Canberra Owls lay back and think of England

well, English paper piecing, at least!

Sunday was a cold, rainy, miserable afternoon in Our Nation's Capital, but neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow (and we were pretty close to the last, I tell you!) could keep the intrepid Canberra Owls from their crafting.

Once again Michelle took the lead, making up kits using templates from the Lizard of Oz, and showing us the how-to. Hexagons all round.

Fabulous fabrics abounded, and I understand there was an extraordinarily low rate of needlestick injuries. Not bad for a bunch of (mostly!) novice piecers!

Finished!

We traded a few fave fabric shopping spots too - Additcted to Fabric and Calico Patch if you're a local, and Kelani and Fabricworm were recommended as well. Tell us in the comments if you've got another! Because we love the enabling!

Next meet - freezer paper stencilling! Stay tuned for details....

til next time!

Georgie xo

Brisbane welcomes another little owl

A huge cheer for Brisbane Brown Owl Melanie and her beautiful little girl born last Tuesday morning :)

We're looking forward to meeting all the new little owls that are popping up in Brisbane this year!

Melbourne - Monday 3rd August - Dip and Chip and Snip and Sip and Swap Night!

DIP & CHIP & SNIP & SIP & SWAP!
Members Only Event

********************************************************

Hi Owls -

The next meet is on MONDAY 3rd of August - from 7pm til 9pm! (We are not meeting this coming Monday night.) RSVPs are open from NOW - and we will take 25 RSVPs! Off you go!

Please bring something to snack on/share - preferably something in the dip/chip department!

And bring a project you are working on too -don't forget your scissors - that's the Snip part.
(If you are stuck for a project please email me for help - meetmeatmikes(at)gmail(dot)com)

We will provide tea and coffee and white wine - that's the Sip part.

Bring a little crafty/second-hand/handmade package to swap. Your package should have at least 5 things in it. It should be wrapped up and chosen with care. It should not have cost you more then $5 (hopefully MUCH less!!!) - ideally it should be made up of things you already have. So you don't need to spend a cent if you don't want to! You can just pass things on that you might not need. So that's the Swap part!

Please come to the REAR of the Fitzroy Learning Network (not to the front door - I don't want ot interrupt the meeting rooms in the front by making them let Brown Owls in!!) The rear door is at 6 Wood Street, Fitzroy. See map below. It IS a bit dark, but there is a sensor light that will come on as you near it. If the door is shut just pound on it! And it's FINE if you are a bit late. Really. It is!



Checklist:
RSVP - Members only please
CHIP or DIP - bring please
PROJECT - BYO or email Pip
SWAP - bring please (see above)
SIP - don't bring, I will!
ALSO - if you have any crafty/creative books you'd like to share with the other gals on the night, bring those to!
PLUS - i forgot the prizes and the prints last week - so I will not forget this time!

Brown Owls Perth July Meet...

Hello Perth Brown Owls. It's that time of the month again. This month we will be heading out to do a little bit of shopping at the "Made of the Left Markets."

This season, Made on the Left will be held over 2 days and we are excited to see what is installed for us this season.

So rug up and meet us at the main entrance (the entrance near the car park) at 10am and at 10.15am we will start to have a wonder around the markets.

DETAILS

Date: 25th July 2009.

Place: Hyde Park Hotel
331 Bulwer Street
West Perth WA

Time: 10am

RSVP: by 24th July so that we know how many Brown Owls are coming.


If you want to know more about the markets you can read about it over HERE

See you there!!

Sydney - Wednesday 5 August - Embroidery

Image from Mering Little Dear.

Hello Sydney Owls! Just a little advanced notice about our early August meeting on Wednesday at Berkelouw Bookstore in Leichhardt. August's theme will be embroidery. We will share books, learn new stitches and talk about ways to combine them.

Wednesday, 5 August
7-10pm
Berkelouw Bookstore, upstairs
Norton St. Leichhardt.

