Perfect Summer Hats and the Very Best of People

Last weekend was the final workshop in my Helen St studio.  From now on, all my own scheduled classes will be held upstairs at GJ's in East Brunswick, and I'll be teaching about the traps in places like Addicted to Fabric in Canberra, Bargain Box in Mornington and Kimono House in the city.

 

 

I love hat workshops - so much less complicated than a bag, so satisfying to see all the finished hats being worn and enjoyed at the end of the day. 

 

Hats are something I know an awful lot about (I have non-crafty friends who still think that I make hats for a living, because that's what I did for a very long time... and for some reason, they never quite cottoned on to the sewing pattern idea).  I know lots of tips to make handmade hats look super sharp and snappy, and lots of time-saving tricks.  My hat patterns are the result of a much-tweaked and much-used pattern, that I have personally used to make thousands of hats. 

 

It's great to see beautiful fabrics coming into the classroom...

 

 

...and leaving at the end of the day as beautiful hat (photographed here in Holly-Hobby obscured profile style to ensure anonymity). 

 

 

What made this one extra-special is that the maker outed herself at the beginning of the class, as a not-very-confident newbie sewing gal.  I think this newbie sewing gal did an amazing job.... as did everyone else in the group.

I have a weekday "Perfect Summer Hats" class scheduled at GJ's and I'll be teaching a hat class in Canberra on Sunday (and you still may be able to get a place on that one - contact Addicted to Fabric if you're interested).

 

 

Yesterday was just a fun, fun day.  What started as Gillian and Jodie's idea to gather a few friends, resulted in 49 crafty blogging chicks descending on a small hall in Ballarat for a day of Crafty Hijinks. 

 

There were door prizes and mini-workshops and food and talk and lots of making.  A few of us set up little shops.

 

I was thrilled to see so many bags made up, using my patterns (2 Belles and a City Bag on my table).

 

And as always, it was a pleasure to see my quilting hero, the amazing and gorgeous Annie.

 

There was so much colour, so much joy in a shared love of making....

 

And we all have these two gorgeous, generous gals to thank for bringing it all together.

 

I love that this looks like the school teacher and the rebellious schoolgirl in confrontation... it was nothing of the sort.  These girls smiled and laughed all day!

Le Tour de Fabric

What a huge day for fabric love....

A lovely bundle arrived from Quilt Fabric Delights.  I was a bit excited about their sale page and the fact that they still had a small piece of the Patty Young "Andalucia" print that I needed, so I put in a little order on the weekend.  (And yes - they stock my patterns, too!)

 Then there was a bit of a gathering of friends at Lara's house.  Annie, Jodie and Rachel came into town for the day and we went ON TOUR.... after the exploration of Lara's sewing room....

 ..and awestuck gazing at the VERY TIDY cupboards full of fabric stash.  (How DOES she manage it....??)

And there was a fair bit of posing against the famous wall....

 

We then went to Rathdowne Fabric & Remnants and then to GJ's.  I forgot to take the camera out in Rathdowne, but managed to snap a bit of Annie in action at GJ's.

 ...and pretty-much lost everyone amongst the rows and rows of luscious fabric....

 ...and rows of toys all over the floor.  (No idea who's wee girl that is....wearing a cat-print dress...)

 I'm not sure if it was noticable, but I loitered around the pre-cut fabric shelf a few times.  It looked a bit sweet-shoppish to me, and I was feeling a bit like a child..... but I resisted.  I have to finish my quilts-in-progress before embarking upon any new adventures in the world of patchwork.

 That small child in the cat dress took up position at the counter and talked "cats" with anyone who had a cat.  Luckily (for her), Jodie, Annie and Suzanne (behind the counter) all have cats.  As does the woman who was waiting patiently in the queue behind us.

 My purchases were quite restrained, and mostly geared towards turning my quilt blocks into quilts.  (I even managed to sew on the border of this one late this afternoon).

