Cheesecake

Cheesecake on Saturday- always a good choice. This delightful concoction is an Italian Baked Berry Cheesecake from Hausfrau  Melbourne. Keeping with my healthy eating plan,  I set the very sugary pink topping to the side and concentrated on the cheesecake which was delicious.
Recycled/ upcycled old workshop samples Jan.

More journal covers

This is the haul from my recent journal cover stitching. They are waiting for a special trinket to be added to each yet. And while I was stitching I made myself a new journal cover for my coming trip.

This is the back view and I think I'll be rugged up in a coat for Paris in the Springtime!

Bread



In view of Easter, just around the corner, 'holy bread' may be the way to go! This took my fancy when we stopped for coffee at this bakery café in Altona, Melbourne. The photo is enlarged so you can read the signage. Rather clever marketing?
Indeed I did worship, no covert, the delightful desserts before settling on a blessed tasty treat.

Can't live without

This bobbin storage donut is something I can't live without. Makes travelling with bobbins very easy as the curved sides hold the bobbins snuggly in place. This and a magnetic pin holder make the top of my list of sewing accessories.
What are your favourite items?

Journal covers

I like to have a cover for my journal, especially the ones I take travelling. There is just something nicer about opening a journal with a personalised cover and recording travel notes and ideas. These covers are recycled or should I say up cycled former workshop samples. I'm rather pleased with how they turned out.

Safe arrival

We have been waiting patiently for the arrival of our newest family member and she has arrived safely.

We are so lucky to have this little bundle of joy in our lives and look forward to getting to know Maeve Isobel.

 

Fruit

I think it is healthy to have fruit in your diet. So my choices for morning tea have followed this dictate.

Mango Macaroon with Raspberry and Pistachio. To be fair I only ate the Mango! 

Caffeine dealers

Melbourne coffee shops are keeping me amused with their clever marketing. Jasper Coffee are 'caffeine dealers' with 'addictive excellence' in a cup.

And then this choice of coffee on the menu at another establishment really cracked me up.

Nightmare Latte anyone??

 

 

Sun dyeing

There are a few brands of paint that give heliographic effects. Here you can see the Pebeo and Kraft Kolor brands. These dyes are very water efficient as they go without a mordant and stay on the fabric without having to wash and wash and wash.......out excess!

I found this table runner at a clearance sale and it had to come home with me for the found object box.

Any folds in the fabric are also translated into pattern.

Ice dyeing

I have heard of ice dyed fabrics as a method, but not seen it done. At the recent SAQA MOB[Members of Oceania Brisbane]  crafty get together, Glad was doing some.

She came prepared with lots of ice cubes, dye powder and fabric.

Using a tall cylindrical vase she layered the fabric, dye powder and ice. Very clever as she was transporting it home and this was easy to seal off.

The dye drifted down as the ice melted. We didn't see the finished result- perhaps another day.
 

Sculptural flowers

I don't know the name of these flowers but they always make me stop for a moment to admire. The dry curved stems and button head are so appealing.

I can see them made in bronze and placed in the garden.

Creating a fabric

This is one of the techniques in the Treasure Layers workshop- creating a fabric from thread stitching. In this case it is a motif to be applied to the quilt surface. I like to use the plastic and metal hoops for this as they are easy to unclip and move about while the work is still under the machine and the threads attached.

The view

Always nice to go somewhere you have not been before, as was the case with this view, looking down Kirra Beach, Gold Coast.

Remember to swim between the yellow flags for safety! 

SAQA Gallery 'Openings'

It is always a nice surprise to be selected by a Guest Curator for a SAQA Online Gallery. A surprise because  I have forgotten which quilts I have online and nice because someone else has considered my work worthy of selection.
Anne Copeland has selected Anthills- Study in Gold for 'Openings'.
While you are at the SAQA site you may like to check the Portfolio 17 and 18 digital galleries too.

Back to front quilting

I am a bit in love with back to front quilting. On the R is the silk, stencil printed for the front of my quilt. On the L the batik I put on the back.

By quilting with the back facing up, you can put the hard to use, speciality threads on the bobbin and get the sparkle on the front of the work, if that is needed.

In this case I have used a multi-coloured cotton thread as a contrast to the red silk background.
Brenda Gael Smith has been updating parts of my website- news section, workshop and exhibitions areas. Please check these out if you have time.

Dorothy Haig's exhibition

We attended the opening of Dorothy Haig's  impressive  the phantasmagoria of the interior at Gallery 159. In fact Dorothy has 2 series of work at the gallery, both wonderful in their interpretative use of textiles for the concepts. Laced to Place, is a set of 100 white boxes containing hand and machine stitched mosquito netting, the old fashioned cotton netting of my childhood. Oh how quickly things change!  Digital printed tiles accompany the work. Don't miss this chance to see exception work.

Creative edges

As I prepare samples for the Treasure Layers workshop, I am looking at edge finishes and trying a few non traditional ways. Some artists seem to love using a fusible web on the edge to fuse in place. Here I'm attaching a half inch wide strip of fusible.

Folded over and pressed into position, ready for stitching with a decorative machine stitch.

All finished and blending nicely with the front.

My birds have been finished with a twisted yarn edge, machine stitched in position.

Have you tried something different, on the edge lately?

