52 Quilters - Week 27 - Fiona Forsyth - Craft Alive Bendigo

One of the best events to happen each year in Bendigo is Craft Alive!  This year's was held 17-19 June 2016 at the Bendigo Showgrounds.

Craft Alive is Australia's Leading Regional Craft and Sales Expo over three fabulous days.  Annually bringing together both talented interstate and local exhibitors, focusing on creative Hand Finished Products, Do It Yourself Products, Craft Supplies, Homewares and creative workshops to inspire young and old. Customers have the opportunity to shop for something unique and special in the comfort of indoors. You can enjoy lunch or morning tea at the cafe, wander into a workshop and spend a leisurely hour having fun while learning new skills.

Exhibitor's can apply for any or all of the regional events. Craft Alive is a great opportunity for them to spread their wings, travel and expand their client base by showcasing their specialty product to customers throughout Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

Bendigo's Craft Alive is the largest in regional Victoria and has on average 100 exhibitors.  Here are some of this year's highlights:

www.create-a-memory4u.com

one of the many scrapbooking & stamping stalls

Malcolm & Jackie from Brindabella Quilting Systems.
www.brindabellaquilting.com.au/

Brindabella Quilting Systems
www.brindabellaquilting.com.au/

Sue's Stitches - Lang Lang

Sue's Stitches - Lang Lang

www.mypatchfabrics.com.au

www.facebook.com/thebuttonladies

www.facebook.com/thebuttonladies

http://www.vicsew.com/

http://www.vicsew.com/

Pauline's Quilters World www.pqw.com.au

Rosalie Dekker & I at Under the Mulberry Tree
www.underthemulberrytree.com

Rosalie Dekker & I

Rosie is showing me her new BOM "Memories of Gembrook" made from her new fabric range "Gembrook"
www.underthemulberrytree.com

Rosie is showing me her new BOM "Memories of Gembrook" made from her new fabric range "Gembrook"
www.underthemulberrytree.com

Cottage Garden Threads stand and "Melly & Me" to the right
www.underthemulberrytree.com

www.underthemulberrytree.com

Most of the quilts & toys on display in this photo are by "Melly & Me" - I love those ducks!
www.underthemulberrytree.com

Rosalie's Dekker's BOM - "United Stitches"
www.underthemulberrytree.com

Rosalie Dekker's BOM - "Scandinavian Rose"
www.underthemulberrytree.com

Rosalie Dekker's new BOM - "Memories of Gembrook"
www.underthemulberrytree.com

Each year I give myself a set budget for Craft Alive & this is this year's haul of goodies.  I didn't buy any fabric this year, instead I purchased mostly quilting stencils, sewing notions and a few bits & pieces which I need for gifts.  I also bought myself a new quilt pattern (see next photo).

This is the pattern that I purchased from My Patch - "My Flower Bloom Quilt" by Janeene Scott - Passionately Sewn.  The background is low volume fabrics and the flowers are Kaffe Fassett.  I'm looking forward to making this!

For more information go to: www.craftalive.com.au 

52 Quilters - Week 27 - Fiona Forsyth - My Favourite Quilty Hang-outs

I tend to spend most of my time at home either in my sewing studio or sitting on my "soffice" - sofa/office - hand sewing:

My Sewing Studio

My Sewing Studio

My Sewing Studio

My Sewing Studio - view of the "Nut House" where my secret sewing squirrels congregate

My Sewing Studio - view of the "Nut House" where my secret sewing squirrels congregate

My Sewing Studio

My Sewing Studio

When I am not at home, these are a few of my favourite Quilty hang-outs:

Honeysuckle Stained Class & Patchwork - Bendigo 

My local quilt shop is Honeysuckle Stained Glass and Patchwork - which is owned by Nicky & Peter.  They have a large range of traditional and modern fabrics, buttons, ribbons, trims, DMC threads, Cottage Garden Threads, and other sewing notions.  Nicky is a modern quilter so she has a good selection of the latest fabric lines & is very knowledgeable.  If you lose me in the shop you will often find me in the Kaffe Fassett corner drooling over all the pretties!! Honeysuckle are a Quiltworx certified shop and they regularly run classes on the premises.

 

Honeysuckle Stained Glass and Patchwork

2 Havilah Rd, 

Long Gully (Bendigo) 

Victoria 3550 Australia

Phone: (03) 5441 3289

Opening Hours: 

Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm 

Saturday 9am – 12noon

http://www.honeysucklepatchwork.com.au/

~

Spotlight Bendigo

I often refer to the local Spotlight store as my second home - as I live less than 5-minutes away, I often pop in to get my supplies. Spotlight is Australiasias largest supplier of Fabric, Craft, Party and Home Interiors, with Superstores in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.

~

Further afield - Ballarat is just down the road a bit from Bendigo :-)

Cotton Factory - Ballarat

My home away from home is Cotton Factory in Ballarat and I tend to go down there a few times a year.   Ballarat is "just down the road a bit" from Bendigo (it is 123kms south west of Bendigo - and it takes about 90-minutes to drive there). Cotton Factory is owned by Alison von Bibra (known affectionately as "#theAlison").  Cotton Factory is a small business in Ballarat with an aim to make craft available to everyone. They work with many independent Australian pattern and fabric designers to bring you some great goodies. Alison recently attended Quilt Market in Salt Lake City and she has access to all the products that are about to hit the market.  Here is a link to a previous article I wrote about Cotton Factory

Beyond these unassuming lime green doors lies lots of pretty treasures!

