CRAFT SHOW

Well I went and saw but didn't bring home another project...go me! OK but it is a small project, 100 little hexagons ....wont take me long will it?

I was lucky enough to be driven to this event by my friend Jenny and her sister, we set out early so we could avail ourselves of the early bird parking. By the time Jenny swung past to pick me up, then drop her son at the station, and then make it through peak hour traffic we were getting closer to the cut off time  for the reduced parking rate. We are talking the difference between $13 and anything up to $60 so it was worth the effort. 

There we were, stuck in traffic, behind a slow truck, time was ticking, minutes past, we could see the entrance to the car park. We had less than five minutes to get there, FINALLY the TRUCK moved, Jenny put down the fast pedal, I swear we swung around that corner on two wheels, NO, there was a slow person in the carpark lane, Jenny switched to another lane, no time to loose. Jenny grabbed that ticket, we had MADE IT with a minute to spare...........great now we had more money for our shopping. Thanks Jenny for your rally skills!

The craft show is a reasonably big event down here in Melbourne, and I have always made a date to attend each year. It has been interesting to see the evolution and changes in fashion, as well as those who still stay with what works for them.

I went with a list for supplies, and did a purse making workshop. The workshop was as usual full to the brim with eager crafters.....and a M.A.N.  Gasp I know, what man wants to make a purse? Well he did, and he seemed to enjoy the process. I always must say though it is still a novelty to see men at these places, they do help out their loved ones at the stalls, and support our passion for all things crafty. But you do not often see them doing things crafty like. Funny though because once they did all the knitting in those fishing villages in Guernsey. 

Now the boy crafters can be found in the Warhammer shops. Don't ask me how I know this stuff!

Well my purse was a bit tricky to make, I managed to get glue from one end to the other, and stab myself with the awl, not much blood luckily 'cos it was a little embarrassing to be such a klutz.

I know the next time I do it I will improve. This is not the purse but my morning tea break. 

And these are all the other ladies grabbing their cuppa too, the place was heaving with people, you had to be quick finding a seat. Timing is everything at these places.

Melbourne woman wear a lot of black dont they?

These are some of the quilts I admired in the official quilt show part. Can you see how when you take a photo the contrasts are really obvious, one of those blocks all but disappears colour wise.

Tiny Hexagons........a lot of them!!!!!!

These were all the same pattern, a Mrs Something Coverlet...the something part is because I do not take notes or remember ...sorry

 Then I walked around the corner and then wow! Same pattern bold colour choices, I love this one. The others were all generally done in civil war colours.

Another traditional personal favourite of mine, which I have on my to do list. Tumbling blocks. This was done for the quilters son, who was now apparently in his mid thirties before he got his first quilt. She needed a lot of practice to get it right, and this is a masterpiece I would say.

 My purchases, this is for marking quilts when using a stencil, just rub the pounce over the template and it leaves a chalk residue which just brushes off. Think chalk board duster for all of us of a certain age.

 Don't know if you can read this, but safety instructions state this product in the wrong hands may cause bodily injury. I don't know how they got this through customs, and I don't intend being irritated by it, but if my frustration levels rise I will see my doctor.

Little hexagon papers, 1/2 inch.....covered two so far, 198 to go....

 Bag handles cos they are pretty

Two charm packs for a tote bag.......one was on special, cannot resist a bargain, and the other I just adore.....the Salt Air is so yummy. I have two jelly rolls from a previous quilt show and this is also on the to do list.

Well that was my trip to the quilt show.

Jenny drove me safely home...

LETS HAVE A CUPPA

You know when I started this bloggy adventure, I sorta wondered what I would talk about, now I am walking around composing witty posts in my head, and wondering if this is the sort of thing people would want to read about.

Its easy at first as we introduce ourselves, and give a little snap shot of what interests us. But how to keep your interest? I ask myself.

I love reading other peoples blogs so what is it I like about theirs? 

Well I have decided what I really like is the type of blog where someone has the courage to talk honestly about their thoughts and their day to day activities. 

The few blogs I follow so far are written in this candid style, and I feel as if we are the sort of friends that catch up for a cuppa and just chat. So taking their lead, that is the what I think will work.

This is my favourite tea mug,bit bigger than a dainty cup. I was lucky enough to find this in an outlet shop. It is designed by Zandra Rhodes and made by Wedgewood. I love Wedgewood tea services but they are generally out of my price range. This one mug was all I could afford.

My camera is very box brownie basic, in fact I think mobile phones have better resolution, but bear with me, the plan is to justify a better camera in the future. And what better way than a blog. 

I dont know if you can see the background design on this cup but it reminds me of free motion quilting. If you cannot and are frustrated dont blame your eyesight, it really is my bad camera. I must drink three up to four or on a bad day, five cups of tea from this mug.

