A Lazy Sunday In Bowral

What better way to spend a drizzly Sunday than to take a drive to the Southern Highlands .

Bowral is a leisurely 1 1/2 hours drive south west of Sydney. It is a mecca for cafes, homewares , book shops and boutiques.

One such place is a divine French inspired shop so named 'So French'.

Linda and Pauline, a very talented Mother and Daughter team are the owners and their combined talent make this shop a worthwhile visit.

They are both extremely welcoming and are willing to share their knowledge and aspirations, but best of all there are many wonderful items to tempt one . How could you walk past these wonderful doors, they just beckon you inside.

This bike just takes my mind to the country lanes of Provence, in a country where bike riding is a foremost mode of transport.

Open those doors and this is the greeting, a real feast for the eyes.

Its hard to know where to begin, unfortunately these shutters had already been sold

but this old French grape crushing bath, with pourer is still available for sale, it is truly divine and would look wonderful with an array of buxus plants and some white cosmos, what do you think ?

no matter which way you turn there is something to tempt open the purse strings

really different pieces of furniture with lovely paint patina's

Room fragrances and candles adorn the shelves.

All displays put together with thought and imagination. Can't go past a box plant wrapped in hessian.

as I said previously the girls love to share their future aspirations, and they have some amazing plans for this area. I think I can reveal this is going to end up an amazing courtyard that you will want to spend some time in. (Watch this space further down the track)

another corner of the same courtyard

In case you are wondering, yes we did manage to come home with some goodies.

I love nice soap and I also love anything to do with script, how could I leave this behind.

I enjoy just having these lying about the house , they not only look interesting, they smell lovely.

and yes we purchased this.

You are probably wondering why anyone would purchase an old paint peeling window frame.

Well we have plans for this trust me, I will reveal in a later post. ( Mr L&R has some work to do first)

Just a close up to show you the detail of peeling paint. Such character that only comes with age.

Just around the corner from So French is another wonderful shop called 'My Place'.

Lynne Wilson, the owner of this shop is another very talented lady who knows exactly how to put together an enticing store.

Lynne used to own 'Berrima Patchwork' Berrima is another wonderful destination a further twenty minutes down the road.

This time Lynne has decided rather than a straight patchwork shop she wanted to do something a little different. This is the place to be inspired to make things for the home as well as clothing and bags. Sure you can still buy gorgeous fabric to make quilts (She has great taste in fabric).

Why don't you come inside and have a look around.

That's if you can bear to leave this lovely courtyard

after you have have stepped inside the gate

there is plenty to tempt the purse strings open in here also, notions, patterns, homewares , stamps,etc etc.
It is almost impossible to walk past this display of the 'French General' fabrics without a sampling to take home and add to the stash.

Some inspiration to use these gorgeous fabrics

Shelves of fresh funky fabric just waiting to be made into something wonderfulA simple throw draped over a chair with the fabrics displayed along side .or how about some of this fresh and crisp looking fabric to make this gorgeous bag.

The vibrancy of these braids and trims are hard to walk past,perhaps a book or two could find their way to the counter for purchase.

Right next door is an Interior Designers store, I was enamoured by the front path.

not to mention what was displayed in the window.and in the window on this side an old dough table caught my eye. (sorry about the bad reflections in these windows, the shop was not open) Whilst we were peering in the windows, the most amazing fragrance was in the air ,I looked around

and realised the plantings were Rosemary and these gorgeous silver curry plants. What a fantastic idea , the colours so suited that gorgeous path.
at the side of the shop was this stunning garden. Designed by renowned landscape architect, Peter Fudge.

How I would love it to be our garden.

That's how we spent our Sunday. Lovely.

I hope you enjoy this tour Bowral.

