A day out....

Part of our Carnival time is lovely quilty crafty activities going on....

Yesterday was a day out doing these things..... lots of pictures - few words needed...

fancy tea sets...

... and quirky too....

beautiful cups and saucers...

(does anyone have an idea what this kind of cabinet would have been made for originally... can you see there are holes in the shelves just above the square spaces?)

teatowels around all the walls....

there was also Devonshire tea and scones but they got gobbled too quick for a pic!

... and quilts in the church

Then we went into the city where the Spinners and Weavers had lots of lovely things wool and crafty set out...

someone was starting this very artistic piece....

and in the church was some beautiful flower arrangements - the theme was Sound of Music nad you can see a wire guitar in this arrangement...

flowers and stain glass windows - very pretty....

the front looked beautiful too....

Since we were in the city we popped into the City Hall which houses this lovely big quilt which was made by a group of quilters in 2000 (I think - I should have taken a picture of the notes)

There are a number of historic buildings around the city depicted as well as plants.  Its a real work of art and took a group of quilters 4 years to make...

they had decorated the inside of the hall prettily for Carnival time...

and had some previous Carnival queen robes and crowns on display

Next stop was Fairholme college Homestead where a local quilter/embroiderer Leona Sweeney is the featured artist.

Some hand crafted cross-stitch Christmas decorations - just sooooooo beautiful and probably my most favourite things to see for the day...

also framed pieces so beautifully done - really tiny tiny stitches....

this is her Stonefields quilt....

.. and a few blocks closer...

... another beautiful quilt....

.. which I had been lucky enough to play with.....

I took a close up - you can't see much of the quilting (which is what was the plan)

Leona's mini quilts are astoundingly precise....

those logs in the cabins are only 1/4" thick....

this little quilt was about 8 x 6" I think... so sweet

more examples of her mini quilts...

this one is full size....

A lot of her work is hand quilted - so soft and beautiful

A stunning display...

We did have some very lovely sandwiches here for lunch - but they got gobbled up too quick for a pic!

We did shop too ..... found these cute little hair pins at the Spinners and Weavers but used it as a brooch.....

Got so many comments about them as we went around ....

We all got one.....

Someone thought we must be sisters (though we all look totally different) until they heard my accent - I explained that I was adopted - but they just got a blank look..... not sure why?

Righto, Gotto Go... that wasn't the end of the day but I'll do more pics of quilts from 2 other displays.... how spoilt are we here to have all this to look at...

Blocks and Gardens.....

Last week I think us Twba Tuesday Girls set a record and got 8 of our blocks sewn.....

Quite a good effort considering all those tiny half square triangles....

and so my quilt is growing.... 36/196 blocks.... this will be a huge quilt I think.  I'll see how my fabric goes - not sure I have enough of this range so I might do another one with half the blocks..

It is the season for our annual Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers and Hubz and I went to visit a few of the gardens this weekend....

This one won the country garden section - we enjoy a trip out bush so it was perfect.  Although the countryside is so so brown and dry there was this delightful little oasis full of colour...  

Another little block for the No Fuss Stitch-a-long has been sewn....

The Grand Champion garden is not far from where we live and in a smallish block in suburbia is this one full of Australian Natives.... they were really doing their spring thing and the birds just loved it....  Amazing how many plants they managed to fit into the space.

We definitely want to do more of these plants in our garden.... 

Dutch Treat blocks are coming along - I do one in between some of the other more relaxing stitcheries....

all those little pips were a bit of a challenge....

The last place we visited was an Historic home where both the homestead and the gardens had been opened.  It was not a competition garden so it was lovely that they let us go and have a mooch around.

Harrow house was another bush drive which is always lovely.... again very dry farmland around it

Karen over in the USA with family who are helping people affected by the latest Hurricane is collecting blocks for an auction to help an agency which took in pets during the hurricane to keep them safe.  It's her birthday coming up and she wanted some doggy blocks....

I made the middle one first but didn't think the contrast was good but I will send it anyway....

The blocks are pretty cute and provided free from Sew Fresh Quilts ....

Righto, Gotto Go.... Monday and grown up life is back ........

