When in Melbourne

I headed off to Melbourne last weekend for the Australasian Quilting Convention (AQC). Actually that ended up being a very small part of the weekend with the rest of the weekend being spent in an effort to eat my way through the city.  It's always good to get away for a mini break and it's even better if you're catching up with a bestie. Little Miss Sunshine flew South to meet up with me and we had a weekend full of food, all things quilt related and lots of chatter. Naturally I took sewing with me and then didn't touch it for the entire weekend. 

The Melbourne weather did what it does best and rained on my gorgeous hair for pretty much all of Thursday and Friday. Adelaide gets rain but it comes in occasional bursts so I was completely unprepared. I capitulated late Friday afternoon and bought the cutest umbrella ever, because when in Melbourne you do as Melburnians do and carry one everywhere. Naturally it didn't rain a drop after that so my gorgeous umbrella has yet to see the outside of it's equally cute holder thingy. I'm planning to run outside the very second it rains so I can give it a trial. 

I am the world's worst photographer, not least because I often simply forget to take pictures. I was all fired up to take photos at AQC, and pretty much forgot most of the time after that. Still, I got some eye candy to share. 

The Royal Exhibition Building in the Carlton Gardens - the venue for AQC 2014.

Naturally there were plenty of quilts. These were a few of my favourites.

see bottom of page for quilt credits 

We headed off to Amitie and GJ Fabrics by train and tram on Saturday (very ably navigated by Little Miss Sunshine because I'm crap at reading directions). Melbourne - you have the best public transport system. Seriously easy to get around.  GJ's was awesome and they had a 25% off sale if you spent over 50 bucks so I took full advantage.  

 My haul for the weekend looked like this. I thought I was incredibly restrained, given I was surrounded by fabric. 

Most of the fabric I bought was for my eventual Lucy Boston Quilt but I bought some "just because" fabric too. And I bought a pattern for this amazing quilt because I fell immediately in love with it before I thought about how much work it was going to be. 

I got to hang with some very cool people in Melbourne. Loz and Claire were there as well as Gail Pan who allowed me to stroke her upcoming and as yet unreleased fabric collection. And I met Helen Stubbings of Hugs and Kisses fame over dinner as well but I only got a shot of her with her mouth open and if I post it she might ban me from using her patterns and what not so I'm not going to risk it. 

Gail Pan and Quiltygal (Claire) with Gail's fabulous fabric 

Gail with Loz at dinner

Wandering around Melbourne I was rather taken with the tiling on this floor in a little arcade we wandered through so a picture was in order. 

It was a lovely weekend. So much to take in. 

Happy Easter to you and yours from me and mine. This was the sum total of my decorating for Easter, and unlike me I left my Easter shopping until the last minute so I was off to the shops yesterday morning to pick over what was left in regards to chocolate ...I still did OK mind you! 

And I'm hoping for a finish or two of the quilty kind this weekend since it is an ultra long one. The triangle quilt is ready for basting. (Finally!)  

May you overeat chocolate and hot cross buns, overdose on family and have a fabulous weekend. 

Quilt Show Credits : Top Row  Left to Right ,Lancaster by Sue Daley, And On The Seventh Day He rested by  Sandy Corry,Lucy Boston Blocks – uncredited at the show

2^nd Row -Reminisce by Mariane Boatahight , Cornelian by Helen Stubbings , Cat in The Hat’s Journey by Robyn Shephard

Bottom Row -Mary Brown Revisited by Liz Willing (Pictures 1 and 2 )A piece of a quilt I forgot to take the details of. 

Finish Along-Quarter 2 List

Dear Blog Buddies, 

I apologise in advance for assaulting your eyeballs with the same unfinished quilts that you've already seen approximately a million times before and further inane chatter about how I really WILL finish them this quarter. 

If I had been more organised in the first quarter of this little linky party you may have had the pleasure of seeing at least one or two projects that hadn't been the subject of umpteen million previous blog posts. I started the year with the best of intentions to finish a goodly chunk of the projects on my WIP list before I started anything new, and while I've resisted the urge to start any aforementioned new projects it appears my will to finish the remaining WIPS has fled along with just a teeny bit more of my sanity. 

When I wrote my list for the first Quarter of 2014 , I was clearly delirious because I put 7 projects on it. I'm going to get a bit more sensible for Quarter 2 and make a list that is rooted in some form of reality. Football season has recommenced Down Under so I am officially a sport widow until Grand Final Day (late September in case you were wanting to book tickets- my team won't be there based on what I've seen so far this season)and since I find no pleasure in watching 8 matches of football over the weekend(and listening to Mr. P's armchair umpiring antics) this is the start of prime quilting season for yours truly. 

So here is my list for the second quarter....

Project 1 - Dresden Quilt.  If this isn't finished by the end of the quarter I'll strip naked and walk down Rundle Mall wearing only a feather boa. 

Project 2 -Hexie Flower Garden. I'm not making any promises about getting naked if this isn't finished because its being quilted by a friend who would hold up the process just to make me follow through ... 

Project 3- Stupid Triangles. Our wonderful hostess Katy has suggested I give this away to some other poor unsuspecting sucker.  My return suggestion was that I use it as a firestarter for a bonfire in the back yard. Mmmmmmmmmm...better not. I'm going to finish this one if it kills me because I don't intend to ever make a triangle quilt again. 

Project 4 - Seville Quilt. 31 peels left to go ...then I have to sew it together, baste it, quilt it and put the binding on. What could possibly go wrong?  

Stick around for tears, tantrums and lots of whining ! 

Finish Along Quarter 1 Results are In ...(and its not all beer and skittles)

So back in January I posted a list of projects I was going to get done before April 1st, as part of the 2014 Finish Along challenge that's being hosted by Katy at The Littlest Thistle.  I'm positive that someone stole the whole month of March and hid it somewhere because I only managed  a 58% strike rate for my finishes this quarter. So here's a story which has highs and lows and also serves as a cautionary tale for people like me that overestimate their ability to finish projects.   

Dresden Quilt -Not completed 

Progress with quilting but not quite finished yet ....

Hexagon Flower Garden Quilt- Not Quite Done 
Another one in progress ...and this will be making an appearance on my next Quarter list as a hopeful finish. 

Triangle Quilt-Nowhere near done. This quilt is clearly possessed by evil demons.  

I did touch this once during the last quarter and then hastily stuffed it back in it's box... I have a feeling this is going to be my bete noir of 2014. 

T-shirt Quilt-Done 
Not my most stellar quilting effort I must confess - but honestly I was just glad to see the back of this !

Postage Stamp Quilt-Done 
And I love it ! Scrappy makes me happy. This was my favourite finish from this quarter. 

Pom Pom De Paris Dog Blanket-Done 

And Indy and Lola were suitably appreciative. 

Chenille Baby Blanket-Done
And living with the sweetest baby girl who arrived four weeks ago. It barely made a dent in my chenille stash so I think I may have to hatch a plan to use some more chenille before the end of the year. 

Stay tuned for the 2nd quarter list - which will be much more realistic!