Musings

Oh dear, people are starting to mention it.

March 4, 2014 by Margaret

It’s true… I mean I knew I hadn’t blogged for *Ages* but consoled myself with the thought that no one had said anything, so all is OK…no one thinks I’m a lazy bones.

But now you’re starting to notice.

And I’m very pleased cos it’s so easy to get out of the blogging habit and I needed a ‘shove’.

I have to confess I’ve hardly read a blog since I left for Houston last year, and y’all know I haven’t written on mine either.

Lo siento mucho.

(Sorry Texas just makes me think in Spanish)

I’ve missed it, and even though I’ve been catching up with many of you on Facebook I had busied myself with other stuff and let blogging slip down the list.

No more Miss Busy

However, I think I won’t do a long *catch up* post as it would probably bore you all to tears. Suffice to say I left for Houston, returned from Houston and had *The*Most*Fabulous*Time* in between. I even took some extra time and enjoyed a relaxing few days in the Pacific Northwest with dear friends as well, seeing a beautiful part of the USA I’d not seen before. Old friends, new friends, fun and adventures galore. Muchas gracias to all of you whom I spent time with.

One of the last quilt pictures you saw here was this one.

Pieced Compass Quilt

Well I’m happy to report that I took it away with me and got some travel sewing done. And over the Christmas break I finished the piecing and the quilting. The binding just needs to be stitched down and it’s finished, yippee.

This shows it in progress, two more borders were added. Where's a completed photo when I want one?

You know this entire quilt was made from fabric in my stash, how good is that. I have some real favourites in there and I especially liked using this fabulous fabric which I bought a year or two ago.

American Independence 100th Anniversary C.1876 by Sara Morgan for Blue Hill fabrics

A little bit of the Sarah Johnson Collection from the 1990s made its way further in the quilt too.

Sarah Johnson Fabric, Shelburne museum

I still have a little left for something special.

I’ve also started on a Pomegranate applique quilt. I’m very happy with the clarity of the fabrics together, they all seem to give off a lot of brightness…comparitively speaking for this ‘dull’ repro chick

Many of the blocks already prepped. This has been my evening sewing for most of February

The pomegranate itself is done differently to the one shown above. Oh My…did I make it difficult for myself. And why?

I have no idea but am glad the penny dropped. Here’s a few discards.

Squishy, bad and generally gone off Pomegranates.

Fresh Pomegranates will be a breeze.

Fresh Pomegranates

Well my dear quilting friends, it’s dinner time here… and Home beckons.

It’s been so hot and dry here and yet I know for many of you in the Northern hemisphere it’s been cold, miserable and sometimes dangerous. We’ve just entered Autumn and you’ve just entered Spring…let’s hope it’s better for all of us.

hugs

til soon

Margaret

2 Comments

Filed Under: Applique, Design, Musings, Reproduction Quilts

I’m Houston bound tomorrow

October 21, 2013 by Margaret

I’m feeling a little bit exhausted after a busy few weeks getting ready for this trip,

My Roses are just starting to bloom and look lovely after a light Spring shower.

I just wanted to enjoy them, if only for a moment.

Today I finalised the last bit of hand sewing I’ll take with me,

image of Medallion style quilt in progress

A new medallion quilt I'm working on, the 8 pointed stars will keep me out of mischief

You may recgnise some early repro’s in the pic….RJR’s Sarah Johnson Collection as well as their Smithsonian Collection, all working well with new-ish ranges from Paula Barnes and Mary Koval.

I know there’ll be time for sewing…Blogging I’m not so sure as I won’t have my laptop. I do plan to use FaceBook while I’m away so I hope to see you on there.

til soon

Margaret

5 Comments

Filed Under: 1800s Reproduction Fabrics, Musings, Reproduction Quilts, Smithsonian Fabrics

Life

September 30, 2013 by Margaret

I was thinking of the sorrow and joy DH (Lindsay) and I have had here at chez Quilt Station over the last few months, it’s just ‘life’ and the same for all of us really. And it has been a whirlwind of racing hither and thither, but at the same time still just going through the paces of the day…work, fun and laughter…plus some tears.

And so Spring has snuck up on us with all the promise of new things it might bring.

Spring at Quilt Station

Our beloved Rollo went in to decline and in early August

we made the decision to send her off to the great doggy park in the sky.

