Hello, hello there, everyone, it’s lovely to be in touch with you. In case you didn’t guess, I’ve been on a holiday and away from my computer for three weeks. I was able to schedule a newsletter with goodies in at the appropriate time, but was unable to add any chat from my end, so I’m simply BUSTING to tell you where we’ve been.

My darling and I had three weeks in Tasmania; you know that little island to the south of the mainland of Oz. Well, it may be little but it packs a punch and there’s so much fantastic scenery and things to do and amazing historical sites and stories and great food….. OMG the food was sensational, and I have the waist line to prove it!

We travelled just on 3,800 kms (2,360 miles) and I’m exhausted, but it was great. My darling and I travel pretty well together, even though we’re in a cramped space for most of that time! I’m pretty good at navigating, even if I don’t have a map, I’ve always got an opinion about which direction we should be taking.

One of the reasons for being in TAS was my eldest sister Anthea celebrated her 60th Birthday and since we no longer have our father or mother with us, we four sisters make every effort to celebrate the important milestones. So it’s always a pretty noisy event when the four sisters are together, but lots of fun and a very happy day for all.

Didn’t get any patchwork done, though I’ve been steadily working my way through a hardanger table runner for my daughter. I also knitted whilst we were travelling and managed to finish four baby jackets.

I’ve been able to pre-post my articles before I left and last week the article was a review of Sue Briscoe’s resent publication called Japanese Taupe Quilt Blocks. These are a favourite of mine and on my bucket list. Here’s the review if you’re interested: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art178408.asp

All pretty quiet on the forum. Don’t forget to use that if you want to start a conversation with other Quilting readers. Here’s the link to the forums: http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=43

So, onto my goodies for you for this week. I have been collecting at a great rate of knots recently, so I hope you enjoy these:

http://madmim.com/strapping-stick-horse-diy/ every child should have one of these

http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/dump-and-sew.html love this - Dump and Sew block

http://incolororder.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/plus-quilt-tutorial.html a plus quilt tutorial

http://dornob.com/sandwich-sack-secure-plastic-zip-anti-theft-lunch-bags/ what a great idea for those staffroom refrigerator thieves

http://www.thezenofmaking.com/2012/08/tutorial-2-in-1-flower-pincushion.html now here’s a great little pincushion

http://threadingmyway.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/denim-fabric-baskets-tutorial.html denim bags, made from jeans

http://craftygemini.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/how-to-square-up-quilt-blocks.html a great video tutorial on squaring up blocks

http://mostinterestingblog.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/bottle-caps-art.html#!/2008/03/bottle-caps-art.html look at what you can do with bottle caps

http://www.modpodgerocksblog.com/2010/04/button-art-on-cheap.html it’s another button thingy

Well, dear readers, it’s sooooo good to be back in front of my computer doing what I love to do. I hope you’re all doing great and getting a little time for yourselves.

Don’t forget if you want to be in touch you can email me on quilting@bellaonline.com

See you next week, and until then,
Cheerio for now


Judie Bellingham, Quilting Editor
http://Quilting.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com