A Lovely Day Out

Last Wednesday a group of us headed off to Melbourne for a lovely, indulgent day.  First stop was a visit to the Johnston Collection.  This is a private museum "Fairhaven" bequeathed to the State of Victoria by William Johnston, which was originally his home and still contains the beautiful antique furniture he loved to collect. Each year in November various artisans and groups (including patchwork, embroidery, beading, decoupage, etc) are invited to decorate one room in the house with Christmas embellishments, but taking their inspiration from the furnishings, china, etc within. Not an easy task.

Decorations made by the various groups included an amazing patchwork quilt on the bed, cushions, tree decorations, presents under the tree, decoupage eggs, beaded decorations, embroidered placemats and the list goes on. Unfortunately no photos were permitted inside, but there were literally hundreds of lovely handmade things.

Next it was lunch at "Gaz"i which is George Columbaris' restaurant of Masterchef fame. Well known for the beautiful souvlakis (which I had), but had to show you the ceiling -

Hundreds and hundreds of terracotta pots. Looked amazing .

Then onto some shopping. What would a day in the city be without some retail therapy.
Myers window was beautiful as always - "Gingerbread Friends" was the book it was based on this year.

And my favorite shop "L'ucello" - full of vintage haberdashery. Do you think I was in my element?  Absolutely!

Lots of trims and braids

And of course I had to buy something, didn't I?

Some fat 1/4s in my favorite colors.

And couldn't resist these gorgeous vintage buttons - may not use them, they look so gorgeous on the card and the reindeer braid - will be handy for some xmas sewing.

Have a lovely weekend. Cheryl