February is almost done...........

 Once again time has marched on and tomorrow is the start of another month. And once again my mother has commented on the absence of a newsfromjude update as she could still see the sausage roll photo that I had at the top of the last post! So it was back into the photo files to jog the memory of what I have been doing?? I don't seem to have been taking a lot of photos?? 

CUSTOMER QUILTS

But as promised, I did find a few customer quilts pics lurking and waiting for their turn!

The first quilt was made by Jenny in pretty colours and she called this Strawberry Lemonade. It was quilted allover with a pattern called Plush.

This was made by Sherrel using up leftovers in  9 patch and hourglass blocks. This was quilted allover with Wisp.

The next 2 baby quilts were also made by Jenny, and the first, an I Spy was quilted with Spilt Paint,....

..and this Forest Animals quilt was quilted edge to edge.

This is Long Time Gone, a Jen Kingwell pattern also made by Sherrel and was quilted allover with Circle Meander which gave it a great texture.

       Sherrel is the queen of tiny piecing and these little churn dash blocks are so cute.

This quilt was made by Marie and is to be put away for the first great grandchild.

Pat's husband won some fat quarters in a raffle drawer and Pat made this quilt with them, and it was quilted allover with a spiral pattern. Love the texture this added to the quilt.

Linda made this quilt with William Morris fabrics for her mother, and had a few issues with running out of fabrics, so has called this Perseverance! It was quilted allover with Gala Vine.

Cheryl made this hand pieced hexagon quilt and it was quilted allover with a pattern called Merrily.

Lois made this Shadow Box quilt for a grandson, and it was quilted edge to edge with Leaves.

After a few allover jobs I have now loaded another custom quilt, and will probably spend March doing a few more, well in between other activities!

FAMILY

It is awhile since I have posted family pics and I have a few. This is 8 of my 10, with the oldest 2 absent. March is a busy month for family birthdays so I better start searching the files for pics for blog posts. I like to add these so they are in the 'record' when the books are printed. But also because I know that when the grandies look at my blog books, they are only interested in the posts if there might be family photos, and not too fussed about the quilt pictures!!

SOCIALIZING

The 'revolving' door has been working well with friends calling in for cuppas.

There has also been a bit of going here and there, with an impromptu lunch for 4 of us last week, which was followed by a drive around the town checking out various houses. The fairy has been here for another week and we also had a spur of the moment coffee and cake out. I have another lunch out this week that is on the schedule.

Sunday was a day to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of good friends. Lunch was enjoyed at the Mundulla Hotel followed by speeches and cake. 60 years together is quite an achievement and not one that occurs often, which makes it all the more special. 

Congratulations Bob and Helen for "keeping on keeping on"through all the ups and downs of your life together. An inspiration for us all.

THE PICKINGS!

There have been many zucchini and cucumbers given away to callers, and then I didn't get into the garden a a couple of days and look what i found! Compared to the egg carton, it gives you the idea of the size! There are lots of meals with green happening here at the moment. Sadly the tomatoes are not yielding the same.

STITCHING TIME

I reported on my recent stitching time when I started joining these "wrong size" squares together.

My assistant took over the finishing of these last week,...............

.......and managed to get a few blocks made............ so then a decision was needed as to how to put them together.....................

...and this is the result...........which is on the list for a donation quilt.

I also decided to have a little play and saw a picture on line somewhere....... 

I had a tray of assorted  2 1/2" strips and another of precut scrappy 3" finished half square triangles. I am trying to use up all the scraps around here, but think it's a lost cause, there's too many.

...............making progress, was a bit tricky trying to make sure that the HST were staggered and not "rowy"......

...and Ta Daa.......... another donation quilt!

.....but it doesn't seem like the trays have gone down very much!!

I made one of these last year for donation and still had blocks left in the tray and many more strips, so this was the next job for the fairy..............

The last lot of donation quilts were all about 60 x 80, but these are only 40 x 60 approximately, so don't take very long to get done. We are on a mission to make 16 of these by June. The 3 above have now all been quilted, the bindings are made and they have gone on a little holiday with the binding fairy to be finished and brought back. I think they will enjoy their journey!?

Now it's onto the next 13, and I have a few little bundles of fabrics sitting around, and no shortage of fabrics to use!! There's a sewing day scheduled this week to work on some more. 

*************************************

I attended another funeral today, which was a great celebration of 92 years of  life well lived. A man of great faith who has now gone onto his heavenly home and is reunited with his wife, who he shared 66 years with. This man also played a role in our decision to move to Bordertown, and his wife helped our family greatly in a low time.

********

On another note I need to add a bit to the story of the "pink' explosion. While sitting at the kitchen table last week, for some reason I happened to look up at the ceiling and what did I see?? Some pink spots that missed the cleaning spree!! So it was quite an explosion wasn't it?

I RECEIVED MAIL!!

Some time ago I was reading maria-lifeontheblock blog where she described making fabric book marks! I remember commenting about what a good idea they would be, because I am a "turn over the page" book reader. What a lovely surprise it was to get the mail this week and this lovely card was in the envelope. (My first thought was what a great design this would be for a whole cloth quilt!

.....and this is what I found in the card!! Thank you so much Maria, so totally unexpected, it's not even my birthday!

I apologise that I am rather behind in reading blogs lately, and even missed Chooky's 15 year party on Saturday. I hope to catch up soon. Perhaps I should stay home??

