broderie

the happenings of the trip

well i met marg at the airport as planned, no hitches there, perfect timing as we both climbed out of cars to greet each other for the flight to sydney ! normally a flight of round about an hour, we boarded and the captain said we would hit a few rough patches due to the weather, and we did, however he didn't tell us about the extra hour we would spend in the air and the two aborted landings later ........... we finally got down onto the ground in the middle of a very bad electrical storm and torrential rain ! the airport was now closed and we would have to wait for our luggage, so we did, we waited another two hours !!!!! we were both being picked up by jean, who had spent all that extra time hovering in the m'cdonalds carpark while we kept her informed of our plight .............. finally we all met up and pleased to do so !

into the kitchen with this pretty cupboard, i had 'a nice cup of tea', marg and jean opened a bottle of wine !

i settled in, lots of lovely calming spots to do so, in jean's home !

also lots of interesting and gorgeous things on the wall everywhere you looked in this creative home .........

a glass bowl full to the brim with coverd hexagons, how pretty, and just ready to use when you need a few !

and many, many beautiful cross stitch samplers worked by jean over the years

just lovely little displays

i had arrived to a 'safe place' and forgot the trauma of the day, jean has a lovely modern home, her beautiful needlework and love of old china and gorgeous fabrics all blend so well in this firendly atmosphere

you make like to grab a cup of tea or coffee !

the weekend, the reason we had all flown to sydney for had arrived and after a busy friday visiting quiltsmith, material obsession and alfresco emporium, we made our way to the northern beaches to our hotel in terrey hills and the on saturday morning to this wonderful classroom at cottage quiltworks where we live for the next couple of days. Marg Sampson George was our teacher and good friend for the weekend and we ahd a wonderful time ! all the organisation and plans fell into place, jean was still anxious, but all her hard work went like clockwork, well done you !

all the melbourne girls seemed to have a pinchusion, the pattern is 'pincushion party' by louise papas available to purchase from 'amitie'

some of the wonderful works follow, most of these girls have been working with marg for quite a

long time now ...........

tools of our trade

and we met some new friends, this is the famous 'cardygirl', been writing to her back and forth for about 5 years and now we have met person to person, i soon realised to keep an eye on her !

and met bronwyn for the first time, her quilt is amazing, but then she's the teachers best friend, we are all vying for that position !

there was lots of down on the hands and knees for some ! this is simone's quilt

things in the making, these are margagons !

all in the planning of the next move

there were some beautiful sewing bags too

this old pattern has become very popular again, so many beautiful combinations possible

snippets of some of the beautiful quilts we were priviliged to see from show and tell of the sydney girls, as they were affectionally called

this shows chris hold up the quilts along with jean, they had arm ache ! chris and jan are the partners who own and run 'cottage quiltworks' in warriewood, they were our hosts for the weekend, thankyou both so much, everything was done with a smile, and they worked very hard over the two days !

the above quilt is a version of marg's 'hair raising' the pattern was published in quiltmania magazine last year !

this beautiful quilt is the work of maree, it is so beautiful and the fabrics are wondrous 

and you could almost hear 'advance australia fair' eminating for this australia quilt by the very talented bronwyn, oh such fun it is !

and just a bit of history, the above quilt is one of the first ever made by marg sampson george many years ago, we are so pleased you've moved on marg !

here is cardygirl again with jean, what are they scheming ?

i love this lady cricketer !

the classroom was nearly empty ! they were all in the shop purchasing again, i did say that chris and jan were very busy all the weekend

we had organised a bag swap and oh what a lovely lot of bags the girls either made or presented for the fun of it 

caught with a piece of the very healthy chocolate slice in one hand and purse in the other !

then the look, no, no, it's not me !

then after all the fun and the shopping and the lunching and travelling round sydney, there had been an uneasy feeling in my mind and heart, a very dear friend was not responding in her usual way to our emails or IG posts, then some very sad news !

i had a very lovely stay at number 24 with jean and john, but we lit this candle in memory of a beautiful friend, sharon ward, there was so much more to share with you

memories will last for ever and you will never be forgotten .....

 

bits and pieces, big and small

a couple of things to mention before christmas is all forgotten . . . . . . one of the sewing girls had a very pretty, christmassy looking necklace and i took a photo

my friend thought i was a bit close, so a quick makeover, and the photo looks like this

 
20 years younger in a flash, though whether she could swallow was not determined !

my friend jean, from linen and raspberry , introduced me to this photo imaging and it is alot of fun, time consuming for me at the moment because i am learning, but interesting. i often just get rid of very small bits of fabric, all added to the other 'stuff' we all have, it makes another collection of its own ! but i had some small half squares and quarter squares, already cut, left over from my circles quilt and i started stitching them together, i liked what it was creating and now if i see a small piece of fabric, i pounce on it, cut it into either shape and i am adding and adding and am loving it. keep those little bits from now on.

do you like it, it is amazing how everything goes together, i will show you the progression. it may be another quilt or i will just make it as a piece of cloth and use it to make something as you would a piece of new fabric.

then i was looking at quiltsalott, and janet mentioned that she had made a couple of pincushions recently and one was too big for her liking, and she showed one that she had made previously. it gave me an idea, since i got a new couch and chairs last year, leather, when i am sitting sewing i do miss not being able to just put the pins in the arm of the chairs, a bad habit i know! i made a very large pincushion, sits beautifully on the arm of the chair and is thick enough through that the pins will not harm the leather.

 

so that's what i did while the weather was hot and horrible, now it is cool and lovely again ! my 'pincushion' is large, the diamonds are approx 5 inches wide. i will go now and put all my pins in it, when i use my machine i just have it close by also, saves all the pins running around and ending up on the floor etc. a problem solved. 

i mentioned my circles quilt, have a look on amitie at a couple that were done as block of the month from the shop. i know one of the ladies, and the red looks wonderful as a background brenda! and the other one with the dark fabric and that border is gorgeous!  

bright checks and cooler weather

just as the weather has turned cooler a friend has just finished this lovely bright check crocheted rug for her daughter, lucky you cherie!!!!! but i know you think she is a good mum and of course she is, she tells us often enough!!!!!!! well done marlene, another 'thing' finished and off one list to the other.

 

and these are my 'lizzie's' purchased from our local travelling flower boy on saturday.

 

and this is my most used old pincushion, beside the sewing maching whenever i am using it. over the years it has served me well, yes i know it needs a good tidy up, but at least i am honest and showing you just how it is and it has been a good and faithful friend!