No time to sew!

The month of May has been and gone and very little time has been spent in my sewing room. Instead I have been spoilt by going on two holidays to celebrtate my 50th Birthday. The first holiday was with my husband to the island Veligandu in The Maldives. It was truley amazing and so relaxing, it definetely lived up to the reviews. I did wonder, how easy it might be to take a sewing machine and spent a month there. I popped into a small shop making shirts, dresses on the island. The owner found it very difficult to understand that I sewed for pleasure and was more creative rather than practical.

The weather was perfect, even though we went at the start of the rainy season. The sea was like a warm bath and so clear. I have never been snorkling before and just loved it. I just wish that I had a waterproof camera, so many amazing colours and pattern. Maybe next time!

My next holiday was a treat from my daughter. We went to Abu Dhabi, having visited Dubai for her 18th and 21st. We stayed at the Emirates Palace, which lived up to its name, we even had a 24 hour Butler at our service (we didn't use them). A champagne afternoon tea, plus a Jeep Safari in the dessert were planned, with the rest of the time spent relaxing by one of the amazing pools. I don't often like to stay somewhere twice, but I would love to return to both of these holiday destinations.

This months UFO was actually worked on in April, the last two borders being added. I had hoped to prepare the quilt top ready for quilting, but I need to purchase some fabric first. So an extra job for this month! Doughty's have there roadshow in Essex this month, so it will be an ideal excuse to go shopping. I started this quilt in July 2007, it was a workshop with Sally Holman at Quilter's Haven. I am determined to finish all my quilts started at workshops this year, as I want to move on and work more on Art Quilts. Perhaps I will keep them, or maybe I will give them away as Charity quilts. I have also finished piecing all of the blocks for the 'Journey of a Quilter' quilt. So now I just need to applique six hearts onto it and hand embroider the last two blocks. The quilting will be simple, so hopefully fairly quick. I have set myself the target to complete both of these quilts by the end of September at the latest! I feel that as long as I complete all of my UFO's in 2012, I will have achieved the challenge set. For further work by others taking part in this challenge, click the button in my sidebar.

I managed to prepare this months page for the Calendar Journal Challenge. Red, White and Blue following the theme everywhere at the moment with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I painted part of the page with gesso first and then coloured the pages with Inktense sticks and water. I would like to purchase some spray inks as I prefer the effect, but I need to replenish my bank account first. The journal layout isn't quite right as I miss calculated the number of days in May. I still need to fill in the journal squares for May, at the moment my diary is still on my iPad. I have also purchased a journal to record this whole year and will hopefully develop both my journalling and drawing skills. Watch this space.