All at sea ...

Things got a little quiet on my blog here didn't they? I didn't mean to just disappear like that ... but you know how time can just get away from you, and it really did!

Those of you that know me on the Facebooks will have already seen some of these pictures, but for those of you not in the know, some of my family and I have just returned from a super-fun cruise to the Pacific Islands, and we had the very best time! And to make it super special, there were four generations of us: Camo, myself, my Mum and my Nanna.

We flew over to Sydney on Saturday the 12th, and journeyed to Circular Quay where our chariot was waiting ... OMG, I have never seen such a large ship in all my life! Camo and I had a fabulous balcony cabin together, it was the fourth one back in the first row of balconies above the portholes you see there ... Room 5115 - it was wonderful! And Mum and Nanna were in 5116.

Once boarded we were ushered up to the Lido Deck to take advantage of the wonderful buffet lunch, and of course we had to indulge in some celebratory cocktails ... after all, we were on holidays! And may I say, they were delicious, and the cocktails became a tradition we upheld each and every day on the boat.

At 6.00pm on the dot we were underway. The ship was berthed directly across from the Sydney Opera House, and so there were so many photo opportunities as we left and then sailed by. I was amazed by how smoothly we progressed through the harbour ... but when we were in open water, oh my goodness it was rough! We had 4 metre swells, and thanks to our thoughtful crew's advice we medicated to save from sea sickness.

Cameron took frequent advantage of the ice-cream buffet ... it was open 24 hours a day, and a couple of serves each day became mandatory! I may have indulged too ... can't prove anything :-)

The restaurant on board was just so opulent - we felt like royalty and ate breakfast and dinner here most days. Here are Mum and Nanna looking expectant. I don't have any pictures of myself sadly ... I was always on the other end of my camera, but I'll hopefully be able to wrangle some from my Mum (fingers crossed)!

Our first day on shore was on the beautiful Isle of Pines - the beach was simply idyllic. We tendered ashore on the life-boats as the water was not deep enough for the ship to get too close - they shuffled back and forth for the passengers all day long. I think this was my favourite stop - we swam in the warm water and played in the sand. The locals spoke only a little English, mainly French, so I joked with my Mum that my college education paid for itself this trip with my basic grasp of their language.

And here we are back on the ship again - Mexican night in the restaurant. Cameron made great friends with our waiters Elmer, and in the background there Shri.

Bafflingly I don't seem to have any pictures of our next stop in Mare which are worth sharing, so I'll have to check and see what Mum has.

Our third stop was the beautiful island of Noumea. Oh my goodness, it was just gorgeous. We had a tour of the island, and I may or may not have participated in a little retail therapy. (Of course I did!!)

And then after a few more days at sea, we were back in Sydney again. Because my Nanna had never been to Sydney before, and we had some hours to kill before our flight back to Adelaide, we did a tour of some of the sights in Sydney. In this picture we're at the Sydney Opera House looking back to where our ship was berthed.

Oh my goodness, we really did have just the very best time. I had packed some stitching to do in quiet moments, and I can say that I didn't sew one single stitch, we were so busy and had so much to see that I didn't feel the need for busy hands at all. I can definitely say I have the cruising bug now, and can't wait until I can go again!

Part Two finished :-)

This evening I finished part two of the Di Ford Mystery BOM. I didn't think I'd be able to get the time, but instead of heading to the shops today, I prepped and stitched hexagons, and while waiting for Camo at tennis training, I appliquéd them to the background fabric. Tomorrow is going to be super busy as a result, but I am so glad I can go on holidays with this little project off my mind.

Here are the hexies before I sewed them to the border strips:

Ugh, both of my pictures are blurry again - maybe I need to clean my lens? Clearly a little technical help required from the hubster. But I wanted to share this picture with you so you could see the teeny size of the hexies - they're half inch. And they only just fit on the block - the seam allowance will just skim the edges of the hexagons.

And here are the final borders in place:

I'm thrilled with how it's looking, and can't wait to see what is coming up in Part Three. I'm guessing the next magazine is due to come out in May? How will I ever be so patient?

When I have better light tomorrow, I'll try and take a less blurry picture - check in with you all soon! xox

Two borders attached ...

Last night I trimmed up all my little appliqué circle pieces, and got busy cutting out all the triangles for piecing. Because I'm working from my stash rather than receiving lovely fabric parcels in the mail, I was a little indecisive about what fabrics to use in the triangles. I'm trying to use up scraps from when I made my Nearly Insane quilt a little while back - and perhaps just a few little pieces of yardage here and there.

Here are my borders all ready and lined up for piecing ...

I chain pieced pretty much all of it, I do love to save thread that way when I can. It was all super easy - and happy days my machine didn't give me any trouble today. Perhaps we're beginning to love one another after all :-)

Seeing my block up on the fabric cupboard, I'm happy with the fabric choices I've made. What do you think? Here is where I'm up to right now:

I've managed to take a blurry picture - sorry about that. I'll try and get a better one when I have the side borders on. The side borders are together, but I haven't made the corner blocks yet. I have such a busy week ahead of me, I really hope I have a chance to put them together soon, or this project will be on hold for a couple of weeks. And just when I have a little momentum too ... ohhh well, I have fun things happening in the school holidays, so I cannot complain too loudly.

I know a few ladies on the Facebook group for this project have had some trouble with this border - I have been fortunate not to have any problems, but I will not congratulate myself just yet - the sides still need to fit on.

Alrighty, I'm going to get busy and prep the hexies for the corner blocks. Hope you're all having a great weekend. I'll check back in with you soon. xox

Seeing spots ...

Yay, I've finished appliquéing the little circles for the second instalment of the Di Ford Mystery Quilt. This evening I'll cut them apart and trim them up ready for the next step, which is piecing the borders.

I'm looking forward to rifling through my stash to find the perfect fabrics to use in the triangles for the border. If you haven't seen what the next step looks like, click here to see where I'm heading with this ... and if you love it, I'm sure it's not too late to jump on in! xox

The Caswell Quilt by Corliss Searcey

As promised, I'm back with a picture of the fabulous pattern I purchased from Corliss Searcey of Threadbare on the weekend:

Isn't it just divine? I'm really looking forward to working on this one. In my mind I'm planning on making it larger to fit on my queen size bed - I like them to hang almost to the floor, so 100" square is just perfect to my mind.

Corliss is a woman after my own heart, she has a love of vintage and reproduction style quilts, and as you know, they're my particular calling too. I can see I'll have to make a trip over to visit her store in Castlemaine sometime soon.

Well, I'm off to busy myself with more appliqué circles, I'm two thirds done now, so won't be long and I can get busy putting piecing the border for the Di Ford project. Chatter soon!