And the winners are........

Thankyou to each and everyone of you for sending your inspiring 'happiness' messages to be in the draw for a Thorngrove quilt pattern! Some came as happiness emails and some were messages via the blog..........so today we did a draw the old fashioned way and in that pot were almost 40 of you! So I found another spare pattern so that three of you could have a chance. So Larry did the job...

 Firstly winner was Viv who said: It's always good to read your blog. Once grandchildren come along life changes as it should. Great to see Wade doing well. I love all your patterns.

The second winner was Anne B with this message: The simple things make me happy, sunshine, special smiles, a warm loving touch, a nice cup of coffee, being lucky enough to have clean running water, stitching, friends and family. 

Sadly there was no email address attached to either of your messages Viv and Anne so please let me know how I can get in touch with you (send me an email direct to me at michele.hill@bigpond.com). 

And finally Jean L who left this message (and I have her email address - yeh!): Wow, what a quilt! The May Morris book I just got from the library makes me happy. Pretty soon I'll be seeing daffodils and tulip trees in bloom, which is one of my favorite things. And the other night, we had a nice family dinner with a kid's friend along, and I thought "Wow, I should remember this forever." 

I just wish I had patterns for you all........so because I want you all to have a copy (if you would really like it), I have made it available via the digital pattern page of this blog for a short time only! Sadly it is cost prohibitive to do as a hard copies as the centre panel needs to be printed on a page at least 20 inches square - and that is a quarter of the design that is repeated four times!  So thank you once again to Nydia and Ken at Thorngrove Manor.....

With all this giving and sharing it seemed very appropriate to have this as my favourite message of 'happiness is' from my desk calendar this week......

Meanwhile in the Hill household most of our week has been consumed with our special little boy. It is so nice we can help out when needed and Sophie and Tim have certainly needed extra support during these early days.......

 He is growing and just starting to try to focus.....still so hard to believe he has been with us for 16 weeks but is really only a month old. Emily is also about and she sent these lovely photos when they went out for a walk and coffee. Little Maisie adores him......

 Wade still looks like the size of a doll......

Emily also shared this delightful collage of photos of Maisie at her first dance lesson. Only three and half and loving it all. The other photo from Sophie was of "her little joey" in that so cute kangaroo pose........

A lovely friend had this special book printed for Wade as well............

I have also been busy trying to complete a quilt and have just started using a new gadget! I recall in my early years of quilting I would rush out and buy the 'latest and greatest gizmo' only to find years later they had never been used! But last year when I was guest artist at the Craft and Quilt Fair with Julie Haddrick  I observed her quilting with a small frame - The Gyspy Quilter fabric glide. I can be a tad cynical about more gadgets these days and while watching the $$ is a priority I am so glad I bought it! I often get pain in my wrists and fingers especially in the left hand where the pesky ganglion has regrown and is now strangling a nerve. As you can see my hands are usually stretched out so no wonder they hurt later.......

 The frame is much more comfortable to hold and I've tried with and without gloves but prefer them on........

 I bought mine from Australian retailer Punch with Judy who always has an Aladdin's cave full of 'quilting gizmos'!! I need to get this quilt completed so I can take some photos and write the instructions before Quilt Norfolk which is only 5 weeks away!!

It has been a very hot week this past week but those hardy lillies have thrived. I am not even sure what they are but they have multiplied since the previous owner planted them. We've seen them on country roadsides so I guess they are pretty hardy....

 They almost remind me of the lilies from some of William Morris's tapestries......maybe not quite but it is always good to mention Mr Morris from time to time on this blog!! Some very kind person recently gave me the print of the Adoration tapestry so it is framed and hanging and there are some lilies  on it but not quite the same ........

 It also reminds me of our trip to Russia in 2010 where we had some very memorable moments. One of them was in the Church of the Savior on Blood in St Petersburg where we saw the most incredible mosaic works of art. I took hundreds of photos with the plan to turn them into a quilt (or quilts)....maybe one day......

and more of those lilies were there.......

 It was nice to see these photos of that very chilly time while we are currently enduring the long summer heat! And even one of our guides used a lilly so we could see where he was!......

That must be enough for now.....thanks again for visiting and take care wherever you are x