November ... ALREADY?!?!

WOW! I'm not at all sure how we're already over a week into November ... the second last month of the year. Where on EARTH have the last 10 months slipped away to?!?! Oh dear! The fat, jolly bloke in the red suit is going to be showing up before I'm at all ready for him, I just know it!

It's all go here at the Meares' Madhouse, between preparations for our fundraising garden party and the usual end of year busy-ness. Throw in a mini-sewing retreat with the Friday Nighters and a bit of connecting with our roots at a Celtic Festival (my family tree is so Scottish we almost bleed tartan and my Beloved Geek Boy's black-Irish looks come from his paternal Grandmother, Sheila O'Reilly!) and you can imagine our batteries are getting a wee bit flat. Can't complain of boredom around here ... unless you want to be given a job! Tee! Hee! Hee!

The mini-retreat was the last one the Friday Nighters will fit in before the end of the year, so we were all pleased to enjoy each other's company. There was lots of chatting, giggling, eating, chatting, laughing, eating, the consumption of bubbly adult beverages, chatting, giggling ... oh! And apparently some people sewed! :0) I hadn't really had time to organise myself with any larger projects, so I set myself up in a comfy chair with my light and some hand stitching, but some of the gals got HEAPS finished. Would you like a sneaky-peeky at a few finishes? OK! :0)

Here's Gail-Sue showing off her finished Tilda quilt top. Isn't it GORGEOUS!!! There's a bit of a joke between me and some of the gals who stitch on a Friday Night ... we meet in the back room of my Home-Away-From-Home, the Quilters Angel, so you just KNOW there's lots of shopping going on, right?! Well ... I feel it is my DUTY as a good friend and stitching buddy to HELP people shop ... aren't I a GOOD FRIEND?! Tee! Hee! Hee! And this quilt is made from the Tilda fabrics that I "helped" Gail buy.

I also often "help" Julie buy fabric, although I can't take any credit for her MIND BLOWING finish ...

Isn't it MAGNIFICENT!! There are SOOOOOOOOOOO many little squares in this quilt that I don't know how Julie managed to stay sane long enough to finish it. She has given time to this project at our retreats for more than a year and it was so exciting to see if completed. Talk about commitment! And the hardest bit to believe ... after all her hard work, Julie is giving this quilt away as a wedding gift! WOW!! I wonder if she'll adopt me?! Tee! Hee! Hee! And once the Bargello was finished, Julie moved onto MORE projects, including two rather cute finishes ...

Aren't these dollies just the sweetest?! Julie is a powerhouse once she gets going. :0)

And speaking of finished projects ... OPAMers ... Once again, you've all been super busy in your sewing rooms (or with your knitting and crochet). There were 135 finishes registered for October - WOW!! Well done everyone! And if you managed to make some good progress on some longer-term projects, well done to you, too. Thanks to my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg for doing lots of the bloghopping this month ... I kept running out of hours in my days. :0)

Righto ... the winner of this month's draw is ...

RAEWYN

Woo! Hoo! Congrats Raewyn! If you'd like to email me with your snail mail address, I'll pop a surprise in the mail for you soon.

And ... since it's actually taken me two days to get this post FINISHED ... I'm exhausted! :0) I'm off to water my vege garden before I put my feet up with a cup of tea to think about what I'm going to cook for dinner ... aaaah! The decisions!! Enjoy the end of your week - Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS