A finish!! ..... and another start!

I've been laid up on the couch for the last week with easily the worst cold/flu bug that I've had in YEARS!  You know the way there is sick, you feel off colour, and maybe don't go to work but all up its not too bad... then there is the other kind of sick, the lie in bed, can't think straight, can't see straight, stare at the wall, sleep all day (and all night) kind of sick? Well I was that second one.... I'm feeling much better now, and did manage over the weekend to get the bindings finished on our new placemats!

 I'm so happy with how they came out! I love the fabrics, it's a good combo of the bright colours that I love and more masculine colours so that they can be something that both Sir Pinkying and I love having on the dining room table.

In a great act of random timing, we just finished building our brand new dining room table (don't you love Ikea?!?) so we're all set to go!  I cut the strips all different random sizes, and then added the grey to either end, so none of the placemats are the same

Finally, because I've finished something, I've also started something new with these beautiful fabrics (that's "Baby Safari" from Northcott in case you're wondering, and some Kona Solids) for a very special friend of Sir Pinkying and I.

 I've done all the cutting, now I've just got to sit down to do the sewing.

Melbourne!

It's been a while since we last had a holiday, actually we haven't had any time off work since Christmas and it was well and truly time to take a short break.  Melbourne is running the Winter Masterpieces series again this winter, so we decided to go for a short trip away. 

The main reason for going was the Tutankhamun exhibition, which I have to say was just wonderful.  I knew that the "death mask" hadn't come with the exhibition (it never leaves Egypt) but the artifacts that were part of the exhibition were absolutely incredible.  They say that the average visiting time is about 75 minutes - we spent just over 2 hours!  The items are displayed in glass cases so that you can see all the different sides, just fantastic!

  

There was one shop that I knew I wanted to visit, I've been seeing ads in a lot of the quilting magazines, and when I figured out that the shop was located on Lygon St, close to some of the best food in Melbourne, I convinced Sir Pinkying that we should go and check it out.  We stopped for breakfast on our first morning at a place called Gingerlee - which was great - and then walked down Lygon St to GJ's Discount Fabrics.

 What can I say except WOW!  This is possibly one of the best patchwork shops that I've been to in Australia.  As readers of blogs we all see the new fabrics coming out in the USA, and then are used to there being a wait before we can get them here.  Not at GJ's!! They had fabric on the shelves that I just received notifications about from some of the big US fabric shops!  Incredible!

They had a great range of patterns, and a whole bunch of pre-cuts too.   The staff were friendly and nice to chat too (even when I asked if I could take some pictures!).  Also, I should be clear, this isn't a sponsored post of any kind, I was just one very happy customer!

 We also went walking to see the usual sites, Bourke St Mall

 Flinders St Station

 and had a lovely meal in the lane ways

We had a great view from our room, which was mostly of the cloudy overcast days.

Of course on our last day we woke up to this!

A Room With a..... Desk!

Ever since Sir Pinkying and I moved earlier this year we've been meaning to "get around" to getting a desk for our spare room so that I can have dedicated space for quilting.  There's been a couple of false starts, including a trip to Ikea where I discovered that the desk I thought I wanted was in actual fact not very sturdy, and we ended up coming home empty handed.  But yesterday we tried again and finally had success!

Here is the before:

We're lucky in that we have a lot of natura; light in the apartment and there is a beautiful picture window in the middle of the wall.  At the moment the trees outside are bare, but in the summer time they will be covered in beautiful pink flowers.  Here is the after! 

Did I mention that I share the spare room with Sir Pinkying's hobby?  Did I mention that Sir Pinkying is a drummer?  So we have drums on the left hand side, and quilting on the right hand side!! Now that's what I call a multi-function room!

I've already discovered one fantastic thing about my new desk: the little gaps in the storage foot are PERFECT to display fabric!