A Catching up Post......

I am sitting in the recliner by the fire, with the laptop on my knee, and preparing to update the newsfromjude. I have spent the day with Max, and he is now switched off, although another quilt is loaded ready for another day. As there is a few things to post, I have divided this post with sub headings.

PINK PARCELS

The "In the Pink" retreat is coming up in September, and we usually hold mini auctions of donated items. This is always a lot of fun, and also a fundraiser for the BCNA, and one way that I can say thankyou for the help I received when I had my treatment for Breast Cancer a few years ago. 

I am very thankful to some very generous people, who have donated items for this retreat. Recent deliveries include the following. Thankyou so much to all who have donated, to this worthy cause.

Looking forward to another fun weekend retreat, and I will be back to report on the results in due course.

BRIDIE

I was blessed again this week to spend another day with Miss Bridie. Their was not much work happening, and it was lovely to spend time in the recliner with her on my knee when she had her day sleep. (Grandma might have had some shut eye time too!?)

When walking out to their car at the end of the day, their was a puddle in the driveway. She stopped,looked at her mum, and was very happy when mum said Yes, you can step in the puddle!!

Bridie and her mum are still in town for another 2 weeks, so I will see her some more yet. Bridie's dad has come for the weekend, and she has not seen him for 2 weeks. Needless to say, she is not letting him out of her sight, and clinging tight.

SPRING IS COMING

One afternoon this week I had to walk around the block to a neighbours house, and on my return, I realised that the sun was out, and a few plants were blooming. I took the following photos. 

I know that around the back, and down the side the gardens, will not be showing much this spring. I have hardly been outside all winter, and need to give these areas some attention.

QUILTING CATCH UP

Once again I notice the buildup of quilt photos to show on the blog. Here are some of those in the files.

This Bedford quilt has been finished by Jocelyn, and quilt allover with Modern Eccentric.

This is Sherrel's recent Mystery quilt, and was quilted allover with  Modern Snails.

Pat commenced this quilt in May and it is now waiting for binding and it will be in our October exhibition. It was quilted allover with a pattern called Zebu.

Another Bedford quilt, this time made by Ann and quilted with an allover pattern. There is nothing like a forthcoming quilt show to bring out lots of ufo's!

A lovely green and white quilt made by Maree, and quilted allover with a pattern called Tracery.

This hexagon quilt made with Kaffe fabrics was quilted allover with Modern Maze.

This is the back view, which shows the pattern better.

 This hexagon quilt was made by Cheryl and was custom quilted. Lots of hand piecing in this quilt.

And another Bedford quilt, made by Ann and quilted allover with Belalie.

This is one of the Pick a Case Mystery quilts made by Raylene, and quilted allover with Exploding Stars.

That's all for now, as the battery of my laptop is running low. Quilt show will be continued later.

Blessings, From Jude

Pick a Case Mystery Retreat Report

It is time for a report on the weekends activities before any more days go by.  My visitors have departed, and the house cleaned, the washing done, beds remade, and it is quiet once again.

 On Saturday we combined lunch with a game of bingo to determine the allocation of cases. When 5 numbers in a row were crossed out, they got to choose a card, with a picture of a quilt. But, the cards were upside down, so it was a bit like a stab in the dark!

Some crossed their numbers with a light line,......

and some coloured in the whole square!

Dot was the first to choose and she went for the card right in the centre.

After the cards were chosen, they waited until everyone had chosen, and then could decide if they were happy with the choice, or whether they wanted to swap with someone else.  I think there was one swap, and most were happy with what they had. The next photo was their selections.

And this is what the cases looked like inside, with each step already cut and in numbered paper bags.

After lunch, it was ready, set, and go.  I missed a lot of photos, but here is a selection of the progress.
Some managed to finish, and others were close. One lady had to leave early, another was nursing a bad back, but everyone was happy with their choice and I look forward to seeing them when they are finished.

 The cutting table was a busy place to be.

And now it is confession time. Margaret did not get very far before she came to me, as her sashing strips did not fit. And upon checking my working papers, I discovered that I had made a mistake in my calculations!! So we had to go to Plan B, and made some fabric changes and recut the correct sizes. This photo is of my "stuff ups". (Maybe I need to design a quilt to use these strips!!)

Here we are with the new sashings in each block. It was fortunate that I had coordinating fabrics in stock.

There was some night time sewing.

Whoops, how did this photo get here, and who was using my camera??!

A bit of 'time out' during the day.

And here is the obligatory group photo, after another great weekend.

I will be back with more newsfromjude in a few days. I am working through the queue of quilts for our local exhibition which is only 2 months away now. And there will be an update re the Pink retreat soon as well. I have the pleasure of Miss Bridie again one day this week, and there will be more exciting news to tell too.

Blessings, From Jude