Stash from the Quilt & Craft Fair.

Now that I have my computer back all healthy again, I can post some photos! A blog isn't the same without eye candy. Here is what I bought at the Q & C Fair last Friday. Cute calico tote bag!
Stretching Cat pattern (super quick stitch to do)
Chook pattern fabrics
Coloured homespun to go with the chook fabrics.

Little variety pack of fabrics including cupcakes designs.
Three lots of Aboriginal art fabrics. I've been looking for these for ages in the shops without any luck, so I snapped these up as soon as I saw them.
Couldn't resist this - AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE!!
Gorgeous teacups fabrics!
And now some commonsense necessities - a quilting ruler to use when cutting fabrics on my cutting mat with the rotary cutter. Much better than a steel ruler, which is all I had until now.
This is template plastic, to cut out templates for patchwork pieces, as if most of you don't know...The other item is a packet of Applifix, a new version of Vliesoflix or whatever it's called - I can never remember how to spell it OR pronounce that brand name! Also tucked in that packet is a pack of applique needles. I've tried one out already, and it was so much easier to use on fabric that has been fused to other fabric, which gets very stiff and difficult to pierce a needle through, but these needles are designed to make it easier.
An Applique ironing mat - much more useful than baking paper, when ironing fusible web on to pieces of fabric, to avoid wrecking the ironing board cover!

A quick stitch, RR, FPC and ATC.

Don't you hate acronyms when the letters don't make any sense to you? I don't like feeling left out either, so for the benefit of anyone reading this who isn't familiar with any of the above acronyms, here are the details: The Quick Stitched project is this Stretching Cat, which took me a couple of hours to finish. I bought the pattern at the Craft Fair last Friday, and couldn't wait to do it! I've stitched it on 28ct. evenweave instead of Aida, as the example on show at the Fair was done on 28ct, and it looked great. Mine needs pressing, as you can tell!
This is my contribution to a Round Robin in the Stitchin Fingers Cross Stitch Group. Jan asked us to do something in magic or fantasy on her 32ct fabric, so I selected Pegasus, but when I'd finished, he looked so tiny compared to the others that had been done on the RR, I added the Man In The Moon.
Another Fabric Post Card to add to my collection. The theme for this Yahoo group monthly swap was "My Country", and I love Cindy's interpretation.
Another Stitchin Fingers Group is the textile Artists Trading Cards group, and the theme for this month was "Passionately Purple" - great fun to do! Love this one sent to me by Diane in the U.K.

Sunday night.

It has been an exceptionally busy three days for me, so tomorrow I plan to relax with some stitching! I have to wait at home anyway, for my computer to be brought back in working order (I hope), so it is a good opportunity to stay put. I did extremely well at the Guild's Paddy's Market on Saturday morning. I took a box of stitching books, magazines and charts, and put a price tag of $2 on all the books, $1 on all the magazines and 50cents on the charts. I think I sold about two thirds of them. I'll be taking the remaining books up to the bushfire recovery centre soon.
As well as those, I took a box of UFOs and SINS - tablecloths and suppercloths which I knew I would NEVER stitch in this lifetime; doilies and other small items which I've hung on to, thinking I might find a use for them, and a few other bits and pieces. I priced the clothes between $20 and $25, and the smaller items for a dollar each. Most of them sold. All up, I came home with $175!! I was so pleased - firstly because I'd got rid of so much stash that I just didn't want, and secondly because it went a long way toward making up for what I spent at the Quilt & Craft Fair, thus reducing my guilty conscience ;-)

Craft & Quilt Fair, Melbourne

Sharon and I spent all day at the Craft & Quilt Fair yesterday (Friday). We arrived there well before 9 am so we got the early bird parking rates for $10 for the day, instead of nearly $30 if we'd arrived after 9. It was a good start to a great day. We strolled up and down the aisles looking at all the stalls not once, but several times during the day, as we'd break our walking to attend workshops, stop for coffee, and later, lunch. We also had a look at the fantastic quilts on display; they just get better every year! I didn't take my camera this year, as it was just one more thing to carry when I knew I was going to be buying a few items, and decided not to take any extras this year. Sharon took some photos with her mobile phone, so I'm hoping she'll break her silence on her blog and post some of them!
Ken asked the obvious question when he got home - did I buy anything and did I spend much? Oh yes I bought some things, and yes I spent a fair bit... I showed him some of the fat quarters I'd bought (the chook ones because I figured he'd like those) as well as some Aussie themed fabrics. I didn't show him the other goodies (patchwork tools of various kinds among them) because he wouldn't know what they are for, and would probably think (rightly so) that they were expensive. It's just as well I'm the Keeper of the Purse in our household, and he doesn't see credit card statements...
Anyway, once I get my computer back (next week hopefully), I will photograph my stash and you can see what I bought. I'm just ITCHING to use everything!! This morning Sharon and I are taking our unwanted stash to the Guild's Paddy's Market, where I hope to recoup some funds to allay my expenses yesterday. Fingers crossed!

