Where was (am) I.....??

I flew in to Melbourne on Friday last week.......on the way to Simpson we stopped in at Blue Willow Cottage ..very remiss of me not to take pics....but a lovely shop and well worth a visit if you are in the vicinity. So within an hour of so of arriving the patchwork shop crawl had begun!!   Then of course there was Linda's shop...Gum Valley Patchwork....On Sunday / Monday there was Threadbear  .............
Monday morning we were up early and went for a walk ...there are some lovely old homes in Castlemaine.....

Then it was off to Threadbear again to see if we had missed anything the day before.....one can't take any chances!.....Here is Gail going into the shop........couldn't  take a pic of her coming out......would have been way to incriminating!  (Sorry Gail....but it takes the "heat" off me...and what I might have purchased!) :)

On the way back to Melbourne we had to stop for lunch - at Gisborne.....oh who knew there were a couple of patchwork shops there??  Drapers of Mt Macedon and Quilters Bazaar 

Gail wasn't done yet and there was one more stop before we arrived at her house.......Somerset Patchwork......where I met Karen and Mrs Billings..... or her coverlet to be more precise....this is available as a BOM and I was sorely tempted.......I didn't "cave" but that doesn't mean I won't ...LOL

The week has gone quickly......and Gail and her family are great hosts! 

Where else have we been?........Gail's sewing group on Tuesday night........and we caught up with Kris for coffee and a long chat during the day on Tuesday.....yesterday we went to Warburton to the Patchwork Tea House (which is for sale if you don't want to stop at just buying fabric/patterns/tea and cake!)  .....we opted for just the latter yesterday.......

Hardly any calories in that rhubarb and apple friand and hot choccy!  We also found a very cute shop Red Mud Hut which stocks b.sirius bags........could have been tempted by one of those...maybe........

Next stop was to visit Carol's shop....Heart and Home Patchwork at Yarra Junction........then on to Mrs Martin's .....Karen and I have been emailing for a few years now and it was fantastic to finally meet her IRL.......and here she is......

Karen has recently relocated her shop and it was very cosy and welcoming....thanks for the cuppa and chat Karen.....I bought a couple of Viv Robinson's patterns from Karen......I am quite a fan of Viv's work.  (You can find pics of her patterns on the website).  Gail wasn't finished yet and the last stop of the day was at Foothills Fabric and Threads where I purchased some fabric to use in one of Gail's new designs - pics are on Gail's FB page which you can find on her blog....  lucky Gail's hubby was on hand to cook dinner.....we didn't have the energy!   I think that's ten patchwork shops visited in the past 6 days....along with several of these......

and a few op shops......as I am flying home I didn't buy much in these shops!  As it is I will be visiting the post office this afternoon to post some of my purchases home......packed way too many clothes as usual!! 

Here is a pic for Val......a miniature quilt shop in Mrs Martins.....

The sun has just come out so Gail and I are off for a walk. 

'Til next time.........................Lorraine