You know some mornings when you wake up that it's going to be a great day and yesterday was one of those mornings. What a wonderful time of the year it is, mid-Spring and the heat of Summer is a while away yet.
I had been trying to get together with fellow members of
BrisStyle for some time, but one thing or the other prevented it. So it was decided to meet yesterday the
Handmade Expo which is run monthly at Ipswich, west of Brisbane. Tony came with me for the drive, as we had plans to take in a movie later in the day. Silly me - I left my camera at home, so I can't show you the fun we all had. A few other BrisStyle family members came along and were very patient either looking after the young children, or taking in walks or reading while we girls enjoyed each other's company after such a long break.
Some BrisStyle girls had stalls at the expo and as we hadn't met a few of them, it was a great opportunity to drop by to say hello. If you are visiting Brisbane or Ipswich, check out the expo dates from their home page (link above) and you will be assured of a marvellous day, browsing through a wide variety of very tempting handmade goodies, from children's clothing to jewellery, hand-dyed yarns, and so much more.
Then Tony and I took ourselves off to the movies to see the Coen Brothers' latest release, Burn After Reading. If you are a Coen Brothers fan, don't miss this one - it's a classic. Of course, I won't give away the plot, unlike our five-year-old grandson Stephen, who on his visit to us last weekend was telling me how much he had enjoyed a movie the family saw during the school holidays. For obvious reasons, I won't name the movie, because you may want to see it. Stephen's eyes were glowing as he was recalling parts of the movie, which he assured me was both funny and sad, when his father said, "Now Stephen, don't say any more, because Grandma wants to see that movie." To which he replied, "Don't worry Dad - I wasn't going to tell her about the part where he dies!" What would you do without grandchildren?
I bought the latest issue (Christmas issue) of
Australian Patchwork & Quilting while we were out, as I heard that there was a feature on Jems Quilt Sitters and our upcoming exhibition - the reason for my current quilting panic. Sure enough, the magazine somehow fell open at Page 82 and I found myself staring back at me from the pages, standing in the middle of a group of fellow quilters. I immediately resolved (again!) to get serious about that diet.
My daughter in Sydney had ordered some fabric overseas to be sent directly to me to make some clothes for her little three-year-old, and when the parcel arrived I fell in love with the fabric so much that I put aside the quilt construction (no panic - I still have a couple of weeks) to make a pair of pants out of some wonderful Echino fabric featuring Vespas.
I love this design so much that it really hurt to cut into it, but I was keen to see how it would look, so I took a deep breath and slashed away. I was really happy with the results.
Next on the list was yet another Echino design, this time for Emily's little brother Chris, who loves planes.
I decided that shorts would look best in this fabric.
I posted them down and in no time my daughter contacted me to thank me profusely, but admitted that she hadn't shown the clothes to the children yet, as there had been a little drama at the child minding centre that day, involving Emily, a pair of scissors, and a new hair style. However, after an emergency visit to a real hairdresser the next morning, calm was restored to the kingdom and I must say I love the new look.
As Shakespeare said:
All's well that ends well!
A dear friend had given me some buttons which she had bought in a moment of frenzied madness and decided later she would never use. So these little heart-shaped buttons have found a new home - they were just perfect for the finishing touch.
I know the quilt has to be made, but a parcel of the most gorgeous fabric has arrived and I am anxiously awaiting two more parcels which are due this week. Oh, the temptation to lay the quilt aside is almost overwhelming, but it's time for will power to take over and push aside these delicious distractions and get cracking.
