Another Wonderful Adventure...

Here I am once again on the eve of another adventure - how exciting! I am heading back to Norway to teach for Siw at Quiltegarden in Trondheim. Not just in Trondheim but also onboard the Hurtigruten Cruise ship on a stitching journey up the coast of Norway into the Arctic Circle! Of course I am very excited to be taking this trip with another Australian Designer, Gail Pan. Gail and I have been friends now for many years, meeting through patchwork. I am sure we will both have many stories for you on our return (no photos of me sleeping on the plane please Gail! LOL):

And seeing as we had to venture through Rome airport to reach Norway, and return home, we decided to have a little stop over on the way home here:

Of course we can hardly sleep with all the excitement of catching up with many ladies from not only Norway but Sweden, England, and Denmark, who will be coming to Norway to catch up with us. While on my adventure I will have to be doing some stitching at night to complete a big project that I have on the go and must have finished before Australian Quilt Market in November:

I am incredibly inspired and will share more of this project with you later ("not more sneak peeks" I can hear you say). Of course I must say that having your best friend's first line of fabric to inspire you, like her divine little house fabric, makes life easy:

This is what I will be stitching:

 

With these:

So if you are after Rosie's fabric range check your local store, or if you need a little of each of the fabrics in the range (trust me, you do) then try 'Patchwork With Gail B' who has the entire range already in stock, or 'Foothills Fabric and Thread', or 'Under The Mulberry Tree', or 'Quilt Fabric Delights', or...the list goes on.

Anyway I will be home and blogging on the 11th of October so I will chat to you then.

Leanne Beasley xxx

                                             

Sunday's Stitch-In...

There's something wonderful about familiar faces coming together to sew:

Not to mention sharing Show and Tell with each other (Don't you LOVE Sharni's Jennifer Knoll quilt!):

 

Jenny came with some magnificent Show and Tell and this was a favourite of mine. It's all hand appliqued and embroidered and was a pattern from Canada:

A finished 'Breast of Friends' Quilt:

Barbara has made a beautiful version, and above you can see a close up of the block I designed for the quilt, and below, her entire quilt:

Trish came with her divine version of my 'Butterfly Garden' Block of the Month quilt (wish I'd done that border on mine!):

Only to then produce from her sewing bag another one she made as well (almost finished):

Of course the food was wonderful once again and I couldn't resist a few more food related snapshots:

At GlenHarrow there's always a little extra dressing for those of us who love the special dressings they whip up there:

Yum...

Leg ham and Swiss cheese and Rosella chutney:

Oh, there was some stitching done (LOL) so I thought I'd better prove that!

I guess I should show you my project for the Spring Stitch-In! Each lady received a kit (with exactly the same fabrics and threads that I used) and a full pattern to complete the project. Yes, this pattern will be released, but first I am going to share it in Tasmania in October when Rosie and I go down to teach for one of our favourite shops, the Quilted Crow! :

I will keep you updated,

Leanne Beasley xxx

More From Saturday's Spring Stitch-In...

We had such a great time at the Annual Spring Stitch-In I just had to share some more photos from the day we had on Saturday with you (I'll show you our magnificent Sunday soon as well!):

The sun even came out for awhile and the sunglasses were needed:

 

The gardens at GlenHarrow looked beautiful:

Not to mention the food:

And the Show and Tell was fantastic!:

Christina had done Rosie's 'Home Is Where My Heart Resides' Block of The Month and have a look at how beautiful it ended up being:

This would have to be one of my favourite versions of my 'Leanne's House Block of The Month Quilt'. As you may notice Leanne (yes, we have the same name!) added in sashing and lovely big borders:

All in all it was a wonderful day and some stitching did get done!:

Back soon!

Leanne Beasley xxx

The Glen Harrow Spring Stitch-In Today...

What a great day! We were all set up and just patiently waiting for all the ladies to arrive:

Then it was into a wonderful day of stitching:

And laughing:

Lots of GREAT Show and Tell and GREAT food and even some Melbourne sunshine! I will attempt to give you some more photos later but off to celebrate with some of the girls from interstate for dinner!

