Fridays are the best

Why can't every day be Friday?  To be more specific, why can't every day be like yesterday?  The mid-winter weather took flight to be replaced by a day that could have been mistaken for mid summer.

We headed for the city in the afternoon to take in the Ron Mueck Exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), as it finishes on Sunday.  This London based Australian sculptor produces the most extraordinary work, and none if it life sized - it's either much larger than life or in miniature, as is the case with the gossiping women seen below.
  

The queues waiting to see the exhibition have been so long that they have meandered out of the Gallery and down towards the river.  Being clever folk (well, old age has to have some benefits) we left it until nearly four in the afternoon to make our presence felt - at the wrong gallery, the Queensland Art Gallery.  With fear in our eyes and with encouraging shouts behind us, we fled through the Art Gallery, across the concourse and into GoMA, just before the ticket booth closed.  How clever was that?  Visiting the exhibition with a small crowd AND heart-pumping exercise at the same time.

This new-born baby girl was huge, and the details were breath-taking.

On the other hand, the man in the boat was a small sculpture.

The Wild Man sat on a pedestal, towering over the viewers below.

Mask II had everyone intrigued ...

The detail was staggering ...

... and he was a bit of an air-head!

Coffee was calling, so we strolled across the new foot bridge to the city,

taking in the glorious warm late afternoon sun.

The coffee was good, as was the lemon tea cake.  Couldn't work out if the text in chocolate sauce was for my benefit or the waitress.  Either way, at least there was no mistaking what I had ordered.

As the sun set, it was time to head for the BrisStyle Indie Twilight Markets. 

People were leaving their offices, school students and families were there as well and before long it seemed that the whole of Brisbane was mingling, taking in the markets.

 

Note the classy sales assistant to the left at the Hungry Designs stall, decked out in her 'Forties gear!

Samantha of Jetta's Nest was kept busy all evening.

Melanie's Kimono Reincarnate was another very popular haunt.

These adorable elephants at Nan's Garden sold like hot cakes.

As darkness set in the band arrived to add to the atmosphere and it was time for us Fudges to head home.

Why can't every day be a Friday?

From the Heart

It was Grandparents' Day at our grandchildren's school this morning.  Mr Fudge and I scrubbed up pretty well and arrived in plenty of time for the children's Mass.  Our little Prep School redhead was all smiles when she saw that we were in attendance, along with her mother and two little sisters.  Her big brother was busy in Grade 1 and her daddy was busy teaching at another school.

Afterwards we were proudly shown her classroom - a childhood heaven filled with coloured pencils, art paper, books, artwork, and no sign of nasty textbooks.  Why can't every year be a Prep year?  Little Miss Fudgelette wasn't interested in any of the delicious goodies laid out to tempt us for morning tea, preferring instead to improve her colouring-in techniques. 

She then presented us with this heart, with accompanying hugs.  Gosh.

On the way back to our car, we spied our grandson busily working away with a glue stick in his classroom.  When he looked up and caught sight of us, his face broke into the most delightful and surprised smile which made my heart turn to jelly.

A few days back we received an important looking letter in the mail, all the way from Sydney.  We opened it to discover this:

We will be staying with the Sydney branch of the family for a few days shortly and Miss Emily (also in Prep) was so excited she took pencil to paper and worked slavishly on this masterpiece.  Obviously that's Mr Fudge on the left with the grey hair, me in the middle with my miraculously natural brown hair, and the artist herself to the right.  Don't ask me what the black stuff is extruding from our mouths ...  

We immediately sent emails to her expressing our joyful thanks, and her mother tells us that she was  "beaming and preening herself in delight at the reception her picture received".

 Our rogue's gallery is running out of wall space.   

We are so lucky.  There are seven little Australians who think the sun shines out of us, and we'll lap it up for all it's worth.

Speaking of sun, when it goes down on Friday it will be time to join in the fun at the BrisStyle Indie Twilight Market.  It's mid-winter in Brisbane, but this will be the HOTtest spot in town - don't miss it!  

Winning

It's a good feeling, winning.  It's better when it's shared with around 40,000 close personal friends, or that's what it felt like last night at the Rugby Tri-Nations match which we attended to witness the Australian Wallabies defeat the South African Springboks 30-13.  The greatest casualties of the evening were the two lonely vuvuzelas which were drowned out by the enthusiastic home crowd. 

