The "Old Church" is no more

It's Friday and I drove into Hobart this morning to go to Church! 

Yes, I did!.......... but not in the traditional sense. My farmer had to go in to the Big Town to replace his computer and I took the opportunity to visit The Quilted Crow as tomorrow is their last day of trade in this gorgeous old Church.

I was dropped off a little early but that was no problem because just across the road....just out of view....I found a lovely bakery and coffee shop and a seat inside for a flat white and a Cherry Danish (I hadn't had breakfast so I decided it was ok to indulge) When I walked back, I glanced down the road to check for traffic and noticed the most wonderful rainbow. That's got to be a good omen for a shopping day!

Would you like to take a look inside?

This is the beautiful wooden ceiling....my phone camera didn't do it any justice and there was alot of light coming in from the stainglass windows......just take a look at them..

This one overlooks the sewing area and on the opposite wall is another beautiful big window.

Near the entrance is a set of four stunning windows.....and opposite them in an alcove another double window (it is the one in the middle of the photo below)

Leonie has really made the inside of this shop inviting, fitting it out with lovely old dressers, tables  and cupboards from a bygone era filled with simply divine felted wools, hand dyed velvets and fabrics. Baskets, wooden boxes and quaint wire baskets are filled with fat quarters, patterns etc.  Trimmings are rolled onto old wooden cotton reels........just lovely!

There are quite a few gorgeous quilts on display......some are Leonie's 'Leonie Bateman Designs' and some are Sue Daley's.  I was lucky enough to meet Sue Daley there which was a lovely treat. I chatted to Leonie quite a bit as well as some lovely ladies that were sewing there today.....I may join them soon at their new venue. I am giving some thought to starting Leonie's new BOM which you can view HERE.  The baskets and other applique are done with felted wool and in real life it is something else!

In the meantime I didn't leave 'church' empty handed.....although, my wallet....well that is another story...but well worth it. I have gathered all my purchases on my favourite chair. 

I bought two bundles of 10 x 1/2yard ea of fabric at quite a bargain $55. Four fat quarters (the morrocan tile design) two packs of reproduction fabric scraps, a packet of felted wool scraps, a bundle of felted wool pieces, a piece of hand dyed velvet, a Leonie Bateman Design kit called Lucinda's Flowers and lastly, the wire shopping basket that you see here.  I loved it so much, I knew if I didn't get it, I would regret it forever.

I have wanted to visit the Quilted Crow for such a long time (years infact) and today I did so....just in the nick of time.  Tomorrow is a celebration day of 'Champagne and Shenanigans' as the doors close for the last time. Don't worry though as you can still shop online.

Now I must be off as I have lots to drool and swoon over!

Something has got to Change

It took me nearly all day on Sunday (between other tasks) to get through the 40 posts at FNSI this month and I commented on almost everyone. There were a couple of posts that didn't come up or hadn't been updated yet. Don't get me wrong, I love blogging, I love reading blogs, I love starting email conversations with bloggers and I love being inspired with what people make.....and therein lies part of my problem.....I just don't seem to be able to make the time to get my mojo on in the sewing room as I am stuck to the computer.

And that is just the Bits 'n Bobs crafting side of things.  Then of course I have my Cath@Home blog too which I am most prolific on at the moment with mostly kitchen, garden pastimes and news about my new surrounds which I am so in love with. I am having so much fun writing these posts and taking the photos too. 

So with all that in mind, I have decided to only read 5 blog posts a day as well as return visit those that leave a comment on either Bits 'n Bobs or Cath@Home.

Here are the Five I read today:

Kitten Stitching.......Kaye had some lovely pictures of her stitching projects and a batch of yummy lemon curd.

Manxgirl......Loulee had some crochet to showcase and spent some lovely time over the weekend with a like minded companion

Cat Patches......Barbara shared a wonderful tutorial on sewing the perfect appliqued circle..(I have pinned it for future reference)

Our New Life in the Country......this is more smallholding stuff but a couple of yummy pastry ideas are shared here today.

Rag Tag Stitching............A couple of Michelle's gorgeous stitcheries here but Michelle is not having such a good time atm so I left her a few kind words.

Just as I was about to close my Blogger Reading List (can't abide Bloglovin) I spotted Teresa's blog at
All Things Vintage and my heart went out to her too.........that's the great thing about blogging......there is always someone who has been through what you are going through and able to give you some words of encouragement or advice.

If I didn't get around to your blog today.......I will read another 5 tomorrow! But right now I am going to get back to my stitching!

