Its beginning to look like Christmas!

 

With less than a week till the BIG day,

 its beginning to look and feel like Christmas around here.

Shopping, gift making and preparations have kept me busy.

Here is a little glimpse of some of my decorating this year.

 

My kitchen table is very festive, and of course that's my tree in the background.

 

 

See the glass bowl with little presents?

 

l have been busy making selvage coffee mats,

and most have been gifted to my dear friends.

 

These below are mine, and you get to use them if you come for coffee!

 

Part of my Jim Shore Santa's.

These copper wire birds were too cute, and so 5 of them came home with me,

each representing a member of the family,

 and of course, they each have their own personality's!

 

 

Some home made Santa's from my friend Robyn.

 

Big Santa on the right and little mini pipe cleaner Santa in the middle

 joined my collection today.

Thanks Robyn ( a different one)

 

There's a few antique Christmas quilts around as well.

l love decorating with them at this time of the year.

 

 

 

l know l haven't kept up with the blog as often as l should,

 and so l appreciate that you still visit.

 l have a new Ipad that l can take pictures on,

and have downloaded the blogger app,

 so lam hoping that in the future l will be able to

 post easier when l am away from home.

 

For those who do instagram, you can also find me there,

( @quiltsinthebarn )

where l often post little snippets of daily life here at QITB.

 

And l have finally joined the facebook brigade!!

l am loving being able to stay in touch easier,

 especially with those overseas.

 

So, if l don't get back before Christmas,

 l wish you all a very merry and joyous Christmas day,

 and may the year be filled with much love,

 happiness and wonderful times creating lasting memories.

 

 

Thanks for visiting.

Linda.

 

 

 

 



Houston and back home again!!

Its been a few weeks since returning home, and as l sorted

 through hundreds, ( well, maybe thousands! ) of photos,

it was wonderful to revisit and relive the

 wonderful time l had in Houston!

Catching up with old and dear friends,

 meeting and making new ones

 was certainly the highlight of the trip.

And many great adventures shared with you all!

What happens in Houston stays in Houston!

 

And this sign captured exactly how it was for me

 and the many thousands who attended both Market and festival.

 

 

Mary and l in front of the quilt, especially for photo taking.

 

Brenda, Margaret (my roomie) Jo

Patty and l in front.

Just remember girls! What happened in Houston stays in Houston!

 

 

Of course, these girls are so much fun!!

 

Its been a tradition since my first trip to Houston

 to meet and have dinner with these girls.

Kathi, Debbie, Robyn, Margaret and Sharon.

 

 

It was also a lovely surprise to bump into Linda from

The Quilted Pineapple, in an antique quilt booth no less!

 

Polly and Laurie from Minick and Simpson.

Their booth is always a delight to visit.

These girls are lovely to chat to.

 

 

 

As l walked the halls of Houston for days on end, l saw some funny sights.

 

 

These women were happy to be photographed in their Halloween finery!

 

l also found where the Quilt Police hangout!!

In Houston!!

 

This woman was happy to wear her craft!

 

There were new upcoming fabric ranges to check out!

Keep your eyes out for this one next year.

 

Lovely booths to potter in.

 

 

This is a booth l spent plenty of time in.

 Mary Koval Antique Quilts.



There was footwear of all kinds to see.

 

Including these personalized sneaker boots.

There were fabulous  schoolhouse presentations to attend.

This one was Andovers for Downton Abbey.

 

 

Fabulous meals to have!

 

 

And more fun girls to catch up with and share good times.

Lisa, Jo Ann, Jo and Jan.

 



 

There was time for a special sewing day in our hotel.

Cheryl, Jackie, Jo, Patty, Carol, Kathy,

Margaret, Julie, JoAnn, Betsy and myself.

Its another tradition we started several years ago,

 and l was happy to hear they continued it last year in my absence.

 

 

Me, Brenda, Maggie, Margaret, Patty and Val.

More great laughs over lunch!

 

This woman was seen strutting her stuff!!

 

There were familiar faces from back home to catch up with.

Leonie and Deirdre from The Quilted Crows meet Brenda.

(Don't you love that quilt behind them? Its being run as a block of the month)

 

 



 

Karen and Paul from Somerset Patchwork and Quilting.

 

 

My time in Houston was over all too soon, and l spent my last few

days in Dallas-Fort Worth with a dear friend.

