Holiday Quilting Part I

I'm getting ready for a great trip to New Zealand with stops in Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.  I'm very excited as you can imagine, only two weeks to go before I leave the chilly Fens and head for warmer climes.

There will be fewer posts here at Online Quilting but I have started a travel blog at Australasian Adventure and do hope you will check in with me there from time to time.

I won't be abandoning my needles and thread altogether - that would require a surgical procedure - so here's what I hope to do while I'm away, part I.

One of the most exciting things is that I will be going to the Mountains to the Sea, A Quilters' Gathering mini-symposium in Timaru and doing a workshop with Meryl Caudwell.
Timaru is in South Island, New Zealand and we have arranged to be on South Island for about a month so there will be plenty of time to relax, explore and be inspired.  At Harrogate last autumn I enjoyed seeing this quilt by Joan Weston representing Milford Sound in the Fjordland region of South Island.  I imagine I will also enjoy seeing the actual place too.

The workshop I'm doing is a miniature, foundation-pieced, Storm At Sea quilt and I will be borrowing a Bernina Aurora 440QE BSR machine to work with on the day which will add it's own excitement.

I'm going to pack my own cutting and sewing equipment and that will be useful for the other projects I have in mind.  As I will need fabrics, thread and other goodies I will obviously need to go to several quilt shops while I'm travelling!

At the symposium there will be a Merchant's Mall and, of course, a wonderful display of quilts.  The two challenge categories are "Sand Sea and Sail" and "From the Alps to the Coast or Anywhere In Between"  

The owners of our accommodation in Timaru have written saying,  "We will enjoy directing your husband around our area, and we are sure he won't have time to learn quilting while staying with us"!

In Holiday Quilting II,  I'll outline the projects that I hope to work on while I'm way.