Sunday 14 July 2013

Past, Present and Future

...and I'm back!

Wow, that was a blogging break...after 5 weeks of reading no blogs, writing no posts and no sewing and my unread posts toppling 1000, I think it's time to take stock.

My TEFL course is done - I lived and breathed it for a month, seven days a week. It was worth the 6 am starts, the 1am finishes and the working day of input sessions and teaching practice, the fleeting glimpses of family, the bad diet and occasional bad humor. I made new friends, learned a ridiculous amount, had fun, cried tears but I passed and can now teach English as a foreign language!

Anyway, I am so glad I had a break...the weirdest thing happened when half way through the course I could hardly recognize my quilts - I looked at them and I couldn't believe that I had made them. It was good to do something different...to meet new people, share new experiences and has made me love this adopted country again and appreciate the things I make. All good.

I know I have missed so much but have no hope of catching up so will press the Mark as Read button and move on. A couple of highlights which I have caught up on is the wonderful work done by Jude and her Bee Blessed ladies to finish the Siblings Together quilt top I made back in May. I asked for help to finish it here and Jude immediately put her hand up. I so want to meet Jude but I guess I shall have to wait a little longer. In the meantime, this is the completed quilt - thank you so so much. I love it! Jude will be taking it with her to the FQR this week before handing it over..

Siblings Together Quilt 001
Siblings Together quilt top (photo courtesy of Jude)
Another highlight was Cindy and her partner receiving a secret quilt which a group of us made for them. Cindy and Brian had had a tough springto say the least and well it seemed a good idea to make them a quilt. A bunch of far flung friends across the globe made some blocks and sent them to Susan who beautifully coordinated the whole thing, including collating the blocks, piecing them, basting, quilting and embroidering the quilt before packing it off to Ireland. The quilt is appropriately called Circle of Friends after the book by the late Maeve Binchy.
Circle of Friends quilt courtesy of Susan
I'm sure there are loads of things I have missed but I can't wait to see what everyone gets up to in London next weekend at the Fat Quarterly Retreat.  I shall be watching from afar and sad that I won't be meeting everyone and joining in the fun...particularly my Stitch Tease buddies.  Next year?  Perhaps third year lucky?

Now I have to work on my FAL3 list before the linky closes tomorrow evening...seeing how atrociously I did in the last quarter I may just be cutting and pasting FAL2!

26 comments:

Susan said...

Congratulations Annabella on achieving your teaching qualification! I hope it brings fulfilment to you, like your beautiful quilts do! It's great to have another 'string' to the bow!

Jan said...

What a wonderful "catch up" post. Congrats on your certification!

Camilla said...

Well done! Refreshing to have a new perspective. I spotted that Circle of Friends quilt a while ago-what a beautiful thing!
Nice to have you back and all the best in the new career path too!

Carla said...

Congratulations on your success. A break is good for all of us sometimes

Leanne said...

Congratulations on your course, and glad to see you back.

dutchcomfort said...

Congrats on the teaching qualification Annabella! Glad to see you are back!

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Well done you - do you have a list of words you aren't allowed to teach!!? xxx

Kelly said...

Woo hoo!!!! - congrats and it should definitely be third year lucky!!

Judith, Belfast said...

Huge congrats on passing your course A! Knew you could do it! Jxo

Diane-crewe said...

that is wonderful news xx well done .I find after a few days of not reading I am swamped so WEEKS would just be too much xx

heart of charnwood said...

Congratulations on passing your course, and welcome back, we missed you! I'll give your Siblings Quilt a little stroke for you when i see it this weekend. :o)

Isisjem said...

Big congrats on passing your course. It will be so rewarding to be able to pass on those skills. Love the quilt you made for siblings together. It's so bright and happy! Love the quilt everyone put together for Cindy too!

Di said...

Congrats on passing your course and it is great to have you back! Di x

Cindy said...

Congratulations on your TEFL certification! I am so pleased for you!
Lovely A, thank you so very much for Circle of Friends. It was such a wonderful surprise and it's getting lots and lots of use during naps on the couch. I'm so blessed to have you all as my friends. Thank you.
I've missed you and am thrilled that you're back blogging again. What a happy day to see you pop up in my list of new updates :)

Charlotte said...

helloooooo!!!!!! So glad your course went well! Good to see you back :-)

Fiona @ Poppy Makes said...

Congratulations on passing your course! That's fantastic! Beautiful quilt collaboration between you and Juse too xx

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, brilliant news! Great to see you back too.

Little Island Quilting said...

Welcome back and well done. Just as an FYI if I read your blog in Bloglovin I can't leave comments. Ihave to come out and go to your blog directly. Has anyone else commented?

Catherine said...

Well done to you, that is great news!

Katherine said...

Congrats, Annabella! That was one intensive course... wow. Best of luck with teaching!

Glad to have you back. ;o)

Adrianne @ On the Windy Side said...

Congratulations! Hopefully you have a chance to breathe and get some quilting done now :-)

Jacqueline said...

Congratulations on getting your certification!... and glad to see you back on the blog world

Nat at Made in Home said...

Congrats! I hoe you are able to recognise them now!!

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Congratulations on your new qualification! I hope you find a lovely job soon! It's lovely to have you back xx

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

Congratulations on the ESL certificate. I could have used you in London this weekend to translate for me as everyone "talks funny" here. LOL! You were sorely missed and we shall try for 3rd times a charm!

Katy Cameron said...

Welcome back from your TEFLing, glad it all went well :o)