Mulgrave Makers Market

I do love a good makers market ... and the one in Mulgrave is exactly that!!

Ella and I went down yesterday with nothing in particular on our shopping list ... just to have a look and maybe a bit of a purchase.

Ella fell in love with this hairband. She couldn't stop looking at her self in every mirror!!

I took some pics of a few of my favorite stalls to share with you ...

Lisa from Pink Heart Designs always has a gorgeous stall packed with bags that she makes herself. I struggle to choose just one!!

Gorgeous handmade blankets, quilts and aprons over at the Filakia Eleni stall.

Absolutely beautiful displays at Looby and Lulu.

Matthew at Sawdust Timber Furniture makes the most incredibly beautiful pieces.

And of course, this market is co-located with a weekly Farmer's Market. Can't forget the food!!!!

My favorite cheeserie!!

I hope you managed to get out and about in your local area this weekend. It's a great thing to shop local and shop handmade!! Go on ... do it!!!

Happy Monday to you.

Andi xxx

N'yeeehh ... What's up Doc?

Will be making this pattern ... and other patterns .... available for sale at YouPatch very soon.

Fancy stitching an easter bunny?

Andi xx

PS Linking up with Kirsty's "My Creative Space" today.

Gifts!!

I had a birthday recently. My husband is not so great at selecting a good gift for me so now I send him suggestions of things I might like.

I have wanted an extension table for my sewing machine for a while now but wasn't expecting anything quite this big ...

Nothing that can't be managed with a bit of room re-organising!! I do love it muchly!! Thank you my love xxx

Can you see what I'm sewing on there? Another gift!! A baby quilt in Dr Seuss fabrics for Webmaster John's new baby boy, due in a couple of weeks.

And here it is all finished and ready to be given :-)

Another act of giving I'm participating in is a signature quilt block for Victoria. Her quilt is going to be so much fun once it's finished!!!

Have you received or given any gifts lately? Maybe a Valentines Day gift?

Happy stitching!

Andi xx

YouPatch is live in 5 ... 4 ... 3 ...

2 ..... 1!!!!

We are live and couldn't be more excited!!

Head over to www.youpatch.com and have a play.

Please let me know what you think of the site, the video tutorials, the design pages. I'd be incredibly grateful.

It would be especially awesome if you told us about any bugs or problems you experience with the site. That way, we can go and fix them!!

Andi xx

PS We have a special discount offer for the first few days. Go check it out!!

PPS YouPatch works best on up-to-date versions of major web-browsers: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, even Internet Explorer! YouPatch also works quite well on your iPad, iPhone, and many Android phones and tablets, but some of the fine editing may be tricky. [We're working on it!]

Bug reports most welcome: it's early days!

PPPS Feel free to blog/tweet/post about this. The more we can share it, the more pixel quilt love we can spread! ;-)

PPPPS Eep!! Very excited!!!!!

A friend in need ...

When my dear friend Judy discovered that she would be needing a bone marrow transplant it was a VERY big deal. This procedure involves a worldwide search for a suitable donor (found!!), an intense period of chemotherapy (and all the nasties that go with that) and then a period of weeks (if not months) in the hospital for the transplant and aftercare.

While Judy lives in Melbourne, most of her family are in Sydney. So she has developed a network of friends in Melbourne via her crafting world and through her work as a teacher.

Judy didn't want to spend all that time in hospital without some connection to her friends and crafting community. So she asked a group of close friends to contribute a block towards a quilt that will be laid over her hospital bed to keep her warm and comforted.

Here it is .... all pieced and quilted. The binding is attached on the front and Judy plans to hand stitch the binding to the back of the quilt herself.

We selected a floral quilting design for Judy who loves her garden. The long-arm quilter (Kylie Cannon) did a beautiful job!

You can really see the quilting design on the back of the quilt which is a Michael Miller ta-dot in watermelon and grey.

I'm so glad Judy will have her quilt with her during this tricky time in hospital. She won't be able to have too many visitors while her immune system is so compromised so at least she will have her friends 'with her' in the form of this gorgeous friendship quilt.

Have you been involved in contributing to a friendship quilt? Have you been lucky enough to receive one yourself? Such a wonderful way to say "we love you!"

Happy stitching.

I'll be back on Tuesday with BIG news!!!!

Andi xx