Sadie Deborah Albury

Well, the cutest little bundle has finally arrived, at 9.20pm 15.11.09, weighing in at 4.3kg (9.7lbs!!!), and 53cm long.

It was a long day for mum, and she's still a bit sore, but everyone is happy. The buba is so content and serene.

Here are some photos of her ....

with her daddy,
and her Mimi

and her Uncle Mason
and her Papa,

and her Aunty Eloise, Uncle Mason and Mimi

How chubby is she! 9.7lbs...

My sweet little grandbaby - Sadie Deborah Albury!!!!

dls

A baby, a 24 hour plane journey and a batch of cookies ...

what do these three things have in common?

These are the things that my four children are awaiting right now!

Tara-Lea's baby is due in a few days; Jake boards a plane in 36 hours and flies from New York back to Sydney and right now, Eloise and Mason are cooking vanilla cookies.

I wish I could take a photo and show you how cute they are, the cookies that is. They are little shapes, no bigger than 1 1/2in in any direction, and the first batch is out of the oven.

Jake has my camera, and while I can't share pics of cookies, I guess I will concede that photos from his NY NY trip are more important right now. He celebrated his 24th birthday in Times Square - how cool!

lets hope the baby 'pops' out (as Eloise says) soon, the plane journey is ontime and uneventful, and that we don't burn the next batch of cookies.

sweet dreams..
dls

an apple today and goddess relics last week

When I arrived at the office today there was a parcel waiting for me. I didn't recognise the sender, so had no idea what was inside. What a surprise, how delightful - this gorgeous Apple Pincushion made by Nicole Vaughan of Craftapalooza.

Nicole is very generously giving away two kits to make this crunchy morsel in issue 139 of Down Under Quilts. And she popped this one in just for me, already made up! Thanks Nicole - I love it!



A week or so back, when I was in Brisbane at the Craft and Quilt Fair (BTW don't miss the one in Adelaide this week), I ran into Sue Dennis. Sue is sharing a paint stick project in the first issue of Down Under Textiles, and she also contributed to the Goddess Roseus fund-raising auction Bid-4A-Cause recently. Sue gave me this sweet postcard, which is reminiscent of the A4 piece she made for the auction - take a look.

happy stitching, dls

Textiles Today!

Today we did the second half of photography for the new Down Under TEXTILES magazine.

There is such a great line up of diversity. I feel really grateful that it is all coming together so nicely. I am looking forward to people gaining benefit from the magazine; there is nothing else in the market catering to those of us who lament, "I wish I could ..." or "How do they do that?"

I have invited some of Australia's best-known textile artisans to help us with projects, information and galleries - and what a fabulous lot it is!

Today we photographed the step by step photos for the projects - count them - 10 in total!, the amazing ATC gallery and the many inspirational books and so much more.

The techniques we cover are lino printing, silk paper, paint sticks, stitching on Solvy, wet felting, dry felting and more. From talented artists such as Sue Dennis, Erica Spinks, Cecile Whatman, Dijanne Cevaal and multi-award winner Felicity Clarke.

And dont think that's all - there is loads more... will share a few sneak peeks tomorrow ... stay tuned.

dls

in two places at once?

For those who are wondering (Hi Fran) how I could be in Europe and in Melbourne... well, it goes like this...

I made the commitment to organise and lead the tour first, THEN in a very exciting and creative meeting with Expertise Events, we hit on a fabulous idea for an international display at 2010 AQC in Melbourne.

Fortunately, the Quilts & Flowers tour is lead by TWO leaders - myself and Lynn Hewitt. I will accompany the tour through to Giverny, France, then I will dash home to Australia and set up our stand at the AQC - and participate in the two workshops - I sure hope I can stay awake for them!

Lynn will take the group on to Amsterdam, and back home. Lynn is an accomplished tour leader, and normally leads our tours by herself - so I am sure that she, and the group, won't miss me for the last week.
dls

Booked into AQC

Next year, for the first time, I will be attending the Australasian Quilt Convention in Melbourne. I will be hosting a stand there with quilts from around the world PLUS I just booked into two design classes! woo hoo. I have not participated in a workshop for many many years, and I am very excited.

I will be doing a class with Frieda Anderson USA - how bright is this little beauty! The class is called Laughing Leaves. (click here for class description)


And I am doing a class with one of our talented Aussies - Julie Haddrick. This class is called Start Designing! (Click here for class description)

Visit the AQC website to see all the classes and book in too!
dls

Fabulous Front Cover

Tomorrow morning I am off to Brisbane, to the Craft and Quilt Fair. Stop by and say hello, I am on stand J14... if you come by and say "I read your blog," I will give you a 2010 DUQ calendar FREE.

Next week the digital version of the November issue goes online, and the week after all printed copies of October are recalled from newsagents, so quick, grab your copy before it's too late. Or stop by the Craft and Quilt Fair and buy one from me, I'll sign it if you like.

Today I have been inspired by children. I am preparing the January issue of DUQ, and thought it would be a good idea to share some projects that mums and grans can either do with the kids, or for the kids, during the holidays. The projects include a fabric blackboard and a cute satchel. And, that issue is also focused on YO-YOs - one of my favourites (sorry Erica, she cant stand them!),

But, I get ahead of myself, I should be sharing a few insider peeks at the November issue ... what do you think of the cover?

The moment I saw the fleshly printed copy I fell in love! Congrats to Wendy Williams, the creator of the cover quilt AND congratulations to my son JAKE - he is the designer who put the cover together. (I am so blessed to have his wonderful talent shared with my magazine.) And the other two significant creators of the cover are the photographer - well done JIM (he got it first go!), and my gorgeous friend - and stylist - Georgie - kiss kiss.

xxdls