Viewpoints 9

The quilts from the latest Viewpoints 9 challenge are bring revealed on the blog site. I hope you can visit them and see what the members have come up with. Above is a detail from KNOW , my quilt. I enjoyed making this quilt which uses some of my rusted coloured cotton/linen fabric.

Journal covers

Have got a selection of fabrics together, all with surface design and will turn them into journal covers. I have built up a good collection of demonstration fabric pieces over the years and it is nice to revisit them and reinvent them into useful items rather than have them languishing in the basket.

2QAQ meeting

The first 2QAQ [ Queensland Quilters Art Quilters] meeting for the year was held last weekend and it was lovely to see textile friends again after the long Summer break.

Lajla had a fun quilt which said  "if it wasn't for the last minute I would get nothing done". Each letter was pieced, not appliqued.

Desley brought in the AQIPP catalogue Water; warp & weft, and her quilt from the exhibition. Next meeting is March 29 at Wellers Hill Bowls Club.
 

Blue Hawaii

Fond memories of Hawaii when I see the 2 cushions on our bed. They are in good company with the Indian reverse applique bedspread. I bought the covers at a market in Hilo on the Big Island and while they are designed in Hawaii, they are hand stitched in the Philippines. This seemed to be a trend as local sarongs were also designed in Hawaii and batiked in Indonesia.

Hawaii Breeze

Hawaii Breeze is the title of this 12"square quilt for the SAQA Auction 2014. I used a maroon thread to inject a bit of colour and outline stitched the leaves and bamboo. The threads have not been trimmed of in this photo.

Quilted and ready for squaring up and the binding which was a strip of the same fabric as the backing. It complemented the front print nicely.

Binding machined on and ready for turning to the back and the hand slip stitching. I enjoy doing that as I can put my feet up and catch up with recorded TV shows.

 

Living Change exhibition

This was the other exhibition we visited last weekend- Living Change a touring exhibition of the 2013 Flying Arts regional art awards. We specifically went to see the prize winning quilt of
Ali George, My Father's Shed.

Ali is the TAFTA Textile Prize Winner. Her work is developing and evolving as she engages with her environment and while My Father's Shed is very personal we can all relate to it. The exhibition is at the State Library of Queensland Gallery until March 2.

I'm early

I have finished my SAQA Auction quilt! It is early but I was motivated by the piece of fabric, above, which I printed while in Hawaii with talented Phyllis Cullen. I have used a fabric bought in Hawaii for the backing also.

More photos to come of the progress of this piece.

Amazing exhibition

The sheer scale of the installations in the Falling Back to Earth exhibition  is breath-taking. The vision of artist Cai Guo-Qiang is at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane until May 11. Although the exhibition opened on Nov 23, when we were away, it has taken us until now to see it. I am standing in front of part of Heritage, a waterhole surrounded by 99 thirsty animals. The pristine white sand surrounding the waterhole was being carefully brushed into place by an attendant with a feather duster.

The reflection of the roof appears in most of my photos.

Bob is running with the 99 wolves in Head On. Luckily he pulled up short of the glass wall!

 

On my design wall

I have slowly been working away at a new quilt I've put together with my Hawaiian printing and am enjoying the stitching. There is a lot of stitching and decisions to make along the way, so am I not rushing the process.

Hopefully at the end it will look as good as I'd like it too be. It will be my 'textile souvenir', one of a few I intend to stich as a reminded of the fabulous trip.

An audio book by an Indian author is keeping me entertained. The backing fabric is a piece I bought in Hawaii and is probably the least colourful one from my yardage purchases. 

World Quilt

It was a great relief to have the Australian quilts from the World Quilt 2013 competition delivered last week. The 10 quilts have been touring in the USA with a final showing in January 2014 in Florida. The Official Program Book, a quilt critique and winners list is sent to all entrants. This was my final duty as retired Australian coordinator. In 2014 Brenda Gael Smith will be the coordinator, so please contact her for up to date information and an entry form in March.
It has been such an honour and privilege to be the coordinator for the past 8 years. The entrants boxes are travelling home now.

BreastScreen Queensland

My visit to BreastScreen Queensland was made more enjoyable when I saw this quilt in the waiting room. The quilt had just been recently hung, I was told. Unfortunately there was no plaque to say who had made it. Hopefully one will go up soon.

Lovely faces in the fabrics used. We are so fortunate to have this free service looking after our health, no matter what our age.
 

