The Pink Retreat ..............

In between quilts today, I have been trying to 'get ahead' and doing a bit of preparation for the Pink Retreat, which is coming up next month.  I have been planning the menu, and working out a shopping list. The spare room is home to an increasing collection of donated goodies, that the participants will be able bid for at the auctions. This is always a lot of fun, with 'someone' putting in a last minute bid when we think the item is sold!

These are the purses with the"money" that will be used for the auction.

And these little pink "things" always make an appearance, and turn up in a lot of unexpected places.

And here is this year's raffle quilt, that was kindly made by Raylene. I would love to hear from anyone interested in purchasing a ticket or two, or three....! They are $2 each.

All proceeds from the raffle quilt, and the sale of the donated auction goodies goes to the Breast Cancer Network Australia  (BCNA). Thankyou to all those who have left donations at my door. It is much appreciated. This is my way of helping a worthy cause and giving back to an organisation that helped me during my treatment a few years ago.

I know this is 3 weeks away yet, but September is looking to be a busy month, and I want to be organised.  August has been much "quieter", with no weekend retreats, although lots of quilting has been acheived. And I am still working on those little cases, as there are 2 more of those retreats this year.

And speaking of little cases, I better get back to the computer and finish off a couple that I am working on.

The sun is shining outside, and that is something we have not seen a lot of lately. After a very dry, late start to winter, we have been very blessed in this area in the last month. I almost feel guilty saying that, when I know that so many areas are in a disaster situation.

Be back soon, with more newsfromjude,

Blessings, From Jude

Quilt show catch up

Once again another week has gone, and I don't know where! The week seems to have been taken up with more quilting, and there are a few photos in the files.

First up is a bargello quilt, made by Beth as a gift for a friend. This is a very big quilt, and was hard to get a full photo of. It was quilted allover with Modern Waves. This is a very popular pattern and suits a lot of different quilts.

This quilt was made by Helen as a gift for a friend, who likes Australian flowers, and was quilted allover with a pattern of Flannel Flowers.

Suzanne has been busy making small quilts for children, and this one had sheep fabric on it, and was quilted allover with a grass pattern.

Kath made this pretty quilt with applique blocks, and it was custom quilted. Kath does an amazing job of making her quilts for a lady who is about to turn 87!!

Sherrel made this quilt in a recent Mystery retreat, and it was quilted allover with a pattern called Streamer.

Also made by Sherrel, this quilt called Civil War Chronicles, was quilted allover with a clamshells with stars pattern. There was a lot of small pieces in this quilt, and her accuracy was amazing.

Lyn made this quilt as a memory of her trip to Japan, and it was custom quilted.

Blessings, From Jude

One thing leads to another, and then another and..............

What a week it has been!! But much has been accomplished, and it feels great.

 For awhile now I have been wanting to do something about the storage space along the brick wall in my studio. Most of this was taken up with our Angels fabrics that have been donated for our local group, which we use to make quilts for others. Over time, a "hotch potch"of different storage containers had developed. I decided that there had to be a more efficient method, and after talking to my local builder, we ordered some metal shelf units. I contacted him early Tuesday morning asking when they might arrive, so that I could schedule my time. He replied straight back, saying he could do it that afternoon!!!!! Whoa, I said, a lot of STUFF needed to be moved first! OK, he said, how about Wednesday afternoon? I said OK.

I actually forgot to take a before photo, but have searched the photo files and found a couple from earlier this year, which clearly shows how it WAS.

This shelf unit was relocated to another corner of the room, but that meant that I had to shift STUFF that had been in this corner, which then had to be relocated. And that seemed to happen everywhere, and the whole week has been spent reorganising the whole room, and not just the brick wall!!

Just after that, one of the "angels" arrived to look at some fabric, and I explained what was about to happen. She asked if I needed a hand to move some of the STUFF. Moving it all did not take long, but resulted in what looks like chaos. I had to move the things that were normally stored on and under the cutting tables. All this prevented me from using Max. Add to this, the fact that in 2 days time it was Angels day. It was probably at this stage that I felt rather daunted, and did phone another "angel" to see if she could spare an hour or two. It was still Tuesday at this stage. And I had sent the photo below to a friend who lives 3 1/2 hours away, just so she could have chuckle, as this lady is the queen of organisation and clearing out things, and even to the bins! (I have to admit to being more of hoarder keeper, in case I might need it or use it "one day".)

Before the shelves were constructed, I went down to the local cheap shop and found some plastic containers to put the fabrics in, and they turned out to be "made to order".

Before I knew it, there were 3 local "angels" on deck to start putting fabrics in the tubs. They did an amazing job by the end of Tuesday afternoon, and things were ready for the guys to come on Wednesday.

But the big surprise of the day was a phonecall from my city friend to say she was on her way to help! 

 Here is the wall, ready for action, just before construction, on Wednesday. While the girls had done a lot of sorting, I had relocated the shelves, after moving other furniture and cleaning all the windows and doors, on the front of the house. This new space was to be divided into 2, with the Angels having half the space, and my business having the other half.

On Thursday it was Angels Day, and there was till plenty to be done. There were 5 drawers like this one, that were used store cut squares, and strips of fabric. But over time, they had become very disorganised. And as the shelves were taking their place, they had to be sorted. And we had to fit everything we needed into limited space. Much of this was donated to other places to be used.

 There was a whole box of partially pieced blocks, that had been donated. These have been forwarded onto a group that will make use of them.

Time for a cuppa on Thursday.

