A little shopping was done ...

We are fortunate that much of the fabric we use to make the quilts we give to community-based causes each year (more than 60 in the 2012 - 2013 committee year), is donated from various sources, to our 'community stash'.  And members often dip into their own stashes for a little extra to 'finish off' a quilt in just the way they want.  That generosity means that we only need to buy a little fabric, to fill in gaps in our stash each year, and we source those fabrics almost entirely at sales, or at reduced prices - we are thrifty.

Yesterday,  we took our annual group bus trip to visit some fabric shops outside of our immediate area, and used the opportunity to top up the community stash while we were out.

These little stacks of goodness came from a recent fabric sale at Greta's Handcraft Centre in Lindfield (the ones on the left) and from yesterday's excursion to the Northern Beaches on the right. We needed some contemporary brights and solids to enhance the prints we already have stashed.
The purple and white fabric on the top of the left hand stack was donated by a member  - it will appear in a quilt to be revealed shortly.
The two community quilts that are propping up the fabric stacks will be photographed flat when the very welcome breeze we have now calms down.

Our destinations yesterday were Cottage Quiltworks at Warriewood, and Patchwork on Pittwater at Mona Vale.  Both had impressive (but different) ranges including contemporary and more traditional prints, and reproduction collections, all high quality fabric from well known designers. Well worth the trip, and it will probably lead to many return visits from those of us who had not visited before.

Thanks to Chris at Warriewood and Robyn at Mona Vale and their staff for their warm welcome to a determined bunch of shoppers. Many, many parcels came home with us. We recommend both.

Lunch at Pittwater RSL Club was a welcome break, and set us up for a stop at Edo Arts at Terrey Hills (Japanese antiques, kiminos and some textiles), and a final call at Belrose SupaCentre where we headed for Spotlight and Lincraft. 

By the time we returned to Beecroft, most of us were well and truly shopped out and ready for a quiet night in!

Of course getting 24 quilters (and one husband who came along for the ride), a coach and driver all in the same (and right) place at the right times throughout the day, with good food and drinks provided at appropriate intervals, did not happen by magic ... thank you Georgie for organising us, and Phyl and Ben (our driver) from Kiama Scenic Tours, for such a good day.  And it was all helped by the fact that Phyl, who is one of the principals of KST is Georgie's quilting sister,  not only coordinated the transport, but came along for the shopping. 

A little personal stash building from Patchwork on Pittwater on the left, and from Cottage Quiltworks on the right, just in case you haven't seen enough fabric today ...