Binding On

The binding is on and the quilt is already being used. 

A few of the old quilts are now on our beds acting as insulators to our doonas. The weather has been so cold.

I have to go to a wedding today and it's going to be freezing. Hard to look glamorous in this weather. Actually I think I am going to be rushing so much I will get warm.
I promised to drive some friends to Sunspun in Canterbury Road. It is a gorgeous shop that carries a full range of Kaffe's fabric, the most incredible selection of wools, tapestry kits and pattern books.
Then we are heading to Maling Road for lunch. It's a quaint suburban shopping strip with all sorts of interesting stores and cafes.

I have to be back home in time to pick up a friend to go to the wedding ceremony (in nice clothes) by 3.30pm. It's in Brighton - the other direction from where I have been.
Back home again till 7pm for the party where I really have to dress up.
Lots of driving. I think I better buy some petrol.

Echino Bike Quilt

One of the beautiful fabrics my son brought back from Japan was some Echino bike fabric. It is so special, I have been a bit scared to cut  into it. I chose a few fabrics that highlighted the colours of it.

 I cut them into 7.5" squares and made 9 sets of 9 patches.

Cut each 9 patch into quarters,

 rearranged them, and sewed them back together.

It's a bit random but I finished it in an afternoon. I really needed to get something done because last weekend was almost a right off for sewing and I was pining all week.

In between all the grocery shopping last weekend I snuck off to Patchwork on Central . 

"It was on the way home"

They were having a sale.

I had been searching for a backing fabric for my diamond quilt for a few months now and I think I did well.

It's the green one in the middle. $32 a metre reduced to $10 a metre.

Should go well with this:

I bought these too. Not sure what for.

Fabric is getting cheaper to buy in Australia, but I do love a bargain.

Hannakin - Bits and Bobs by Hanna Mancini

After the Quilt Show I went to the Museum to see the stick insects and pick up my teacher's free entry card, but that is another story.
I drove to Brunswick Street to buy a cake (it was my birthday) and visit the Rose Street Market. It was only 5 minutes away and the sun was shining, people were out on the streets having coffee, shopping and generally enjoying the weekend.
I just had to go back to Rose Street because a few months ago I bought a pair of earrings made out of pencils. They were such a hit at school that I thought I would buy another pair. I found my pencil man and bought a black coloured pencil and  a white one. It's football season and wearing the earrings would be a subtle way of celebrating my team's win on a Monday morning.

I know they are ridiculous but I get more compliments for these silly earrings than my most expensive silver ones and the kids love them. I originally bought them because half way through last year the kids managed to lose every item from their stationery list and keept saying "I can't find my pencil!"

But this is all beside the point. At the market I met a lady selling the cutest little dolls ever. Her name is Hanna and she had brooches, dolls and whimsical drawings on her stand that I just loved. She has an etsy store and her work is worth checking out.

Hanna doesn't have a blog so unless you visit etsy or live in Melbourne, it would be a bit hard to find her. Her work is so intricate and original I just had to post about her.
I was in a bit of a rush as I has visitors coming to eat my cake so I pretty much flew though the streets, past all this fabulous graffiti that Brunswick street is famous for and realised that I still had my camera in my bag from the show. I just had to take a couple of snaps.

Sorry about the shadows. If you ever get to Melbourne on a weekend, see if you can get to Brunswick Street for great shopping, coffee and graffiti. I think I will have to go back next week when I have more time to look around.

Some of the Things I Bought

I have been dreamily passing the days since I have come home. Domestic chores, exercise, taxi driving my children, reading, doing crosswords - really anything except sewing. I am not sure if it's because I am still feeling too relaxed or if I just had so much stimulation from being away that my mind is at peace.
When I am working at school, I am so tired and so time poor that sewing is like an indulgence that I snatch greedily when given the slimmest opportunity. Now I have so much time but am frittering it away on seemingly useless projects.
So I have very little to show or tell except that I did buy some things with a textile flavour whilst away.
A lot of the places we went to were total tourist traps and consequently all the stores sold mostly the same thing. We picked up the expression 'same same' as we wandered through the old city in Hanoi. They were even printing t-shirts that said 'same same' on them.
When I would accidentally find a store that sold things that were different I would get really excited. If that store sold anything mildly crafty I would buy it, not really visualising how it would translate to everyday Melbourne usage. So here is some of what I bought.

Button Necklace and crochet bracelet with buttons

Woollen top with crochet flowers

This is a hand bag. It is ridiculously kitch. It has way too many bling bits, buttons, beads, crochet and trimmings. The colours are blah altogether. It's leather, handmade, and the inside has all sorts of pockets and special places sewn into it. The photos don't make it look any better but it is really quite wild in the flesh and I think if I wear it with very plain clothes I may have some fun using it. I just couldn't resist.

Markets and other things

Markets were the order of the day on Saturday and I visited Magnolia Square and a mini market in the City Library. Magnolia Square was it's usual high quality experience. Although it's petite, it always has very clever, creative products with the friendliest stall holders. I just had to buy this little lavender heat pack from Memi Designs. She prints all her own fabric designs on linen.

The City Library was a little disappointing. There were only about 12 stall holders and the products were varied. One person had made some great little quilts out of op shop hankies but overall it took about 5 minutes to go through! In one of the other rooms they had a fun exhibition on the history of shopping in Melbourne. They had some great old photos and paraphernalia from days gone by. Worth a 'look in' if you are a little bit old like me and actually remember some of the places.

Sunday was for sewing. A mum of one of the teachers at school came over and we did a swap. She tried to show me how to follow a crochet pattern and I gave her the start on how to make a quilt block. My crocheting is pretty pathetic - so much so, that there are no pictures! Her block is off to a better start than me. 

Later there was a little bit of free motion quilting happening which I was really happy with because the triangles can make quilting very stretchy and hard to sit flat but the free motion made everything much more accommodating.

And some more coasters were made using some of the fabric I bought last week.