Quiltopia!Design

Bags

2011-12-11T21:21:00.001-08:00

I recently made some bags.

I've never been really into bag making - I'd rather make a large hand quilted quilt than a small and fiddly bag. However, I found some really good ones in Susan Briscoe's new book, Japanese Quilt Inspirations. I decided to make the Kaban (Tote) Bag and the Komebukuro Bag (Rice Bag).

Kaban Bag - one side

I really wanted to feature some of the gorgeous funky new fabrics in the Critter Community range by Suzy Ultman. I love the owls and some of the funky coordinates in this collection. I found the bag really easy to make. Just used some left over scraps of bamboo wadding to pad, and some old jeans (that no longer fit *sob*) for the base, trim and handles. I think the bag is nice with orange top stitching like on jeans, and I like the way I adapted the pattern from the original patchwork block, to the more modern casual look of two fabrics.

Kaban Bag - the other side

You can see my mum's old Singer in the pics. It's an original 50's model, manufactured in Australia and still goes like a steam train engine. Great for getting through some of the bulky seams on these bags. The Komebukuro bag was also fun to make. I used a Moda Charm Pack, Oh My!, instead of Susan's pieced blocks for the sides and it worked out really well - 2 bags from one charm pack. Bargain! Just another amazing use for the charm squares.

Komebukuro Bag

Dusty

Finally, the kitty story. Here's the lovely Dusty keeping me company as I cut I Spy Squares for the I Spy Packs I sell. He always manages to find a spot nearby in the early hours of the morning or the wee small hours of the night when I engage in sewing related activities!
I'm really not used to these new Blogger settings yet - nothing seems to go where you want it to...

♥ Just into the store - Alexander Henry, Itty Bitty Berry, and Moda Always & Forever. Think sweet sticky peppermint candy and berry sorbet with these delicious new additions. Very girlie, very pink and pretty, with dashes of green and grey ♥

xo xo Ann

Green Tea Sundae

2011-12-02T22:19:00.001-08:00

I've been gathering together fabrics for a Green Tea Sundae

quilt.

It's inspired by green tea sundaes I got a bit obsessed with in Japan... top left was the yummiest! Bottom left was most intense in colour and taste (and made me feel a bit sick). The ice cream trio was large plastic food models in a charming Kyoto tea house. I really want to make a quilt with these greens to remember our holiday.

I ate this sundae at the Lipton Tea house, Kyoto Railway Station, on our last day and succeeded in making myself queasy for the flight back to Australia later that night. It had rich green tea flavoured ice cream, sweet red beans, some sort of gluggy, gelatinous white tapioca balls, green tea flavoured cake squares, glace chestnuts and green tea-ish whipped cream...mmmmm... like when you've eaten too much party food when you were a kid!

xo xo Ann.

My Diamonds Quilt

2011-11-30T14:30:00.000-08:00

Time to write a blog post. I went down to Melbourne last week to attend the best Australian trade event, Australian Quilt Market. There were lots of Familiar designers and fabric companies there with a wealth of fabulous goods for me to stock in the shop... but more about that in another post.

I feel it's time to revisit my blog....

These are photos of the process of my Diamonds Quilt - now finished and hanging in Quiltopia! if you're in Maleny and able to come in and see it.

Up above is the book with the pattern and my selected fabrics - only a few actual Kaffe Fassett's, but lots of other gorgeous stuff. Then, to the right is the design wall progress.

All the diamonds are in place below. I used the same hydrangea fabric twice - once for the top row with predominantly creamy blooms, then later I used the blue/purple ones. This was the fabric I started the quilt with.

You can see the blue hydrangeas here. I like the idea of the directional fabric and stripes going every which way, and I've seen a Kathy Doughty (of Material Obsession) diamond quilt made using all stripes - incredible!

Here's the whole thing on the design wall, ready to sew. If you've ever made a diamonds quilt, did you find a formula for sewing that ensures perfect matching of seams? I'd be interested to know because

every time I thought I'd found a way, it changed in the next row. A bit frustrating. I quilted the whole quilt in the ditch by machine then used a huge variety of variegated Perle 8s to hand quilt about 1cm in from the seams. Each fabric row used a different colour.

