It's a hard life

Wow I am posting days apart. Go me!

This picture needed editing before I posted it.
The bottom half of me was not good, so I had to cut us all in half.
Left to right is Kim, Diane, Julie and myself.
I got into trouble for not putting myself in the last posting. I tried to explain that I am not photogenic.
Anyway I dug around and decided with some cropping this one would do.

The Second weekend away.

This weekend was a bit quieter with just 7 of us. We stayed at a place near Mansfield. Its very rustic and we would have froze if it hadn't been for the wood fire, which gave the place warmth and atmosphere. Cooking for seven is much more pleasant than cooking for thirty.Although we take turns for meals there is always someone to lend a hand and someone to clean up. My  meal was a roast lamb it's become a tradition for Saturday night.
There was lots of stitching going on and this time I have photos of the projects the girls were working on.

Marilyn's work area some serious sewing going on here

This is what Marilyn is making "Blocks on Parade"

Diane's "Blocks on Parade"

This is Lee madly zoom zooming away


This is what Lee is making 

Diane, Lee, Marilyn, Maree and Jackie

As Jackie is binding in black
she has tucked a little light into
her top and has it shining on her
work To me it looks like she
is about to burst into song.

Denise working hard

I don't know when she sewed this braid

We had a teeny little mouse pop in for
a visit. Brave Marilyn!

I spent the weekend working on my niece's quilt it will be summer
 again before I am finished hand quilting it.

I am very pleased with my hand quilting this is my first time
trying it. I know I am crazy using green thread as it shows
up more but I think I will get away with it.


I will post again after the North of the Yarra Quilters Guild's Retreat next weekend

Yours in Stitches

Margaret Louise

Time Flys

I was all excited about starting my blog I thought I would post at least once a week. I like to think I have some pretty good reasons why I haven't. Two weekends away and organising a retreat for 80 members of North of the Yarra Quilters in 9 days time. Yeah!I think I'll give myself a break.

Queenscliff
At the end of June I had a fabulous weekend away with Christina and her quilting group a wonderful bunch of ladies I laughed myself silly all weekend. The venue was an old guest house built in the late 1930's. There were 30 of us and most of us had a room each. The house is just amazing. I could just imagine it in it's glory days, apparently it catered to the elite who travelled over by ferry. I could just see the guests sitting in cane chairs on the veranda's, playing tennis and dancing in the ballroom downstairs.Sigh!

Day dreams aside I was there to sew, eat and be merry with my friends Diane, Julie and Kim. My project for the weekend was "Leaves" by Jan Mullen I've been sewing it on and off for years. I still didn't finish it.
I was a busy girl though. On Saturday I taught a class (I still can't believe it, me teaching!). I had made a lap bag and called it the"Twisted Dilli Bag"I have also written a pattern (amazing!).  So a group of the girls had a go at making it, some made two. They all said the class was a great success, I got a real buzz from the comments.

Saturday night we all dressed up in 1920 outfits and drank Pimms. It was good fun.
We spent a lot of the weekend in our PJ's. I even cooked Sunday lunch in them. The four of us took our turn and made a tasty soup and yummy apple dessert. But boy! Cooking for 30 was a big job, we were exhausted.

I didn't get any photo's of the sewing projects the girls were working on. I am going to have to get more savvy with the camera. Anyway here's some photo's I did take on the weekend.

The Front of the Guest House (you now enter from the back)

The view from my window

Looking towards the main street in the 1920's
this was lawn and the main entry

Twisted Dilli Bag

The Swedish Flappers

The Shep Feather Set

Christina's Cover Girl models

Julie and Diane Gangster ----------

Bron passing out the Pimms

Denise drinking on the job tsk tsk

The Good Time girls

The Grand Dames

Kim and Julie out of dress ups into PJ's

Until next time

Yours in Stitches

Margaret Louise

Felting Day

Spent a lovely day yesterday felting with my niece.I showed her how to nano felt and wet felting.
In the photo you can see her nano felting I am so proud of her.The way the colours were combined was really clever and the scarf looks wonderful.

I started nano felting, I was being creative making circles, but the pink felt was different and kept lifting. So I pulled them off the silk scarf laid out a few layers off ruby felt placed the circles on top some more ruby felt
around the edges and I ended up with a cute short scarf that my sister loves (thank goodness).

After making our scarfs my niece showed me how to needle felt. Using a book she received as a gift, I was guided through the art of bunny making. 

Carefully watching my fingers from the barbed needle I poked and poked little felt bits until something that looked like a bunny appeared. 

My niece made the traditional grey bunny and mine is the out there orange bunny.

It was a great day I always love spending time with my niece.

Well here I go feet first!

This is scary. I am not a great words smith but bear with me while I babble on about the things I like to create. To get started here is some previous work.

The quilt on the left is my daughters 21st birthday quilt. This was 2 years ago, it's hanging in my guilds ( North of the Yarra Quilters ) 2009 quilt exhibition. I was very pleased with the way it turned out. Pinks and beiges are not really my colours but it looks great on her bed.
Our quilt show is bi-annual so it's on again this year, I hope my son has kept his quilt clean because I want to enter it this year.

The next quilt pictured is my daughters friends 21st quilt. It's a stack and slash quilt with piano keys top and bottom.
Again I was very pleased with finished quilt.
Hanging next to the quilt is my girlfriends bag made by me. Thats all I had in the exhibition that year. It was enough being on the committee and trying to put the exhibition together.


I better take some more photo's of things I've made so I can show off.


Yours in Stitches
Margaret Louise