Hectic Weekend.................................

After loading my Jeep up with as many kits, fat 1/4's and pattern as it would hold, Vicki and I headed off to Dubbo Friday afternoon, hoping to make it in time to up pack the car and set up the stall, before heading out for dinner with some blogland friends. We made it.

We met, Donna, Gillian and Fiona for a wonderful evening of non stop chatter, this is a photo of us all including Vicki in the red and my SIL Leanne with her arm around me.

Back to the show first thing Saturday to set the stall up probably before the crowds arrived at 10am, it was great to catch up with so many familiar faces, to many to name. Lots of ladies from that area have visited my shop so it was terrific to see them all again.

The committee that organised the show did a wonderful job, everyone was so happy all weekend, nothing was too big a problem, the food was great, the display of new and old quilts was outstanding.
Experiences like this leave me and I am sure everyone else, who visited the show, inspired and eager to squeeze in some time to sew, there are just so many ideas and patterns out there, who knows when I will get time to make them all.

A huge thanks to all those wonderful ladies that helped make the weekend such a success,

I was thrilled to be part of it.

Off to my sewing room for a little of me time.

Until next time happy sewing

Kerry

An Angel for my very best angel friend

Just a very quick post to share with you the Angel doll I made for my very best friend, Tanya, for her birthday, her special day was last month but I am going to spend the weekend with her in Dubbo so I decided I would share her with you all before I head off in the morning. "Lucinda" the angel is out of Annie Downs book "An Angel Story". I was pleased with the way she turned out, do hope Tanya likes her.

The past few days have been extremely busy in shop, with lots of holiday makers visiting me as well as heaps of preparation getting ready for this weekends show in Dubbo. I am looking forward to the weeknd, hope to see lots of friendly faces there.

I am catching up with some blog friends tomorrow evening for dinner to share some fun and laughter.

I will post some photos of the show next week, until then, take care

Kerry

Sheep Shearing here in Australia

This long post is especially for all those living in other countries to show you a little bit of what else goes on around our property apart from my Patchwork business. Geoffrey, my DH, works over 4000 arces of land, running Merino sheep for wool and cattle. Last week he finished shearing for the year and these are a few photos I took in the shed.

First up is "Noel" Geoffrey's very faithfulworking dog, enjoying a rest in the comfort of the soft wool under the classing table.

We grow fine merino wool and most of the wool that is grown on our property is sold at Auction and usually goes to Italy to be processed there and made into fabric for mens suits and other garments.

I will run the photos in order to show you the process of shearing a sheep.

This is a photo of the sheep in the yards waiting for their turn to have there coats removed, these are younger sheep called Hoggets, about 12 months old, don't mind there red markings on their noses, that is just paint.

Next they are put into a pen in the shearing shed, then the shearer drags them out and starts shearing, they shear the belly first then the face. This wool goes into a seperate bale. Apart from these two sections, the fleece comes off the sheep in a whole piece.

Once the sheep is shorn ,the shed hand picks up the fleece and throws it carefully onto the classing table, were the fleece is skirted and classed, it then goes into a wool press and is pressed into very large bales that are marked with the property brands and trucked to the wool stores, where it is then sold at auction..Each year Geoffrey ( or should I say the shearers ) shear about 3,500 sheep on our property, each shearer usually shears about 120 sheep per day so the process takes a a few weeks in total to complete.

I am so glad I have my own business to run, a patchwork shop is a much better place for a women then the shearing shed, it is pretty hard work out there and the talk in the shed is not fit for a womens ear alot of the time.

Anyway hope you have enjoyed learning a little more about life on my hill.

Take care

Kerry

Calling anyone in the Dubbo area....................
Well Friday week, 12th October I will be in Dubbo to set up for the Central West Patchwork & Needlecraft Expo, to be held on Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th at the Dubbo Christian school on Sheraton Rd. I will be taking along lots of fat 1/4's, patterns, kits, gift ware etc, I am looking forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones over the two days.
If you would like to join me for dinner on the Friday evening in Dubbo please contact me and we will arrange a time and a place, it would be great to catch up with any blog watchers out there in central west New South Wales.
Also if anyone would like to receive a 10% discount voucher to be spent at the Expo then leave a message between now and the 10th October and I will have your voucher ready and waiting for you on my stall in Dubbo.
There will be new fabrics and quilts so come along and visit me in Dubbo on the 13th & 14th October. Looking forward to seeing you all there,
Kerry
PS Dubbo holds a special place in my heart as it was my home for the first 21 years of my life, give or take some time spent in New Zealand and Sydney.

Another chapter in our lives is over.................

