Tap tap tap ..... helooooooooo

gosh, I almost had to wipe the dust off the blog its been so long!

so lets catch up ... lots happened, missed the end of the month round up ... again!

I was really busy trying to get all my ducks in a row for the Fat Quarterly retreat ,

which I'm sure you've read plenty about it already.

But here's how it was for me 

I managed to get everything done in time, right to the wire as usual, 

including 2 big custom quilts... 

Katy's Retro Flowers Brit Bee Quilt ... Which also has now won a prize!

And Di's Leaf Quilt

Plus 2 more charity quilts for Pea Room Quilters

my sample swap pouches got made

and the secret thingy got quilted and bound ...

and I may have been stitching down the binding on the train!

speaking of which  ...

My Roomie and I had a ball from the minute we left ... heading out here 

because I wanted to see the quilt I'd quilted for Tiina at Tikki Patchwork hanging in the window ..

there may have been a little fabric slip into my bag!  Whoops!

the rest of the weekend turned into a blur once the retreat started, a combination of exhaustion and long days resulted in an early night after the quilt market on Saturday night, but only after I bagged a few bits ...

oh, and a new addition to the family!  Thrifty, skillfully handmade by Katy, has come to live in the wilds of Lincolnshire 

as you can see, he's only wee, but oh my what presence he has! 

He currently guards my thread stash!

I only managed a few photo's of my class's, but failed completely on the fmq class, so I can offer you a vision of doodling ... I think by Leanne of Littlest Housemartin, judging by the nails!

It was fabulous to meet up with old friends, meet new friends I only knew by their on line presence, and make new friends too ... and once again it was over so soon

Hope to see you next year!

And then it as a bit of a mad rush with more customer quilts, and I may have turned that Simply Style Layer Cake I got from Justine at Simply Solids into something new!

and you might just have seen it at Festival of Quilts too !

I had a blast at festival, 2 days of bumping into friends, bloggers ... and hanging out with some lovely, lovely ladies too!

I haven't managed to download my pictures from my camera yet, so I'll leave you with Sarah Fielke's quilt that was just jaw dropping!

so there you have it, I'm still here, tired, busy quilting away on customer quilts, as well as fitting in a little trip out, or two, and some sewing for me!  

I'll try not to leave it quite so long, til next time!