Hello everyone. Since my husband and I retired, we’ve tried to set aside a day a fortnight to spend together. We call these Together Days and they usually take the form of a drive to somewhere picturesque, lunch and then a walk and then home again before the busy traffic builds.

Sometimes we go to a concert, or the art gallery. The beach draws us a lot of the time, and lunching on fish and chips on the beach is a favourite pastime for our Together Days. I don’t even take sewing or knitting to do whilst on the drive – I find I can give my full focused attention to our day and our conversations.

We realised that if we didn’t set aside some “us” time, we would easily get carried along in the business of life and miss out on those precious times we so looked forward to when we were working and bringing up our family.

One hears people say they’ve never been so busy since they retired and that certainly describes us. I have all my volunteer things I do and my darling has his garden and his music and family tree.

Last week we took a drive to the hinterland behind Brisbane to a fairly sleepy village and a restaurant we’d been to once before. It was a beautiful autumn day with a slight coolness to the air, and beautiful clear blue skies with puffy white clouds. Our lunch was delicious and we both found ourselves getting drowsy on the drive home. (I had to remind my darling that HE was driving, not me).

Just like making an appointment with myself to quilt, I think it is essential for us to make time for each other. These certainly are the golden years.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art183071.asp here is the link to my latest review on the book Uncommonly Corduroy. I hope you like it.

Just a reminder that the forum is there for you to make any comments you wish to make to other readers of the quilting site on Bellaonline. Here’s the link: http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=43

I have an interesting collection of sites for you to browse through this week. I hope you enjoy them.

http://fabricfascination.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/tilted-blocks-easy-way.html tilting blocks the easy way

http://www.redpepperquilts.com/2011/11/now-back-to-some-regular-sewing.html a scrappy log cabin – ahh heaven

http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/great-granny-pot-holders.html A nice beginner quilter’s project – potholder tutorial

http://mypatchwork.wordpress.com/2013/11/02/pere-noel-zigzag-quilt-top-tutorial-part-i/ I know these zig zag quilts are all the rage now, but this one stands out because of the way she has placed the colours and patterns on the fabrics.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Handmade-Hobby-Horse/ a hobby horse is a must for every little cow person!
http://www.quiltdad.com/2011/01/block-palooza-welcome-block-1.html

http://theobjectproject.typepad.com/the_object_project/2009/08/tea-cup-flower-series.html another teacup flower pincushion

http://www.allfreesewing.com/Sew-for-your-Pet/Doggy-Bed-and-Blanket-Set/ct/1 a doggie bed and blanket

http://straightstitchsociety.com/patterns/apples-to-oranges-sewing-kit/ a lovely gift for any needlewoman

http://green-label.com/art/nail-thread-portraits-kumi-yamashita/ Nails and string – amazing

Well, I must away and get out to the clothesline and get my washing into the sunshine and breeze. I do hope this newsletter finds you well and happy. Till next time, take care
Cheerio for now




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

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com