Amitie, Melbourne AU

It was great to see my wonderful friend Jenny Kingwell on our arrived in Melbourne. She owns a delightful store Amitie which is full of the most amazing collection of very carefully hand picked fabrics from Japan, Liberty of London and America. She also has a great collection of silk screened fabrics from local gals in Australia.

The first two days were free days and we spent the first day at the coast with Jenny then the second doing our last bit of shopping in Melbourne.

It was a bit of a raining day so we spent the morning shopping on the streets around our hotel then we took the tram into the city. I just love Melbourne it is full of very interesting shops filled with very arty things.

I then taught for the next three days. Firstly a two day class of my leaves. It was a great group of students. They were very creative and worked with all sorts of fibers making very unique pieces.

Jenny (in that very lovely polka dot top) was even able to spend a little time perfecting her stitches. It was great to have Simon in the class as well as.

I love the silk screened background used in this sample as well as the added bird and flowers to the piece below. This block is from my Ginger Grove Quilt was shared by one of the students.

The second class was my Great Needle Roll. A variety of background fabrics were used. Many used ribbons for their stems as well as silk velvet and hand dyed wools for the applique.

I love the combination of fabrics that Jan from Barnawartha used in this bag from my 'Urban Sacs' book. Look at the label. Fabulous!

Melissa and I had a wonderful time in Australia. Many thanks to all that made the trip such a success and for all kind and creative people who went out of there way to make us feel so welcome. I hope our paths cross again soon.

Take care

Creative Stitching

Sue

Night in Sydney

Melissa and I spent a lovely night in Sydney before moving on to Melbourne. We stayed close to the Rocks which is very close to the Sydney Harbor.

In the morning before flying to Melbourne we were able to take a tour of the Opera House which was amazing. The views from the inside are spectacular.

On to Melbourne.

Sue

Anni Downs - Hatched and Patched - Bathurst AU

I taught for three days at Anni's in Bathurst. It was wonderful to return and spend time with Anni, Pete and their two wonderful children Tim and Sammy as well as visiting with many of my students from my last visit. I was amazed at the amount of finished projects they brought to share with me.

I love this little pillow which Anni's daughter Sammy started in my class last year. It makes me really happy to see young girls stitching.

Here are two Magnolia quilts from my last years class. The top one is Suzanne Glennon Martyn's of Oberon with her wonderful Queensland house in the center. The one below was stitched by Janette Robinson of Bathurst.

Many wonderful Flower Basket Quilts were also shared.

Terri Ann Press of Bathurst stitched the Flower Basket with the doily.

Heather Hacker from Windsor Downs NSW also shared her pincushion she made from Anni's and my pattern which was published in Australian Homespun Magazine a couple of months ago.

Jennifer Edwards from Sydney also finished her Red Clover Quilt.

Roslyn McGovern made her block from Magnolia into a pillow.

During the two day class we had students working on a few different projects. I love the different backgrounds these gals were using for the Robin Run the Hedge Quilts. The plaid one is an old wool blanket.

Many worked on leaves for there tree using all sorts of ribbons and hand dyed threads to create texture. Many also worked on different shapes of leaves.

The one day classes was my Saffron Needle Roll. It was such fun to see all the embellishments and different stitches each student played around with.

Melissa and I had a great time in Bathurst. When we were finished Anni and Pete drove us to Sydney were we spent the night before moving on to Melbourne.

Take care

Sue