It is so hard to believe but Sebastian along with his mates finished their school lives yesterday. Schooling in Australia (NSW) goes through to year 12, and yesterday was the final day for all year 12 students, they have a couple of weeks break and study time before returning for there final school exams. Sebastian attends a boys boarding school about 1 hours drive from home.

Geoffrey and I attended the senior sportmans dinner at Sebastian's high school on Thursday evening, Sebastian was lucky enough to be named the Best and Fairest player for the 1st 13's.

Then we attended the Graduation assembly at school yesterday morning before helping to set up the function centre for last night School Formal. This is always a big night on the school calendar and last night was no exception. Sebastian being the out going child he is, decided to wear something a little different then the rest, he worn a baby pink suit with black shirt. Believe me he looked great, he is just one of those kids that can get away with doing something like that and it was good as he was very easy to spot in the room of 450 people, 99% of the blokes worn their black dinner suits. Geoffrey, Alicia ( his partner) and I all colour coordinated especially for the photos and this is the result.
I am sure all the boys had very mixed emotions, it is a big change in their lives, and another chapter of ours over, we shared the last couple of days with Sebastian's mates parents which was a wonderful time for us to remember. Nicole was home on uni holidays so it was special for her to be able to join us also.

Now that our school days are over we look forward to the next chapter in our lives where ever that may take us.
Until next time thanks for dropping by and sharing my life
Kerry

The Most popular quilt in store at present................

Well what a big weekend we all had, I some how over booked with my retreat this weekend and ended up with 13 in the class, after shuffling around the tables we made room for everyone, I cut all weekend, they all worked very hard and we ended up with lots of gorgeous quilt tops. I didn't manage to snap a photo before they all left so I decided to post a photo of the quilt that has been the most popular over the past few weeks.

The quilt design is called Past Times, by Lyn Wilson, my sample is made using a mixture of fabrics, alot out of the Siennna range. 3 of my group on the weekend made their version of this quilt, while a couple of the other ladies purchased kits to take home and make in their own time.

It was a fun weekend, all the ladies joined us for a local Prawn and Chicken night in the town hall, this is a annual event to raise money for the local pre-school, some of them danced into the wee hours of the morning and still turned up to class bright as buttons.

Melinda, Anne and Kathy stayed an extra night and re visited me this morning to take a trip up to our other property to visit Geoffrey in the shearing shed, as they hadn't had the opportunity to see sheep being shorn before. Shearing is part of running a sheep property but fasinating to the out sider. In my next post I will share some photos of in side the shed.

Until then take care

Kerry

Spring is in the air...................................

After a burst of cold air yesterday, today is another gorgeous spring morning, as I was walking this morning I just had to stop and listen to the wonderful sound of all the different birds playing in the trees, they sounded very happy that the sun was shining and that there was no wild wind blowing. My garden is also enjoying the spring weather with lots of new shoots and flowers appearing daily, how I love this time of the year. This is a photo of my very first rose for the season, "Pinky" with some of our cattle and their babies in the back ground. Also just behind the rose are evidence that the white cockatoo's have been around before I woke this morning, they take great pleasure in breaking off plants at ground level, bitting off new flower heads and just destroying my garden. I think I will have to built a scarecrow to keep them away.

Anyway thanks for dropping bye, hope it is a beautiful day at your place where ever you are in this wonderful world.

Kerry

Another batch of happy patchworkers

Just a very short post to say thanks to my lovely ladies that join me this weekend, they all left with big smiles and a new quilt top each, well done, there was lots of sewing as well as lots of chatter and laughter. I look forward to seeing you all again soon, if not before at my Christmas Gathering in December.

Kerry

Are we mad or what..........Dear Jane here we come

All year a small group of us have been talking about starting the Dear Jane Quilt, so yesterday was the day, Wendy, Vicki and I got together in the shop to start cutting, Helen couldn't make it but I am sure she will catch up. With lots of interuptions we did manage to cut out 13 blocks each, row G. I had decided ages ago that I would make my quilt out of Thimbleberry fabrics, so I pull out a few scraps and started cutting, then last night I just had to sit and stitch one block together. I am please with the result and look forward to adding these blocks to a long list of projects on the go. I will keep you all informed with my progress.

This is a photo of block one completed and the other 12 neatly cut and packaged in their own little plastic bag.

If anyone has any tips or tricks with this quilt that they would like to share I would love to hear from you.

Kerry

Aren't all these quilts fantastic..................

Just a very short post to share a photo of this weekends retreat ladies, all of their quilts looked great, Megan the little whiz completed two very large quilt tops in the two days, very simple "Le Jardin" Design but hey there was heaps of sewing in both of them. They both looked great and so different, that's Megan standing up behind everyone.

Pam( 2nd from the left) with the Quilt made from Fresh cut fabrics by Heather Bailey, was here with her sisiter, Jan, celebrating her 60th Birthday, what a great way to spend a special birthday. Hope you enjoyed your special weekend away Pam.

