Here is my clean and tidy quiltshelf. 

Here is my clean and tidy wall art.

Here is my clean and tidy bench seat with yummy new cushions that I made.

Here is my clean and tidy studio with a clean and tidy me in it!

 Happy New Year to you all. I do hope you are having a good summer - those of you who are in that season! Hopefully the rest of you are tucked up in your sewing rooms making lots of quilts!

I have been busy turning some of my art into wall art. I had a collection of ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) that I had made and have framed them to put up on the wall and I think they look great!

I have registered with the Quiltinggallery.com to participate in a mini quilt swap. Michelle is a great swap organizer. Do go and have a look and join up for yourself, click on the button above.

Coming soon - Downloadable Block-of-the-Month! This will be a pattern only block of the month which will start in February. More info will be available soon on Gourmetquilter.com or sign up for my newsletter with news of patterns, mysteries and blocks of the month sign up here

 Thank you all so much for participating in the Blog Hop Party. Wasn't it so much fun seeing what everybody is doing out there! 

Congratulations to our 5 winners: Glenice, Kathy, Teresa Marie, Sylvia and Maria. I do hope you enjoy your prizes.

I will take this opportunity to wish you all a great holiday season. I am taking some time out to visit family that we don't see often and I will see you all next year.

Don't forget the mystery. Part 5 will be up and ready to download by 1st January.

Welcome to everyone who is indulging in the Blog Hop Party. A huge thankyou to Michele at the Quiltinggallery.com for organising this. 

If you are new to the GourmetQuilter site let me give you a brief tour of my site. I design patterns for quilts, wallhangings, dolls, bags, table runners.... I sell these patterns in a downloadable form so that you can buy your pattern online and have it in your hand in minutes. I am also running a free mystery where each part of the mystery is available to download for a month – do have a look here for more info and to download the current part http://www.gourmetquilter.com/pages/mystery-quilts

To find out what new and exciting patterns I am working on and when the next mystery part is available Subscribe to our newsletter

I will be adding some kits and other goodies to the SusanClaire Mail Order shop in the new year – do come back and visit!

My Giveaway

I have 2 lovely things to give away!

First is my Minnie Angel pattern and kit – this makes a 4 ½” tall angel and comes complete with fabric and beads. 

Second is a copy of my Country Christmas booklet – this is full of patterns for a quilt, cushion, stocking and other suggestions using some fun Country Christmas applique. Included with the booklet are fabrics for 11 of the appliqués to get you started.

To enter the giveaway leave a comment below (use the comments button on the right of your screen just below the Blog Hop logo). 5 winners will be randomly chosen on 17^th December (each will receive 1 Minnie Angel and 1 Country Christmas booklet)

To find out more about the Blog Hop Party click below:

What an amazing experience being an exhibitor at Houston Quilt market! Quilt Market is the trade only part of the show and I was there exhibiting my Block of the month patterns, available in downloadable form. My soux chefs were a wonderful help in setting up and running the booth for the 2 days we were open. We met alot of amazing people and saw some fantastic work by others. Quilters are fortunate to have so much on offer!

I was fortunate enough to stay on for Quilt festival, the exhibition was huge and there loads of really amazing quilts. Here are a couple of photos that show a some main segments of the exhibition.

 I seem to have packed about 40 hours into Monday, (who says we can,t make time!) of which about 30 were spent traveling or hanging around airports! But all went well, I arrived in Houston and even more amazingly, so did all my luggage of which there was plenty!
It is about 31 degrees here so just a little warmer than I am used to and all the shops have winter clothes for sale! Here I am sweltering and they offer scarves and beanies!

 Look what I found! I recently discovered a pukeko nest with some eggs in it and wandered over today and this is what I saw. I was roundly told off for the privilege! On the same day I saw some pheasants running through the same paddock who were also told off and while she was at it she told the rooster off as well! I am not sure how many chicks she has got but I saw at least 2.

We had such a good day on Saturday in Taupo where I had been invited as GourmetQuilter to be a guest speaker. I was so well looked after that I didn’t really want to come home. We had a wonderful menu including green basil and tomato soup, trout with salad and fries, finishing up with a delicious fruit salad – fat-free, sugar-free, cholesterol-free and full of fibre! Everyone was so helpful to me with all my props and stock that it just made the day such a delight. Thank you Taupo Quiltmakers.