mid Autumn

And still in the mid to high 30's


                                 view from my bedroom

 

                                 click on pic to enlarge
                              

Splashy Fen 2010

We spent 5 days in the Natal midlands at Spalshy Fen, South Africa's longest running annual music festival. My son's band The Motherboards were first up - Thursday night.There are 4 band members,  all 17 years old ( he's the drummer)All the top bands are invited to play at Splashy Fen. The Motherboards won the battle of the bands Natal schools competition, one of their prizes was a spot on the main stage at Splashy.  www.splashyfen.co.za.My daughter arrived from cape Town - not wanting to miss her brother playing at " Splashy ".We had to take 2 cars, that's how much gear we packed ( everything even the kitchen sink just about ) Its a 3 hour drive from Durban and we arrived at Midday , enough time to pitch our tent and settle in and Matthew to do  his sound check.We had perfect weather the entire weekend, Ive gotten so brown yay ! The evenings were cold - we had to pack summer and winter clothing , everyone wears gumboots (wellies) because we are in the bush and should it rain like it usually does at this time of year then there's mud everywhere, luckily it just drizzled but not for long. We stayed in the Eco village, they had makeshift showers and they had built a donkey so we had hot water. The toilets were terrible, portaloo's - I hope I never have to use one again. Fantastic bands, we danced a lot and drank gluhwein in the evenings to keep warm.  We had a lovely time ( 5 days ) I don't know which is worse packing or unpacking ( I think both) had tons of washing.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Pitching our tent



The Motherboards

                                                                          
                                                                              

                                         Son, Matthew the drummer

                                              .

                                                                                                                        
              

breakfast

The Smiley's our neighbour's at the eco village and their son Alex, the bassist

Happy Easter

Thrift shop

Most Wednesdays my sister and I head off to our favourite  thrift shop, this week rummaging amongst the books I found this for R1.00

ok thats better, can you see the needle.

There are 5 pages and each page holds 6 colours - there's a stamp on the inside says -made in England patent applied for 30577/33. I'm not taking a chance washing the cover just in case it shrinks. (looks like linen but I'm not sure)

I love this booklet, neat and compact to carry around in my stitching bag. I'm off to wind on the rest of my colours.


PS: Hi, to my newest followers Barb and Mary.

Beauties

                        

                                    All sashing strips cut

My " beauties" have been completed , trimmed down to 8 inches and arranged in a very pleasing manner on my design wall. They look so pretty as is that I'm having second thoughts about using the sashing. Hmmm.......what to do!

        
 
                                     Best I stick to the pattern



PS: Hello to my newest follower, Shannon.

Happy St Patrick's Day

When Irish eyes are smiling,

Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter
You can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
And when Irish eyes are smiling,
Sure, they steal your heart away. 

 

luck of the Irish to you all and  Go Mbeannai Dia Duit ( May God Bless You)

Neytiri

Those eyes ....captivating

 

click on pic to enlarge

 

A Pieceful Friendship

I really enjoyed doing the stitcheries in this pattern  and so happy  the top is completed.Now comes the fun part - deciding how to quilt it.

click on pic for closer look

   

pattern in this magazine

NQG Open Day

Today  was our quarterly guild meeting ,open day  and quilt exhibition.We watched a DVD called Thread Therapy with Dr Bob,president of Superior Threads, really interesting. Our guest speaker was Sue Ackerman. She makes innovative quilts and wearable art and she has won numerous awards locally and internationally.One of her projects was a gorgeous jacket made with used teabags and lace overlayed with organza. ( wish I had taken a photo) So inspired after her talk and seeing a display of all her work.

purchased more fabric

and these lovely magazines- 

stitcheries

Two little Peppa-jo blocks done, nine Hat stand blocks by Vicki Tucek done, a spring sampler by Maria Freitas nearly completed.