WENT TO A FESTIVAL.........

A tea cosy festival.......at a little town called Fish Creek.

Pictures to follow.

Yep, I heard about this event on the radio and mentioned it to a friend, who said.."Lets Go"

So we did just that. It was a good two hour drive and it must be said we were a little apprehensive......would it be worth the trip?

Would we arrive to see one or two desultory tea cosy offerings and not much else?
Well what was there to lose? Half a day of driving, not much else, and where was our spirit of adventure?...( in the boot along with the spare tyre, haha)

The centre of every good country town, the pub!
.....oh and yes the occasional fish sculpture.

Thats art, that is! Street performers added colour and movement to the day.
Funny, but I wore red and black that day, I was right in the scene.

No, not the festival...not yet. This was part of the market being held that day. There were some lovely stalls, and I may have purchased something. But that comes later. 
This lovely lady knits profusely and well, her cosies were all for sale, so my friend who has a strange love of the cosy did take one home.

Not this one, I just thought he was cute and took his photo, (with permission)

They were all worthy of being taken home, decisions, decisions.
Anyway I took her card and if you wanted a tea cosy, email me and I will pass on her details.

Ta dah...this is what I took home.

I loved the colours and the collection so thoughtfully put together, I tried to resist but couldnt. 
Now I just need some sunny weather and I gonna take me on a picnic.

Ohhhhh, whats that I spy in the window?

Yes, we have made it to the festival proper. And it was very cute and worth the trip....along with the shopping, the great lunch and good company.

And my personal favourite

I snuck in this photo as the official photographer was setting up shots for the local paper.

Very sweet....

 No competition without controversy...

Off with his head...pronounced the queen.

Then we left the festival and headed home into the sunset. I may even return and do it again next year!

ROAD TRIP...........

A few weeks ago some stitchy friends called a road trip to Ballarat with several shop stops on the way.

The first stop was a small town called Ballan where a wonderful quilting shop complete with coffee shop selling the most scrumdidilumptious food. The complete package.

The shoppe was Mill Rose Cottage.

They had the best range of liberty fabrics as well as most everything else I believe!
One lady got so carried away she bought a new sewing machine, I tell you the excitement was high that day!!!

As we were leaving the shop I noticed a colourful fence and sign saying "Op Shop".....STOP!!! I yelled....our driver did so beautifully and I ran over to see this amazing sight.

 What could be up these stairs? What wonders was I so eager to photograph?

Well this for a start....This was the entrance to my kind of enchanted forest. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the works of Gaudi of Spain and one day I will travel to Barcelona to see his exquisite mosaic park and buildings.......in the meantime I can appreciate the love and imagination someone has lavished on this place.

And yes it was an Op Shop but sadly closed on that day...all good it just means I will go back.

I was in photo heaven everywhere I looked there was something else to snap....bliss.
And my friends were so kind and patient waiting as I ran hither and yonder.

I loved the colour blue and the shading of green, the duck lying on the fence, the portholes ......

The little treasures just waiting to be discovered.

Sadly I didnt get the greatest shot of this ...it was so ...well words fail me....beautiful is one word 

As you can see I was enamoured by it all, and this was just the fence, we couldnt get in to see the garden so who knows what other sights you have been spared...:-)

OK I will stop now......

We drove onto Ballarat and had a great lunch and shopped at 

Ballarat Patchwork.

This business is up for sale...if I had any skills in running a business I would love to take on such a venture.....but I really dont and whats more I am almost savouring retirement....well I dream of the day..

These are the diamond days...

Hexagons..

I have been beavering away at a little project and by golly it has nearly finished up.
I love this little project as it has been cheap inexpensive and picked off the shelf because it was cheap carefully selected and I was unsure of the result I loved it from the beginning.

Alls well that ends well I say ( Phew) because I did spend many hours stitching over many papers.

Ta.Dah....
Look at me learning how to fancify my photos...thank you picmonkey!

I bought a pack of pre cut hexagon shapes from my local Spotlight and thought, why not? They had done the hard work of cutting and the fabric was all there and did I mention....$8.00 a pack!
2 packs and I was off...
I bought the chocolate as a background type and played with the layout.

This is what it looked like on the design wall.

And this is the border fabric that I went with.

It really has been a jump in type project, one where I was not in full control of the colour and can I say it has turned out really well.

It has taught me a lot about scrap quilting and fabric selection. So often I have agonized over things and gone nowhere and it fact have been disappointed with quilts that have little or no contrast.

Now I know for me, the more eclectic the better, just go for it.

Thats it for now...

...and hey for all you that may like my blog, feel free to leave a comment....it would be nice to know someone other that Miss Ada Bea and my other 6 followers are out there...come on dont be shy.

Hmmmm....maybe I may have to bribe you with a giveaway soon!!

After I reintroduced myself with a bit of silly behavior....

 I struck it lucky on my thrift or "op shop" run just lately and found an old collection of wooden cotton reels. These were the ones that had lost labels and were hard to display ...or so I thought...

 Then I struck it lucky finding this on the street....an old Ikea copy of a printers tray...but hey one mans trash as they say.

OK...this has possibilities me thinks.

Voila!

What do you think?
Now I must be honest here this was not entirely all my own idea, I was inspired by a picture from Patchwork Chickens: HAPPY EASTER !!

When I saw her studio space and the collection of threads, well I put two and two together and got this.

I adore the inspiration I see on other peoples blogs and their generosity in sharing. You just never know what ideas can grow.

I also scored this little basket....again I wondered did I really need such a thing....I know what has need got to do with it?

I just loved the painting on it, all hand done.

I got into my sewing room and pondered, it looked great but what function could it serve? I know, but I already have a LOT of decorative stuff and I am trying to be selective a little.

Problem solved.

It fits and hides away the utilitarian work light.....bingo!

Some days are just inspired..it doesnt happen a lot but when it does, I love it.
So now I have a lovely basket that covers a necessary but not entirely beautiful item.

Here endeth my tale.....for now.