Hope you all had a great weekend, looking forward to seeing you all again.

Have a good week

Kerry

Look who has found some time to sew............................

Well just a couple of quick photos to prove to you all that I have found some sewing time this week.

Spent a few hours Sunday morning working on 3 paper bag quilts that had been sitting around here for a little while, can't share them as it might spoil the surprise for those involved.

Then I managed to write up a couple of weeks on my 365 Challagne quilt and sew on 3 more rows, this is a photo of how it is looking. I am very pleased with the result so far, its not a very good photo but I am sure you can get the idea.

Then last night I made up this flannel quilt using a pattern called Log Cabin Star by Kansas Trouble Quilters, great quilt for a man, and so so easy, from start to finish in less then 2 hours. Thats my type of quilt. I am actually thinking I might put another 6" border around the quilt just to add a bit of size, I will share a finished photos of it soon.

I ve also been working on a doll for my very good friend Tanya for her Birthday that was last Monday, will share a photo as soon as I finish her.

I love weeks like this, when I can sit and stitch, life runs smooth without a hitch.

A weekend off ------------So what will I do?????

Well after another busy week in the shop I actually have a weekend with no retreat, it is Fathers Day here in Australia tomorrow, so I always keep this as a free weekend.

Wednesday/ Thursday this week I had 10 lovely ladies join me on there first 2 day retreat, they all had a wonderful time and did extremely well with there sewing, this photo was taken just before they departed. I look forward to seeing them all again soon.

It is a really hard decision what to actually do this weekend, I stayed up late last night and finished off the border on a quilt I have been working on for 10 years. It is the 1997 Times and Seasons quilt from Peace Makers, I started it with a group back in 1997, hand appliqued all the blocks, hand painted all the skyes, appliqued the flowers onto all the border panels then came to a stand still. After being inspired by a photo one of my groups showed me a few weeks back I dragged the quilt out and make the other border blocks, then last night whipped up the 4 star blcoks for the corners, they are meant to represent the 4 seaons. So now I will send it off to my lovely friend Betty to quilt so will share a full photo of it completed very soon.

This is just a small section.

The weather here over the last week has been so nice, Spring has sprung, or for a short while anyway, so I might spent some time in the garden as well as try and work on a few more outstanding sewing projects, I will let you all know if I do achieve any sewing.

Have a great weekend, thanks for dropping by

Kerry

Where do I begin......................
I just can't believe how quickly each week is flying bye at the moment, last week was one of those weeks, Nicole broke her foot, then had her house broken into, everything is fine thankfully, the police acted quickly and recovered all the stolen goods. Sebastian had his knee operated on in Sydney, so another quick trip (5 1/2 hours drive) down, then back the next day, he is back at school now so hopefully it won't take too long to heal. At least he hasn't any more footy for the season, his Farrer 1st 13's lost last Thursday to a very big Sydney team.

Then tomorrow I will have a new group of ladies joining me for a 2 day retreat, that will make 4 in the last two weeks. I must confess that I forgot to take photos of 2 groups, sorry but I look forward to seeing some photos of their finished quilts.

This is a photo of last weekends group, with some of their wonderful work, we all had a great time, those log cabin blocks look terrific, Gai, you must be very pleased with the quilt.
Thanks for including me in your Sunday night swap, I think I will make an Autumn Leaf quilt out of those fabulous charm squares I received. Don't hold your breath waiting, I will add it too the long list, but will make sure I will share the blocks when I do get to make some.

Also this is a photo of Peg and Dale (especially for Chookyblue ) they are both newcomers to blog land so pop over and say hello. They both decided to work on a Pleated Log Cabin quilt, after heaps of sewing they did manage 10 finished blocks each. Both lots of blocks were looking fantastic - don't you all agree.

In between everything last week I did manage to write my August newsletter which can be viewed on my web site for anyone interested.

I think this will have to do for tonight, I am ready for bed and have a couple of big days ahead.

thanks for dropping over, I will post again soon.

Kerry

Look what the postman delivered----------------
Thanks to Angela for organising the pincushion swap, this is the gorgeous pincushion I received all the way from the USA, thanks heaps Angela, I love it and I look forward to making up the pattern that you sent me as well.
As yet I haven't heard if mine have arrived in the States, to Susan and Angela - do hope they arrive soon.

Guest Who's coming to Nundle in 2008

May 3rd 2008

Two off Australia's top designers will be right here in Nundle sharing their skills, expertise, knowledge and friendship.

A Girls Day in the Country will be held in the Nundle Memorial Hall, we will have room for up to 100 ladies, join us for a fun day enjoying two new projects, yummy food, lots of laughter, meeting new and old friends, sharing show and tell and best of all getting to know our two guest tutors.

