Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair

I went to the Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair last Thursday. I didn't have particularly high expectations. In recent years the fair has become much less about the quilts and more about a range of crafts that are not really 'me'.

Lots of shops with an overwhelming impression of 'brown'. I don't mind a bit of brown but I do need a LOT more color in my crafting world!!

Also, the quilt show has had a tendency to show many of the same quilts over and over again which is frustrating.

This year was actually a very pleasant surprise. Still plenty of 'brown' shops but a great variety of fun and funky retailers including some gorgeous friends I enjoyed catching up with:

Jodie is always fun and so very sweet!!

This is a tiny corner of her award winning booth. She's on the Google you know!

Emma is also incredibly friendly and her new fabrics and quilt patterns are making a huge splash around the globe.
You should totally check them out!!

The lovely Melly was there as well selling her fabulous fabrics and softie patterns.

And so was her gorgeous sister Rosalie who has pretty new fabrics and patterns to share also.

I got to meet Morgan of the Crafty Squirrel and couldn't resist buying some of her vintage sheet goodness.

Emma was there from Treehouse Textiles showing off the gorgeous new BOM that she and Cathy have co-designed.

I also got to meet Leslie who is the very clever designer behind Maze & Vale. Such beautiful fabrics!!

And then there was Robyn and Buffy over at The Strawberry Thief selling the most divine selection of Liberty fabrics.

The quilt show had some lovely new (or perhaps new-to-me) entries.

I must apologise that I neglected to take down the names of the above quilters. :(

But I do know that this incredible quilt was made by the very clever Karen of Quilts on Bastings.

No surprises that she won awards for her machine quilting:

I had a play with a long-arm quilting machine (with my name written on the sign above ... meant to be ;-)  )

I'm no competition for Karen but I was pleased with my brief freehand efforts.

I also loved the wall of crafty poppies meant to commemorate the soldiers who have served our country:

Other than all of the lovely people I already mentioned, I got to spend the day hanging out with Judy, Melissa, Louise, Nadia, Marie and Helen. 

Great company! Much shopping! Much fun!

Andi xx

Craft Camp

I LOOOOVE going away on craft camp. 

Two whole days of stitching, sharing, eating, drinking and fabulous company!!

Last weekend was no exception ....

Lots of fabric:

Loads of yummy food:

Pickles have become a staple of our menu!

Soup is the best winter lunch!!

Colorful and yummy!!

We even had patchwork pie!!

Of course we made lots of stuff too:

This was Tina's second ever quilt! So gorgeous!!

Lisa is expecting a new baby niece/nephew. 

Mary's beanie had 'glow-in-the-dark' thread all through it!!

Judy's hand stitching was gorgeous!

Tina and Louise concentrating hard!

Helen's plan was to start working through her yarn stash!

I made some stuff too!!

Such an incredible weekend. A shame it had to end. Wanna go again!!

Andi xx

Some actual quilts!!!

It is very exciting to start seeing some pixel quilts being made by our YouPatch customers. Check out these two wonderful examples:

The incredible Victoria Findlay Wolfe was our very first YouPatch customer. She created a pixel quilt pattern of her daughter with a plan to make it for her birthday. And this crafting dynamo actually made it in time for the May deadline. Check out that smile on Miss Beatrice's face. She loves it!! And so do I. What an incredible job she did!!

You can read more about the birthday quilt over at this blog post.

Another very happy pixel quilt birthday kid!!! Have a closer look at his t-shirt!! ;-)

This one was made by the very talented Lisa Lee for her minecraft loving son. (You can check out her etsy shop here). I love how Lisa has used some printed fabrics in her quilt. It makes this very quirky quilt even quirkier!!

My son has seen this quilt and is already begging me for a quilt just like it for HIS birthday. I'm going to be a busy Mama!!

Thanks to both Victoria and Lisa for giving me permission to reproduce these pics of your gorgeous quilts with your gorgeous children!!

Have you started working on your YouPatch quilt pattern? I'd LOVE to see some pics of your work.

Andi xx

Local lovelies!

It's so great living in a city with so many lovely little local stores, galleries and markets. I know that many cities around the world have a thriving arts community but I feel so grateful to live in Melbourne where the unpredictable weather means we have to seek indoor entertainment options. And in Melbourne, that means great food, festivals, film, theatre, comedy and CRAFT!!!!

I was CERTAIN I had done a blog post about the Little Shop before but I just can't find it!! But I did find some old blog posts about the Mulgrave markets and, of course, Amitie. In addition to these gorgeous local crafty attractions, I thought I'd show you a couple more today.

Breslin Gallery and Cafe is the brainchild of local artist, Anthony Breslin. He has taken a local church in my neighbourhood and converted it into a gorgeous space filled with beautiful artwork (his own as well as a selection of other talented people) and has installed a cafe that serves great coffee and a delicious selection of wholesome foods. Here are some pics ...

A gorgeous piece by Mr Breslin himself.

A patchwork coat!! Made from all recycled materials.

I love how the artist, Sara Catena, has actually embroidered onto the canvas.

And so much more!!!!

And more recently, an enterprising school mum has opened a new shop called Amarillo Plus, selling a gorgeous selection of artisan wares. She has pieces that appeal to kids and adults alike and a ton of stunning home-wares. I wanted to take everything home with me ... or perhaps it would just be easier if I simply moved in to the shop!! ;-)

Check it out .....

So much gorgeousness!!

I hope you are all looking forward to a great weekend. Get out and explore your local area!!

Andi xx