Until next time happy creating

j

Oh My, How Time is a Thief

It is a month since I last updated my blog, just where has all that time gone. Some of it was spent here, Mr L &R & I love spending some of our down time at this beach in the lovely Port Stephens area. We have had some extremely hot sunny weather and the best way to keep cool is a dip in the ocean. I took these photos last Saturday , when temperatures here reached 43 degrees. I have to say little relief was achieved even at the beach, the sand was so hot it was impossible to walk on without Jandals on. Thankfully most people were sensible and kept themselves under some sort of cover.

As the clouds started to build in the afternoon (ahead of the cool to 35 degree change) I thought this was such a beautiful vista especially for anyone that is a lover of blue and white, as I am.

Little sewing has been achieved. I have been working on a little project that is very portable , it is difficult to know what to bring away when we are on holiday and I can be guaranteed I always want something that I left behind.

This project is a lap size clam shell quilt.

Very apt for sewing whilst on holiday at the beach.

It is such a fun project, you get to play with all your favourite bits of fabric. It is going to be very scrappy.

Row by row, every other row will be a shirting fabric of some description.

The clams are just randomly picked out of the basket and how it ends up is how it will be.

as I said previously you just get to play with all your favourite bits and no scrap is left out.

possibly the only problem being that you tend to end up with a few quilts that are similar in colour but is that really a problem?

The construction and inspiration for this quilt came from my attending classes with Brigitte Giblin at Material Obsession.

If you can't get to attend a class with Brigitte, Material Obsession are offering some Brigitte BOM , which is a great alternative.

I have also been trying to improve my needleturn applique skills. Included with the latest Quilters Companion magazine is a DVD which gives some great hints on needleturning.

There have been some very generous bloggers in the past that have given tutorials, such as Janet and Cathy and watching this DVD just reinforced what that have blogged about.

One thing I should say about these DVD's whilst they are helpful , I just wish the camera person would get overhead during these demonstrations, I find myself standing up thinking I will be able to see what is going on behind those hands.(Just a little constructive criticism)

These circles are my practise, I am very happy with the outcome. I remember Janet say just take small steps, this is reinforced in this DVD , just think about 2 stitches at a time.

You may have noticed over at my friend Liz's place , Liz blogged about this pattern from Michelle Yeo.

We are thinking we will do a quilt along , anyone out there want to play ?

I made a test block , the templates that we ordered to go with the pattern are fantastic. The block is 14 inches and takes no time to construct. I haven't chosen a background fabric as I like to construct all my blocks then audition them for the background.

I am not sure what fabric way I will go, I think Kaffe fabrics could be fun but Reproductions could also be good.

I think the centres should be a stripe just to make it a little challenging, or any fabric that could be fussy cut to give it some movement.

What do you think ?

Anyway if any of you are interested we could set up a flickr and load our photos, we could even have a block swap of one or two blocks , let me know what you think and perhaps we could set something up to begin in the autumn, that is March here downunder.

Today is Australia Day here downunder. We get to have a day off. It is a beautiful day , so it is off to the beach and them home for a Lamb B-B-Q in the evening.

I hope whatever you decide to do is also a fun day.

Until next time

be happy in whatever you do, and by the way a very happy and creative twenty ten.

j

The Making Of Memories

As each Christmas day draws to a close special memories are made. Sharing with family

laughing

This year handmade had a strong presence

This gift box was handed to me from my gorgeous sister, I would have been happy if the box was empty, I just loved the hand knitted tag.

this is what was inside.

How divine, handmade by sis

I was overwhelmed to say the least

I was also thoroughly spoiled with these books. I am a book lover, however I also love to cook for my family and friends. Any book relating to cooking from my homeland sparks memories of guidance from my Mum in years gone by. Can't wait to test some of the wonderful cakes and slices featured in here.

The sharing of luscious foods

nothing better than a glass of bubbles to mull over happy times

I hope your day was the making of memories

Until next time enjoy happy times.

j

Christmas Wishes

It won't be too long before the man in the big red suit comes down the chimney. Hard to believe Christmas Day 2009 is only hours away.