THE Alison - Alison von Bibra - Cotton Factory Ballarat

Cotton Factory

128 Clyde Street

(Cnr of Brougham Street)

Ballarat, Victoria, 3350, Australia

Opening Hours:

Thursday, Friday & Saturday

10am to 3pm

The online shop is ALWAYS open.

http://www.cottonfactory.bigcartel.com/

https://www.instagram.com/cotton_factory/

https://www.instagram.com/cotton_factory_destash/

Cotton Factory Community Block Swap

#cfcblockswap

A common theme when crafters talk about swaps, is how hard they are to organise, how varied the fabrics are (some chain store, some high quality fabric store, some Vintage) and how hard it is to manage when people don’t follow through. Cotton Factory is hosting a community block swap where you are guaranteed to receive your swap blocks.  The swap is open to Australian Quilters and Overseas Quilters and will work as follows:

• Purchase your BlockPack from Cotton Factory
• Make four blocks
• Return as many (or as few) as you decide
• You will receive the SAME number of swap blocks by return mail that you sent in.

All fabrics have been chosen by Cotton Factory. They include Carolyn Friedlander, Art Gallery, Jen Kingwell, Free Spirit and a range of well known, best quality, quilting cottons. For enquiring minds, the colour scheme is: mustard, teal, muted oranges and hints of citrus. Cotton Factory has partnered with Eye Candy Quilts to provide the pattern in your Block Swap Packs, at cost.  

Recapping key dates.

1. To start, just purchase a Block Pack before the end of July 2016.
2. Make your blocks
3. Post your swap blocks such that they arrive at Cotton Factory by 31^st August 2016
4. Get ready to receive your Swap blocks later that same week (or early the following week – dependent on Australia Post, the Universe and the usual postal planetary alignment).
5. In your own sweet time you make up your quilt. Keep using the hash tag #cfcblockswap, so we can all stay connected with your progress.

Sadly my Block Pack did not arrive in time for my 52 Quilters take over week however, Alison did give me permission to share some of her photos:

photo courtesy of @Cotton_Factory

photo courtesy of @katharine_von_bibra

UPDATE - this swap has since closed.

For more information about the #cfcblockswap, please go to:

https://cottonfactory.wordpress.com/2016/06/11/cotton-factory-community-block-swap/

Probus Mystery Tour

Back on the 18th of November 2015, my parents invited me to join them and their Probus group on a "Mystery Tour".  We departed Bendigo early morning and headed off on our adventure.  After a brief comfort stop at the Organ Pipes National Park the coach continued down the Calder Highway towards Melbourne.  

Our first major stop was a visit to the Melbourne Star - a giant Ferris wheel in the Waterfront City precinct in the Docklands area of Melbourne.  Melbourne Star is one of only four giant observation wheels in the world and the only one in the Southern Hemisphere. Each of the Melbourne Star's 21 spacious, air-conditioned cabins gives you an unparallelled, 360-degree view of the city.  Once on board you can walk around and take in the views from all angles, while audio commentary gives you a brief introduction to the history and significance of the sights below.

Welcome to Melbourne Star Observation Wheel

Our "flight" commences

My Mum looks like she's praying! =0)

My Dad is behind the camera lens

West Gate Bridge in the background and the shipping container yards of Port Melbourne.

Bolte Bridge

A view of Melbourne's CBD

A view of the Yarra River

A view of one of the other cabins going over the top.

Another river view

Bolte Bridge

Coming in to land

A close up view of the mechanics

Disembarking

Another view of the observation wheel

I don't have many family photos so it was nice to have this photo of my parents & I which was taken by one of Melbourne Star's photographers.

After our 30-minute "flight" we were driven to Port Melbourne where we enjoyed a relaxing lunch at Pier 35 Bar & Grill.  

Pier 35 Bar & Grill is located on the waterfront in Port Melbourne, and features modern Australian cuisine with a variety of fresh seafood and steaks as well as an extensive wine list. The restaurant has cosy and warm surrounds in one of Melbourne's best water front locations. The floor to ceiling windows show off their waterfront location so that every table has a view of Port Melbourne's unique waterways. 

My lunch - a calamari salad - YUM!!!

Mum had a Chicken Parmigiana for lunch.

A rare photo of me outside the restaurant.

On the way back to Bendigo we stopped off at Donnybrook Cheese at Monteleone Restaurant in Donnybrook where we enjoyed a coffee and watched a cheese making demonstration.  

Donnybrook Cheese and Monteleone Restaurant are owned and operated by the Monteleone family who for 5 generations have been making Artisan gourmet cheese. Located at Donnybrook, the restaurant was founded from a simple philosophy that cheese enhances every delicious meal.  The restaurant contains delectable Italian cuisine, specialising in wood fired pizza and fresh rustic dishes found in Southern Italy. The restaurant is attached to the well known Donnybrook Farmhouse Cheese shop. While dining, patrons are free to pop in to the shop and sample their freshly made dairy produce made traditionally with milk from their own heard of cows.  Outside of the restaurant’s trading hours, the cheese shop is open to the public from 9am - 5pm Wednesday to Sunday.

Inside the restaurant

View of the wood fired oven

My coffee made with milk that was fresh from the cow.

Looking inside the cheese fridge in the shop

40+ Probus members fighting to get to the front of the queue to buy cheese

My cheese haul.

We arrived back into Bendigo early evening after a fun filled day with our bellies full of yummy food & a bag full of cheese.