More Beating around the bush

Here are some photos of the other two projects that I did at Beating Around the Bush , I ended up choosing two classes with the same tutor, Carolyn Pearce she was a lovely lovely lady, very talented and patient; I wouldn't hesitate to do another class with her and I would highly recommend her as a teacher.

This is the picture in the BATB brochure of the Doll house workbox, it was so sweet I couldn't resist doing this class even though I could see it would take me a really long time to finish it.... here it looks about the size of a small sewing machine or so I thought.... lucky it was a lot smaller than I thought, about the size of a high tin loaf of bread, it was so cute.....

this is the climbing rose side and the pea garden end.... there was so much detail on it with the embroidery.....

  

here is a closeup of the pea garden, there were charms and tiny buttons as well.... over the two days I stitched the snail, the strawberry and one window....

we did lots of sampler stitching so we had the correct way for the stitches to be sewn, the little oranges were quite tricky but I think if I practise them I will get them to look like oranges....

After having the Wednesday off, our shopping day, we went back to the last two day class again with Carolyn Pearce, the Rosamund Crewel Emboidered bag, it was a project in Inspirations issue 58...

the flowers were stitched with a variety of different stitches, it's hard to photograph the beautiful details...

again the design was already drawn on the fabric, good time-saver for a class and no this doesn't look much but I was very pleased with my efforts for the two days....

this is my sampler for the bag stitches, it was fun practising knowing you weren't making a mess on the real thing....

It was quite funny out of all the classes we had the choice of..... about 78... Melissa, Sharon and I did the Hortensia bag on the Sunday, Sharon and I did the workbox on the Monday and Tuesday and Chris and I did the Rosamund bag on the Thursday and Friday and we made our decisions quite individually....

 we all had a fantastic time and learnt so much and met some lovely people....

Now you can understand why I haven't been doing much patchwork sewing..... I am a bit busy trying to work on these things while they are still fresh in my mind but I am feeling something stirring inside like I need to go and rotary cut some lovely cotton fabrics or put in a few stitches in my applique quilt...LOL....

actually have some more hems to sew on DH work jeans.....

Pics from BATB

When I came home from  Beating Around the Bush I was so excited with my three gorgeous new projects I had to find space in my sewing room which is quite difficult at the moment.... too many projects on the go... note to self... sort it!!!!!

So I moved my Nana's dining table out of the study into a corner in the lounge room, been wanting to do this for ages because the table is too beautiful to have hidden but DH didn't think it would look right???? men!!

my idea was this would be a special place for these special projects where I could work on them without the clutter of my sewing room...you know not lose bits or misplace the instructions and I could still sit with him to enjoy one of his fav pastimes watching telly .....men!!!

So that's my superduper lamp and magnifying glass, very helpful.... on the left

Here is how lovely it looked at night.... I think it looks like it belongs perfectly....

and these two little ducks are a salt and pepper set that belonged to my Nana and they are very special to me....she always had them on her table for a meal....

This is the Hortensia bag designed by Kris Richards and Monique Johnston , it was a one day class on the Sunday, a great starting point for the week quite a relaxing class, no pressure or homework... Kris and Monique were lovely ladies, good teachers and very helpful...

The design was drawn onto the linen when we got there so all we had to do was stitch.....

It was mainly stitched with french knots and bullions for the flowers, satin stitch leaves and some lazy daisies, all very effective to make the design.....as you can see I have a way to go with it but I was happy with what I got done....

I will post about the other two classes later right now I have some housework to do before it gets too hot.

BATB shopping

Well here we are.... this time with me in the picture while Melissa takes the photo...

These are a couple of really nice wool peices that I had to have and the fabric on the right will be handy I'm sure.....                                                                     

See the lovely tweedy texture...love it....

these gorgeous fabrics are going to be made into a couch companion  This fabric is for a border on a wool embroidered blanket that was n the cover of the new  book from Country Bumpkin - More Beautiful Embroidered Blankets

and this was a second choice of fabric for the same project.......

Beating Around the Bush trip

Back at last.... no I didn't stay in Adelaide all this time... mind you I could have, it is such a lovely city nothing like Melbourne or Sydney, much slower pace and a very relaxed air about it .....I think I could live there... big statement coming from a country girl......hehe!
The Beating Around the Bush convention was fabulous, the classes and teachers were so inspiring, the quality of the work was amazing, with around 400 women from all over the world it was a wonderful experience. The three girls I went with, Chris (fav SIL), Sharon(BFF) and Melissa (newBF) all no bloggers...note to self will have to change that..... had a great time and throughly enjoyed their classes as well. Our accomodation was comfortable with Sharon and Melissa in one apartment and Chris and I in another, we had a couple of free days where we went shopping... always fun ......and we ate out most nights or ordered in pizza because we had homework.

