Stupendous Sunday

Today was one of those truly wonderful days that happen, unfortunately, all too seldom......let me explain.....

My bestest friend and I decided to go to Treehouse Textiles to attend their open day - we'd been meaning to go forever and not quite got round to it....but we did today. 

For those in Oz, and more specifically in Victoria, if you get a chance, drive on down the Peninsula and visit Emma and Sarah at Treehouse Textiles in Merricks North -  even though it was a cold and greyish day (the sun did make an appearance for a second or two), we had the warmest of welcomes, handed a coffee and a cookie (or a piece of slice - mmmm) and taken on a tour around the place. 

The studio overlooks a lake and it is set in beautiful bushland - perfect for that sewing retreat or to learn new skills.  Emma and Sarah have a sensational range of fabric - not so many that it's overwhelming but certainly enough to get those creative juices flowing

Cathy of Cabbage Quilts showed up (Cathy teaches at Treehouse Textiles) and it was lovely to catch up - we're having our inaugural 'Mornington Stitchers Group' meeting tomorrow night at Cathy's house so I had the opportunity to introduce my bff who will also join us.

After purchasing some gorgeous fabric from Emma (because I don't have enough!!), my bff and I headed to my house for some sewing.

We were well ensconced when we had a phone call from my bff's partner, Sparky,  - he's been cooking and can he bring dinner round for us all? - hmm, let me think about that - hell, yes!!  So dinner is sorted (fresh pasta, a yummo meat sauce and homemade bread - followed by cheesecake....yum) without me doing anything at all! 

My eldest son phoned, he and his lovely fiance are coming over to say hello, no problem, see you soon, and my bff said for them to stay for dinner, there's heaps.  In the meantime, Sparky had been speaking to my youngest son and he and his partner were coming for dinner too!

How funny - dinner at my house, I didn't actually invite anybody specifically, but I spent the day pursuing things I love to do (spending time with my bff, sewing and buying fabric), spending time with my gorgeous family, and I didn't have to make dinner - it SO works for me!!!

......and I got my do.good stitches quilt finished - another one off the list :)

Excellent all round really..

Better off red..

I have been busy getting my folio together for school - this unit was all about colour theory, different dying techniques, samples and stitcheries;  We also had to create a folio cover based on 'The colours of our lives'......

It took me quite a while to work out what to do for this folio cover - I knew I wanted to use fabrics I'd dyed myself and I also knew I wanted to use the colour red...

After much faffing about and false starts..

false start no. 1

I thought about layers and how we choose to reveal only some parts of ourselves...and came up with this..



and promptly had an omg moment - it looks RUDE!!!!

So I cut away a few more layers, stitched a little more and roughed up the edges for texture...

this looks very orangey, but trust me, it's red! - the colours on the previous 'rude' picture are more true

Much more presentable!

I also finished all my stitcheries...

yellow and blanket/buttonhole stitch

orange and straight stitch

violet and chain stitch

green and satin stitch

red and fly / feather stitch

blue and colonial knots with rice/seed stitch

so, just have a few more things to do and it's presentation time on friday.......phew

Bee blocks.......and lots of other stuff....

It seems like forever that I posted - in reality, it's been a week, but not getting on the computer everyday makes such a difference - the 'To be read' list of posts from the uber talented I follow continue to circle the globe and I don't seem to be making any dent in it with the paltry time I'm 'allowing' myself - hopefully all will change next term (this term really has been very busy and I'm hoping it's not indicative of the rest of the course)

So, I got up early, read a couple of posts and thought I'd quickly add what's been happening around here....

A couple of Bee blocks, the first for the Australia Bee....

such a pretty block

The next couple are for do.good Stitches - Melissa sent the pink dot for the final round and the rest we contributed...

The final pink round on the second one actually matches the first for colour - so the saturation you see is a bit exagerated!

These blocks have been sent off to their respective bee mamas.

In other news, the ladies in my classes have been busily sewing away their projects of the month...

The gorgeous Barb - and it's the very first thing she has ever made - love that beaming 'I made it myself' smile..

This months project - a zipped, lined pouch - they did a fabulous job.....

A couple of days ago I dyed some fabric to use for the stitched piece for school - the brief is titled 'colours of our lives' and I'm going red....reddish.....what the??

Buster had to get himself in the photo again - this time his 'other' end

 

So, time to go......today I'm mounting samples of fabrics dyed with various dye mediums (sun dyes, RIT dyes and Landscape dyes) and I really must make a start on the reports.......arrivederci...

Oop north

Can you guess how far oop North??

How about now?

In February this year, Jetstar had a big sale which meant I was able to snaffle return tickets to Sydney for not very much....and this meant my friend and I attended Quilt Market in Sydney to check out the latest ranges available in Oz, meet some of the distributors and pick up some very good bargains at excellent prices..........................

Terrible photo (it's as wet here in Melbourne as it was in Sydney all weekend)....but, there's Layer Cakes of 'Mama said Sew' by Sweetwater and 'Simply Color' by V and Co, jelly rolls of 'Summersville' (very excited about this one), oreo rolls (!) of Bella solids, a couple of 4m lengths by Umbrella Prints and Saffron Craig and assorted fat quarters from a number of designers.  We did very well - walked our socks off in the rain and generally had a fabulous weekend.

The Market re-invigorated my dream of selling on-line - whether it's completed items, kits or basics, or a combo of all three, and plans have been made, very basic at this stage, with actual deadlines so I can make sure I fulfill the dream (plans without deadlines and actions are simply dreams and life is too short)........June is absolutely screwed given I have school commitments as well as some consultancy work from my old life, so looking to July to really cementing my plans in place and launching wholeheartedly into this wonderfully, creative life....................

Til next time (I know it's a long time between drinks these days, but I am endeavouring to post a little more frequently than I have just lately!)