Of awesome meet-ups and new fabric

Before it gets ridiculously late to write about this, I wanted to put together a quick post about the awesome meet-ups and fabric shopping that happened on my recent jaunt to Europe, and even more recent trip to Queensland.

First up my trip to Europe. While I was there, on a drizzly afternoon in Birmingham I met up with the lovely Sabs for a little bit of fabric shopping (more about that later) and lots and lots of gossiping. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, although I'm a little worried that I talked a bit too much, as I had a sore throat afterwards! Sabs kindly showed me her favourite fabric haunts in the centre of Birmingham (although we had unfortunately scheduled our meet-up on a day the markets were closed), and as well as the pieces of fabric I purchased I came home with a lovely piece that Sabs very generously gifted to me.

Me and Sabs

Next up was the enormous and overwhelming meet-up in London, on Goldhawk Road to be exact. There was a massive 35+ people that came along to the meet-up, which in all honesty was a little overwhelming. I only managed to speak to a handful of people.

We gathered outside the tube station, and then split into groups to hit the shops all along Goldhawk Road. After that we all went to 'Liz Cafe' for lunch, where the staff were incredibly accommodating to our massive group. And after lunch there was the swap to beat all swaps. Wow everybody had brought stuff to swap! There was a massive table of fabric, another of notions and another of patterns.

 

It was an amazing day, and sadly I didn't actually get any photos of me with any of the fabulous ladies that I met. However, here's one I've stolen from Roisin of me with Emmie, Alison, Roisin, Vicki Kate, and Amy:

(Pic stolen from Roisin)

I'm sure by now you're just wanting me to get on with it and tell you about the fabric. Ok, ok, I shall oblidge...

This is the almost embarrassingly large stack of fabrics that came home with me from our holiday. From the top:
- Gorgeous almost Liberty style lawn from Macclesfield
- The lovely fabric gifted to me from Sabs
- Green floral chiffon from Birmingham
- Origami cranes chiffon from Birmingham
- Rayon from Birmingham
- The softest voile in the world from Paris
- Another lovely voile from Paris
- Some Liberty Lawn that I got in the London Swap(!!!!)
- Some Liberty Lawn bought on Goldhawk Road
- A stretch sateen from Goldhawk Road (I went halves with Roisin as it only came in 5m pieces)
- An unknown but very soft fabric from the London Swap
- A purple floral voile from Goldhawk Road
- HOT AIR BALLOONS! Poplin from Goldhawk Road
- Some Jersey from the London Swap
- Some textured suiting from the London Swap

It's a really good job that I'd taken across three quilts, so had that space spare in our bags and just about squeezed everything in.

I also mentioned a trip to Queensland at the beginning of the post. I went up to Brisbane for the weekend to see the Quilts 1700-1945 exhibition (which was really interesting, well worth the trip if you're in the area) and see my Gran. However while I was there I met up for afternoon tea with the three lovely ladies pictured below:

Steph, Myself, Liz and Reana-Louise

I had a great afternoon, and the conversation just didn't stop until it was time to go home... and even then it didn't stop as Liz and I ended up going out for dinner too since we still had heaps to chat about.

So that's the wrap-up of the meet-ups I've been to in the last month or so. And I can't believe it's only a week until Frocktails, where I will be joining about 30 other sewcialists for some delicious dinner, yummy cocktails and beautiful frocks. I can't wait!!!

Upcoming Overseas Adventures...

Anybody that has seen me in person in the last few weeks can attest as to how ridiculously excited I am about my upcoming holiday to Europe. (For the record, at the time of posting it's 26 sleeps to go!!!). As it's coming up quickly I had a couple of things I wanted to ask and tell those of you in (or that have recently visited) Europe.

Firstly I wanted to tell you about one of the things I'm the most excited about; the darling Claire of 'sew, incidentally' is organising a meet-up in London on the 3rd of August. I am so ridiculously excited about this, I'm really looking forward to meeting everybody that comes to the meet-up, so if you're in the area (or able to visit the area) on the 3rd of August I hope you consider coming along, it'd be amazing to meet you. All the details of the plans for the day and how to RSVP are on her blog here.

PS: It says over there that it's hometime 5-5:30, but I'm staying in London that night, so if people want to hang around longer and go for dinner with me and my boyfriend that'd be fun too.

Anyway, that's what I wanted to tell you, now what I wanted to ask...

I, like many others, enjoy partaking in some local culture when I'm visiting new places, and of course for me that involves visiting local fabric stores, other sewing related attractions. So, if you have any suggestions or recommendations for places/stores you think I might find interesting in or around the following places please let me know (both sewing related and unrelated!), I'd be very grateful:
- Macclesfield
- The Peak District
- Edinburgh
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- London
- Paris
- Fontainebleau
- Orleans
Thanks in advance for any intel! (Also, if you're in any of those areas and fancy meeting up for a coffee or such be sure to get in touch!)

PPS: For anybody thinking they can break in and steal my fabric stash while I'm on holiday, I don't live alone and my flatmate isn't on holiday while I am ;)

Christmas at the Nicholas Building?

What are you up to next Thursday evening? If you're in Melbourne and you're not busy you should join us for the meet-up Sarah (SewSquirrel) is organising for the Nicholas Building Christmas Market. Head on over to Sarah's Blog for all the details!