Sunshine Coast

I'm just back from a lovely holiday on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.  The Gold Coast is an hour south of Brisbane, and the Sunshine Coast is an hour north of Brisbane.

As soon as friends knew I was in Noosa they all told me to go to Sand Salt Sew so of course I had to! I love a quilt shop that knows their target market.  My husband and son and agreed to allow me 30 mins max to visit the quilt shop and a dress shop while they waited in the car.  There was no time to buy yardage and ponder about what I could make with it, so I chose a kit for a bag that had everything included - pattern, papers, zip, batting and even thread for embellishment. Just perfect for a quilter in a hurry because there's so much to see and do in Noosa.

The bush and the beaches around Noosa are all lovely, and the surf clubs are all very welcoming with their big restaurants and views over the beaches.  We visited Noosa, Sunshine Beach, Coolum, and Alexandra Headland surf clubs and they were all great. 

Noosa from Laguna Lookout

Noosa Beach

Alexandria Bay - only visible after walking to Hell's Gate

We spent the first four nights at Noosa.  One morning we walked out to Hell's Gate and got a great view of the vast Pacific Ocean and the spectacular surf beaches.

Maroochydore River sunrise

same view at sunset

Then we moved down to Maroochydore and spent a few days with family. That was fun too and they took us up into the hills and we got great views back to the coast.  We had an icecream at Maleny because the days were lovely and warm while we were there - about 22c each day and no rain.  

Now I'm back home in New Zealand and it's winter, but I guess that means that Spring is next and that will be nice. 

  

Amitie Textiles - Jen Kingwell's shop in Australia

Last week we went to Australia for my son's cricket tournament.  This year it was held at The Geelong College, just 1 hour's drive from Melbourne.  Even better, the college is just a 30 minute drive from Jen Kingwell's shop, Amitie Textiles, in Torquay. Win, win!!
 

 

I was fortunate enough to visit Amitie twice during our stay.  On the first day I was a bit rushed because my husband was waiting outside in the car, but on the second visit I was by myself and could look at everything!

If you're a fabric lover it really does take more than an hour to look at everything in the shop.  There are so many bolts of fabric, all sorted nicely by colour.  Then there are all the patterns and templates to peruse.  Amitie make their own acrylic templates, so there was a huge variety of templates to look at.

Some of Jen's quilts are hung up high to admire, but others are left on long tables for customers to pick up and study closely.  I particularly enjoyed looking at the hand quilting, and the subtle background fabrics Jen uses to bring out the other fabrics in her quilts.

On Thursday morning a group of ladies were settling in to enjoy a few hours of quiet hand sewing.  The on site cafe was churning out coffees as most people picked one up one on the way past.

My purchases from my first visit

I enjoyed a coffee as one of the very helpful shop ladies cut some fat 16ths of the very latest Liberty for me.

My purchases from the second day

I couldn't stay and sew because the temperature was expected to climb to 41C that day (106F).  And it did.  I have never been so hot!!!  Fortunately our apartment had air conditioning.

And a lovely view from the balcony.

Here's some photos of The Geelong College where the cricket tournament was held.  It was founded in 1861 and has amazing grounds and buildings.