The back looks stunning (even if I do say so myself) with it's hand quilting and sublime Prints Charming paisley - it's in the top too and as no one was buying it I decided to use it. It has a very luxurious feel (or "hand" as they say in rag trade).

The quilt could easily be used either side and I look forward to having it on my bed. See those border triangles? They're a Bali Batik and, being a child of the 60's, orange and pink has long been a favourite colour combination for me. I think I feel a workshop coming on in 2012 for this one. On from quilting - my daughter has just finished grade 10 and started her first real part time job. It gives me a funny feeling.... I started this blog when she was still in Primary School. In fact it would probably be about a blog anniversary time !
I'll look it up and maybe we could do a give away :) I'll post details here and also on Quiltopia!Design facebook page, so if you haven't already, join us there for daily updates and special offers.
Thanks for reading and following over the years

xo xo Ann.

I haven't been around...

2011-10-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

OK, I know, I haven't been around. We went to Japan and my camera broke, so I've only got my iPhone now and its pictures aren't so good for posting to the blog...

I've been using my Quiltopia!Design Facebook Page to keep people up to date and I can post pics directly from my phone. So, If you'd like to hear more from me, please join us there :)

The Australasian quilt has gone to its new owner now, but not before I had time to send it to Sydney to be photographed by Quilters' Companion for a project in a coming issue. You'll be able to make one like it...

or join a workshop as I'm making a new quilt.

Same design, completely different fabrics and feel to the original. Actually I like it better. Its all Bali Batiks, and my first time making a whole quilt with Batiks. Its got a definite sunset feel and reminds me of my last night of my first trip to Bali. The sunset lasted late into the evening and the velvety night sky was tinged with magenta at 10PM as I was boarding the plane back to Melbourne! That memory stuck with me 22 years since, and has now found its way into a quilt.

I've finished the Diamonds quilt too! I put the last stitch n the binding last night, and my daughter slept with it on her bed.

I wanted to use just a few of the modern fabrics with large prints...This is a new quilt I made using the Rooftop Garden fabrics from moda. It's called Almost Amish, because I based the design on a traditional Amish style Diamond in a Square quilt. When I looked it up just now there are so many links to patterns and pictures. The one I chose here is the Folk Art Museum with some lovely images of Amish quilts and plenty of other tabs to explore.

I had it quilted all over in black thread with a swirly feather design and I'm happy with it.

These are my two nieces who came to stay for a couple of weeks and have just gone home.

I've been very busy in the shop, and have collected much more fabric, which I am trying to keep up with listing in the Store. Some new ones are the Saffron Craig Owls, Twomonkeys fabrics and the beautiful new Robert Kaufman Oriental Traditions 9, which reminded me so much of Japan when we were there in July, with its orchids, bamboo and geisha all in greens, blues, browns and rich red...

You can see the from the pictures taken in Kyoto in Summer this year, how evocotive the new Oriental Traditions fabric line is. Not sure what I'll make from it yet - but something!

My daughter turned 15 last week... How time flies.

Till next time,

Ann ♥

My Australasian Quilt and Travel

2011-08-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

It's not the best photo, but here is my quilt, Australasian, hanging in the Quilts Across Queensland exhibition curated at the Brisbane Ekka (for those of you not familiar with that term, its the Brisbane RNA Show). It was entered in the professional pieced quilt category and won third prize. You can see me standing with it below, and I do apologise for the quality of these photos taken with my iPhone. This was a quilt inspired by Leesa Chandler's Under the Australian Sun fabrics, which I mentioned in early blog posts.

It was really quite a thrill to win the prize as it's been a few years since I've won anything, or even entered a quilt in a show. Starting the business and keeping up with all the admin and online activity, not to mention being in the shop 6 days a week, packing eBay items to send, marketing, teaching, sewing and trying to design and follow through projects, as well as housework and parenting doesn't leave much time to produce show quality quilts - let alone shop sample quilts. However, I'm pleased the quilt has had it's moment in the sun... in fact it was sold at the show so I'm not sure how I'm going to teach it/publish it now. Is that an excuse, do you think? I'm planning another one, not quite so complicated in terms of quilting, perhaps in modern fabrics....

This is another quilt I'm working on now, in progress. I have actually finished the top now and am planning the quilting. I made it with a Hoffman Rainbows pack, Rainforest.

