A Quilty Day Out

Yesterday eight members of my quilt club met up for a quilty day out, organised by the committee.  We headed north in two cars, ready for anything.  Jude was our driver, together with me, Mary, and Elaine.  First stop was to Aimee's Homestead Quilts, in Palmerston North.  It had been quite some time since I had last been here, so it was good to make a return visit again.

Here we are at Aimee's

We gathered in the classroom and Aimee told us about her various classes, and "block of the month" which sound a lot of fun.  There were lots of beautiful class samples on the wall, and tucked away, as she pulled one after another out to show us.  Aimee  designs quilts, and is an accomplished machine quilter too.  Aimee explained the wonders of EPP, she is a real fan and excels in this.  She had lots of samples to show, including Christmas ornaments, and had small kits available for sale for those who wished to try this technique, or further their knowledge.  It certainly was an interesting talk, and we all loved looking at the quilts.  Then it was time to peruse the goodies in the shop.

There were beautiful fabrics everywhere, tucked away in  nooks and crannies, around corners, together with patterns, threads, and anything else you would want.  I noticed a wonderful range of New Zealand fabrics, animal prints and lots of panels too.  Something for everyone, choices galore.  As often happens, I was a bit overwhelmed with all the fabric on offer, so no fabric came home with me.  

Aimee at the shop counter

There was a bit of time to spare before our lunch booking so we all went to the local Spotlight store.  That suited me fine as I needed another cushion inner and wondered when I would get to Spotlight again to make a purchase.  I think most of the ladies bought fabric there, there was yet another sale on and the prices were excellent, as they usually are.  Then it was off to lunch, to Cafe Esplanade in the Victoria Esplanade gardens.  

This lovely old building started life as a Post Office in 1895, and the building was subsequently moved several times when it was no longer needed for that purpose.  In 1988 the building was donated to the Palmerston North City Council, cut into three pieces and moved to it's present location in the Victoria Esplanade.  It has been welcoming people into the cafe ever since.

The cafe was a busy bustling place, just as well we had a table booked for us.  The lunch queue never seemed to get any shorter, so we just had to tag on the end and wait our turn.  We were all hanging out for coffee by this stage, and our lunches didn't take too long at all to be served.  

Around the table, Gail, Sandra, Kay, Annette, Jude, Eileen, Mary and Jenny

After lunch, we had one more place to go, Hidden Hollows quilt shop, situated in the Massey University grounds.  A new experience for me, I had never been there before.

This must be the right place, I spy a quilt!

And through this door

There was nothing arranged for us here, just the chance to browse through this lovely airy shop.  As always, looking at the quilts on display gave plenty of inspiration.  I found the wool room, and sat and checked out knitting patterns, and chose some yarn for socks to take home.  Some more quilting fabric jumped into the other's bags, I noticed.  The staff member on duty was lovely and friendly, didn't catch her name, so helpful, and knew several of of group quite well.  I had to admit this was my first visit.

Lots of wooly goodness here

Hidden Hollows was the last thing on the agenda for the day, so we loaded the cars up again and headed back to Levin.   It was a really nice day, thanks for Sandra and the committee for organising it, and for the two car drivers for taking us.  

I may have mentioned that I have been having a problem with Blogger not updating the blogs I read for the last week or so.  Success, I thought, it all seemed to be working properly again today.  But sadly not so, some blogs have been updated, but not all.  Hopefully, it will all be properly fixed very soon.