If you'd like to do embroidery, here are some things that you might want to bring
- embroidery floss
- sampler to work on. The prefects will bring spare sublime stitching patterns and Jodie's vintage kids, if you are stuck for ideas. you can get these at cost from them.
- needles
- small scissors
- small hoop (though, some Sydney gals have been embroidering hoop free. Maybe they can teach us how!)
- finished embroidery and books for inspiration

If you aren't keen to do embroidery or have another project you'd like to work on, you're free to BYOCraft. As always, bring any show and tell. Berkelouw is a free venue, but you may want to bring a thermos or water bottle as the cafe will be closed. Early birds can meet at the pub across the road for a bit of music and happy hour grub before crafting.

Sydney Brown Owls Meeting - Reminder

Hi Sydney girls,

Just a reminder that we have a meeting this week!

When: Thursday July 23

Where: Centre House, 178 Longueville Rd, Lane Cove (across the road from Lane Cove P.S.)

Time: 7PM-10PM

Cost: $5 for room hire (kitchen facilities available, so bring a mug!)

The theme is BYO craft and blog tips, so make sure to bring along both questions and answers!

Image from here.

We all hope to see you there!

We also have other upcoming meetings so keep your eyes peeled!

Melbourne - Owl Dinner - Any takers?!

image source

Hello!

Would anyone like to have a Brown Owls Members Only dinner? Perhaps we could go have Chinese together - have our own room and order a lovely banquet (allowing for dietary restrictions, of course!). Would you like to do that? I would like to have a drink and a snack and a chat with y'all. Let me know - we could do it one evening in August - at 8pm to allow for getting kids to bed, boyfriends fed, clear head and stuff like that!

Please let me know below - with your name and initial - and I'll add you to the dinner list and inform you of plans as they come to hand! For those of you that RSVPd, see you tomorrow night at Fitzroy!

xx Pip

Softies at Brisbane Brown Owls

Brisbane Brown Owls had a fabulous day yesterday cutting, stitching knitting, crocheting and chatting about softies.


There was loads to show and tell including these cute guys Emma made from the Softies book. The orange ant eater softie is her own design, we hope to see more of them!


We all clucked over this little family Sandra brought along, their beautiful little faces were created with teeny tiny embroidery stitches.


Amy got straight to work on Miss Buttons, loving the choice of fabric!


Sam powered through a pile of Bloomin' Buttonhead Brooches.


Thanks ladies for the monthly fix of crafty fun!


*** For our August or September meeting Katy has offered (ok, we talked her into it) to give a Yudu Screen Printing demonstration. If you are interested in seeing how the Yudu works leave a comment to let us know. To read more about the Yudu, check out Katy's blog. ***

Adelaide Owls - let's go to the Piazza Market!

A Piazza Market - Wow tell me more!

The lovely Susan from our Adelaide Owls group is organising a Piazza Market night on Friday the 24th July at 58 Queen Street, Norwood.

Tickets are $10 each and include a glass of bubbles and yummy finger food.

There will be 24 stalls there on the night – so – something for everyone! Wine will also be available to purchase by the glass on the night from a very handsome barman (intriguing!)

There is a great lucky door prize which is a $100 voucher to the Robin Hood Hotel.

Please note - It is a child free zone due to the sale of alcohol.

Susan will have tickets avaliable to purchase at our next Brown Owls meeting. If you would like to purchase a ticket (or two) please leave a comment so we know how many we need to bring on the night. If you can't make it to the next meeting to pick up your tickets - email us and we'll sort out a plan.

Adelaide - BYO or Crochet a Flower Brooch

Hi there Adelaide Owls!

Well what a busy week it's been, we can hardly believe it's time to post details of the next meeting. So here we go...

---EDIT---
Note there are only 6 places left for this meeting - next 6 to RSVP are in!
---EDIT---

When: July 22th 7pm til 9:30pm
Where: Box Factory - Adelaide Community Centre, 59 Regent St South Adelaide
Cost: $2 donation to the Box Factory

This is a member's only event - You can purchase your membership here if you don't have one yet. Please only RSVP if you are a member (though don't worry if you haven't received your membership pack yet).

