A Big Day Out...Maryborough Adventures...

*Warning...long and lots of pics...it was going to be two posts but goodness knows it has taken me long enough to get to one so let's not push it - ha ha ha...

 

A couple of weeks ago my friend C and I finally managed to get up the highway to Maryborough to see this year's national Golden Textures Contemporary Art Quilt Award exhibition at the Central Goldfields Art Gallery...it was the last weekend of the exhibition so it was then or well, then really...we've missed it not being on because of Covid so were keen to go but time had gotten away and before we knew it it was almost over.

 

The gallery space, which is the old fire station, has been totally renovated and revamped and it is amazing...the light floods in...

As usual the quilts were all unique and interesting drawing on varied inspirations and techniques...

The mandala quilt (Greg Somerville, Victoria) earned the Viewer's Choice award. It was pretty amazing.  The quilt with the words "Twenty Thousand" was actually titled "It's Just A Cold" and was a memorial by the artist (Mandy Baker, Victoria) to the 20,000+ Australians who lost their lives to Covid. These two were my favourites along with the sculptures.

Before we went into the exhibition we went for coffee, or as it turned out breakfast, and these are the tiles in the entryway to the pub's bistro...had to take a picture...after all they are a quilt in ceramics!...

We then did go to the patchwork shop which is straight across the road from the pub otherwise it would be closed if we went back to the Gallery first...lovely shop, nice proprietor, good start to the day...yes, some bits came home with us but the fabric was all from the sale table and we shared some of it so bargain hunters!

 

Following the exhibition we were walking to a particular shop that C wanted to visit and came across this mural...

It was time for afternoon tea and while were we at the Gallery I heard a gallery staff member, who was chatting to some people who had never been to Maryborough before about what to do and see, mention the cafe at the station...so we tootled up to the station to check it out...I go past the station all the time but have never stopped in before...we were so glad we did...aside from the delicious vanilla slices (fresh made from Carisbrook bakery so, besides the fact vanilla slice are the favourite, there was no competition once the lovely staff member told me that!)...the station itself is worth a look...the restaurant/cafe is in the refreshment room and we sat next to the fireplace which was huge and has the most impressive marble surround...so many original features...it is a feast for the eyes as well as the tummy...

The station is so big that I couldn't get it all in the frame and I was as you can see quite a long way back...

Stained glass and the sky light in the refreshment room...check out that ceiling...

On the way back down the highway we took a very wee detour in Avoca for at look at the current exhibition at the gallery that is in Avoca's old railway station (the freight trains still go through but not passenger) and then around the corner to the painted silo...the Barking Owl...it actually glows at night, there is a button to push to make it so but we were still in daylight...

A Big Day Out...it has been so long since we've been anywhere we had to make up for lost time!...

 

Happy Stitching...

Ta Dah!...Scrub Stitchin' 2023 Drawstring Bag...

I started the embroidery for the drawstring bag kit that was in our goody bag at Scrub Stitchin' while I was there...

This was starting off...I did get all the words stitched before the early exit.

 

It didn't get any further until I was back home because, well, sick with the plague, when I slowly slowly did a few extra bits and then while zooming for what ended up being the day with Chooky and Chookshed Stitcher friends Saturday week ago I finished the applique/stitchery panel..

This last Saturday I made a start on preparing the rest of the kit and slowly slowly over the course of the day (because still sooooooo tired...it definitely would not normally take an entire day to put together)...ta dah! the finished bag...

  

 

It's very cute I must say and surprisingly roomy...and very soft and light because it has no interfacing or batting...I think it lends itself to also being made with a bit more structure (interfacing/batting and a template plastic base) so potentially options...this is one pattern I feel might get at least a second outing sometime in the future (with a change to the Scrub Stitchin' words)...I like it a lot...

Happy Stitching...

Scrub Stitchin' Early Exit...Tooraweenah

Scrub Stitchin' ended abruptly for me Saturday morning, along with my plans for after Scrub Stitchin' which included more silo hunting and visiting my friends in the ACT.  My annual leave turned into sick leave and that's it for me for holidays for a long time, certainly I doubt I'll be able to have any more attempts this year.

When I felt up to going for a wander around where I was hunkered down until I was well enough to drive I checked out the murals around the place...a very geographically limited version of silo/public art hunting! ha ha ha...setting out from my temporary home and its cheerful emu logo...

The sites are marked with cheerful emu too...

Murals decorating walls and fences...

 ...and garden sculptures...

If I had to be stuck anywhere I have to say Tooraweenah wasn't too shabby an environment to have to put up with...

Happy stitching...

Scrub Stitchin'...Swap, Presents, Prizes and Goody Bag...

There were presents, prizes and goodies galore that came home from Scrub Stitchin'...

First up...what was in those goody bags on the tables??...well, goodies indeed!...

