International mail

I had a birthday last week and every day for the past fortnight I have been receiving ATCs from all around the world as part of Kate North's International Birthday ATC swap.  Every single one that has arrived is beautiful and so many different techniques. I will try and post 6 photos a day so as not to make it too big of a posting!

This first one is from Kate herself and is a beautiful butterfly cut out in relief and is 3-dimensional.  She has also added stitching and beads. 

This next one is from Carol in Wales - painted pelmet vilene -

This one was received from Marina in Spain - not sure how she did her background,but it looks like painted and then enamelled and the ribbon stitched flowers are on canvas.  She also included a couple of crazy stitched hearts..

This card is from Anna in the UK - Anna has made long thin materials beads and put them on a metallic background

This ATC came from Simone in The Netherlands and Simone did a Transfer dyeing and stitched card.

And finally this one came from Gemma, also in Spain and she has hand stitched on a piece of printed silk

 Enjoy and I will put some more up very soon.  Have a good week and take care

...Joy

A small finish from Houston

 One of the highlights of my trip to the USA and Houston last year was meeting with Pokey Bolton of Quilting Arts fame and to be lucky enough to attend one of the Quilt-It Univeristy workshops.  The one I was able to get into was with Lesley Riley who developed the TAP product for using images in your quilts.
Here I am looking pleased with myself.

 It was  fascinating process and very easy.  The images come out so clear.  In our little kit we all received an image to use and some quotations along with the transfer paper, very clear instructions to use later, and iron-on webbing.

She had a humungous case of materials from which we could choose our background and any other bits we thought we might like to use.  In the workshop we managed to just finish doing the transfer and the iron-on bit.  The rest of the finishing was left to us to do later.  I had left mine as I wasn't sure as to how to finish it.  BUT I have been playing with a needle felting machine and having great time with it, that I want to needle felt anything that comes across my sewing table!!!

I got my little project out and did some free-motion stitching on the background thinking I might add some applique, but that felting machine was beckoning - so I searched my scraps of wool, found some I liked and felted some flowers onto the stitching. 

Did some round ones, long ones and a couple of leaves.  Rather like how it was looking, so rather than over do it I backed and edged my little quilt. For those interested it measures 10"x8.5".

Now onto more PHD's.  (I don't have UFOs!!!)

Felting & Postcards

This month's challenge from the Stitchin Fingers Postcard group was a swap for a felted postcard.  Lucky me my partner for this swap was Sheila in Scotland.  I have swapped with Sheila a number of times and have always been thrilled with what she sends and she is always on time or early.......If any of you have been in swaps before you know how frustrating and annoying it is to always be waiting for yours to arrive - sadly on the odd occasion there has been nothing.  I don't mind getting an email or notice to say it is coming, but will be late because of family commitments, health, work etc.  What I don't understand is why someone would commit to a swap and then 'drop out of sight' and you don't even know if what you sent has arrived safely.

Anyway, enough of 'standing on the soap box' Sheila has once again sent me a lovely piece of her work. Here is what she sent - she said she used both wet & dry felting.  I love her colours. Thanks again Sheila.

I can now also post a photo of the card I sent to her - as it arrived safely in her letterbox yesterday.  This is my first 'official' attempt at needle felting.  I have borrowed a machine from a friend who is letting me play with it.  It is great fun!  What I did with this little card is I used a piece of green silk and partially embellished it to the backing (pelmet vilene) to use as my background. 

As you can see from the photo I left parts untouched and I rather like the idea of how the silk has pleated or gathered - I think it adds an extra dimension.

Then I stitched down a piece of lace ribbon and over that I embellished some flowers, using multi-dyed scraps of wool.  I then used some ordinary knitting wool and embellished it down for grass.  Finally finishing off with some beading.

Somehow I don't think this little machine is going back!  She is wanting to sell it - I can see a new home for it very clearly and I know exactly where it is going to go.......

Have a great week, till next I write, take care

Joy

Tesselations

I don't know about any of you, but I have always been interested in doing a tesselation quilt.  But have been put off starting one because it looked so complicated.

BUT one of the blogs I follow - Kay Sorensen of Quilts + Colour, has posted part 1 of a tutorial on designing your own tesselations.  It looks soooooo easy - if you click here it will take you to her posting.  You can also get to her blog by clicking on the link in the right-hand column.  It is a great blog to read.

Can't wait till she posts the next part.  I will put up a post when she does.

Till then,  take care,   Joy

Ah the pleasures of shopping in Chapel St

For the past week I have been in Melbourne cat and house sitting (in that order!!!) for my son, dauther-in-law and granddaughter while they are having a holiday.  Mostly when I go up to the big city I'm usually busy babysitting Jorja (I'm nearly 4 Nanna!!), but this time they were only home for a day before they took off.  The first couple of days I did some work in their garden (they are definitely not gardners....)  It's not a big garden, but does get weeds and has bushes that need trimming.  With Mr Jingles (the cat - who by the way is a 'she') we managed to get a fair bit done, so I decided that as a reward I would firstly go to the Prahran Market - a very cosmopolitan venue and treat myself to some of their wonderful sauces and treats to take home.

The market is in the middle of the famous Prahan shopping strip - Chapel Street - and one can't go to the market without strolling along the strip, window-shopping and stopping for a Latte and a slice of continental, very chic.

Of course, you can't go 'window shopping' without buying something - like this absolutely beautiful soft leather, denim-look bag.  Isn't it wonderful - not too big but it can put a lot of stuff inside.

I did manage to do a little hand sewing while away, but now that I'm back home need to get back to my UFOs.  Will post more pics when I have a couple more finished.

