In front of the fire....

...today, because I've been battling a head cold for the last week, the rain hasn't stopped, it's cold and miserable, so I thought that I would sit and sew, watch a couple of chick flicks and sip on hot chocolate....ahhh, it's been lovely!


I think I told you that I was doing a workshop with Irene Blanck of In Focus Quilts a while ago, well the second day is coming up at the end of this month so today was a good day to stitch the third of four blocks that have to be done before then..... ...this is the maple leaf block that I did today, I've still got the stem to stitch down, I've done this in wool as I've decided to introduce a little felted wool into the blocks from now on...


 ...this one.... ...and this one...
were the first two I made on the day of the class...the next block has a sprig of tiny leaves and I'm hoping to get that done in the next week or two. 


 thanks for all your good wishes for my birthday this weekend, we had a lovely day on Saturday with the kids and grandkids, lots of noise, food, coffee and hugs...couldn't ask for more.. ...the railway man bought me snapdragons and stock so my kitchen smells of spring, which is nice considering it's the middle month of winter with days full of the above mentioned cold wind and rain!! I love their little snappy mouths, when we were kids we used to stick a finger in and let it 'snap'...! I was very spoilt at work too yesterday, with not only beautiful roses but a yummy breakfast next door at the cafe, thank you Sue, Raj, Michelle and Peggy for singing happy birthday and entertaining all the breakfast customers.. :o)


I wanted to share this link with you....the lovely Abbe from here is opening Victoria's newest quilt retreat it looks amazing and I can't wait to try it out and spend a weekend there with some stitching friends








I've also got some exciting news to share soon I hope, it involves a foreign country, a convent and a quilter....stay tuned..!!