Trip to Melbourne ~ Part One

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Warning - Photo Heavy Post !

Recently I was lucky enough to travel to Melbourne, Australia with 3 friends from my little craft group.  

We decided to fly over for the big Craft & Quilt Fair held annually in Melbourne.

We were able to get accommodation at The Victoria Hotel which is in Little Collins Street, right in the CBD.

(Mum & I did 4 trips to Melbourne together after Dad passed away, Mum's brother lived in outer Melbourne.  I found this trip entirely different, far more enjoyable & relaxing & I guess you perceive things differently depending on whom you are with & what you are there to experience.  Mums brother was always "a difficult man" & this always reflected on our stay)

 

Here I am attempting a selfie - Liz, Sharlaine, Gail & myself on the right.

I have decided to split this into two posts as I have downloaded over 250 photos & I won't bore you with them all.   Our first day was spent at the Craft & Quilt Show & I will share those photos in my next post, which I've already begun writing.  These photos are in no particular order & I apologise in advance for this long post.

After a couple of days we mastered the art of the trams, free throughout the CBD ... we knew to look out for No 96!

We truly walked miles throughout this amazing city.  There were so many laneways & little side streets to wander down, never knowing what treasure you may come across.  It was all such a vision for the senses.

We crossed the Yarra River Bridges many times ... look at those clear blue skies ... we were so incredibly lucky with the weather during our stay.

We went looking for the Botanical Gardens, got lost, & instead wandered the Alexandra Gardens.

Some art in a cafe/bar we had lunch in, on the side of the Yarra River.

This was a cafe by Flinders Station - I took this pic for my friend Carolyn who does mosaic work.  The entire wall was made of tiny mosaiced pieces.

We went to the National Gallery of Victoria as Liz wanted to see the Cartier Exhibition that was on there.

It is not something I would normally choose to visit but I am so glad I did.  It was amazing.  

I took so many photos but I will just share the one above as it was my favorite of all the pieces.  I love anything Rosary & this necklace & bracelet were stunning.  It was very dark inside & tricky to photograph.  

We visited the Crown Casino  ...  to view Not to gamble 😉

We found three men-in-the-street that Gail tried to get to come home with us 😜 ... she is a hoot !!  

By the look on his face he was not so keen !!

The street art was amazing & I am sure we only saw a fraction of it.  We loved wandering the iconic laneways taking in all the street art.

Back at the Gardens, the words "Melbourne" were planted in white Alyssum & due for a trim the Gardener told us.  

Lots of coffee stops along the way.

We discovered the most amazing Cake Shop Brunetti's.  Cakes, slices, pastries - it was like heaven in a glass cabinet.

Unfortunately we only discovered it on our last day & we all agreed that this was possibly a good thing as otherwise we may have needed bigger seats on the plane home (!!)

Downstairs to Dymocks Bookstore where they were having free wine & cake to celebrate their birthday.  I bought a beautiful 2027 Cath Kidston Diary.

Looking upwards  .  .  .  .  

Over 7 feet tall, figures Gog & Magog in the historic Royal Arcade.

 Some gorgeous boutique-style shops in here.

The well-know Desgraves Street where the centre is filled with tables, chairs & heaters, & each side is lined with different cafes & restaurants.

We ate dinner two nights in a row here, pasta one night & then a shared pizza with wines.  It was wonderful to sit next to the heater - we all really loved the atmosphere of this Street.

Well of course we went Up the Escalator to the Yarn Store & purchases were definitely made.  

On our last day I tried to convince our random-man-friend to come home with me but was not successful.  

All too soon it was time to head to the airport for our flight home.  It was a wonderful time away but, as always, wonderful to be Home again too.  

I shall be back soon with Part two - the Quilt Show.

Thank you for staying here through this long post dear friends.  Blogger has only just updated my reading list after more than a week so I am slowly visiting you all again now. 

Sending much love & friendship to you all,

Welcome to September ~ (& Spring 🌻)

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Welcome to the arrival of Spring down here at the bottom of the world  💗

Last Monday, the very last day of August, marked 3 years since my dear Mum left this world..  I picked flowers, burnt a candle & played her favorite Topp Twins songs all day long.  Hard to believe it is 3 years.

