Retreating and Road tripping....................

 It must be time for another newsfromjude update. So what news is there, you might ask? Blog posts these days are certainly not what they used to be before that C word changed a lot of things. This Easter was lovely, with a smaller, gathering of friends. There were some stayers and quite a few callers at different times over a few days. We also enjoyed the company of other friends for evening meals accompanied by good conversation and lots of laughs. (Almost like old times).

Sunday morning we attended the Sunrise service at the local lake. It was not such a chilly morning as it often is, but the atmosphere as the sun rises over the lake is awesome. The service was followed by coffee and hot cross buns and much chatter.

On one of the days, Lois brought show and tell of a few quilts that she had recently finished............ 

........................and the girls then set to and solved the problems of the world!! Sometimes I think it would be a good idea for the policy maker's to attend a quilting retreat and listen to the conversation!??

                   In amongst the conversations there was also lots of productivity happening...........

...................as Raylene finished knitting a fidget muff that was requested by a friend.......

.......and then it was time to get to the machine for some strip piecing.........

..and before long there was another donation quilt ready for the quilting queue!

As well as the other items that were found in the recent clearing and sorting was this little quilt. It was formerly made to advertise a business and the centre block had the name on it. As this is now going to be donated, we thought that the name should be covered........

...and this was appliqued over the top. Raylene has taken these little things back to the city to a group there who is collecting little quilts.

Yvonne called in for a chat and catchup and came bearing gifts of yummy fig jam, which was gratefully received by all.

Robyn decided it was an opportune time to do some clothes sewing and set up on the kitchen table to cut out the pattern pieces..................

....and over 2 days made this outfit!

Pat is in the process of making 2 quilts for grandson's wedding gifts.................first this one.........

.........which will be reassembled with these quarter units sometime..........

..and then these blocks..............

...have been laid out and will be sashed with a burgundy sashing and black cornerstones.... and then borders.

I spent time finishing off things. These panels have been sitting around taking up space for some years now, and they have all been made into cushions and put aside for gifts. 

Monday morning Edit- seems like I missed the photo that should have gone here........

I posted this pic as a UFO found in the sorting....................

..........and now has been made into a cushion, and gifted to my mother for mother's day.

And this little quilt, that was made by GD2 many years ago, but never finished.............

........has now been finished..... the basting removed, stitched in the ditch and the binding fairy has finished it off. Fortunately I was able to find some of the lilac check fabric used in the quilt for the binding. This will be passed back to her for a keepsake when I see her soon.

It sure feels good to get some of these items in the "done" pile and out of my house! But there are more........... and the next task was to finish the applique of the Windy Hill Farm blocks that have also been waiting their turn. (You can't hurry these things you know!)

By late Tuesday evening I had finished the applique stitching and now they are in another queue, waiting for me to work out how I will sew them together, as I am not following the original pattern. Hopefully I will be back sometime in the not too distant future with my plan.

It has been many months since I have ventured up the highway to the city, in fact last October, which must be a record for me, who used to be on the road all the time a lot. I had not even been to Murray Bridge since Boxing Day and have been quite content in my bubble. But there comes a time, and I must have had a case of cabin fever or something? On Sunday we decided to do a quick trip to Kingston and Robe after we had been to the Sunrise Service. My car must have wondered what was happening, after doing little runs to the street and back for many months! This was the first stop at Kingston and a photo opportunity.......

The lighthouse at Kingston.........

and this 'fellow' is on the side of the road on the way to Robe............... my apologies to Robyn as I must have had my finger over the lens............. but you get the idea.............

..............there was a sign in front of him which said........."Here lies Murray, like so many others he didn't make it through the toilet paper crisis of 2020!"

The weather had changed by the time we arrived at Robe, so the photographer didn't get any good pics.

On the way home we thought that it would be a good idea to purchase a crayfish at Kingston............ but you will have to accept a pic of the plastic one in front of the shop............the price probably wasn't too bad (what we expected anyway) at $75/kg, but the only size they had was 2.5 kg and a decision was made that we didn't want to allocate $187. 50 for one crayfish.

 

During the week I received a message from GD3 who wanted a catchup with Granny, so the next day I drove to Murray Bridge to meet up with her at Mum's place. We enjoyed a lovely lunch and conversation before I headed home again. Wow, 2 road trips in a week. Is this a sign of things to come once again??

                                This is the Mosaic Mural at Coonalpyn on the way to MB.

Of course we had to have a socially distant photo taken to mark the occasion.

That's all the newsfromjude for now. I will be spending the evening at the machine again, working on another UFO, pics to come in another post. The week's sure seem to go quick, especially with all these public holidays and short weeks. I have an appointment with Max for a few days while I am working on another custom quilt. 

Blessings, From Jude