Boom Boom

A new Korean restaurant opened at Sunnybank and my friend Kate and I went in for lunch. Boom Boom was very busy on the opening day but it was worth the wait for this Stone Pot Rice and Minced Meat with accompaniments. The pot was very hot and kept the food warm and continued to cook the rice.

We were given these interesting, chewy rice flour sweets. 

Viewpoints 9

Just a reminder that the Viewpoints 9 group is quietly working away on the current challenge 'Nine- Nein' and I am looking forward to the reveal on February 27. Must begin to stitch mine!

Living Colour touring exhibition



A week ago today I had word that my quilt Wattle Dancing had been selected for the Living Colour touring exhibition. Thank you Brenda Gael Smith, Exhibition Curator, I was thrilled! 32 selected quilts from 177 that were entered, make up this special exhibition which will premier at the Australasian Quilt Convention April 10-13 in Melbourne.
I had a rod pocket on the quilt but needed to add the special Velcro hanger for the carpeted display walls as certain venues. Using the same fabric as the backing fabric I made up with attachment and hand stitched it in place.

When closed the hook Velcro will not damage this or other quilts. Sorry I can't show you my quilt until the AQC opening, so please check back then. Follow via the website, blog and Facebook. 

Closed for business

I had an email from Averil Stuart Head yesterday informing the tutors for the 2014 Abruzzo School of Creative Art that she has had a hard decision to make and is closing the school. I'm passing on this information in case anyone was planning a trip to Italy with the school in mind and although I was scheduled as one of the tutors in June the closure doesn't change the Italian travel plans Bob and I have for this year. Hope you will join me as we travel through the countryside  discovering the art and regional cuisine. 

Colour

The Poinciana tree on our footpath has been a mass of beautiful blooms. I love this strong colour, a real punch to the senses.

A few of my quilts have featured the long brown seed pods that fall into our garden and all over the footpath. If we allowed the germinated seeds to survive we would have been buried in the Poinciana jungle long ago!

Zion National Park

When we visited Zion National Park in Utah, USA in 2011 the gift shop had fabric, postcard style images from the 1930's of some of the park's features. I bought a set and promptly set them aside. Well they resurfaced a few weeks ago and have been appliqued to this base face, a strong batik reminiscent of rocky surfaces. They came with a suggested design for a quilt but I chose to ignore that and make a smaller one.

Backing fabric

What fabric do you usually use for backing your quilts? My preferred fabric is 100% cotton with a pattern or colours related to the quilt design and I can usually find this readily in my stash as commercial fabric or hand dyed. Above is a photo of the back of a recently completed quilt with an Australian theme and bright colours on the front so this seemed appropriate.

And here is a small front view of the bright coloured quilt, titled Wattle Colour.
In the past I have also used a cotton/linen blend fabric with leopard spots for backing a quilt in my African Collection series. This added a little to the weight of the quilt but was easy enough to machine quilt. I hope you enjoy adding more to the quilt story via the backing fabric used.

On the design wall

Have been working on this small quilt using the pieces of surface designed fabric created during my teaching at the TAFTA Forum in Geelong last September/October. It has been good to put it together and remember the fun we all had in class. It was cold doing the rubbings outside and the wet weather was not appreciated, but we got through it.

This batik boomerang fabric seemed to be fitting for the back. 

White Forest

This beautiful installation is/was at the Gallery of Modern Art [GOMA] in Brisbane. I photographed this before I went to Hawaii, so am hoping it is still in place. My Monument- White Forest by Kathy Temin is a frosty Winter wonderland.

All vegetation types seem to be represented from conifers to cactus. I love all the texture of the faux fur used to create the shapes and detailing.

 

Bunny eggs

Have had some fun with this mould for boiled eggs. At first we weren't sure it would actually do the job, as illustrated in Japanese on the packet, but it sure does!

Here's the proof- one bunny egg.
 

Exhibition catalogue

This lovely coffee table style book was the catalogue from the AQIPP 2013 exhibition which closed on December 21. I had pre-ordered the book as I couldn't get to the exhibition in person, so it has been a treat to see the work that was on display.

My quilt was Water Net. 

Aloha Hawaii

Hawaii was so much more than I expected and certainly a place to return to. Stunning scenery, friendly locals, balmy climate, lots of patchwork shops and great foliage for printing.

Chinaman's Hat Island in the distance. A children's story book has been written about the legend of the island.

 

Shave ice

Could not leave Hawaii without trying Shave Ice. The queue was long and patient at North Shore.

Too many choices! What do I do?

 Yes, it was worth waiting for. I had cherry with a snow cap- condensed milk on top!