Natalie Bird workshop at Hobbysew

It was very special to meet Natalie Bird at the workshop held at Hobbysew on Friday. It was a lovely day of stitching and great to be working on a this special new project.Thanks to Natalie and the shop for such a great day. Here is Natalie in front of some of her gorgeous patterns and samples.

 We were making this lovely pin cushion and scissor keep. It was a nice blend of stitching, woven wool applique and some hexagons too.

 The shop had decorated with lots of Natalie's patterns and samples. It was all very tempting.

 I sat with Audrey, Fiona and Paddy and we enjoyed the day together.

 Afternoon tea was very yummy too.

 Roni had finished her Red Home quilt and had made a very special label. She brought it along to get Natalie to sign it! How special is that?

Some progress

I was about to say some stitching progress but I really have been knitting and crocheting a bit recently. I have just finished a jumper for one of the boys! I used to knit lots when I was young and it has been fun to knit again. Mind you there is another jumper to knit now!

 My scarf using perle 8 thread is also going well. It is fun to crochet though a little harder as it is fine thread and a 1.5 hook!

 Finally...a couple of finishes. As you all know I procrastinate when it comes to putting things together. I am so pleased with this little bag and needlecase from a pattern by Anni Downs. If you look closely you can see that I dated them as 2012 as that was when I did the stitching!

 This lovely Gail Pan runner was all stitched too. It went together so well and it was good fun quilting it with perle 8 thread.

 Yesterday, I spent the afternoon fusing this gorgeous picture from a Natalie Bird quilt pattern with my daughter, Lyndal. Hasn't it turned out well?

Busy week...

I can't believe where this week has gone to! It was a bit busy. Last Sunday was Mother's day here in Australia so we had afternoon tea here. It is always busy with the little men and it is getting hard to get a photo of them together or with their mum. 

 I had finished the quilts (shown in the previous post) but here are the boys enjoying the bags! They have played with them again several times this week.

 On Tuesday night they came here for their first sleepover at Nanna and Pa's place! I was a little worried about them and while they did the right thing and slept, I was very restless! It all went very well.
Wednesday came and Shirley came into social stitching with some lovely projects! They are all looking so good.

 Then on Thursday we headed up to Sydney to see Ma and Pa. Pa has been in hospital for a few weeks and had just come home. Nice to see him back home again though he is very frail.

A couple of finishes and some show and tell

Finally...I have finished a couple of ongoing projects. I had Benny and Sammy's quilts professionally quilted and have bound and labelled them recently. They finally have their baby quilts even though they are nearly 2. Can't believe how much I procrastinated about piecing them! They are not too interested in them yet but will enjoy them as they get bigger.

 I have also finished this lovely bag using the pattern from the book, In my Garden, by Natalie Bird. It is a good size and I am pleased with how it turned out.

 I used the other picture I stitched on the back pocket.

 I went to stitching with friends on Friday night and Heather has been so busy. She has made this gorgeous little zippered purse from a kit.

 She is also crocheting this amazing rug!

 Heather's Chateau Hexagon quilt is looking really good and only needs borders. I love the trees she has embroidered near the castle. Heather has added her own special touches to this quilt.

I must get going on my one!

The Folk Festival and some stitching

I have been so busy with stitching days lately but now have time to share a few other bits of stitching and also a few photos of the Folk Festival. I love going to the Folk Festival and even though we only got back on the Thursday before Easter I had bought a couple of tickets. I went on Saturday and on Sunday afternoon and evening. The acts were really good and the food is always a treat! Just can't do without my German sausage, some profetjees and Gozleme. Here are just a few of the acts that I managed to see.

Last week, classes started again and Lynn has been very busy while we were in recess. She has made this lovely hanging and has painted the hanger to match her stitchery.

 She had also finished her cushion. She changed the words to make it useful all year round, instead of just at Christmas.

 She had also put together her Chateau Hexagon quilt! How lovely does it look? She used a kit from Hobbysew and the colours look really beautiful. Great job, Lynn.

 In the evening, we only had a small class but it was very nice to catch up once again. Margaret was binding this gorgeous quilt.

 Linda has been busy too and has made this lovely little purse and bag.

 I have been stitching too and made this little zippered purse as a gift. It was fun to make. Might need to make one for me!

Our second stitching day

We had another lovely day on Saturday for our second Stitching on the Lake day. The orange bags and balloons were ready for us to party, stitch, chat and enjoy delicious good once again. It is always a delight to catch up with many old friends and also to meet new ones on these days.

 We were very spoilt by our lovely caterer, Lynne, with delicious  morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. There were these cute little bottles of juice to have with lunch.

Lunch was a very yummy lamb salad! Even though it was a very chilly day in Canberra (winter is certainly on its way) the room was warm and it was a great way to spend a cool day.

 Afternoon tea was a celebration with these lovely white chocolate mud cakes and a large beautifully decorated cake as well.

 These ladies, Celia, Elaine, Diane, Lianne, Michelle, Judy, Jane and Margaret, had all been to our very first day in Canberra. Thanks for still coming after all this time.

 Judy has also never missed a day in all the ten years so she kindly cut the cake.

Last week, Beppie, Wendy and Carol cut the cake as they had been at the first day in 2004 as well. 

 I didn't take lots of stitching photos on Saturday but here are just a few. Coralee was busy making the little bag.

 Denise had some lovely show and tell and had made 2 of these Dresden plate decorations from last year.

Thanks to all the ladies who came, especially Rose who came all the way from Melbourne, for sharing these special days with us. We are now getting organised for our retreat, Stitching in the Hills, which is being held on the 1st to the 3rd August. There are still a few places so let Fiona or I know if you are interested.