We suspected she would not be with us through another winter but it broke our hearts none the less. We miss her but the rawness has subsided.

But what a lovely long life she had, and she got to be on this blog and in Quiltmania magazine…she be famous

Rollo enjoying Christmas a few years ago...seems like yesterday.

Then Lindsay and I had the very great joy of becoming Grandparents, a few days after we lost Rollo we welcomed

Harriet Louise Mew in to our hearts.

Harriet and Papa Lin, he's still got the knack.

Quilting Life stuff now

Later in August I went up to Brisbane to meet up with friends from the Victorian Quilt Study Group for the V&A exhibition Quilts 1700-1945.

No photo’s were allowed of the quilts but I’m sure many of you have the book and/or have seen the exhibition either in Brisbane or in London.

Of course the Exhibition was wonderful & inspiring, and it was just lovely to get away to warmer climes for a few days…wear sandals for the first time in months, stroll around in the warmth and sunshine. I left Melbourne wearing coat & scarf, in howling winds and bitterly cold. Then two hours later I’m in warm, sunny Brisbane feeling very glad I did throw a pair of sandals in the suitcase at the last minute.

And it was a perfect time to relax and sew…

I sewed at the museum

I sewed at the Hotel, just catching the last afternoon rays of sunshine before heading down to Happy Hour ;-)

And a few days later headed to NZ (but more of that later) and sewed on the plane.

Many thanks to Janet O’Dell for organising the trip to Brisbane, and to Maureen for being a super ‘roomie’.

One of the nights we all went to a great Mexican restaturant at Southbank and noticed the designs on the ceiling were applique possibilites.

There's a few design ideas here.

Then we had fun re-arranging the tiles into applique possibilities

And from Brisbane I took the oppportunity of nipping across the Tasman to New Zealand for 10 days to see how my Mum is doing…

…Not great, for the first time she didn’t know who I was although it did seem to filter down as the days went on. She is a lot more confused about things now, and I learnt over this last weekend that she has declined further still. Am waiting to hear how things are progressing before deciding to drop everything and go over or not.

My sewing, and the friends it has given me, continues to be a constant in this ever evolving time.
I’ve enjoyed catching up and sharing at Quilts in the Barn this last weekend as well as a much needed play day with Linda…just us, plus Sea Breeze Quilters Quilt-in earlier this month.

And as if life wasn’t busy enough, I am involved in the new Applique Guild of Australia

Several of us have been working towards an Australian guild specifically for applique for a couple of years, slowly chipping away at the format we felt would be beneficial to members and in July this year we launched it at Melbourne Quilt Showcase and on-line (where most of the ‘action’ will take place)

So ‘Life’ has been full indeed.

On the sewing front I don’t have a lot to show you, I seem to have a disparate assortment of projects in the studio which I am constantly moving to make room for something else I need/want to work on.

Rising Sun Medallion in progress

And still chugging along with the paper cut applique

One more Indigo to applique and then a fabric choice to make for the centre block.

I will be at Houston Market and Festival this year, leaving in three weeks. Very much looking forward to that again. If you’re going to be there let me know…it would be nice to meet up.

Well the coffee machine is on and I will grab a much needed cup of caffeine.

Thanks for stopping by, I know I’ve been very slack in the blogging department and I appreciate that you’re still here

til soon

Margaret xx

6 Comments

Filed Under: 1800s Reproduction Fabrics, Applique, Indigo Blues, Musings, Travel

Autumn ~ gardening and sewing.

May 4, 2013 by Margaret

A rose from my garden, for you

I’m feeling a little neglectful, disappearing since February… eeek

It wasn’t intentional, and I wish I could say I’ve been here, there and everywhere.

But in fact I’ve mostly been right here at home, just doing stuff.

Which has been very nice.

All of a sudden, it’s Autumn and I love it, this is my favourite season.

Late afternoon and long shadows.

As you can see I have a few roses hanging in there,

this is typical of Central Victoria where the roses will get a second bloom after summer.

But the trees are giving it away

there won't be a second bloom of apricots.

In the Northern Hemisphere, Spring Market is nigh in Portland, Oregon.

I would love to have been there but alas, not this year.

However I have just sent a quilt over for Marianne Elizabeth‘s booth there.

