Quilters Big Day Out...

It was an early start yesterday as Clare, Kay and I headed out on the first flight to Melbourne for the Australasian Quilt Convention at the Royal Exhibition Hall.

What an adventure as we seemlessly got from the terminal, onto the awaiting Skybus to Southern Cross Station and then onto the #96 tram to Carlton. Whilst on the tram we noticed that it was full of women. We deduced quite rightly that they were heading for the very same destination.

It was minutes after the doors opened and we were inside the beautiful hall joining the throng of eager quilters who like us had their wish lists drawn and their sights set on a bargain....any bargain!

The teeming crowd was a spectacle in itself and I found that once I'd made it to a counter, I had to back out carefully so as not to take out the person behind me with my backpack.

Whilst we made plans at the beginning to meet back at the entrance an hour later if we got separated, we found that it was just as easy to stay together, moving with the crowd and peeking at every stall. Squeels of delight were released as we found fabric we'd been searching for for ages, or witnessing colours and prints in real life rather than on a screen, and discounted fabric was a pleasant surprise. Good buying all round. Not to mention the free talks that were 20 mintue commercials for products to simplify the quilting experience if you were that way inclined. If nothing else we had a chance to sit and rest our weary legs.

Of course there was also the exhibition quilts, the very clever 12 x 12 project, the war quilts collection, show quilts and the quilts from the covers of the Australian Quilters Companion magazine and the Indian textiles display. Some of the quilts were not necessarily my cup of tea but worth a look none the less.

We found that we didn't stop from the moment we walked in the door and couldn't believe the announcement at 4.30pm that the hall was closing. A few mad dashes to the last remaining stalls....we were almost dragged from the building by security!

With a couple of hours to kill before we were due back to the airport and we headed out to Lygon and Faraday Sts for a well earned glass of bubbles and dinner....the long way via the wrong tram and poor interpretation of Metlink instructions. But we were back on track after some helpful locals sorted us out. Oh well.....we made it back to the airport with a full tummy, a backback full of bootie and very tired bodies.

Will we do it again next year? You bet ya!