Where do the weeks go??

I can't believe that another week has disappeared. I know I seem to say that a lot, but it just happens again and again. I guess I should be thankful that life is so full. And I am.

 Most of my days are occupied with quilting a diverse range of quilts from my customers. This week it was 17 years since I commenced long arm quilting here at Number 8. It has been a special journey and I have "met" some great people, some personally, and some over the phone.  A lot of great friendships have been born in those years, and I am so thankful for those who trust me with their special creations. I could never have imagined, even 20 years ago,  that I would be doing this for a living. Imagine going to a quilt show every day!

This photo shows the room with my first machine, which was called Gertie, after my grandmother.  This was about the width of my space back then, which was an enclosed carport on the side of my house. Gertie was delivered and set up on February 4th, 2002.

Since then I purchased a second machine, called Max, and enlarged the room to be twice the size, and have accumulated a lot more "stuff" to put on the shelves!! I have added cutting tables, an office corner, and another room set up for sewing as well as the adapting the whole house for ladies to come and stay. What a difference 17 years makes. Oh and don't forget the few years in that time that I had 2 houses set up for quilting.

Monday was also the first patchwork day this year, for our group, and here you can see a few members busy with their projects. We will have a busy year preparing for our exhibition that is coming up in October.

This quilt was also loaded onto Max this week, and I am gradually working out how it needs to be quilted. I have done all the SID work and am now filling in the borders, and the other areas.

On Friday there was another journey up the highway for Pat and myself, to attend the QGSA Appraisal Panel meeting. We always enjoy this day, and the opportunity to see a wide range of quilts. The panel members enjoyed a lunch together after our meeting and was a good time of getting to know each other socially. A trip to the city is also a chance to deliver and pickup customer quilts for me to do.

On the way home I stopped at Murray Bridge to catch up with mum and dad again. It was also the birthday of my sister, and it was good to see her as well. My sister is much younger than I am, and was more like a sister to my own children. I had left school and was working before she was born, and then I moved away from the district after my marriage. Thus we have not spent a lot of time together, except in family situations. But that will change, as we are attending the wedding of our nephew and travelling together, just the 2 of us, in a car for an 7-8 hour journey next weekend!! More details on that next week!

The last 2 days I have had the pleasure of DS and family staying here. This grandma has had lots of cuddle time with Tate, and special time with Miss Bridie. And of course, I have a few photos to share.
He is 5 weeks old now, and growing so fast. I like to think he even smiled at me!?

Miss Bridie and I enjoyed a few activities together. She iced the cakes that I had made.......

........after the icing, there were smarties, and then sprinkles........

...............and then we had a tea party with the cakes! They were yummy!

We played with some scrap fabrics, and if you turn the picture around, you can see a tree, with a red apple, some green leaves, some flowers, and even 2 birds. Those pieces at the bottom of the tree are steps.

And this picture is some blue fabric, for the sea, and some fish, some seaweed and that black bit is supposed to be a turtle. Later there was a boat, with people in it, and a shark too. Mum was very proud to take these home.

One of the lovely ladies who comes to retreat, thought she would bring a doll and leave it here for my grandies to play with. Bridie was very happy to read stories to this doll, who she has named Margaret. You can see that Margaret is enjoying the story!

And in this photo, Bridie is reading stories to Margaret and me. Sorry for the blurry pic, and thanks to DS for taking it.

 Bridie enjoys playing the piano, and was interested to see me playing the fife, that belongs to my father. I used to play this in the primary school band, at each school assembly. There were drummers, and girls playing the fife as we all marched back into class. Bridie tried to play this, but couldn't quite get her lips right to blow across and not in the hole.

 Another gift from this lady was this pillow with Bridie's name and also an embroidered ballet dancer. I think the ballet dancer sealed the deal, and she slept on her pillow. It is very special that ladies, who have never met my family, spoil my grandchildren. Thankyou.

This morning, DS did some work in the back yard for me, while Tate and his mum attended the baby shower for a friend. I baked some meals for them to take home with them, and about mid afternoon they departed. It was lovely to spend time with them.

The weather has been much kinder this week, and I am very thankful for that. I felt bad that I had moaned so much about the hot weather in my last post, when there are so many people in the world in much worse weather situations. There are floods, and droughts, and bushfires in Australia, and freezing conditions in other parts of the world. 

That's enough newsfromjude for now, I will come back with quilt photos soon. I hope you all enjoy the coming week.

Blessings, From Jude