Numbers - We have room for 27 Owls - the first 27 to RSVP after 8pm tomorrow (Friday) night are IN! This gives everyone a chance to be alerted to the meeting. You need to RSVP on this post with your name and initial (eg Cherry G!). Please comment ONLY once (any other queries email us direct!) - please only RSVP for one person on your comment to keep it fair!

We haven't picked a theme for this meet so bring along your current project. Don't have a project? No worries at all, just come along to the evening and be inspired!

Show and Tell is happening again too - We love seeing how creative you all are!

For this meetings crafty kit we will be preparing a bag of (almost) all you need to make a crochet flower brooch. Kits will be $3.00 each and will contain instructions, yarn, a broach back and a button for the centre, you just need to bring a size 4 hook. If you can't crochet we can teach you at the meeting and you can save your kit for later when you have mastered the double & treble crochet (which will be no time at all - we promise!). If would like to purchase a kit please include this in your RSVP, eg Cherry G – Flower Brooch.

For those that want to learn to crochet bring along some 8 ply wool or acrylic yarn (2 or more different colours) and a size 4 (or close to 4) hook.

If you would like to bring along supper to share with the group please do!

As with the last meeting, to be sure that everyone finds the meeting place please email us at adelaide-brown-owls@hotmail.com and we will email you back a mobile number you can call if you're lost.

Last but by no means least.. A big Happy Birthday to Adelaide Prefect Tracey! We hope you are having a lovely birthday x

See you on the 22nd

Melbourne - Tuesday 21st July - Change of Event - RSVP from Now!

Hi all!

Edit - This event is Members Only - but email me on Monday and I'll let you know if we have room for you lovely Non-Members!

We've postponed the Blogging/Mixtapezine chat on Tuesday night - as we are planning a special event in conjunction with Mixtapezine! But we're STILL going to meet on Tuesday for BYO crafting instead! NOT on Monday night! On Tuesday night! Okay?! For BYO craft - got it?!

You can RSVP from NOW - and the details are as follows:



Venue : Rear of Fitzroy Learning Network - enter via Wood St - adjacent to Napier Hotel
Date : Tuesday 21st July
Time : 7pm - 9pm
Numbers : 20 places available
What : BYO Craft
Bring : A piece of cheese or some nuts/fruit to share
Drinks : Tea and Coffee and Crackers will be provided - bring wine if you would like to!



See you then!!! There will be prizes due to extreme popularity of prizes last week!!!

xx Pip

Brisbane Owls: RSVP Now!

Brisbane Owls: It's time to RSVP again!

Date: Sunday 19 July

Time: 10:30am - 12:30pm

Venue: Same as the last meeting. Recreation Room in Building 7 of Roma Street Parklands Apartments, Parkland Blvd, Brisbane. The Rec Room is on the ground floor of building 7. Building 7 is the end apartment block furthest away from the City. There is plenty of parking at the Parklands or if coming by public transport catch the train/bus to Roma Street and take the Parklands exit at the back of the station.

Craft-Along-Project:

Softies!

Bring along your favourite patterns and materials for a softie-making spectacular! Show off softies you've made, share your patterns or, if you'd like to get started designing your own softies bring along some sketches for a brainstorming session.

A sewing machine will be set up but please bring your own thread and bobbin. If you are new to sewing help will be available.

Some softie patterns to check out:

http://meetmeatmikes.blogspot.com/2009/06/make-stuff-this-weekend-softies-to-sew.html

Know more great softie patterns? Leave a link to them in the comments.

Granny Squares - For those who have missed out and would still like to learn to crochet help will be available. For info about what to bring if you are learning to granny check out this post

Or if this doesn't interest you Bring Your Own craft and craft along with us!

Tea and coffee provided.

