Saturday, June 13, 2009

Extravagance

Oh dear - I have the man-flu and it's bad. I was going to go on a couple of walks in the bush this weekend, and swim tomorrow as usual, but all that is off now. I am just going to wallow in my own misery and eat dry toast and drink lots of tea, all preferably made by someone else.

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On Wednesday I flew to Sydney to see the Craft and Quilt Fair. And then 12 hours later I flew back home.

As most of you have worked out by now, quilting is my first love, But I have been out of the loop for so long I was risking being left in the dark ages with techniques and new fabrics! I haven't been to a quilting class in years, and earlier this year I was so busy with work that I didn't find time to rejoin Canberra Quilters, and now I can't enter anything in the quilt show (not that I would have had anything to enter ...)

So going to this show was sheer extravagance, especially given that I'm not working at the moment, but it was also a bit like quenching a really terrible thirst. Thirst hereby quenched - mission accomplished.

I went to the Material Obsession stand and gasped over their Harperville quilt, but didn't buy it until late in the afternoon. I couldn't stop myself, and neither could my credit card.

Harperville quilt kit

And before you think it's just "any" old quilt, let me show you what is inside the kit.

Flannels! In tweed designs!

Flannel fabrics with tweed designs. I was a goner the moment I saw that. I love the feel of flannel quilts, but some of the designs in the last few years have been a little ordinary, in my opinion - over printed, over dyed and not at all "cuddly soft". This tweed flannel is beautiful - soft, well dyed and lovely.

I attended a workshop on how to use "Jelly Rolls". I'd seen this term used on the SCQuilters forum, but had no idea what or how. Basically it is a group of fabrics (usually 40 different ones) cut selvedge to selvedge into 2.5 inch strips and presented in a roll. Like this.

Batik jelly roll

I bought this from the Tulis Textiles and Kiwi Quilts stand. I have the special "tube" ruler and I am itching to get started.

While at the same stand I was stopped in my tracks by the Abundant Ferns Quilt they had on display.

Adundant Ferns pattern

So I bought the kit for that too. Ooh, pretty batiks.

Batik quilt kit

I went to the quilt show too, and was amazed at the 400 odd quilts they had on display. I could have spent hours there. Actually, I did. The quilts, particularly by the amateurs, were incredible. I applauded every time someone was brave enough to make a red quilt. I took lots of photos, but as the rules prohibit me from blogging them or putting them on Flickr, I'll just send you over to the special awards, and amateur, professional, open and junior winners.

My day away was made even more special by meeting up at the show with my dear friend Kali from Hobart. I first met Kali when she lived in Brisbane and I used to go up there for work all the time. Kali used to pick me up from the airport or my hotel and take me shopping or quilt-showing or to dinner. It was so nice to see her again. Later in the afternoon I met up with Patricia at her work and she took me out to a very flash winebar for dinner , before she rolled me down the stairs at St James station to catch the train to the airport.

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In shop news, I'm pleased to announce that all Australian orders now have free postage! FREE! I'm sure you are as tired as I am with the yo-yoing dollar, so I figured this might take some of the pain out of having to deal with the USD side of Etsy.

14 comments:

  1. Nice haul. There is considerable therapeutic value in surrounding oneself with fabrics and the promise of quilts, so I hope your flu dissipates in no time at all.

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  2. Sounds like you had fun, and are now inspired again. Kali has been very quiet, I didn't know she had moved away.

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  3. erggh the USD thing just baffles me ! Will you , by chance be heading off to Sydney for stitches and Craft in August? I'm just askin' ?

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  4. Aggghhh the man-flu sucks! I hope you're all snuggled up warm and cosy eating chicken soup and sipping cups of tea.
    I'm loving that Harperville quilt...looks like the perfect thing for winter.

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  5. Make sure while you're wallowing that you have those flannel fabrics on standby for therapeutic stroking. Get better speedily!

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  6. I'm going to that quilt show next year. Promise to self. And I love those kits you bought. The birds in flannel - love, love. Those batiks, great colours.

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  7. Oh wow! Looks like you had a great time at the Sydney show. You would have had a huge day! Hope you are feeling better.

    Rita

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  8. oh you poor thing - and not even sick leave to make it worthwhile! sounds like you had a wonderful time in Sydeny though - I can't wait to see the Harperville quilt made up with those wonderful fabrics.

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  9. So sorry you're crook. That man-flu is really yuck. Stay warm and drink lots of tea.

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  10. Man flu better than swine flu I suppose...still, sorry you've got the lurgy.

    I tried not to look too hard at the fabric stalls....it's all so beautiful and so hard to resist!

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  11. Sorry to hear you're sick!

    The tweed flannel really suits the weather we're having at the moment. Is is silly that I think they'd be fabulous as a pair of PJs?

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  12. Hope the man-flu subsides, and fast. The insulating properties of fabric are almost as good as yarn in such situations. Nice haul. :)

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  13. What a wonderful thing to do for yourself. I am so inspired by it. I think I might plan something special like that for myself. Hmnnn, you've definitely planted a seed.

    Love those gorgeous flannels and the batiks.

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  14. I can't sew to save my life, but I would have bought that flannel quilt kit too.

    I was there on Sunday, but manning a stall and didn't get a tiny minute to have a look at the vendors.

    Hope your flu gets better.

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