Leaning tower of Pisa

Today on our way to Nice we stopped at the leaning tower of Pisa. 

Holiday pictures

Sistine chapel

European holiday week one

Hi All,

Well after 27 hours travelling we finally made it to London at 5.19am to a chilly 9 degrees. Our tour guide was there to meet us, boarded bus into London . The park plaza in Westminster is unreal they got us into our room just after 10am. We slept for 5 hours then decided we needed to visit queenie in her house. The palace is amazing and I can't wait to get back there and do tour.

Tuesday saw us board the Eurostar bound for Belgium, man if I lived in London I would be on this train every minute it is fantastic. After 3 hours of travelling 180mph we arrived in Brussels. Boarded our bus and met our wonderful Italian driver guiseppe whose driving skills are second to none. Not bad on the eye either.
In a short drive we were at the Grand place and it is superb to think it got burnt down and they have rebuilt the whole place and it dates back to 16 th century. Then on to mannequin pis monument. Then some free time well I had to have a waffle, some Belgium chocolate and a pastry the some frites with mayo. Our hotel that night was The Hotel in Brussels all leather in the room, meal,was average and they seemed a little disorganised, but on the whole it was lovely.

Wednesday saw us travel to Amsterdam. Via,Cologne, this is where I fell victim to one of the several hawkers out side the cathedral she was dressed as an angel she posed in a photo with John and then me and then charged us 20 euro for the photo which I took. But anyway I think she did some good as our weather in Lucerne was the best. Amsterdam what can I say about this place I love the lot, canals, canal houses, dope coffee shops, the red light district and the food was good too. Went to a working windmill that is over 300 years old. Then it was on to cheese farm and tasting and a few purchases. We then went to a quaint little village called Volendam, this is such a pretty little town right on the banks of lake. Our motel,for the night was the Novotel, and boy the breakfast was so good I was like a kid in a candy store. I had toast with chocolate sprinkles on it yummy .
Thursday saw us get on the road very early for our longest day travel so far, Amsterdam to Germany a Rhine cruise was the order for the day followed by wine tasting at Ruddeshiem

, and then a meal at the same place and a 4 piece German band. This is where I was sculling schnapps and teaching the Yankees Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi we all had a great night and no one wanted to board the bus for Wiesbaden we arrived at 8.30Pm it was the Crowne Plaza and it was soooooo nice.

Brisbane international airport waiting.........

Good morning all,

Well after a very full on day yesterday around Brisbane , we are now waiting for plane to Hongkong. 

Quilters travelling to Brisbane really need to see the quilt display at GOMA, these quilts are from the 1700's. They are absolutely beautiful and most all made by hand. Brisbane festival started yesterday and the Glng light show at southbank was a great way to finish the day.

Our plane has just landed and disembarking is taking place, a quick clean and then I will be on it. Quite a few children are travelling on the flight hope they are well behaved.

Will have to sign off on this now and maybe talk from Hong Kong .

Like Sands through the hourglass, so is the time going by for my holiday...................

Well can you believe it, it is nearly here the journey of a lifetime thats right we are going overseas for a whole 3 weeks traveling Europe and finishing with four days in London. I have been counting down since 10months ago and now it it is 3 days away. Have just had a farewell dinner with my Brendan(son) and his partner Carmen and their gorgeous baby Armani, who at 6 months has decided it is much better to crawl than learn to sit. She has this very determined look on her face whenever she is trying to do something, just what I need is another determined child.

The quilting is all up to date, and already there are quilts waiting for me to return, which is a good thing. Evelyn has been waiting for over 12 months for her quilt but I can say it is finished, and what a feeling that is. 

With all the jobs now out of the way, I have decided to think about what to take............what does one actually take when one goes overseas????????? With no means of washing for 3 weeks, it is going to be mix and match all the way.......that goes with this and this goes with that. As for darling husband we have tried for several weekends to drive into Rockhapmton, a good 3 hour drive to try and get some clothes for him, but to no avail could we work it. So he is just using clothes from wardrobe and picking the rest up in Brisbane on Saturday.....DFO here we come.

Itinerary:

Day 1. London to Brussels by high speed train the Eurostar
Day 2. Brussels to Amsterdam
Day 3. Amsterdam to cologne,Germany
Day 4. Wiesbaden to Lucerne
Day5. Lucerne
Day 6. Lucerne to Liechtenstein to Innsbruck,Austria to Munich Germany.
Day 7. Munich to Salzburg,Austria
Day 8. Vienna
Day 9. Vienna, Venice, Italy
Day 10. Venice
Day 11. Venice to Ferrara to Rome, Italy
Day 12. Rome
Day 13. Rome to Florence to Tuscany
Day 14. Tuscany to Pisa to Nice, France
Day 15. Nice
Day 16. Nice to Avignon to Lyon
Day 17. Lyon to Paris
Day 18. Paris
Day 19. Paris.

