Sue Spargo Day & Clamshells

I had the BEST day on Sunday!  It was Sue Spargo Day!

This was our project - the Greta Needle Roll.  This is a picture of Sue's.  I was blown away when I saw it in the flesh.  The detailing just doesn't show up well enough in photos.

I spent the whole day on Saturday gathering up all my requirements.  I was very worried that I didn't have enough stuff but by the end of the day, I really had to cull what I had packed, you would think I was making a queen sized quilt with the amount of fabrics I had packed.  Did I really need fat quarters of three different green wools to make two leaves???

We learnt all about embellishing our applique with different types of thread and fabrics.  I purchased these beautiful silk threads, along with some velvet ribbon and this beautiful green velvet that I am going to use on top of my wool leaves.

This is as far as I got on the day.  The flower on the right is what I would have normally done and think how clever I was to use wool with fabric.  The flower on the left is what Sue taught me with embellishing. 

I learnt how to sew seed beads and do those wonderful stamens.  I am still amazed at the difference a little embellishing can make to something and I am now looking at all my applique pieces around the house thinking if I just outlined this petal here or that leaf there, how would it look?

This is the outside of my sewing roll.  I did have another piece in the centre but late in the day I spotted this beautiful piece of linen with dogs printed all over it and just had to have it.

If you ever get the chance to go to one of Sue's classes, I thoroughly recommend it.  I received lots of individual tuition from her and she is the lovliest person.  Sue's friend, Melissa showed us how to make roving balls and helped us throughout the day too.  Her needle roll was to die for too!  Above is the label I am going to sew onto my needle roll - Sue wrote it for me!!!!

I also purchased Sue's latest book and love it.  It is jam packed with lots of projects in it and I also got it signed by her.

I was so focused in the class that I really didn't buy much fabric or take lots of photos of what other students were doing (slack of me I know) and I didn't even take photos of Sue's quilts because no photo would be able to do justice to them.  They are amazing and I have come away full of new inspiration and a mind that is switching from one idea to the next at double time!!!

Thank you Sue and Melissa for the best day!!!!

Also, the class was held at Amitie Textiles in Melbourne.  Jenny was a wonderful hostess and made us feel very very welcome and looked after us all day.  Amitie is definately going to be on my "must visit" list next time I am in Melbourne.

Today is Clamshell Day.  I have now completed 8 rows of clamshells and have nearly run out of prepped ones so it will be back to the cutting board for me.  I am really liking how it is turning out and have decided to really mix up the fabrics with some darks and brights as well as the pastels that I seemed to have prepared first.  It has been a bit hard for me to get a decent photo of the whole width.

I hope everyone has a great week and now I will be counting down the days until Sue returns to Australia in two year's time.

Sue-Anne xxx

The Week That Was

I have, surprise surprise, been working on Swan Lake only this time I thought I would have a play with the centre of the quilt.

Of course, Maximus is always there to lend a hand, even when I am quite capable of working by myself.

Here is a glimpse of the centre to give you a bit of an idea of how the quilt will look.  There is still more to place in the centre and lots of star flowers down each diagonal border.

I have also been fabric shopping, just love the new blacks and blues.

I have finished appliqueing the 2 latest blocks for Browne Sisters Sampler - lucky because I have just received the pattern for the next block.

And this is my new/old chair.  I wish I had taken a photo of it before I started.  Imagine 30 years ago, a pine kitchen table and 6 chairs covered in lime green vinyl, very fashionable back then.  This is the only piece left and whilst still quite sturdy, it looked hideous.  It has turned out ok don't you think.

I have been reading everyone's posts, just not doing a lot of commenting this week.  I don't know what is going on with Blogger but  My Blog List doesn't update for a couple of days and then bang, there are heaps of new posts to read.

I am getting very excited!  Only 6 more sleeps till Jan and I get to spend the day with Sue Spargo!!!!  We are off to Amitie Textiles in Melbourne early on Sunday morning and I can't wait.  I'll be there, wearing my Sue Spargo threadcutter that was a special gift, my Sue Spargo necklace and my Sue Spargo earrings with my camera at the ready.  Do you think I may be going a little over the top???

