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.

More from the Garment District of NY...

Seeing as there is some interest in what we saw and where we went on this fabulous tour of the 'Garment District' of New York, I thought you might like to see more photos of this particular warehouse. 

One of the others girls took this photo of Jenny contemplating what she wanted to purchase.

Check out these buttons - there was more on the other side of the aisle!!!!!  Boxes of buttons, not little containers. 

 And then of course there were the trims - you name it, they had it. There was a whole wall of them.

It was very hard not to go overboard, but I had to keep in mind that this was at the beginning of our trip and we still had 3 weeks to go with Houston at the end, so I was very 'practical' and only purchased that one piece of material in the posting below.  I also actually found it hard to decide on anything (??) there was sooooo much.  We went to a couple of other warehouses as well, not quite as big as this one, a little different also, but just as interesting very very tempting.

A New York purchase...

While in NY last year one of the many places we went to was the Garment District in downtown New York. A truly interesting and fabulous area of the city.  Not as many warehouses or designer studios as would have been there, say 20 years ago, but still lot of interesting little nooks and crannies.  In one building with a ride in an 'interesting' old lift, we ventured into a huge warehouse full of bolts and bolts of materials. 

 Most of the girls bought cottons and dressmaking stuff etc, but I went rumaging in a renmant bin and came across this absolutely beautiful piece of material.  It is two panels of black and white printed silk and yes, you can see the signature - it is by Ralph Lauren!!!! I paid $8 US for the piece.

My problem - what do I actually make with it? 

Originally when I purchased it I was going to make an outfit for my son's wedding in Palm Cove (Nth Qld), but when we got back I didn't have the time to make anything.  Summer has now gone and we are heading for winter - of course there is always next summer!  If anyone has a brilliant idea of what to do with this please put forward your suggestions. 

The actual size of this piece of stunning material is 2m x 2m with 2 square panels (one of which you see here and 3 smaller panels which go down one side.

Missing Quilt

A fellow Scquilter from Tasmania has just posted some devastating news - a very special quilt of hers that was hanging in an exhibition in Tasmania has been stolen.  Naturally everyone who was involved in the exhibition are very upset.  If you click here it will take you to her website which has the lost quilt on the front page.  You can also read the full story as well.  So please, please anyone out there who has seen this quilt or knows anything, no matter how small could you let her know via the link.

We all know how precious our quilts are and how much time we put into them to have one disappear like this is, to put it midly (in Australian language!) bloody awful!!  Thank you in anticipation....Joy

Famous friend

A friend and fellow blogger Frances Leate of Quilting Owl has had another beautiful quilt published in Australian Patchwork & Quilting magazine, Vol.19 No.1 - it is not in the shops yet - I got mine as a subscriber.  The quilt designed by Frances is called Hampton Court and is on page 36.  Frances and her husband Peter own the Cairns  Craft Centre in Cairns, North Queensland.
A beautiful quilt Frances.

A revamp....

of my blog.  As if I haven't enough things to do - I have to go and revamp the blog.  Thought it was looking a tad tired.  Had a look at the new Blogger bits and pieces, followed some directions, made a few mistakes and had to go back and correct, but think I have now finished.  I like the background - just a pity you can't see the whole picture of the ocean - looks fabulous, but of course the blog itself has to go on top. Made the columns a bit wider and have been able to put a frame around the photos - I think it makes them clearer - what do you think?
Anyway, have had my play for the day (actually it is am at the moment, so think I should go and get my beauty sleep!).  If you are reading this please let me know if you like what I have done or prefer me to go back the 'old ways' of the previous settings....
Thanks,   Joy

Finished siggie quilt

I'm a member of the Australian quilting on-line group called Southern Cross Quilters (or Scquilters for short) and they have a retreat each year, held in a different part of the country.  Last yeat (about this time) it was in Adelaide and I was supposed to go. Long story.  Anyway, one of the activities they have for us is a 'siggie square' swap.  Those that want to go make as many as needed - last year it was approx 70-80 (last year I don't remember back that far....).  A dear friend Lee-Allan went and she got as many squares for me as she could, also had each person put their name and address on an envelope, so I could send mine back to them.  A lot of work for Lee-Allan and much appreciated by me.  Well, after putting them together in a reasonable way and quilting it I managed to finish the binding yesterday - Yay!!! Here is the finished result:

Sorry about the angle of the image, but I don't have a bigger wall to put it on and I have to take the photo from an angle in the doorway of the spare room. Anyway I'm happy with the results.

What the Postman delivered today -

was two parcels - one with my long awaited copy of  the awe-inspring book '500 Art Quilts' and the other the first issue of 'Down Under Textiles' - a newly locally published textile magazine.  Both have been on order for a little while and I was beginning to wonder if they had forgotten me.....  Have heard others had received theirs a couple of weeks ago, but mine were still coming.  Happy now - the only question I have is which one will I read first???