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 Melbourne 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 .

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...

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!

Help wanted...

It's not just because it's late, because I tried the same thing earlier and it didn't work. I thought maybe if I let Mr/Mrs/Ms Blogger have a rest, held my mouth right and had another go it would work, but no...

I wanted to do a post with pics about my wonderful weekend at the Quilted Crow's stitchery gathering in Hobart last weekend. I can usually transfer pics from Picasa to Blogger but not today, although strangely a screed of HTML stuff about the pics was in the template above the text I wrote. They didn't appear in the preview, though, and when I published there was a big blank space where they should have been.

HELP! Is it me? Is it Blogger? Anyone else having problems?

In the mail

Look what the postie has delivered in the past week or so - lots of lovely stuff to play with.

Bec in country NSW was having a clean-out at her place, and the bargains were irresistible. Lovely pinks and greens, along with yardage of Fandango by Kate Spain plus a jelly roll of the same line. I love Fandango - can you tell? The designs remind me of the beautiful, ornate tiles I saw in my travels in Portugal last year and in India - particularly on the Taj Mahal - many years ago.

And from Hatched and Patched in Bathurst, also in NSW - bags of crushed walnut shells (wonderful for filling pincushions; here's a hint - use a funnel when filling or be prepared to spend an hour or so trying to gather up every last little bit of grittiness you've dropped everywhere) and some gorgeous felted wool. And because my order was delayed a little, I also received one of Anni's early patterns - what a nice gesture!

Giveaway

Look at this lovely giveaway from Fee at Designs by Fee - two Fresh Cotton charm packs from Fig Tree Quilts plus a length of gorgeous rose-patterned fabric from the same line. It could be your lucky day - but only if you visit Fee's blog, which has lots of other lovely things to read about. Good luck! Fee is one of the Tassie bloggers I'll get to meet at the Quilted Crow's gathering in Hobart on Saturday; can't wait.

Colours

A wee while ago I took part in a colour swap organised by Maree of On My Verandah. She's a genius organiser, that woman. In no time at all, threads, fat quarters, something nice to eat and something pretty (purchased or handmade) in chosen colours were making their way to recipients in Australia and NZ.
The photo above shows what I sent to Christine in NSW, who requested cream. Must say I was a bit daunted at first, but I think it turned out just fine.

And below is what my partner in Victoria, another Christine, sent me. Isn't that bag the prettiest thing! I've never seen watermelon rock before. The lovely fabric is earmarked for something special for me - don't know what yet. Christine knows I'm thrilled to bits with what she sent me.