Till then, take care

I'm so pleased with myself......

as today I picked up from the framer's a cross-stitch that I have been working on for 12 months.  I finished the stitching a couple of weeks ago, cleaned, pressed and took it to the framers.  When he bought it out -  I thought wow I am thrilled at how it looks in the frame.  Can't wait to get it up on my wall - it will probably go in the lounge room.  I used 3 different sepia/brown colours for the stitching as I wanted to create an 'olde world' look and used a combination of full and half cross stitches for depth and texture.

Cross stitching was one of the first crafts I learnt along with crochet and I have always loved doing it.  I find it very relaxing to do, even though you are counting threads and stitches all the time.  In the coming months I will put up some of my other work to show you.

Now that this is finished and framed I am itching to get out another chart I have of a bouquet of Australian wildflowers which is stitched on black linen.

Another productive weekend

The fifth weekend of the month (when it happens) is usually pretty busy for me.  This last one was no exception.  Saturday was the get-together of the Geelong Scquilters.  We usually meet at The Blanket Box in Geelong, but this weekend we went to Pentland Patchwork in Bacchus Marsh, for me about 1.5 hours drive.  A really lovely day with a bunch of lovely ladies.

Then on Sunday I drove to Hoppers Crossing (about 1.3/4 hrs this time) for the Blue Willow Cottage I-Spy Charity Quilt sewing day.  These little quilts are donated to the Cancer Ward at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.  The girls at Blue Willow have been organising this day each year for some time now.  The Regent St girls (who I belong to) sew I-Spy quilts for them during the year, but some of us also go and join in the sewing bee.  It's great fun - no pressure; good lunch provided; they even bring around your coffee/tea for you instead of making it yourself!

These are some of the quilts that were produced or in the process of being sewn.  It's like a production line - someone is cutting; someone is ironing; some of us sew the blocks together; put on the borders; some do the quilting; and of course someone is sewing on the bindings.

In this photo afternoon tea is being brought around to us.

This photo shows LeeAllan, Dallas, and shy Sharon with her head down, busily sewing and some more of the quilts around the walls.

I'm afraid I forgot to take my camera with me to the Scquilters get-together, so no photos to show you. Will tie a piece of string around my finger to remember next time (???)

Have a good week, till next time,

Joy

A UFO hits the dust!!!

Well, am I pleased with myself this weekend.  One UFO completed (or I really should say 2 UFOs, but I don't count the second - why - because I have had a piece of white damask for quite some time - years actually! - that I wanted to hem and use as a table cloth for special occasions(?).  Hence no photo - only a white table cloth.

Now for the one that is counted and completed - a small quilt that I will use as the centre piece on my dining table.  This one started off as a 'something to do while on tour last year' - Michelle Marvig who was one of our tour guides gave us all two small projects to do.  One was a small square of fabric with a drawn pattern and some varigated threads to do a stitchery.  At our 'farewell dinner' on the last night of the tour she had divided the finished squares into 2 parcels and drew out a couple of names - one was mine - I got my stitching back plus 5 others.

I ummed and aahed for a while about what to do with these squares - put in as part of a large quilt, do a small quilt, make a wall hanging.  You know the drill - whill this work? or that?  In the end it was the colours
of the thread that made it easy to choose.

They were in autumn shades and as my house has lots of those colours and my dining table is bare, except for a vase that I like to keep there - the penny dropped - why not make a centre piece for the table.  Another easy choice was the fabrics - have a lot of those colours.  This is the end result - I like it.  Nothing fancy or over the top, very traditional - which I like also.

I hope the girls whose names are one the squares like it too.

Now to get back to the rest of my UFO's, including the other project we had on the tour - a small hexagon pincushion.

Hand Sewing - long term project

Yesterday I went to the Geelong Quilting Guild's Annual Quilt-In.  A great day with over 200 people there and some even came down from Melbourne by bus.  I'm not a member of the guild, but hope to join very soon.

Of course when one goes to something like this you have to take some hand sewing with you.  I have been working on a stitchery quilt for some time now, but was getting a tad tired of working the stitcheries - don't get me wrong - I love the embroideries just wanting to do something else.

This is one of those hand sewn quilts that I have wanted to do for some time now.  Not sure what the pattern is actually called - I have seen it as 'Japanese Daisies' and a few other names.  Anyway, a very simple, yet striking quilt and one that you can take-along with you to meetings;  waiting in Dr's rooms; etc etc.

The basic steps are you start with squares of fabric - I am using Japanese type fabrics (atfer all I did say I have known it as Japanese Daisies!!); then the same size squares of batting; (I am using 3" squares) and finally circles cut larger than the squares.  To make it easier I am using an old CD disc for the template.  You gather around the edge of the circles and draw the thread in which you then iron down.

You place a square of fabric on top of a square of batting, then place this on the underside of the gathered and pressed circle.  Then one by one you fold over the edges of the circle and can either slip-stitch down, blanket stitch it down, or as I am doing use a contrasting thread (mine is gold) and quilt it down. 

Once all the squares are sewn you then join them together with a slip stitch - the same as when you sew hexagons together.  And finally the quilt is done - already backed and quilted - no edging needed.

Not sure how long this will take me - I'm not worried, but will post my progress from time to time.

A beautiful parcel...

 was delivered by the postie to me today.  I sent a reply to a posting on Frances Leate's blog Quilting Owl a couple of weeks ago and won this fantastic parcel.  I thought it was only going to be the 'bag kit' but she has generously included other items.  As you can see there is a pattern of one of her quilts; a Halloween pattern from Thimbleberries with a piece of halloween material; and three pieces of Fossel Fern fabrics - all of which I love and will make good use of.

The bag is one of Frances' latest patterns and features aboriginal material and there is also a magnetic closure which is included.  Thanks again Frances, I will have fun making this bag.

Don't forget any of you reading this to go have a look at her blog and see some more of her work and what they are doing at The Cairns Craft Centre.