Hi everyone, it’s a lovely day here today, autumn in my part of the world is usually very pleasant, warm days, cool nights and no humidity!! Love it. I also love getting together with my craft friends and that’s what I did last Saturday. The four of us met at the State Library where we booked a room for the day. This library is situated on the river and the room we had gave us fantastic scenic views of the river and the cityscape. Lots of activity on the river and in our room. We all create in different genres of the craft, embroidery, quilting, Hardanger and so on. We had a great day of stitching, interrupted only by a wander to the local bistro for lunch. The best thing about using council or state facilities is that as long as your group is non-for-profit, you can book the room free of charge!!

At 5:00pm when we were all stitched out, we arranged to meet our respective partners at a local pub and went on to have a meal together. It really was a hoot, and we hope to do it again soon. I can thoroughly recommend getting together with your craft friends for a day of stitching and laughing and good times. It’s got to be good for the soul!!

A few weeks ago I received a lovely email from Rita, a Bellaonline Quilting reader who asked if I knew about any patterns using men’s neck ties. Well, I decided to make it my article for that week and surfed away until I found heaps of references to using men’s ties in quilting. There are some lovely patterns and I’ve even come across another which I will add to the list for you. This pattern is using ties to make a hand bag. It’s gorgeous. Here’s the link to that article:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art2238.asp

Now for your gift from me for this week.

With the advent of autumn here in my city, I have made plans to get up early and go for a walk, each morning, or as often as I possibly can. I do really try to be active, but quilting isn’t the most encouraging activity is it? It doesn’t really get the body up and running, so I have to make a special effort to get my heart a-pumping. I found a few great water-bottle patterns which I’m going to make and take with me when I walk. I thought you might like them to:

Here’s the links:
http://sewing.about.com/od/bagstotespurseproject/ss/gymbag_2.htm
http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=1098
http://www.robertkaufman.com/quilting/quilts_patterns/h2o_go_bottle_holder/

Well, cheerio for now, I do hope you’re all well and keeping your hands and minds busy busy busy.

Have fun quilting!!

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

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