but that sort of thing doesn't happen to me!

On Friday last week, DD and I went to the inaugural Mad Quilters' Gathering at Penrith Panthers Exhibition Marquee. We really enjoyed it on many levels - it was close to home, we knew some of the stall holders, and it wasn't too crowded so we got to see more (even pushing a large stroller around).

In one corner of the marquee was a stall sponsored by Dayview Textiles. The banner read: Do Your Block for Charity". As I have said in a previous post, DD and I both sewed a block but didn't take any photos. We sewed because we love to sew and to help others with the talents God has given us.

Last night I got a phone call from a man I have never heard of to tell me that, because I had sewed a block, my name had been entered in a draw and I had one the first and only prize.

Now what would be a great prize for a novice quilter?

Notions and Thread?

A sewing machine?

A die cutter?

Fabric?

Yes, fabric. But not just any fabric. Here is a quote directly from the Mad Quilters' Gathering website:

a complete Jinny Beyer 150 x 1 fat ¼ palette valued at $1,200

picture copied from the Mad Quilters' Gathering website

I honestly had to sit down while I was taking the call and burst into tears as soon as I got off the phone.

It will be delivered this afternoon; I'm a bit excited!

busy quilting

DD and I spent some lovely time together over the last few days.

On Thursday, when I returned home from the Caring Hearts Community Quilting Group (CHCQG), she was already here.

We didn't get much time for sewing for the rest of the day - instead we spent the time looking through the fabrics that I had brought home with me. In the evening, DD knitted and I continued to sew the binding onto the quilt I had been asked to complete.

I began the binding at CHCQG. I had taken my embroidery scissors, a couple of needles, a needle threader and binding clips to the group with me, but had to borrow thread as I wasn't told to bring my own. The thread I borrowed was ecru, the binding I was sewing was blue. My hand-stitching is not too bad but that light coloured thread stood out against the blue like a "sore thumb".

So, when I got home, I found some blue thread and finished stitching down the binding with that. Then I re-sewed all the stitches I had already done and removed the ecru stitching. I finished it on Friday afternoon while teaching DD how to make QAYG string blocks.

Here is the quilt - please remember this is not my work; all I did was stitch down the binding.

finished size approx. 60" x 45"

This quilt reminds me very much of the warm/cool quilt-along which has been very popular in quilt-blogland recently. We'd better take a look at the back that shows that yes, there is binding - it's the same colour as the front border.

On Friday, DD and I went to the Mad Quilters Gathering. I went looking for specific fabrics that I wanted but didn't see any! All I ended up buying was a quilter's tool for making half square triangles and some spare blades for my rotary cutter.

DD and I both spent some time at the Gathering sewing a block for charity. For DD's block, she had to sew two borders around an appliqued patch. My choice was a four patch which was a little bit of a challenge because each of the four patches was made of three strips of fabric and I knew they had to be reasonably accurate so that the points would meet properly. I was so please to get a perfect intersection between the four patches. Unfortunately, I had not taken my camera and I didn't think about DD having one on her phone so there are no photos of our work!

When we came home, DD (who hasn't sewn for several weeks) was well and truly bitten by the sewing bug; especially since she had been sewing on a Husqvarna Sapphire machine. She was very excited when I taught her how to make a QAYG string block and she was allowed to use my new sewing machine, even though hers was right there in the same room. Her first attempt is on the left - perfect, as I said before, but a little bit "safe" (as was mine). She became much more adventurous in her second and third blocks.

You've already seen my first block on this post; it looks very boring in comparison to the five I have made since.

Hey, Kate; do you recognise your scraps here?

They are very easy and work together well. I just have to remember to check the back of QAYG block every time I sew a seam - sometimes I don't keep the back as flat as I should!

As many blocks as I can fit in a 500g post pack will be sent to Oz Comfort Quilts; the rest (if any) will be added to and made into a quilt for CHCQG.

We also spent some of Sunday afternoon cutting more foundation pieces (11" square) and further sorting our strings into three different containers: over 15", under 6", and those in between. Of course, the more blocks we make, the more crumbs we make - they have their own containers too: one for "triangles" (or pieces roughly shaped like triangles) and the other for more rectangular pieces.

All in all, a very productive, and highly enjoyable, few days.

Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair

DD and I attended the first day of the Fair yesterday. Was it supposed to be the quietest day? I think not - the queue to get in was huge but moved fairly quickly.

We usually go more for the workshops than the stalls - yesterday we attended only three: knitting with beads, dyeing with procion or acid dyes, and making art dolls. We enjoyed the workshops and got something out of each one.

I've done knitting with beads before but that was for making dolls' dresses with seed beads. This workshop was more about adding beads (and other related items) during the knitting process (rather than sewing them on afterward). Food for thought indeed.

The workshop on dyeing was interesting, not least because it explained how mordants work depending on when you add them to the process. If you've been reading this blog for a while you'd know that I experimented with dyeing acrylic a few months back - with reasonable success. I'm keen to try dyeing woollen yarn and cotton fabric now! I just love playing with colour to create something unique!

I'm not really into sewing so I can't see me making too many art dolls but there's room to take my knitting in another direction and be a little more artistic/creative in the process.

One of the highlights of the day for me was spending quite some time talking to two wonderful ladies at the ATASDA stall - I'm keen to try some ideas I have for altering fabric that I've knitted but not by the 'normal' embellishment processes! Watch this space!!

And, of course, we couldn't go the show without spending some money - that's why the stall holders go --> to encourage us to part with our cash. My purchases were moderate.

Ecoyarns - two back issues of Yarn magazine, a ball of Tofutsies

Unique Stitching & Designs - a dyeing kit - "Clear Rainbow" - for cellulose fibres, consisting of three powder dyes (a red, a blue and a yellow), soda ash and instructions for dyeing

The Thread Studio - a book entitled "Surface Tension" by Dale Rollerson and 50g of roving (for $10, Spotlight charges approximately $5 for 15 grams!); not sure if I'm going to felt it or try spinning it yet!

I can't finish without telling you how exciting the "Art to Wear" exhibition was. I wouldn't wear most of it but it was certainly artistic - and gave me more food for thought!

On a sour note:
The air in the Exhibition halls was very 'sour' - by mid-afternoon we were feeling very drowsy (it wasn't a "mid-afternoon slump") and had to go outside into the cold air to wake up. However, it was not overly warm inside, we had to wear our jumpers (sweaters) all day. Fresh air needs to be injected into the building at frequent intervals!