AQC Haul

I'm a few days late, but here is my wrap up of AQC. I was impressed with the layout improvements made for this year; there was more room to move between stalls, though that doesn't help a lot when 20 people are queued up at each stall!

There was a good range of shops present too, and I was pleased to see that pre-cuts have made a bit of a comeback this year. The prices were a lot more reasonable than last year too; I've previously seen layer cakes as high as $70!

I was very restrained, and only purchased a few fat quarters; Whimsy, Make Life, and a Prints Charming print. Oh, and a new blade for my rotary cutter. I thought those Make Life fabrics would make gorgeous statement cushions.

I did also order a kit from the lovely Ballarat Patchwork: Nine Birds, which will be arriving in the next couple of weeks. I was drawn to it despite is not being my "usual" style. Sometimes you just need to do something a little different.

There's not much else going on at the moment...I'm slowly plugging away at the Mystery BOM finishing kit, and recovering from a fantastic night at the John Mayer concert in Melbourne last night. Boy that bloke can sing!

Summerwind

A day spent hunched over the sewing machine, and the final two borders added to Summerwind (or more correctly, Summer Wind).

Pattern: Summer Wind by Miss Rosies Quilt Co

Fabric: Aster Manor by 3 Sisters for Moda

Not the best photos due to fading light; the unfortunate downside to this time of year!

Off to AQC tomorrow, a good chance to see what new fabrics are around, and get a good idea of what prices are about.

AQC Wrap-Up

My mum and I went to the Australasian Quilt Convention/Expo this morning, and shopped up a storm! It's been the perfect day for the end of summer; warm but no too hot, and not a cloud in sight. We arrived about 15min before the expo opened, and there were people everywhere! This year it's being held at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, which is a beautiful old building. While it advertised as having more room and therefore more stalls, I'm not sure that was the case. It was still quite a struggle to get up close to each stall, and the noise in there was amazing. I also found the seminar rooms to be a bit small; I had to sit on the floor! But anyway, pictures! I didn't take too many there, just too many people.

The building, viewed from the surrounding gardens:

I took photos of two quilts that caught my eye; one more traditional, one more bright and funky:

I set my self a bit of a budget for the day, and I think I did pretty well.

Two Honey Buns, "Sweet" and "Hello Betty". I was suprised by the price range for honey buns, anywhere from $29 to $45...

Five fat quarters, I think they are Moda's Summer in the City:

A cute piece of Mushroom patterned fabric, which I've seen on a few blogs. Not sure about the designer. Spotted it early on, and luckily it was still there when I went back later:

A couple of magazines I'd missed out on during the last couple of months, just $5 per copy (plus the table had big bowls of lollies!):

A bundle of jumbo ric-rac, because I can never find what I want, when I need it:

A pair of embroidery scissors, to use instead of my manicure scissors:

A Jelly Roll Quilts book, which I've been eyeing off for ages. They'd sold out, so it will get posted to me when they get more stock next month (and at no extra cost):

My mum bought me this quilt book, which I've admired on more than one occassion:

And I also bought a huge cutting mat (about 22 x 34 inches) which will make life a little easier.

All in all, a good day out. I don't think there was as much there this year; no one really had yardage, and there wasn't the huge amounts of charm square packs that I saw last year. There also weren't really that many jelly rolls, though there were a few of the Sweet rolls and Turnovers. One of the best bits is finding out about shops you weren't aware of...though that's not so good for the bank account...

AQC

I haven't done any more sewing this week; my physio has been working me hard, and I've been too sore up till now. I'm hoping to get back into it a bit this afternoon, but will see how it goes. In the meantime, is anyone planning to go to the Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC) this week?

For those that don't know, it's being held from Thursday until Sunday, at the Royal Exhibition Building in the Carlton Gardens, Melbourne. I'm excited that it's moving to a larger venue this year; I really enjoyed it last year but there just wasn't enough room! I'm looking forward to doing a bit of shopping; the Aussie dollar makes it a bit more reasonable to buy stuff here rather than over the net at the moment, and there are a few seminars I'm considering, particularly the one on using jelly rolls. I've got a pile of those building up that I should use!

I had planned to go on Sunday, but I've got C's baby shower, so I'll be there on Saturday instead. I did my baby shower shopping this morning; it's so much fun buying cute baby stuff! I've put together a bit of a hamper, but I'll wait till next week to show photos just in case C is lurking on here... I also treated myself to a book I've been wanting: 500 Cocktails.