A Spendathon Road Trip.

On a crisp and sunny autumnal Saturday morning in mid April, nine of the the Sewing Sisters met bright and early, well, eight were bright and early- there was one straggler... for a trip up the Calder Highway to Castlemaine (Meghan was in the UK visiting the V & A quilt exhibition).

Our first stop was at the Malmsbury bakery, full of delicious goodies to eat, where we met up with our country sister, Sue. Of course we had to restore ourselves; we had been chatting for an hour or so and it was taking it's toll, so coffee & tea, cakes, tarts and slices were devoured in between more laughs and storytelling.

Why Castlemaine? Well, remember that we are all patchworkers, and by definition, we all have this uncontrollable urge / need to replenish our fabric stashes whether they are dwindling or not. Castlemaine is where Corliss and Kurt of "Threadbear" call home, and this way we get to visit with great friends and fulfil that fabric addiction in one trip.

A hive of activity ensued once we arrived, fabric was all over the place, many "oohs" and "ahhs", lots of "I'll have some of that, please, if you're not taking it all", I even heard a "Di, can you help me ????". I really do pity anyone else who decides to shop at "Threadbear" on the days when we are there en masse. I don't think anyone left with out a purchase, some even went back for seconds!!!

What did we do next? Eat, of course!! We bundled our cherished pieces into the car and headed off to "The Bold Garden", where we had a delicious meal, and lots of chatter.

Time to go, so after cheery goodbyes and "keep stitching"s it was back on the road for another session of solving the world's problems.

A great day out; I was glad to arrive home safe and sound, and happy to have spent a day out with the Sisters.

Although I've been patchworking since 1987, I don't usually get to escape on Saturdays to spend time with the Sisters, as I have 2 boys who play lots of sport and need their mum to drive them from one venue to another (besides, I like to watch them play basketball; they'll be grown before I can blink, and they won't need me so much then). This weekend, however, I left my husband in control and disappeared into the wild.

As you are all probably aware, the Sisterhood is exhibiting at "Quilts in the Barn" later in the year, and I, like all the others, am trying to complete one more quilt. My current project is a quilt "Home Sweet Home" by Barb Adams & Alma Allen. I've now got all the nine house blocks completed and 2 of the swag borders, so with a bit more work, it'll be ready to send off to be machine quilted.

Here are the first 6 houses. It's taken quite a while, I keep getting distracted with new projects, but I'm back on track again, and it'll be quilted and ready in time for the exhibition.

Writing on this blog, my very first attempt, has been fun, but if I'm to get this quilt finished, I'd better go and get some stitching done, till next time...