We have to get into a time machine and fly back to April for this post. 
My trip to the Australasian Quilt Convention was a whirlwind and then it was straight into the Springwood Quilt Show and other busy things meant this post kept being pushed to the side but as they say, better late than never. 

It's a pretty long post too, the sort that would go well with a cup of tea. I'll wait while you make one... or you can just scroll through and look at the pictures, I wont mind.


First up I'll jump in and explain for those who don't know The Australasian Quilt Convention is the big quilt fair held in Melbourne each year. There are classes by numerous national and international teachers, the cream of the crop. There are many quilt displays of the best quilts of Australia, International quilt challenges. This year we had US quilter Luke Haynes as the super star featured quilter with lots of his amazing work. The Quilters Of Mexico brought out a wonderful collection of their quilts. The winning quilts of Quilt Con were wonderful to see in real life.
The list goes on... And then there is the shopping!! All the best quilt shops from around Australia come together and fill the halls with their tempting wares. 


So here we go -My the story of my trip to Australasian Quilt Convention. 

On Wednesday morning Mr Daisy and I arrived nice and early at the airport only to find our plane had been delayed by a heavy fog in another part of the country. Arrgh.. The hours ticked by and I kept myself busy by pacing the airport, drinking cups of tea and taking quilt inspiration photos.  Mr D was busy working on his computer.

I know some of you are wondering why I didn't have hand sewing with me. Yes, I know I should have but often when I do I find I don't have time to sew and I had already a lot to carry around. Lesson learned!! Always travel with hand sewing, no buts!

Anyway things have a way of working out and we made it to the Melbourne Exhibition building AQC cocktail party just as the speeches were finishing, the champagne was being served and the mariachi band came out. Some would say it was the perfect time to arrive.

We danced, ate mini hamburgers and met lots of wonderful people!! What a great way to land at AQC!



The Venue!! One of the special things about AQC is the venue. The Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage site because it is one of the world's oldest exhibition pavilions. Many years ago when I was a florist I worked on big exhibits for the Flower and Garden shows held there. It was wonderful to return as a quilter with my work on display.

It's even impressive in the rain.




The inside is even better!!

I'll let the pictures do the talking...








There were some quiet corners too.

Fabulous shopping!!

One of the first stands I stopped by was the Bernina stand. This was were there were having workshops letting people play with the dream machine Q20 sit down long arm machines.
The wall of mini quilts were wonderful panels featuring Susie Q. They sent these out to different quilters and I was one of the lucky people. As always it's wonderful to see how different people interpret the theme. Can you guess which one's mine?


Yes, it's the colourful flowery one. lol.  I'll write more about her in a future post. 


Let's move on to the reason I was at AQC.  My Whizz Bang! quilt.  


Here it is hanging from a distance 


Each day of the show I was with my quilt between 11am and 1pm to meet people and answer questions about my quilt. 


Thank you for this photo by Karen of  Sunburnt quilts. Usually I'm blinking or making faces in photos but she managed to capture a big smile. And no wonder I was smiling Karen and I have been blog friends for about 7 years so it was wonderful to meet in real life.  I got to meet another dear friend Susan of No Scraps Too Small who made me laugh non stop.

Here I am with my friend Lorraine, she's known me since I was a baby quilter. It was lovely to have her and her husband visit me at a special event in my life.

In fact my heart swells to think of all the lovely I met. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello and for talking to me about my quilt. 

Moving on...   This was so cool - My Whizz Bang quilt shared a quilt stand with this Luke Haynes quilt, The American Context.


Luke is the loveliest, funniest, genuine, most down to earth and uber creative guy, He's as friendly as he looks on this quilt.


On Friday night we went to his lecture. He talked of his journey from architecture to quilting, his influences, motivations. We got to see lots of examples of his work on the big screen. 

I love that he approaches traditional quilting with the view that it is art. A lot of what he said really resonated with me.  

If you ever get the chance to see his quilts or attend a lecture , don't hesitate.


***
On Saturday evening we attended the Gala Ball hosted by Bernina. 

I took my little Pinky Pin Cushion my friend Susan had given me. She was the perfect size to fit in my evening purse so why not? 

There was lots of entertainment of all types. 
My name flashed up for a moment as one of the state Best In Show winners.

The highlight of the evening was being there to see fellow Quilt NSW members Jane Gibson win the Lut-dah Award...

and Lynn Hewitt win the Rajah Award. Huge Congratulation ladies!!


And then there was the fun dancing to the Beatles Cover Band after the awards were announced. As soon as the music started there was a rush for the dance floor. Quilters really know how to shake their booty!! 

***

The area we stayed in Melbourne was Carlton. Both Mr Daisy and I used to live around there so each morning we'd go walking and enjoy the familiar places we knew so well and be amazed at the changes of others. 

I was dressed in autumn colours this day. 

Walking on cobblestones is one of my favourite Melbourne things. 

And because quilting and cakes go hand in hand, I'll take you to one of my favourite cake shops. I've been going to Brunettis since I was a little girl. It was one little shop then. Over the years it has grown, and grown and grown!!! It had even grown bigger since the last time we were in Melbourne.

There was wonderful tiling everywhere including a giant compass on the floor. I got Mr Daisy to stand in the photo for scale.

Fridges of yumminess.

Cakes that are like art works

Of course we had to try some.

This one has strawberry sauce in a squeezy bottle stuck in the top. 


The days flew by and before I knew it it was Sunday. I spent the morning at the Show and had a photo taken with Rachelle Denneny and her Magic Movement quilt that won the Bernina Best in Australia Award 
We think it's fun that we're both Rachael/Rachelle D's and we both used to be florists. I thought our quilts made a great pair hanging next to each other. ( And how fun that we dress like our quilts).


My favourite photo of the trip was with my niece Lily.

And that was my AQC adventure. If you made it through this long post, Thank you and well done!! I really should try to do some quick posts shouldn't I.  I'll try next time...