Saturday, April 25, 2009

A Quillo for a Grandie


Had an arvo of stitching on Thursday and made my quillo. Wasn't sure who to give it to but that was quickly solved Thur night as the family came for dinner.
Turns out the youngest Grandie insists on sleeping under a lap quilt I made him some time back, with his little tootsies hanging out the bottom, what a guilt trip for a Grannie.
So girls, my quillo will not be visiting the Cottage on Wednesday as planned, a little man needs it now......so here are some pics instead.
Doesn't that grin say it all. He spent time practicing how to fold it into a pillow.............'just like Grandad showed him how'

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Quillo Workshop

Well, I don't know, was it something in the air?, the change of season? excitement at gearing up for our Biennale Quilt Show?........whatever the reason, there was a lot of laughter at the cottage today.
Wendy found a need to reverse stitch after not quite mastering the very difficult art of laying fabric right sides together.

We had the talented duo of Sue and Janet tutoring a quillo workshop, Sue gave us this rather useful tip, how to closely snip off the corners without chopping through the stitching line

Place your thumb nail on the stitching line and snip off the offending corners, short of cutting off your thumb your stitching is safe.
Elaine took a break from the workshop to show off her striking stack and slash quilt, made for one of the men in her family.
Julie brought her Hardanger along to admire and be admired. Some days it's all about the company not the stitching.

Some of the Needlework girls did a workshop on knitting little beaded bags, as you see Gwen took a real liking to the art, here she is on her 3rd, Julie's holding one up for the camera and one on the table

Fay had the ultimate in UFO's for the day. Her baby blanket started 15years ago!
She bought it along to get an update on her crochet skills from Dorothy, who is also a member (Leader) of the Spinners and Weavers group.
Wendy, pleased to have finished her Quillo,

Marion, up on a visit to her sis Sue, felt she needed just one more thing to stuff into her cases to fly home tomorrow, what better that a quillo?

Judy showing Sheila how she plans to quilt her quillo, echo quilting around the sleeping bear, isn't this just the cutest?
hope you can see the stitching in this close up

Early in the lesson, quillo pocket made, but oh dear........forgot to change the bobbin cotton, it wasn't a real good match but gee, on the inside who will see???

Elaine with her finished quillo, auditioning the cars she will applique on the outside of the pocket/cushion.
Lyn and her finished quillo.

Afternoon Tea was yum as usual, the apricot cake was a real hit and Maree very kindly gave us the recipe.

Apricot Loaf:

Place in a bowl
1 cup All-bran
1 cup chopped apricots
1 cup brown sugar
1tablespoon honey
1 cup milk
Allow to stand and soak overnight or for a few hours.

Next morning add
1 cup Self Raising Flour,
Place in Loaf Tin and bake in moderate over (180 deg) until lightly browned and cake springs back when lightly pressed on top.

Chippies:
60grms butter
50grm packet potato chips lightly crushed
1/2 cup plain flour
90 grams sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
a good pinch cayenne pepper

Melt butter, cool slightly. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Roll heaped teaspoons full of mixture into balls and placve on a lightly greased tray and flatten with a fork. Bake in a moderate oven 180 - 190 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes.



Thanks for this recipes Maree, I'll try it out on the Darling this weekend.
Addition: I did try that fruit cake, boy what a hit!, visitors enjoyed it so much we got an invite to the pub for lunch. Thank you again Maree.


Heather with her finished quillo, would this be for a Grandie Heather?

Marion, gazing lovingly at her finished quillo, or just wondering about packing it?

End of the Day and the Talented Duo just couldn't stop laughing, or was it Sue trying to picture Marion packing that suitcase with just one more thing...........

Thank you very much Sue and Janet for a wonderful day and a great workshop, only one slacker didn't finish her quillo, but I was busy with the camera now wasn't I?..........

Friday, April 17, 2009

Online Craft Fair

We all love a Craft Fair, right?, but sometimes it's just not possible to make it to the show, well here is an online Needlework Show.
http://www.needleworkshow.com/cgi-bin/stitcherlist.pl

click on the above link and you will be taken to a 'vendors stall', that is, another page will open where you can browse to your hearts content. Don't forget to click on the pics for a larger view and use your back button to return to the list of vendors.

This show closes on Monday April 20th. The best bit of all, it's a show for Shop Buyers, so you can't spend a cent, but all that loveliness to just be inspired by.

This link comes to us courtesy of Anne from Bunny Hill Designs, the same lady who has given us the 'A Tisket a tasket' BOM on the sidebar
http://bunnyhill.blogspot.com/
Enjoy!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

What a wonderful Fair

Patchwork's Louise and Sadie, sharing a laugh before the opening.

