Quilting Retreat & Table Runner

Just completed a table runner which will be a gift for one of my relatives. Hope she likes it.

This weekend a bunch of quilting friends and I rented some lovely cottages at Neerim South to spend time relaxing, eating, quilting and touring this lovely region.

We stayed at Neerim Country Cottages set on five acres with beautiful rural views to Mt Baw Baw.

Their gardens are beautifully maintained, have a pool and a tennis court.

I took several photos this morning but the camera lens was not good enough to show the bees on this Bottlebrush   (Callistemon).

As the weather turned out just perfect (around 26°C) some of us explored Yarragon Village and a trip to the local  quilt store was not to be missed when they had a sale on.

Yarragon Village is renowned for its speciality shops (quality homeware, linen, lace, soaps, clothing) antique stores, eating places (wine, cheese, smoked meats) and Galleries.  

One of the interesting places we visited, was Candalaraine Alpacas, that sells hand crafted Alpaca garments.

The store is located on their working farm where you can meet the animals up close.


This boy is particularly handsome and was not shy to stare at us !

Cappucino (one below) was given a treat of fresh cut roses... apparently all the alpacas on this farm love eating roses.



I think the owner said they have about 70 alpacas at the moment and she showed us one baby that had just been born in that morning.

I can't say that we all did a lot of sewing, but we had a great time together....

One of the girls had a quilt to baste ready for quilting and she progressed a fair bit with it.
I really liked the scrappy look of it.

Back to the real world now but very relaxed and inspired to tackle more projects !

CWB block completed, Wool fabric and more AQC quilts

My 15th block done... 5 to go and borders. The feathers weren't as difficult as I expected and I used blanket stitch for the feet and beak.

For sometime now I have seen quilts and other smaller items done using wool. It always looks so primitive and effective, so I have purchased a table runner kit and a stack of wool pieces to begin a stash.  I am told that working with wool is quick, easy and addictive !

For those who follow my blog, it's not a surprise that I love music. Mainly Smooth Jazz and Classical.  I have had the opportunity from time to time to attend live shows in my hometown as well as overseas.  Later in the year I'm going on a Smooth Jazz cruise in the Mediterranean so I've been thinking about making a quilt to celebrate that occasion.

While I was at AQC show on Saturday with so many vendors all in one venue it was the perfect time to look for music themed fabrics.  I was lucky to get quite a few fat quarters but if you know of online stores that do sell music themed fabrics please let me know...
I used my daughter's trumpet as part of the prop to show you my lovely fabrics.
 




Here are some more pictures of the quilts that I saw over the weekend at the Australasian Quilt Convention.  They are so unique and at the highest quality.

I noticed that many quilts have circular shapes, so I wonder if that's a trend we are going through at the moment...



Australasian Quilt Convention - Melbourne

I spent most of the day at the Royal Exhibition Building  at the quilt show and checking out the various vendors from all over Australia, tempting us with their lovely fabrics, patterns and many new products.



The  Royal Exhibition Building is the only surviving Great Hall that once housed a 19th-century international exhibition and is still used for exhibitions, cultural and community events.

The architect was Joseph Reed and his design was influenced by Rundbogenstil, a round-arched architectural style combining elements from Byzantine, Romanesque, Lombardic and Italian Renaissance buildings.

The dome’s design was influenced by Brunelleschi’s 15th-century cathedral in Florence.



The interior is equally spectacular with its meticulously restored opulent interior, expansive galleries and soaring dome.




There is a lot of history associated with this landmark. 
David Mitchell was the builder of the finest buildings in Melbourne including the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Scots Church and the Equitable Life Assurance offices on corner of Elizabeth & Collins Streets.
And in case this name is not immediately familiar, he was the father of Dame Nellie Melba GBE (19 May 1861 – 23 February 1931), an Australian operatic soprano  who became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century. She was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician.


The building is in the Carlton Gardens and it has three fountains.

And here another of the fountains...

Now, onto the quilts...

I did not take photos of all the quilts nor can I identify all the quilt makers (I apologise in advance) but I can say that each and everyone of the quilts displayed were of the highest quality regardless if the quilt maker was professional or not.

The show included a number of exclusive exhibitions, some were judged, some were awarded prizes and other quilts were produced by the tutors at the convention.

Balance by Robin Coombes

Too Easily Forgotten by Gillian Shearer

Reproduction beauties by Chris Jurd

Longbourne by Katrina Hadjmichael

 Pemberley by Katrina Hadjimichael

And this large quilt (Travelling Friendship Quilt) is a result of eight empty suitcases leaving Queensland in January 2011 for a one-year journey around Australia, returning full of completed blocks which were made into a friendship quilt. The quilt should prove to be an interesting snapshot of women's lives in 2011 and will eventually reside in the National Museum, Canberra.



The show is still on tomorrow so if you get a chance I would recommend a visit.

On my next blogpost I'm planning to show you something I completed and some of the shopping I did today...

What's on the bed, music totes & Hand Embroidered treasures

It's a lovely sunny day here in Melbourne and I'm inspired to share some of my treasures with you.

First off these two small totes I completed recently. They are gifts for my two cruise travelling companions who love Smooth Jazz like me. I don't think they read my blog so I won't spoil the surprise.

Bonnie Hunter's blog is hosting a 'party' for us to link pictures of a Quilt on our bed so I took a picture of what's on my daughter's bed.

I regularly change the quilts on the beds and other furniture, to make it more interesting around the house.

I collect a few things which I have shared in the blog (pins, thimbles, etc) but today I want to show you my collection of hand embroidered tray clothes and linen doilies with crocheted edges.

 

I probably have over 100 of these and most of them have been purchased at thrift stores over the years.

They are not as easy as it used to be, to find them and the prices have increased considerably.
I have also made a few myself as a child but these I use in my day to day living.

The motifs are delightful and some very quirky.

Most of them are on linen and some on cotton.  I love looking at them for ages and then place them back in the box..

Some have beautiful crocheted edgings and I appreciate them more because I love and used to do a lot of crochet work.

We are now in Autumn, so different plants are decorating the garden with their beautiful colour.
These are in the front of my garden.

The sun is so bright this morning that the photo doesn't do it's justice.

And finally as I was inspecting the buds of my camelia, I found it's first flower...

We can't beat nature on perfection !