Computer woes.

I have just written a lengthy post at Patra's Other Place about my computer problems, so I'm not going to repeat it here, but I need to tell my readers that there might not be any more photos here for quite some time, i.e. until my computer is fixed (fingers crossed), or I get a new computer (highly unlikely).

This is what I've been doing lately.

The Round Robin I am presently working on belongs to Jan in the U.K., whose theme is Fantasy or Magic. This presented a challenge to me, as I don't have much in the way of that subject in my charts, but I eventually found something suitable in one of the Better Homes & Gardens cross stitch books. This is Pegasus, the Winged Horse. But he is so tiny in comparison to the other items stitched on the RR, I decided to add a Moon (complete with face) for Pegasus to jump over. I'm still working on that. Pegasus didn't take long to stitch, so I have been playing with some of my stash this month. I was showing a friend all my kits and UFOs, and two in particular begged me to make a start on them soon! Like most crafts-mad people, I can't resist adding to my stash when I visit Stitches and Craft Shows, and I bought these two kits a few years ago: a pair of napkins with teacup and patty cake to be appliqued on to them, and a patchwork wall hanging of three black cats. I've still got to finish the blanket stitch on the teacup, as well as hand stitching the binding on the napkins.
When I saw this completed wall hanging on display, I asked the stallholder if I could buy it and he said no, but you can buy the kit. I said "I don't do patchwork", and my friend Cheryl said "But I think you're going to learn!" And she was right. With the help of Sharon and Cheryl, I've got this far. I still have to finish the cats off, then put a black edge around the coloured border, and then put the padding and backing on it.

Antique American potholders

I have several American-born friends who married Australian men, and have lived here ever since. One of these ladies (D) told me that her Nanny stitched many articles for her and her sister over the years, and D brought most of them to Australia when she came to live here. She was showing them to me the other day, and bemoaning the condition they were in, with old stains that probably wouldn't come out. I said "Just lend them to me for a few days. I'll treat them to some Napisan magic". I think D will be delighted when she sees her Nanny's pot holders almost as good as new! She gave me her permission to photograph them for my blog.

Two small completions tonight.

These two are for Stitchin' Fingers swaps: A fabric postcard for Joy's birthday this month. This one incorporates a piece of a necktie - the brightly coloured bit. The other plain and small floral bits are scraps of fabric I had in a bag. Please note my newly acquired skill with Cretan stitch - not yet perfect, but at least it is recognisable! (If you still can't pick it, they are the dark blue and the light green seam embellishment stitches. The red seam embellishment stitch is detached chain stitch.) and my ATC for the July swap in the ATC Group. The theme was 'Purple - passionately purple!" so I gave this all I had. Every scrap from my stash of anything purple is in this ATC. I hope Sheila in Scotland isn't overpowered by it!!

My teapot for Amber's Round Robin.

When I suggested having a round robin on Stitchin Fingers' Cross stitch group, I asked the participants to choose their own theme. Amber and I both selected teapots or teacups, so it will be interesting when the RR is finished, to see if the other stitchers use the same design for teapots on both of our RRs! Here is the one I have just finished on Amber's RR:
This design was in the March issue (Issue 63) of Cross Stitch Gold, an English magazine. I avoid buying magazines regularly, because I don't want to end up with boxes of them (too late now), but I will buy one if there is something special in it that appeals to me. This issue had several patterns, including a cushion with cupcakes on it, as well as this teapot and a matching teacup. There are some other very nice patterns in the mag, so I won't be chucking it out for a long time yet!

Two more new patterns.

These are the other two designs I'd ordered from ABC Stitch Therapy. You only have to read the words to understand why I chose them!

New purchases.

Sharon and I visited Bustle & Bows needlecraft shop today, and when I found this redwork stitchery featuring chickens, I had to add it to my bag of goodies. I also bought some buttons and other bling to use on patchwork ATCs and FPCs.
As well as the apron I found today at an opshop (see my apron blog for a photo), I found these two little mats. They aren't really doilies, just squares, but nicely stitched.

And still more....

Like many of you, I continue to buy new patterns and stash, even though I know full well I have no hope of ever stitching them all. But you know how it is, you see something that is just so cute/pretty/stunning, you simply must have it in your stash. I've seen these patterns elsewhere on blogs and websites, and wondered where I could buy them. Somewhere along the line I stumbled across this great website called ABC Stitch Therapy (what a suitable name!), and discovered to my delight that they stocked just about all the patterns I have been after for months! These four arrived last week, and I have two more on the way. I've always loved the concept of mermaids, and hubby loves to fish, so this is destined to hang on a wall sometime soon!
Ladybirds are the cutest bugs, especially when they come in multicolours like these!
What is it about cupcakes that has taken the craft world by storm in recent years? They've been around since Adam was a boy, at every child's birthday party, and suddenly, what's old is new again.
This design is one of a series, but this is the only one I wanted. It is so typical of a cat who has just had his food placed on the floor in front of him, and he looks up at you as if to say "this is NOT what I ordered" - LOL!