Back tomorrow (at the latest),

Leanne Beasley xxx

Friday's Spring Stitch-In...

A wonderful day once again at Glen Harrow Gardens for our Spring Stitch-In! I just have to share with you some of the most amazing Show and Tell I have seen! Esther had some amazing projects to share including her ukulele cover that she designed herself!:

And for those of you that have been emailing me asking to see Phena's version of Butterfly Garden here it is! It was so fantastic to see it done, and Phena had worked very hard to have it completed for today:

Then there was Ann's version that we went "ooohhh and aaahhh" over last year. This year it was all complete and looking spectacular:

Then when we convinced Sarah that she HAD to share her quilt tops there were lots of "Oh Wows" heard in the room:

Sarah made two of these because the backgrounds both looked great!:

We did do some stitching today as well:

And that was fun:

Time to catch up with friends and enjoy a day together at Glen Harrow. Margaret, Sue, Ann (her quilt above in the brights), and Phena (of the black and white and orange Butterfly Garden fame):

There was time to indulge in special treats:

Including chocolate curls to match your chocolate cake:

 

What a great day of fun and enjoyment and ladies sharing together and laughing together and just enjoying time away from everyday responsibilities!

I can't wait until tomorrow!

Leanne Beasley xxx

The First Day Of Spring Stitch-In...

We decorated GlenHarrow for Spring...

But it was a little chilly so the fire went on...

But not too chilly for ice cream!...

Or bubbles...

Or enjoying Show and Tell......

Or stitching...

Or enjoying a day with Rosie and me...

 

I could show you more, like the goodie bags, and the projects, and the stitching, but I have to keep a few secrets for the ladies coming over the next few days!

Leanne Beasley xxx

Getting Ready!

The name tags are made for the Spring Stitch-In at GlenHarrow that starts this Thursday! I cannot believe how quickly it's come around. I had an absolute fun time making a 'candy bowl' of name tags (hint to the happy candy type theme we have!):

 

GlenHarrow is just looking wonderful and when Rosie and I were up there today, starting to set up, we could feel the excitement building:

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So if you are coming don't forget your Show and Tell, you know how much everyone enjoys seeing what we've all created over the last year or so.

And this photo, I just couldn't resist. Living in the forest we often have little visitors in our yard. This one (although he was eating my garden) was just too cute not to grab the camera and snap:

He stayed all morning and everytime I looked out my kitchen window he was there. Perhaps it's a sign, as my next Block Of The Month Quilt is called 'Down In The Garden', and I've been putting in and taking out the 'little bunny block' that I've made. Maybe he came to tell me to make sure I put it in!

Leanne Beasley xxx

Three Naughty Girls...

When you are so busy you don't know what to do first  - what do you do? Take a day off and go to IKEA! Yes! Gail and Rosie and I had a ball (as always in IKEA) during the week.Gail and I were particularly excited when we saw the new 'Trondheim' range! Excited because this is where we will be in just over three weeks at Quiltegarden, Siw's beautiful shop where we will be teaching:

Then Gail spotted the 'Tromso'!!! This is the town where the cruise we are teaching on with Quiltegarden ends up!:

Rosie didn't want me to take her photo, but, well, you know me. She has threatened to blog the photo of me asleep on the plane, coming or going to or from somewhere, with my mouth wide open etc. if I put a bad photo of her on here, but I think this is a good one anyway...:

So yes, we had fun and bought just a few little things (LOL!).

And to the ladies coming to GlenHarrow this coming week (almost time!!!) this will also be a chance to try out some Needleturn Applique if you like, as there's just a tiny bit in my project for you:

And I just loved this shot I took in my studio this week (flowers from my garden) on one of my studio benches. It just says 'Spring' and I LOVE Spring! I had to share it with you:

Lots left to do heading up to the Spring Stitch-In that starts this coming Thursday, I'll keep you updated!

Leanne Beasley xxx