Sumptuous velvet and organza

While at the Gold Coast's CraftFest last weekend I picked up some gorgeous hand-dyed products at Morris and Sons - these were from Robyn and Peter Alexander who are Colourstreams. They specialise in hand dyed silk, embroidery threads and the like. So I had a play with the silk/rayon velvet and blanket stitched it to some equally lovely felt (also from Morris and Sons). The felt is just beautiful - made in Australia and is totally worth the extra expense for the quality and feel ... I couldn't resist getting out the embroidery threads and having a play.

Dreams Debris I - more detail

Here are some close-ups of the quilting and embellishment in Dreams Debris I. I've used various threads and lots of running stitch to highlight the rivers, and two different tide lines, or water lines that occur in the Gulf. Some denim "snip outs" form the main line of debris - and are also folded into quarters (no easy task!) and used elsewhere in the quilt to represent dreams and hopes that escape, that have a chance of fruition. Below the water line are the fossils and things archaic - using the polypropylene washers that were blanket stitched into place - they are the things almost lost, and not always visible.

Dreams Debris I

Well I'm about 20 posts behind in my New Years' Resolution ... and over that. Here's the latest in the art quilt area - Dreams Debris will be a series of art quilts. This is the first. My trips to the Gulf of Carpentaria, Mount Isa and Mornington Island are a big influence on the current direction of my work. DD1 incorporates "rubbish" such as the polypropylene washers from building screws, to snipped out bits of denim and other fabrics from the reverse of one of Meredith's quilts.

Machine quilting and practise makes perfect

It was "back to the office" today after 16 days and nights of quilting, and patchwork interrupted occasionally by family get-togethers, parties and Christmas. It was just fantastic to get so much done in good blocks of time, rather than "snatched hours" before heading off to work, or on the weekends. I am trying to be far more disciplined this year (I think I said that in 1976, 1992, and 2004) ... I got quite a few questions about quilting Liz's 21st - I did it all freehand by machine - and yes it took ages but I really have to thank Maxine O'Toole and Kim Bradley for 99% of the inspiration - and I just practised and practised .... and practised. Ten minutes a day using sandwiches - and that's straight from Kim and Maxine ... as the advertisement says, "it won't happen overnight, but it will happen". I am hooked and hope to improve on all the subsequent efforts.

Liz's 21st Quilt

This is something I started in August - and finished on New Year's Eve ... I've named it "Coming of Age" and it holds around 250,000 stitches ... but it was worth every one. I calculated that DD had been on the planet for almost 185,000 hours ... that's one quilted stitch for every hour and then some extras as bonus hugs. It is comprised of individually cut scrap squares that were made into 4 inch 4-patches and then I added about 23 individual 4 inch squares of flowers - the same fabrics had also been included in the scrappy 4-patches. The first border comprises neutral coloured 4 inch squares, predominantly from Judith Baker Montano's Ornamentations range of fabrics, and the outer border is 2 rows of 4 inch squares. It is big enough to cover the top of her KS bed ... or drape a QS (as pictured). When it's flipped, the neutral backing fabric has been so heavily quilted it really looks quite impressive on its own.  I hope the quilt brings her as much joy as it did me making it.

Ceramic Patchwork

I joined thirteen other creative souls and Jo Davies, our teacher, for two and a half days of ceramics at Boonah. We started with a planning session on the previous Tuesday evening, then two full on days over the weekend. It can be a bit daunting surrounded by a so many creative people when you have no idea yourself. After sitting and staring blankly at the prepared board, and armed with a broken jug from my aunt, it all started to fit together. So this is about the jug pouring water back into Warrill Creek, which flows from here through Amberley and on towards Ipswich. The mirror represents the creek, with Cunningham's Gap in the background. It was a great way to spend a couple of days!

Strip piecing goes king sized

Work progresses on Lorraine's quilt. It is always a bit of a thrill to be making something for someone else - and Lorraine's been waiting long enough. There is a batiking workshop in Boonah this weekend - featuring one of our local artists and teachers, Patena Moesker, so I am very keen to get along and have a look. The following weekend I am doing a mosaic weekend - I'm thinking of it as "patch working in ceramics"and I am hoping that getting out there in a different medium will have benefits for how I use and think about fabrics ... if not it will just be a lot of fun!