And this is how the Angels shelves looked at the end of this week.

 Building the shelves, has led to relocating the shelf unit, and better storage of my backing fabrics. Much tidier than it was.

Then it was time to move the stationery on the shelves so that I could resort the other corner. And here is a special lady who was going through all my own scraps of fabrics!! She came on Tuesday, and stayed until Sunday morning, and an amazing transformation has taken place. It would have taken me weeks to do what we have done this week. And it feels so great to feel much more organised. In the process I have also recycled a lot of STUFF and filled the bin as well.

 That corner of the room,did look like this, and.......

............now looks like this.

My rulers are now hanging on the wall, right alongside the cutting table.

And this is the brick wall today, and I still have space to fill!! I do have plans for this new area of mine.

Thankyou to all those who helped in any way this week. I think the angels will be much more productive now that we can see what we have and it has all been sorted. And I know that I feel so much less stressed having some of my space more organised. I could not have done it on my own, and feel very blessed to have such good friends. 

I have managed to fit in some customer allover quilts, and even quilted 3 angels quilts during the week. Tomorrow there are more lined up ready to do. Today has been a day of rest, and much quieter, and I managed an afternoon sleep after church, and did a little bit of desk work later this afternoon. 

Blessings, From Jude

Today....

this is on the machine and Max might be working late. Big quilt with lots of rows of clamshells.

Very cold and wintery outside, so nice to be in by the heater. While Max does his job, I am sorting paper work.
Blessings
From Jude

A few quilts............

Here we are at the start of another week. It is scary just how fast time is going. I am trying to balance work and rest, and managing to do that, as long as I don't look too hard at my "to do" list. Last week I finished a few quilts, and stayed home all week, until Friday. Pat and I drove to the city for our bi- monthly Appraisal Panel day, which is always a good day out. We get to see a great variety of quilts and share much discussion with the other panel members. We had a couple of stops on the way home, followed by a visit with mum and dad, and arrived home about 8.30 pm. On Saturday I finished a custom quilt that was on the machine and Sunday was a day of rest! There are a lot of things I could have done, but have to admit to spending the day in the recliner, reading, and watching TV. Is that balance, or is it going too much the other way??

I have a few quilt photos this morning, first a chevron quilt made by Maree. This was quilted allover with a pattern called "Whatever". It's quite amusing when they tell me to choose a pattern, and say whatever you like. And I tell them I have one called "whatever", and use it!!

This was made by Sue in a Mystery retreat, and called Summer Soliel. The fabric has butterflies and flowers on it, and Sue wanted a butterfly pattern quilted allover.

This large quilt, made by Suzie, has lots of different sampler blocks, mostly made with small pieces, and was quilted allover with a pattern called Modern Serpentine. I just love that texture.

Well that's enough for today, it's time to pin the large quilt onto Max that is waiting. It is almost 8am and I have been up since 5am, and seemed to have spent quite a bit of time on this computer. I have replied to emails, done some online banking, printed some documents, had breakfast, drank 2 coffees, done some Bible study, tidied the desk, put some things away, and can't procrastinate any longer!!

Have a good week, wherever you are, and whatever you are doing.

Blessings, From Jude

Memories

August 4th, 1973......can't believe it was 45 years ago.......

......lots of water has "gone under the bridge" since then......

Blessings, From Jude

The week that was.........

............has been one in which I have taken steps to prevent the circuit breaker tripping off. I posted last week about getting the message to slow down and listen to the warning signs. And for a couple of days I did some of that, by resting and sleeping, and  taking time out to "smell the roses". (Actually it's a bit hard to smell the roses at present, because the pruning fairy pruned them this week! Thank you.) But I have taken time out to read some books, and spent a lot of time in God's word. I am listening to what the body is telling me, and not pushing those boundaries.

I am hankering to see Miss Billie, and to have some cuddles, and had decided that sometime in August I would drive for a visit. So when Sherrel phoned me on Tuesday to say that we had won a prize in Melbourne, I thought it would be a good idea to go to Melbourne to see family, and also attend  the Victorian exhibition for the presentation ceremony on Thursday. I made my plans, rearranged some appointments, and packed a suitcase ready for a 7am start on Wednesday morning. By the time I had showered, and dressed, I was so tired, I decided I could not drive to Melbourne and cancelled my trip!! I spent the rest of the day sitting in the lounge, sleeping and resting, and thinking of that little girl I would not be seeing yet. And I missed the quilt show too.

Instead I have received some photos, as follows.....

............this one with the comment that "Miss Billie loves the book that Grandma made her!"

...........So I messaged back, that I presume she knows all the words by now??!!.........

And this photo came back, with the comment........" Of course I do Grandma!" It looks as though she is speaking right to me! And look at those eyes.

This morning I attended our local church, and a special service and performance by the Adelaide West Men's Choir. The singing was just amazing and very moving. This was followed by lunch at the local hotel with friends, and this afternoon there has been more sitting by the fire and sleeping.

I also received a photo this week, of the award that DD1 received as Insurance Champion of the Year. Congratulations, and well done. A very proud mumma moment.

I found this saying somewhere in cyberspace recently, and thought it too good not to share. (There are lots of ideas lying around my place!!)

Well that's about all for now. Tomorrow is time to do a bit of quilting as there is one on Max that is half done. I am just working on a few allover jobs at the moment, before some more custom. The diary for August seems reasonably clear, (at this stage), so hopefully I can breathe a bit easier.

Be back soon.

Blessings, From Jude