Lemon lusciousness

Cooked this yummy recipe from Jo at Vintage Lane Stitches yesterday.I made it as a slice rather than a tart & it comes highly recommended - it is all gone!

Club Quilt retreat

I got to spend just a day with the Club Quilt girls at their annual retreat on the weekend. Always a lot of laughs & a flurry of activity. Here is a quick roundup of the weekend gathering of quilting friends:As we are coming into winter in Australia, there was lots of cuddly flannel happening ...... some amazing piecing ...... some clever stippling ...... beautiful fabrics beneath machines ...... other happy fabric bundles just laying about, waiting for transformation ...... some raw-edge grooviness ...... some stunning redwork embroidery...... a little bit of bagmaking (using this pattern) ......and all sorts of other pretty patching ...And this is just a little of what I saw in my 24 hours at the retreat. You can only imagine what they all got up to on the other two days! There will be lots more reports of this weekend here, here and here soon, I'm, sure.

Serendipity

Stayed up late sewing last night, as you do! Keen to get my new bag finished. I have long admired the beautiful bags of Pink Lemonade Boutique & the inspiration for using linen for this bag came from her. Linen + anything = success, I reckon. I employed my favourite bag-holding model for this shot (aka skinny daughter):In the middle of the night, and with only a final button to put on, I couldn't find a button big enough in my bits & bobs, until ... ... I found these little treasures. They are probably 30 or 40 years old & I inherited them from an elderly relative. I was very encouraged by the claim that any unskilled dimwit could use them! Wondered if that extended to someone sewing late at night with too much red wine under her belt, but I really wanted to get this bag finished. And, as so often happens when forced to improvise, the result was surprisingly satisfactory, even quite cute! Enormous thanks to Janelle, the pattern's designer, who just happened to be on hand to help me choose fabrics. I love it Janelle! If you are tempted to make one of these bags yourself, it is called "Frilly Dilly Bag" by Janelle Wind Collection & there is a list of stockists on Janelle's blog. I am off to spend 24 hours with these girls on a quilting retreat. Too much fun! We are expecting snow at home (an unusual occurrence), so there is much excitement in the house as the kids have never seen snow - a big weekend all round!

Friday frills!

Frills just make me happy, don't know why! Working on this bag.And just one more Dear Baby Jane block; this is B10 Jud's Trophy. I am totally converted to the freezer paper method for foundation piecing. If you haven't given it a go, do yourself a favour! Tutorials for this method can be found here and here.

Chasing Dear Baby Jane

Trying to catch up with the Dear Baby Jane group again.B8 Water Lily - This block just about had me beaten. Had lots of trouble with the set-in seams. My first go was a disaster. I ended up stitching the seams by hand, something I have never done. And of course, I made the whole thing much harder for myself by choosing stripes! I think I would have given up the whole Dear Jane thing if I wasn't part of an encouraging group - thank you to all who have left comments for me, both here & on Flickr! B9 Tinker Toy - This came together much easier than B8 for some reason. It stretched a little in the centre along the bias seams, but it has pressed up OK. Just 2 more blocks to catch up on before Anina hits us with the first triangle - scary!

Stitching 'withdrawal'

Not much to report on the stitching front in the last few days - everyday life stuff has taken over for a bit. I am keen to catch up with my Dear Jane blocks ASAP. This is the only one I have done recently, B7 World Series:I am hoping the next few days will be less 'full' & will allow a little more stitching time. I find I get a bit 'edgy' (read 'psycho'!) when I don't get to stitch for a few days - it is definitely an addiction! I will leave you with some late-autumn 'Monsieur Tillier' roses from my farm garden.This rose has a long history, being first introduced in France in 1891. It is an old-fashioned tea rose, & has a unique salmon pink colour, unlike any modern rose I've seen. Another of my favourites!

I want one toooo Muuum!

What to do, when your mother creates a drop-dead-gorgeous quilt & you don't have a garden to photograph it in? Pop down to the local park, drape it over anything you can find & hope no-one is watching!Mum has been working on this single Irish chain quilt for a couple of years now & has just finished stitching the bind. It is for her own bed. This is the first quilt we have had professionally quilted, and the quilting is really beautiful - stippled all over, with a feather border. Photos of quilting detail here. Would make sleeping on a park bench quite classy, don't you think? Congratulations Mum - a beautiful quilt - don't forget to label it!

Unexpected famous person!

