Some photos of quilts and the WAFTA exhibition at the Perth Craft Fair taken yesterday

This was the first we looked at.  The WAFTA - West Australian Fibre and Textile Association had this wonderful exhibition of work done by some of it members. 

The work was really wonderful and quite varied. 

This is my friend Liz, and this is one of the two pieces she entered in this exhibition.

Liz also has an on-line store and specialises in English Piecing here

First quilt I need to show you is Julia's quilt.  What a wonderful quilt that is!

Congratulations to Julia...

These samples are on a board advertising a class to be held by Jan Rowe in June of this year...

This was just so interesting and I just wish I could attend...

My Grandfathers Flower Garden by Margaret Smith, an Accredited Judge. When exhibited in the Memories Quilt Exhibition in 1996 It was awarded 3rd Prize in the theme section

It is Machine pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted.

This photo does not do this beautiful quilt justice, but I have included it and will show some details. 

It was a double sided quilt and was made and sewn by Jo Northcott

It won Best Longarm quilter.

This is the reverse side of the quilt - Just beautiful .... gold stitching and 'sparkles' too.

These next two photos show some of the wonderful details.

You can tell the quilting was interesting to me :)

 Friendship  was made by Robynne Vallence - this won the President'[s Choice.

Enchanted By Karleah Olson - in the Student quilt maker 14 - 18 years .  It shows the Prince with his sword in the walls of the enchanted palace in Sleeping Beauty.  As you can see it won a few awards!

This beautiful quilt was made by Sheila Pye in the Traditional Predominantly Applique - Professional

section.

It is called Coxcomb and Currents revisited.  It is an original Design.

A beautiful quilt.

I hope I have this one correct ..

Called William Morris and Friends and made by Helen Rhodes. It won 2nd Prize fin the Predominantly applique  Professional division.

I was getting a bit wonky on my feet at this time - so sorry about the loss of some of the quilt.  This is called My Hexagon Rose garden by Dale Bergin.  It took 3 1/2 years to complete and has 1340 hexagons in it. It is an original design.  I won a Judges Commendation and is hand quilted.

The quilting in this was wonderful I thought :)

This was called Across the Rubicon by Cheryl Botha.

This won a first prize for First Time Entrant.

A close up of the beautiful quilting.

This was absolutely AMAZING  First Prize  by Jan Roe..Tropical Delight!

All things bright and beautiful - Jane Rowe

My apologies to the makers of the following quilts - I stopped writing them down...

Another beautiful Quilt by Sheila Pye - You can see all the awards it won in a previous show.

I can't put a name to this one sadly..but its really beautiful - the quilting is amazing!

So that's it from me for this year on quilt Shows.  It really was well worth the visit.

 FMQ Thursday 20th May

Actually did this late last night as I knew I would be beat today after the Craft Show in Perth :)

Have completed the center fillers.

Now... after two glasses of wine...I am off to sit and do nothing for the evening.

Will post photos of the Perth Quilt and Craft Fair tomorrow - when I hope to have caught up after a hectic day...

Happy One Flower Wednesday

My small contribution was sewn as I sat in the dark under a street light as I waited for Andrea to finish Ballet lessons tonight. 

 I fell asleep - in the car too Listening to an audio book.

I am off to the Perth Craft Show tomorrow - drive 90kms to the train in Mandurah and then train

to Perth ...if I can navigate it all :)  That is the real test.

Lots of lovely quilts to see and lots of goodies to look at...and try to keep my hands in my pocket!!

FMQ Challenge Wednesday 19th May

All four small borders completed!

 The quilt Halo is really working well.

According to my calculations - I have 3 more days to go for the Challenge ?

Next I will do the fillers for the center...then I need to work out how I am going to do  the final border.

Oh My Gosh - its One Flower Wednesday too...

I have lots to do :)

FMQ Tuesday 18th May

The quilt halo came in the mail today - so I have used this to do all the feathers in the small borders...and filled one in by outlining it.  I works wonderfully - and no quilting gloves used!!

 In the top right hand corner there is a small Lady Bug...my trademark for my quilts - when I remember...so I thought I had best try to sew one without stopping and try to get it right.

