Good day everyone, another week zooms by. I even heard someone mention that Christmas is only 4 months away. Blimey Charlie, where has the year gone?

I’m happy to say the last week has been a lot quieter for me, with several days where my diary was completely void of any entry. I’ve busied myself with the Linus quilts I’m making at present. Yesterday I spent a lovely day with three of my embroidery friends “doing lunch” which really means arriving in time for morning tea (about 10:00am) and stitching and chatting and then having lunch and leaving just after afternoon tea (about 3:00pm). Lots of sewing was achieved by us all. Rhonda was busy unpicking old upholstery cutoffs for their zips (Rhonda is a fantastic bag maker and uses the upholstery fabric to perfection), Linda was busy doing some “charity” sewing for a charity table later in the year, Robyn was busy embroider ring something very special and I was busy creating a Hardanger needle book. I have been practicing Hardanger for about 12 years now, self taught and just love it. I make these needle books as gifts or for sale on a charity table. I use left over linen or Hardanger fabric and have fun making up my own designs. I’ll try to remember to take a photo of this blue and white one when it’s finished for you.

Today I collected some donated goods from a gentleman who had heard about our Library Craft group Sisters of Stitch. His wife passed away earlier this year and he was keen to see her things go to good homes and to some use. So I spent the morning sorting through those things the group will be able to use and those that could be donated onto Linus and other organizations. What a generous gentleman, Brian is. He obviously misses his wife and really wanted her legacy to go to a good cause. We won’t disappoint him. We intend to hold a Charity Day where we’ll sell our crafted goods and the proceeds will go to the organizations that support the homeless in our city.

Last Sunday I posted the first of three articles about Judging Quilts. This is a very interesting subject and there is quite of lot of data available. The first article is a skim of the basics of what Judges look for when judging quilts. The remaining two articles will deal with these criteria in more depth. Here’s the link to the article:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art1480.asp

I posted a forum subject last week for Bellaonline readers to post their favorite quilt hints and tips. There haven’t been too many postings – so please pop over to the forum and add your bit. I’m hoping that this subject could develop into a useful tool for beginner quilters. Here’s the link:
http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=542282#Post542282

So, now to my little gifts for you this week.
Firstly, I found this delightful little bookmark made out of felt. What attracted me to it was that it’s a Koala, a favorite Australian animal, found in gum trees not far from my home. Here’s the link:
http://weefolkart.com/?q=node/386 .

The second little gift is a fantastic tutorial on how to insert a zip into a bag. There are heaps of bag patterns around these days, so I think this tutorial will be very useful. Here’s the link:
http://www.twelve22.org/2006/07/zipper_tutorial.html

Well, fellow quilters, that’s all from me this week. I hope this newsletter finds you all well and happy and busy getting on with life. Cheerio for now, and remember to have fun quilting.


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

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