I'M BACK AND WITH PHOTOS

Yes, here we are arriving in style at Hamilton Island after aborted landing and then walking across tarmac in torrential rain.


Yep, laying back relaxing!!!! Not!!!!!!

Glamorously attired for awards night.

Yes, thats right ladies I am behind the guy on fork lift.

and there you have me ...... COMING THRU!!!!!!!!!!!

.... and what does a girl do when she is feeling down and incapacitated??????? HEXIES!!!!!

.... and buy Yuwa fabrics on-line

.... and YAY!!! thank goodness for EBAY

... and my best friend Vicki (also a quilter) who owns an Antique Shop gave me this to cheer me up because she knows I love old tins and birds. Every time I open it up it makes me feel happy.

ROW 13

Hi everyone. Last Friday we had to go to Hamilton Island for a Business Award which we had won. It was on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef. We check in and discover we are ROW 13. I said to hubby Oooo!! Not good!!! Well it started from there. Weather was foul with lots of turbulance and no visibility. We are coming in for a landing and suddenly the pilot pulls the plane up REALLY steeply. He apologises and says he could not see the runway and as it is very short and into the sea he had to go back up. We then circled for 15 minutes until he could see to land. We have to get off and walk across runway and down comes a torrential downpour and we are thoroughly soaked including everything in my handbag including my hexies. But let me tell you it went DOWNHILL from there. The next morning going to breakfast the Hotel's highly polished floorboards were wet and down I went in front of the whole conference. I landed on my knee but my leg and foot went out to the side. So Hubby drags me across the floor to a chair and the Paramedics come (eventually). I get treated for some time whilst waiting for ambulance which decides they have worked too many hours so unless it is a spinal injury they are not coming. So we wait for the Rescue Squad who comes with a leg brace so that they can move me. To my embarrassment 3 men (one is my hubby) have to carry me out to the Hotel van which is too high for me to get in so after much pushing, pulling and screaming by me I finally get to Island Hospital where of course I have to wait for ages without any painkillers. I finally get my leg strapped out straight in front of me and decide I am still going to Awards night in wheelchair. Very interesting Hubby showering me, blow drying hair and holding me whilst I do make up. Got standing ovation when I got there. Everyone said I was a hero and all the blokes told hubby I was a legend to make it through the whole night. But did it all end there NOooo!!! to get me into aeroplane I have to go on cargo lift yet again in front of whole conference and the same again to get off plane at Brisbane. Luckily from Brisbane to Sydney I only had to endure being lifted by burly airport workers in and out of wheelchairs and chairs and yet again being up ended into a van but this time with my dress practically around my shoulders. At home Hubby and son-in-law decide the best way to get me into apartment is on my office chair and yet again lifting me up and down stairs. I am having an MRI in the morning and the point to all of this is I don't know when I will post again as my office is on 2nd floor and I cant get up stairs to get help with loading my photos. Maybe my computer friend can come to me and teach me some more. THE BIGGEST LESSON IN ALL OF THIS IS I WILL NEVER ACCEPT ROW 13 AGAIN.

TRAVELLING HEXAGON STARS

In August last year we went to Norway on the Oriana, London and then onto Greek Islands. I cut these out 2 weeks before to take with me. I cut them in some of my favourite fabric and colors aqua, yellow and bright pink. They are not in proper order yet I just laid them out for photos. Also in between each star will be a plain hexagon of same size but in large print fabric.

Some of the large print hexagons already cut out

These are the aqua diamonds that go between

For many years it has been my dream to go to Norway as I am of Norwegian descent. My great, great Grandfather was a Norwegian seaman and fell in love with my great,great Grandmother and jumped ship in the 1860's. When the Troopers (Police) came looking for him she hid him under flour sacks in her Father's flour mill. When we arrived in Norway I rang my Mother and said to her "I have my feet on Norway the first time anyone in the family has in 150 years". She loved it!! So did I it was breathtakingly beautiful!!!! This is the beautiful Fjords of Norway and the Oriana moored there. We took this from the mountain top.

The Quilt Shop in Bergen. Fantastic to be able to find quilt shops in other Countries and see what type of work they do. Of course I had to buy fabric especially from Norway. I got some fabric for the hexie stars and promptly went back to the Oriana and cut more out.

This is what hubby turns into when he has been shopping for too long and lack of food

I gave in and we went to this great Seafood Market on waterfront in Bergen for lunch. Method in my madness I told him we better walk this off so we went shopping again.