There were a number of different Australian flora designs on the mugs...mine has Banksia.  Jo made the wee cushion with Australiana fabric and designed to store binding clips around the flange edge - clever idea - with an Australia themed wooden button (mine is a kangaroo) just held on by a pin. The two wee mini one block quilts were made by Sylvia, so they travelled all the way from Germany, and each has a magnet enclosed, another clever idea...a kit and pattern for a drawstring bag designed by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched with a modification especially for us - the words "forever friends" on her regular pattern changed to "Scrub Stitching 2023"...the highlight I have to say is the calico bag, on the back are listed all this year's Scrub Stitchin' stitchers and where we come from!...and what would a goody bag without chocolate, there were more Caramello koalas but they didn't survive until the photo shoot *LOL*...all the clever and thoughtful details in this goodie bag, thank you Chooky and your conspirators.

 

The "Make It Bake It Fake It" swap was held Friday night at dinner.  Everyone was given a number, the numbers were called out and the corresponding present went to that person - it went well, only one person had the number for their own present so it was easy to just switch with the other number that was called at the same time...I received Harriett's gift (the "Kim" of the Kath & Kim double act)...a lovely quilted zippered pouch with an essential oil blend spray inside...very pretty, I love the fabric, and will be most useful, thanks Harriett...

I made another mug bag the same as the one I made for the Stawell Quilter's Cave Hill Creek camp Angel Swap...yes, I production lined as I needed two swap presents in quick succession...

 

but the mug was made by a friend especially for Scrub Stitchin'...

 

Maureen received my gift - she has a great sense of humour and laughed at the mug which was entirely my intent...

During dinner on Friday night I won a prize for correctly guessing what Chooky's outfit represented - the sky!...which incidentally was part of my outfit as well!!! lucky me the prize was a lovely bundle of pink fat eigths...Chooky also ran another prize giving where she asked whoever she nominated to pick a number and then go up and select a prize...I found a lovely bundle of bright fat quarters in the parcel I chose which will go very nicely into the "Alice" project...

 

Sylvia, who is a one woman industry I swear, made the most gorgeous snail pincushion for her swap gift and I was lucky enough to be gifted one from her as well...

I have it leant up against the camera case for the picture but will glue to it to a wooden base so it stands up by itself as instructed by Sylvia - I have some bits broken off the apple tree that I think will be most appropriate if I can cut up a right sized piece...isn't it just gorgeous...

 

That calico bag was stuffed full of treasures for the trip home!

Happy Stitching...

Scrub Stitchin'...Friday...

Generally Saturday at Scrub Stitchin' is the day for show & tell and theme dinner...but Chooky moved those to Friday but because one of our lovely international visitors had to leave early Saturday so her husband could get to his fun activity of their trip - cattle judging at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney...I don't have any pictures from Show & Tell because I was a holder upper for Janice's quilts and then kept on being a holder upperer with Chooky...there are plenty of pics on other blogs though...

 

We also had our group photo Friday morning instead of Sunday morning...happy campers...

Drinks & nibbles at the outside bar before dinner...my room mate Jenny taking a photo of me taking a photo of the gathering...

The theme was "Australiana" and the dress code for Saturday Night Dinner on Friday Night was "what does Australia mean to you?"...of course the room was decorated...most excellently by Di, Miranda and Brenda...among the decorating touches were Australian flag bunting hung all around the room and the table set with Australian themed runners embroidered especially by Di along with foliage and Aussie soft toys... 

So interesting and fun to see the outfits and hear the explanations of everyone's take on the theme...especially with our international campers on board...my initial thought was "sky/light" which I expanded to "colours"  - sky, wattle and fire -  a bright blue t-shirt "sky", yellow and green ribbon around my ponytail "wattle" and my CFA ID & red lanyard "fire"...I have to say Harriett and her mum Tina as "Kath & Kim" complete with impressions were hilarious...the "Kim" look that Harriett gave Tina in response to "look at me look at me" was spot on...the internationals were not too shabby...Deana and her sister Tracey, came as tourists...Sylvia, Well...goodness only knows what else she would have added if she'd had more time to go through with all her ideas!...High Tea on her head, a snake catching a mouse (a reference to the last mouse plague Chooky had to contend with) around her neck, a crocodile on her arm and she was a kangaroo with a joey in her pouch...such fun...

Gail was already in Oz when the theme message came through so she came up with a great idea...buy an Australia t-shirt and write her special memories of her trip on it...you'd think sourcing the t-shirt would be the easy part but it wasn't! she did well to eventually find what she wanted...very personal and a great memento of her trip down under...

Tracey in her tourist outfit can be seen to the right behind Gail...great ideas from the international friends...(also behind Gail is "Kath" in the purple tracksuit..."Kim" is in pink in the first photo of the room)...

 

A fun night...

 

We also had our "Make It Bake It Fake It" swap and I'll show that in another post, this one is already long enough...

Happy Stitching...