Feel free to show off your baking skills by bringing a plate for morning tea :)

Please RSVP by leaving a comment on this post by Thursday 16 July.

See you then!

Canberra Brown Owls - English Paper Piecing

Hex's, originally uploaded by tutti fruiti.

July is just slip-slipping away from us, and our next meeting is on Sunday 26 July!

We are going to learn how to do English paper piecing. It's a patchwork technique, and is possibly something your mother or grandmother or great-grandmother used for piecing quilts. It's a load of fun, and once you know how to do it, the possibilities are endless! You can make a flower out of hexagons and applique it to a skirt or a tote bag ... or make a doll quilt ... or a cushion! Check out Flickr for more ideas!

I will be offering kits of pre-cut piecing papers and a bit of template plastic, and they will only be a few dollars (under $5). If you need a kit, please let me know by Tuesday night 14th July! I need to order the shapes from WA and they take time to arrive. (It's OK - I've ordered enough for everybody, so just let me know by the 22nd so that I know how many I have to package up.

If you go with the kit, all you need to bring with you are:

* scraps of fabric that you like (at least 3 inches square)
* a pencil
* (sharp) needles, pins and thread
* a pressing stick/Clover presser/paddlepop stick.
* $6 for the room hire

See you at Downer Community Centre at 2 pm on the 26th! Don't forget to RSVP below!

Sydney BYO and Blog Tips Meet

Hello Sydney Brown Owls,

We love Brown Owls so much that we are adding an extra monthly meeting. Check out the calendar for the extra dates.

When: Thursday 23rd July
Where: Centrehouse Lane Cove
Time: 7pm -10pm
Cost: $5 to use the room - we have the kitchen room so bring a mug and something to drink if you like
Topic: We are going to continue the "crafty business" conversation started this week. Bring your own craft to do while we talk some more about how to make money from your craft obsessions, or just how to justify your craft purchases....

RSVP to this post if you are able to come along - directions to the Centrehouse to follow.........

Brown Owl Recipe - 'The Brown Owl'

Yes. We have an official Winter drink. You can make it with wine - or without - depending on your preference!


image via



Brown Owl Mulled Wine

Makes 3 Litres - enough for 6 people
For Brown Owls meets I make 6 litres

1 litre of non alcoholic dark grape juice
1 litre of cranberry juice
1 bottle of red wine*
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cinnamon sticks
6 cloves
2 star anise
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced

Mix all ingredients in a large pot whilst stirring - heat until nearly boiling - but don't boil it! Set aside for a couple of hours for the flavours to develop. Reheat gently until nearly boiling again and serve. Delish! (Be sure to cool it a little if you're giving it to kids!)

*Note - You can make this WAY boozier if you like - or you can omit the alcohol and add another litre of grape juice and the kids can partake too. That's a nice idea, huh?

Melbourne - Let's Do Embroidery! - Monday 13th July - 7pm

Members Only Meeting ::

We're doing some lovely embroidery on Monday night! OR you can BYO craft! It's up to you! Our embroidery will be perfect for beginners - and fun for those in the know too!

Want to come? RSVP here in the comments after 8.30pm tomorrow night. I need your first name and initial - and your requirements for the night (read on!) - We have 20 places. Here's the details:

Monday 13th July - 7pm til 9pm



Where - Rear of Fitzroy Learning Network - enter via Wood Street

What - Embroidery - Bring your own embroidery project or I can bring one for you!
Or - Bring your own craft project and go on with that!

Cost - free this time - but $5 for an embroidery kit if you want one! You MUST RSVP if you need me to supply you with a kit - and a needle, floss and scissors to use on the night too. Need a kit? RSVP your name eg "Pip L : Embroidery Kit" or if not "Pip L : I'm bringing my own craft!" - so I know!

Snacks? - Bring something small to share! Some cheese, dip, nuts, fruit would be lovely! Bring some wine or juice if you would like to!

