and stuff

 Sadly we had to say a very fond farewell to Richilde as she headed to Canberra to study ceramics full time. To farewell she held a 30th/farewell/ping pong/clothes swap party, it was pretty awesomely lovely.

 Further to the fabulous beet comes the beet and it's friends (freezer stencils and embroidered bees). This cushion I made for the very special, the totally amazing Saul McGuiness. The cushion was inspired by one of his most favourite books ever  "To Market to Market" by Nikki McClure, it is a seriously amazing and beautifully educational book (personally I am also smitten by Nikki McClure and cannot quite get enough of her). Saul loved the book so much that he decided he would have a market garden party for his 5th birthday. What an awesome idea.
So his mum, the beautiful Jen and his dad, the lovely Rod, stocked up on bric-a-brac for the bric-a-brac stall, plants for the plant stall, fruit for the fruit stall and all sorts of delicious baked treats for the bakery stall. The kids received a couple of paddle pop sticks to use as money, they could get more 'money' from the information booth (the cubby house) and there was even a jumping castle (trampoline). I think the theme for this party is one of the best ever, I can't wait to see the pics. Yes, sadly we weren't able to make it (6 1/2 hours is just a little out of reach), but Saul we hope you had the most amazing day every. We love you so.

 I especially loved the way the pillow had the backing of a business shirt, from here, a pocket and buttons with zero fuss, super quick.

Luckily I had not one but two beautiful little ones to sew for, and as they both recently got new beds, so cushions were the answer. The amazing, the extremely funny and very sweet Ted, also got his own beet, yes beets for all my friends (well four or five max.) and a very special purple themed cushion, purple being his most favourite of favourite colours. Ted, yes we love you too, can't wait to hear all about your party. Mwah.

photo by Jason Brown of No.5 Church St

On Wednesday 15th January I attended the Bellingen Transition World Cafe at No.5 Church St. The idea behind a World Cafe is a chance for locals to get together and exchange ideas. Previous World Cafes in Bellingen have seen the emergence of the local free market, River Festival, Bello Food Box, re-learning in old skills, a seed saver network and a sustainable building forum. At this Cafe we looked at "What creates a vibrant and resilient community?", "What evidence is our community vibrant and resilient?" and "If we have transitioned well what would our community look like in 2020?". The room was full with about 70 people attending, ranging in ages from 16 years to over 80. Again it was really wonderful to be part of this, to hear people talk about exciting ideas for the future, to see how these ideas are being put into place and realising that in this community, with this support anything is possible. As I rode home on my bike, glancing up at the stars and feeling the warm breeze on my arm, I felt a welling within at the future potential of Bellingen and the wonder at how so many different people are feeling the same thing and making sure change happens.

p.s. thank you so much to everyone who commented and emailed and called about my tops, I really appreciate it. Just starting out in the, sewing for people who aren't my friends, world it is very nice to get such amazing feedback, it helps relieve anxiety and second guessing. thanks again lovely people.