Snowball Challenge Update

Now, don't get too excited I haven't been doing anything radical like sewing. I just wanted to share the crop of lovely fabrics that I have been receiving from my swappers.

These are from Christine,


These are from Carolyn,



These are from Christi, who included a couple of extra strips - thanks Christi!



And today I received this package from Laura of the Sproutz Store. I was so excited to find a little wad of Astor Manor by 3 sisters inside the parcel! Thanks Laura - I love this fabric!


And thank you to all of my swappers! It has been huge fun waiting to see what the postie would bring each day. I will be sad when I've received the parcel from my last swapper...I'll have to start buying fabric again to get my postie fix! Greg won't be happy.

Mannum Retreat

Sugarplum Quilts and Patchwork on Parade are excited to announce the details of our upcoming Mannum Retreat!



Take some time out to relax and do something that you love! Join us for a wonderful weekend of stitching in picturesque Mannum from Friday 26th - Sunday 28th of March where you will not have to lift a finger except to sew, sew, sew!

Getting There - Mannum is just over an hours drive from the Adelaide GPO and is situated on the Murray River. Don't drive? No problem - let us put you in touch with your fellow retreaters to arrange some car pooling.


Accommodation - We will be stitching in the historic "Pumphouse" situated in the grounds of the Mannum Caravan Park where you can enjoy FREE accommodation in the bunkhouse in a dorm-style share room, sleeping 4 in bunk beds. Alternatively, we can arrange for you to stay in a deluxe cabin with an ensuite - this type of accommodation will incur an additional cost.

Catering - the weekend will be fully catered, including breakfast, lunch, morning and afternoon teas on both days, non-alcoholic drinks (BYO welcome) and dinner on the Friday night - we've booked a table at the riverfront Pretoria Hotel for dinner on Saturday night.



Projects - We will be teaching 2 lovely projects (details will be released in the next couple of weeks - they are gorgeous!). The projects we will be teaching will both be made using Moda Jelly Rolls and some extra yardage (a Jelly Roll consists of 40 width of fabric strips) and we would love to put a kit together for you. Speak to Sharon about the range of gorgeous fabrics she has in stock and your specific fabric requirements. You will also receive a gift pack full of goodies plus the pattern for your choice of project.

Don't quilt? No problem, we are open to retreaters of all craft denominations - bring along your projects be they knitting, scrapbooking, card making or whatever and enjoy the time to relax and create.

Shop - What is a quilting retreat without a bit of retail therapy? Patchwork on Parade will have a shop on site with a wide range of tempting fabrics, patterns, nifty notions, giftware and more.

This retreat is a bargain at $200.00 all inclusive.
Contact Sharon on 0411 268 924 for more information and to secure your booking.

We'd love to see you there!

Wallaroo Retreat

Sugarplum Quilts and Patchwork on Parade are excited to announce the details of our upcoming Wallaroo Retreat!



Treat yourself to a little luxury with a fabulous weekend of sewing on the beautiful Copper Coast in South Australia. Imagine waking up by the beach, having a leisurely breakfast on your private verandah before strolling to the stately Wallaroo Town Hall to spend the day doing something you love. Tempting isn't it? Join us for three nights from Thursday 25th - Sunday 28th of February for a fantastic luxury retreat where you will not have to lift a finger except to sew, sew, sew!

Getting There - Wallaroo is an easy 2 hour drive from Adelaide up Port Wakefield Rd and then onto the Yorke Peninsula Highway. Don't drive? No problem. We are happy to put you in touch with other retreaters to arrange car pooling and there is also a reasonably priced bus service to Wallaroo that runs twice daily.


Accommodation - We will be staying in 4 star self-contained beachside villas in the lovely seaside town of Wallaroo. Choose from either a beach front or pool side position. The villas all have a private verandah, two bedrooms (1QS bed, 2 singles - plus another trundle style single), fully equipped kitchen, dining and lounge area, bathroom, toilet and laundry. The villas are set in lovely grounds and there is a heated pool on site.

Catering - The weekend will be fully catered, including snacks and non-alcoholic drinks - except for Saturday night when we will be dining out at a waterfront restaurant. Let us know if you have any special dietary requirements - we are more than happy to accommodate you.



Sewing - We will be stitching the days away in the grand old Wallaroo Town Hall. There will be cutting and ironing stations set up and plenty of room to lay your quilts out. There is even a stage and a couple of pianos if anyone feels the need for some extra entertainment.

Projects - We will be teaching 2 projects or feel free to use the stress-free sewing time to finish off a few UFOs. The projects we will be teaching will both be made using Moda Jelly Rolls and some extra yardage (a Jelly Roll consists of 40 width of fabric strips) and we would love to put a kit together for you. Speak to Sharon about the range of gorgeous fabrics she has in stock (including, Simple Abundance, Rouenneries, Aster Manor and more) and your specific fabric requirements. The projects will be announced in a couple of weeks - but trust us - they are gorgeous!

Don't Quilt? No problem, we are open to retreaters of all craft denominations - bring along your projects be they knitting, scrapbooking, card making or whatever and enjoy the time to create.

Shop - What is a quilting retreat without a bit of retail therapy? Patchwork on Parade will have a shop on site with a wide range of tempting fabrics, patterns, nifty notions, giftware and more.

Prices start from $398 per person all inclusive for Poolside Accommodation based on 4 share.

Contact Sharon on 0411 268 924 for more information and to secure your booking.

Hope to see you there!

