I have just had a very enjoyable weekend in Northern Ireland as a guest of the Northern Ireland Patchwork Guild. I was made to feel very welcome and Anne, my hostess looked after me very well and was great company. She took me for a drive round beautiful Strangford Lough – I can’t believe I didn’t take any photos, but I did do a lot of gazing! The group is large and very vibrant, so it was great giving a talk to them – the interest and feed-back were brilliant – thank you everyone! They also have a high level of skills which became evident in the Free-cut Curves workshop – they work hard too. I wonder if anyone has finished their quilts yet – I’d love to see photos.     I hadn’t flown for ages, so the queues of people whipping off coats, belts, boots etc and carrying little sealable plastic bags of small cosmetic bottles was all new to me – fascinating! I know why it’s necessary, of course, but what a palava!     I did get some photos from the plane on the way out which may form the basis of a new textile project. Considering the number of ideas I already have, I’ll need hours adding to the day and days adding to the week to get through them!       Quilt Courses and Individual Workshops There is only one session left of both the Beginners’ and Intermediate Courses. The beginners have nearly completed their beautiful quilts and they don’t look like beginners any more – they have really risen to the challenge – well done to everyone. There is a change next September to the Intermediate Course – it will be the Intermediate and Advanced Course – this is probably long overdue! This year, in particular, there has been some amazing work produced and I’m so proud of everyone. Look out for photos of some of the work soon. The Individual Workshop lists are filling up nicely and I’m looking forward to meeting new people who are coming along. It’s a good way to find out if you like Patchwork and Quilting – and if you like the way I teach – before committing yourself to a course. It’s also fun to add a new skill if you are already into textile work. Come along and try a workshop. (link) Dorothy