The most exciting thing that's happened since I last blogged, is our Japanese trip. It was truly a dream come true for me. I've included a few photos, not in any particular order, of our holiday.

There's a couple of fabric ones,

taupes from Diamaru - I don't know why , but I spent ages selecting this small bundle when I should have just grabbed a piece of the whole selection! It's always like that in retrospect...

and rolls of kimono fabric

The amazing stone wall at Osaka Castle,

A couple of food ones - a green tea ice cream sundae, a Japanese MacDonald's meal,

and a very Japanese night time scene,

It was all so very beautiful, exciting and fun! It was also a great experience to share with my teenage daughter. Who knows if we will go again, but I definitely would like to explore the fabric in a little more depth, especially retro and vintage kimono, and we really only touched the tip of the iceberg as far as food was concerned!

Till next time,

♥ Ann

Kaffe Fassett Diamonds Quilt

2011-06-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

I am revisiting an old favourite at the moment - Kaffe Fassett's Diamonds Quilt.

I bought this lovely book a couple of months ago, about Kaffe Fassett's home, creative projects, fabric design etc. Absolutely gorgeous it is!

Anyway, as Maleny has been so freezing recently, I've got my original Red Diamonds Quilt out again for winter. I made this quilt early in my quilting life, from one of my very first pattern books that happened to also be by Kaffe Fassett, Glorious Patchwork, or something like that. The quilt in it was amazing and I decided to make it, not realizing how HUGE it was going to be and how much fabric I would need - thinking I would have enough red fabrics in my very humble stash at the time. I used wool wadding and the quilt covers a queen size bed, down to the floor and over the pillows! So, it's very warm and reserved for winter.

I got it out again a few days ago, and my daughter surprisingly said, "That's my favourite quilt; I love that quilt."

It got me to looking at it again and I remembered the new book also had a Diamonds Quilt in it. Found it and decided to give it another go - it's a smaller quilt and uses a slightly different fabric recipe. I wanted particularly to use a lovely hydrangea fabric I just got into the shop + other fabrics in stock so I could make some packs. Even when I was cutting the fabric, people were commenting on what a beautiful quilt it was going to be. I hope so!

Here it is beginning to take shape. I was trying that Kaffe paisley in two different spots.

Decided to keep it in the top spot, and put the purple one in the lower spot. You can see how I've used the hydrangea in the top row, then again in the 13th row by grouping all the diamonds containing more blue or creamy/pinkie/mauve hydrangeas. Then I got to the end and discovered I was one fabric short!

I've already chosen a fabric to slot in, but didn't have time this morning. Can't wait to get back to it.

(Just a word of warning: The templates for this quilt in Welcome Home, the new book, are incorrect!)

Something else very exciting is:

We're going to Japan!

Hope I see some incredible kimono like this one.

Happy stitching,

Ann ♥

Shaggy Quilt

2011-06-09T20:43:00.001-07:00

Hi there. I didn't realize how long it's been since the last post about the I Spy quilts, this time I've got a Shaggy Quilt to show you.

I've been making this one for my niece's 12th birthday. It's a surprise and as they don't read this blog ( I think), they probably won't find out!

She likes purple so I decided to use predominantly purple fabrics, and you can see from the pics that there's a good smattering of the usual suspects - Sarah Fielke, Prints Charming, Saffron Craig, Art Gallery Fabrics and plenty of Moda!

I really enjoyed making this one, right up to cutting the fringing. My scissors were squeaking by the end! I really recommend the spring loaded type, but I was too impatient to wait to get some of those.

I used a beautiful Moda flannel for the back - so soft and warm for my little Papua New Guinean niece experiencing her first freezing winter in Canberra!

I made sure I included some lovely Pacific Island prints.

I used a Moda Bakeshop pattern which I loved because the squares are bigger (8 inches as opposed to 7) and less sewing. I criss-crossed each quilt sandwich block using a fancy stitch and variegated King Tut thread.

I like it and now I want to make another one for Amelia, and one for the shop too.

It's been freezing here, definitely winter...keep warm and have a lovely long weekend if you're in Australia,

Ann ♥

I Spy Crawl Quilts

2011-05-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

I was recently contacted out of the blue by someone who bought one of my I Spy Crawl Quilts several years ago.

