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Queensland Theatre Company presents Head Full of Love from July 7

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Head Full Of Love

Colette Mann & Roxanne McDonald at their best in this heart-warming tale 

When a white woman flees her Sydney life she is surprised to find herself in Alice Springs, sitting on a bench with a black woman crocheting a beanie. It is in this setting that woolen thread is entwined into a touching yarn, sure to enchant audiences with warm humour and tender heartbreak that feeds the soul. Inspired by the annual Alice Springs Beanie Festival, Queensland Theatre Company presents Head Full of Love, at QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre from 7th July for a five-week season.

This intricate and wisely told tale by Australian playwright Alana Valentine (Run Rabbit Run, Parramatta Girls) is directed by QTC Artistic Director Wesley Enoch and stars Colette Mann (Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Strange Bedfellows) and Roxanne McDonald (Skin of our Teeth, Parramatta Girls, The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table).

It’s a long way from the big smoke for Nessa Tavistock (Colette Mann) who finds herself inadvertently part of the Alice Springs Beanie Festival pilgrimage for women as diverse and distant as the Anangu and Tjanpi weavers and Western women from all over the world. For Nessa’s happenstance friend Tilly Napuljari (Roxanne McDonald), meeting the entry deadline for her new creation allows the women to weave a relationship based on shared secrets, struggles and successes. The two women realize that despite their differences in language, surroundings and upbringing, they are not so different after all, and their stories are forever linked together, row by row, colour by colour. “As they crochet their beanies there is a healing process, and from this, a sense of self evolves. It is a wonderful metaphor for Australia today,” says QTC Artistic Director, Wesley Enoch. “Theatre is a vehicle to share the stories that we may not otherwise hear, and the way a remote community has found a way to overcome the limitations of access to healthcare is an important one to share with the greater community of Australia.”

What:   Head Full of Love, by Alana Valentine

When:      7 July – 11 August
Where:     Cremorne Theatre, QPAC
Director:  Wesley Enoch
Cast:         Colette Mann and Roxanne McDonald

Tickets:   $33-$65 queenslandtheatre.com.au

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Strawberry Cross Stitch Patterns

My favorite thing about mid to late spring is local strawberries. Strawberries are fun as a graphic element, too, because they’re an interesting shape and cheerful color. Let’s stitch some strawberry cross stitch patterns.

Craft Club Co AU has this cute kind of retro strawberry pattern with a pink checkerboard background. The pattern pages doesn’t give a lot of details but it looks like is uses at least 7 colors and it says it will fit in an 8 by 10 frame when stitched on 14 count fabric.

For a classic farmhouse look, check out the strawberry pattern from Largodargento Shop. This one reminds me of little wild strawberries, and it has a bit of a mandala design with other geometric shapes.

Speaking of classics, you can also stitch a strawberry alphabet sampler from Curious Carrie Designs. It is 54 stitches square, which comes out to 3.86 inches or 9.8 cm square. It calls for 8 colors and was stitched on 32-count linen. Keep it flat or turn it into a biscornu stitched with flowers and bees.

This strawberry pincushion from The SubRosa Design is super sweet and of course could be framed instead of using it as a pincushion if you’d rather. This one is 93 stitches square, or about 5.3 inches/13.5 cm square stitched on 36 count linen as shown.

This graphic, slightly abstract strawberry design from Box and Fox is so much fun and would be great to have on your kitchen wall or in your breakfast area. It measures 98 by 141 stitches, which comes out to 7 by 10 inches or 17.78 by 25.58 cm on 14 count fabric. The design uses 6 colors.

Don’t let the mice get your strawberries! This oddly cute design from Tourmaline Pattern measures 95 by 94 stitches and uses 16 colors. I love the look of it on black fabric, because it really makes the mice and the flowers pop. On 14 count fabric this comes out to 6.7 inches or about 17 cm square.