Unique Fabric postcard

Joy is one of my new friends on the Stitchin Fingers website, and today I received this fabric postcard from her. It is made using the selvedge of various fabrics, embellished with some neat stitching and beadwork. Thanks, Joy - a lovely addition to my collection of FPCs!

Update on Peacock CQ

It's been a busy day (and night). Here it is at 1.45 am on Wednesday, and I'm only just posting these photos!! The second day of the patchwork class was as much fun as the first. Everybody made great progress on their blocks, and were mostly pleased with their efforts. It is fascinating to see the difference in tastes of colours and embellishments. Some girls used pale pastel colours, others went for floral, while there were only two for us who chose vibrant darker colours. I took the first photo below with my camera, but still wasn't happy with the colour reproduction, so I stuck the block under the scanner, and while the colours are more accurate, I couldn't fit the whole block in the picture.
I have several blogging friends to thank for their donations to this project. Sharon gave me the little golden peacock ages ago. Liz in Kansas sent me beads, several lengths of cord, ribbon and perle cotton in peacock colours, and the tiny brass peacocks which are not on here yet, but will be. Another blog swap partner whose name escapes me at the moment, sent me several pieces of green fabrics which I've used here. The 'feather' item on the purple fabric above the centre is an ear-ring I found at an opshop. I still have some lace to attach, some more stitching to do and beads to add, and then it will have a border around it. But I've got some other things to do before I finish this, so don't hold your breath waiting for the finish!

I'm off to Kinglake Middle Primary School tomorrow to deliver the last of Lorna's fabric postcards. There are 120 students there, and I only have 66 postcards left, so after a discussion with one of the teachers, we decided to give one postcard to each family, as there are 77 families represented at the school. So I had to make up some more quick cards tonight to fill in the gap!

Crazy Patchwork Class.

Our Guild is running a two-day class on Crazy Patchwork this week. I've never taken any 'real' lessons in this, and I decided two days is better than none at all, so I booked in. There are six students in our group, and today we created our block. Tomorrow the fun begins - we embellish! Our tutor Julie is an excellent teacher - she is very experienced in her field, and loves passing on all the special tips she has learnt over the years. She is also very friendly and patient, which makes the classes fun and relaxing for us all. She had brought a heap of fabrics and trims that we could use in addition to what we'd brought with us, and if she saw an opportunity to add some of her stash to our blocks, she would come over and show us where it could work. She added some lovely bits to mine after this photo was taken. Here is my block when I was still deciding what colours to use where. The colours in the photo aren't true to life; I don't know if it was because of the lighting in the room where we were working. My theme is Peacocks - something I have been saving fabric and bling for to do for ages! Julie watched while I selected fabrics, then made suggestions that I wouldn't have thought of, but realised immediately her judgement is far better than mine! For instance, once I'd cut the peacock for the centre, I wasn't going to use any more of that fabric, but Julie suggested I cut a section of tail feathers print out and use in a corner. Then she cut some more off, and we used that elsewhere. I could see the logic once it was done, but I just don't have the imagination to do it on my own. Come back here in 24 hours to see what the finished product looks like!

Fabric postcard from USA and ATCs from India.

Liz in Kansas sent me this darling fabric postcard for our Yahoo FPC Exchange Group. We'd agreed to make a kitty postcard for each other.
Liz also sent me some little extras - knowing my love for all things peacock, she sent these ribbons, beads, and bling.. I didn't realise what these two tiny little things were until tonight, when I laid them out to photograph - tiny wee little peacocks! How cute is that? Thank you so much, Liz! ********************************* Pallavi in India contributed some of her ATCs to the Bushfire Victims project. I asked for postcards, but I know the recipient of these unusual and very attractive ATCs will be delighted. Thank you very much, Pallavi!

A smaller spend up at Eltham Antiques..

On hearing that a friend had restocked her corner of the market with some new linens I just had to go and inspect them. I wasn't disappointed. And it didn't cost me much at all really - just $40. There was a huge pile of doilies and cloths, but here is what I brought home: A table runner and four napkins in Assisi work. Very old by the look of it, not done on Aida - it is on linen, and incredibly finely stitched. This is the reverse: Three of the napkins are just okay, but the fourth one... is badly torn where the napkin has obviously been folded for years, and the fabric has disintegrated. So I may just cut the stitched piece off and use it in a patchwork project.