Wonderful weekend

Some time ago (we were trying to work out when...), Cathy of Cabbage Quilts put out a call to stitchers on the Mornington Peninsula to see if anyone would like to join her new sewing group.  The call came at the right time for me - I'm not usually a 'joiner' but I'd decided to push myself a bit and I'd been reading Cathy's blog for a time and felt the warmth of her personality come through her words and pictures.  Additionally, I'd been following Michelle's blog, The Quilted Tortoise, and she too shared Cathy's warmth and welcome - and a wicked sense of humour - and Michelle said she's go too - so I thought "why not?" - and I dragged my bff Liz along too.....

Best thing ever........

I've made some wonderful new friends.........Deb (72 Derwents), Emma (Treehouse Textiles), Kate, Miriam (Yellow Rose Quilts), Julie, another Cathy...oooooh, hope I haven't forgotten anyone!

Anyway, Cathy, Michelle, Emma, Kate, Deb, Liz and I went off to Ballarat for a weekend of stitching, chatting, knitting and shopping and had a fantastic time - Deb found a fabulous house for us to stay in - all 15 foot ceilings, wooden floors and central heating (it is pretty cold in Ballarat at this time of year) - and it was 2 doors away from Ballarat Patchwork!

Not a huge amount of sewing/knitting/crafting got done, but we ate well, laughed a lot, shopped a bit and had one or 2 wines to help the days along - perfick!

I did a little shopping - shops of note, Ballarat Patchwork, The Crafty Squirrel, Mill Rose Quilting, Such and Such and Cascade House.

fabric, twine, linen, threads, needles and a large offcut of wool fabric

Liberty from Mill Rose - aaahh, swoon!

beautiful crewel threads from Cascade House - they rival, if not surpass, Appleton..

I bought a hat from Such and Such - and they serve the BEST coffee

Fabulous weekend ladies - it was wonderful to get to know you all a bit better and so looking forward to doing it again.......