Not an up to date photo

PS.....The Mandarin Cake is now posted at Cath@Home

Christmas in...JUNE! (FNSI)

When the weather outside is frightful and sitting by the fire delightful, I've got no other place to go, Let me sew, let me sew, let me sew! 

Haha, well you get my drift....Friday night sew In couldn't have come at a better time and OK, it's not Christmas in July yet but I did have a Christmassy project to get stuck into.

I purchased this pattern way back in December last year thinking it would be something I could do once I had moved down here (until I unpacked my sewing needs) as it only has one colour and was preprinted onto linen. Ahem.......

Moving right along to June 2015, when I thought it would be an even better idea to take this with me on my recent visit to Brisbane as I was going to a couple of sew and chat classes.  I had to call in to Lincraft on the way to Apatchy Quilting for some whisperweft (wish I had known that Kaye sells it now) and walking past the DMC threads I spotted a lovely aqua.......well my mind was made up.....I wanted to stitch in aqua!

Now I didn't do any stitching that day......way to much emphasis on the chatting side of things, but I did manage a bit while I was up at Quiltessentials (once I found a replacement pair of spectacles at the chemist) and a bit while at home with the kids. When I got home I had stitched part of the snowman and the tree and presents.

For FNSI which started earlier here due to the weather outside, I sat and stitched some more.

 And now I just have the "Christmas Blessings" wording in the middle to complete. I will start looking out for a frame and have something finished for Christmas in December!

What do you think? Do you like the aqua? I love this pattern so much, I have no doubt I will do it in red as well :)

And look, I wasn't kidding about the weather yesterday......we woke up to a beautifully "iced" mountain top today!

Now, did you join in for FNSI.....if you have, I will get around to visiting you soon....and thank you to Wendy at Sugarlane Designs for inspiring us to join together and sew.

Last minute thoughts - No treats here last night but I did see a recipe on fb for Mandarin Almond cake which is baking as you read this.  I will be posting the results on my Cath@Home blog, so make sure you are following me there or else you will miss it! And I am expecting it to be YUMMY!

 Anthea at Hibiscus Stitches has a Linky Party  for CCTY  or who has a Christmas Gift or the like on the go. I have linked up as she was looking a bit lonely. Head on over and give her some love if you are working on something Christmassy.



 

Getting back into the Sewing Room

Back home with all my purchases, I couldn't wait to startsewing again and fulfill my promise to Helen D. Nothing beats a pattern kit for getting your mojo back on track since you don't have to think about fabric choices and all you really have to do is read the pattern and start cutting and sewing! I am starting with the Forest Friends fabric which includes a pattern by Kim Boland.

Like I said before, I have wanted to do something with this fabric for a very long time but did not have a pattern in mind so seeing the kit which incorporates a sweet panel, I couldn't resist.

It does help to have access to the sewing machine so I did a quick tidy up first.  I am really struggling with the space I have at the moment after my simply enormous creation station in our old house so many boxes have not been unpacked but I think I may install a shelving system all the way around the top of the wall. In the meantime, I found a spot for most of the stuff sitting on my sewing table and even unpacked a box of fabric into my glass cupboard.

At least I have a lovely view out of the window......

.....now it's time to start the sewing process.....

By lunchtime, I had made a good start on building up the panel. My kit had some pink in to add to the corners here which I actually like......makes it 'pop' a bit more.

Things haven't gone so well today........I wanted to get the next round sewn on but my head was in a strange place and after making several measuring and cutting errors (even though I followed the measure twice and cut once advice), I decided to leave it until tomorrow!

Anyhow, the girls look ready for their dinner!

Back to Brisbane

The last time I posted on Bits 'n Bobs was last month (May) when I met up with my quilty friend, Helen D, in Hobart. I had such a fab day browsing the quilt shops with her and made some purchases. When we said goodbye I promised her that I was ready to get back to sewing again......and, really, I was!.....but before I could get myself organised, my Farmer offered to fly me up to Queensland to see my kiddos and catch up with a few good friends.

My flight was booked for the first day of Winter and here in the valley, it didn't delay in arriving. We woke up on the 1 June to see a good dose of snow on our mountain. A bit worrying as it can herald road closures and I had a flight to catch.

We left a little earlier than planned but even though there was plenty of evidence of snow along the way, they were just light falls and the road was clear.

So off to QLD I flew, about 3 hours flying time which is not long at all, landed and picked up my hire car and THEN it took me two hours to get to my son's house (peak hour traffic.....I had forgotten all about that!)  I had a half hour or so with Miss M before she returned to her studies and Ted came over for some hugs and a chat. I also got hugs with miss Clover!

