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???

My International outgoing mail...

I can now post a pic of two cards that I recently sent overseas.  Have just heard they have arrived at their destinations.

The first one here is a postcard sent to Liz in Kansas USA, for the StitchinFingers FPC group birthday swap.  I used a piece of Indian woven cotton for the background and added some beads and stitching.  A similar one was sent to Susan in Lancashire, UK.  Sorry Gina, if you're reading this, for your birthday next month, I will have something different for you.

This ATC is also for a Stitchin Fingers 1-1 swap for the month of February - subject was Black and White with one other colour.  I chose to do a stylised applique tulip and used the 'other colour' for the edging.  Unfortunately the edging is a lot brighter than it shows here - I used an embroidery thread for the stitching.  It went to Hopscotch in North Wales, UK.

I am also participating in an International Block Swap on Facebook.  It is a centralised swap and there is approx 100 of us in this swap, being co-ordinated by Ruth in Canada.  Today I posted 102 blocks to her.  The rules for the squares was - 6.5 in finished;  white on white for the main piece and batiks for the corners.  The more variety the better. This is a sampling of 4 squares that are in my parcel winging their way across the big pond between us and Canada.

My local Aussie PO has been really pleased to see me lately - all my mail has been international - have to keep the posties of the world in employment!  I do love getting mail from these swaps, it sure beats the 'window-faced' envelopes which usually have bills in them.

Found - a great textile art blog

While surfing around the net (as one does when one has nothing else to do!!) I came across this fabulous blog - In Good Company - they are a group of 4 textile artists who are very generous with their knowledge.  They have subscribers who each month are given a small package of 'play material' with instructions on how to use this material, some samples of what can be achieved etc.  All the information and 'eye-candy' is posted on their blog for others like myself (and you) to enjoy.  I have also put a link in the right-hand column so I can keep up to date with what they are doing.  Fabulous stuff.

The posting on gelatine printing is something I just have to do.......... just got to go and buy some gelatine.

A Sewing Room pic

This is my Thimble collection.  The 'shelving' is an old printer's tray I picked up in a garage sale many years ago.  Still in original condition, and the only thing I have done is to rub a little oil into it.  You can see that some of the dividers are missing.  A great display for small things like thimbles and bits and pieces like my father's old Cribbage board and some old silk threads.