I’ve been busy designing and making the quilt using her newest fabric range

Tatiana by RJR fabrics.

Stars and Stripes.

I moved the sewing machine in to the house when the fabric arrived, parked it up on the end of the dining table so I could sew late in to the evenings.

Strip piecing frenzy.

The stars I made using English Papers, that was a lot of triangles.

English Paper piecing

However I had the top complete in four days, but that did include sewing well in to the evenings.

Not bloomin’ bad huh, if I do say so myself.

Below is a little bit of distraction, I fancy making three more for a centre of something.

Just messing about with fabric.

It uses a Margot Krager Dargate Indigo, I have quite a bit of this and the others from the same range

so will potter about with this over the winter.

Yesterday I picked up the latest copy of Homespun magazine.

They have a whole new look and I like it a lot.

Homespun magazine #120 on sale now

Inside there is the pattern for one of my quilts,

Eastleigh

This is the first time I’ve had a quilt in Homespun so I’m feeling pleased and just a bit chuffed.

They’ve done a really nice job with the styling, I haven’t shown my cat that there’s another cat sitting on her quilt tho

For the time being she’s making do with this one

Maisie!!

I’m off to sew, something…anything.

til soon, a lot sooner I hope

happy stitching

Margaret

6 Comments

Filed Under: Design, Eastleigh, Musings, Reproduction Quilts

Summer Sewing

January 2, 2013 by Margaret

The temperature is rising as the week rolls along,

30 today (86F) 38 tommorow (100F) and 40 Friday (104F) and back to 34 Saturday (93F)

It’s a good time to be a hermit which I confess I am in January. Apart from two walks around the corner to our little shop for mail/paper/milk I have not left the property since Christmas eve!!! Bliss.

My little studio is not airconditioned but it’s still quite pleasant in here, not sure how I’ll feel by this afternoon :-0

On Saturday Irene and Jenn came over, the three of us had not had a chance to get together to talk about what we want to do through the year, singly as well as collectively. So it was a meeting of Turn Left for Harmony, all meetings should be like this.

I am ticking things off that list of ‘summer jobs’, one was to make the remaining three cushions of my intended set of four.

Possibly it is 18 months or two years since I made the first cushion, but happily all four are now made, tick.

Next job…

Work through the steps for making Perfect Bias Stems, 1/8″ wide using a set of laminated instructions purchased in Houston from

Amidon Quiltworks,

Previously I just made a 1/4″ stem with the bias maker and folded it in half but the bulk was less than ideal.

Amidon Quiltworks sells a two sided laminated instruction sheet for Perfect Bias Stems designed by P3Designs and the sample stem Amidon gave me was 1/8″, perfectly bendy and flat. Granted it was made with Batik and that is tightly woven and does behave itself well, but I was keen to have a crack at it.

I followed all the steps (20) carefully, it has been well thought out and I won’t show too much as it is copyrighted to P3Designs.

I used an RJR Smithsonian fabric, Stem #1 worked well but I was a little disappointed in the fabric wastage, for the next stem I altered the instructions slightly to compensate. It is a little bit fiddly (but these are skinny stems) but after making the six stems I needed I had worked out where I could minor tweak what is a very good method devised by P3.

My stems actually ended up being 1/8″ to 3/16″ wide, but I know where I went wrong and perhaps the coarser weave had something to do with it too but I don’t use Batiks so the method needs to work for my fabrics.

The Verdict… I am happy, but could be a bit happier, with the results and the stems are not bulky. I’ll use this method again.

So what’d I do with those stems?

LOL, started a new quilt of course

Some Dutch Chintz, some Smithsonian... what a lovely mix

This morning I started chooosing the flowers, it will be Broderie Perse for those, and settled on carefully selecting flowers from (but felt like hacking in to) the panel from the 1810 Chintz Medallion, Virginia Quilt Museum range by Quilting Treasures. Luckily I had two as I needed to cut in to them both to get the flowers I needed.

1810 Chintz Medallion by Quilting Treasures.

As is typical with me, I really don’t know what this will be nor how big, I’m just having fun with it for now.

ready for stitching when it gets too hot to do much else.

I didn’t plan for a butterfly in this block but as the panel had one I thought I might as well use it

Off to clean up the table and then play some more before, it’s now mid afternoon and the temp is still OK in here.

