One Meet-up to rule them all!

What a day I had yesterday. Rachel was hosting Lizzy ( all the way from Australia people), and Rachel being the sweet person she is, decided to make an event of it. What better way to show hospitality than to get more than 40 women together who all share the same passion?

The day started at the V&A museum  which unfortunately I could not attend as I had other pressing things to do at home ( real life always finds a way to spoil my best laid plans). I am sure as the days go by, you will see various accounts of what that part of the day was. I heard it was epic. Rachel even had a professional photographer there. How awesome can Rachel get? Word is there will be pictures available soon, so watch her blog for those.

I met the girls in Goldhawk road, as it is only a 20 minutes train journey from my house, and they were already injecting some much needed cash into the British economy.

Claire, Catherine, Roisin and Janene

We later went for lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. The food, peeps, was divine.

Then came the most exciting part of the day for me. The Swap!
I took a couple of books as I am down sizing my library. There is no point in keeping books I don't use, when someone out there could make better use of them.

The atmosphere in the basement of the restaurant was really nice. Not too bright, just dark enough to give it a look worthy of a cave filled with treasure....which in my opinion , it was.

We all put the items we had brought for the swap in the same place, and since we were too many, Rachel asked us to come to the swap section in groups of five, and move from the patterns, down to the fabric. I quickly found my way into the first table...one must be crafty in these matters you know. 

I met the lovely ladies of By hand London. I have the Elisalex dress pattern, though I have not made it yet. I love that pattern.

I also had a nice chat with Lizzy. She is so nice. She came with loads of patterns, which she said were donated to her by Abakhan Fabrics. So generous don't you think?

We were also given gift bags, courtesy of Minerva Crafts. I shop from them on ebay all the time, so it was a pleasant surprise to meet the owner. She is a really nice person, and humble as well, as she did not want Rachel to announce that she had donated the gift bags. In my bag, I got 2 metres (1m/colour) of this cotton print.

I was very disciplined fabric wise ( for once). I did not buy anything, just because I think I have pushed Mr.Dibs to his limits, and I have been threatened with divorce should a single metre of fabric get into the house before I have used up my current stash. I only took two pieces of fabric from the stash. This was free, so I shall argue my case in court should the matter proceed in that direction. I did go crazy with the patterns and motions though.

I had a really great time.  My face is still hurting from laughing too much. I have heard laughing keeps you young, so I intend to source laughing gas and have weekly laughing sessions at home. That should slow down my facial aging process I think. Does anyone know where I can get laughing gas?