She arranged for my last day to be special,

and this lovely bunch of ladies joined us for lunch,

 sewing and a great show and tell.

 

 

 

This was the last familiar face l saw as l left American soil.

 My hostess with the mostest, Marilyn!

 

Thanks to everyone who l was fortunate enough to spend wonderful time with.

There were many of you who l didn't get photos with, but you know who you are!!

 My memories are treasures kept in my heart. Till l see you all again.

 

Thanks for visiting.

Linda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Houston! We have landed!!

It's been 2 wonderful weeks traveling the east coast of America.

Quilts, Quilts and even more Quilts!

And now it's time for some serious quilt fun!

We arrived into Houston today.

And tomorrow it all starts. First up, a drive to La Grange,

A visit to the Texas Quilt Museum,  then next door to the Quilted Skein quilt shop,  

and an afternoon lecture with Kaffe Fassett.

Then School a House all day Friday, before the REAL fun begins!!!

Are you going to be at Market? Or Festival?

Let me know and we could try for a meeting!!

Will be posting lots of Quilt Market news on Instagram.

You can find me at Quiltsinthebarn.

Thanks for visiting.

Linda.

Quilts In The Barn 2013

The sun was shining, and all was ready!

Come one, come all,

And as we welcomed the first visitors, it certainly looked like they did!!

This was about 15 minutes after we opened!

Strictly standing room only.

Here are some of my wonderful helpers from Friday.

Margaret, Kim, Meghan, Leonie, Alison, Mary, Meredithe, Moreen, me,

Di and Jill ( seated)

Here's Leonie ( the Quilted Crows) standing in her booth. Note the bird quilt behind her? 

It's their new block of the month,  The Cousins Walk, starting in january next year. 

Can't wait to start this one!!!

I took this lovely bunch of ladies to view my Great Wall of Quilts!!

Here is Di Hall (Ford) maning the Den Haan & Wagenmaker booth. 

She completely sold out of fabric over the weekend. 

Can't wait to see some of the quilts that will be made with the new fabric.

Plenty of the ladies enjoyed their coffee and cake in the sunshine over the weekend.

And for the bad weather when it came, we were prepared this time.

Mary and Joe Koval were kept busy all weekend. 

Their suitcase were 47 kg lighter when they flew home!!! 

Boy, that's a lot of quilts and chintz they left behind!!

Here is Jill and Dorothy on Saturday who maned the front desk all weekend, 

and did a wonderful job. Saturday was also our AFL grand final, 

and Dorothy had her team colors on.

We have several close connections with Hawthorn Football club, 

and so we gave Paul the day off to attend the game. 

Here he is below, with our part time apprentice Jordan,

 with his hands on the Holy Grail!! Go Hawks!!

Meredithe did an amazing job selling books all weekend. 

We completely sold out of the Chintz books we had.

We even had quite a few men doing the rounds of the quilts.

 And for the second year running, we had a quilt group visit us in a bus!!

Here is Leonie taking a well deserved break, while a couple 

of the girls give her a hand cutting more FQ's.

And there is that bird quilt again. The booth was super busy all weekend.

Some of my wonderful helpers, in their pink shirts.

By late Sunday arfternoon, the fabric was all gone, 

and Di had a chance for a chat on the phone.

I had a dear friend who l worked with 35 years ago, come to see the quilts. 

She brought some of her magnificent fine knitted and crochet work to show us.

 Here she is holding court, and sharing stories from her childhood.

 And of course, the moment we wait for all weekend. the winner of the raffle quilt. 

Here is the lucky winner in the middle, Sue E, 

surrounded by some of my helpers.

And here she is doing her Toyota jump!!!

A tradition we started several years ago, is the award,

 "Mary, Mother of Quilting - For Going above and beyond the call of Duty,"

Was this year awarded to Meredithe.

A very worthy winner, Meredithe dragged herself out of her sick bed to attend every day.

And of course, no QITB weekend is complete without our Sunday evening shared dinner.

The barn is cleared, tables are set up, the boys cook the BBQ, 

and we all get the chat and enjoy each other's company.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped across the weekend, 

and especially those who came out and supported us.

There are many blogs out there sharing photos of quilts.

They can be found here, here, here,  and here .

I am sure there are others as well.

Thanks for visiting.

Linda.

P.S. Find me on Instagram!