Swap? - Some Owls suggested a swap at each meet! If you want to swap (and you don't have to!) bring fabric larger then 50cm x 50cm - each piece wrapped individually and we'll put it in the swap pile for those that want to! If you want to swap one piece - bring one piece! If you want to swap six pieces - bring six pieces! If you don't want to swap - bring nothing!

Plus! We're having prizes this time! So you best come! If you have been too shy up 'til now - here's your chance - and if you came last year and are out of the habit - COME! It'll be fun!

xx Pip

Adelaide Owls Next Meeting

Hi Adelaide Owls,

Time to RSVP for the next meeting!

When: July 8th 7pm til 9:30pm
Where: Box Factory - Adelaide Community Centre, 59 Regent St South Adelaide
Cost: $2 donation to the Box Factory

---Edit---
If you haven't purchased your Brown Owls membership you can pick it up here

We haven't picked a theme for this meet so bring along your current project. Don't have a project, no worries at all, just come along to the evening and be inspired! We'll do a bit of show and tell too so if you want to bring some craft projects to inspire others please do. (This time we promise to remember the show and tell bit... sorry we forgot last week!)

There will be little packs available for you to embroider a sweet owl brooch. Just let us know if you are interested when you RSVP so we can make up enough packs. The packs will be $2 each to cover materials.

For those that want to continue with their granny squares if you bring along some 8 ply wool or acrylic yarn (2 or more different colours) and a size 4 (or close to 4) hook we'll continue the lesson including how to join them all together. 2 balls of yarn should give you enough for a scarf or cushion cover or even a bag! If you want to get started early check Pip's instructions here.

If you would like to bring along supper to share with the group please do!

As with the last meeting, to be sure that everyone finds the meeting place please email us at adelaide-brown-owls@hotmail.com and we will email you back a mobile number you can call if you're lost.

Please RSVP by leaving a comment on this post. If you have any questions about the meet email us at adelaide-brown-owls@hotmail.com

See you on the 8th!

Cathy, Tracey & Cherry

Sydney - Tuesday 7 July - The Business of Craft

Sydney Owls will be gathering at a CBD pub Tuesday 7 July for a bit of a craft chat and tipples. We'll be chatting about the business of craft. We'll cover how to trade online with Etsy, MadeIt or your own shop. Offer advice for trading at markets - everything from applying to creating displays. We'll look at pricing structures for handcraft - how to value your time and products. We'll chat about the differences between wholesale and retail. And mostly we'll laugh, smile and enjoy each other's company. Please RSVP so we can make sure we save table space for everyone!

Tuesday 7 July, 6pm-9pm
Madison Hotel, Chalmers St.
Sydney Central Station, Devonshire Exit.


Please note: This is a non-crafting event, so you can leave your hooks and needles at home.

Melbourne - Monday 6th July - Fabric Swap, Fairy Cakes and Fruit Punch!

Edit - This is a member's only event - but if you are a non-member do email me and i'll let you know if there are any spots left on Monday! Thank you! xx

Where - Rear of the Fitzroy Learning Network - enter via Wood Street (see map above!) - look for the SLIDING screen door.

Parking - in the surrounding streets - or walk from Brunswick Street

When - Monday 6th July - 7pm til 9pm

Cost - $5 for Punch, Tea and Fairy Cakes - essential!

Bring - 5 (FIVE!) pieces of fabric to swap.
Each piece of fabric must measure at least 50cm X 55cm (or 'fat quarter' size)
Fabric needs to be of the sort of quality YOU would like to receive!
Can be vintage or NEW! Up to you!
You need to wrap your fabric up so we can't see it (we're doing the swap lucky dip style) - wrap it in newspaper if you please. Wrap EACH PIECE separately.

Bring - your own craft to go on with after the swap (I'll be crocheting!)

Numbers - We have room for 20 girls - the first 20 to RSVP after 8pm tomorrow (Thursday) night are IN! You need to RSVP on this post with your name and intial (eg Pip L!)

See you on Monday - we will have a guest filming us for Craft Doco on the night, so comb your hair girls!