Rosalie Quinlan & Leanne Beasley

Cost for the day hasn't been finalised as yet, bookings are now open, so if you would like to join us in Nundle for a fantastic day of stitching, please email me at kerry@cottageonthehill.com.au and I will send you further details.

I hate to wish the year away but I can't wait for May next year it should be such a fun day.
Kerry

I have been tagged
I have been tagged by the lovely Leanne at Leannes House - 8 random things about meme - thanks Leanne I have had to put my thinging cap on with this one.

RULES - Post rules before giving the facts - Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves - People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules - At the end of the your blog you need to tag eight people and list their names - Leave them a comment on their blog, telling them they have been tagged and not to forget to read your blog.

1 - I hate eating any foods such as Banana's or avocado's because of the texture of them, all slippery and slimey.

2 -I don't drink tea or coffee, never had and never will. An old lady, actually a friend of my Nanna's said to me when I was about 15, "isn't it time you learnt how to drink tea of coffee" so from that day on I have never. I drink lots of water.

3 - I love counting things, whether it be patchwork squares as I am cutting up a quilt, or picking up twigs to start the fire, I seem to always find myself counting, even if I know what the end number is going to be.

4 - When I hang the washing on the line I always hang larger items such as jeans, shirts etc on the line closest to the house so that anyone who comes can not see the underwear hanging on the line.

5 - My favourite city in the world is Queenstown in New Zealand, I have been there many times over the past 25 years

6 - I am a five star holiday maker - I love my luxury - I am not a camper

7 - When I was about 18 I could have had the chance to be a professional golf player - now I might have the odd game every now and then.

8 - I am an organised freak, I love to be the leader and the organiser - it works well running my own business not sure I could work for someone else.

Ok well that's 8 random things about me, now I have to tag 8 other lovely bloggers, here goes,

Sarah Leigh Peg Janelle Tina Karol-Ann Juliann Wendy

I look forward to reading 8 random things about all of you.

Have fun
Kerry

A Special Tuesday class - Happy Birthday Judy

Not just another Tuesday class today - this one was special , it is Judy's birthday at the end of the week so I made her a Birthday Cake which we shared for afternoon tea. Happy Birthday from us all, hope you have a lovely day.

The cake I made was a very easy but yummy Chocolate Brownie cake so I have decided to share the recipe with you all, 2 minutes preparation, 25 minutes cooking time.

200 grams of Self raising flour

200 grams of Castor sugar

pinch of salt

2 heaped tablespoons of Cocoa powder

5 tablespoons of sunflower oil

1 table spoon of malted vingear

1 teaspoon of Vanilla

240mls of cold water

In a bowl combine all ingredients and mix well with a spoon

Grease an 8 inch cake tin and pour mixture in, bake in a moderate oven for 25 minutes, cool in tin for about 10 minutes then turn out on to cake plate, when cool sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with cream.

Enjoy

Another group of happy customers

Well another weekend has passed with another wonderful group of ladies achieving so much,
as you can see from the photo they all did so well. 10 Quilt tops for 9 ladies.

In the front of the photo is Beulah, who is 84 years young, this was her first visit for a retreat and her first quilt, she did so well and her quilt, "Mary Mary" one of Janelle Winds older designs turned out great. Who said you are never too old to learn, I sure hope I can still make quilts at 84.

Flannels Flannels and chenille

All my 9 ladies on the weekend all worked with Flannels, the new ones were very well received by the group, with some wonderful quilt tops made by them all. To add a little texture 3 of them included chenille into their quilts which looked great. Once again a great weekend was had by all, Joy kept the fire stoked up as the cold change that was predicted arrived Saturday. This was there 6th year in a row to visit me and they are already looking forward until next year.

This is a photo of them all just as they were about to leave late Sunday. Quilts were already packed in the cars for the journey home.

Great to see you all again I look forward to your return.

Flannel Fabrics...........................................

How much do I love these fabrics, I usually stock heaps of flannels in the shop but this year there has been a shortage, until now.
Over the past week or so 3 new ranges have arrived in store, and today Judy unpacked this very nice range by Maywood called "Willowberry Winter" they are priced at $24.00 per metre and are just stunning. I have already orders for these so I know they will sell very fast. I will be making kits up in my very old "Flannel Heart Design" Quilt. The colours are just so rich, and the mixture of prints will work so well together.

Also in stock are "Primitive Courtyard" and "Winter Woollies". Those ladies in the flannel club, samples for Primitive Courtyard have been sent out this week, samples for the other two ranges will be sent with my August newsletter which should be out next week.

"Primitive Courtyard"

So if you have been waiting for flannels then they are here now.

Kerry