Latrobe and beyond

 I set off early on Saturday for another catchup/sewing day with friends from the north of the State, we all meet at the Cherry Shed in Latrobe. They have a fantastic area upstairs for us to stitch in and of course we venture downstairs every so often to replenish ourselves. Have I told you I love their icecream!
I took some stitching but I did so little I didn't bother to take a photo.

Vicki decided to do some knitting

Sarah and Leanne, wonder what they are plotting

Roseanne and Julie - Julie spent the whole day doing her binding on the lovely quilt you can see under the table

All hard at work.....or is Roseanne playing with her phone? Deb was as she started and finished the binding.

Here is Deb's lovely quilt, she managed to finish all the binding......

Leanne bought along this quilt, only the binding to finish

After a fun day I followed Vicki back to Burnie for a couple of days sewing. I don't think we stopped talking but even so I managed to get a couple of things finished!

Vicki made the big decision to retire, last Wednesday was her last day in class, so I took her a little present. I love this paper, so cute.

I made her the Zipped Sewing Case in French General

A few little goodies inside! 

This bag was one of my finishes. It is made with left over fabric from the quilt I finished last week. It really is huge, I have popped the quilt inside. The pattern is from the Tilda site, love the patchwork handles.

Then, as you CANNOT waste any fabric, I cut the rest up into 2" squares and made this little zippy purse.

The weather was perfect for sewing, although I do admit we did a bit of retail therapy as well.

This was the first day, the mist lifted mid-morning only to come down again an hour or so later

Who can resist a sale!

Tuesday - but on my way home now

This morning I woke up to a bit of snow on the mountain and......

one of the heaviest frosts I have seen for a long time.

Busy week

I finished binding this Thimbleblossom's Spools quilt and hung it on my sun room wall above the sewing machine 

This Kaffe Fassett "Flower Garden" quilt binding was done, only a label and it can be off to its new home. It is a mixture of Paisley Jungle, Millefiore and Paperweight fabrics, shines like a jewel.

The back of the quilt showing the quilting done by Patchworks Plus 

I went for a walk along the Pipeline Track on Mt Wellington with my Monday walking group

A friend and I walked from the New Town Nursery to the Botanical Gardens along the Derwent River

Lovely boat houses at Cornelian Bay

I spent some time in the garden under our lovely winter sky. This is my tree dahlia. Every year I think I will dig it out then it flowers!

Moving Online

The Quilted Crow had the last day of trading at the Old Church in New Town today. A group of friends from Launceston came down and I met them at the Church for a bit of a celebration/wake and retail therapy.
It is sad to say goodbye to the building, it is such a lovely venue and has seen a few Gatherings. Wouldn't it be superb converted into a home!

One of the beautiful stained glass windows

Some of the fabrics on sale

The Launceston crew- Deb, Katharine, Cathy and Meredith with Sue Daly and Leonie Bateman in the middle

Deb, Katharine, Sue, Leonie, me and Meredith - that is definitely apple juice in my glass!

Leonie - not looking sad at all!

I may or may not have bought a couple of things!

The sign says it all.

All the best to Leonie in her new ventures, lots of good times ahead for her. So excited and we can still visit online.

Dumpling Pouch

Sarah inspired me to make this dumpling pouch after I read her blog yesterday. I needed a couple of emails from her before I decided to risk the zip. The pattern is free from Michelle Patterns.

I chose the material out of my stash as I am determined to empty all my cupboards!

I even had a zip that I bought from the local charity shop for 20c

These zips are amazing they are fully enclosed with card and plastic and have all sorts of information on the packaging, obviously from some crafter's stash. It even has a guarantee.

I followed the instructions and cut everything out, then came the zip. I decided to use my binding clips to hold it all together rather than baste.

I got it all finished only to realise that I had put the zip on upside down so the lining suddenly became the outside!!!!

And my lovely colourful fabric was inside!!

I couldn't let this happen so one hour later the little Dumpling Pouch had multiplied and I had two.

I even remembered to put my tag in this one.

Bags, bags and more bags

I do like making bags, great to use up some of the fabrics in my cupboards, drawers, high places, low places...................

I made these two last year and they are now swanning around in Melbourne somewhere with my sister-in-law and niece.

The next few were made last year but I didn't blog them *shame*

Quite small but I love it.

Used for Christmas lucky dip, love the snowman button

I use this a lot, nice big size to take a lot of junk in, good for sewing days

Another one I like to use, quite tall (pattern is Teacher's Pet, fabric Indigo Crossing by Minick and Simpson)

Two recent makes, not sure where they are off to yet. Love the first one but the other was a pain to make #neveragain

 I made this one for my daughter for her birthday, good one for taking bits and pieces in when travelling. Good as it zips up safely. The colour isn't quite right, the fabic is Lynette Anderson's Follow my Heart. So cute.

My latest make, Gail Pan's Blue butterfly bag made with Snowbird by Laundry Basket Quilts with stitcheries and hand quilting.

Couldn't resist adding this photo of an early morning visitors today, sat there for ages eating catkins off the silver birch.

Green rosella - Playcerus caledonicus