The After Party - post class fun in Ballarat

I had such an awesome day at my class in Ballarat with Jen Kingwell, but this girl can only handle so much awesome in one go.  So instead of driving all the way back to Bendigo, I stayed overnight in Ballarat instead.  I shared a private room at the Sovereign Hill YHA with Lisa from Horsham whilst others stayed at various other properties. 

 

Does it look like a couple of quilters are staying here?  Despite being told that there were other guests booked in, we ended up having the hostel to ourselves that night.  YAYNESS!  We didn't have to share the bathrooms with strange people ;)

~~~~~ 

After a much needed rest at the Sovereign Hill YHA, Lisa and I drove back into Ballarat and met up with some of the other riff raff for a "Quilter's Dinner" at "The Forge"

Photograph courtesy of Isabella Golightly.
Me, Lisa F, Alison W & "I'm sorry I don't remember your name"
"This one time, at the Forge with my quilting friends....."

Photograph courtesy of Isabella Golightly.
Alison vB, Katharine vB, a waitress & Me.
"This one time, at the Forge with my quilting friends....."

My calamari salad (gluten-free of course)

Quilter's Dinner - pizzas

this was my desert - a gluten-free lemon meringue desert pizza.  It was delicious and I forced myself to eat all of it!  It was huge but oh sooooooo good!!!!!

 

~~~~~ SATURDAY ~~~~~

Brrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! The next morning was mighty cold, or as the locals call it "brisk"!

But after a coffee or two we checked out of the YHA and wreaked havoc on Ballarat's fabric & embroidery shops...

Our first stop on "Lisa & Fiona's Tour of Ballarat" was a quick visit to "Eureka Patchwork" - 143 Victoria Street, Ballarat East.

Eureka Patchwork has a large variety of quilting fabrics

Eureka Patchwork has a large variety of quilting fabrics

For some reason Eureka Patchwork feel it is necessary to cut fabric using an electronic rotary cutter..... yep - enough said - let's move on....

Then a quick trip to Big W to see if they had any Lori Holt fabrics hidden among their FQs.

which they did



then a quick visit to The Elephant Patch to pick up some Perle 8 threads for a Secret Squirrel Sewing Project...

Then coffee & Lamington Donuts at Vegas & Rose (otherwise referred to as "Death by Gluten").  They also do Nutella Donuts but sadly they didn't have them on the menu that day.

And then finally we arrived at my "home away from home" - Cotton Factory in Ballarat! 
How gorgeous is that mini quilt hanging on the front door! (yep, I made that)

Alison von Bibra had organised an informal "Sit & Stitch" at the Cotton Factory for the Saturday.   Sadly we missed catching up with some of the riff raff as they had headed off to explore Ballarat, but some were still lurking on the premises when we finally arrived.

Alison White presented me with "Bluey" the squirrel.  No he's NOT a dunny brush!!!!!

"Secret Bilby Business" as Mr GL, Greeny & Forest bilbies conspire...

Lisa Ferguson (from Horsham) and Alison White (from Melbourne) deep in conversation.  The quilt on the left is Emma Jean Jansen's "Pickled Orange Peel" quilt

The lovely Katharine von Bibra had flown up from Tasmania for the weekend.

Lisa Chambers had driven down from Griffith in NSW (Lisa had stayed overnight with me in Bendigo on Thursday before we drove down for the class on Friday).  The quilt behind her is Emma Jean Jansen's "Lime & Soda" made with Terra Australis 2.

Two beauties in this photo - the lovely Alison White and "Green Tea & Sweet Beans" by Jen Kingwell

It was a great way to finish up my stay in Ballarat as we didn't get a lot of time to chat with each other during the previous day's class.  I ended up leaving Ballarat early in the afternoon and arrived home in Bendigo late that afternoon after a quick stop off at "Twin Needles" embroidery & patchwork shop in Creswick and "The Village Patch" quilt shop in Maldon.