He knocked on my window, and offered his help on the best way to get where we were going!   (At first I thought he was coming to tell me I was parked in his way!) He was very helpful, and admitted that he had come from the country himself and understood where we were at! With all the doom and gloom on the news, and the reporting of some terrible things, it is heartening to be reminded that there are some lovely people around.

We had left quite early in the morning, as I was not sure how the traffic would be, and we had to drive a fair distance across town from the sewing machine place to the hospital right down south. And because the traffic was good, we had quite a wait for the appointment, although that went quick enough as we chatted and had lunch. After we had turned onto the freeway on our way home, the traffic came to almost a standstill as we headed up into the hills. 3 lanes of traffic were crawling along about 3km per hour! We later discovered that there had been a truck fire on the freeway, and we were then diverted onto the old highway. It must have taken us about 3/4 hour to travel what should have taken about 10 minutes. And while we were driving so slow, we were entertained with a phonecall from a friend, and were able to have a good 3 way chat, connected with the bluetooth through the car! (The advantages of modern technology!!) Thankfully the accident was on our way home, and not on the journey down, but a good reminder of why it's a good idea to leave early and allow for delays.

(Edited....I have googled  for info on the  Truck fire and you can find out more by clicking the link. The photo comes from the Advertiser web page also, as we were diverted and did not see this.)

Whilst it was a long drive down and back, it was also quite relaxing, and a good opportunity to chat with a friend. My Sunday was also a lovely relaxing day working on one of my own projects. I have another day trip to the city on Friday, to attend Valuation Panel, and do some quilt pickup and deliveries. Also collection of sewing machines from 2 places that belong to 3 quilters. I am also looking forward to Easter in the company of friends for more sewing time. We are enjoying lovely autumn weather, and just maybe I can see some of that "balance" happening at long last??
Good night,

Blessings, From Jude