Saturday, April 16, 2011

Goodies

Friends in Stitching, the online group I belong to, had a swap of Anni Downs' projects and Friday was our opening night, during a rather manic chat session.

Tereasa in Queensland made me this stitching folder, pincushion and scissor case; aren't they gorgeous
. All wrapped up in pretty fabric, too. Thanks heaps, Tereasa!


And this is what I made for Chookyblue in NSW; she's a country girl so I couldn't resist this Farm Girl stitchery.

I love swaps!

I went to the Australiasian Quilt Convention in Melbou
rne on Thursday and came home with shockingly sore feet and some new goodies.



Some lovely fabrics.
Natalie Bird's "Tis the Season book - lovely little Christmas stitcheries - tape and a kit for a mug bag, designed by Lisa Chandler. I love her fabric; I'm making this project for my daughter. A coaster is included in the kit but it will be too heavy to post so I'm keeping it - ssh, don't tell her!


Pretty felts, some wool and a couple of little patterns. I made the little key fob at Marg Low's Make and Take class. I love Marg's designs and was so happy to meet her; she's my nice neighbour's SIL .

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

OPAM finish for April




I don't usually do anything special for Easter, apart from sleep in and stuff my face with hot cross buns and chocolate.
But when I saw this freebie Easter design on Bronwyn Hayes' blog, it was irresistible. I finished this gorgeous little bag this morning; it will be filled with bags of little Easter eggs and sent to my daughter Rosy in China as a special treat. Lucky she doesn't read my blog, isn't it...

Saturday, April 2, 2011

My wonderful weekend








What fun I had last weekend attending a stitching gathering in Hobart, meeting new friends, catching up with old friends, laughing, chatting, eating - oh, and not doing much in the way of stitching.
The occasion was the Quilted Crow's annual gathering - my first but definitely not my last. Leonie and Deirdre's lovely shop is in an old church with magnificent stained glass windows.
Our tutors, Leanne Beasley and Rosalie Quinlan, are just gorgeous - talented, funny, sharing; they each spent a lot of time at individual tables admiring our work or helping out. Leanne demonstrated satin stitch on my project after I confessed that I'm crap at it - Thanks, Leanne. She's a champion ironer too - she offered to iron the iron-on tranfers to the background fabrics for our chosen projects - what a star. Oh, and she signed my copies of Vignette - I love these mags and they will be even more treasured now.
I sat at a Tassie bloggers table - it was lovely to see my old friend Vicki again, to meet Fee and to finally meet face to face some of the Tassie girls in the Friends in Stitching online group I belong to. What a nice bunch they are!
The fun didn't end when the gathering was over - I stayed the night with lovely Jo and enjoyed checking out her huge - and well-stocked - craft room. Thanks to Jo and her family for their hospitality and to Jo for saying yes, we could make time for a quick visit to Salamanca Market. She scored a gorgeous little felted purse and I bought a wire bird for my birdie collection and some handmade wooden buttons. Not to mention the bits and pieces I couldn't resist at the Quilted Crow...
Next day it was a catch-up and coffee with a friend and her gorgeous little girls, then on to another friend's place for lunch and to stay the night. We used to be neighbours years ago in the country south of Hobart when our kids were young; it was lovely to see her and our other friend and former neighbour who came to lunch. Lots of laughter and reminiscing.
Next day my friend and I wandered through the city, ducking into a few shops including the Needlewoman, where I could have spent the rest of the day (and a vast amount of money). Wandering along the docks in the sunshine is a special memory; Hobart is such a pretty place but I lived there for some years and let me tell you it can be cold; we were so blessed with good weather. All too soon it was time for us to catch a plane to Melbourne. What a great weekend it was!