And The Fun Began ... !!!

Oops! I meant to be back a little sooner than this, but somehow this week is zooming past at the speed of light and I need to borrow a certain "Blue Box" so I can cheat a little with time and get more accomplished. Wibbly, wobbly or otherwise, I just never seem to have enough time in my days ... I know there are a lot of you out there saying, "Amen, to that sister!" Tee! Hee! Hee! Now ... even though I've divided my 'report' in two, there are still lots of photos left to share, so you might want to grab a cuppa and get comfy ... sorry Chookyblue! :0)

So ... Stitchers Dream Day Out 2012. Where to begin ... my bestest-buddy-since-we-were-nine Lynette and my dancing buddy Lynda and I were all booked in to 'play ladies' on the Sunday of this fun stitching event, so I offered to be one of Marion's 'voluntary slaves' for Saturday ... errand running, serving in the mini-shop and helping out wherever possible. So, I was braced for action as the curtains parted to let the excited ladies into our new venue. Can I just say, the marquee in the middle of the Village Green was a fun spot for SDDO, but the school hall turned out to be a FANTASTIC venue ... lots more room for displays and an extended mini-shop (Woo! Hoo!), more room for tables, more room for the designers to show off their pretty pattern samples ... and perhaps most importantly for us ladies ... MORE TOILETS! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Our lovely guest designers got things rolling for the day be showing us their brand new, never-before-published patterns that they had designed especially for the day with two bundles of fat 1/8s that Marion had sent them to play with ... two very different colourways and six very different and wonderfully new designs ...

The gorgeous Gail Pan's bright design ... a cute stitching folder - sorry ... forgot to photograph inside ... DOH!!

 

This was Gail's second project ... and the one I received the kit for in my goodies bag ... a sweet sewing bag with a needle keep to match. Can I just say ... I am in LOVE with that Cottage Garden thread 307 ... its like antique gold - YUM! :0)

 

Nikki's bright projects ... this woman cannot waste a single bit of fabric ... she used the very last scraps to make the little thimble keep in the front of the photo! :0)

 

Nikki's softer colourway project ... a block keeper and a sewing pouch ... lots of stitching and some special buttons. (Nikki's discovery: It takes a LOT longer to STITCH lines in a design than it does to DRAW them with a pen! Tee! Hee! Hee! She was still stitching the night before arriving!!!)

 

Natalie's bright project ... a different sort of stitching folder ... it is a tri-fold design and I've photographed it with one third open to show an inside panel, along with the front of the folder.

 

Natalie's softer coloured projects ... a handy mug bag to keep your fave tea cup or coffee mug safe and a little zippy bag to pop your sewing stuff in so it doesn't get lost.

 

Everyone received a kit to make one of these six lovely projects in their goodies bag with the stitchery design already ironed on, whisperweft attached, ready to stitch, so it was a chattin' and a stitchin' we could go! :0)

 

While I was kept pretty busy serving in the mini-shop, I DID manage to get out and about for a chat or two ... did you really doubt it?!?! :0) And on one table a lady caught my attention and said, "I was told to say hello to you." When I asked who'd said to do that (thinking maybe we had a mutual acquaintance) she replied ... "YOU did!" It turned out to be the lovely Lynda (I seem to collect Linda/Lynda's!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) from Bettsylyn ... one of the SSCS gals and it turns out that when she told me she was coming, I told her to grab me and say hello! :0)

 

Here she is with yours truly and another blogger, Miss Kayly. It was lovely to catch up for a chat ... bloggers are such nice people in person! :0)

 

I have to tell you, I went home rather footsore from standing on concrete for two days in a row on Saturday night, but when Sunday dawned, my bestest-buddy-since-we-were-nine Lynette and I were raring to go. We met up with Lynda and prepared to have a girly day of fun! :0)

 

Here we are on the second-naughtiest table ... the back table usurped our title this year ... what a rowdy bunch! Though I think Nikki was a bad influence there! Tee! Hee! Hee! And joining us on our table was another blogging buddy ... the lovely Narelle from Pins and Whiskers ... one of our OPAM gals ...

 

Here we are saying ... "Dr Livingston, I presume?" in amongst the lush palm trees that decorated the hall ... it felt like we were on a tropical island somewhere ... almost! :0) Narelle was fun to spend the day with ... along with some of her friends from Mt Perry ... which isn't all that far from Mundubbera where I grew up. Blogland can be a small world! :0)

 

And of course, throughout the weekend, I enjoyed catching up with the wonderful guest designers ...

 

Gail ... Gail and I have chatted back and forth via blogs for a while, so when we met up on the weekend, we both felt we already knew each other. Can I just say ... Gail is such a sweetie! I'm looking forward to our paths crossing again soon. :0)

 

Nikki ... we're both laughing here cos when our photo was about to be taken, we both said ... "Lean forward!" Apparently, it's a more flattering pose/angle ... but it just cracked us up instead! Tee! Hee! Hee!

 

Natalie ... Natalie showed us all a simple way to sew a zip into a little pouch bag. Hmmm ... I might even have to finally give it a go ... I've had zip-phobia for some time! :0)

 

A HUGE thank you to Marion, Steph and their merry band of helpers for providing some mad stitchers with the perfect way to kick back and relax. If you haven't attended a Stitchers Dream Day Out, you really should put it on your calendar for next year. Or maybe you'd like to come to the March Girls' Stitch In where there will be two fantastic Aussie designers ... I know that because Leanne Beasley is one of them and the other is ... ME! :0) I was very chuffed when Marion invited me to be a guest designer for Girls Stitch in ... and since my birthday is in March, it must be my early giftie! Tee! Hee! Hee! Hope some of my blogging buddies can come and play with us.

 

But right now ... my body is telling me it's been a VERY busy week and it's going to be even busier over the weekend, so I'm off to keep an overdue date with my pillow. Hope you're all having a fantastic week. Til next time ...

 

EXCITED BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS