Pot of Gold

There really is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, well rainbow swap that is! This week I received a gorgeous package in the mail from my Rainbow Swap partner, hosted by Trash Can

The parcel was from Kate at Kate's Quilting (& other Fibre Arts) Blog and it was full of some yummy goodies

The chocolate didn't last more than 5 minutes after the photo shoot, devoured by my son and hubby and a wee bit by me. The candle has a sweet Vanilla scent and the lemon bath bomb is living in a drawer now giving everything a fresh smell. The mini quilt is so bright and cheerful and I think it'll make it to my office to brighten the dull walls up.

Thank-you so much Kate for all the work you've put into this swap, it is greatly appreciated and will be cherished forever! My parcel hasn't reached it's destination yet but it should be almost there. I forgot to take a photo of the goodies I sent so stay posted and as soon as there's a post about it I 'll direct you to my partner's blog.

PS Thank-you to Trashy for inviting me to join this swap and being a good first time swap mumma, everyone's gotta start somewhere!

Australian Quilt Market

Australian Quilt Market is awesome! For all those people that have to buy retail let me tell you that you're missing out. This is the place to meet all your favourite designers, see all the latest projects and fabrics and catch up with just about anybody whose in the business of quilty related goodness.

Leonie, Helen and I jetted off bright and early last Friday to Melbourne. We spent a few hours buying props for the stand, had a quick lunch at a pub before heading to the Exhibition Centre to set up Here's the Pattern Press Stand in all it's glory

Pattern Press distributes patterns for The Quilted Crow, Hugs 'n Kisses, Chitter Chatter, One Red Robin, Moonshine Designs, Emroideroo and Miss M. It was so good to see all their original work up close. I love Chitter Chatter's quilts, there's so much detail in them and Jhoanna's softies just need a big hug! Jhoanna helped out on Saturday too, she's the loveliest person and can you believe I didn't think to get my camera out to get a photo with her.
The Quilted Crow's new BOM 1864 by Leonie is worth a look, stunning wool felt on cotton background, I'm sure Leonie will post a good pic on her blog for you all to see and Hugs'n Kisses new BOM Life is Beautiful is a must see too.

I met up with some well known bloggers Kerri, Julie, Jodie, Annie, Andi, Corrie and Leanne , make sure you visit their blogs you might find a few pictures there. It was like meeting up with long lost friends, luckily I was able to have a break from the stand to have a coffee and a laugh with some of these girls.
I also met this very talented lady too

Kelly, from Don't Look Now and she's as lovely as those pretty quilts she makes. Jan from Sewjourn was behind the camera, thank-you Jan for the chopping board and knife, at least we got to share our Tassie fudge!

After a quick pack up on Sunday afternoon we flew back to Tassie, totally exhausted! I'm still recovering!!

Next post I'll show you some of the goodies I bought!

***Attention Advent Swappers***

Hello Advent Swappers!
Time is swiftly sneaking up on us and it's almost time to have those advent parcels winging their way around the globe.
Arlene's is in the mail already so Ann Christine you better start stalking the postie!
Remember parcels must be mailed by the 9th November, please email me so I know they've been sent and email me when you receive one too. Then we'll see how patient you all are until December when we open a gift each day!

**Updated 19/11/09

Bunny posted
Peg posted

Annette J posted and received
Iris posted and received

Ailsa posted and received
Karol-Ann posted and received

Simone posted and received
Vickie posted and received

Kerstin posted
Maree posted

Kathryn posted
Simona posted

Clare posted
Ani posted

Shiela posted
Fransesca T

Dori posted
Melinda posted

Teresa posted and received
Annette posted and received

Ankie posted and received
Arlene posted and received

Marlene posted
Sigrid posted and received

Laurie posted and received
Isabella posted and received

Valentina posted
Rebecca posted and received

Gai posted
Cici

Fransesca G posted
Shirley

Rachelle posted and received
Micki posted and received

Helen (Helz) posted
Nancy posted

Betsy posted
Shiree

Elisa posted
Carol Ann posted

Rachel posted
Cheryl-lee

Sharon posted
Rosemary

Krystle
Valeria

Michelle
Antonia

Mrita
Sandra

Jeanette
Jenny

Jo
Maree

(keep watch here as I'll update who has posted to who as soon as I hear!)
blue complete
black half way
red - I haven't heard from you

P.S. If you can find the link to "The Stitching Cow" on my sidebar there's a great giveaway to be in

MOVEMBER

My Big Brother is taking part in Movember. I'm sure by now you have heard about it but for those not in the know Movember is an annual month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men's health issues, specifically prostate cancer and depression in men. To date Movember has raised AUS $60 million globally and as a result male awareness of health issues has improved. See here for more info .
So now my Bro needs your support, click his handsome face to be taken to his Mospace, then hit the donate to me button.

Make sure you save his Mospace to your favourites so you can see just how long that caterpillar gets and leave your vote after the 15th November.

A big thanks to all in anticipation that we can help him grow that Mo!!

Quilted Crow's Christmas Gathering 2009

What a huge weekend! Saturday was the 6th Gathering held by Leonie and Dierdre from The Quilted Crow. The guest tutors were none other than Rosalie and Leanne and they provided some lovely projects for us to work on. Leonie and Dierdre also provided some gorgeous projects too.