I started making these quilts when I lived in Darwin ten years ago, every time a friend or relative had a baby. They were inspired by the hard tile flours in Darwin and the number of soft little babies I knew at the time, including my daughter. Novelty fabrics were really popular then too and everyone was making "I Spy" quilts. When we first moved to Maleny, I started to make the quilts to sell in the local arts and crafts shop.

I designed a label which outlined all the positive features of the quilts and sewed them on the backs. I made the quilts using either a black or white sashing to stimulate the eyes of babies and because they both complemented all the colours in the fabrics.

That label has turned out to be one of my better business decisions, although I didn't know it at the time! I received so many repeat orders for the quilts then...and now a new generation of nieces and nephews have arrived and the orders have started up again. I wrote the label up in my design book at the time, so it was easy to go back to it and copy it out again. The original was dated 2004.

The latest quilts have evolved a bit from the originals:

The I Spy Charm Squares (you can get these from my eBay Store if you press that link)

are now 5 inches instead f 6 1/2 to make it easier to add Moda Charm packs to them if wanted,

(These are the latest two on the design wall.)

The sashings are 2 1/2 inches instead of 1 1/2 inches,

The wadding is 100% organic bamboo rather than thick polyester, and

The quilts are quilted in a crosshatch and tied with wool, rather than just tied.

They still have:

49 charm squares,

Multicoloured solid corner squares and wool ties,

Durable, funky cotton backings,

Bold stripey machine sewn double bindings, and

The same label.

The moral of this story?

Always label your quilts!

Happy sewing,

Ann ♥

p.s. Thank you Chelle, for the sweet photo of your little one on one of the original quilts.

2010 Closure Quilt - Patched Work

2011-05-10T22:59:00.001-07:00

The 2011 Closure Quilt is coming to a close!

I tried it out on Amelia's bed straight after I'd basted it. It looked good and felt good, she said, even with the safety pins still in it.

I decided to machine quilt it in the ditch following the squares, which was a little bit trickier than usual because I pressed the seams open on the back - so eliminating an actual ditch to stitch in.

I wanted to add an extra rustic, hand made-ish touch by doing some hand quilting also. I have a huge African basket full of multi coloured Perle 8 threads, and I'm picking them out at random and quilting cross hatch across all the squares.

It doesn't stand out as much as I thought it would, but I'm quite happy with it.

The problems are:

1. There are four layers to quilt through because I pieced the crazy log cabins over foundation fabric squares and,

2. When I basted the quilt I noticed that some of the fabrics' edges hadn't been caught in the seam with the sew and flip method, so I have to mend as I sew ;(

I'm calling the quilt Patched Work

I'll show you more when I finish,

Ann ♥

P.S. Clearly Dolly has made it her own already, while it was still under the sewing machine!

Saffron Craig Large Field Quilt.

2011-05-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

Here is the full, finished Large Field Quilt I made out of the Saffron Craig birds and trees fabrics and blogged about in the last post.

Close up, you can see the quilting and a bit of the back - love this 2 inch black and white stripe, and it shows up the quilting a treat!

I made up a couple of kits for the quilt - one using exactly the fabrics in the one I made, and the other with the Magical Lands collection.

Both will make up beautiful quilts. (Contact me if you would like to get one for the lovely price of $112!)

I used Leesa Chandler's pattern, Southern Jewels, thinking that the large fields of fabric would work well for Saffron's fabrics too.

Here it is in Leesa's Under the Australian Sun Fabrics that it was originally designed for. this quilt was made by Juliet and was one of the quilts hung in the Maleny Quota Quilt Show a couple of weekends ago.

I had a retail stand at the quilt show and it was really nice saying hello to everyone and looking at the quilts. There were some beauties there.

I want to share a few pics of finished quilts from some of the classes I've blogged about. It's so nice to see the end product of a workshop!The first ones were made in the Stained Glass Stack and Slash workshop

Christine's

Zita's

Val's

Jenny's - this was her first go at machine quilting, and what a star she turned out to be!

There were also a couple of French Braids:

Zita's

and let's finish with understated elegance,

Sue's.

Plenty more happening and ready to be blogged about.

Have a good week and happy stitching,

Ann ♥

(PS. 25% Mothers' Day Sale in my eBay Store ends Friday morning!)

Happy Easter

2011-04-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone!

