I’m surprised that it’s been so long since I last posted!  It’s been a busy few days.  Cathy’s Exhibition opening was wonderful – her work is just gorgeous and I am saving for my favourite piece, Reef.  There was lovely food and drink, terrific company, and Cathy was just glowing!  A superb evening.

Then what else have I been up to?  A busy Friday doing general house/kids sorts of things (and a drink with other mums after school) then my parents came to visit.

Mum, Clare and I went to the Craft and Quilt Fair at Jeff’s Shed on Saturday morning.  We started off by looking through the Quilt Exhibition.  It was brilliant.  So many talented quilters!  We were particularly interested in the Art Quilts that were on display, moreso than the traditional styles.  It shows how our tastes change – I never used to have any interest in art quilts whatsoever and now I am really drawn to them.  Once I’ve made enough quilts to go on beds I might start producing artwork!  Our day was punctuated with plenty of stops for coffee and snacks.  Clare had her face painted and bought herself a doll with some birthday money she’d saved up.  She has named her doll “Julia”.

The lovely people at Dairing gave Clare some knitted tubing (just because she was looking cute, I suspect) and I bought her some felt beads from another stall to go inside it.  We’re planning on a couple of necklaces – one for her and hopefully one for me!  Great idea, don’t you think? Light, easy to make, easy to wear. We’ll knot between each bead.

I picked up a couple of cones of 2 ply Alpaca while I was at Dairing as well.

Mum bought some fine cotton and silk/stainless steel blend to knit a light scarf. Dairing stock many of the Japanese Habu Textiles yarns, and they’re not all that far away.  I’m planning on visiting their showroom some time soon.

We stopped to hear a panel discussion from Rosemary Whittaker, Julie Wallace and Prudence Mapstone.  Much interesting comment and information.  Then it was off to look at more yarn.  We really didn’t look at (or buy) any fabric – it was all about the yarn for us this time!  Mum particularly admired the jackets and vests at Signatur Handknits and we both indulged our yarny sides at Prudence Mapstone.

These will make a soft, light, fluffy scarf each. Just to decide on the perfect pattern!

We heard a very educational talk about colour from Reece Scannell and admired many other things as we wandered around.  We didn’t leave until around 4.00pm!  Surprisingly, I didn’t run into many people I knew – but they must have been there somewhere!  I waved at the Kelani Fabric ladies, who were absolutely swamped with customers every time I passed by, and drooled at Kellie’s latest quilt patterns, especially the Worry Dolls quilt.  Clare is certain that she can see herelf and Stella in it.

So, a busy day!  Then a busy Sunday doing everything that wasn’t done on Saturday, and back to work yesterday.  Now we’re off the pool for Stella’s swimming lesson – the pace really doesn’t let up!  I have finished off some crochet projects that I’ll show you soon, and the bathers are half done.

The front and back are sewn together and the leg bands are on. Now to do the bra inset panel, then the straps and edges. It’s coming together quite nicely but the big question is – will I be game enough to model it for you once it’s finished so you can actually see how it fits?