Embellish

One more snippet from the show . . .

I stopped and played with an "embellisher". It's a motorised needle felting machine. I've done very little needle felting: mainly one painful panel a few years ago as part of a group entry for the Bendigo Sheep and Wool show. If only we'd had use of a machine like this!

I had a bit of fun with some wool tops and thick and thin singles. My only disappointment was the evidence of the mechanical needles in the cloth, but I think they could be disguised easily enough. Then of course there the little issue of a price tag . . . and I'd need to find more space on my workbench. Here's my plan. I'm going to try to forget about it for the next couple of months. If I'm still lusting after it by the time my birthday comes around in July, I'll see if I can fit it into my workspace and my budget. Meanwhile I might see about a bit more needle-felting by hand.

Generosity

I'd already had my share of unexpected generosity yesterday. My friend V rang to invite me to the Australian Quilt Convention. She was working on a stall in the afternoon and had a spare ticket. My first impulse was to just enjoy looking at everything, since I hadn't budgeted on a visit to the show. I'm afraid that impulse didn't last very long.

I hadn't realised how popular Japanese fabrics and techniques have become in the quilting world. Just at the moment my interest is focussed on things Japanese for several reasons. One being a presentation on Indigo Dyed Shibori which I'm working on for my course. Most of the stalls had Japanese printed cottons, but one had just the hand-dyed samples I wanted. Another stall was selling vintage kimono fabrics. I did my usual thing and asked lots of questions. They had shibori--yes--indigo dyed--yes, cotton--no. This was silk on the bolt. What was the minimum cut? Half a metre. I didn't get as far as finding out the price per meter. I'm guessing that my face gave away my anticipation of what the price might be. When I explained that I was looking for a sample for my class presentation out came the big scissors and I found myself clutching this amazing gift: Here's a close-up:

I can't get over how the silk holds the memory of all those little stitches. And I can't get over how someone would give a piece of lovely fabric away to a perfect stranger. Thanks!

Change of Plan

The phone rang a few minutes ago. It was my friend V. "Did you get my message?", she asked. "Oh, what message?" I replied. Her voice sounded happy, so I over-ruled the anxiety that might arise from an early phone call. "I've got two tickets to AQC. Do you want to come?" AQC is the Australian Quilt Convention: the best of the country's quilts coupled with a hall full of glorious stalls. I had been suffering from a bad dose of protestant work ethic with a sprinkling of puritanical abstinence and had decided not to indulge myself in this fibery extravaganza. But all it took was a pleasant invitation to change my mind. Another cup of coffee, my most comfortable shoes and a nice big carry bag and I'm off to have fun. As for the phone: I checked again and there's no message. I've checked and double checked the pic and there's no reason for it to be displayed on its side, other than sheer contrariness on the part of blogger, but on a morning when my plans have been happily turned on their side, I'm not going to complain.