Wishing you all a happy and productive Easter break...

And if you don't celebrate Easter, just have a lovely weekend.

I'm taking some time off from the shop for reflection and relaxation today, Sunday and Monday.

But you can rest assured I'll be finishing off some projects for the annual Maleny Quota Quilt Show on Labour Day Weekend.

I just finished a throw made from Saffron Craig Tree Bird fabrics (my new

quilt it feels so cottony soft).

Tricia used a cute swirly bird pattern to quilt it with too, and it looks great on the striped back.

The Sudoku and Katagami quilts are about to be bound. That's what's on the agenda over the next couple of days.

I signed up for The Naked Bed Challenge - you can see the button in my right sidebar - started on Sarah Fielke's blog. Sounds fun, but so little time... pop over to see how many people are doing it, and join up as well!

We're going to Brisbane on Sunday and staying overnight in a luxury hotel for a little bit of indulgence.

I've just bought a new camera, so will be posting more pictures, and better in the future. Something went wrong with the focus and lens in the last one.

Have fun - you could even grab a bargain Moda precut in quiltopia!design eBay Store sale till next Friday 29 April.

Ann ♥

Odds and Sods

2011-04-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

Just a few odds and sods today.

I've been lying low with a bout of pharyngitis - had to take two days off last week and actually spent them in bed. Now my voice is husky and my head's a bit fuzzy, but life goes on. I recently changed the quilt on my bed and I'm using the Darwin Cliffs Quilt I made soon after I moved down to Maleny. The quilt won First Prize in the Australian Quilt Show and has travelled to all the major world quilt shows - Houston, Chicago and France. I thought it was time I used it, and it's a nice feeling to have such a special quilt on my bed. The quilting is all by hand and the fabrics are are intersting to look at. I'm surprising myself with how much i like the blue, not usually my first choice. Dolly likes it too. A cat doesn't seem to mind how precious a quilt is, as it's a quilt!

The new Kaffe Fassett book, Welcome Home, is

a new addition to my library and has some gorgeous inspirational pictures and stories as well as a must make one day quilt, Katzahayhen.

Shaye finished her first little quilt and has moved on to another one, or two, for friends. The happy combination of Central Park and Just Wing It Moda Charm Packs really looks lovely.

I washed a quilt for my Mum the other day, folded it ready to take over to her, and Dusty found it of course. He cleaned himself completely, then settled down to sleep. This is one of my very first quilts, made in a class in Darwin and given to my mother about 13 years ago - washed for the first time.

Finally, my latest quilt. This one's a from a pattern download from Red Rooster Fabrics for the Katagami fabric collection. I loved these fabrics and ordered the whole range for the shop. I just finished the top this morning and intended to baste and quilt it today,

but instead I've been trying to upload a whole lot of new listing to eBay.... Just Wing it, Sherbet Pips, and a couple of other future ranges arrived today....but eBay's not being cooperative and I decided I'd write a quick post here.

Have a great day,

Ann ♥

100

2011-04-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Thank you every one!

I just noticed I have 100 followers.

You are greatly appreciated.

♥

Tsunami Quilt

2011-03-23T21:58:00.000-07:00

How time flies, and I haven't told you about my Tsunami Quilt yet! If you're a Quiltopia !Design Facebook Page "liker", you will have seen snippets there, but it's taken two days confined to bed with a virus (:s) for me to finally post about it here.

As I was driving down to Brisbane on my way to teach my Stained Glass Stack and Slash Workshop one weekend, I was listening to a report on the devastating Japanese Tsunami. It had just struck and I hadn't heard much or seen any media coverage as yet.

The thoughts of the dirty water rolling in and over cars, homes, mountains, land, animals and people created images in my mind that I had to express in fabric. Who knows where inspiration comes from, and when it's going to strike, you have to grab it when you can. I had a sudden inspiration to make a Tsunami Quilt using some beautiful Japanese fabric and French Braid borders. (Please be assured, this doesn't in any way diminish the terrible situation in Japan or the horrendous effects of the Tsunami on the Japanese people and countryside, including the unfolding nuclear disaster still in progress.)

I had seen a quilt in Jane Hardy Miller's second book, French Braid Obsession, which I wanted to experiment with. (I LOVE the French Braid books!)