Thanks for dropping by

Margaret

5 Comments

Filed Under: 1800s Reproduction Fabrics, Applique, Broderie Perse, Design, Musings

Repro Fabrics Galore, Merry Stitching, and Happy Blogging in 2013

December 26, 2012 by Margaret

Oh dear this blog post was to be my pre-Christmas catch up ~ oooops

I think even if I squint it can’t still be the 25th somewhere in the world so I hope you all had a fabulous day yesterday with the ones you love.

My son is still here as his wife had to work today so he and his Dad are playing with boy toys in the shed and,

after a morning of putting the house back together, I am pottering/tidying in my studio after a perfect day yesterday with my nearest and dearest.

Life is good.

I have a list as long as my arm of things I want to do over January, so a clean and organised studio space is a must. But of course it doesn’t take long for me to mess it up again.

I still had sitting on the floor the bundles of fabric I bought in Houston, I want to show you them as there are some great fabrics for the repro afficionados amongst us.

I bought these at Cotton in the Cabin ‘s booth at Festival. Unfortunately the website doesn’t show these wonderful bundles,

labeled Walnut Root Dye circa 1850-1860

but they are worth a phone call or email I think if you were looking for early repro’s. I don’t know where in the States they are situated.

Here is the same bundle unrolled for a better look, I’m not sure if Walnut Root Dye circa 1850-1860 was the name of the range or if this is just a mix of era appropriate fabric prints/colours.

these only have Baum Textiles on the selvage

This next bundle is labeled Bannister Hall c 1830 and this was a range, called Bannister Hall Summerhouse by Xenia Cord for Freespirit.

I don’t recall seeing this range at all in Australia so would be interested to know if it came to our shores.

Bannister Hall Summerhouse by Xenia Cord

I already had those two fat quarters of one print from an earlier US shopping spree so was thrilled to get another fat quarter to play with.

Next up is American Beauty.

American Beauty by Mary Koval for Windham Fabrics

A few of the above I have in the stash already but am down to scarily small amounts so very pleased to have found some more

and the last bundle I bought, although I should’a, could’a, would’a bought many more was titled Koval and Friend,

just a gorgeous selection of 19th c prints

and is a nice selection of prints. I checked with Mary and she just laughed, she couldn’t remember who the friend was but two selvages hint at it being Bethany Fuller. In the absence of complete selvage info I am guessing these were all Windham fabrics. A few I had seen before but others were new to me.

From a different booth, I did take a card but can’t put my hand on it at the mo, I found an early piece which intrigued me.

In the picture below it is the base print I found, Discovery by Jinny Beyer for RJR fabrics,

Discovery by Jinny Beyer for RJR Fabrics. Commemorating Columbus's 1492 discovery of the Americas.

a commemorative range 1492-1992 of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the Americas. The other four fabrics surfaced when my friend Sherry said “I’ve got some of that range” and there ensued a flurry of activity searching the shelves. A bit of swapping followed and now I have five pieces from the range.

During the same shelf search, these early Jinny Beyer Shirttails surfaced, and thanks to Sherry’s generosity these found their way home with me too.

Jinny Beyer Shirttails for RJR Fabrics

Trawling Sherry’s fabric stash ended up being a Jinny hunt and I have to show you this because I think it’s beautiful.

Jinny Beyer for RJR Fashion Fabrics, that's all the selvage says.

A bit of picotage, full blown flowers in that brilliant blue I love ~ it hints at being teal, brown and some Perkins Purple. Is this one of the best repro’s or what? To my mind it is and it’s from a time when we didn’t really buy repro’s cos we hadn’t coined that term yet.

From Cotton in the Cabin I also bought these two prints from South Africa, these are on the website.

Shweshwe quilting fabric, printed in South Africa by Da Gama Textiles

I think with some tea-dyeing these could pass for mid 19th c Prussian Blue repro’s. That’s on my list to do through January,

add to list ~ buy plain pack tea bags.

Well it’s nearly 2013 and I am reflecting on what an amazing 2012 I have had, I feel very, very fortunate.

I have had some wonderful opportunities arise and I am grateful I was able to grab them with gusto. I have met quite a few overseas blogging friends in person this year, you all know who you are and it has been brilliant to meet you all (and y’all). I have made closer friendships online with others even if we haven’t met up ~ yet… And I have met and made new friends so I am a lucky girl indeed.