That's enough newsfromjude for tonight, see you in March, sometime!

Blessings, From Jude

February catching up...................

 Here we are again with a catchup post of newsfromjude. February has more than half gone and I see that the only posts for this month have been about history. The history of CCMQ and then my story of Mignon. Oh, of course there was the winner announcement, but nothing of recent happenings. Which brings me to the thought of what have I been up to too? 

Looking back at the photos tells me a bit, although I don't seem to be taking as many photos lately. Is it because I am not doing much? - Perhaps not.

  In the kitchen.............a few sausage rolls for a catering job...........although otherwise time in the kitchen has been to grab and go and eat on the job!

********************

A few customer quilts have walked out the door..........and I will save these photos for a separate post.

*********************

The weather has been much milder this week which helps the motivation to get things done. I confess to wilting when it is really hot. A little time has been spent in the garden, although not as much as is necessary. Watering takes a fair amount of time in the mornings. The cucumbers and zuchinnis are ready to pick most mornings, so you know what is on the menu this month don't you? I can't say that the tomatoes are producing as this has been about the only one from the bush and I can't see any more on the way.

*********************

I received this lovely card from one of my retreaters this week. She knows that I am "into" frogs.  Inside was a lovely message from her re missing coming to stay. Thanks Kathleen, missing you too.

A few years ago I saw where someone took the word FROG as the initials for the saying...............

 Fully Rely On God..................... and I thought that was worth remembering and started putting a few frogs around the house and in the garden. Well, you know that when people find out you like something, they buy you one, and it snowballs and now I have frogs everywhere!! The grandies all love to run around and see how many frogs they can see. (Perhaps I should go around and take photos and see how many I can find for myself??)

**************************

There have been a few cuppas with friends who have called in.

*******************

The fabric sorting continues. Sometimes I wonder if there is any progress or perhaps I am just shifting it from one place to another?? I have had no time at the sewing machine, but lots of the scraps are being put aside in preparation for QFO days that are about to commence. Have been trying to come up with a name for this and so far Quilts For Others is what we are going for??? This week the first of these days is scheduled. I have been putting easy to sew ideas in a folder in readiness. Watch this space for further updates.

************************

There has been lots of time spent at the computer...... typing our patchwork group newsletter each month............ getting to know the powerpoint programme, and I think I have learnt enough now to do this job.............sorting photos and writing blog posts and replying to comments............and commencing the writing of CCMQ 20 year history........... this has been quite time consuming going through all the information I have collected over the years.......... I had it all in various places, including this cupboard under the cutting table which was jammed packed with papers and magazines etc............................which is now empty!!

I have been through the magazines etc and all the other info and kept what I need to scan and it is all now neatly stored in this plastic tub, ready for when I have a bit of time to sit at the computer.......

*********************

Another 10 Ready Set & Sew kits have been designed and cut. The maths guru is in the process of checking these and the fairy is coming to pack them soon.

**********************

I am the first one to admit that cleaning is not high on the agenda here, and I can work in an "organised" mess for some time until.......... I have to stop and "clear the decks", so that I can think again. I must have stopped long enough to notice the cobwebs in the windows behind the blinds so it was time for action!! I can now see clearly out the windows! (Well, in this room.... we won't look at the other windows yet). And I won't show you the photo I took of the cobwebs!!

**********************

This story will give you a laugh for your day, and we need to laugh at least once a day don't we?

Another area of my house that has been stressing me is in my bedroom. This is where the 'stuff' gets put that is out of sight to most people. All the cupboards are chockers and need a big overhaul, but it's time that needs to be spent elsewhere at the moment. But, I had a thought! If I did one little bit at a time I would feel better?? So my vanity cupboard was the start........ I never used most of what was in the cupboard!! Won't take long will it? Started clearing out all the towels that were taking up space, only need 3 of those and a couple face washers........ why did I have 14 in there?? Next was all the lotions and potions that I haven't used in years!! I'll put it all out on the kitchen table so I don't have to bend down so far.......... note that blue circle in the photo below..........

.........what is this stuff?? I was trying to read the label, I think it was some sort of bath wash??

On with the glasses to read the label.... (only need them for closeup vision)...... and in the process of holding the bottle up close to read the info....... the container exploded!!! @##$%$%$$

No photos, but it was in my hair, running down over the glasses onto my face and down, down, further to my shirt, (soaked through) and onto my trousers!! As it dripped further onto my shoes, I jumped up and quickly headed for the shower, the second one for the morning, and another hair wash also. 

Then I returned to the kitchen and the CLEAN UP! Thankfully the bottle was not glass.

Did I say that the contents were pink?

I now have lovely clean floors, walls and doors in the kitchen. Just goes to show that you can find good in every situation!! Floor cleaning had been on my agenda, but not on that day. My quick little task turned into one that took me hours!!

EDIT......... After a few comments asking what the pink stuff was, I actually went out to the bin and found the rubbish bag with the broken bottle and this is what it said.........

..............I think the problem was that the plastic had gone quite brittle after many years in the cupboard. The positives..... it was not glass......the pink contents were not toxic and washed away easily....... I had my glasses on and nothing went into my eyes......

**********************

I am starting to work out a new routine in between a bit of customer quilting. Each day seems to work itself out, while also staying flexible if I need to be.

That's about it for now, I will be back with customer quilts in another post. I also have a few family pics for a post too. Be back, sometime............... 

Blessings, From Jude