 

Sue-Anne xxx

The Best Kind Of Secret Womens Business

Yesterday was the culmination of a week long 50th Birthday and my "besties" made me cry!  Here are the four out of five of them hiding behind their Secret Womens Business project - Michelle, Nicole, Helen and Jan (Marg was away teaching).

They made me a Quilt!!!!!

It is a little hard to see in the photo but they used all my favourite fabrics and sashed it with my favourite black paisley.  There are 5 stars sewn into the quilt, representing each treasured friend.

Marg made the label on the back and anyone who has seen Marg's work, knows how precise and perfect her stitching is.  The bow tie around the label is actual ribbon that has been painstakingly stitched down.  

This is my quilt's new home, a match made in heaven with my red leather couch.

Thank you everyone in Blogland for your warm birthday wishes, you all made my birthday special. 

Sue-Anne xxx

Another Decade Older!

The "Happy Birthday" plate made an appearance this past week as I have joined the Fabulous Fifties Club.  Forty doesn't sound too bad now??  I had a wonderful day sharing lunch with friends and then a wonderful Chinese dinner with my family.  Everyone chipped in and got me a new stereo for my car, complete with handsfree and bluetooth for my iphone - I am one very happy camper.

My dearest and oldest friend, Maree, who lives in Melbourne contacted Jan and together they did some Secret Womens Business, and I received a voucher from Patchwork on Stonleigh and these beautiful flowers. 

On Sunday, the dogs started going crazy and there was a knock at the door.  In comes Syndi, Sarah (my God Daughter) and Maree.  Syndi, Maree and I all lived in the same street growing up and we have remained close friends throughout out lives.  They had driven all the way up from Melbourne to take me out to dinner!  I was so surprised!  We had a wonderful dinner at a local Italian restaurant and then we stayed up half the night talking and laughing and catching up on each other's gossip.  I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Not much has been happening on the sewing front but I have managed to prepare the start of border number 3 for Swan Lake.

Klosjes have been having a rest and here are a couple of my new favourite hexie flowers.  I have been dying to use that black spot in something and finally got it to work in Swan Lake.

We are now back up to speed with the internet so I can start catching up on what everyone else has been up to.

Sue-Anne xxx

Sewline Glue Pen

This is a short post today as our internet has been slowed down, thanks Nic!  I will be missing out on my blog reading till the end of the week too because it is taking far too long for a page to load up.  Isn't it amazing how much we miss the internet when there is a problem with it.

I was going to do a tutorial on the Sewline Glue Pen but a friend pointed me to this Tutorial by Sue Daly and if you click on the highlight, it will take you there.  She has a lot of info on covering papers.

One thing I have discovered is that I think I prefer NOT to iron my hexagon flowers before I pull out the papers.  The glue seems to "set" and they are a little harder to pull out, but you can still get them out and reuse the papers.  I guess it is personal preference and experimentation until you find the method that suits you best.

Sue-Anne xxx

Clamshell Club & Some Shopping

Today is Clamshell Club reporting day.  I have sewn 4 1/2 rows!  I'm really enjoying this project as the clamshells are already basted before I start appliqueing them down so it is just applique, no turning under.

I have decided to alternate the rows of prints with backgrounds.   The photos aren't too good today as it is a wet and dreary day outside BUT I'm not complaining as we need the rain and at least it isn't freezing.

We celebrated Nicole's birthday yesterday at sewing and Michelle made her wonderfully artistic profiterolle cake.  There is something about strawberries dipped in chocolate that I just can't resist and there were a few profiterolles left without a strawberry attached.

I have also been letting my fingers do the shopping at the Fat

Quarter Shop and this parcel of heaven arrived through the week.  It's called Luna Notte by 3 Sisters and I can't wait for the yardage to hit the shops - it's divine!  I think I have picked out my centre now for Swan Lake using a blue and a grey from this pack.