Thank you for dropping by and being interested in what I am doing here in my little neck of the woods, I really appreciate the support and friendships I have made here.

But I’m not done yet

Let me tell you about a couple of blogs.

The first is called PinMoneyQuilts and belongs to a friend from Melbourne, Linda Bear.

Linda had a quilt accepted in to Houston this year and I was pleased to be able to see it and congratulate Linda on her acheivement.

This is the quilt titled Best of Friends, it’s all reverse applique and is stunning.

Best of Friends by Linda Bear, thank you Linda for letting me show it and congratulations.

The next blog belongs to another Kiwi lass, but unlike me Sharon still lives there.

I met Sharon at the Melbourne Quilt Market, she is the owner and creative force of Sharon Keightly Designs.

As soon as I saw Sharon’s quilts I had to chat with her and was amazed to learn that her applique is all done the invisible machine way, something that’s been on my mind to try for ages but is now on the tangible list for January.

For tonight though it’s the old fashioned needle-turn way as I start block number three of the Cannonsburg Quilt

I should be a bit further along but have not done any hand sewing for about two weeks !!! It’s been prepped and sitting by my chair but there’s just been too much to do in the lead up to Christmas, so a quiet night in with stitching sounds good to me.

Now that the studio is tidy I will have fun in here and hope you get the time to drop by to see my progress.

til soon

happy stitching

Margaret

10 Comments

Filed Under: 1800s Reproduction Fabrics, Applique, Design, Musings, Travel

Back home after a whirlwind visit to Texas

November 15, 2012 by Margaret

I’m not sure how to capture two busy and exciting weeks in a single blog post, but I’ll give it a go.

Jenn and I arrived in San Antonio in time for dinner on the Monday evening (the 22nd ), having left Sydney just prior to Monday lunchtime!

It’s always a pleasure spending time with our good friends Sherry and Darwin, their home has become quite the home away from home.

America was getting ready for Halloween (and Thanksgiving too going by the amount of pumpkins I saw), it was neat to see as we don’t celebrate that here in Australia.

Anyone for Pumpkin?

Of course the reason Jenn and I were there was to attend Quilt Market, arriving on the Friday morning to help set-up the booth.

We had to set off early in the morning from San Antonio to get to Houston, and because I am pathologically punctual we set off at 5.00am which allowed plenty of time.

On the road, it got light soon enough.

It was great to meet up with Marianne again and also to meet her ‘girl Friday’ Judy, we all hit it off really well and the time together just flew by.

First up was ‘Schoolhouse’ which I knew nothing about, but now I do know… 30 minutes (that’s 30 minutes, not 31) of manic activity showing attendees what you will be showcasing at Market. Marianne spoke and watched the clock ticking, Judy and I held up all the quilts and Jenn handed out flyers and photographed the whole affair with three cameras as of course we all wanted our own record!!

getting ready for the next quilt on the list

Harmony Rose being seen for the first time at Market. She got an "aaaah" moment.

Then it was racing back downstairs to start hanging the quilts in their places on the booth.

Judy and I did take turns up the ladder, and it sure was nice having someone taller than I for a change.

At Market there is always a well known face or name going past.

A spot of celebrity spotting, with Eleanor Burns.

The next day, we and the booth were READY.

Marianne Elizabeth for RJR, ready to roll.

We also caught up with quite a few friends at Market, dinner with Mary and Joe Koval, Petra Prins and the Quiltmania crew. We all went to Mama Ninfa’s which was fantastic. Really good Mexican food and with a wonderful vibe to the place.

Margaritas and munchies.

I had a couple of real highlights to this trip, the first was finally meeting a good blog friend in person. We had tried to meet up earlier this year but the gods were against us that time. But this time Michele from Betwixt the Betweens and I met up, along with another friend Gina (whom I always knew as Janet!!) and we had a super time together, as if we had known each other for years. We were so busy talking and laughing that we didn’t get photo’s sorry.

And there was a perfect deja vu moment on the streets of La Grange, just outside the Texas Quilt Museum, literally steps from where Irene and I had met Kathy in April…

Irene Blanck, quilter Kathy from California and Texas Quilt Museum staff member Julie, April 2012

… Kathy and I locked eyes and grinned like cheshire cats in November.

