Marg Low Designs

From Me to You club

The first classes were held at Avonleigh last week. It was lovely to see so many familiar and new faces.

The first pattern, Notepads - For You & Me, is for three Notepad covers. They are practical and pretty gifts for just about everyone, regardless of their age and whether they sew or not!

 

I'm never sure who is more excited, the girls who finish theirs in class or me.

The covers Julie, Heather, Vanessa, Lee, Robyn, Jenny and Gabi made at the evening class. It was the first time either Lee or Gabi had gone home with a finished item.

The covers Sharon, Glynis, Marion, Sue, Miranda and Belinda made Saturday morning.

 If you can't make it to class and would like to participate,  you can join on line and receive the patterns in the post. Find out more about the club here. 

demonstration day at Avonleigh

Kay and Sharon at Avonleigh have organised a demonstration day and it's today. Lots of great things to come and see. As well as all the lovely fabrics, trims and other bits and pieces there will be a yummy spread of their home-baked goodies. So lots of tempting things!

They kindly asked me to set up a display and here it is.

 
 
Were you expecting lots of red and Christmas?

I thought pretty might be a nice change.

Sorry for the short notice - I don't know where the days are going!

class 'work'

Here are just a few of the things girls have made or brought along to class. I do love seeing the projects finished or close too. I know myself how difficult it can be finding time to complete things at home.

The Red Treasures girls brought in their pieces from previous classes.

 
 One of The Bunny Sisters. Heather's made two now, the first was a gift.

 The Strawberry Yo-Yo table runner made by Julie. Aren't we lucky to have so many gorgeous red fabrics to choose from. Do you recognise one of them from the last post?

 

Miranda's Strawberry Yo-Yo table runner in the process of being hand quilted.

Tamara's quilt. I love her choice of colours. It might be called the Red Treasures club but this doesn't mean you have to use red. The girls are encouraged to work with their favourite colours and fabrics.

 
The lastest Red Treasures project - Treasures from the Past, a pincushion and scissor case. No red here, apart from Gabby's birds. They have the option of making the stitched pincushion or the quicker  - no stitching at all version. You can see which one some of the girls opted for last night.  Annette's pincushion is what I'd call gorgeous and funky and Tamara's is a perfect match for her table runner.

The Get Set for Christmas Club at The Material Girl, Yarrawonga was a great success.

A few of the Sweet Treats bags the girls made in the morning.  Somehow I missed taking pictures of their How Many Sleeps?   Oops!

the birthday quilt

Do you remember me starting a birthday quilt a few months ago? The birthday was ages away and I was feeling just a tad pleased with myself that I was making such good progress. Other things took priority, new ideas were more exciting and now I find myself with the birthday looming in a little over two weeks.

 
I still have to finish making the blocks, sew it together and work out a border. The good thing is I've found my enthusiasm for this project again.  Too keep me on track, I've booked it in with Rose from Pandora Quilting for next Tuesday.

Any thoughts of playing with these lovely fabrics or popping to the cinema with the movie tickets, a thank you from the girls at Avonleigh, will have to be put on hold.

 

christmas workshop weekend

What a great weekend!  There was a lot of chatting, laughter, yummy food and finished projects. 

There were four projects to work on. I think just about everyone decided to start with one of my new heart decorations using a Theodora Cleave button.  Very achievable, some even completed by lunchtime.    
 

The chalk cloth tags were even quicker to make.

 The quilt took a little longer, but Libby almost  completed hers, only needing to sew the rows together and add the border.

A big thank you to Kay and Sharon who make the weekend such a success and special thanks to all the girls who participated. 

 

christmas in july

This is what I've been doing this afternoon.

I was at Avonleigh setting up a display for the Christmas in July weekend.  There was that final rush to get things organised but I think, I hope, all I have to do now is pack my class kit.

a mixed weekend

I had the best weekend. It started Friday when the Friday Girls got together for Christmas lunch and present swap. We all agree that this is the best day of the year! Saturday was a best friend's daughter's wedding, the bride looked gorgeous and the groom couldn't stop smiling. The celebrations carried on with lunch on Sunday. And no I didn't party through the night pop home for a change of clothes before going to lunch - I struggle to make it too midnight!

This morning I learnt of Kay's very sad news. It makes you wonder how there can be so much joy and sadness at the same time.

 

barb's visit & trunk show at avonleigh

This time last week I was getting organised for Barb's visit and the trunk show at Avonleigh and it has been and gone. I blinked and it was over, days have passed.... 

 
A section of Barb's inspirational display. Some the first projects I ever made were Barb's designs. The first workshop I attended was at Cohuna with Wendy Brigg (Country Friends) and Barb. Barb has so many new and gorgeous buttons/decorations to choose from, it's impossible to make a decision.

 I showed the girls how to make an 'oh so quick and easy gift tag'. Here are some I made last year to decorate birthday presents.

 

 This year I used pretty papers behind them instead. Even quicker!

 
I simply use a bit of sticky tape to tape the button in place. The decoration can easily be removed and used on something special.  

Christmas weekend at Avonleigh

How come good things go so fast! The weekend at Avonleigh just whizzed past.

 
Some of the projects and girls at work (play). As usual the food was delicious - no pictures of that because tasting overrode any other thought. It was impossible to have only one piece of Kay's fruitcake and Sharon's slice. Sensible eating all this week! 

A big thank you to Kay and Sharon, for doing all the things they did to make the weekend so much fun, and to the girls, Sue, Rhonda, Lynne, Chris, Lee, Kim (all the way from Lakes Entrance), Betty, Heidi, Amanda, Belinda, Vanessa, Trudie, Bronwyn and Sue for their laughter and enthusiasm to try new things.

Kay was busy taking photos over the weekend, not sure if she's posted them yet but have a look here.

a special gift

Kay met me at the door of Avonleigh on Saturday with this lovely thoughtful gift.

I can't wait to start sewing with them! 

Thank You Kay and Sharon.