 The arrival of spring has not seen any improvement in our temperatures & it is still chilly here.  These two have                                        started tucking up together again after a period of hissing & spitting at each other.

Last Friday Alec (Taupo Grandson) had a teacher-only-day & as his parents both had appointments in Hamilton, he got dropped off here for the day.  He had texted me & asked if he could bring his friend Jaxon for the day.  Yes of course.  We went into town briefly as I had some things to collect & then bought pizzas on the way home & had a movie-&-pizza-lunch.  

In an attempt to get them off their devices I told them We are going to make candles (!!) Gail had given me a box of glassware that was being thrown out from the Op-shop where she volunteers.  I got them to choose a glass each, insert the wick, heat the soy wax in the microwave, choose a fragrance (this was interesting - Alec chose lemon, Jaxon chose rose) & then pour the wax in.  Once it began to set we pressed some lavender flowers into the tops.  Here they are removing the wick holders.  I've forgotten to get a photo of them both with their finished articles but they were chuffed to be able to take home a gift for their Mums.  

When I went away to my sewing retreat last June, I wrote about my thrifted finds in * this post *  

I'd done nothing with the wooden mirror (blue arrow) as I couldn't find a space for it in my entire home, being that it was a freestanding mirror & not a wall mirror. 

 I decided to bring in a bow-front china cabinet that I had out in my cottage ... I'd been tossing up this idea for awhile & thought it would look great with the mirror as it was the same wood.  

While Alec & Jaxon were here I got them to help me carry it over (to be honest they were no help whatsoever but we did try)

I removed a half round table from this space & the cabinet fit perfectly.  I soon filled it with china from my home.  I'd also removed a ladder that displayed some quilts on it awhile ago, washed the quilts & I folded some & stacked in the bottom shelf - I thought they looked good.  

The Oak mirror fit perfectly on the top along with the velvet chatelaine I made in * this post *.  I tied some matching velvet ribbons around my candles & was so happy with the end result.

Candle holders thrifted back in this post.  I'm pleased I didn't give them the rust treatment like I'd intended.

This bow-front cabinet came from my sister in law - she no longer wanted it & I got it not long before I closed my craft cottage.

  It is wonderful to finally be enjoying it & I am so glad I bought it into the house.  

There has not been a lot of crafting going on but I do enjoy my dishcloth knitting & the pile continues to grow, which will be handy leading up to Christmas as I love to tuck these into gift packages.

It's nice to have some handwork in the evenings & I fussy cut these Tilda fabrics from last Christmas & made into some felt decorations.  These are nice tucked into a Christmas card.  I absolutely loved this Tilda Christmas fabric range.

A couple of years ago I purchased some pre-painted panels from Barb Smith of Theodora Cleave.  This one I made into a stocking, backed with some gorgeous Tilda & I sewed one of the painted birds into a label for my stocking.  I enjoy these simple projects.

I have a wee tale about a cat named Mittens.   Two years ago in * this post * Alec's parents rescued a tiny kitten from a roadside & gave her a home - Alec named her Lexie.  Lexie has grown but has remained quite skitterish & a very nervous cat so Sarah thought she would get another cat/kitten for Lexie to have a friend.   The family went to the local SPCA & chose this cat named Allie, bought her home with all her paperwork & settled her in.   A week later the SPCA rang them & said we've given you the wrong paperwork - that cat you have is called Mittens & was found abandoned in Taumaranui.   Goodness me!!  Of course they kept her as they'd fallen in love with her but its been quite a long road to settle her & finally - Lexie has accepted her & they've become "mostly friends." 

Sarah sent me through this photo two nights ago of them both on the chair by the fire.  That is Lexie in front & Mittens in the back.  How wonderful - hopefully as time goes by, they will become very-good-friends.

Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,

I am off next week on a short trip across the pond so I will catch up with all your posts upon my return,

Remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,

Scrappy Sewing ~ Part Two ~

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Yesterday was a beautiful almost-spring-day here so my friend Shirley & I went on a little Outing to this gorgeous Patchwork Shop out by the airport.  After that we drove to The Daffodil Farm & each purchased some bunches of daffs.  This certainly made us feel very spring-like 🎕💛

When we went to Retreat last June, one of the ladies there - Mary Anne, taught Leeanne & I a new scrappy patchwork technique.  I was fascinated & keen to give it a try using up some of my treasured vintage Tilda scraps.

 

This is the technique above that Mary Anne uses. 

 I had purchased a length of steam-a-seam from my local store as I only had vliesofix.  I cut a length of soft-&-stable & lay my steam-a-seam on top, peeling off both layers.

I tipped out my bag of scraps & chose the pieces I wanted to use, deciding on shapes, ironing them & cutting the edges with my pinking shears.  You don't have to do this but I chose to.  It took awhile before I was happy with my layout.  Then I carefully ironed the entire piece.  Then you lay your tulle over the top.  

MaryAnne, through trial & error, has found the pale blue tulle is the one that blends in the best.  She has tried all colours including white, cream & pale grey but says pale blue is the softest.  Thankfully my local store had pale blue tulle in stock.

Using a friction pen I drew quilting lines down my piece ready for sewing.  

(apologies for the poor photos - it was a dull rainy day)

Sewn down & ready to trim the edges.  I just chose to do a simple vertical quilting line .. I would've quite liked to do free motion swirly quilting but wasn't confident enough. 

Edges trimmed.  

By this stage I'd decided it was a good size to make a simple wrap pouch.  Although I've seen them with raw or pinked edges I chose to bind mine & happened to have a nice soft pink binding in my stash already.  

Sewing the binding on - machined first, then folded over & hand sewn.

I forgot to mention I used a vintage cotton sheet for my lining as I didn't have any contrasting fabric that was large enough.  My lining looks quite puckered here but nothing that a good steam iron didn't fix.  
Can you spy the little label I attached ?? 🐾

Front View                                         Back View

Once I was happy with it I added a leather Handmade label & handstitched a lace heart/bow to the corner.  I am hoping this doesn't make it look too much like a Pyjama Bag (!!)

My pouch measures 27 cms x 22 cms when closed, so a good medium size.

My first attempt at this scrappy sewing technique & now I am keen to do more  💗

I absolutely adore the Vintage Tilda ranges & the newly released ranges don't make my heart sing in any similar way. 

 I should mention, this scrappy technique using the Tulle is the same technique that Janice used to embellish her denim jacket with an eyecatching scrappy panel back in this post.

After I mentioned to Maureen about the cushion I had made from her cross-stitch in my last post, she tossed me a bag of aida cloth scraps - in the bottom were a couple of partially finished cross-stitches.  She informs me these are not her work but have been gathered over the years.  I decided to cut this large one down & make a lavender pouch, which turned out really lovely.  

I wasn't sure about this "A" but then remembered my step daughter-in-law's name Ainsley,  so I sewed it into another lavender pouch backed with some Tilda.  My sewing room smelled so nice when I walked past the door with all the lavender in there.  I will tuck this in with her Christmas parcel. 

When Shirley & I arrived home from our Outing yesterday a large box was waiting for me.  Pam had offered me some patterns as she was having a destash in her sewing room.  She'd tucked in so many other crafty treasures - it was like Christmas opening the box.  When I messaged Pam to thank her I told her the gift was a double whammy as look who else got pleasure from it .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

A nice clean new box - how wonderful (!!) 😻

And No, she didn't wait for me to tuck a blanky in there first.

Thank you so very much Pam - from both Pippi & myself 💛

Last months photo                                            Yesterdays photo

Finally, the pansies that I transplanted in this post last month were large enough to pot on into containers.  It has felt like a long growing season for them & I've now moved them from my hospital corner out to the hothouse. Hopefully they flower before too long as pansies succumb to mildew here in our climate, once the warmer weather comes.  

Thank you as always dear friends, for your ever-welcome visits here today,

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,