Fancy meeting you here

We were thinking “were we wearing the same clothes last time”? No, phew.

And a big, big thrill was seeing a Mid 19th C Star Quilt hanging in the European Championship section of the Houston Quilt show.

I can’t really describe how it felt, I guess the only thing better is having your own quilt hanging there.

Mid 19th c Star Quilt by Kea Gutker de Geus from Velserbroek, The Netherlands. Quilted by Elly Prins. Awarded first place ~ Traditional.

Kea has used beautiful Dutch Chintzes in her quilt, it is stunning.

I will be back with some other quilts to show.

Thanks for visiting,

til soon

Margaret

1 Comment

Filed Under: Musings, Quilt Patterns, Travel

Melbourne Quilt Show

July 28, 2012 by Margaret

I’ve been away for a few days at the Melbourne Quilt Show.

This year I stayed down in Melbourne for three nights so it was a mini getaway. And very nice it was too

Winter in Melbourne, so pretty

Karen at Somerset Patchwork has Quilt Station’s Banyan Tree Medallion Quilt on her stand this year with the patterns for sale.

Banyan Tree Medallion Quilt

It looks great (if I do say so myself LOL) on her stand, it’s a while since I’ve seen it in the real as it belongs to my friend Brenda, Thank you Brenda for the loan again.

I really have to get on with my version two but I keep starting new things.

The Banyan Tree was my quilt design which my LQG The Goldfields Quilters made for our 2010 Exhibition.

Our newest quilt for our 2012 exhibition is called Entwined in Time and was designed and made by our members.

We were thrilled to see it get second place in the Group Quilt Category.

Entwined in Time by members of the Goldfields Quilters

Jennifer’s quilt Leannah, aka Texas Rose Baskets looked wonderful on display too.

Texas Rose Baskets ~ detail, by Jennifer Murray

I know that this has been a long project of Jenn’s so it’s fantastic to see it finished and hanging.

A quilt I quilted was awarded second place in the Two Person Traditonal Category (amateur/professional)

Pattie is also a member of my LQG and I was thrilled to see her get a prize, hehe I get a ribbon too

Pattie's version of Nearly Insane, called Persistence

One small quilt that absolutely blew me away is by Julie Adamson.

Detail of appliqued paisleys, silk and batiks by Julie Adamson.

The detail in this small quilt is incredible, I kept going back to look over and over. The work in it is very fine indeed.

Thank you Julie for allowing me to show it.

There really are some fabulous quilts on display, it’s still on for today and tomorrow.

Linda at Quilts in the Barn has some wonderful photo’s too so have a look here too.

I am just about to head off to teach a class in Gisborne so I will keep moving.

til soon

Margaret

Getting my mojo back

July 11, 2012 by Margaret

I remember a while back I was going to show you my latest project.

I’m happy to show you, it’s just that I seem to have lost my way with it.

I started with gusto, mmmmm should’ve been alarmed right there, before I went to NZ in June ~ wanting/needing something to sew in the evenings.

I spent a day in the studio, firstly doing a paper cut of a tree.

It's easy to keep trimming away but go easy. A whisker at a time, you can't put it back.

I really got into papercutting shapes while doing the Maltaville Album Quilt blocks.

It’s a quick and easy way to create shapes, sometimes it’s easier to let the scissors do the work instead of the pencil.

Having already chosen my fabrics I started the marking and then glueing the tree to the background.

A bit fiddly.

Those stems were very flimsy and had a life of their own,

but I got there and took this to NZ for pleasant evenings of stitching whilst catching up with family.

Applique tree

I did get a lot of the sewing done while I was away

Under the gaze of my Grandmother, keep working.

and finished the last of it in Sydney the following week.

And then I just lost interest in it.

Backing up a bit, several months ago I was invited to create a new design for publication in a quilt magazine.

I won’t tell you which one because the publication date for the issue is soooo far away. Light years almost.

I’ll tell you closer to the time.

But of course the quilt will need to be done and delivered by end October

I think for some people, pressure spurs them on but for me ~ my creative drive just bombed

I had plenty of ideas but mostly they bombed as well before I could get going on them.

That tree quilt was one that I had thought would be a possibility for the magazine, but then …

as I say, it just sort of went nowhere.