Folk on the other side of the world are experiencing record snow falls and below zero temperatures we here in the southern hemisphere are set to enjoy summer, warm sunny days and balmy nights.

Mr L & R and I have come to our holiday home on the coast and we are waiting to be joined by family to share our Christmas day. This place is cosy to say the least so no big Christmas Tree here, however lots of little vignettes, gone are the days of clutter, simplicity rules supreme.

You might recognise these trees from my previous story , they just had to come home with me.

Life was extremely frenetic prior to Christmas breakup from work, I really don't have a lot to show sewing wise. This is a peek at some of our Christmas decorations , as I said, very simple.

I found these tags at EST in Melbourne, couldn't resist

I am lover of all things Blackbird Designs and I was lucky enough to have my name picked in a comment leaving draw that was offered on their blog.

I received their latest cross stitch book, wonderful projects await me, but unfortunately not in time for this Christmas.

I felt I should at least reveal that I did manage to make all the coathangers that I set out to achieve.

They were gifts , and I think they were well received. Nothing nicer than have a lovely hanger to hang that special shirt or jacket.

I would like to say a huge thank you to all the bloggers that have made my first year blogging a memorable one.

I have met some amazing people, been inspired, but above all the caring and sharing has been gratifying

I wish you all a wonderful Christmas

Until next time

Much health and Happiness

j

You Can't Beat A Good Trunk Show

I'm sure I have mentioned before that I attend classes at Material Obsession under the expert guidance of Brigitte Giblin.


Brigitte is a well known teacher in Australia and especially here in NSW.


Whilst we always get expert tuition during our class we are often treated to a show and tell from Brigitte's suitcase. I am sure I can safely say Brigitte would have made 100's of quilts but on this particular occasion we were treated to her many versions of Trip around the World.


Very adept at machine construction, Brigitte is always happy to share any tip or technique to make the job easier and more pleasurable.

These quilts are eye candy and it is always interesting to see the pieces of fabric used that often we would classify as 'ugly' but just seem to add that zing or quirkiness that brings a quilt to life.

Something as simple as tumbling blocks but is so effective.

The use of colour that helps one to step outside one's comfort zone, just love the orange.

The bold stripes and spots are extremely eye catching

Brigitte is also well known for her hexagon quilts and this is one of my many favourites.

The use of red is not only eye catching it seems to give the quilt an antique look

Yet again a very traditional block (Doves in the window) Brigitte just seems to have the knack of making quilts have an antique look about them

Here is her Pickle Dish quilt,this was the quilt I originally joined her classes for.

I believe Brigitte is going to be kitting this quilt next year.

This is a top that has been constructed for some time , the applique shapes need to be appliqued and then quilted and voila there will be another added to the pile. Isn't the border effective, I just love the quirky centre applique block (sorry only a sneak peak)

This quilt is known as Indian Summer and featured in an issue of ' Australian Patchwork and Quilting'

Loads of Hexagons to cover for this quilt but also an opportunity to showcase a favourite piece of fabric for a centrepiece.

and yet another Hexagon quilt, I love this one and especially the fabrics Brigitte has used,some gorgeous antique french ones amongst them. This quilt has a lovely soft feel IRL

In this next photo if you look hard enough you will be able to see on the wall in the back room, Brigitte's version of 'Aunty Green'.

This quilt is one Brigitte will be teaching next year, it is truly divine and combines applique and piecing.

Brigitte has a website and I know she intends to have it updated over the Christmas break and you can email her here.

If you are interested in doing a class with her, one of the many places she teaches is at Material Obsession, you could check with Kathy if there are any spaces available.

I hope you have enjoyed this little trunk show from Brigitte's suitcase, Brigitte is a great teacher, always taking her time to help with fabric and colour selection , Brigitte is also extremely generous with her knowledge and her sharing of patterns.

Enjoy this very busy time of year and until next time

Happy sewing

j