Thousands of Miles from Home

Yes, here I am on the other side of Australia, in Perth. This is the view from my Hotel room very early this morning. It is not going to be a fabulous day here weather wise, however I guess I won't be seeing too much of it anyway, as I am here to work. I have 3 days here conducting workshops on our computer system then on to Adelaide for another 2 days doing much the same. I did come armed however with loads of stitching. You know how it is ! not sure what I would feel like stitching so I added to the weight in my suitcase with a few projects.
The plane trip was 5 hours and I thought I would be able get most of the orange peels appliqued to the background, I was very wrong. I was squeezed between 2 men , I was the last of our threesome to get to my seat and the plane was chockers full , rather than organise myself with my sewing I just threw my bags in the overhead lockers and that is where they stayed the entire journey. I did manage to gather a few magazines for some reading which helped the 5 hours pass reasonably quickly.
So no progress on this.

I also thought perhaps I might feel like doing some cross stitch. In the past I was totally hooked on cross stitching , it is still a love but patchwork is my passion at the moment.

Fussy cutting hexagons could be on the radar helping to pass the time on my own in the hotel. I even managed to squeeze in a sheet of sandpaper to stabilise the fabric. (who needs a sand paper board in times like these)

Some fabric also made its way into my bag and that's not all of it.

There is a 2 hour time difference between the East and West of Australia , my body clock is still on Sydney time so I did wake rather early this morning and managed to make these.

Some more cross stitching just in case I get bored.

It is now time to pack up my trusty travelling companion (Laptop) and head off for my first day.

Until next time

Happy Sewing

j

A Bright and Sunny Weekend

As we head toward Spring here in the Southern Hemisphere, the days are becoming very Spring like , they kick off being very crisp and fresh , sometimes frosty followed by beautiful sunshine with mild temperatures. The type of days when so much can be accomplished outside in the garden, but the kind of days when you just want to get out and about and shake of the cabin fever days of Winter.
This past weekend was one of those, hence not much was achieved in the sewing department.
I did manage to baste a lot of the orange peels onto the background fabric in preparation for a 4 hour plane trip to the West next weekend. What else is there to do whilst sitting on a plane for such a long period of time than to stitch. I also marked up the grid for another of the borders. I am not too sure if this photo shows it up too well.

I don't like marking fabric with pencil so I use this fantastic little tool known as a Hedra Marker, from Clover.

It puts a great crease onto the fabric, which amazingly stays there until you press or wash it out.

As I mentioned previously an outing in the beautiful sunshine was a must , so Mr L & R and I took a drive to the Hunter Valley for coffee on Saturday afternoon. It was a real spur of the moment decision , but sometimes those days turn out to be some of the best.

This photo by the way is the change from our coffee, how lovely to get a little dish of Jelly Beans as a thank you.

The place we visited was Pepper Creek, it is on Broke Road, Pokolbin. There is a little group of shops , a Deli, Restaurants, Homewares, an Antique shop along with a Wine Tasting barn and Conference centre.

Last year we had a holiday in Europe and one of the favourite places we stayed was in Tuscany.

Being in this little shopping village last weekend we could have been in Tuscany, it was lovely to once again relive those wonderful memories.

You know how much I love Pears well I also have a thing for lemons (well all fruit really)especially when they are displayed in large quantities in gorgeous containers. Most shops had bowls lemons.

Mmm my mind was spinning with thoughts of Tangy lemon tarts, and jars of Lemon Curd.

A little chapel also sits among the vines in this little village, it is the most beautiful setting and many brides choose to have their wedding ceremony here.

It is prettier when the vines have their leaves and also lovelier when they are bearing fruit.

The conference , reception area was also open for public viewing and I was quite taken with the Candelabras. I guess they have seen many candles burn on their spikes , I love the rusticness of the leftover wax.

How about the build up of wax on the floor from this one. There is a large fireplace and it is flanked by a candelabra on each side, the wax has dripped to the floor and built up over quite a period of time I imagine.

I so loved the look and I am wondering where I can replicate this at home.

A gorgeous French shop Les Indiennes de Provence also sits among the vines and trip to Pepper Creek wouldn't be complete without a visit . Beautiful fabrics along with Tablecloths, Home wares, Clothing , Candles , bags you name it . Quite irresistible .

Even something for the male visitor to the vines, a Wine tasting barn. David Hook Wines. Tasting is welcomed and provided in beautiful Riedel tumblers.

A really lovely afternoon

I hope you enjoyed this little visit to the gorgeous Pepper Creek.

Until next time

Happy Sewing

j

Decisions Decisions

I am having difficulty deciding what to do in the centre of my Orange Peel Quilt. The centre of the original quilt I am really not that keen on. I also know from reading Kathie's blog she also wasn't too keen on that centre.
I have really fancied this wacky vase of flowers that was used in the centre of a crib quilt that was made and taught by Marg Sampson, a very popular teacher here in Australia through the 80's , 90's and early this century. I don't necessarily want to use all of the surrounding crowns and animals etc, but just the vase , what do you think. I also like the idea of using the year. This quilt featured on the front cover of an old Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine.
If any of you are interested there is another teacher here in Australia who has designed a quilt using a similar centre but with hearts around the border, and sells the pattern on her website.
It is Brigitte Giblin, Brigitte is an amazing quilter and teacher and designs some wacky quilts, but her ability to put weird and wonderful fabric together is extraordinary. If you ever have the opportunity to join in on one of her classes do so, she is very generous with her knowledge and time. Oh and by the way the pattern I am talking about of Brigitte's is Hearts and Vases quilts.

I have started work on my orange peels and have completed one of the large borders and one of the smaller blocks for the corner. As you can see 'red' won out for the joining circles, however I do not like the red that I have picked and it stands out more than ever in the photos. I actually had a sneaking suspicion as I was sewing them on , but I would walk out of the room and back in again trying to convince myself the colour was ok but it is not, I will buy a different red next time I'm at my LNS.

I have made quite a few of my peels but I need something like 160 odd , I have a roll on cutting them out and covering my template ( ok ok I can hear you clever girls out there that can needleturn however yes I am covering templates) that way I can get a really nice edge (excuses I know) Very cathartic in front of the telly.

Just 4 colour ways , Pink, Blue, Brown and Beige.

I have just had to show this divine fabric range. It is Rouenneries by French General. I guess you are aware of the book , 'The French Inspired Home' that was published some time ago.

This is a fabric range to compliment that. It is not available here in Australia until October, I was lucky enough to be able to purchase a 'Layer Cake' at Quiltsmith recently. I know she does have some of the Jelly Rolls still available.
I have a piece of old mangle cloth that I am going to mix in with these fabrics.

Can't wait to start cutting into it, however I must stay focused on the current quilts at hand and

I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of a most wonderful Linen and Raspberry parcel that came my way recently. Among other things that were in that parcel was a cross stitch pattern for a pear and commencing that immediately was mandatory.

Liz from Broderie and I had a pear thing happening between us , Liz commented about some fabric she had seen on my blog and the long and short of it was I was so very spoilt as a result.

Now Liz has a birthday this month and to celebrate she is having a giveaway. Go leave a comment to be in the draw, but as well as that she has some real eye candy on that blog of hers. Liz is quilting a beautiful circle quilt at the moment , and on a spare bed she has her version of the candied hexagons. Check out the bed it has the most gorgeous cushions and pillows.

Oh well its time to pickup a needle so until next time

Happy Sewing

jean