July 4, 2011, at 8:35 pm
Just after the Cabaret and quilting class and big uni assignments and exams, I serendipitously signed up to attend a Day (or two) of Inspired Stitches, an annual weekend stitching retreat convened by Sarah of Quilt Fabric Delights. The retreat is held at Westminster School, close to where I live and features two days of stitching with and hints and tips from guest designers. This year’s designers were Janelle Wind, Helen Stubbings, Natalie Ross and Gail Pan.
Designers at Inspired Stitches 2011 with Me 
- L to R - Q, Janelle Wind, Gail Pan, Natalie Ross, Helen Stubbings
I made a bit of a fool of myself by gushing uncontrollably to Janelle about how I adore her and I am a total Janelle Wind Groupie and could she please sign my book and could I please have a photo… So very tragic, but she dealt with my total mad fan attack fabulously 
Janelle Wind and I in front of her Stand at Inspired Stitches
It was pouring with rain outside, which made it a fabulous day to be stitching and made the already beautiful colours and fabrics on the designers’ stands even more sublime. We sat in tables of 7 and there were attendants from all over Australia.
Janelle Wind's stand at Inspired Stitches 2011
Natalie Ross's stand at Inspired Stitches 2011
Helen Stubbings's stand at Inspired Stitches 2011
I didn’t get a separate photo of Gail Pan’s stand, but you can see a bit of it on the right of the pic above, another stitcher was drooling over it for a long time… and I didn’t want to disturb them
I had the great joy of sitting with and meeting 6 other lovely sewing afficionados (3 of whom are fellow bloggers) and to mingle with other like minds. We all got some quality time with each designer a goodie bag to start our day and patterns and instructions for designs for projects from all the designers. Our table (number 7… lucky number 7!) was indeed lucky with 5 of us winning a prize on the day. Unfortunately I wasn’t one of them, but I whined about it (as I am want to do) enough.
Inspired Stitches Goodies Stash
I only attended on day 1, and hope to definitely attend again next year, and this time for both days.
Here is a photo of the stitchers on our table. They are Karan, Kris, Pip, Julie, Bec and Danielle, I really enjoyed their company and hope to be able to catch up with them again next year!
The Lovely Ladies from Table 7 - Kris, Pip, Karan, Bec, Julie, Danielle, Q
Now, Ally took the photo 3 times at my request (thank you!!), and I think this is the one with the least closed eyes or strange looks, but not so much for Kris, who is a mum of 8 and a grand mum to 2 and really wonderful (yes I did say 8!). So here is a special crop of Kris, from one of the other photos
Kris from Life at Rosemary Hill's Feature Shot
This is a photo of a completed journal cover, which was the chosen project to commence work on, on the day by myself, Danielle and Bec.
Inspired Stitches Project - Journal Cover by Janelle Wind
I managed to not be too hindered by my own yacking, and completed the stitching of the birdcage, here is mine resting on my Finishing Kit full of yummy.
My Birdcage Stitchery and Finishing Kit for the Janelle Wind Project
I picked up lots of tips from both the stitchers at the table and the designers and am hoping to try a method of needle turn appliqué soon courtesy of Helen Stubbings, that may not be as daunting as the traditional way.
Our goodie bags, contained skeins of embroidery threads, fabric and thread to commence the projects and the entire requirements for Natalie Ross’s gorgeous little sunglass holder, back issues of magazines and a pack of coordinating fat eighths.
So now I have plenty of little projects to play with and complete in addition to my current to do list!
Inspired Stitches Sample Table - Natalie Ross's Purse, Sunglass Case and Matching Bag, all on my To Do List
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], it was also a public holiday on Monday here in South Australia, so I had a long weekend. I pretty much got sent to craft heaven for my birthday. My mum had ordered, (and I already received), the Lecien Basics Fat Quarters I need for the Vignette Mystery Quilt, she also ordered the Sweet Broderie Fat Quarters and the Cosmo threads, they were posted on the 10th March and should arrive in Australia soon from the States.
