Stitch 'n' Bitch goes away for the weekend

A few weekends ago, actually it was the last weekend in March, our little Stitch 'n' Bitch group went away for a long weekend to Smiths Beach on Phillip Island SW of Melbourne. It was forecast to be a lovely weekend and we weren't disappointed.

By the time I (B1) picked up the key and got organised it was lunch time before I picked up Pam (B2) and headed off. In the meantime we had a call from Nita (B3) to find out what was taking us so long as she was already in Cranbourne.

B1 & B2 finally arrived mid afternoon to find B3 happily sitting in her car stitching away in the sunshine and generally enjoying the peace & quite. We unloaded our gear and happily started stitching.

This is the view from the balcony of the house we were staying at looking up the road to the beach car park & the sea. It is a wonderful view.

This is (B3) improvising to trace a pattern.

It was B2's birthday on the day we arrived so we had to have cake. B3's daughter made this lovely cake, it was apple streudel or something like that, it was scrumptious. B2 is showing off one of her birthday pressies.

B2's project was to continue working on finishing this QAYG quilt she was making for her daughters 21st birthday.....in Feb 2008....B2 has been a little bit slack. So the quilt police were active on the weekend.

We had some of the locals come and check out what we were up to over the weekend. I wonder if it could have been the drunken revelry which attracted them. Not us of course, it must have been the neighbours.

These are some QAYG blocks I put together using up some of the overflowing scrap box. They are destined for a double/queen quilt for the Victoria bushfire survivors.

This is another quilt I put together which is also destined for the Victoria bushfire survivors. They are flannel prints, lovely & bright, perfect for a kids quilt. The blocks are all sewn together, I now just have to find something for the border to make it into a single & finish it off.

We all had a great weekend. Although we ate too much and probably could have got more stitching done, however we were all satisfied with what we achieved and were totally relaxed at the end of the weekend. None of us wanted to go home though.

I can now post my 4SQS5 which I made "Daisies in the Garden"

This is the wall hanging which I made for Tina from San Diego in the 4SQS5. It is made up of mini log cabins around 4" square which I hand stitched. I then machine stitched all of the squares together and the border. It is machine quilted in the ditch. The daises are appliqued and the centres are stuffed to give some dimension. At the last minute I decided to add some coloured seed beads to give some sparkle. It made the world of difference.

I decided to add a bit of colour in the backing with some wattle and parrots/rosellas. The binding ties it all together.

When I send items overseas I always like to add postage stamps instead of the ticket which Australia Post prints out. I put stamps aside when I buy a 20 pack for this purpose. I feel it makes the parcel all the more exciting (and colourful) when it reaches its destination.

I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of this swap. It was monochramatic with either black or white added. Tina's colour choices were green or pink/red and the season chosen was Spring. I opted for greens as it is one of my favourite colours.

A big thank you to Margaret the host of this swap for allowing me to join in on this swap and I look forward to joining in on the next one...hopefully.

Its arrived and its all mine!!!!

Above are some pictures of a wall hanging which I received from Sarah in Memphis, Tennesee as part of the 4SQS5. I just love this wall hanging. Honestly the pictures do not do it justice. With the white background and the way the quilting has been done those little green pinwheels just jump right of the wall to great you. And the triangles in each corner of the back make it so easy to hang. Sarah has done a wonderful job with this, and reading her blog I'm surprised that I even got it. I think that I very nearly didn't. But I'm so glad that she was able to give it up as it has come to a nice home downunder and I will treasure it. It is currently hanging at the office in my workspace to brighten my days. I only put it up this morning and so many people have commented on it. Thank you once again and have I mentioned that I love it. Also a big thank you to Margaret (the swap organiser) who allowed me to join in on this swap as a newbie.