spring is trying to peek through

 Last month I participated in a special ride, it was called the rapha woman's 100.  I joined in with 8,000 women all over the world and rode 100km, obviously I didn't ride with the entire 8,000 women haha.  But i did ride with my bestie and 2 of my other favourite riding buddies!  along with about 40 other ladies and a few of those men participants who cant read hehehehhe.  Anyway today I received in the mail this special cloth badge and some stats about the ride.... a nice way to finish a Monday.

 My all time favourite flowers are starting to bloom in my garden.  I have a heap of miniature daffodils of different colours and shapes.

 Earlie cheer smell Divine.

 Stunning little white minis.....

 I should put something beside this little beauty so you can see how tiny she is....

Lastly a little quilty thing.... this was a paper pieced block that we were given to complete at our recent retreat.  The blocks will be put together and the quilts will be donated to one of the charities that our guild support.  Didn't take too long to make but not something I will rush out to do for myself :)

more eye candy

 Gails in Ballarat burnt down some years ago but she rebuilt her shop and it you didn't know about the fire I don't think you would realise that she lost everything.

 I love the way the shops display all their beautiful goodies.  each way you turn there is something different that catches your eye.

 Also in Ballarat is the cotton factory.  I'm proud to be able to say that one of my friends is a designer and many of her patterns are on sale here.  She has also been doing some classes here too.  The quilt on the left with the big circles is one of her quilts and Anita from hillside quilting has done magnificent quilting on it too.

 There are softies on display, the ladies who make these are such talented women.

 Once again at every turn there is something else that grabs your eye.  I'm very good at finding things for my friends... I found a lovely panel for Jennifer to turn into dolls for her daughters.  My girls are a little old for paper dollies now but the fabric version I spied was perfect for younger girls.

 More softies poked out of little nooks and crannies.

 Pretty fabrics to pat and stroke.  Now Kaffe Facett fabrics aren't a range I had ever thought I would use.  Its beautiful with lots of colours, flowers and designs.. a very busy fabric and often I would look at it and think it was just too much to try and figure out out to use it.  My wonderful mum bought me a bundle of FQ with a simple pattern that is perfect for a busy fabric for my birthday.  So now I can tackle his fabrics with out having the mental breakdown of trying to figure out which goes and what doesn't!  stay tuned...

 So if you are in Ballarat make sure you visit both these shops as they have different styles but both worth the time.

snowy retreats!

 It was my quilting retreat weekend, so no riding for me this weekend.  It snowed!!  the weather has been so bizarre, but I love snow so wasn't bothered and it made it all the better to sit and sew in cold weather.

 I was given a ride down to retreat with my friend Jennifer (thanks for the lift!) and Jenni.  We visited Ballan first before the crowds got in to Mill Rose.  Then on to Ballarat through a snow storm!

 We went to Gails Patchwork store, I figured I hadn't been there for over 4 years and even though she lost the store to a fire it has been rebuild and the contents are still great.

 I enjoyed looking at all the pretty laces and threads, notions and of course some fabrics!

 I did a great job of finding stuff for my friends to buy hehehehehe.

 I also did do a little retail therapy for myself...

 I found some great little bits and pieces and wished I had a sewing room that I could fill with all my goodies.

 We also went to the cotton factory in Ballarat, another great store worth visiting with many lovely fabrics (pictures in the next post) and Eureka patchwork on the way out of Ballarat.

The weekend was great, lots of laughs, good food, great people and I managed to get some sewing done!