I had the immense pleasure of attending the Craft & Quilt fair this week here in Sydney and I'll tell you what: it's good, but even better twice! I went on opening day (Wednesday) for the quickest stickybeak before Spiders' Group, and then Mr Poppleton and I loaded the wee one and her enormous purple pram into the car and drove into the city to see it all over again today. He had never been to the Craft & Quilt Fair before but was a very tolerant participant...especially for someone who glazes over at the mention of anything quilt-shop related!
I was also very, very happy to NOT be 8 months pregnant this year, like I was last year. Oof, that was some hard work!
So yes: SWAG TIME.
My first stop is always the Material Obsession booth. Last year I browsed the shop and chatted. This year I went knowing exactly what I wanted to get: a Cog Wheel template set! Of course I got plenty distracted chatting to Cath, Liesl, and Kathy too. Such great ladies!
(I might just have a teensy little addiction to acrylic templates. But I do love to collect them. They are so easy and fun to use, and even though I know the book includes patterns, I prefer to pay the extra little bit for the convenience and assuredness of getting it right the first time!)
I already came up with an idea, and a few chop chop snip snippy minutes later, I had a block up on the design wall. I'm sewing it (and all those lovely curves) in every spare moment I can muster. :)
And I am officially crazy, because I picked up a copy of Brenda Papadakis' Dear Jane book. I also got the rulers, because why not? I am not even close to starting this, but someday...someday...someday I want to make a Baby Jane quilt. So it'll be perfect to start once I'm overwhelmed with scraps and have a spare eight yards or so of nice light background fabric. :)
I got the book and the template set at Patchwork by the Sea booth.
Another booth I always make a point to stop at (and it's not hard to find since it's right behind the Material Obsession booth) is Reece Scannell. Listen up, ladies of Australia: this guy is a quilting best-kept secret. He makes silk-like cotton for quilting, prewashed and prepressed, and he had these gorgeous packs of ten different colors in roughtly 8" squares. I got five different color packs and I am already dreaming of all the beautiful things I can make!
Just look at these colorful cottons. I love how the subtle difference of warp versus weft color changes can make a whole piece of fabric shimmer.
You can order directly from their website, or if you're able, head to Material Obsession to pick up a few half-meters, or the Rocks Markets. They are definitely worth their weight in gold!
Another stop on my circuit is the Studio Mio booth. I love to make little purses and the tiny purse frames are fantastic value. They do have lots of sweet fabrics and trims as well as patterns and kits, too.
I also picked up a Marti Michell 60º Triangle Ruler (the larger size) from the always excellent Punch with Judy booth. Their website is also top-notch and they are prompt shippers. I didn't find them super-friendly, but they were crazy busy so that could be why. Anyway, I forgot to take a picture of my ruler, so pretend I did.
Finally, I found a place that sells Valdani thread (as well as Superior/King Tut)...unfortunately they are not online! What a bummer. I picked up a few spools of perle cotton and then as we were leaving I got distracted by the awesome stuff at coat check...like this too-cute MUG! I had to have it. It was just the best.
So I think I did pretty well! It was a fun time and I really enjoyed hanging out with my husband and daughter at the Craft & Quilt show. I did take pictures of the quilts I liked but I'll save those for another post. Now, it's bedtime and I've got a pair of pajamas to find. :) Cheers everyone. xx