At QuiltEssentials, I found a Kona Bay fabric with cranes, temples, mountains trees and strange coloured water, with other Japanese motifs interspersed. I also wanted to use a selection of muted Bali Batiks from my own Quiltopia collection to create a watery braid for the borders. You can see the planning stage here,

with the book open at the page of the quit I like. I had to change the proportions becuase I only got 1m of feature fabric, so at this stage my quilt is square. I also changed the braid run because I wanted more blue.

The colours in the braid remind me of a tapestry or piece of brocade. It's shaping up pretty well but hasn't got much further for a week or so, as I started feeling really tired , then sore throat and finally, Pharyngitis struck and took me to bed.

I'm not sure about the next stage. I could finish it here, as a largish queen size throw... or I could add a couple more borders. We'll see...

Happy stitching,

Ann ♥

There are quite alot of charities and blogs set up to aid Japan. Modern Relief Japan is one that is hosting auctions and further info on how to help

Quilts for Beginner Quilters

2011-03-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

I love teaching quilts for beginner quilters. My favourite one at the moment is a little one made from two Moda Charm packs, a metre of backing fabric, a metre of wadding and 30cm of binding. The maker arranges 81 squares so they simply look nice, then they learn how to sew them together using the washing line method. They baste the quilt, machine quilt it in a simple grid, trim it, cut and join the binding and finally bind the quilt. It works really well in my little shop, with only really room for one or two students. This is my last student, Shaye, who's making her first quilt for her first child, and believe it or not, she's seven months pregnant in the photos!

Here she is adding the final touch to her binding.

behind her, hanging on the wall, is another beginner quilt I've taught. This time it's a sampler and it was popular too - not too big, a nice variety in the blocks, set on point to add interest, and striking fabrics. It's getting a bit old now, but people still like it...

So I decided to make a new beginner sampler quilt.

It's called The French Sampler Quilt.

This one is predominantly Moda French General fabrics from two different collections, Rouenneries and Rural Jardin. I love the French General designs and their "olde worlde" charm. I also added some old shirting fabrics from my Dad's shirts. Dad passed away 10 years ago today and I still use little bits and pieces of his shirts to add that special something to a lot of quilts.

The other key fabric in the quilt is the ticking, which I've had in my stash for almost as long as I've been quilting and everyone still wants to know where to get it - including me!

I made the second quilt a bit bigger, by simply repeating three of the original blocks. They look different just because I've used different value placement and quilting.

For a quilt like this, nothing looks as good as hand quilting, so I did that as well, using Ecru Cebelia No. 40 cotton thread, made in France. I love this thread for hand quilting as it's not as thick and attention drawing as Perle 8 (which I also love) and seems to suit more traditional work.

I really agonised over the borders for this quilt, and finally chose the beige over a blue and also a red in the same design. It's a little bit washed out, but I like the antique feel of the whole quilt and am very happy with it.Finally I added the pinkish red rick rack. I finished the binding and put it out on my bed, I wished I'd added another five blocks and it could have been a queen size for me. The red was exactly right in my room and I love shabby chic.

My new quilt was inspired by the Tsunami and I'm using a stunning Japanese Kona Bay fabric as a big central panel, with French Braids from watery, murky Bali Batiks. Here it is in the planning stages. I'm using Jane Hardy Miller's French Braid Obsession as a source book, but making the quilt up as I go. Hopefuly it will become a new workshop.

The world is really having its share of suffering to date this year, but I hope you're all safe and looking to the future,

Ann ♥

Stained Glass Stack and Slash Workshop

2011-03-06T17:48:00.000-08:00

We've started another workshop for the Stained Glass Stack and Slash quilt the weekend before last. It's at QuiltEssentials in Brisbane and , as usual, everyone came along bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready for a little quilting adventure.

I'm showing them all before and after slashing and sashing.

The colour/fabric themes varied, with a couple choosing the Oriental style fabrics and large opulent prints

a couple with Bali Batiks

and a couple with the modern Kaffe Collective fabrics.

It was good to see some interesting mixtures of fabric types

and one different coloured sashing. I really like the modern feel this sashing gives to the finished blocks - can't wait to see them finished. Apart from that, I've been working on my small French Sampler for beginners and finally finished the hand quilting

Apart from that, I've been working on my small French Sampler for beginners and finally finished the hand quilting and binding. I added some red rick rack to the final border and appliqued some hexagons onto the corner squares. I like the finished product, even if a bit lighter than my usual quilts - maybe I like it so much because it's a departure from the norm...