How fun when a friend comes through town!  Michelle and I met in blogland and it's great that we get to catch up every now and then..... this time at her home from home in a campsite ...

Tea, biccies and a couple of hours disappeared with chat chat..... 

... we have a no gift rule for catch ups but Michelle was naughty and had found this gorgeous piece of linen/cotton for me.... I will have to think up something special to make with it... I do love birds and these are gorgeous fat ones with character!

Gotta love a rule breaker! Thanks so much Michelle....x

One of the designers at the weekend was Lauren Wright - she is a local Toowoomba girl and only in the last year did I hear of her....

Lauren had her first book printed recently - and it is very pretty....

I was lucky enough to be asked to do a bit of quilting for Lauren when she was preparing projects for the book.....

How sweet to see this mention in the book - 

... and this is a picture of the quilt from the book..... 

...big free flowing feathers to go with her lovely applique....

Lauren had a bunch of her projects on display - some from the book and some from individual patterns....

... as you can see she focusses on smaller items - with a range of EPP, applique, wool and embroidery....

Her book can be found online at the usual places ..... I am lucky she is having a book launch right here at The Quilters Angel later this month and I can get a copy and have it signed!!

Our widget came to stay at the weekend.... I snapped this picture in the early morning!  Haha - spot the kid!

Righto, Gotto Go.... I'm going to make a doggy block today!

Too many fingers in too many pies....

The block for Holly Cottage Stitch-a-long has been needleturn appliqued - I need to machine sew the block all together with the stars.  This is one of Michelle Ridgway's designs.

This months scrappy colour was Orange and I had to dig deep into a bunch of my 5" squares to find enough variation this month... I clearly don't use much orange at all and I have used artistic licence ranging from mustard to peachy pink..... close enough

Since I have a reasonable size of black and white scraps I decided I would do some extra houses in monotone.... so these are a bit extra this month.... I rather like them and they will be scattered amongst more colourful ones...  I have been aiming for 30 of each colour but I didn't do that many of these.

Last week we got these 6 blocks done for our 4 x 5 Anthology....   

... and this one was for homework as it needed to be done by hand

... the quilt is growing...... 

Keeping up with Dutch Treat - I try and at least get one done each week....

... and another completed block for the No Fuss Stitch-a-long....

... does this count as blocks too??? I cut all my fabric up for the quilt ... 

Righto, Gotto Go....  oh my gosh, my ironing pile is more out of hand than my stitching projects!!!

Busy weekend.....

This last weekend was the annual Stitchers Dream Day Out hosted by The Quilters Angel...

Friday was frenetic with setting up... one team member down as she decided this was a good day to have a baby!!! Yay for precious baby who arrived in the afternoon with much joy..... I'm not saying any more - not my special to share except to say its all very exciting.... 

A few bows got tied ....

And the room looked just beautiful once the chairs and tables were all set up....

This years designers were Libby Richardson and Lauren Wright.... and they made up a gorgeous selection of projects - all patterns provided to the participants and a starter kit so they can start stitching one of them...

Lauren from Molly and Mama's projects...

Hexagon Bumblebee Bag 

(the bottom part of the bag has hexagons, some of which have embroidered designs)

Flex Frame Glasses Case.... 

Embroidered Zipper Pouch

Libby's Projects.... (ArtSmart Craft Cottage)

Needle and Thread Case

 Topiary Tree Wall Hanging

I loved all the projects this year and so they have been added to my want to do list!

The designers also held workshops and Libby helped people learn to paint their bears .... and Lauren assisted people getting started on the hexagon addiction.  The demonstration tables were full the whole time so there was clearly a lot of interest in learning new skills and tips...

The two days went off wonderfully well, Saturday was completely booked up and Sunday a good crowd too... it's wonderful to see these days rising in popularity again.

Lauren is a relatively new designer, her projects are mostly smaller items and very sweet and pretty with lots of wool.  Libby is well known and it's wonderful to have her experience and humour visiting us.  Her bears are extraordinarily cute.

Next year there will be Janet Rowe from Wildcraft Farm and Leanne Knell from Petals and Patches.  I'm already excited!

Righto, Gotto Go....

Weekends away having fun mean home chores to be done!