 

World Quilt Competition 2013

The World Quilt Competition 2013 form is now available on my website for Australians wishing to enter. I would encourage everyone interested in having their work seen by a wider International audience [4 different USA venues] to enter. If we have 10 Australian entries we have a Best of Country award as well as being eligible for the other prizes. All quilts receive a critique. Please contact me if you have any questions.
And if you and your friends would like to see the World Quilt Show New England XI, the first Australian tour to visit and be part of the event will be in August 2013. I'm on board as your 'quilt guide'. We will also visit New York, a city I love, other historic sites on the Eastern seaboard as well as shop til we drop! Hope you can join me!

Looking at the World through Quilts

World Quilt Show – New England XI
Manchester, New Hampshire – August 15-18, 2013

 Walking into the World Quilt Show – New England, one is almost overwhelmed by the spectacular display of magnificent quilts from around the world on exhibit. Standing out among all the quilts on display are the quilts competing in the World Quilt Competition, an always beautiful collection that makes awarding “Best of Show a very difficult task for the judges. The 2013 competition will be no different!  

The premier of the World Quilt Competition XVII will be at the World Quilt Show - New England XI, returning to the Radisson Center of New Hampshire in Manchester, August 15 – 18, 2013 where the competition will be judged. From New Hampshire, the international entries and selected winning U.S. entries will tour to three more Mancuso Show Management quilt festivals across the U.S. Be sure to take an opportunity to view this international collection of beautiful and culturally unique creativity and talent.

Now in its seventeenth year, this international quilt competition draws entries from across the globe. The 2013 World Quilt Competition will feature quilts from Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States competing for over $10,000 in prize money. Best of Country from among the entries for each nation will be chosen as well as the prestigious Best of World Award winner. Visitors to the World Quilt Show – New England also have an opportunity to vote for their favorite quilt entry to win the Viewer’s Choice Award.

This information is courtesy of Mancuso Show Management.

Australian quilts

The current Viewpoints 9 challenge set by Misik Kim of Korea  - Image from Tradition, has had me reaching for this book- The Fabric of Society by Annette Gero. To read what I've said about the challenge please click on the Viewpoints 9 link about or the button on my blog sidebar. I'm still formulating an idea for my design which will be in landscape format.

Lunch

Yesterday I finished 2 small quilts for the  new Treasure Layers workshop and will design and complete more today. Jan, I did fuse the voile to the silk in another piece and will be quilting it today. I'll share the quilts a little later.  Instead I'll share a delicious lunch I had with friends at
 French Martini, Southbank. They have a couple of set menus and we tend to have that as it is all delicious and then we don't need dinner! This was the fish on creamy mash with lemony sauce.

Crème Brulee ....so yummy. 

Viewpoints 9

Have you seen the latest challenge for the Viewpoints 9 group? Misik Kim from Korea has set us a great challenge. My head is spinning with too many  ideas and I need to focus on something I can work with, soon!

Designing process

As I have been working on the samples for the new workshop I have been photographing the steps to use as a teaching aide for the students. I thought you may like to see the progress, so far on this piece. It is A4 size. The commercial batik fabric has been stencilled.

I have added organic shapes of painted fusible to the surface.

Not knowing how the pieces I'm working on are going to turn out is keeping it fresh for me. I know the techniques I'd like to highlight and that is helping inform my design decisions. Silk is the layer for the reverse applique above.

 After free motion quilting which gives added texture even though a thin wadding has been used.

This is the backing fabric, a piece of fabric I have printed on in the past. This little piece still has more to be added on before it is finished. The surprises along the way are part of the process and something I like.

Stencil fun

I am working on samples for my new 2 day workshop Treasure Layers. I need to hurry up and get it on the website before I head over to France for Quilt Expo en Beaujolais in April.

The stencilling is fun and will allow me to build a design. I am using both commercial cotton and silk as the base layer.

I have a stencil with Gingko leaves and my students love using it. This is by a student from the Garden Trellis workshop at Quilting in the Highlands last year.

All the stencils that I supply for class use are commercial stencils, which I have been collecting over the years, as I've seen them at craft shows. Above a work in progress.

Brisbane River

It is very pleasant and picturesque to walk along the river bank on a sunny day. We have not been having many of those!

The evidence of the recent flooding floats down the river. But Southbank can be very beautiful, especially under the arbour with the bougainvillea.

STATE of the ART quilt 13

Very happy to have had 2 quilts selected by juror Lisa Walton, author of Beautiful Building Block Quilts, for the Queensland Quilters STATE of the ART quilt 13 exhibition. These exhibitions began 5 years ago. I curated the first 3 and it was always great to see the quilts on display in the varied venues- art galleries, textile art festivals and special events. It all continues under the expert guidance of current curator Suzanne Marshall.

FLOOD #2 -Under Leaden Skies has not been seen in an Australian venue, as it was made for the TIQE12 exhibition. The recent heavy rain and debris floating down the Brisbane River brings back memories of the January 2011 floods and the destruction of lives and property.

This is a detail from Shake the Tree. 34 entries were received and 20 quilts selected. Congratulations to those selected and to those who didn't make it this time, please keep creating and enter again. The first viewing of the touring exhibition is at Gallery 159 April 14-27.

Links

A recent walk along the Brisbane River at Southbank opened my eyes to the sister city links Brisbane has with Asia. Here is Kaohsiung, Taiwan where I was last year [the airport is here]!

Hello to my students from the TIQE12 workshops Opal Fever and Leaf it Alone below. I hope you are all well and enjoying your quilting.

The Brisbane city skyline is reflected in the granite stone, as is my shadow.