The Stitch Gathering - The Event

So, its about time I wrote about the actual day rather than gushing on and on about the goodie bag, isn't it?!

I had an early start and headed off to Perth services to meet the lovely Vanessa who had very kindly offered people near her a lift in one of the Flickr discussion groups. I may have stretched the terms of "near" a bit ;-) but it was fantastic to get to know Vanessa on our journey through and most importantly it meant I wasn't walking into a room of strangers on my own. I get quite nervous and shy doing that sort of thing believe it or not!

Tea and coffee was on hand and Jo came over to greet us as we ended up sitting at a table with two of the teachers, Fiona & Julie

Goodie bags were distributed but I think I've covered that already!! Tickets were handed in and we were invited to find our nametag swap partners and have a chat.  Rhona made my gorgeous name tag which rather spookily matched my outfit perfectly and I love the little needles and scissors that border my name.

Jo did a little welcome speech and we were split into our morning classes and led to the classrooms. The view from the rooms were stunning but unfortunately I was too busy gassing to take any pics!

I did Jo's cathedral window class in the morning.  I'm not sure I would have been so calm and collected teaching to such a large group but Jo did a sterling job and we all learned the ninja origami fabric folding method required to make a cute wee Pincushion.  (Disclaimer, mine isn't actually finished yet but I shall endeavor to finish it. Those that know me will know I'm not a keen hand sewer so I'll have to apply the little and often method to get it done).

Next came lunch. Lets just say there was enough to feed a small army and it was thoroughly deliscious.

After lunch there was an fq swap closely followed by a lucky dip and show and tell.

My afternoon class was foundation paper piecing with Katy. I really enjoyed it and after the initial bout of confusion I think I'm safe to say that I've mastered the technique and am adding a little bit to my unfinished class project each day. Some people did struggle in the class but Katy was on hand to offer help and support or even just a reassuring nod to signal we were on the right track. Oh and we even got cupcakes half way through the class to stop us flagging. Baked by Katy herself no less!

After classes finished we packed up and trooped round to Avery Homestore to have a last look at the Modern Quilt exhibition. Jo had bubbles and canapes ready for us as we wandered around chatting, shopping and voting for our favourite entries.

Closing speeches were had and prizes were given to the thoroughly well deserved winners. We retrieved our quilts and headed home.

Everyone agreed it was an absolutely amazing day and I know I'm waiting patiently (well sort of) to hear when the next one is!!!

The Stitch Gathering - The Goodie Bag

I thought the goodie bag deserved a post in its own right as it was so fantastic and another post shall follow about the day itself.

It was presented in an amazing liberty bag of the softest, finest cord fabric and I absolutely love the colours of the bag I was given, it would make a lovely skirt!

It was absolutely stuffed full of treats including:

- a bundle (7, I just counted!) of fat quarters from Robert Kaufman
- some Aurifil thread (I can't wait to try this out as everyone raves about it)
- the bag and a piece of lawn fabric from Liberty (again I lucked out on the colour of this one and already have an idea of what to do with it!)
- a frixion pen from Pilot
- some fabby wheat free biscuits from Nairns which Mr P has already snaffled and assures me were most delicious. Thanks for that!
- some buttons and thread from The Button Company
- a rainbow scrap pack of more Liberty fabrics from Very Berry Fabrics (totally in love with these)
- some hexagon paper pieces and fabric from Webfabrics.net
- 10 1000m spools of frister & rossman thread from Sewing Machines Direct

And lastly but not least of all:
- 2 fat quarters of fabric, 2 skeins of embroidery thread, a packet of Milward needles, a spool of coats hand quilting thread, a cute zip broach, a thread and yarn cutter, a Coats Crafts UK shopper tote, a bottle of water, a cuddly toy....... No not really but everything except the cuddly toy!

I cannot thank the sponsors (who also included Beechwood Quilting, Coats, Groves & Banks and Avery Homestore) enough for their generosity and of course major kudos to Jo and the rest of the Stitch Gathering team for organising and hosting such a wonderful event.

I could go on and on and gush some more but shall leave that for my next blog post where l'll try to do my best to summarise the actual day itself.

Work in Progress Wednesday

So all weekend my bundle of Rock n Romance was taunting me from my studio. I just couldn't stop thinking about the lovely prints and knew it was time to do something with it.

I've had it for a while now and from time to time I take it off the shelf pat it, look at it, wonder what the hell I'm going to do with it then put it back on the shelf. (I probably should point out that I'd originally bought this for a BOM but couldnt bring myself to use it for that purpose) (I should also point out that I bought the whole line so still have around 12 fq's left)

I needed a pattern that was going to be big enough to show off the prints. Cutting them up into tiny bits wasn't going to do it for me and I was starting to wonder if inspiration would ever hit. Then last week whilst checking Twitter, someone mentioned this tutorial and I knew instantly that it would be perfect and very importantly, quick.

On Monday I cut out all the squares and halved those that needed to be. This took less than 2 hrs. I got a bit sidetracked yesterday meeting a friend for lunch so no progress was made.  Today I've sewn all the hst's together, ironed and trimmed them and joined them together into rows. I've sewn 3 rows together but was rushing so have to unpick and redo one of them as well as add the final one on. This can wait til tomorrow now.

I got batting today and have ordered the binding fabric and the backing is going to be good old Ikea numbers text print.  Hopefully I'll have a finished top tomorrow and a finished quilt sometime next week!

Scottish Modern Quilt Exhibition

This year the Edinburgh festival has been taken over (this may be a slight exaggeration) by modern quilts. Jo has obtained official fringe venue status for her shop, Avery Home Store, and is holding the Scottish Modern Quilt Exhibition.

The fringe venue in question is no 347, its in the official Edinburgh Festival guide and everything! If you're in the vacinity try to pop by and show your support.

There are lots of lovely quilts on display including mini quilts, bee quilts, swap quilts and a few cushions and bags.  You might even spy a little something or 2 by yours truly!!!

It starts this Saturday (3rd) and runs on until the 25th August.  Do pop in if your passing and see if you can spot my scrappy trip around the world quilt and my tiny town wall hanging. 

Small Blog Meet

So this month I've taken the plunge and added my linky to Lynne's small blog meet.  I've already had a look at the 3 links above me and added them to my blog list through Feedly.  Later on I'll check back and add some more.

This is a great idea for blogs with fewer than 50 followers to get some exposure and a fantastic opportunity to find some new sewing quilty blogs.