Here's Dolly trying it out before I put the binding on (unfortunately it's a bit blurry - but you get the idea...)

Keep inspired,

Ann ♥

Regent Street Triangles

2011-02-18T18:44:00.000-08:00

I know, right? Regent Street Triangles...boring name for a blog post, but I couldn't think of anything else just now. Ive been playing around with the technique of making half square triangles from two Moda charm squares as demonstrated here by Missouri Star Quilt Co. (I've got to say, their tutorials are really good.)

The pros: It's very easy and quick.

The cons: the resulting triangle units all have bias edges and are a tiny bit unstable to sew together later. This isn't that big a deal though.

The pairing of the two 5 inch squares results in four half square triangles which then sew together into a 6 inch square unit so you end up with 42, 6 inch square blocks from two packs of 42, 5 inch squares. I don't understand the maths, but that's just how it is.

You get a really nice sized baby or lap quilt when you sew them all together.

I used the new Moda range Regent Street Lawn and Snow charm squares for my little quilt. And I decided to make Birds in the Air or Robbing Peter to Pay Paul sort of blocks, rather than Pinwheels (with their 8 intersecting central seams.)

I was going to have each block sitting singly on point with setting squares made from this gorgeous vintage cross stitch table cloth.

But when I auditioned it, it seamed too bright for the Snow background fabric.

I also tried out some other configurations of blocks, and whether to set light half/dark half up or down. They all created different effects that I quite liked.

In the end, I liked the triangles all sewn together like little pennants flying in the breeze. I decided to group them in larger blocks of four with similar colour and value, like I did with the Wuthering Heights quilt.

The result is OK. Now I'm up to the border. I tried out the table cloth again, and surprisingly it works quite well... but I'm not sure about it. I feel it would be nice to use it to its advantage in something also a bit more striking, or a bit more of a showcase for it.

We'll see...

In the mean time, Dolly's telling me it's dinner time. So, time to go for now,

Ann ♥

I ♥ Valentine's Day

2011-02-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

My quilt is called I ♥ Valentine's Day

A little while ago I saw a tutorial on Moda Bake Shop about how to make a small Valentine Heart quilt from a combination of Moda Giddy and Red Bella Basics Charm squares.

I decided to modify it a little and make it myself for Valentine's Day.

I didn't have the red squares, so I used 30cm of Bella Solid red instead.

Then I used the left over Giddy squares, cut in half, for the border.

I added some red rickrack (It can only make a quilt better, right?).

I machine quilted a hearts stipple in the heart, then just straight line outlined the heart.

I used the solid red to bind the quilt.

Very simple, but cute. I can see other applications for this design as a larger quilt, and also smaller squares and hearts units.

Fun! What did you do for Valentines day?

♥ Ann.

Sudoku Quilt

2011-02-09T02:07:00.000-08:00

I've made a start on the cute little Sudoku Quilt from the Moda Sudoku boxes I got in last week. This one is Central Park by Kate Spain - love her designs!

I've got the plan to make a really nice Sudoku Quilt and I keep ordering fabrics I have visions of something like that in, but there's always one or two of the colours I want missing. Frustrating:(

Anyway, I've got enough to go on with just now, with the Stained Glass one and the 2010 Closure one still begging to be finished :) It's ready to be basted now and hanging over the back of a chair...I've got a few like that right now. Have fun stitching,

♥ Ann.

I Made a Bag

2011-02-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

I made a bag!

Bags are not my strong point. I find them fiddly and annoying, and I'm not really kean on patchworky, crafty looking bags either.

But, when I saw Leesa Chandler's bags at the Australian Quilt Market, I thought, "I could do that."

This bag is her Sashiko Tote which I have changed to my Kantha Tote. As she said, this is a bag you can make your own by putting something you do in the front panel. I'm not really a sashiko stitcher. I love it, have done a little, but it's a little too structured for and requires a bit too much preparation for my sensibility. I'm more into Kantha stitching, which I build up, spontaneously just by eye without any marking on the piece.