This lady was so taken with this beautiful Japanese print bag, she insisted on using it straight away, here she poses with Janet, the creator of the bag, both happy ladies.
The maker of this wall hanging wasn't on duty at the time of this sale, but you can see it is going home with one very happy lady.

The same wall hanging as above, being admired by a very intrepid Mother and her Daughter. This lady spotted a similar wall hanging featured in a newspaper article on the upcoming fair last Wednesday. Rather liking the wall hanging, she searched the paper for a contact name, searched for and found a phone number to match the name and arranged the purchase of the wall hanging. Clever girl!

Another one of Janet's pieces off to a good home, the lady was so pleased to find a cushion that matched her decor perfectly, the smile tells the story.

A young man visiting with his Gran, fell in love with this quilt, yep, Gran was generous and it went home with one very happy boy.
And the pink cat.........well it's pink and is now part of the 'pink news' parcel

Bags, cushions and quilts, from simple design to complex, and lets not miss the cute little bunny and the lion with his shaggy mane.

Wall hangings, more cushions, that lion again, hand towels and another cute little doggie, who unfolds to a floor quilt

Soft toys and puzzles for the very young
More soft toys, oven mitts, cards, a fully stocked sewing case and even an Avocado Bag to keep your avocados fresh. The make of this bag also makes asparagus as well as spring onion bags, and they work beautifully, just ask our DIL (Daughter-in-law).

One of Patchworks first customers happily browsing the goodies. See that sweet soft cuddly little doggie? Yep, he also part of the 'pink news' parcel.

Sadie, showing off the heat packs and some of the tea towels and aprons.

The 'Cat Quilt' which sold early on in the day

Janet, standing by the product of a workshop she attended, this beautiful jacket with the 'loose goose' front motif.


Wendy at the novelties stall, great goodies for the kiddies

A pic taken very early in the day, way before the Fair had opened, just to give you an idea of the many stalls and goods available. The brick building in the background is the Library,the scene of the book fest with a little of the Memorial Hall further back, a wonderful great space full of traders and their wares.

Below are some of the Silversmith Group and their lovely jewelry, incorporating some very pretty stones.


Irene, the Silversmith Group Leader, casting an eye over the final placements.
Caroline with some of her lovely pieces.
George and some of his pieces.
None of these pics do justice to the work on display, it was all such finely crafted, beautiful work and there were many happy new owners leaving the cottage throughout the day.


Needlework Group had a great variety of goods for sale, starting with these so soft and cute little toys
Just love the little girls 'Shabby Chic' apron

Estelle and her beautifully embroidered baby blanket

Hand Towels, Tea Towels ................
Blankets, bibs, toys and tops and the softest little security cuddlers you could ever come across, and yes, one of those little mint green cuddlers joined the 'pink news' parcel along with a couple of other needlework goodies.

Cast your eyes over the intricate work done my the ladies from Machine Embroidery Group,
Inger, with two of her table runners
These little hand puppet bunnies were filled with Choccie eggs.

A huge array of decorative as well as special occasion dishes and servers were offered by the Porcelain Painters Group - they had the prettiest cake server that didn't make the pics, it followed me home as a gift for DIL ( daughter-in-law) who has taken up cake decorating.


Tom had just the right piece of Calligraphy for me...'I know I came into this room for a reason!'
The cheeky grin says it all.

A new approach to the Raffle this year, the major prize had a gift voucher for $100 included so the lucky winner gets to choose their own goodies, still I wouldn't have minded winning second prize......an easter fruit cake, beautifully decorated with some chocs and wine........yum

Three of the ladies from Lacemakers Group, putting the finishing touches on their display of wonderful lace, something for everyone on offer, from the little lavender bags and handkerchiefs to the intricate lace table coverings. No way could you call these beautiful lace works of art a doily or place mat.
Spinners and Weavers had some traditional as well as some more unusual offerings this Easter.
Just how cute are the little Bridal couple, and the little Scot just to the side of them, just lovely.

Softnes reigns in this pic, colour and texture, the pastel shawl and the teddy on the back wall are just two of the soft goodies.

Past president of the Cottage, Audrey, standing by some of the Painters Work

Two of the ladies from the Pottery Group, putting finishing touches to the Groups display, very kindly took time out to stand by the displays of their own work,

The wall hanging of the white cockatoos is my fave...........

The talented fabric Artists had such an array of beautiful pieces,
This lovely wall hanging, with its proud creator, was an early sale, seconds after this pic it was off the wall and gone.

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