We finally celebrated Ben's 7th birthday on Sunday ... and what a whole lot of exciting fun it was too!
We took Ben and a few of his best friends to the Circus!
There were loads of amazing magic tricks, stacks of scantily clad women who appeared and disappeared from various different boxes, jaw dropping acrobatic feats, a woman who managed to balance on a over-sized disco ball while dancing with more hula hoops than I have seen in my entire life time and three totally loony motor bike riders that all rode around together, at great speed, in a metal sphere!!!!!
... and then we had cake!
Happy 7th birthday ... yet again my sweet boy!
While I'm reflecting upon late celebrations there is one more that needs to be addressed ... that elusive 100th post celebration that I have been putting off for the past 7 posts ...
I finally put on my skates and finished my new tree quilt ... that I have called Lilly Pilly.
I just love this quilt ... it has turned out even better than I had hoped that it would ... sorry about the photos it is a little gloomy here today and I didn't want to wait any longer!
One person who leaves a comment to this post will get to take this quilt home with them ... but there is one catch ... if you want to play along you will have to agree to wait a little while before it comes to live with you as I need to have it to display on my stand at the Australian Quilt Market in November of this year....
So do you want to play along ... are you prepared to wait to collect the quilt? Cool!
To enter the giveaway you must leave a comment on this post between now and midnight Australian EST on 2nd of September. As always there are a couple of extra ways that you can rack up extra entries ...
- if you purchased one of my last batch of patterns during the preorder period you will receive an extra 10 entries (please note preorder in your comment)
entries ... if you do this please let me know by emailing me here and noting Giveaway Link in the subject field.
As promised if you have left a comment on any of my last 8 posts and you win the quilt you will receive an extra little something ... these posts have now had the the comments closed during this giveaway period to make sure that the regular commenter's aren't disadvantaged.
In addition to this ... if you have purchased a pattern from me or any of the retailers who stock my patterns and you win the quilt you will also receive an extra little something. The pattern needs to be purchased before the end of this giveaway & you will need proof of purchase.
Just a word of caution though ... if you happen to claim any of the extra entries and you aren't entitled to them then you wont be able to play along! Fair is fair! I will be checking!
In addition to the Lilly Pilly Quilt I will giveaway another 10 of the How does your garden grow patternsand 5 of the new Love grows free patterns.
Other than this bit of excitement I have a heap of other things to share with you all about the past weeks happenings ....
I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon with the NOTY Quilters Guild last Saturday! I loved sharing my quilting experiences with such a receptive and friendly bunch of women! Thank you all so much for making me feel so welcome! Unfortunately I don't have any photos just yet of meeting but I will post them once I do.This past Saturday I got up supper early ... early for a Saturday that is ... packed the Bernina in into the Mazada and zoom zoom zoomed ...
across Victoria to Ballarat Patchwork...
... to teach 6 keen women some of my techniques.
This is Keri and she is a Sewing Machineaholic ... I wont tell you how many sewing machines she has at home just in case I get it wrong ... I wouldn't be surprised if she bought another one on the way home from the class ... no only kidding ... you know I'm just jealous! Keri also picked up the technique incredibly quickly and hopefully you all will get to admire her version of Oh Christmas Tree on the Flickr page very soon!
Katrina is the most delightful girl who sells hand made clothing among other things at local markets. She hadn't done any quilting to speak of before the class ... and although she wouldn't admit to it, she worked really hard at getting the hang of this skill and did some fantastic work!
Roma, who is a seasoned quilter and is accomplished at hand applique, took to raw edge like a duck to water!! I am really looking forward to seeing your version of Rainbow Lollipops & Garden Party Roma!!
And for some reason or another, Yvonne you managed to escape the focus of my lens ... I'm so sorry! Please send me a picture Yvonne so that I can share your project with everyone! But for now my sample will sit where your work should be!
Thank you so much guys for a lovely day! It was great to get to know you all and to meet some people who found me through other sources other than my blog!
Ballarat Patchwork are also now stocking my patterns if you are over that way make sure you drop in ... it is well worth the trip ... once you peek inside you will understand why I drool over this shop! Just in case you are looking for the Hankie Linen that I use alot in my projects they keep a good range of the colours in stock. They also have a great on-line shop as well for those of you that a just too far away to drop in... that's my fabric Emma's cutting up! Oh and by the way Jodie I'm still more than a little bit pissed that I didn't get to see you!!!
Creative Quilting a UK based shop in Surrey in the UK has also just started stocking my patterns this past week! Make sure you pop in if you happen to be in the area ... and don't forget to say I sent you!!!! They also have a beautiful on line shop!
As always with new retailers if you happen to be the first person to contact me after purchasing one of my patterns from either Ballarat Patchwork or Creative Quilting then I will send you out a copy of either How does your garden grow or the Love Grows Free pattern ... your choice :)
I also received a lovely comment on my last post from Sarah from Sewn & The last piece on Saturday morning...
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Hey Kelly - NOT entering the competition, just letting you know that I am at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, and what did I see today? A stand selling your patterns, with samples made up looking very nice, and lots of ladies poring over the selection! Most exciting for Don't Look Now!
Finally the giveaway winners from my last post ...
Marie Joze from Handmade by Mai left the 5th comment ... Mai has just finished some very nice bags and she is a Bernina girl so well worth a peek ... Mai also won some of my pattern a few weeks ago after leaving my 3000th comment!
Anna from Thimbleanna who left the 8th comment .... I owe you more than a pattern Miss Anna!!! If you don't know Anna then really you can't be a serious blogger! Go take a peak at the life of Anna ... I dream of being Anna's sister, or her daughter or daughter-in-law or even her cat!
Blogless Leanne who left the 63rd comment ....
Mary from Mary on Lake Pulaski left the 75th ... Mary must be on a winning streak as she just won one of Melly & Me Bon Bon bag patterns ... very nice bag Mary!!!!
Lora Lynn from My Art, My so called Life who left the 78th comment ... happy Wedding Anniversary Lora!!!
Larissa from Flutter By Corner left the 80th comment .. Larissa has been working on her free motion stitching skills and things are looking great over her way ... but if you scroll down the page you will see why you must remember to remove your safety pins!!! Close one Larissa!
The gorgeous Sandy Gray from The Silver Thimble left the 95th comment ... Sandy stocks my patterns and is now an expert at inserting zips with a flap!!!
Last but not least blogless Julie Anne who left the 117th comment.
Congrats guys! I will send out each of you a copy of the How does your garden grow pattern as soon as I have your snail mail details.
Enjoy your week and good luck with the belated 100th post giveaway!
One more 'final' cool thing from my last post, that I just realised, is that blogless Tammy Spencer left my 4000th comment ... I will send Tammy both of the giveaway patterns to celebrate! Thanks Tammy and to all of you for taking the time visit & to leave a comment! I very much appreciate it!!
Kellie
PS. Remember I mentioned the Don't Look Now Flickr group page earlier on .... well it is up and running. I have transferred all of the photos from the old album in my side bar to the group page. Make sure you take a peek and make sure you goin the group! If you leave some photos please make sure you let us know which pattern or tutorial you used and any other information you might like to share - such as the fabrics you used, quilting pattern etc. I hope that this place will become a source of great inspiration for us all!
****Edit September 3 ... just after midnight ,,, thank you all for entering this giveaway! What an amazing responce! I am so thilled that you like this quilt as much as I do. The giveaway is now closed & I have closed the comments for now. I am going to need a day or so to sort out all of the entries ... so see you back here Friday or Saturday. Kellie ****