Its fine bone china, and as we all know tea tastes better in bone china. Try it if you dont believe me. Well the mug gets quite stained by the tannin, and I got quite a bad tea stain in the bottom, I am not showing you how it looks on the inside, it is seriously grotty. I was having a devil of a time cleaning it out, then I remembered reading a tip, try soaking a denture tablet in it overnight.........IT WORKED.

Inspired by Ms Deb from her wonderful blog...Works In Progress, I expanded my op shop search and found St. Vinnies on the highway. Seriously I keep forgetting it is there. After I dropped number one daughter at the station, I took a detour past and dropped in.

This is what I found.

It is a basket, and I was immediately attracted to its design. How gorgeous is that!

It has a blue fabric lining, which I will change one day soon.....soonish.

And just because I had only spent a few dollars, I then took this home too

I do have a love of baskets, one can never have too many places to store the projects and fabric, can one?

My number one daughter will roll her eyes and sigh when she sees this so I have popped it under the table, she will never know. My husband, bless him, doesnt even bother to sigh any more....I not that bad really.

Thank you for your company, I read all comments, just bear with me whilst I work out how to reply with an email. At the moment it appears that I only leave the reply on the blog. If anyone can advise I would appreciate it.

CROCHET

This is my current work in progress. I have caught the bug from various places and people. One cannot deny the pleasure of something that is not too taxing and can be done in front of the TV.

It was inspired by this rug my daughter saw and bought from my local op shop. A big hello to the folks at St. Augustines! I scoffed when my daughter asked me to look out for such a piece, I said, You will never find them easily they are very "in" right now and would be snapped up very quickly. Well she found it very much the next day.....lucky her.

It is very seventies in its colour, I quite like it and so does my daughter, but I felt compelled to update the colour palette and do one in wool, this one is soft acrylic.

This was my very first attempt at granny squares, it came from a Cath Kidston kit that I saw in the local bookshop in an adorable tin. I love tins, so it was mine.

The instructions were wonderful, and the hook a pretty red, after it took me a whole day to work the first granny square, I haven't looked back. 

I keep my wools in this adorable felt tub, purchased a few years ago at AK Traditions, they were made in some exotic .....ekstan type province. They are lovely works of art.

These are the motifs that run around the tub.

Well thats it for now, off to the craft show on Friday, a quick visit and a workshop in purse making is on the horizon. I will keep you all posted on what I must purchase and bring into my already overflowing works to do list.

PINK

This is the start of my pink story. I found this wonderful piece in my local op shop, or as others may refer, a thrift store.

I walked past several times over several days, it was cracked, its head is wonky and it had lost the roses from its head. But it was pink and pretty and only $1. So it eventually came home with me. I love it.

It has become the basis of my pink collection.

Even my sewing machine has touches of pink on it

What can I say, the colour speaks to me, I have heard it say that we wear pink when we seek love and affection......actually I wear a lot of black so what does that say? 

This is a doll I made a while ago now, it was a Rosalie Quinlin design. I love her colors and I pretty much followed her lead all the way.

The wings are painted, and she has been joined with her sisters to make this lovely piece.

The legs and shoes are painted also. This was the start of my love of Rosalie's designs and I really embarrassed myself when I got to meet her in person. I all but squeaked and blushed......she was very calm and smiled at the slightly deranged fan lady.

This is on my design wall at the moment, something I found in the 80's from a Better Homes and Garden Magazine. It just so happens that templates have been made by Matilda's Own that matched the magazine pattern. So I have used them to help me make it. So easy if you remain accurate. Inset seams and all, because I do love a challenge.

I had some Liberty fat 8ths that I had picked up at a quilt show, and it all came together. I am half way there so maybe now I have the blog to fill up I will push on a hurry up with the rest. I do however have a short attention span at times and if the sewing gets too repetitious I can loose focus. Just me?

Well I hope this works, I am about to hit the publish button......here goes.

A little more about me

This is a posy taken from my winter garden. the lovely green tub was given to me at Christmas by my sons girlfriend, I have just refreshed the oasis and use it for the cut flowers. it really suits the table and the placemat I made years\ago. Funny story about that mat. I thought it had faded in the sun, one day I spilt my tea all over it so it needed washing, well I am ashamed to say, it was not faded just very very dusty...........so its clean now.

This is my current cross stitch project, I bought the pattern on sale for three dollars, and I thought great!, a cheap project, forgot the cost of threads and the TIME it would take me. Oh well, what else would I do? I am now up to the  stage where I am finishing all the last touches and for some reason I have slowed down, I love it and I dont mind its slow progress. I am adding beading and for me that is the equivalent of eating dessert, slowly and with much pleasure.

arrrrrggghhhh
number one daughter is forcing my hand. She takes  no prisoners and has set up my blog. Am I ready for this, don't know so here goes.