All for now - its nearly 12.30am and time I had some sleep.  Hopefully I will finish this tomorrow,

FMQ Challenge Monday 17th May 2010

As you can see this is a work in progress.

I  have drawn and prepared the design for the small border.

I have first machine sewn the design with needle only - no thread, then transferred the design to the fabric using the Pounce pad,,,and a blue powder.  Hopefully it will come out of the fabric, as I have not tested it first!

I then went over the design with a blue washable pen. 

The Right side border is sewn with the antique coloured silk, the back and the left sides are drawn ready to sew, and the front border was not at that time drawn on, and I was in the process of using the pounce pad for that as you can see.

I may leave the rest of the machine sewing for the last of the small borders for tomorrow - as I am a bit weary just now.

Then I will use fillers round all the feathers...and progress from there. 

FMQ Sunday 16th May

Just completed this sample that I have been working on over a couple of days.

Have a new computer...and a whole new learning curve..so please excuse me if I am a bit late answering comments .  Its so wonderful to get these - and I do appreciate them.

I will try to get these up to date later tonight

Our friends Russ and Liz have been here for the weekend, .  Andrea and I are SO delighted ...I have a new computer and Andrea has my 'old' one made new :)

 Andrea is busy working on homework - and I am just trying to work out how everything works.  Thankfully Andrea is a great help.

I hope everyone has had a fantastic weekend.

I couldn't t resist showing this wonderful photo of my eldest Grandsons, four of Stuart and Jennifer's sons taken on Mothers day, at Kings Park in Perth.

They all look so wonderfully happy!

Kristoffer, Morgan, Jakeb and Joshuah.

How fast they grow up!

Stuart left on his travels to the UK today. Jennifer Joins him next week.

Friday 14th and Saturday 15th FMQ Challenge

Saturday 15th a quick add on to the top feather...will try to get some fillers sewn on tomorrow.

I used the antique gold silk on the top feather which I did on Thursday

and a pinkish-faun silk on the lower feather.

This also has one of my trade-mark Ladybugs, which I have been putting somewhere on all my quilts. 

Now and again I forget..so I will add them to the labels I think.

I am trying to work out how to do them all in one go...so its a matter of practice to see which works best.

And Friday14th...Green silk used on this one,

FMQ Challenge Thursday 14th May

Prism Quilt completed!!

Still to be washed

That's the last of this quilt... I have really had a great time with this... its been a really big learning curve :)

I have however, had heaps of trouble publishing this...

I cant work out how to do a group of photos, so please forgive if its bit over the top with the photos.

Now to work out what to do tomorrow and the weekend!!

It will all be samples I feel, as we have visitors coming tomorrow until Sunday.

BUT I may just get some POTC's- Patchwork of The Crosses - done.

Wednesday ..just completed these... with 1/2 hour of Wednesday left..

Now I have 6 Flowers!

Wednesday 12th May FMQ Challenge

Woohoo I am ahead today for the moment...Andrea asleep -another of the nasties!

A heart feather and apple cores - now there is an exercise in concentration :)

I left some of the markings on - they will fade completely, but as I am inpatient :)  I washed some out with water and that side is still wet.

Now for the One Flower Wednesday.

I think I am going to try to make Thursday POTC day!!

Oops - Andrea is up and OK - so its another trip to school and back ASAP

Tuesday 11th May FMQ Challenge piece.

Not so much accomplished tonight...had a busy , but healthy :) day.

Have been doing some drawings to try to see how to sew on the sections of my small quilt between the quilted hearts.

 I was undecided what to sew on the small quilt, so I picked up a piece of the fabric salvaged from a large square that I had accidentally cut through some time ago.  It had been drawn on, though the design was beginning to wear out...fortunately.  I didnt really like the design.  It did however give me good guide line to work with.

. 

Pictured also are some of the pens I have used.

First is a fine white Clover Marking pen, that takes a few seconds to show (on dark fabric) and comes off only when ironed.  This is a great one.

Second is a Swift Water erasable marking pen from Japan.  This is quite fine, but I haven't had much success when used for a while.

Third just says Water erasable marking pen - made in Japan. This gives a heavier line, and washes out well.

