The Summer Themed Mini Quilt Swap...

Today I received a lovely surprise in the mail...

Inside this parcel was a lovely, whimsical mini quilt from Illene...http://retdairyqueen.blogspot.com.au

And some other lovely goodies...

And a letter which told the 'story behind the making ' of the mini...

Illene described how she was discussing the Summer Mini Swap with her sister who suggested that she 'make a bikini one'. Illene said that later that night she thought of that 60s song, 'Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini'...and then next morning that song was played on the radio! Illene wrote, '...so that was that, I had to make it!' 

Just in case you don't know the song, here is a You Tube link with Bryan Hyland singing it...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?autoplay=1&v=ICkWjdQuK7Q...it was a favourite song of mine too!

But Illene's story doesn't end there...Illene had made the mini but wasn't happy with it. Then the Travelling Treasures package arrived at Illene's place last week...and in it was the perfect fabric...so after some 'reverse sewing', the mini was ready to send. What a wonderful story...and what a wonderful little quilt now takes pride of place in our dining room. The colours are brighter in real life btw. Thank you so much Illene!!

Now the Summer mini I have made will head off to its new home tomorrow morning. Because I have been checking all my storage cubes of craft fabrics due to the 31 Days of Decluttering, I had found some perfect fabric for the border. I bought this last year in NZ and kind of forgotten it but it was just perfect...

Just a peep at the embroidered central panel of the mini...

Proper pictures when the new owner receives the parcel :-)...but it has been a fun project to work on.

At last! The trams are back!!

Trams are back, but not in Brisbane; instead, the Gold Coast now has a 13 km light rail route with 16 stations. The tram route starts in the north at the University Hospital and terminates at Broadbeach South.

So what do 2 'tram tragics' do when there are trams running an  hour or so's drive away? You ask 2 close relatives if they would like to join you on a tram ride, of course! And that's what DH, myself, BiL and SiL did a few Mondays ago. We parked the car near the University Hospital and went to the station. Our Brisbane 'Go Cards' work on the Gold Coast light rail network, so that made it a very simple process.
My SiL and I in the lift...

I was rather taken with the beautiful show of clivias beside the bus platform...

Here comes the tram...

Ready to set off on our tram ride...

Not far from the University Hospital stop, we saw some activity in a huge site near the tram line...construction of the Commonwealth Games Village for 2018...

The tram goes through the centre of Southport, somewhere I haven't been to for many years as the newer roads skirt around and away from the localities...
Going over the bridge

The tram route also goes into the shopping district of Surfers Paradise...

We are almost at Broadbeach now; our destination...

I'm checking the read out on the the 'touch point' for the GoCard...the ride cost me just a bit over $3...very good value.

DH had decided that we would all walk around to the the Kurrawa Surf Club for lunch...the views are lovely but I always find the food there pretty ordinary...but we keep going back? :-/ lol

 After lunch we walked around the Oasis shopping centre and then used the walkway to make our way back to the tram stop.

The Gold Coast monorail no longer runs but the infrastructure is still there at the moment...Jupiters Casino is in the middle of the photo...

DH waited on the elevated walkway to get a photo of the tram coming north from Broadbeach South...

We missed that tram of course but it wasn't long before another one came along...

 Some more pics taken on the return journey...

The Southport Croquet Club...

 Trundling over the Motorway ...

Back at the University Hospital stop I noticed the sign on the side of the carriage...

So to finish off this post, one more photo. DH wanted a photo of himself taken beside the train...how could I refuse such a request! I took several, but I'll just include one :-).

We had had a most enjoyable time on the tram ride...the trams are modern, comfortable and offer a great way to travel on the GC...the same journey by car would have taken much longer...a real novelty to 'tram deprived' Brisbanites! lol

Out and about with the Sunday Stitchers...

I'm very fortunate to be a member of Sunday Stitchers, a group of bloggers who live in this area of SE Queensland. We meet up monthly at Ormeau Community Centre for stitching, food and friendship, interspersed with lots of laughter. But this month some of us have had some more opportunities to meet up...
Wednesday night of last week, one of our members, Debbie, became an Australian citizen and some of us were able to attend the Citizenship ceremony...
Remember that red/white and blue ruffle scarf I made...it was for Debbie!!
Reading the pledge...

Debbie receiving her citizenship certificate from the Mayor of the Moreton Bay Regional Council......

Posing with the certificate in front of the flag...

And then a group photo with her 'cheer squad'...

Then, the next day, 13 Sunday Stitchers gathered at a cafe called French and Mor at Albany Creek for a very luscious High Tea....

And then on Sunday we had our September meet up at Ormeau...

We had 2 very special visitors arrive...

Tatyana brought her gorgeous baby girl in to meet us...

We had our usual Show and Tell session...

Some of the ladies brought along their gorgeous Gossip in the Garden quilt tops...this has been an ongoing project throughout this year...

Jeanette's...

Maree's...

Other Show and Tell items...

Another of Jeanette's quilts...

De's....

Maureen's...she told us that there will also be a lion in the ark as well! 

Our very own enthusiastic 'paparazzi '...

And lastly a closer look at the Dillybag ( by Judy Newman) on the table in this photo. Maree made this...

So that's some of the things that I got up to in the last week! :-)