Remember that time I Skyped with Weeks and Bill Ringle?

Happy Birthday Lizzy! It’s the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend here in Australia which is fabulous because it gives me an extra day of hanging with my boys (which translated means I’ll get some time to guilt-free work while the Hubby looks after the young one). Normally I try not to work my weekends as I’d much rather spend time with the lads and our friends, but June is just out of control crazy.

I just spent my last Friday at home for the whole of June. What?!?! This Friday Gemma (of Pretty Bobbins) and I are heading in Sydney for an overnighter (woot woot! I really hope she doesn’t snore!) because we’re going to attend the Bill and Weeks Ringle Lecture that’s being held as part of “Unique Stitching Modern Quilt Convention”. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to be going to this lecture.

At the beginning of April I had the most surreal and once-in-a-lifetime experience of having a one-on-one Skype chat with Bill and Weeks Ringle. (I won a competition they had on their Facebook page.) It was AMAZEBALLS. Seriously! I was giddy for the next week after it.

We were only supposed to talk for 30 minutes and we ended up talking for an hour and 45 minutes. They were both so generous with their wisdom, advice, knowledge and good humour. I was packing bricks (that’s Aussie for scared) before the call, but a few minutes in they were so relaxed and just lovely that I totally forgot my nerves and we just talked about our passions and irons. 

I Skyped them from my sewing room because it’s the only room in the house I can close the door on and it’s also the only place in the house that I actually like (come on renovations!).  I was sitting at my sewing table and I had my X Plus Blocks on the design wall behind me. I didn’t think much about it at the time, they were just there because I was working on them between projects. But Bill and Weeks noticed them and started asking me about them and it turned into the biggest and best ego stroked I think I have ever had.

I don’t have many regrets in life, but I will go to my grave regretting that I didn’t record our conversation. Do you know how amazing it would be to be able to watch video footage of two of the most amazing quilters say nice things about your work when you’re going through the pits of self doubt.  Priceless.

They were kind enough to share some of their tips for more accurate piecing (which is why if you follow me on Instagram you would have seen me unpicking over half my X Plus Blocks in the past week to make them better) and for working with open seams. That advice has completely changed the way I work and has made a monumental difference to the quality of my patchwork.  It also means I no longer burn my fingers while trying to iron seams open.  (And because I love you all so much, I’m going to post about those tips in the coming weeks!)

At the end of the call we talked about their upcoming visit to Australia and how it would be great to catch up with them while they’re here. So, to say I’m excited and nervous to meet them in person this week is an understatement of epic proportions. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to sleep on Thursday night.

I’m totally going to write about my experience and if you’d like to see it as it happens I’ll be posting photos on my Instagram account so make sure you’re following.

Junk Free June Update: It’s been a week. A week, people!!!! I’ve gone a whole week with no junk food. It’s been not too bad. There’s been some moments in the evenings when I’ve considered selling my cherished Heather Ross stash just for some chocolate. But I’ve managed to distract myself or take myself off to bed and just sleep through the craving.

I hit my goal of going to the gym 3 times, which was great. I’ve found that if I go early (at 4:30am) the gym is practically empty which means that I can dance on the treadmill without fear of someone seeing me. I’m hoping the coming week will be as successful. Given we’ll be traveling on Friday I’m going to hit the gym on Thursday instead, should be interesting to see how it goes on a work day.

If you’re doing Junk Free June how did you go? Any tips or tricks to share? Don’t worry, if you fell off the wagon it’s never to late to jump back on. You just have to be 1% better everyday. Easy!

Sponsor Announcement

Spotlight are running an amazing competition at the moment where school kids can win $10,000 from Spotlight towards their school’s art and craft room!

Simply claim your free rainbow loom by clicking here and come up with the most amazing creation, share it with Spotlight before the 30th of June for your chance to win!

Spotlight have now added another $10,000 worth of Spotlight vouchers to give away to the best creations!! And don’t worry, these will be drawn at the end of July so you have an extra few weeks to get creative and get looming.

You can redeem your FREE loom bands from your local Spotlight store, simply by clicking this link and claiming your offer.

If you’re looking for some rainbow loom inspiration why not click here to check out my Rainbow Loom Ideas board on Pinterest. (There’s some seriously cool stuff you can make, like a unicorn!)

Disclosure: Spotlight provided compensation in the form of payment for this promotion. All opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced by the businesses involved. For further information about my disclosure policy please click here.

Fun things to click on

• Want to have a 80’s flashback, click here for my DIY puff paint doily tutorial.
• It was International Donut Day last week and while I’m on Junk Free June the only way I’d be enjoying a donut is to make this super cute DIY Donut Necklace from Mollie Makes.
• Modern Quilt Show Australia was at the end of May and if (like me) you weren’t able to attend the event, then be sure to check out the round up by Kirsty at Bonjour Quilts.
• Looking for a fun and quick gift for the sewist in your life, then click here for my no sew pin cushion tutorial.
• If you’re a first time quilter, or even a seasoned one (we can always learn something new), then check out this post from Abby (at Things For Boys) about the 7 Mistakes she made when she quilted for the first time.
• I so want to make a rainbow version of this for myself. Click here to learn how to make a tutu.
• How about a nice yummy snack? Click here for the recipe to a vegan strawberry bundt cake, perfect for spring or pretending it’s spring!
• Got a bunch of shirts that you no longer use, but don’t want to part with. Click here for a great tutorial for turning them into a skirt in ten minutes!

Community Cork Board

• If you’d like to join us at Unique Stitching Modern Quilt Convention you can find tickets to the lecture by clicking here. (No affiliation)
• Have you got your tickets to the Bendigo Craft Alive Meet Up? You can find out more about it by clicking here and you can purchase tickets by clicking here.

Want something included on the Community Cork Board, then why not drop me an email and if it’s applicable to the GnomeAngel community I’ll share it. It can be anything from a local fate, a charity raffle, a class you’re teaching, a pattern you’ve released, a sew-a-long you’re involved in to a community event that’s happening. Be sure to send me as much detail as you can and links to any applicable websites.  Click here to email me.