The fourth pen I have found really easy...the violet end wears off after a day or so without doing anything to it...and washed out well afterwards.  I like this one as the drawing ends are fairly fine,

Well that's it from me tonight - I am off to watch some TV .

Today was good day ...

Hope you all have a wonderful  day tomorrow :)

One Flower Wednesdays tomorrow ♥

FMQ Challenge Monday 10th May
This time the colours are correct.

Four small corners - all feathered  hearts

I had intended going to sleep early tonight - but the machine was smiling at me as I passed it :) So there is another day of the Challenge...and I am really off to bed soon.

Andrea was home again today with another Migraine at 5.am...and it continued through to mid afternoon....so I am preparing for anything tomorrow

and hoping all will be well!

Then of course  I had to do my FMQ for today.

I drew the design free hand some time ago directly to the fabric...so I don't have this one on file...but altered it a bit as I went.  Its a bit lopsided!

The colour is far brighter than it actually is.

I used an old gold coloured silk thread with Aurofil in the bobbin.

Now I shall have to have another think as to what I will do next :)

I hope your day has been special.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers day.

I heard from all four of my children..

I had a special phone call from my youngest daughter Heather in Perth, a visit from my younger son Stuart and his wife Jennifer and three of their sons.  They were on their way to Perth to see another of their sons, Jakeb...whose birthday was today also.

Also heard from my daughter Fiona in Melbourne...who should by now be safe in Perth where they will be for a week.

Also a lovely phone call from my eldest son Andrew - Andrea's father.
Oh and Andrea wrote me the most beautiful poem - and of course I cried!

Left to right

Morgan ,Andrea, Joshuah ,me, Stuart and Jennifer...with some our 'girls' in the background.

Then we went logging

Having our picnic lunch in the bush with our great neighbours Frank and Jean.

Me cooking the last of the sausages which Jean kindly provided (we had eaten FAR too much and these came back home again) while the others finished the chopping and stacking of the wood

A last quick snack (not that we were hungry )

Our trailer was packed and loaded and we were ready for home!

A great day!

Today's very rushed FMQ

We are having a 'logging' day tomorrow to collect wood for our fire,  - a picnic day  - and I have been out most of today...and I guess that goes for most of tomorrow too..  This is a fairly dull photo but I wanted to show the quilting, which is a bit hard to see in a bright light on this fabric

This is the back - you can see a bit more clearly what I have done. 

I am only doing a SMALL piece tomorrow.

My apologies for not answering mail for now - but I will get back  to those wonderful comments as soon as I can...

I am off to get some food - or I guess we will all starve...its 6.30pm now!!

FMQ for the Challenge Friday May 7th.

I used YLI silk color 226 on the top and Aurofil 50 2314 in the bobbin.  I drew the two circles first with blue 'washout' pen and just roughly drew the spine of the large central feather.  All the rest was FMQ and I made u as I went.  I couldn't see where I was going :( and started the circles for the central feather on one of the feathers ...so I have extra circles :)Some of the quilting I have used a cream Aurofil thread in the top - my silk broke.  Every now and again I lost my concentration and got slightly muddled..for the fillers I just played... used some McTavishing for the first time... and finally I bound it in some of the binding fabric I had left over for the Prism Quilt ( which I also finished today and am hand-sewing the binding on.

Maybe a photo of that tomorrow]... and I washed the sample.  I have used cotton wadding .

I much prefer wool.

I am using my lap-top for this post..as my main computer has been turning on and off ALL day.  Very frustrating!

So this is the first day of the two weeks for the FMQ challenge...more tomorrow.

Some thread and more FMQ pracitse

These beautiful silk threads came in the post on Tuesday

Using a variety of thread ...practising for my small sample quilt. 

Not sure which thread to use - all suggestions welcome.

Some more samples.  I need to be brave now and 'bite the bullet' to get my small quilt done

Still trying to work out what to do...what to do...what to do....

Have set up my lap top so I can see it from my sewing machine...I can watch the DVD, pause it...and practise what I see...its working a treat!

My new sewing table is working well.

I have a free day - so I am sewing!!  WooHoo!

For my One Flower Wednesday

My Garden is Growing. 

As I am out tomrrow, I thought I would do some today, Tuesday, instead

Yesterday we have some welcome visitors.  Stuart called in with his eldest son ( our eldest Grandson ) Kristoffer. 