Tuesday: I woke early and drove over to Clayfield to Apatchy Quilting.  Kaye was the only one there who knew I was coming so it was nice to walk in and surprise them all.  I did bring some stitching but ended up just looking at everyone elses work and chatting to them about my new life. They were all terribly kind and let me win the lucky door prize.....haha! I picked out two pieces of Japanese Koi fabric and also made some purchases.  Kaye had some packaged wool felt that was really gorgeous and at a very reasonable price. I ended up buying 3 "Curlers" packs as well as some blue & brown fabric that was 30% off.  I slipped a pair of "penguin" scissors into my trolley as well but they are not pictured here.

After a lovely morning spent with these ladies, I raced over to Chermside to pick up my bestie, Helen W, and we drove up to Mango Hill to meet another friend, Rhonda for lunch at the Tavern.  Can you believe lunch extended from 1pm till 6pm.  We had so much to catch up on that we were still there when the evening diners started to arrive.  My son, Red, was home by now but he was asleep when I got there so I had a chat to miss M and watched some tv before I went to sleep.

Wednesday: Red was already up when I awoke on Wednesday and after I showered and dressed he took me for a delicious breakfast out at Samford. Later I went to do some shopping over at Brookside Shopping centre. On the way I called into The Quilters Corner at Grovely "just for a look" and ended up buying a fox quilt kit with pattern, another quilt pattern which took my fancy, and 60cm of an interesting "blue" striped fabric.  I thought it was blue but when the fabric was opened up, there were also purple coloured stripes which were not obvious before........what a surprise! Just as my purchases were being added up, I also spotted a lovely alphabet panel which I snapped up too.

 I headed back "home" to spend the afternoon hanging out with Red and doing a little stitching, cooking and cleaning. While I was out I bought the ingredients to make a Rosemary Chicken Risotto to keep feeding the kids through the week. Around 6pm, I headed out again.  This time to meet my bestie, Helen, and my circle of friends from my days at DJs for their once a month dinner date.  Helen kept this a big secret so there were lots of laughing at the surprised faces when they realised I was sitting at the table. I love this group of women and as always enjoyed their company and the good food.

Thursday: Gosh the week was racing by quickly.  I was off to my quilting group at Quiltessentials today.  Claudia knew I was dropping by and told everyone that someone was coming to visit but not who........and then Michelle turned up and gave the game away by asking if I (by name) had arrived yet! In her defence, Michelle is a friend on my personal fb page so she knew about my visit too. I did get big, big hugs from my dearest Marilyn, Zita and Lorraine and again from Helen D, when she arrived. How lovely it was to meet up with them all and I actually did manage some stitches, once I dashed across the car park to buy a pair of spare spectacles from the chemist! I spent up at Claudia's too.   A kit containing the Forest Friends range which I have craved for ages and a couple of cute bird fabrics......see photo below. Marilyn, Zita, Lorraine, Helen D and I extended the time together by heading to lunch afterwards. My day wasn't over because I had a very special date that very afternoon.  I was heading over to my old street for afternoon tea with my neighbours.  More hugs, this time from the little peeps......gosh, they have grown too and they had lots of questions for me.  I took some apple chips just for the littlies and some of my jam for mum and dad. It is such a sureal feeling heading to your old address.  The drive there seemed very familiar as if I had done it just the day before but driving past our house and seeing the odd cars in the drive way made it clear that I no longer lived there.  That evening I had a dinner date with my boy Ted and we had had some good food and good conversation.

Friday: I was really pooped by Friday but I headed over to see my gorgeous hairdresser, Bree, for a haircut and I made sure the hire car was refuelled before heading back for another day around the house with Red.

Saturday: The uni week was over so miss M and I drove to the West End Markets early. I really wished I had taken my camera as there were some lovely farmers markets there but I had left it at home......oh well, those piles of rhubarb and crates of pineapple would have to remain a memory. We were just planning on finding a place for coffee when miss M got a phone call and she was needed back at uni. Poor girl had to drive me all the way home before turning around and driving back.  She was out all day but Ted came around for another visit. Eventually she came home and we decided to go out to Grill'd for burgers.  I had no idea Chermside was so busy on a Saturday night but after a good long wait we got our burgers.  We made the decision to take them home with us and picked up some Cold Rock icecream as well.  Maybe not the best idea but it was good to spend some quality time with my girl.

Sunday: Time to fly home and I was really looking forward to getting back to my valley, my farmer and my puppy girls.  Landing in Hobart was a bit hairy with winds reaching 40knots but at least it wasn't the next day........we had 100knot winds then!

Don't my girls look smart in their new winter coats?