I also found enough spotty cotton fabric to make the back of the quilt.  (The idea was to make a cot quilt, but it's now a single bed size.)

 
The only completely-without-purpose purchasing I did were these pieces, below - a mixture from both stores.  They were too cute and too well-priced to pass up ($5.95-$8 per metre) and they'll go into the stash.

The only thing that I could have used but I DIDN'T buy, was the EXACT Patty Young fabric that I was looking for on the weekend.  Along with the QFD piece that arrived today,  I've organised Lisa to send me some from Sydney.  And here's a bolt of the stuff, in my local fabric store.....

Our shopping day ended with a short trip to my studio for lunch and a chat.   (I forgot to take out the camera again).  The kids all played beautifully together (Rachel's kids are ANGELS, I tell ya - ANGELS!)

Thanks, lovely ladies, for a grand day out.  I'm counting the days until we're sitting around the table together at Sewjourn again.

Don't you love a group of crafty gals...

..who don't think it's weird when you invite them over for lunch and a spot of scissor-sharpening? Instead of leaving my scissors to be sharpened somewhere, I like to have the scissor sharpening guy (Steve) come to me and sharpen while I wait.

Since I moved away from all the fashion businesses in my previous building, I had to think of a way to make it worth Steve's time to visit.
Umm... do I know anyone else who might need scissors sharpened...?
Oh boy, do I! We had a great catch-up over cuppas and lunch. Steve the scissor guy was mighty happy (...with everything except the dodgey cup of tea I poured for him. Sorry Steve - I think the pot had been sitting there a while....).
And the entire building was completely utilised for the event.
We had babies and blocks on the balcony....
The electronic games arcade on the stairs for the bigger kids....
The small children were sent to the dungeon (the garage, resembling crafty-kid Heaven).

The intricate and careful design work in the hama bead creations spoke volumes about the world these kids live in.

As did the resemblance of this beauty, to a granny square!! (Guess whose kid...?)

Big thanks to all who came along. These lovely ladies and their great kids -

Karen

Carmel and Liz

Ann Marie

Leonie

Dee

Bec

Melissa

Nicole

Brianna

Lara

Mel

Jennie

Claire

Juddie

Michelle

Judy

Cathie

EDITED TO ADD: Distracted by the call (from a small girl) to teach a small girl how to crochet this morning, I forgot to add the grand finale to the scissor-sharpening lunch. The seedling queen (my sister) made sure anyone with space in their garden took home some of her surplus seedlings. She gets a bit excited about planting seeds, but is lacking the 40,000 acres to raise them to adult plant stage. Several of us spent some happy planting time this weekend, and look forward to heritage variety vegetables and flowers - thanks, Leonie!!

The Great Sew It Together Weekend

The Sew It Together weekend was fantastic.

Friday night was champagne and laughter with old and new friends... bloggers from near and far putting names to faces and connecting like old friends.

(Although I think Cathy is trying to hypnotise Lara here.....)

Saturday was a hoot. I think I should have won the prize for the least crafting done (I did more on the 15 minute train trip to the city than I did for the rest of the day).

I did lots of chatting, making cups of tea (occasionally drinking them but mostly leaving them scattered about the room to go cold) and even squeezed in a trip to Tessuti.

There were fabulous giveaways from sponsors and there was endless warmth and sharing of ideas and experience amongst the fabulous bunch of women who attended.

You can see the linky list here and more photos here.

There were lots of photo opportunities...

...and opportunities to have one's photo taken (that's Lara and me below... thanks Andi!).

.... and don't you just love babies' velvety little ears and warm little baby heads...? Esther is lucky - she got to take this cutie home. (Well, she actually brought her there, too, so I suppose it's only fair).

Supersized THANK YOU to Sheridan for all her work that made the weekend a complete and resounding success. I'm sure we're all looking forward to meeting up again in Sydney next year!!!

300th post... with thanks (and a giveaway).

