Hi there quilters, another week has whizzed past and I’m just popping in to catch up. It’s the winter midyear school holidays here; our children break for two weeks. This means that all the cinemas and theatres, shopping centres and museums are full of children and their (sometimes) hassled mothers.

When my children were little, I used to love the school holidays and was always sorry when they finished. I used to spend weeks prior to the holidays planning each day’s activities. I figured that if I kept my two littlies pretty busy with lots of interesting things to do and see, then none of us would get frazzled at the edges. And it worked. My two, now grown adults, often comment on how they enjoyed their holidays, and the magical mystery tours we embarked on. Sure it took extra effort on my part, but it proved to be a great memory maker in the long run.

School holidays for me, now in my fifties and no grandchildren, means staying away from all the busy venues mentioned above, so this past week has been pretty quiet for me. I’ve been busy creating a table runner in hardanger (needleworked lace from Finland). Quilting is my first love, but I do enjoy needlework. It’s always good to have a needlework project on the go, as it is usually very portable and can be put down and picked up pretty easily.

I’ve also been busy writing some more articles for you. Last Sunday I posted an article on a book review. The book is titled Sew Serendipity and it’s really a lovely tutorial book for the beginner sewer. Here’s the link to that article: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art2274.asp

So onto my little pressies for you this week. I’ve had a bit of time on my hands, so have been looking for extra quirky things. Hope you like them:

http://www.hesowsshesews.com/2009/10/quilt-pati-tutorial.html you’d think I’d be over hexagon quilts, but noooo! I love ‘em!

http://noodleheads.blogspot.com/2010/06/bicycle-bucket-tutorial.html a gorgeous bucket basket for your child’s bike

http://kojodesigns.blogspot.com/2010/06/kojotutorial-drawstring-hanging-bag.html great for those plastic bags

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/strawberry-keychain so cute and finishable!

OOPS, last week I somehow managed to get the link wrong for the Pet Mat, here’s the correct one, sorry if I inconvenienced anyone!

http://sew4home.com/projects/pillows-cushions/506-nature-brights-kitchen-pet-mat

Well, I must away and do something to get warm! Hope all’s well at your place and I’ll speak with you again next week. Remember to have fun with your quilting.
Cheerio for now


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

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