As you can guess I didn't get much stitching done as I was too busy chatting and if you visit Fiona's blog you can also see I was busy eating too! Thanks Fiona for letting the bloggers see me enjoying a rather ginormous piece of Rocky Road!

Fiona

I asked all the bloggers to wear something for halloween to win a little prize and Cathy took out the honors with her caldron filled with fantales,minties and sherbies and topped with the cutest spider, if you can ever class a spider as cute! She was also adorned in jewellry and a witches hat.

I should also mention Dierdre has the most awesome collection of halloween decorations that she proudly displayed in the hall and you have to check out her shoes here.

Here's a pic of Mum and I wearing our Halloween Fascinators, bit hard to see but I had spiders dangling off chains down the side of my head.

And what's a gathering without a pic with the guest tutors so here is Helen, Rosalie, Leanne, Me and Sarah all sharing a smile. Sarah, Helen, Mum and I were lucky to get a sneak peak at three of the blocks for Leanne's new BOM that will be released at Australian Quilt Market in two weeks, it's very pretty and includes some of Rosalie's lovely fabrics. OOh did I mention that I'll be going to Quilt Market with Helen, be sure to pop by the Pattern Press stand if you're going and say Hi!

The other bloggers that attend the gathering were Helen, Cathy, Leanne (aka Lizzie), Sarah, Fiona, Christine and Lisa, be sure to pop by their blogs to see more photos, some have photos of the projects on their blogs.

Christine

Cathy and Leanne

Sarah

I'll leave you with pics of the 80 + name tags and bag tags I made for the gathering with a little help from my Mum and Valerie, thank-you both for your help. It's the little touches that make the gatherings all the more special.

Australian Army Cadets = Good Times

Valerie just sent me this, this is us after an obstacle course, think it was1985 whilst we were on Annual Camp. We looked like a pair of drowned rats. I always remember the officers saying when you shower be sure to check for leeches!! YYuukk! Thankfully there were none on me!

Good Times!

Pressies from Valerie

About time I show you the lovely goodies Valerie gave me. This gorgeous egg cupboard which is stylishly holding my fabrics at the moment was handmade by Valerie and her lovely hubby.

Valerie also bought me some xmas pressies and I had to open them whilst she was present and here they are, a beautiful whiskers and wings doll, it's even more lovely in real life

and a tea light holder that her hubby made from a wine barrel stave, I guess they come across a few of these in the Barossa Valley

Valerie is a very talented lady, she also does beautiful folk art, scrapbooking and is mother to three beautiful children. We met in High School and after over 15 years out of contact we found still have a strong bond. Maybe it was all those long hikes we did in Army Cadets where we got to share many laughs together that has made our friendship so strong, not too mention I think we're kindred spirits. Love you Valerie and I hope to visit next July!

Thank-you Cathy!

In the mail this week was a package from my lovely friend Cathy from Highland Quilter. I couldn't imagine what she'd be sending me and what a great surprise it was to find she's my Stitching Angel!

(This picture was bloglifted from Cathy's blog as I'm cameraless at the moment.)

The fabrics are gorgeous and her needlework is perfect. She kept her secret very well! Thank-you so much Cathy, I was very lucky to have you as my angel, I always love your work!

I promise next post I'll show you the goodies Valerie gave me for belated birthday and xmas but I couldn't wait until then I had to open them in front of her!

Playing Shopkeeper

Only a few more days in the shop to go and my lovely friends, Leonie, Deirdre and Helen return from Houston. Can't wait to hear all about their adventures and see what yummy goodies they bring home.

So here's where I've spent the last two weeks!

Welcome to The Quilted Crow,

I've been amongst a great collection of antique furniture, bits and pieces,

the most gorgeous wools, including their own specialty of hand-dyed wools,

and gorgeous reproduction fabrcis,

It's been hard to resist spending big, I have bought a few pieces of fabric.

Playing shopkeeper has been an experience, it's a world away from my normal day job but I've really enjoyed it and I'm so pleased the girls felt comfortable with me looking after their baby.

So that's a small glimpse of the shop, so if ever you're in Hobart pop in and say hello and if not you can always shop online.

Sorry for going AWOL

Geez it's been a while since I last posted. I've been babysitting the Quilted Crow's shop while they're off at Quilt Market in Houston and I've had some company too. My lovely friend Valerie
flew over from South Australia especially to keep me company and geez we stitched up a storm!

That's me on the left.

We always have to stitch the same project when we get together and after last year's mammoth quilt effort we decided small and simple was better, especially because I had to serve customers too. So this year we started with Rosalie Quinlan hearts, mine is the pink oneFollowed by Tilda Cats, you guessed it, mine is the pink oneFollowed by some Beehive pincushions and an ornament

and because we loved making cats so much we made a few Kerry Gillespie kitties. I made two blacks and Valerie made two whites and we swapped one. Now I should also mention Valerie whipped up two bags, very pretty and I did a bit of secret squirrel stuff.Next post will either be pics of the lovely pressies Valerie gave me or the shop, not sure yet, I'll see how I feel.
I also had a suprise call from Sandy from Embroideroo which was lovely, always nice to chat in real life and I also got some mail, so definitely more posts coming.

Anyway Valerie left this afternoon, very sad to see her go as she's always lots of fun but Mum's arrived so I have a new stitching partner to keep me company for the next two days.

Hugs for now!

Jo