So please join me on this tour and stay tuned to the blog as you travel with me on this big adventure.

Barcaldine Retreat Cont.........................

With everyone busy sewing, it was another late night sewing in pyjamas, late night snacks and lots of coffee and other forms of beverages. When we first arrived this lovely lady came and introduced herself to us and we have nicknamed her Nanna Jean, you can tell country people their hospitality is second to none.

Nanna Jean

Nanna Jean had this dry sense of wit and a very warm personality. Wendy said I can close my eyes and listen to Jean talk and it reminds me of my own Nanna. We met lots of new people and it was lovely to think that women can gather from all parts of the area and have a great time sewing, talking and sharing ideas it is great.

Front and back of Amanda's runner

Of course Amanda puts her own stamp on the project and turns out something stunning.

Good Friends, Good Food, A Celebration, A weekend Away.

What an absolutely fantabulous weekend we all had. Friday saw us pack up and head to the lovely western town of Barcaldine, for a sewing retreat, a celebration the coming of age(my 50th).
After arriving at the heritage centre in Barcy, we unpacked rather quickly, got the machines set up and ready to sew. We started on our projects for the weekend. Most of the women chose to do the spring table runner, which saw us get out of our comfort zone and learn Raw Edge appliqué, this is done with the feed dogs down and just your hands controlling the fabric, Scary stuff, but after a few attempts you eventually get the hang of it and it doesn't look that bad.

Julie, concentrating on the Raw edge Applique

Saturday saw the coming of age for me, with the celebration of my 50th, after receiving many phone calls and text messages it was time for my wonderful friends to bestow upon me the cake that they had planned. I had started to get worried a few days out when I knew who was making it. But alas it was not what I had imagined but rather funny instead. As i have no photos of it I will have to describe it as best I can.  It was a boob cake but no ordinary cake they were hanging down to my belly button, complete with piercings in one boob, stretch marks and a note attached saying: 50, and still hanging around. It was delicious. Thank - you Amanda I loved it.

NINE DAYS AND COUNTING

Nine days and counting until we all meet again for another retreat in Barcaldine over the June long weekend, hosted by the Silver Thimble. Finally recovered from our own retreat at the Fairbairn Dam last weekend which saw myself and Julie line dancing at some ungodly hour. The pictures did not look great, the next day. However we had a fantastic time and the food was to die for(as usual as we all share a passion for good food). As there was no set project for the weekend everyone was content doing their PHD's (projects half done). Wendy was working on her kingsize hexagon quilt(she's nuts)., julie worked on Amanda's quilt which is a stitchery quilt of all girly things and will be great to see it finished. Amanda worked on lots of things as usual she always has lots on the go at once, unlike myself,,, not. I started a paper pieced scrap attack block which I got from crafts.com, I have decided that the hexie quilt is not going to lessen the scrap pile that I have that is growing at a slow rate. So I started the scrap attack to ease the scrap pile.I hope it works. Evelyn finished her lovely smocked dress for Kate, it is absolutely gorgeous. I hope Kate Ellen gets a lot of wear out of it. 

This week saw little production come out of the Quilting cabin, I have completed a little chocolate and cream quilt which came up absolutely beautiful, except that when I sprayed it with water to remove my guide lines the chocolate fabric ran every where and I mean everywhere. I went into panic mode big time, after 2 washes with run away it still wasn't perfect, I rang the owner and she was very good about the whole ordeal. I so hate giving quilts back that are far from perfect, even if it wasn't my mistake. I am now working on a quilt for Betty B. it is all red and cream with 12 stitchery blocks with a Teddy Bear Theme and I have absolutely enjoyed quilting this quilt, it has taken some time but it looks good.This week will see a huge week come out of Quilters Cabin so I can justify going to Barcaldine the following weekend which also sees me celebrate  my 50th. WooHoo?????

A day in the life of a blogger

Well it has been awhile since I have blogged, it usually is an indication that I have been really really busy. Which I have been. 2013 I decided not to start any new projects and earlier in the year I sorted all the PHD's into stitching, quilting, and sewing. The kits or projects that haven't been started don't get a mention.
So I can say that all my unfinished quilt tops have now been finished and are awaiting quilting which is going to happen before June as I want to show them in the local show. I have a few stitching projects on the go and one of them is a hand pieced hexagon quilt with embroidered hex's throughout the quilt. I think it is rather funny that I am actually doing this type of thing as I said I would never ever do that, famous last words hey!!!

On the weekend just gone tried my hand at homemade bread without a bread maker, I made sundried tomato/chive bread and it was delicious. What spurred me on to make the bread was on Saturday, Wendy, Julie B and Eve and myself, went to Julie's to make homemade pasta sauce. Then we made pizza dough and tried out the tomato sauce that we made and the result was yummo to say the least.

