We came, we saw, we conquered Canberra!!

Sew It Together (SIT) is an annual crafty bloggers get together for crafters from all around Australia, and even sometimes from as far afield as New Zealand.

This year we all flew/drove/walked or ran to our nation's capital, Canberra.

A tranquil trip up ready for a busy weekend

The weekend involves lots of elements - from a shopping trip on the Friday that included a visit to the gorgeous Bison ceramics studios and Addicted to Fabric...

Just some of the amazing collection available at Bison

Everywhere you looked there was an explosion of colour

Then it was off to Shop Handmade - a treasure trove of handmade goodness where we had time to chat to other lovely ladies while indulging in some bubbly and macarons.

Always a pleasure to spend some time with this clever and fun lady

I was advised to try the Salted Caramel macaron - and wow! They were gone in a flash.

On Saturday, after a refreshing run around the lake with Donna, Sheridan and Susie, (yes that is frost on my headband!!  It was -5 degrees when we started, even the water bubblers were frozen over); it was on to the crafting!

The 'Cool Running' bunch!! 

There were sock owl making workshops, crochet for beginners, crocheting granny squares and lots and lots of market stalls with fabric and wool galore for sale.
Oh and some stitching and chatting of course!

Sheridan is the lady who, together with her right hand girl, Donna, makes it happen, and for this I am eternally grateful.

Despite what her badge says, yes she is!

Over the three years of SIT gatherings I have met and become great friends with a number of wonderful crafty ladies, such as Tanya; 

discovered rare treasures, such as people who live local to me (very local in fact!) like Wendy; 

I've met in person for the first time, girls with whom I have chatted online for many years, including Cass, Kylie, Becky, Lily, Jennifer, Ingrid, Sara and Belinda to name a few.

I've made new friends such as Gillian, Megan, Anna, Susie, Hilary, Amy and many more.

This year I was really pleased to finally meet up with Sophie, who was every bit as lovely as I expected.

I was also thrilled to get to chat with Maryanne and Caroline of the blog Sew Together, after I had been following their progress on Project Run and Play and oohing and aahing over their French recycled outfit and adorable pink dresses.

and I spent some time sock-owl-making with the delightful Claire who is always good fun.

These were made by Claire - she's so quick at them!

After dinner out and then more crafting on Saturday night we retired for the evening - though those of us at the YHA had a rude 2am fire alarm wake-up call!

Sunday saw us head to a local hall for a lesson in fabric stencilling courtesy of Sheridan using the skills she picked up in Palm Springs (did you know she went there a-crafting with Lotta Jansdotter and Leisl Gibson - jealous much!).

Lots of pretty colours lined up ready to use

Renae went dotty..

Sarah came up with some great designs including this one...

Bronwyn got clever with colour...

Donna did these gorgeous, sharp feathers...

and Wendy of course came up with multiple designs that were layered and blended, including the birds flying north that I love! (smARTY pants!!)

Cas also did some fantastic pears that I didn't get a pic of - hopefully she will blog one in the next few days so go and take a look.

There are loads of sponsors who provided things for our goodie bags and there are shopping and swap items and prizes to show you so stay tuned for more...