Some stitching done...

So good to have had some time to be at home and stitch. I have completed the stitching on Leanne's lovely pocket from the Immerse stitching day. It now needs to be quilted, by hand, and then made up. I am determined to finish this project though I have a pile of bits that need finishing too. Must try and have a finishing off day soon.

The other day I sewed on the borders on this second block of "My Garden" which I stitched while on holidays.

As the fourth block will be coming soon, I have been stitching the third one and made it up yesterday so I am up to date on this BOM.  I haven't made up my block for September for the Gardener's Journal quilt yet!!! Perhaps today is the day. 

Floriade

Some of us went for a picnic at Floriade on Thursday and the weather was perfect.We all brought food to share and we ended up with a feast including birthday cake. After lunch we went on a guided tour of Floriade with Kirsten. Kirsten takes groups on guided tours all around Canberra and we were lucky to have her give us a free tour!

Here is a clever young lady on stilts.

The flowers were lovely.

Hubby and Lyndal took their lovely cameras to Floriade in the afternoon on Sunday and took these lovely views.

Stitching progress

I am slowly tidying my bits and pieces from the trip and thought I had best share some recent stitching. This little canvas work was a kit and I took it away with me and managed to stitch it while on holidays. Of course it needs to be stitched together.

I also started the Bareroots advent calendar pattern and have stitching about 8 of the 25 blocks. The pattern also has this little scene with Santa and I thought they would make nice decorations for gifts.

One of my favourite books is "The World as it should be" by Anni Downs, so I stitched 2 more book marks. Might keep one for me this time.

Before my holiday I had started this lovely felt cupcake mat from this delightful book. I thought I was finished on Wednesday and so I showed it to the ladies at stitching and left it as a sample at the shop. I got a little shock when I checked the picture in the book and I hadn't stitched the dots on the candles, the wicks or the flame highlights! I still think it is pretty but fancy forgetting all those details.

Wednesday night stitching

It was so lovely to be at the shop on Wednesday and catch up with the social stitchers, a few of the afternoon class girls and some of the night girls. Margaret came to class with lots of show and tell from Anni Downs new book about bags and all the lovely things we could have in our bags. She has made this delightful little purse and the two bags below. They look great, Margaret.

We even had a very special little visitor to class. This gorgeous little fellow came to visit and slept the entire time. I think we were disappointed that he didn't wake up to say hello but we were impressed as Mum was able to do lots of stitching. I was very envious as my girls, at this age, would have been wide awake and probably making a lot of noise at this time of night.

Immerse once more

Just one last post about the Immerse stitching day. Here are all the patterns and goodies that were in our kits.

These photos aren't too good but here is Leanne giving some of the girls on our table some hints.

Karen took this photo of me and Rosalie, Leanne and Melly at the end of the day, Note the well earned glasses of wine!

I'd best hurry now and get organised to go to Hobbysew to teach my Christmas class.

Stitching at Immerse

At our lovely stitching day, there were beautiful displays of Leanne's, Rosalie's and Melly's many projects. Under the Mulberry Tree had a stall too with fabrics, threads and patterns for sale. Here are some of Leanne's pincushions and table mats.

This picture has Leanne's latest BOM quilt, some of her smaller projects and some of Rosalie's lovely dolls and bags.

Here are some of Melly's lovely little creatures and quilts. It was inspiring to see all the pattern samples.

Here are a few more plus some more of Rosalie's stitcheries.

We were given three lovely patterns with full kits to start on the day. Leanne's was this delightful stitching pocket to keep your hoops or your current project in. I started this one.

Rosalie's was this lovely little bag. Check out the wine bottles in the background. We enjoyed a glass at lunch time.

Melly's projects was this lovely baby block with a bell inside. I took photos of all the sides as they are so special.

Melbourne and Immerse

Karen and I headed off on Friday for two nights in Melbourne and then our special day at "Immerse yourself in stitching" at the Immerse Winery in the Yarra Valley. We had a wonderful time. We ate and shopped and stitched! We rediscovered a lovely Italian restaurant that we had been to several years ago which just happened to be across the road from our hotel. It has a flash restaurant but you can also eat on tiny tables or on stools at the bar next door. It has a wonderful Italian feel and the food was delicious. We wandered around the arcades which was fun. I am still enjoying seeing mosaics everywhere.

We chanced upon this wonderful tea room and had to have afternoon tea. Yum!

More mosaics.

On Sunday we headed out to the Yarra Valley in our hire car and enjoyed a lovely day of stitching with Rosalie, Leanne and Melly. It was such a special day with lovely projects, delicious food and the pleasure of meeting these great designers. They have some pictures on their blogs too. I forgot my camera but fortunately Karen had hers!
Here is Rosalie picking out a ticket for one of the lucky door prizes.

There was lovely show and tell.

Sorrento, Positano and Pompeii

Here are some pictures of our last few days of our holiday. This is the view of Sorrento from our B&B high up in the hills. It was a lovely place to stay and you could catch a bus down to the town.

We did DRIVE to Positano early in the morning but it was even tricky at that time. The road is curvy and narrow but the local drivers are crazy! It was fairly dull and very hard to park so we just took a few pictures and headed back home for breakfast.

We then decided as it was dull and little rainy, that we would go to Pompeii. It was fascinating. There is so much to see. It is amazing to get a glimpse into the lives of these Romans from 2000 years ago and to imagine how scary it would have been when Vesuvius erupted. It is a huge site and we probably only saw about a third.

After this day we headed back to Rome to the airport. We flew out on the same day that Fiona and her sister flew in so we managed to catch up in the airport. We then had a couple of days in Singapore to try and get over the jetlag. So nice to be home but best go and get packed as I am off to Melbourne today for the Immerse Stitching day and some shopping too. How exciting!

San Gimignano and Orvieto

It was so nice to catch up with the girls at stitching this morning at Hobbysew. Nice to be back even though I am a little tired. I thought the jetlag was over with but perhaps it takes a little longer. Thought I had best show you the last few places we visited over the next few days before I head to Melbourne on the weekend to go to the "Immerse yourself in stitching" retreat on Sunday. So exciting to see Leanne's last post.
While we were in Siena we took a quick trip to San Gimignano, which is hard to say and spell. It was a delightful town with towers and lovely old buildings.

The next day we headed towards Rome and stayed near Orvieto. The old town is high up and we caught the bus up a winding road to visit this delightful town. 

The cathedral was amazing.

There were four of these panels showing many of the Bible stories.

There church was beautifully decorated. This column is decorated with tiny tiles in lovely patterns.