On arriving in Nundle last Friday we promptly headed out to Kerry's shop, Cottage on the Hill, for some desperately needed supplies - not! We walked through the door, and who should greet us but the lovely Janelle Wind! A few of us were commenting before the weekend on how fantastic it would be if Janelle were to come, being a good friend of Kerry's etc, but we decided that would just be too good to be true. Janelle is another well-established designer of Australian stitcheries & quilts. She previously designed under her label 'Simply Homespun' but has recently released a new range of patterns under 'The Janelle Wind Collection'. Her patterns are meticulously presented & she has a very fresh, uncluttered & modern style. Here she is, with Leanne Beasley & Rosalie Quinlan on either side.I have long been searching for a copy of Janelle's Frilly Dilly bag pattern. The search ended at Kerry's, closely followed by the purchase of suitable fabrics to make said bag!But the most exciting thing is that Janelle was on hand to help me choose the fabrics! We had a lovely time auditioning stripes & florals & spots & checks. She is a very warm & generous person, keen to help in any way. It was a delight to meet her. The fabrics are from an Australian range called 'A Day in the Country'. Janelle has used this range to make her new 'block-of-the-month' quilt which we were lucky enough to see 'in the flesh' at Kerry's shop. It is the most gorgeous thing - stitcheries & birdies & flowers, just beautiful. It will be released in shops soon.

Girls' Day in the Country

Apologies for being late in posting news of Nundle - lots of things to catch up on when I got home! Hope you're ready to make yourself a coffee as this post could be long!The little town of Nundle had no idea what it was in for when over 100 women descended upon it for Kerry of Cottage on the Hill's 'Girls' Day in the Country'. The early morning tranquility was short-lived as women from all over New South Wales & Queensland gathered excitedly for a day of stitching with Rosalie Quinlan & Leanne Beasley, doyens of Australian stitchery.Kerry & her band of helpers had decorated the local hall for us & spoilt us with hand-stamped name tags, coffee cups & wonderful bags of treats. Leanne & Rosie had prepared special projects for us to stitch. Leanne's was a very cute red work chook stitchery ...... and Rosie challenged us with some needle turn applique with her beautiful cushion:Rosie & Leanne were wonderfully warm & generous tutors, willingly sharing stories & their enormous expertise with us all day...... oohing & aahing over our versions of their patterns & happy to sign anything we asked them to! As if we didn't think they were wonderful before, doubly so now that we have met them in person! And then of course, we had a special privilege of seeing the originals of so many of Leanne & Rosie's designs. Wow, just beautiful workmanship & very inspiring. Detail of Leanne's amazing 'Flowers & Flutterbuys' ...... Rosie's beautiful punch needle designs ... ... intricate gorgeousness of Leanne's 'Butterfly Garden' ... ... and teeny weeny dollies, no more than four inches high of Rosie's. It was the most brilliant of weekends. I just want to stitch for the rest of my life! Thank you to Kerry for her faultless organisation of the event. And a big hello to the many friends, new & old, who made the weekend so much fun. To Leanne & Rosie, an enormous thank you for giving up a weekend with your families to be with a mob of stitching mad women. We have had the best time! I caught up with lots of blogger girls. It was great to meet Anita, Jodie & Jodie for the first time. Be sure to check out their blogs for their version of events, as well as Happy in Quilting, Day-Day, Dragonfly Crafts & Chookyblue. There were lots of funny times with these girls. Fiona has taken the 'what happened in Nundle stays in Nundle' stance - perhaps the safest! My wonderful mother selflessly stayed with my children for the weekend, when I am sure she would love to have been with me! Thanks Mum! In addition to keeping the bairns alive, she also put the final stitches in the bind of her beautiful single Irish chain quilt. More photos of this to follow. Best wishes, Bloom.

Striking it rich!

Well, wet anyway! Just a quick post to let you know we did indeed find some bore water this afternoon. We are very thankful for this as it means I can garden away to my heart's content independent of water restrictions. I am very spoilt! I will be back in a few days with lots of news of the 'Girl's Day in the Country' stitch-in at Nundle. Did I say I was spoilt? Look out Nundle, here we come - 'we' being Chookyblue, Dragonfly-Crafts, Happy in Quilting, Day-Day & Jelly Wares. Also heading to Nundle are a group of antique motorbike fanatics who are apparently a bit put out that we are staying in the pub & they have to stay at the caravan park! There could be stories!