Lots of stitching

I am so lucky to work and teach at Hobbysew and you get to see so much lovely stitching! Last week at class, it was so lovely to see Karen and Lynn's lovely journal covers almost done. The little suffolk puffs look so beautiful. Just had to take home both the patterns that the ladies made when Lynette was teaching and even an extra one! The first one is Lynn's and her puffs had to be stitched on and she was finished. 

 Karen was just placing her suffolk puffs ready to be stitched.

 On Tuesday, Madge came in looking for some backing for this gorgeous quilt, Scandinavian Rose, by Rosalie Quinlan. I was so motivated to get my patterns out (bought last year) and get started! Can't start till a  few other things are done. It looks lovely in blue.

 Madge had also made these lovely bags with hexagons!

 Doreen brought in her gorgeous woven wool felt quilt which is a BOM by Sue Spargo. It is so gorgeous and it is inspiring to see the stitches used to embellish the wool.

 Doreen had also made this lovely needle and notions book from another Sue Spargo pattern.

Just so inspiring!

Third class on the ship

Our third class on the ship was with Gary Clarke. When we booked we weren't sure how this lovely scissor fob was created but we really enjoyed this project. We were given 3 printed pieces and worked on the smallest one to make the scissor fob. We were encouraged to use our own choice of colours and also choose from some recommended stitches to stitch the lines and fill in the background. The needle was tiny and we were using only 1 thread but the result is lovely. Here are Fiona and I with Gary.

 This is Gary's original scissor fob.

 Here is mine so far. I have done a little more since then and it is fun to do. Check out the tiny needle.

 This is how Gary stitched one of the large pieces. I am looking forward to doing these too.

 We were stitching near the pool one day and Rose came to sit with us. She was finishing off her beautiful gold work!

 All too soon the holiday was over. We really enjoyed the experience. For a cruise with few ports of call, the stitching really filled in the days. We learnt lots from the tutors and enjoyed the classes very much. It was special to make new friends and to meet so many like minded stitchers.

Isn't the ship huge? This was the view from the quay.

More about the cruise

Our first, and only, port of call was Noumea. We were to go on to Fiji but the ship had "electrical problems" so we had 2 days in Noumea repairing the ship. Far better to have problems in port than out at sea. I tried to take a picture of this gigantic shop and had to take a front and back view to fit it all in!

 We headed into town and had a lovely coffee (the ship's coffee wasn't too good) and then wandered around the shops. We found a lovely haberdashery and fabric shop which was fun. They were using this wonderful old wooden ruler to measure the fabric. I bought some little Bohin scissors and needles and couldn't resist the lovely buttons below on their little cards.

 Fiona and I then went to the beach and had a lovely swim.

 Our second class was Portuguese whitework with Yvette Stanton. She had wonderful eyes and could count so well!!! Counted thread work has never been my favourite thing but I managed to make this bookmark! I did buy Yvette's book and would like to have another go at this kind of stitching. Mind you, my magnifier was very useful as was my ottlight.

 Here we are with our finished bookmarks.

 Here is Yvette teaching the ladies.

 Each evening we had dinner with these lovely ladies and we had lots of laughs together. We had a wonderful waiter who entertained us with tricks and jokes!

 When we weren't doing classes we enjoyed reading and stitching by the pool. Here are Sue, Jan and Fiona relaxing.

Stitching Cruise

Fiona and I had a great time on our first stitching cruise with Needlework Cruises. Sue, Jan and I travelled up by car and met Fiona at the dock and then headed onto the Voyager of the Seas. It is a huge ship, far bigger than any I have experienced before. We really had a lovely time. We didn't cook, clean, make beds and only had to decide where to go and what to eat (far too much) and wear! Even better, we had our stitching classes for 4 days. Here are just a few photos of the views of Sydney from the ship.

 It is hard to show how large this ship is! It has an ice skating rink, pools, and lots for people to do on board, especially kids.

 Down the centre of the shop is a street with bars and shops along it.

 Here are Fiona and Maree starting our first class with Robyn Alexander of Colour Streams. She was a wonderful teacher and we had 2 great days making her Heart Felt Chateleine.

 Robyn's kit was full of lovely hand dyed silk ribbons, felt and fabric and beads and braid to embellish our chateleine. She encourages you to "play" with the stitches and the threads to create your chateleine.

 Here we are with Robyn.

This isn't a great photo but gives you an idea of how the large dining room looked with the classes spread around near the windows so we could have lots of natural light.

 Jill Adamson was next to us and she was teaching tiny needleturn applique and she let us take some pictures of her exquisite work.

Stitching progress and a holiday

Tomorrow, Fiona and I and some other friends (plus quite a few other stitchers) are heading off on the Voyager of the Seas on our first Needlework cruise. The packing is half done and I am excited. The ship is going to Noumea and Lautoka only and on 4 of the sea days we will be enjoying classes with 3 of the 12 tutors! What a holiday....cruising and stitching!
I have been stitching over the past few weeks and have only just finished all the satin stitch dots on blocks 10 and 11 of Vignette. Whew!


Might not be able to blog while cruising so will report how it all went afterwards!

More inspiration

On Wednesday evening, there were even more lovely finishes! Margaret has finished her Starry starry night top. I love this quilt and mine hangs over my red lounge but I do know how long it took me to make!!!! So many 2 1/2" squares! It looks fantastic.

 Barbara has been busy too and made this great strippy quilt using a French General jelly roll. I do love FG fabrics!

 We were also amazed to see Judy's finished quilt. She has embroidered, pieced and quilted this quilt for her niece! It is beautiful.

 Even the back is pieced so it can be reversed.

 Her embroidery is just beautiful.

 Minded these little fellows on Wednesday while Mummy went to Zumba (she prefers excercise to stitching!). Got a hesitant smile out of Ben as he was a bit sad.....perhaps teeth....who knows!

 Sammy was just his happy little self and managed to sleep till Mum came home!

Best get off the computer as I have some dreaded housework to do, shopping to get and then a bit of packing to do! I am going away on Sunday. Can't wait to tell you all about it tomorrow.