Happy Birthday To Me

Thank you everyone for your well wishes on my birthday!

It was my birthday on Friday.

I was really surprised when I checked my inbox this morning to find quite a few messages in there!

And now that I’ve mentioned it, I suppose I should share a bit of it…

There were flowers (red roses of course, what else??)

And a blue hydrangea too...

The day before, during the grocery shopping, I fell in love with a hydrangea and had to have it. Isn’t it lovely? I was torn between the white ball and the pink (it was an unusual deep pink) ball as well, but as they were wilted from being inside so long, it made my choice a bit easier.

And I bought it in honour of my birthday.

 I really love this blue.

For my birthday lunch we enjoyed a Chinese Banquet. I am quite happy anywhere. But my DDs had arranged this as they are quite fussy. In a way I'm happy that they are because it was all just perfect...and I didnt have to cook a thing!

I’m not especially a sweet person, but the miniature deserts on the plate were so quaint and looked so lovely that I had to take a photo.

It was too much of a pity to eat them. I thought they looked like a quilting fabric I have somewhere in my stash.

Back home, my birthday cake was marble mud cake. I’m not usually keen on anything called mud cake – but it really is delicious. We are still enjoying it with coffee today.

The little bird is a bit of a joke as I always add birds to my projects, so my DDs added it to my cake as a little well-wisher.

In the evening my DH took me to a show at the Arts Centre and we enjoyed the city and stayed the night overlooking the river on the Southbank. Actually, for someone who lives here, I realized that I don’t usually see all that much of Melbourne!  

My DH knows it very well but I really enjoyed it as a tourist. A tourist in my own city! Here’s a view from our window. Glorious.

Well, you can see why I still feel as though

I am in holiday mode. I am!

WOW: Still Unpacking

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

This wednesday finds me still unpacking and downloading and just generally trying to get back into the swing of things. How did November get here so fast???

Yesterday there was much talk about the 7 billionth baby being born. One thing that really struck me this time around in Europe, Vienna and London was how densely populated the cities are. Maybe I hadn't noticed before?? Maybe I'm getting older and see things differently? Maybe it's inceased enough for me to notice? I'm just not used to so many people.

Well, last night I learnt that Australia is actually the 3rd least populated population... I hadnt realised this and I think that over the years I must have become accustomed to space! The statistics were something like: Australia = 3 people per m2 and the UK has something like 246 per m2. I think that's incredible.

When I see so many people in one place 'for no reason' well, I don't know what to make of it!
Speaking of populations and birthdays, I have much to catch up on before my own birthday later this week. I better get on with it!



Festival Time: Hearts Desire

A

big

thank

you to Amy

for once again organising this wonderful quilt festival. I always take part and look forward to meeting so many wonderful quilts and the stories beind them. It's getting better each year!

Usually I'm right in there from the very start on day one, but the month seems to be slipping away from me at the moment, so I'm glad theres still 5 days left to take part and enjoy.

My Quilt entry this festival is: "Hearts Desire"

I really love this quilt. It's still quite new to my stash and it's a quilt that I have always wanted to own, so having it finished feels really special.

You know, it was just one of those quilts I had to make!

It's an intense applique quilt, full of details that you want to concentrate on and perfect, piece by piece. Each block demands patience and skill. It's the kind of quilt that uses everything you know and then encourages you to try something new. I just love enjoying it.

Something I really enjoyed was embarking on this quilt with so many other quilters who were experiencing the blocks, month by month. Hearts Desire was a free monthly block of the month earlier in the year. Many beginner quilters started this quilt (and I'm pleased to add that they all did a fine job of finishing it too). We worked through it each month together, step by step.

For the applique, I used the applique freezer paper method throughout (tutorial on the side bar) and the end results speak for themselves.

This BOM is now finished.

You can purchase the pattern for this beautiful quilt here:

via my online shop.

If you'd like to take part in the next free BOM, why not join my Yahoo Bom Group? (see side bar)

Thank you for stopping by my Festival Post!

GO!Baby Winner! Winner! Winner!

I wish I could give a GO!Baby away to each and every one of you. It's been a welcome addition to my quilting options. And like all of you, I was entering comps wherever I could to try and win one myself. So, I know how high the demand is out there to have one!!

I really loved reading each and every little quote / proverb / saying  you submitted as an entry. How true they all felt! I loved each one and found myself nodding along in agreement.

Quite a few could have been my own often used favourites, so it's only fair that I share my own.  I’ll mention one that hasn’t been enjoyed yet:  it’s old Russian proverb –

"if I knew where I was going to fall, I would have put a cushion there"

How could I possibly decide between entries? Well I knew from the start that I wouldn’t be able to. So here is the random number generator that I decided would choose most fairly.

You’ll notice that the comp had 196 comments at time of closing (with a few deleted entries and doubles). I counted those out and added several allocations for quilters who did not enter online but who asked me personally to be included in the comp which took the countable entry number up to 199).

Thank you Random.Org and congratulations to Feather on a Wire who quoted "I quilt therefore I am".

For the love of Red

Will my love affair with Red & White ever end?

“Around 1830, quilts made of red, green, and white became very popular, but it was not until 1880 when the cloth called Turkey-red was imported from Germany that solid red and white quilts could be made. Turkey-red was a good, permanent, non-fading red. Cloth made from American dyes ran and faded to pink within three washings. It took the First World War, when European imports were unobtainable, to start American dye makers on the trail of a permanent red. They succeeded in finding several; but it was not until after the Second World War that permanent shades of red became available in cloth of all price ranges.”

I could read about red fabric all day long….And I'm finding all these details fascinating.

I was lucky enough to receive this book, published in 1966, from a friend. I can’t believe that it’s found its way to my bedside table after so many years; it’s very readable and completely charming. I also can’t believe how far we’ve come, fabric production wise, in what is a relatively short span of time.

Luckily there is no impediment to stop quilt lovers making as many red quilts as their hearts desire nowadays!!

Red & White is a quilt classic,

and I'd love to know,

do you have one? or several?

WOW: Home Again

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

It feels like just a very long time since I posted from my own computer whilst seated at a desk. I’m home again. My Wednesday WIP will be unpacking…and getting started on all the washing.

GO!BABY Winner will be drawn and announced tomorrow.

Stay tuned!

WOW: Too Much Of Everything!

WOW= WIPs On Wednesdays

I'm still on my travels with DH. This is turning out to be a really fun WIP...and one that, for once, I don't actually want to finish!

At some point I will get myself organised long enough to share some pics!

What are you up to today?