bloggers of the world

open their doors to strangers.  Quilters are more friendly than anyone else I know.  Yesterday I met up with Frances from Quilting Owl in the far north of Queensland. Frances has been a visitor to my blog from time to time and now I know her for real and her lovely DH Peter.

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 Frances is working on the Barbara Brackman Civil War quilt.  The blocks are lovely.  She told me that she has trouble selling reproduction fabrics in her shop Cairns Craft Shop.  We could probably help her out there!  I visited the shop, and it is a treasure chest.  I got a couple of pink fabrics that I had been looking for.

 Frances is a very lucky girl!  She has the best studio build behind her house, in the hills surrounding Cairns.  the studio is large, bright and on two levels.  Wow!  She also has a husband who cooks!

The sun is shining

 and our travels in tropical north Queensland has become much more like we expected.  The rain finally stopped after a few very gloomy days.  We arrived in Cairns on Saturday, after spending a night in Daintree River Lodge.  We had a balcony there that overlooked the river - and we actually saw crocodiles swimming in convoy!

This is the view from our verandah.  I know there are crocs there!

 For the first 3 days of our travels this is what the sky looked like.  This a view of the Atherton Tablelands on a very dreary day.

This is my sewing bag that goes with me everywhere.  My friend Marilyn made it for me a few years ago for my birthday.  the fabrics were borrowed from another friend Erica, as Marilyn knew she would have fabrics that I would like best.  I love it!  I cram it full of goodies and take it with me.

I have in it this time around 2 blocks I am working on of the Beyond the Cherry Tree quilt, my threads, scissors, needle case, marking pens, and assorted fabrics needed for the blocks.

This is block 23, which appears completed, but really it has some missing - the centres of the flowers are missing.  I did not bring any pink with me, and so far have not found any suitable in my travels.  I have some at home so i will just leave it.

This is block 24.  I know it looks very messy, but I do back basting, and all the leaves are in place now.  Some are appliqued, and the stems tacked over the base of leaves.  it is working out very well.  Not far to go with this project now - only one more block, and 3 borders.

Travels

We have started our annual holiday by flying from Adelaide today to Cairns in tropical north Queensland.  We knew that rain was predicted, but I never thought I would see rain like this!  It is bucketing down!  We collected our hire care and drove through torrential rain and overflowing creeks until we reached Innisfail, about 80 km south of Cairns.  We had not booked any accommodation in this part of the trip, and decided to "wing it" - bad idea.  The first motel we stopped at was a flea pit.  We took the room as it was raining so hard, and I could not drive any further in it.  I got the laptop out and started searching for some place else, and found the Barrier Reef Motel, on the other side of town.  This is where we are now.  Lovely friendly staff, nice room, and great food.  Next problem is that we are not actually sure if we can go anywhere tomorrow, as many of the roads are closed.  We just have to wait and see. According to the News report this has been the wettest October day on records!  212mm - that is about 8.5 inches in the one day.  Trust me to pick this time to go away.

Spring Garden

I am having a last look about my garden this morning, before I get ready to head off to Cairns in Tropical North Queensland tomorrow.   The roses are just starting and looking wonderful.

this is the Albertine rose on the fence.  It only flowers in October, and just starting now.  I might miss it at it's best while we are away for the week.

climbing roses on the Gazebo

I planted the Flanders Poppies for the first time this year.  They look great while flowering, but the plants start to look really messy after a while.  My hope is they will self-seed and spread a bit.  I guess they will be done too when I get home.

family visit

Last week I went to Sydney and Newcastle to visit with my family.  It was my sister Diane's 70th birthday.  Di belongs to a "seniors" tap dancing troup and they were having their annual concert in the day before her birthday.  All the family attended.

Di is in the centre.  She got the good legs!   I really loved the concert, and I really loved that these girls were there doing stuff that they enjoyed,   They go to Senior Citizen's homes and and nursing homes, and do concerts for them.  Some of these girls were only "shufflers" but they were doing it, and not sitting about complaining about life.

This is Di and me at the birthday lunch.   All the gang were there as well.  We had a great visit, then back home again.  Short but sweet!

Christmas is Coming - believe it or not!

Today I got into trouble from Jan because I had not posted on my blog since August.  I knew it had been a while, and I have been busy.  One of the things I have been working on is a Christmas quilt as Penny and I had decided to do a Christmas workshop in November.  I have just uploaded a copy of the Flyer for the workshop.  There are still places in the two days, so please let one of us know if you want to attend.  My quilt is a scrappy medallion style wreath, and Penny's is a quilt as you go table runner.  All the details are on the flyer.

Tomorrow I am off to Sydney for a few days to visit with family - cousins, aunts, uncles, sister etc.  As yet I have not packed my bag or finished the washing, but I have worked out what sewing I am taking.  Got to get those priorities right!