~~~ Only those who MAKE could understand how I felt last week when the crafty stuff I made for my Lily's school fiesta ended up in the trash & treasure stall rather than the craft stall. Waaaah! On a happier note, some mummas from school and beyond are starting a fortnightly craft circle. I bought these two gorgeousnesses from the craft stall, made by one of the mummas who I'll be crafting with - I can't wait to learn how to make these and hang out with other crafty mums.
~~~ Amongst my recent delicious purchases were these fabrics from the Denyse Schmidt Picnic and Fairground line, exclusively released in Joanns (US) and Spotlight (Aust). No idea what I'll make from them (at a lower-than-usual price they were a HAD TO HAVE purchase) but there are lots of amazing projects for inspiration here on the Flickr group.
~~~ The Textile Art Festival is on right now here in Brisbane. Yesterday I was lucky enough to take part in Be Be Bold's rose purse making workshop. This little pile of ingredients magically became...
...this - ta da!
If only it had been that easy! The sewing was fine (as a Janome-girl it was fun to play with a Husqvarna) but the gluing - sheesh! I'm sure it's something that gets easier with practice but I don't think I'll be making one again in a hurry.
There was so much beautiful yarn and fantastic knitted clothing designs at the show. My favourites were Dairing and Jenny King Designs. Unfortunately I'm just not a knitter, not without my Mum constantly at my side!
I managed to inflict a bit of pain on the credit card at the show:
* Couldn't resist picking up a copy of Sarah Fielke's new book Quilting from Little Things from the Down Under Textiles stand. I started reading it last night and am feeling really inspired already!
* Since I burned my finger on our halogen floor lamp while hand sewing in the lounge a few weeks ago, I've had my eye out for a day light lamp. I managed to get a great festival price on the one I wanted from Stitch N Stuff. They had the Ott-Lite 24w Floor Lamp for almost 30% off, with a magnifier.
* I couldn't resist a pack of charm squares of Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey from the Quilters and Embroiders Store stand.
* I also bought a much needed sewing case to store my needles and scissors (I stabbed myself in the leg through a bag the other week!). I should have made one but it's waaaaaay down my project list.
~~~ And finally, if you're still with me....on Friday I read this blog post by Katy from i'm a ginger monkey about her beloved Singer Featherweight she got from eBay. Mmmmmmm, so shiny, so black, so beautiful! A little thought stirred in my head - the last time I saw my mother-in-law she talked about how her mother bought her a machine Brisbane in 1955. I vaguely remembered her calling it a....Singer Featherweight!!! Could it be true? I called her and - yes! It was! She was sure it was somewhere in the house, but if we came round and found it, it was mine!
So, skip to today. Now, my husband's parents have lots of STUFF. My MIL and I balked at the wall of boxes in the area of the garage where she thought it was. But my husband dove in, moving stuff out of the way. Ten minutes later, right at the back, we hit gold!!! Black gold!!
My MIL thinks she barely used it at the time and the table it's set in hadn't been opened for 40 years. Which makes the dead daddy-long-leg spiders scattered throughout practically fossils. But isn't she a beauty?!
Note daddy-long-legs:
We couldn't find the attachments but she's going to look for them before we go back tomorrow to pick it up with our 4WD. I am one grateful daughter-in-law! Meanwhile I am going to go trawling restoration websites to find out how to make it as shiny as new and in good working order. Yippee!!
