The Lions roar

Well, at least I got my wish.  The score wasn't close.  Not within coo-eee.  No need for paramedics to get my heart started again, unlike the two earlier games in the series.

It was the Rugby final of the Wallabies V. British and Irish Lions and my brother treated me a ticket to the sell-out game, where we were joined by over 83,000 enthusiastic fans.  This series only happens every twelve years and the Lions had been waiting since 1997 to win back the title.

As the pre-game entertainment cranked up, my brother smiled, remembering a time when he was at the start of his teaching career and one of his pupils told him that he was leaving school and was going to be a rock star.  Right.  His name was Daryl Braithwaite and true to his word, there he was centre stage entertaining a receptive crowd.

I don't know how this fan passed through security; maybe they were concentrating on the humans and lions weren't considered a threat. Obviously grannies were their target of choice, because my bag was given a thorough going over.  At least they found my tin of mints which I thought had been lost forever.  The atmosphere was electric and the British fans were in such good spirits and such numbers that you were caught up with their euphoria.   Thirty thousand of them attended the game and the cry of "Lions, Lions" accompanied by Nazi-like salutes was hard to ignore.

Ah well.  Back to the drawing board. At least the powers that be have twelve years to work out a winning strategy. The Brits are on a roll now that Andy Murray has broken the Wimbledon drought.  Good luck to them.

The first Saturday of each month is the time for the Sydney Southern Cross Quilters (SCQuilters) to gather at a local watering hole to quilt, talk, eat and generally have a good time, and this month was no exception.  So all in all it was quite a day.  Quilting and Rugby - the perfect combination.

If it's the first Saturday of the month it must be quilting

February is supposed to be the hottest month of the year, yet here we are in Sydney shivering away in waaaay below average temperatures   Still it's perfect weather for quilting and being the first Saturday of the month, that means the Sydney branch of SCQuilters' monthly gathering.

I left my camera at home and had to rely on my phone, so the quality of the images is not the best. 

Have you noticed that most of the quilters have sensibly opted for warmer clothing?  Not this quilter.  There I sat in a sunny summer outfit and paid dearly by nearly freezing to death.

I was mighty tempted to grab this beautiful vintage hexagon quilt and make a bolt for the door.  A girl can get mighty desperate when she's cold.

Here is another beautiful quilt which I fantasized would go beautifully with my flimsy summer orange outfit.

I met Brenda Gael Smith of Twelve by Twelve fame.  I have been a fan of this talented group ever since I saw their exhibition in Brisbane a couple of years ago, so it was a pleasure to finally meet one of the artists.  

My day was complete when I arrived home to find that one of my dresses was chosen for an Etsy treasury.  It almost made me feel warm.

Almost. 

Keeping warm

It's the first Saturday of the month and it's really cold; well, cold for Sydney at this time of the year.  What better way to spend the day than to don the thermals and head to the Blue Gum Pub to meet up with the Sydney SCQuilters.

Sitting among fellow quilters, catching up on their news and seeing their latest works in progress is the ideal way to keep those autumn chills at bay.

Show & Tell produced the usual lovely variety of quilts.

I noticed that the gentleman sitting at the table behind us started to take an interest in our goings on.

He REALLY loved this pirate quilt.

I ordered a chicken burger for lunch.  What was I thinking of?  Well, it was cold outside and I needed comfort food.

Good food, good company, great day.

Why I love the first Saturday of the month

There's an excellent reason for loving the first Saturday of the month.  The Sydney SCQuilters meet for a day of quilting, gossip and food, all carried out at a local watering hole.  Bliss.

Outside the weather continued along its usual appallingly wet way.  It's a wonder we don't all have barnacles sprouting off us the way we have had to sit through a virtually non-existent summer.  The current flooding in our State is the size of France we were informed last night on the news.

So there was no better way to chase away the wet weather blues than to feast our eyes on this bright and cheerful work in progress.

I love the simplicity of this Japanese inspired quilt.

Of course, our gossip is not idle.  We discover new fabric locations, where and when the next quilt exhibitions will be held, what new trends in quilt and fabric designs are currently taking off - you know, all the essential things that keep the world spinning on its axis.

It's a whole thirty-five days until the next first Saturday.  I guess I'll just have to be patient.

To read more on today's wonderful activities, visit the Sydney SCQuilters' blog here.

First Saturday of the Month

2012 is racing along at a nice pace and I am struggling to keep up with it.  We celebrated our 42nd (eek!) wedding anniversary on Friday and before I knew it the next day was the first Saturday of the month.

Ah, how I love first Saturdays - it means a short drive to the local pub to meet up with the Sydney SCQuilters. This was my second visit to this local quilting group since returning to Sydney and they are such a friendly and welcoming lot of quilters.

Show & Tell produced some wonderful works in progress,

including this glorious piece of knitted patchwork.  

The beauty of meeting at a pub is that packed lunches are a thing of the past.  This delicious pumpkin salad with candied walnuts and fresh figs was perfect - so much better than a peanut butter sandwich.

Hopefully by next month my Plan will have sprung into action, as by then the Kaffe Fassett fabric which I ordered on line will have arrived (fingers crossed) and my first block will be well under way.

I have made a tentative start, but can't progress any further until the background fabric arrives.  So far all is going to Plan - what can possibly go wrong?