I’ll probably resurrect it again, but it’s just been put on the back-burner for now.

But that’s not going to help me for this deadline is it.

It’s my first time for this magazine and I want to start with something that says ‘me’, I’m not sure what that is but I guess I felt that tree wasn’t it.

So today I took the day as a Design Day, up early, heater on over in the studio in advance so no excuses.

A couple of days ago I had assembled a few fabrics in readiness for an applique centre block.

Fabric choices

I love that Margo Krager Dargate Indigo at the bottom of the pile. I’ve managed to accumulate meterage of most of the range over recent months, even though the range is several years old now.

Some of the above fabrics are ones I picked up in the US, just Fat 1/4s of useful prints and colours.

I knew I wanted an urn, almost undersized for the height and spread of the foliage so as to give the block a naive style.

And I liked the idea of a rope or cable centre stem.

The stem in progress

Years ago I did a Celtic knot quilt class, LOL that over/under mantra is stuck in my head so that’s how I did this stem.

I haven’t really marked any of the background, only a tiny pencil mark where the bottom of the urn will sit and another where I want the top flower to start. I just decided to start weaving the rope stem to look reasonably even. It’s fusible bias stem so after each cable I ironed it in place.

I haven’t yet even got much of a pattern just a few reference points so that I don’t extend beyond 18″.

By late afternoon I was pleased with my progress. I didn’t agonise over the fabrics, but there were a couple of flowers that were discarded. And the flower shapes were paper cut and then trimmed if I felt the size was not quite right, so in that way I was able to work quite quickly.

A day's work

There’s plenty more flowers and leaves to go on of course but I’m ready to sew this lot down before adding more.

I’m kind of making it up as I go along.

The beauty of having my own space is that I can walk away at the end of the day and not worry about the mess, yay.

And just quickly, a very close friend is moving away next month. I’ll miss her big time but we know she’ll only be an email or skype call away.

But a little of her will remain in Central Victoria, she needed to off-load some surplus furniture and some of it has made its way in to my studio. Yippee

A tiered table now doing duty as my cutting station, perfect height.

My back (and I) thank you Jude

And her very gorgeous cupboard from her sewing studio, now filled with my fabric.

What fun I had filling this

The Fabric Cupboard

The studio is starting to look lived in.

Don’t forget the giveaway coming up at the end of this week, it’s from this blog post here

http://www.quiltstation.com.au/new-zealand-then-sydney-and-a-give-away

Leave a comment on the above blog post by Friday the 13th, there are currently only 14 contenders for four prizes.

And I’ll have a poke around in that fabric cupboard for a bit extra to go in too.

til soon

Happy Stitching

Margaret

2 Comments

Filed Under: Applique, Design, Musings

When a cold wind blows…

June 23, 2012 by Margaret

…go out and enjoy yourself.

And take some quilts for show and tell,

Quilts ~ old and new (finished and unfinished)

That’s what I did last night, heading down to Linda Collins’ beautiful home ~ warm and inviting on a cold winter’s night.

You’ll know Linda from Quilts in the Barn I’m sure, it’s a wonderful blog and of course the *Not *To *Be* Missed*

‘Quilts in the Barn’ exhibition every year.

Irene, Jenn and myself enjoyed a wonderful night with Linda and Paul (aka Jack) bigs hugs you two x x, Carol and Guy from Quiltmania, Debbie and Lester (Debbie is also a quilter and makes the best Pavolova), Gus and John.

We all enjoyed a wonderful shared dinner.

I took along that Boeuf Bourguinon Carol mentioned, just to make sure I was still doing it right

I’m afraid we were so busy chatting and holding up quilts I forgot to take photo’s of the Show & Tell

but here we are at the end of the night, we were determined to get Guy in front of the camera instead of behind it

Oh dear, people are starting to mention it.

I’m Houston bound tomorrow

Life

Autumn ~ gardening and sewing.

Summer Sewing

Repro Fabrics Galore, Merry Stitching, and Happy Blogging in 2013

Back home after a whirlwind visit to Texas

Melbourne Quilt Show

Getting my mojo back

When a cold wind blows…

Comments

Subscribe to my blog

I'm on Instagram and Facebook

My other blog

Blogs, Designers, Magazines and Shops

Archives