 

I also bought this glue pen a couple of weeks ago.  I had never seen them before except in blogland and always wondered what they were like.  I brought it home and tried it and wasn't really that impressed until last week I spoke with Lynette Anderson at the Quilt Show and she showed me the proper way to use it.  This is my new favourite tool for hexagons - I love it!  It is so quick to cover the papers and it has held together really well when sewing the flowers together.

Speaking of hexagons, I have been covering 1/2 inch hexies for the Brigitte Giblin bag and thought I might do a dummy run with the pattern to make sure I can actually sew the bag together before damaging all my hard work.  I found this piece of linen last week and made it up and it looks fantastic!  Can't beat red polkadots.

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

Sue-Anne xxx

A Wonderful Day with Old & New Friends

I had the best day yesterday!  We left home at 6am and headed down the Hume Highway for a day in Melbourne at the Quilt Show.  We visited the quilt exhibition first and there were many wonderful quilts made by some very talented ladies.  This is a snapshot of a small portion of my favourites.

This was AMAZING!  The display was called "Art U Wear Challenge" and the theme was Alice in Wonderland.  Please click on the photo to enlarge it so you can see the amazing costumes.

Once we finished looking at the quilts, it was time for shopping.  My favourtie stall was Threadbear and who did I see behind the counter helping Corliss - Di Ford of Phebe and Sarah Morrell fame.  Di's new work in progress was on display and it is amazing.  I recommend you all to go visit secretsewingsisterhood and be inspired by the work that Di and her friends do.

Me, Jan & Jean

While we were swooning over everything at Threadbear, Jan spotted Jean from Linen & Raspberry!  We were so excited!!!!  I love all Jean's work and we have gotten to know each other through blogging but to actually meet face to face was so good.  We were like a group of schoolgirls laughing and getting photos taken and totally amazed that we ran into each other. 

Jean, Jan and I bought Corliss's new pattern, The English Basket Quilt.  It is absolutely stunning and I need another major project like a hole in the head but just couldn't walk past this one.  In fact, I want to make every quilt that Threadbear had on display!

After all the excitement of meeting Jean & Di, it was time for some serious shopping and here are a few of my purchases.  I was so very very bad.

This isn't a very good photo but I just had to show you this linen I found.  It is gorgeous and the only problem was that I could only get a 30cm piece.

Michelle and I also got to meet Lynette Anderson!  She was demonstrating Punch Needle and we bailed her up with lots of questions about the thread she was using.  The brand is Cosmo and it comes wound in two threads on the spool - no more separating DMC threads.  It's fantastic and Lynette was lovely to chat to and very generous with her tips and advice.  I purchased a few threads and of course I couldn't leave without a pattern featuring her beautiful dog, Hugo.  Michelle confessed to us on the way home a secret she had been keeping all afternoon, she signed up for Lynette's new Christmas BOM.  Michelle is fast becoming the BOM Queen!

Elyte, Linda & me

Before we knew it, it was time for afternoon tea and we organised to meet Linda Collins from Quilts in the Barn fame.  And who should we run into, but Elyte from Tea, Fabric & Other Things!  Linda holds a quilt exhibition in her barn each year to raise money for Breast Cancer and this year, Di Ford and the Secret Sewing Sisterhood are the guest exhibitors.  I am really looking forward to travelling down in October to attend.  I have, as with Jean, developed a friendship with these two lovely girls and it was great to finally meet each other.

Before we knew it, the day was over and it was time to head back up the highway.  We stopped for dinner at our new favourite Chinese restaurant and apart from a detour through Nagambie due to a double truck accident (we were nearly to Shepparton Linda!), we had a nice uneventful safe trip and arrived home at 10.30pm with thanks to Helen for doing all the driving.   A very long day but well worth it to spend the day with my beloved Friday Girls and meet all my wonderful new friends.

Sue-Anne xxx

What have I Done This Week

I have covered some half inch hexagons,

made 5 Klosjes, bringing my total to 93,

made some sausage rolls to have with soup on the weekend,

have almost finished the applique on border number two of Swan Lake,

and had the rare pleasure of seeing son number two dressed up in a suit!

Sue-Anne xxx