Sew it Together

Last Friday I joined more than 50 other sewers and bloggers in Sydney for Sew It Together 2011. I didn't attend the Melbourne event in 2010, so didn't really know what to expect except that Sheridan organises it and she seems super cool. And I only knew one person who was attending in real life - Lara from Thornberry. The rest were just axe-murderers.

We started out with a shopping trip on Friday - first stop The Remnant Warehouse. Good Lord. What a place. One of the first things I spied was DENIM CORDUROY. I know. I'd never seen it before either. So I bought some for me and some for her, plus very cheap plain denim and linen. The second stop was Calico & Ivy in Balmain. This shop is only new and to say it was delightful is an understatement. I've been to a lot of patchwork stores in Australia (and the US) and this was probably the prettiest by far. I bought quite a bit *ahem a lot* of fabric here.

Our last stop for the day was Prints Charming in Annandale. This was right up there on the charm scale with Calico and Ivy. Cath and Kirsten welcomed us with champagne, juice and nibbles. We all bought up big here too, I believe. Well, I did. The scrap packs ran out the door. I managed to grab a couple so I could make a skirt like this.

I heard there will be a blog-along for making skirts out of our scrap packs very soon. I can't wait!



That night those of us who were staying at the YHA at the Rocks went to dinner at Löwenbräu. This was Leah's meal - a pork knuckle. Impressive, no?

The Saturday Crafting Session was, well, wonderful. Fifty women in the one room, all chatting, crafting and laughing. This photo is of Lara, the only person I'd actually met before this weekend. She's awesome. I made lovely new friends, like Juddie. Turns out she is the same Juddie that posted Toy Society drops on the blog with me for years. Pennies like this were dropping all over the place all weekend with different people.







Kathy from Material Obsession was there giving some mini demos and workshops all day. She is non-stop fun, and so passionate about patchwork and quilting. I think I might have fallen a little bit in love with Kathy over the weekend. I think everyone did.

That night we had a big dinner at the Belgian Beer Cafe. There may have been a little beer (not me), dancing (not me) and karaoke (definitely not me - I was in bed by 11.30 pm!). But the next morning ten of us went to Material Obsession, where Kathy had opened up her shop just for us.

Isn't it beautiful? What is it about Sydney quilt shops being so damn charming?



So Kathy made us all coffee and took us downstairs for more demos.

We bought lots of rulers and fabric and patterns and oohed and aahed over the displays and the house the shop was in, and before we knew it, it was time to hop back on the mini bus and head to the airport for our flights home.

But oh. What a fabulous weekend.