There's another winning team in Brisbane, albeit a much prettier and genteel one.  It's the BrisStyle Indie Twilight Market team and their next appearance will be at King George Square on Friday 30 July.  The last Twilight market was a stunning success, so if you are in Brisbane next Friday, head for the centre of the city and join in the fun.






















photo courtesy Kish Photography

I have had a busy week, adding to my diminished stock following sales at the recent Quilt Sitters' Exhibition. 

A client had ordered this dress, and I loved the combination so much that I made another for my Etsy shop.

I had been asked to make some dresses for one-year-olds and these two little dresses were added to my Etsy shop and sold overnight, so it's back to the sewing machine!

And All That Jazz

The rains held off, we built it, and they came.  JEMS Quilt Sitters' 13th Annual Exhibition took place over the weekend and was a raging success.

Anything that didn't move had a quilt thrown over it...

...or some bunting.

By the time we opened on Saturday morning, there was a healthy queue anxious to get in early. 

Those in the know headed straight for the Sales Room, where all sorts of hand-made goodness awaited the anxious buyers.  After that they relaxed a little, taking in the marvellous quilts.

As you can see, there was a wide variety of stunning quilts and considering we had to adhere to a strict set of rules (a little too complicated to explain here), it was quite amazing to see the results.  I wish I had room to show them all, but my poor computer would be crying out for mercy. 

My own quilt was was inspired by our recent overseas trip.  Our last port of call was a glorious week in our favourite city, Rome.  I manipulated some of my images in Photoshop before printing them out onto fabric.  I wanted to show how the ancient and modern meld so beautifully into today's Rome.

The refreshment room was busy all day, with people enjoying some time out to enjoy freshly ground coffee, tea, sandwiches, scones and slices.  Then it was time to hit the sales room again.  I was delighted with my sales of Hot Fudge clothing over the two days, selling several dresses and skirts, as well as cushions, library bags and traveller's shoe bags.  By the end of the first day the three trestle tables which had been laden with so many tempting goodies was looking a little sad, so we consolidated them onto two tables and covered the remaining table with beautiful quilts for sale.

On Sunday afternoon more crowds turned up to veg out to the cool sounds of Stitched Up Jazz.

Note the young ring-in playing his guitar next to his adored grandfather.

We were lucky to have not one but two wonderful vocalists, who sang all the classic hits of the jazz era.

And there was dancing.

The next generation are well and truly converted to jazz.  A perfect ending to a wonderful weekend.

Mission Impossible

Well, not quite - it is possible to be in two places at once if you plan ahead.  Take next weekend for instance.  Jems Quilt Sitters will be holding their annual exhibition on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 July, while BrisStyle will be holding their first Eco Market on Saturday 10 July.

Mid-winter in Brisbane is the time to get out and about, and what better way to spend the weekend than take in both a market and an exhibition?

What do a Roman cafe and exotic, fanciful birds have in common?  These are tiny glimpses of just two of the many art quilts which will be on display at the Jems Quilt Sitters' exhibition.  Historic Brookfield Hall is the perfect setting for this ever-popular weekend.  Apart from the stunning quilts, there will be a sales boutique where you can start your Christmas shopping super early.  There will be quilts for sale, as well as beautifully hand-crafted items from the very talented members of Quilt Sitters.  I will be selling my Hot Fudge label, so do stop by and say hello.

If you are partial to a little jazz, then come on the Sunday, bring along a picnic blanket or fold-up chairs and sit back for the most enjoyable afternoon filled with fun, laughter and music.  Oh, and there will be lashings of scones and cream, freshly made delicious sandwiches and coffee, tea or soft drinks.  Bliss.

To complete your shopping spree, take a trip out to Hamilton on Saturday to St Augustine's Church grounds and hall, where you will find the BrisStyle Eco Market in full swing. 

From top: Kitty Boo Boo, Cairo Made That, Edward and Lilly, Renee Treml, Little Jellygnite, and Ruby Red Studios.

This is a first for Brisbane, an Eco-friendly market where you can buy the most gorgeous items, knowing that you are doing something to help the environment.

So if you'd like to spend a few hours next weekend admiring stunning quilts, listening to some cool jazz, buying up big, or simply wanting to save Planet Earth, look no further.