Pick Up Stitches - Kyneton

On Monday 6 June I meet up with my friend Anne Boundy for lunch in beautiful Kyneton.  

Located approximately 85Km from Melbourne in Central Victoria, Kyneton is a thriving country town in the Macedon Ranges region of Victoria, Australia. The Calder Freeway bypasses Kyneton to the north and east.  The town was named after the English village of Kineton, Warwickshire.  Kyneton has become renowned as Victoria’s foremost country destination for good food with first rate eateries dotted throughout the town.  Some of the finest Bluestone buildings to be found in Victoria are a main feature of the town and date back to the Gold Rush era when Kyneton was a major supply town for the diggings. The Museum displays items from a bygone era in an authentic setting.

Kyneton is just under 1-hour away from Bendigo via the Calder Freeway. 

We enjoyed a very yummy lunch at Little Swallow Cafe (58a Piper St Kyneton).   I don't know how long we sat in there chatting after we had eaten.

Mmmmmm Coffee!!!!!

Our lunches - Anne ordered a pulled pork burger and I ordered French Toast with a spiced pineapple & nut compote.

Miss Snow Minty (Anne's bilby) shared my lunch. French Toast.

Indoor selfie - me & Anne

Outdoor selfie attempt

Another outdoor selfie attempt

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Pick Up Stitches

Pick Up Stitches have been servicing customers with an indulgence in both knitting and patchwork supplies for over 6 years. They have over 3000 bolts of fabric in 4 rooms, with an exceptional amount devoted to flannel fabric.  They also have a large selection of local and imported yarns on offer (brands include Patons, Cleckheaton, Heirloom, Rowan, Katia, Sirdar & Touch Yarns to name a few) however they are currently in the process of transferring many of their yarns to a secondary shop location.  They also offer regular Stitch’n’Sew days and patchwork classes.

Fabric galore!

Smile Anne!

Embroidery threads & sewing notions

Anne did your husband give you access to the credit card? 

What's left of the wool - most has been moved to their second shop

The front room

View from the front room & yes that heater was lovely and warm!

Sewing notions near the front counter

30 Piper St, Kyneton Vic.

Phone: 03 5422 6614 

Open 7 Days a Week 10am until 4pm

http://www.pickupstitches.com.au/

The Circle Game Quilt

My completed Circle Game Quilt

Further to my post the other day, I realised that I hadn't provided any specs about my Circle Game Quilt.

The pattern booklet.  Available through all good quilt shops.

Pattern: "The Circle Game" by Jen Kingwell

Fabrics Used: 

• I have used a mixture of fabrics by the Kaffe Fassett Collective which includes Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably and Philip Jacobs.
• The black & white spot is "Spot On" design #14868 by Studio RK for Robert Kaufman
• The grey is "Architextures" by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman.  I think it was the "Shale" colour. 
• The charcoal is "Quilter's Linen" screen rint D#9864 by Robert Kaufman
• The Sashing - is a Kaffe Fassett print called "Freckles".  It looks yellow in some photos but it is actually a very pale lime green with flecks of red, pink, brown and green through it.

Techniques: Jen's quilts can be made using a variety of techniques and I am sure that everyone does theirs differently.  I estimate that at least 85% of this quilt was sewn by hand.  There were a few simple blocks which I machine pieced but mostly I hand sewed them.  I did machine piece the borders and the sashing.  It has taken me approximately 12-months to complete this quilt.  

Quilting: I have hand quilted this quilt using Aurifil threads in a combination of 40wt, 50wt and 28wt that I ordered through Ms Midge.

The individual blocks:

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

Block 7

Block 8

Block 9 - this is one of my favourites

Block 10

Block 11

Block 12

Block 13

Block 14

Block 15

Block 16 - another one of my favourites

The finished quilt top:

Here is the flimsy hanging up above my bed prior to being quilted.

Miss Amity's "schexy pose" - it's a shame I had the window open when I took this photo as the wind blew the right hand side, but Amity's pose is just too cute!

Basting & Quilting:

My mother helped me baste the quilt in the craft room at her retirement village.

About to pin baste

Ironing and basting

These are all the Aurifil threads that I used to hand quilt this quilt.

Hand quilting

Hand quilting

Hand quilting with Aurifil

Hand quilting with beautiful Aurifil threads

When I was too tired to hand quilt, Miss Amity took over for me ;0)