Sunday, September 3, 2017

Random things we buy.....

Last weekend I joined some girls for a retreat at Mannum....always fun to get away for a few days and even "funner" if it's to sew all weekend! Of course one must always have a wander up the main street to check out the shops......the sum total (and the reason for the title of this blog post) of my purchases are below:


Yep...you are seeing .....one pair of orange Nepalese felted wool slippers......


...and.......a bowl of fake cherries (with Christmas decorating in mind.....)


So ......random purchases indeed (wouldn't you agree!)

Apart from wandering the street when the shops were open I also went out early on Saturday morning - the town was very quiet...and the light was amazing.....

Early morning pre sunrise overlooking the bowls club to the river .....


steps leading down to the main street......a couple of trips up and down these for my morning cardio workout.....




 Love this house which was perched on the hill just above where we were stitching......


Oh...I did actually get some sewing done.....setting up......


Sewing borders on a Bjorn the Bear block..pattern by Elizabeth Hartman....I bought the fabrics for this on the way to the retreat...the pattern was well written and easy to follow....I think this block will become a pillow.....love it! I used a dress weight linen for the borders so will probably add some interfacing before I make it into a pillow.



Question - How can you tell it's meal time at retreat?  


All too soon it's over and it's time to pack up and head home.......and back to work.......pretty sure weekend time goes twice as fast as weekday time!  I was also sewing blocks from the 2012 Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery Quilt  (I started on them at the last retreat in Mannum in February....) I was close to finishing these by the end of the weekend, so set up at home on the dining room table and finished them.....now to put them together...no hurry!  Love the way these turned out, and the fabric supplied in each block was ample (just as well for the last one where I didn't employ the old measure twice - cut once rule...or in this case read the directions twice......ooops!


The blossoms on the ornamental plum in the neighbour's yard have come out (seems like just overnight)......and it looks magnificent out my kitchen window.....the "sticks" in front are my plum trees which are only a couple of years old, and a little later to blossom!



The trees in the front yard are turning green with the leaves unfurling and the blossoms disappearing......


even more so this morning after a wet and very windy night which has left the front yard looking a little like it has been snowing.....



That's about it for me for now......'til next time.....Lorraine

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Loz,i love your new purchases,those slippers are so cool.
Looks like a lovely place,glad you had a lovely time xx

Sue SA said...

Mannum is such a fun spot to sew and I love the shops there...your slippers are great!

AnnieO said...

what fun, another retreat. I'll be going on my first in a couple of months, with my sister. We plan to have a ball. The bear block is very handsome, will look great as a pillow. Enjoy all that lovely spring green and flowers. We are coming into autumn here, of course, and leaves will start to fall. Maybe my grass will grow again, if it rains in autumn. Happy Stitching.