Wallaroo Retreat

Sugarplum Quilts and Patchwork on Parade are excited to announce our upcoming luxury Wallaroo Retreat!!

Treat yourself to a little luxury with a fabulous weekend of sewing on the beautiflu Copper Coast in South Australia. Imagine waking up by the beach, having a leisurely breakfast on your private verandah before strolling to the stately Wallaroo Town Hall to spend the day doing what you love. Tempting isn't it? Join us for three nights from Thursday 25th - Sunday 28th of February for a fantastic luxury retreat where you will not have to lift a finger except to sew, sew, sew!

Getting There - Wallaroo is an easy 2 hour drive from Adelaide up Port Wakefield Rd and then onto the Yorke Peninsula Highway. Don't drive? No problem. We are happy to put you in touch with other retreaters to arrange car pooling and there is also a reasonably priced bus service to Wallaroo that runs twice daily.

I seem to recognise your face....

Tickets to see Pearl Jam $160.00....



Souvenir t-shirt $45.00....


Singing in the car with these girls on the way home from the gig....Priceless.

Wait a minute Mr. Postman...

I love the postie. This week he has brought me the following:

Wait a minute Mr. Postman...

I love the postie. This week he has brought me the following:



Lovely Rouenneries with which I am going to make a quilt for our upcomig retreats...



This awesome book full of delicious, quilty inspiration. We are making "Leftovers Again?" for our snowball challenge.



And just when you thought the day couldn't get any better, I received the package above from Gael -my first parcel from my Snowball swap group containing these beige beauties.


Oh happy day! It almost makes up for the fact that it is 40 degrees celcius today. Almost. Maybe an ice-block will take the edge off. Going to check the freezer now.

Snowball Challenge

A couple of weeks ago I did something outrageous - I joined Allyson and Nicole's Red and White Snowball Challenge. Outrageous because I am usually a bit of a lurker and here I am joining in and sending fabric all over the world (well to the States anyway - am prone to slight exaggeration). For the challenge we will be making this quilt:


I wasn't sure at first if I was going to do it in red. When Nicole asked the question "Got Reds?" on her blog, my answer would have had to have been no. But after a lovely solo shop at Hettie's Patch last Sunday I can now say "well yes ma'am I do!". In fact I think that I could become a little addicted to red fabric.


As part of the challenge we are doing a fabric swap for the light fabrics and here are the three I chose (after much agonising and hassling my friend Amy for her opinion on endless beige fabric) to send to my swapees.


I have washed and cut them and here they are ready to wing their way to the US.



Bring on the Snowball!



Fabric wasn't the only thing I brought home from Hettie's last week. Lorraine and Amy had found four little kittens abandoned by their mother just before I arrived. I brought them home with me and Greg and I have been looking after them for the week while Lorraine is away. They are about 3 weeks old and are super cute - even if they do require around the clock bottle feeding!


This weekend we are heading up to Moonta Bay with my girlfriends and their husbands and about 100 children (again slight exaggeration). I have the Grandmother's flower garden and the Anne of Green Gables packed - I wonder if they'll see the light of day? Unlikely.

Kangaroo Island Wrap Up

Hi everyone,

A couple of weeks ago we went away to Kangaroo Island for our anniversary. I thought I would blog some photos of our trip. I have been being a bit tricky in Photoshop and have made some collages so that you are not overwhelemed with dozens of photos.

Those of you who read my blog will remember that I was going to play out my Anne of Green Gables fantasies and stay in lighthouse keeper's cottages. For the first 3 nights we stayed at Cape du Coeudic, (locals pronounce it Cape du Coodee), which is situated on the south western coastline. The accommodation is owned by the Dept. of Environment and Heritage and has been beautifully restored. It was so relaxing staying here - no phone reception, no computers, no tv.

Cape du Couedic is just a short walk from Admiral's Arch where we watched New Zealand fur seals going about their business and a short drive from Remarkable Rocks, Flinder's Chase National park and Kelly Hill Caves. I would recommend staying there to anyone.

October is a great time to visit KI because the wildflowers are out in force (or as forcefully as delicate Australian flora can be!)

We saw heaps of wildlife - some at our backdoor at night-time. The photos below are all taken of animals that we saw in the wild. We did take Scarlett to a wildlife park one day, but it just isn't the same as spotting them in their natural habitat. If you look carefully at the photo of the wallaby (top row 3rd from the left) you will see that she is nursing her baby - too cute! The animals from left to right are: a fork-tailed swift, Australain sea lion, tamar wallaby, cape baron goose, Kangaroo Island Kangaroo, echidna, crimson rosella, cape baron goslings, KI kangaroo and a Koala.


The last 2 nights we were on the island we stayed on the south eastern coast at Cape Willoughby. Although I loved Cape du Couedic, I have to admit that I preferred Cape Willoughby - there was a lovely porch and a view of the sea from almost every window in the house. Also, you can do tours of the lighthouse and climb to the top - which was fantastic - and the guides that run the tours are so friendly and knowledgeable. While we were staying here a couple got married underneath the lighthouse which was lovely....Scarlett and I were peaking over the wall of our backyard to check out the action.


And what about my Grandmother's Flower garden I hear you ask? With all that time to relax and no distractions I must have made at least one a day right? Wrong. Here is the sad, incomplete flower that I forced myself to work on one afternoon while Scarlett had her nap. Pathetic.


All in all there was a bit to much of this going on -


As it should be when you are on holidays.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Shontelle.