Castlemaine

A lovely day out in Castlemaine. I met a friend for lunch, then she introduced me to a fascinating shop called Habadash:

Full of all sorts of sewing-related goodies. (Don't look at the cut-in-half sewing machine!)

Wouldn't you love to know what is in the "and more stuff" drawer?

I quite liked these keyrings made of vintage buttons and beads:

They were $50 each, but I have many many buttons and there are instructions on the internet, so maybe that's a project to try some day.

Next stop was the Castlemaine Gallery, to visit Liz Williamson's Weaving Eucalypts Project.

There are 100 woven panels, woven by Liz Williams from textiles dyed by 60 people in various countries (including India, South Africa, and of course Australia). Wherever they were, they used locally-growing eucalyptus trees for their dyeing. The range of colours was interesting. Eucalyptus cinerea, or Argyle apple, was responsible for the more orange-red pieces, but the mordant chemicals, the technique, and probably other factors, all influence the colour.

Last stop before going home was a walk around the Botanic Gardens.

It was a beautiful and enjoyable day out.

I got home too late to take my normal mid-month garden photos, so they will have to wait until tomorrow.