Needles, Knots and Nibs

A wonderful new exhibition is coming to the Cottage soon, very soon, the Weekend of Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th May.

Yep, as the flyer states, those talented folks who weild the Caligraphy Nibs, the knitters who also spin their own yarns to create an array of goodies along with the gals who make those machines dance have all banded together to bring us a festival of wonderful crafted goodies and demonstrations.

'Nibs', the Caligraphy Group will have some beautiful penmanship for you to view and purchase including their ever popular B150 tea towels.

 

these talented ladies and gentlemen always have such handy articles for sale, not only suitable for gifts but also for everyday use around the home. 

'Needles' the Machine Embroiders Group

have been ever so busy preparing for the exhibition, along with the huge array of sale items such as Embroidered Towels, Baby Bibs, Table Runners, Bags, Quilts and other goodies more numerous to mention the group has also created 5, yes 5!, quilts to be donated to Multiple Sclerosis. They will all be on display at the exhibition with a presentation to M.S. on Sunday at 2.p.m.
Marie and Wendy bought this one along to show their fellow patchworkers last Wednesday.

A closer peek at some of those beautifully embroidered blocks, and don't be fooled (like someone who will remain nameless <vbg>), it's not a matter of just flick a switch and the machine takes off and does the job.......oh no, lots of preparation and creation of designs goes on beforehand.

There will be 3 'Basket Raffles' all loaded with wonderful goodies.  This one is a terrific Picnic Basket for 2.

Contains a Table cloth - how cute are those ants!- 2 placemats with cutlery, flatware, wine glasses, bottle of wine, with it's own holder and napkins, just pop in a few nibblies and you are all set to go off on a sunset picnic at the beach (or anywhere else that takes your fancy really!)

There will also be Machine Embroidery demonstrations for you to view. - Lookin' forward to that!

'Knots' the Spinners and Weavers group

have been having a lot of fun organising a 'Yarn Bombing' - nooo, not gonna be chucking balls of wool around, thats what they do for their kitties, no a Yarn Bombing is where they dress up the trees, statuary, and anything else that stands still for too long in knitted and crocheted creations!  (Yep, it was news to me too) sounds like a lotta fun, so keep your eyes peeled as you cruise down main street past our Cottage for a glimps of some bombing!

And I know you are just hanging out to know about the Food...yep, Pam, Fran and their band of helpers will be keeping us all supplied with Hand Crafted Edibles, all with an Australiana twist.  ummm  ummm!! lots of Sandwiches, Toasted or Fresh with optional extras such as tomato, cheese and onions.
They will also have lots of  Hand Crafted 'Sweet Moments', such as scones - (including some of Frannies Date Scones- if you are quick enough <g>), slices, mini muffins and tarts all to be washed down with a delightfully relaxing cuppa tea, or if you prefer a brewed coffee.

Now coincidentally, the weekend of 5th and 6th May is also party weekend for the 150th Birthday of Buderim - hence the Caligraphy Groups B150 tea towels - so there will also be lots of other fun and activities going on in Buderim that weekend.

March Goodies

Whew....what a month, so much going on and so much work done.
The annual Easter Fair was held, funnily enough, on Easter Saturday, lots of lovely goodies were available for sale and fondling.
As is always the case coming up to a Fair, there doesn't seem to be much bought in to share, too many projects being worked on, all needing just that last stitch to be stitched.
However we do have quite a few lovelies for you to view.......and at the bottom of the post, a treatie for you all.

Val was commissioned to create this twisted windmill in Autumn colours,

and being the talented lass she is, she has appliqued a rabble of butterflies flitting across the quilt

 Using her domestic sewing machine Val FMQ'd a lovely leaf pattern along with some innovative flipped machine stitches, that you can see running down the join between the green and tan sash in the pic above. (Just click on the pic to view a bigger photo)


Another of our 'Christmas Orphans' has surfaced.

Gwen pulled a piece of this well know fabric from 'Santas Gift Bag', and of course........she had more of it at home!! Well, obviously the only thing to do was to create a B.B.Q. Apron, using her orphan, her stash, and a little extra white fabric.

While on the subject of Orphans, Val had another creation from her 'bottom drawer orphanage', created for one of the kiddies at Laurel House, Val pointed out the tiny neat stitches on the reverse appliqued wreath and of course the hearts on the Friendship Tree is a great place for names of new friends made. 

Val has used various methods of quilting this one, using the flipped machine stitches as well as stippling and quilting in the ditch.


Marie has discovered the world of Zentangles.........have you yet?, she has created this lovely bag using a Zentangle pattern on her embroidery machine.

 To see more of this fascinating effect pop over to Zentangle creators Rick and Maria's blog to see some lovely mini quilt samples.
Also quilt tutor Jane Monk has classes on Zentangle quilting and has some of her class samples and work here 


Now you see it, now you don't was the case with Janice's lovely 'Musical Quilt', using lots of music themed fabric, this beauty was sold as soon as the final stitch was put into the binding!  not even making it to our meeting for a farewell pat.

Judy Davidson, of Furball Farm Quilting, and one of our group members quilted the Musical Quilt for Janice with this wonderful all over design.

Pop over to Judy's blog here http://furballfarmquilting.blogspot.com.au/  to see more of her lovely work.

The 'Go Anywhere' Bags are still making appearances.  Wendy and Chris bought these two in to show. Yep you guessed it, Wendy's is for one of her Grandies.

Now isn't this the cutest calendar ever?

It has everything!, a new award winning quilt and it's story each month, an inspirational block at the bottom, all the quilting events and a cute little saying to bring a smile. 
It's a gift from Rose, who had such a wonderful time visiting with us from South Africa last year that she sent us the calendar for remembrance.  Thank you Rose, we will certainly remember you each time we gaze at the calendar, we have hung it right by our notice board.

Fae has certainly found her quilting mojo, with the discovery of just how easy it is to rotary cut on the higher cutting tables.

Fae bought in this lovely to share, all in beautiful soft florals, set off with a matching striped 1st border and binding.

So what do you give a daughter who has everything?  Well you finish the set of worked Linen Tea Towels started awhile back.  Heather's daughter now has a tea towel for every day of the week...bet none of them see a dish up close and friendly though!

 

How cute is it that Wednesday is stitching day, the very day Heather spends at Needlework and Patchwork!

And the treatie??

Well someone sent me this link to Design Seeds a wonderful tool to help with colour selections.

Pop over and be astounded by all the various ways to search out that perfect but elusive colour for your next quilt, or anything else you want to add colour to your life.

There is a wonderful 'Search by colour value' segment where you use a slide bar to change the search colour, then up pops photo containing the colour and others that suit, you will find colour chips at the bottom to print out and a section to see similar colours if you want a variation.  Great way to waste some time!!!