The photos tell the story....... my friends and I had a fantastic weekend at the Gold Coast. We left Brisbane at lunch time on Friday, stopped at Sewing World in Springwood - this shop has a lovely range of fabrics and some great bag patterns. Then we were off down the highway to Patchwork Pantry but sadly this store has closed. On our way up to the unit, we stopped in at Laraines on Isle of Capri but unfortunately her stock was quite low as the building is being demolished and she will have to move to new premises. So by now we were slightly concerned that we were doomed to purchase nothing else for the rest of the trip! No worries..... we were very happy to change into our P.J's and open a bottle with a nice curry dinner and read the new patchwork magazines I had purchased earlier in the week but had not dared to open and have a look inside! Some of us even got out the hand sewing!!! As you can see by the photo, we were NOT going to starve this weekend - I don't think my fridge has ever had SO much food in it!!
Saturday morning we headed off to Patchwork Dreaming in Currumbin. O.K., now with our previous track record we should have had an idea that this trip was not going as planned...... yes! Patchwork Dreaming was shut!!!! Well, there was nothing to do but go and have coffee!! We found the Currumbin Surf Life Savers club and thanks to the lovely lady at the front desk who enquired what we girls were up to, we found out about the fabric shop to beat them all!!! Fantazia! This place if fabulous! Most patchwork fabric is only $11.00 per metre. So we bought vast amounts of fabrics and headed off back to the unit to enjoy some more wine and nibbles before we commenced our Ruler workshop.
The ruler we decided to trial is the Wonder Cut ruler. We chose a pattern we found on the web-site and each of us made our HST (half square triangles) using the ruler method which was very interesting. Basically you cut two strips, in this case one light, one dark - you must cut the strips with the Wonder Cut ruler. You then piece the strips together with a seam down each long side. Then you use the other end of the ruler and cut triangles which open up into HST's! We found the method extremely accurate and were very happy with the end results. I made a Pinwheel block with some scrap fabric to check how accurately everything went together. We left the rest of the sewing to be completed once we went home to Brisbane. Another curry dinner and a glass or two of wine and we were very happy with our day!
Our unit overlooks the Nerang River and we were entertained on Saturday by the Rowing - we thought it was Schoolboy rowing.... it turned out to be Australia vs New Zealand! At night the river is quite a picture.....
The photos show the daytime/night-time view, the rowing and a beautiful Rainbow Lorikeet sitting next to an abandoned crows nest.
We walked up to the beachfront for breakfast on Sunday morning, then packed up and headed home. We were very happy with our Girls Weekend!!!
I purchased some more fabrics for the Popsicle Posies quilt (see my earlier blog). If I want to do this quilt with a different fabric for each block, I will need 36 fabrics!! I'm getting there!
Today we met at my home for a "show and tell" of our wonder-cut ruler project. All of the quilts have come out so well. Mine unfortunately is a little different to the rest - although I had purchased the correct amount of light fabric, it was the end of the bolt and one end was quite crooked which meant I was short by about 2" of sashing!!! So, my star does not "float" like the rest!!! No matter, it's a pieced top and looks o.k. I think I will finish it as a wall-hanging for my guest room which is supposed to be in a Polynesian theme.
This Wednesday (October 21st) my friends and I are going to the Craft Show in Brisbane. I'll be shopping for more fabric for the Popsicle Posies quilt, plus I'm getting together a stash to make a very bright baby quilt for a friend. It's done in black and white with many brights.
Well, that's enough for one post I think, you will hear from me again after I have spent huge amounts of money at the craft show!!
Happy Sewing,
I agree Helen you can sew and drink red wine, sounds like you had a fantastic time away with the girls. I have the same wonder cut ruler haven't played with it yet but if its easy I'll give it a go. I think all the quilts look great and it doesn't hurt to be different!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful weekend for you and the girls! Yes you can drink wine and do just about anything, just don't spill it! Thanks for the beautiful pics. Very interesting to see the same pattern done in different fabrics.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great time it sounds like you all had! I wish I had been there! The star quilts look fantastic!
ReplyDeleteYes we had a great weekend. Just reading about it makes me feel like I was there...........oh I was. Give the ruler a go Mandy. I hadn't had much experience with HST's & it does make them accurate & easy, just take care as using the pattern we did they end up on the bias so go have a bit of movement. It was great to see all 4 of our tops together on Friday. It always amazes me that the same pattern can look so different just using different fabrics. Looking forward to the show on Wednesday as Helen can always be relied upon to find a new gadget. Great blog entry as usual.
ReplyDeleteHelen, thank you for your comment. Yes, the skirt is very easy. I usually make 3 tiers: 1st tier is 9 inches by about 36, 2nd is 7 inches by 45, and 3rd is 7 inches by about 52. I gather each tier and sew it onto the next. The waistband is just folded over with elastic. The tiers are decided by the heighth of the child. I add rik rak or tassles or whatever. The halloween one I just adjusted the lengh of the tiers to what I wanted. They are fun to make and little girls seem to love them. Have fun trying it.
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