Tomorrow I drive 6.5 hours to spend some quality time with a very good friend Jane B in Townsville, I quilt for jane and I am dropping off a quilt that I finished for her in February. I will be bringing back 2 more to do from her. It is always exciting getting quilts from Jane. She has organised a High Tea on Friday which I am so looking forward too.

Well that is it for now thought I had better do a blog to let you all know that I am alive and kicking.

Yours Stitched,
Dallas

Hi All,

Well I have been up since 5am, done my 3k on the tready, 5 mins of boxing. This is all part of my new years reso, not that I like having them cause I think that they are destined for failure from that start. However part of the reason for my motivation is The Grand Europe Tour in September in which I need to be fit to fit everything in that I want to do.

On the computer side of things it looks like I am having a forced 2 week break, thats how long to do the paperwork before we see a technician out here in the wilderness of Emerald. Oh well I guess it gives me an excuse to finish some of my PHD's ( projects half done). I certainly have lots of these, and while browsing the net I came across a site called Daisy Quilts on her site she has a group called A block a day, I really like this idea, it is one way of getting something done, so as of today I am going to follow that principle. By the end of the week I should have seven blocks made. I think I will make that y hexagon quilt as it is going to take a while to finish it.(who does 1" hexies).

Julie's Quilt

Amand's Quilt, the green sashing just makes this quilt.

Hi All,

Armani Jane 2 days old

Well what a slow quilting day I have had today, computer has decided to have a hissy fit and not work at all, cannot contact technician so cannot do anything as she just doesn't want to boot up. So I have been adding photo's to my pages and reminiscing along the way. My gorgeous granddaughter came to visit her Granny Mac and Poppy today, she will be 5 weeks on Tuesday and is growing and becoming alert, and won't be long she will be rolling over.

Melbourne Xmas 2012

Great Ocean Road Tour

How time flies

Boy how time flies when you are having fun, tonight I decided to upload all my photos from my camera as I want to put some quilting photos up on my blog. Well I had so many photos from 12 months ago, I had forgotten things we had done as a family and socially with friends. It was good to ponder on every photo and remember that event. Three things come to mind very quickly, one was my sons 21st birthday which we celebrated in Airlie beach 12 months ago on the 28th March, 12 months on and my baby is now a father himself to a beautiful daughter called Armani who is on Tuesday one month old.

The second event was Adelaide quilters festival this was so good looking through these photo's as I had sooo much fun, learning and meeting new people not to mention that I also received 2nd place in the pantograph section. A day trip to the Barossa valley was so much fun, thanks to Chris and Meredith for that lovely day finishing with dinner at DE Mario's, best pizza in Adelaide.

The 3rd highlight which all that attended was an absolute foodies weekend was our Stitchers Retreat, held at camp Fairbairn. Man that was a good weekend, we had so much fun and I cannot wait for another one this year,(and yes Wendy, you don't have to cook). Memory lane.

Friday saw me pack my bags off to Marilyn's for a day of stitching therapy, we were all making a pattern from Melly & Me a back pack which is going to Europe with me later in the year. We had so much fun with lots of good food and laughter to boot. Then the day came to an abrupt end all to quickly and we all packed up and returned to our normal life. I just love days like this where you don't have to worry about anything.

For the last 2 weeks I have been quilting frantically, trying to catch up my backlog so that I may quilt some of my own quilts over the Easter break.  So my list has gone from being behind to being caught up to being behind to being caught up again(almost). I am on track again and have found a method that seems to be working. Will upload pictures as soon as I can. 

Monday 4th

Well here it is Monday again, and I am working in spring sure for the week. Yah

The Twisted Stitcher: It's Sunday again

The Twisted Stitcher: It's Sunday again: Hi all I have been wanting to start a blog for ages and here I am writing my very first post. It is Sunday yep and I gotta go to work tomorr...

This is from the infinite horizons tour last year.

It's Sunday again

Hi all I have been wanting to start a blog for ages and here I am writing my very first post. It is Sunday yep and I gotta go to work tomorrow it is amazing how quickly the weekend flies by; however I have achieved quiet a lot this weekend. Number one thing I am trying to maintain this year is to keep the quilting under some sort of control. So I have been experimenting which quilts are better quilted throughout the week and which need to be done on the weekend. I have almost finished 3 quilts this weekend.

First quilt is a Bronwyn Hayes quilt, this quilt is full of little stitcheries and I had so much fun quilting this quilt it was hard not to go to town on it.

Next are 2 quilts from Amanda in Barcy, I just love how Amanda brings here quilts to me they are always pressed and folded neatly over a coat hanger this simple act makes my life as a quilter easier. First quilt of Amanda's is a turning 20 quilt for her mum Joy; done in Reds,black and white. It looks so good now that it has been quilted. The next is another turning 20 using Will and Grace range of fabrics in pinks and greys, this is for Amanda's daughter Kate Ellen, hoping to finish it tomorrow either before work or after. Will post pictures of all quilts tomorrow.