Here is Melissa, Sharon and Chris out front of Hetties Patch which is a lovely quilt shop five minutes from the city centre  with lots and lots to see and buy as you can see by the bags we all left with, I will post the contents of my bag next time when I have more time.

This is the inside of the workbox that I started making, the class was just for the workbox and the little bits inside are another kit.... they include a needle book, a tape measure holder, thimble hoder, scissor tassel, thread holder, pin cushion and an emery cushion and yes they will probably take as long as the box to hold them I will post some pics of the outside next time....

This is a bad photo of the 'Rosamund Crewel bag' , the second two day class I did with Carolyn Pearce, it was much nicer than it looks in this pic, a very pretty bag and the crewel embroidery on it is so beautiful I was so pleased I chose this class..... again I will try to post some better pics and some of the one day class I did on the Sunday next post.... well it is a perfect day outside for a Saturday and we are heading down to our boat for the night so I will catch up with you all next week, happy sewing everyone....

Today my post will be sewing related I promise just had get a few holiday shots in....

I have a finish for September.... back at the start of August Jenny of Elefantz blog suggested a challenge to make a sewing machine cover which is something that has been on my to do list for many years, so I designed one for my darling Lizzie.....

I borrowed the flower and bird from a lovely quilt design in Homespun Vol 10- No8 by Kellie Wulfsohn from Don't Look Now which is a fun blog to have a peek at... I used the buttonhole stitch on Lizzie(my Bernina 440 QE) with a varigated thread and I was very pleased with the end result, could be the start of something big maybe instead of needle turning my applique quilts I can do them on the machine, much quicker to make......

Then I needed a little sewing bag to cart my sewing around in my handbag so I whipped up this little purse from Jennifer Knol, it was nice and quick to make.....

It has a cute little Ladybug button to keep it closed

This is my cross-stitch that I carted around  during my travels, good idea when you have to sit in airports and planes waiting to travel... I pre-threaded my needles so I wouldn't need my scissors.......

Now I have some exciting news to tell you I have only three sleeps until I fly to Adelaide for the Beating Around the Bush convention.......

I am going there with my SIL Chris and two stitching girl-friends, Sharon and Melissa, we booked this in December last year so we are all very excited that it is finally here.....

happy holidays

Here are some more photos from our holiday.....

this is a view from the road that goes up over the mountains out to Wanaka, looking back towards Qtn...

here are some farmed Deer in their paddock..... look at those mountains behind them...

and this is the lake at Wanaka about an hour's drive from Queenstown, beautiful with the snow topped mountains in the background

Victoria enjoying the sun and veiws out at Jack's Point.....(Qtn behind hill on the left)

we had a delicious lunch there.....

this is one of the ski runs at Coronet Peak, just 5 minutes from Qtn...

While we were over visiting Vic it was her birthday and she wanted to go horse riding so we drove out to Glenorchy about 1 hour from Qtn, it was a very pretty drive along beside Lake Wakatipu....

Here's our girl getting ready to get on her horse with some help....

Vic getting buckled up...

Off we go......that's my back....I don't really look like I'm holding on for dear life...do I???? we did this for two hours.... and yes it was interesting getting off...lol

 we rode along this track to the Willows in the distance then turned left and rode along the edge of the river for a while then we crossed the river a few times.... yes through the freezing water.... it was lots of fun but I am not sure I'd do it again...... think I'm over horses but where we rode was so beautiful it was at the foot of those mountains.....

Lastly these are some pictures of the gardens in Christchurch... it was a lovely place to visit....

NZ holiday

      At last I am getting to my blog, we had a wonderful holiday in New Zealand but I managed to pick up a virus or something and have had a really sore throat and felt terrible since we arrived home, I am coming good now though.

Here are some photos of beautiful Queenstown and surrounding areas.....

this is a shot from the mountain at the back of Qtn, every view was postcard perfect

"The Remarkables" were amazing, they take my breath away everytime I look at them...

Here is Stephen and Victoria at the memorial arch near the botanical gardens....

Victoria and I with Lake Wakatipu behind us...

Another view of Lake Wakatipu from the wharf, that's the Earnslaw on the left, beautiful old boat from the past...

More pics in the next post.....