Last night I was lucky enough to have been invited to a wonderful blogmeet organised by Lara. Great Thai food and warm conversation with like-minded souls and friends. I gabbled on about how wonderful blogging has been for me - the connections and friendships forged with wonderful people around the world - and very much in my own hometown (and it seems, particularly in the Northern suburbs of my home town!). I meant every word of it.

And so... on my 300th post (!!) I'd like to thank you for reading, for commenting, and for making me feel like what I do is worthwhile. I'd also like to thank you for your creativity and the inspiration you share with us all. The generosity of the craft-blogging community never ceases to astound me - and it warms my heart.

... and of course you want to know what the giveaway is.

I've mentioned secret patterns, mad deadline-bound writing, half-finished projects. This is one of them.... nearly finished. The finished Spec Case kit should be ready within two weeks.

If you'd like to win a kit hot off the press, leave a comment here with a short introduction to what your blog is about... sewing, crochet, family, food etc. Think of it as an opportunity to connect with a few more bloggers - introduce yourself to new friends at a virtual blogmeet! If you don't have a blog, you can write about the types of things you like to read about on blogs.

I'll random-number thingamy it when the kit is finished and ready for sale.

Lovely Loot

People very generously gave me lovely presents at the blogmeet on Friday.

Extraordinarily beautiful Myrtle & Eunice cards...

Dear Fii's tiny hexagon brooch - sewn with love and tiny stitches.

I've often marvelled at the super-thoughtful gifts that Nikki from My Black Cardigan has made for other people. This time I was the honoured one. She made fortune cookies for me - MADE THEM ESPECIALLY FOR ME.... she of the one-year-old twins!!! Each one with a tiny crafty message to make me smile. You're too sweet, Nikki (and gosh, you have a lovely name!).

No presents were required and I was touched and humbled by the talent, time and thought that went into these.

Other people made beautiful baked goodies - my favourite almond macaroons, rich brownies and cakes, super just-out-of-the-oven scones, orange and poppyseed cake, apple crumble, florentines..... all too good.

Thanks lovely ladies... You're all busy gals and I appreciate all the time and thoughtfulness.

Bloggy Morning Tea

Isn't it great to meet bloggy friends? A bunch of us had a great chat, a bit of a giggle, and consumed vast quantities of sweet treats in my studio this morning.

It was great to put faces to names and names to faces. (I'd chatted to Gina in GJ's one day and didn't know it was her! Pennies dropped today!).

I feel lucky to be surrounded by so many generous, talented people. It's a wonderful thing to feel a part of such a warm, welcoming community of kindred souls.

A big thank you to ....

Cath - Mobble Gobble

Cathy - Tinniegirl

Nikki - My Black Cardigan

Lara - Thornberry

Tania - Myrtle&Eunice

Fi - Dear Fii

Melanie - Sugarlemon

Anna - Polly Pratt

Margaret - Konstant Kaos

Gina - Clutterpunk

Cathy - Miss Marzie

Louise - Lululollylegs

Liz - Lino Forest

Jodie - Ric Rac

Lara - Kirin Notebook / Ink&Spindle

Teegan - Ink&Spindle

Sandra - Pepperberry & Co

...for coming along and making a great morning happen.

And a big slice of cake to Sherrin, Annie and Sooz who all had things get in their way of attending this morning.

Super-sized thanks to Ann Marie - Crafty Girl With Ruffle - for all her super-sized help!!

My studio is somewhat flooded with sunlight so most photos (taken quickly with my happy-snap camera) were washed out. Did anyone else get some good pics?

EDITED TO ADD - See Lara's pics here. (Thanks, Lara).

I must also thank the kids for being gorgeous and SOOOO well-behaved. They all played beautifully (and all stayed out of my cordoned off "scary sewing equipment" corner). The craft table and the dress-up box seemed to work a treat. The cake table was a resounding sucess, too.

And all those Moo card boxes I have really came in handy.

We must do it again some time...