Shake the Tree

My quilt Shake the Tree is touring in the USA with the Hands All Round exhibition sponsored by Quilters Newsletter magazine. Some of the quilts from the exhibition, which premiers in Houston each year, are featured in the Feb/March issue of the magazine.

And there's my quilt in the lower left inside corner! Shake the Tree is in good company with my friend Ellen Lindner's Mangolicious upper right. 

A small top

What should I to do with the birthday fat quarter I selected at Sunnybank Quilters? It had bright colours and sea creatures on it and was perfect for the front of a little top. Quickly made in an hour or two, the pattern was from the Australian Love Sewing magazine.

And worn out the next day!
No I am not taking up rag rug making Jan!
Yes, it looks like the same Gaultier exhibition- I guess it is touring the world!

 

Rags to riches

It did feel a bit like that- rags to riches, but in this case a rug made from old woven shirts. Daughter Rita completed the plaiting and had a big ball for stitching into a rug. This was a first try and I had a go at stitching on the machine too and found it easy to join with a wide zigzag.

 Snapped up by Miss almost 5 for her dolls!

 

Melbourne sights

Window cleaners made quick work of this building at Southbank Melbourne, as we walked to the National Gallery of Victoria to see the Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion exhibition.

We were given some insights into his vision by this talking head mannequin.

And we marvelled at the couture and it's execution. Photos were allowed.

 

South Africa textile/quilt tour

Organised by Down Under Quilts and Active Travel, this is a fully escorted tour to South Africa to experience cultural initiatives, a game safari and the quilt show held biennially. Now that the Summer holiday season is almost over and school just around the corner, you might like to consider this small group tour as part of your travel plans this year. The full itinerary is in the Down Under Quilts #168 or online from Active Travel. I also have the tour button to the right hand side.

I'd love to travel with you on this adventure!

Down Under Quilts

Nice surprise in the post box- Down Under Quilts # 168 in which I have a couple of things. Page 14 features my Wattle Colour quilt, below.

My friend Lucy Carroll is featured in Meet a blogger, page 24 with great photos of her work and working insights. Love her work and commitment to the art quilt form.

And page 32 is Global Thread my column, all about Hawaii this issue. The free gift is a fat quarter of cotton fabric and instructions for possible projects.

 

Aloha quilt

After my machine sewing in Melbourne I decided to add hand stitching in the large panel of the Aloha #2  quilt. A smaller quilt named Aloha will be appearing as a project in Down Under Textiles #19 magazine later this year.

The shaded thread gave an interesting effect when stitched and combined with the dark red, I was happy with how it all looked.

Sewing on holiday

I got in a bit of sewing at night while on holiday in Melbourne, visiting family. I put my handy small portable LED light in the suitcase and found it a great help in helping me see where I was stitching. I could easily perch it on top of the Bernina.

It has 3 intensities of light and quite a bit of adjustment n the angle to straighten the light out over the quilt. Love the red case. 

New year beginnings

Hi, it's nice to be back blogging after an extended break to rest and relax, rejuvenate and reconnect with family and friends. Hope you'll stick with me this year as we venture to new parts of the globe to explore what's on offer. Of course I'll also be sharing many of the things that happen here around home and in my studio. So to kick the year off here is my small 10"wide x 12"long quilt titled Three Leaves that I've made as a donation for The 100 fundraiser to fight cancer.

I used actual leaves for the prints which are placed on a hand dyed background. Lots of free motion quilting finish it off with an Aboriginal print fabric binding.
There are 100 artists donating 100 pieces of original work for the fundraiser which begins on February 4 USA time. Check out the link button to the right for more information on this initiative by Virginia Spiegel. I'll love it if you felt like being a part of fibre art for a cause!