The 2021 Summary.........

 It only seems like a little while ago that we were all waiting for 2020 to finish and 2021 to be "more normal". Now, 12 months later, it seems that nothing has changed, and in fact, for us here in South Australia it's getting worse. While the borders were closed to other states, we lived in relative safety. But since the borders opened on November 23, and as we head to the end of 2021, daily cases are going up fast. Yesterday there were almost 1500 cases and today just over 2,000 and seems to be going upwards daily. We will soon forget just what that other normal was like as we head for another year of "different".

Looking back at my blog posts for 2021, I see that I started the year with the usual "clearing the decks" at the desk and filing "stuff" away. It seems to be an ongoing task and probably clears the mind for a new year as well. I say that one can't be creative and tidy at the same time, so that must mean there is lots of creative things happening in this house! 

                           The before and after early in 2021............ and another job to do this week.

The garden also seems to be an ongoing project. That's possibly because I am not consistent 'out there'. Life seems to get busy and the weeds take over, until I get the motivation to clear it again. Hopefully I can be more consistent going into 2022??

            The before above, and the after below, (and you probably don't need to see it as it is now!)

                            

2021 started with a zooming session organised by Chookyblue and there were several during the year including a Christmas one this week. 2022 will be off to a great start with another linkup this weekend. Thankyou Chooky for organising these and linking up bloggers from all over the world. It's a great way to have a sewing day when you can't meet in person and great to learn about what's happening on the other side of the world.

There seems to have been a few family catchups....... my sister's special birthday in February.......

.................lunch with mum and 2 brothers and SIL in Murray Bridge..............

..........and an early morning breakfast meeting as well.

There was a brief opportunity in July to 'go over the border'.............

.............and meet up with DD3 and DS and families at Halls Gap.

                                  There were a few family visits to Bordertown..............

A lot of time was taken up during the year cutting and packing fabric for a couple of market days, ably assisted by my fairy, who puts the finer touches on it all.............

A tree in my back yard decided it would fall onto the fence and the road early in the year.........and involved quite a cleanup to remove the remainder of that tree and a few more.

Thanks to the arrival of Covid in 2020, retreats at Number Eight have been few and far between, but we did sneak in a few little gatherings during 2021. I do miss the busy weekends of years gone by, and am patiently waiting for that part of normality to return??

A lot of time was taken up in 2021 finishing the 25 year history of Gum Tree Quilters. This book was launched at the celebration sewing day in April.

We said farewell to a special member of our group in September.

I have been very fortunate to have some great customers that make amazing quilts for me to quilt. Some of those have won ribbons at shows this year....... including Festival of Quilts in Adelaide..............

.........and the Bordertown quilt show in October.........

and 3 more from the Vic Quilters Showcase in Melbourne in December. Thankyou to all of my customers for trusting me with your creations. It is the best job, to be able to work from home and go to a quilt show every day! A newsletter will be sent out in the new year about plans for 2022.

A new car found it's way into my carport in July and it's taking some time to learn about all the things it can do.............

2021 has been a good year for me to get some quilts finished, with the added motivation of our local exhibition in October.......either getting them out of the queue and quilting them, and even some piecing time!

In case you think it's been a very busy year, the last part of it has been much easier. I seem to have finally found some of that balance I have been striving for. Time has been spent "smelling the roses", feet up in the recliner and reading lots of books. I am still nursing my knee following that fall, and have an appointment early in January to have it looked at. I am also dealing with other health issues. Regular checkups for my eyes, blood and annual mammograms all seem to be part of life now.

If you have read this far, I thank you. I continue to trust and know that God is leading me on his path and He has a plan for my life.

I wish you all many blessings and His peace as we go into the next year, 2022.

Blessings, From Jude 

P.S. Sending birthday wishes as well today to Raylene, who is currently caring for her hubby following his knee replacement.  

🎂🎂 

Stitching time, Boxing day and customer quilt catchup.....................

STITCHING TIME

 Just a quick update of newsfromjude about the last week's happenings. Since the last post I have spent a lot of time bonding with my machine, both my Pfaff and with Max. I posted about the crumb quilt and that I was not happy with the 'disappearing' corners. After prompting by 2 friends and then remembering these stars that were already fused to vliesofix, my problem was quickly solved. Raylene also remembered these stars, as she knows where everything is filed away in this room! So out they came to be auditioned, .......

..........and they filled those 'disappearing' corners in nicely didn't they??

It did cross my mind that it might be time to clean out in the workings of my machine. And lo and behold, look what I found!!

I was trying to use up scraps and so pulled out the remaining strips in the 1 1/2" and 2" drawers, where my fairy had diligently sorted them all into colours for me. 

I set about strip piecing them with 5 strips, a 2" either side and in the centre and the 1 1/2" in between. I did not colour co-ordinate and just pulled them at random. My plan was to tie them all together with a cream TOT either side of these units.

Out came the Go cutter and I had heaps of strips in no time!

After sewing them either side of the units, I cut them into 9" units as shown, and planned to alternate the blocks like this.

I had a few smaller sections left and cut these into 2 1/2" units to use in the border as shown below. Then it was decision time as to what colour to use for a border both sides of the pieced one........ 

                                        ......and this is the Ta Daa moment!

The quilter decided that perhaps it was time to get to some of her own in the queue, and this week I have quilted the above plus a couple others that were waiting in the wings!! Now all are ready for a binding fairy or two? And then they will be donated with others that are waiting to go.

BOXING DAY

Christmas Day was very quiet here and spent with my machine because we had our family gathering early in December. The day after Christmas (Boxing Day) is traditionally when my extended family get together and there is usually about 40 of us. That made things a bit difficult as the restriction of home gatherings was for 30 people. A decision was made to go to the local footy oval, which was a great venue, plenty of space and room for a game of cricket on the oval. Numbers ended up being less than 30 as one of the families were in isolation from being close contacts of a covid case.

 Here is Mum giving out her presents to the great grandies!

One of the family has a drone and used it for a group photo.

CUSTOMER QUILTS

I'll finish off this post with the recent customer quilting that I have done, just so they appear in this year's blog book and I can start fresh in 2022. 

This was made by Linda for her granddaughter and was quilted allover with Ocean Froth.

This is the chosen backing fabric and could be used this way up as well. A stunning piece in just the right colours!

                            This cute little baby's quilt was made by Jenny and quilted allover.

Another quilt made by Jenny featuring the Mariner's compass blocks and this was custom quilted.

This is Lyn's 365 quilt in browns, and was quilted allover with a meander.

There are some very tiny pieces in this quilt!

A very striking quilt made by Sherrel and this was also custom quilted.

I do have another quilt on Max, full of applique and needs to be custom quilted, but it won't be finished this year! 😁 

That's all for now. I'll be back before the end of the year with a 2021 summary. 

Blessings, From Jude