They had been out Fishing and were on their way home.  Kristoffer caught a huge

salmon...but gave it away to someone at the beach - He really did !  I saw the photo :)

Stuart admired the 'Taj Mahal' Alias the Chook yard

Andrea 'twitching' the wire, my DH and Stuart. Oh and our little toy poodle Sophie

AND - the chooks :)

We are now following Stuarts blog, which he has just started.  He is the Principal of Withers Primary School not far from here.  He was awarded a Churchill Fellowship last year, and in two weeks is off to visit schools in England, Scotland and Wales.  He will keep track of his travells on his blog.  Jennifer, his wife will be with him, and they will be away for 8 weeks.

I look forward to seeing what he will be doing and where he will be going.

Back to quilting tomorrow ...and now I will go cut out the hexagons

......till tomorrow.

Useing Inklingo and preparing for One Flower Wednesdays

To continue with my story of the journey I have made and am continuing to make.

Below is the Laura Ashley quilt , the center of which was peiced by my daughter Heather and the borders added by me and how I did the quilting...  This shows the tear away paper being used.

After my trials with the tear away paper, I discovered Press and Seal - which I coudn't get here in Australia at the time,  although I believe we can now get it locally .  A good freind from the USA sent me quite a lot of rolls...which was lovely.

My daughter Heather had sewn together some squares of fabric from the Laura Ashly line, when she was in her second teaching post quite some years ago..at a remote school  inland from Kalgoorlie.

As she didnt know what to do with it then...and as Mum did quilting :)  could I finish it for her.

Well I added two borders...eventually...  and first using the the tear away paper, quilted the blocks and the border.

 I must say this was a UFO for quite some time.

In 2004 not long after we moved here to Leschenault, my studio was more or less sorted,   so I put the 3 layers together...on the floor of our bedroom I think ( NOT good for the back!) 

After machine quilting the blocks one by one  (in the ditch around each block first.) I used the tear away paper for all the blocks and then for the first border.

 This was a bit harsh on the stitching

I then discovered Press and seal...and this was really good

It even stayed in place on the door while it waited for me to use :) which was handy as they were long pieces.

So then I happily quilted along with the Press and seal.  It stuck really well to the fabric with safetly pins at intervals. 

I did discover that after a time, my stitches skipped and the needle gluncked up heaps..but I persevered till I had finished the quilt..it did work better if I also sprinkled a little talcum powder on the plastic as I sewed..bit messy...but smelt nice!

This method wasnt bad...still a bit harsh on the stitches when taken off ..and tiny bits stuck in the stitching which took a while to take out.

Press and Seal - some still to be removed.

The making of the Laura Ashley quilt - AND the lovely view I have when seiwng..plus as a bonus, you can see my DH working hard in the garden :)  Which reminds me - I MUST go clean the windows!

As you can see - my quilting gloves then consisted of gardening gloves...the best thing I could find to use when quilting

This is the only other photo I could find of the completed quilt.

My story will contiue again a bit later.

Where we were last night!

Andrea as The Black Queen after the school performance of Alice last night.  Apparently she even had her teeth blackened.

We had a great time - she has one more performance on Saturday night...and of course we will go again.  Stuarts wife Jennifer is coming with us, which is very special too.

Woohoo...My new Sewing table, the SewEzy, arrived today.

It makes a great difference, as my sewing area is all level.

Took me a while to get it together, however all is well now.

I did a quick play and made a quilted feather...and there are some of my' doodles' that I practise each time I sit for a while and am waiting in the car .
Sadly  I have flattened the battery in the car twice now.

I now take a notebook and pencil with me wherever I go... and try to sit near a light.
Its a great help.

Wont be sewing much now we are off to a drama performance at Andrea's school soon...and I become the driver once more :)

Hope you all have a great day

Proudly showing you our younger son Stuart, a Captain in the Australian Army Reserves, at the Anzac Day service on the 25th April 2010.

This day means a lot to us, as my husbands father served in the Austraian Army at the age of 18 years, fought and was wounded at Galipoli .

He rarely spoke of his experiences, which was understandable, as it must have been a really dreadful time in his life.