Easter Stitchery

This is an Easter stitchery I've been working on in the evenings of late. It is a Bareroots pattern which I bought from Maree's Bushfire auction. I was going to put it in a frame but am starting to think it might become a little wallhanging.

I changed a few of the colours ... there was a bit too much black in the original for my liking.

Giveaway Winner

Yesterday Tali and I did the draw for my 150th post giveaway.
The printer was out of ink so we hand wrote the entries,



then popped them into the lovely dilly bag I received from Marc.



Tali drew out the winner ...



who is Kristina from Budapest, Hungary. Her blog is called Priscilla's Adventures in Craftland.



Kristina's suggestion for the monkey's name was Miss Pinkie. Cute. However, after reading all your wonderul suggestions her name is now Matilda May. (My late Nan's name was May and I like Matilda too.) Please email me your postal address Kristina so I can put your prizes in the post.

I've been stitching bits and pieces of various projects and managed to finish this block of Truly Scrumptious which had been half done since before Christmas.



Oops, I've just noticed I missed a few french knots under her wrists.



Will try and post again soon.

AQC Shopping

I have been reading on other blogs how good and restrained people were with their shopping at AQC. I must confess, rather guiltily, that I was NOT! Now that a few weeks have passed and the guilt has abated just a little, I will show you, in no particular order, what came home in my suitcase.

For a while, I have wanted a Clover mini iron to use when making my Ryland Manor BOM. I completed the first block early last year and now have a box full of the kits for the remaining months .... no excuse now. Easter holidays will be a good time to get going on this project again.

Something else I was after was Rosalie Quinlan's Little Patchwork Village pattern. I also found a new to me Christmas design from Leanne Beasley.

Wool from The Quiled Crow ... maybe for an Easter project. The Quilted Crow girls have recently given their blog an overhaul ... lots of great pictures ... definitely worth a look.

This pattern was from Ballarat Patchwork ... the sample on display was gorgeous. Loved their stall.

Fat quarters of Blackbird Designs sampler fabrics. These were only $3.00 each. (Cheap for Australia!)

This lovely kit came from Quilter's Barn. There were two versions on display ... this one and a 'toiley' sort of one.



It was very hard to choose but I loved the fabrics in this brighter version. The white with the pink roses is the backing fabric.

A couple more patterns from Anni Downs and Natalie Bird.



I have been an admirer of Marg Low's patterns for a long time. I was especially looking for the Easter Treats pattern having seen them on her blog. As you can see, I decided to give a few others a home too!

I have never been very happy with my hand quilting skills so when I saw the Thimblelady, Liuxin Newman, had a show special consisting of book, DVD, thimble and needles it seemed too good an opportunity to pass up.

This is another pattern I 'had to have' from Threadbear in Castlemaine. I am such a sucker for old style quilts with reproduction fabrics.

Click on the picture below for a closer look at the centre block. The sheep are adorable.

And finally, from the convention, a selection of fat quarters. I suppose I wasn't that bad. As Harmony Junkie said, that's why we went and it's only once a year.

Got a couple more quilty things while we were away. Purchased this book at Dymocks in Collins St ...

and this one at a bookshop at DFO for $19.00. Made good plane reading.

In case, you missed it there is a giveaway on my last post. To enter, just suggest a name for the sock monkey, on that post by midnight Saturday 21st March.

What's in a Name? (150th post Giveaway)

Thought I'd introduce you to this young lady who recently arrived at our place from the UK. I was one of the lucky winners in Trashalou's recent Bushfire Appeal raffle. The gorgeous girlie was made and donated by Kitty. Aren't her eyelashes adorable?



Her arrival generated much interest amongst the resident Quilt Inspectors. Oliver went straight in for a big sniff!



Then popped out of the way ...



so Molly could get a good look too.



Steady on, Mol! Don't knock her over!



That's better. My niece Tali thought Molly looked like a sentry on duty. Very upright and proper!



As this is my 150th post, I am having a little giveaway. I'd like some help with choosing a name for the pretty sock monkey girlie. To be in the running for the goodies below, please leave a comment including your suggestion by midnight Saturday 21st March. I will do a random draw next Sunday.

PIF for Peg

This is the tablerunner I sent to Peg recently as a PIF gift.

I used one of my favourite patterns .... Heather Mulder Peterson's Crossroads Tablerunner from the book Charmed and Dangerous.

This is the third one I've finished.

The fabrics on the front are Dandelion Girl from Figtree Quilts ...

with Cinnamon Stars also by Figtree for the backing and some cream Simplicity for the binding.

Just have to get through tomorrow then I have four days off. I will try and catch up with my emails and comments then. Hope everyone is having a good week.

Home and Exhausted!

We arrived home about 9 o'clock last night after 4 busy, fun and exhausting days in Melbourne. I've done a lot of sleeping today ... have to be alert for tomorrow ... it's my first day back at work for the year.

The Quilt Convention was great. On Thursday we were on the door step at 10 am and nearly had to be kicked out when it closed at 4.30 pm. My purchases included some nice patterns and fabrics, a clover mini iron and the Thimblelady's book, DVD and thimble. Haven't had a chance to take any pictures yet. You will just have to be patient!

On Thursday, we met up with Sheryl from My Upstairs Sewing Room and her sister-in-law. They were lovely and it was nice to meet in person.

On Saturday, it was like a Tassie bloggers reunion. Cathy, Sarah, Jo, Helen, Leanne, Kathy and myself along with Gail, all blocked the aisle for quite a while! I'm sure there will be a photo on one of the other girls blogs.

There were lots of lovely quilts on display. My favourites were those of Brigitte Giblin. I have admired her work in magazines for a long time so it was exciting to see her quilts up close.

These are the details of the quilt in the following photos.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. I will try and reply to you all soon.