These beautiful shops are very old and I bought some beautiful Christmas decorations at the Christmas Shop here. At the Quilt Shop I also bought a beautiful little applique mini quilt of these shops but forgot to photograph it. I will put it on another post.

I believe farmer's grow grass on rooftops so livestock can stay up there in Winter and not get frostbite.

Patchwork shop in London in Kew. Very nice shop. Of course I found a few more fabrics!!!!!

Sewing and picnic in Hyde Park. Weather was lovely. We bought our food in Harrods Food Hall hence my beautiful shopping bag of the old peacock tile there. Well I had to carry the food in something!!!!

Oops being touristy in Buck Palace!!

They think of everything.

Yes sewing again. This time in Greek Islands.

Am really looking forward to finishing this quilt but I am trying to keep it for when I travel as it is really an easy one to work on.

CARMEN MIRANDA QUILT

First off, last night we went to see Avatar at the Open Air Cinema at Sydney Harbor. This cinema is amazing!!!! The giant screen is built rising out of the water. I did not think there was anything in the World that would stop me continously looking at our beautiful night view of the Harbor but I must say Avatar succeeded. The screen was in the middle and one side we had the City buildings lit up and on the other side we had the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge all lit up. Absolutely stunning!!!!!! The night was warm and as for the movie I LOVED it! I am a trekkie from the very beginning and am a loyal follower so I am having some guilt pangs but I think I am going to have to edit my profile and put Avatar first. I couldn't sleep for a long time last night as my mind was so alert from the colorful visual effects.

This Quilt is a pattern from Brigitte Giblin called Carmen Miranda. I fell in love with this from the beginning as it is my colors and cannot wait to finish this for our bed. Of course we all know how many I have on the go but I keep working on this every chance as it gets me there that much quicker. I see Carmen Miranda every time I look at this and have a chuckle. There are lots of my beloved fussy cut hexies, bananas, palm trees, flowers and flamingo fabric. WHAT A JOY!!!!!!

This quilt was a copy of an antique quilt out of a Carter Huock book and was done in a Marg Sampson-George workshop in 2000. The original had a cream calico background but this range of fabric had just come out and I decided to be a daredevil and be totally different to everyone else and also use bright colors for the needleturn applique. I think it turned out well and now hangs on the wall of my office at work. The staff love it. I am actually typing this at work so don't be upset if I have quoted the wrong book but I do not have it here. Have a great weekend and happy sewing.

MORE HEXIES ....

This quilt was started in a Marg Sampson-George workshop and was supposed to have 7 medallions in the middle. Of course I loved all of mine and so couldn't cull any of them so it will be larger than original antique quilt.

This quilt top is finished now and has VERY special meaning to me. I handstitched this whilst my beloved Father Ron was in the Hospice so this was the last quilt he ever saw and he touched it throughout telling me how beautiful it was. He was very proud of my quilting and used to bring all his friends to my house to look at them and also used to drive me to quilt shops and knew all the girls there and would have coffee and a chat with them. This is a Karen Cunningham pattern called Buttercup with some changes to it so I called it Buttercuppish.

This is a Brigitte Giblin pattern.

This is a Kim McLean pattern with the Turkey fabric border.

This is a Marg Sampson-George pattern of an antique crib quilt. The centre medallion was very tricky 1/2 inch Hexagons with diamonds all paper pieced.

I thought you might be interested in my little bag I made in January. I mentioned that we travel a lot so I thought on this bag very hard and came up with if I made 5 squares it would sit on my lap with the top rolled over very comfortably. I work straight from this bag on planes, waiting in airports and in the car etc. I put pockets inside to hold cotton and pincushion etc. and I handquilted it with variegated perle in big stitch. Each square is a different and favourite fabric of mine.

and what is this little bag full of hexies.


..... AND all of this is overseered by my beloved Gucci.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

This is 'Tree Of Life" done in a Sue Cody class. I handquilted the background first with variegated perle and then appliqued on top. This quilt is getting heavier and heavier so it

is slow going and I have to work on our bed to help take the weight. I have arthritis in my

hands and am also getting RSI so if anyone has any handy hints to help with this please contact

me as I want to keep quilting (of course!!!!). I will eventually put this on a wall in our bedroom as I have painted the wall behind our bed a pale lime green. My favourite colors are lime green

and fushia pink. You mightn't be able to tell that from previous quilts but as I photograph

more quilts you will always see some green or pink somewhere in different shades.

These fussy cut hexagons are for another quilt a way off yet but thought you might be

interested in them now.

Have finally picked out the centre for this one so will put that in soon.