Don't look now!

Resuming normal programming ...

It has taken longer than I expected to try and slot back into everyday life and I still feel a little like a fish out of water. The flight home was long and arduous and even before the midway point I was promising myself that I would never leave Australia again ... although I am sure that these emotions will pass with time! Besides ... once we win the lottery we will be able to fly first class ... and it will be me that the flight attendant is talking to when they announce that "those in Premiere Class may choose their own seat back position, however, they will need to store their ottoman for decent" (what an inconvenience!!!!)

It has also taken me longer to post as I have not had anything show until now. I have been flat out working on a project that I insanely agreed to while we were away which needs to be finished by the end of the month ...

How many days are there again until December?

This is my little quilt for the DQS. This also needs to be finished by the end of the month ... as you can see it will be a little late I hope that the recipient will forgive me.

 

My swap partner noted a dislike of a specific colour in her profile. I never realised how much I use this colour ... it has been difficult.

I never got to do very much sewing on our trip. I had imagined that I would have gotten a lot of hand piecing done while we were driving ... however, I never realised that my role during the driving phases would involve quite so many panic attacks! It is quite hard to hold a needle and sew a straight line when you are breathing into a paper bag ;).

I did however manage to draw up plans for 6 new quilts and many more ideas for others ... so it would seem that 2009 is going to be a busy year!!!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Kellie

PS. When I collected the mail yesterday I was very pleased to see my new copy of Quilters Companion waiting for me ... and look what I found on the last page ....

Thats me listed beside my very cool and tallented friend Tracey!!!!! I was so excited I almost wet myself! ... as you can see there is not a lot of excitement in my life! :)

Keep RIGHT!!!!!!

                               

Since the 3rd of November when we set off from LA we have covered approximately 2570km (1600 miles) all driven on the wrong side of the road!!!!! Well for us it was the wrong side of the road ;)! All of this driving has been quite an ordeal for this very tense, stress-head!

There has been quite extensive use of the passenger side breaking system ...

and frequent use of colourful words that the children really should not have heard ... these things were all unavoidable considering the fact that we have been driving on the wrong side of the road ... and really who has ever heard of turning right on a red light??????

We are returning the rental car on Monday morning before we fly out later in the evening ... I suspect that Mr Alamo will require an explanation regarding my hand print on the dash ....

Other than this we have had a fabulous time! We have been blown away by the awesome beauty of Yosemite National Park!

Everywhere you turn there is another jaw dropping vista ...

This tree is part of the Giant Sequoia grove in the park and it's over 2700 years old ...

 

These trees really have to be seen to be believed! 

You really must visit this place!

 

We are spending our last few days shopping and sightseeing in the beautiful San Francisco.

We have visited all of the usual tourist haunts like the Golden Gate Bridge ... which the boys loved! Fisherman's Wharf and this is the famous Lombard Street which is the crookedest street in the world - not that you can really tell from the photo ... I was too busy hanging on to look properly :)

Last night the kids went ice skating in Union Square ...

Well ... I don't actually think that you would call what they did skating but they had an absolute ball! 

Today we spent the day at the Exploratorium which is the most amazing interactive science museum! We all thoroughly enjoyed this place! We could have easily spent a couple of full days here and still not fully experienced all of the exhibits. 

 

Although we are flying out on Monday we wont get into Melbourne until Wednesday ... I feel nauseous thinking about this!!! So I guess you will hear from me again once I have done the washing and had a decent cup of tea!

Have a great week!!!

Kellie

An amazing day of firsts ...

No craft today. Instead my people and I got to experience one of the most amazing natural wonders in the world ....

 

The Grand Canyon!

 

It is bigger, more beautiful and more awe-inspiring than you could ever imagine!

 

I have no words that could possibly describe this place adequately.

 

The trees right down the bottom there are 10 stories high!!! If you would like some better images or some amazing facts take a look here.

 

It was one of the coldest days that this ex-Brisbanite has ever experienced ...

 

And this is why!

 

 This afternoon the kids and I got to experience snow for the VERY first time!!!!!! 

 

Very cool ... literally!!!!!

Tomorrow we are heading back to Vegas then on to Yosemite National Park where apparently we are likely to be seeing a bit more of this white stuff ... we had better get some warmer clothing!!!!!!!

Before I go I will leave you with an amazing beauty. This is my favorite minature quiltfrom Houston. This quilt is by Kumiko Frydl and is called Mission Impossible.

The quilt is a 1/20th replica of a pretty amazing quilt that was featured on the cover of July / August 2007 edition of Quilters Newsletter by Kathy Nakajima. I had dreams about the original ... now I have two spectacular dreams to choose from!

Enjoy your week!

Kellie

Dear Santa ...

OK so maybe the Bernina 820 might be slightly out of your price range  ... so how about this one? ....

Now this is a nice machine!!!! It would fit beautifully in my sewing room and at half the price of the Bernina 820 it's a bargain! What do you reckon Santa? I promise I will be a very good girl!

I spent Friday admiring the quilts at the festival and topping off my shopping ...

Here are a few of my favorite quilts ... starting with a couple of amazing Australians!

 

I was thrilled to see Helen Godden with Gail Thomas & Annette Hendricks with their spectacular quilt Seasonal Sisters. Helen has long been one of my favorite quilters! Congratulations Helen on yet another totally amazing work of art!!!!!

  

This little one is by Mariya Waters who taught me how to quilt! Mariya is a beautiful woman and an amazing artist. I'm so pleased that she has won yet another international award!!!!

 

I have been trying to finish this post now since last Saturday as my computer & Typepad have not traveled well!! So my 'quilt show and tell' is going to be short & sweet today and I will add some more of my favorites later on ... when I have more patience with IT obstacles!!!

So for now these are a few of my favorite masterful quilters ...

 

 

 

Although I loved my little Houston jaunt I was very happy to rejoin the family again on Friday night!

 

We all went to Universal Studios on Saturday and had an absolute ball!!!! The Simpson's ride was totally amazing! Megan, Ben & I particularly loved the Revenge of the Mummy! Jessie stuck close to Daddy's legs most of the time ...

and had been so over exposed by the time we went to the Animal Actors Show that she wouldn't enter the building until we assured her there would be no shooting or killing!

 

Mind you she didn't mind posing with Jaws but the experience on the tram car was a whole other story!

Megan & Ben are still loving all of the thrills & spills & each others company!

We moved on to Vegas yesterday after spending 4 days in San Diego which is really a very beautiful city ... 

 

with some very beautiful shopping!

More of that later ... for now I will leave you with a funny story that I know only has relevance to me and Granny ... but I still love it! While we were in San Diego we ate at a restaurant where the children's menus were printed on Pirate masks. Joshua rushed to put his on and proudly sang to us all ...

Arrrh-me-a-party!!!!

I hope you are all well and that enjoy your weekend!

Kellie