My bag is made from black Kyoto Cloth (Moda's bamboo cotton broad cloth) with a Basic Dots black/beige dot lining and purchased handles. The bag wadding I used is fantastic, giving the bag heaps of body, as well as being fusible and easy to sew through by machine.

I'm going to run through the Kantha stitching step-by-step:

I used hessian coloured Handky Linen (absolutely beautiful to sew) with iron-on light weft, a soft stabilizer, on the wrong side; ecru sashiko thread (though I often use Perle 8 - just happened to have the sashiko thread handy); and a sashiko needle.

Start with a knot on the back, then do a back stitch and start stitching. Use the needle to measure by eye each stitch about 1/4 inch long. They can be smaller, but the aim is to get the stitches and spaces between even in size. Slide the needle through several stitches at once

Use the needle to measure by eye each stitch about 1/4 inch long. They can be smaller, but the aim is to get the stitches and spaces between even in size. Slide the needle through several stitches at once. Build up the design by stitching rows 1/4 inch apart. Use the previous row to guide the next row.

Change colours when you want to. You can see the fusible stabilizer on the back here, also the tails of the knots. When using this stitch to quilt, the knots may be embedded in the wadding between the quilt layers.

Try not to put too much tension in the stitching, or you will end up with distortion and puckering. The aim is to get a rippling effect, but not a buckled effect. It can be hard to avoid a bit of buckling.

You can see how the spirals created small mountains in the surface, but because i didn't apply too much tension, it was easy enough to iron them out for a flat effect on the bag panel.

Then I cut the panel down to size and used it in the bag! Easy!

So, if bag making is not your thing like me, here's one to try thats actually quite fun and doesn't look like a craft project.

♥ Ann.

Queensland Flood Appeal Auctions

2011-01-26T17:57:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you've all seen this already! How fantastic that we raised this much already.Sarah Fielke is still raffling her quilt on her blog, The Last Piece, with the goal of raising $1,000.So, we all still have a chance to win her lovely quilt, here.I was so happy to send my Geisha quilt to the highest bidder, Amber, who said::) This has got to be one of the most beautiful pieces I've ever seen and when my husband saw it he yells, "I NEED THAT!" LOL, I've never seen a man so desperate for a quilt :)

... maybe no eating for our family for the next couple of weeks LOL!):

Thank you so much Amber, and hopefully she will arrive safely very soon.

I don't know about any of you others who sell online, but I have had a few queries from people, whose items I sent around the time of the floods, about when I sent them and when they will be arriving. I'm wondering if I should be concerned about this yet?

I have just worked out how to list items for sale on Quiltopia!Design Facebook Page SHOP NOW tab.

The first two are these gorgeous Sarah Fielke "From Little Things" fabrics and fat quarter bundles. All Page Fans get a 5% discount.

♥ Ann

Queensland Flood Appeal Auctions

2011-01-24T02:50:00.000-08:00

THIS AUCTION HAS ENDED

Queensland Flood Relief Auctions

2011-01-18T17:35:00.000-08:00

Toni has started up an auction to help in the Queensland flood appeal from her blog, make it perfect.

Now for a quick update:

There are over 240 blogs and pages participating

over $45,000 has been promised in auctions.

NOTE THE END OF AUCTION TIME HAS CHANGED TO 9:00PM MONDAY 24/1/11

Happy bidding and thankyou for adding to the desperately needed funds for assistance!

There are many Blogs and Facebook Pages participating in the auction and you can find out which ones by going to make it perfect and seeing the list which will be published this weekend.
How the auctions work is described on Toni's blog and each Blog or Facebook Page will be doing their own thing.

I am putting my Harvest Dance Geisha quilt up for auction.
The quilt is Made using one of Lonni Rossi's original Harvest Dance Geisha Panels and some of her other oriental inspired fabrics. It's about 130cm long and 80cm wide, with an inbuilt hanging sleeve on the back.
It's completely machine pieced, appliqued and quilted by me and was made as a sample for one of my most popular workshops.
I will upload some photos of the back and details of stitching later, but for now, let's make a start. May she go to a good home!
Bidding starts at $5o.

How this auction works: 1. Bidding will start at $50 (Australian).
2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.
3. Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
4. This auction is open to everyone. Postage is FREE.
5. The auction begins NOW and will END at 9:00 PM on Monday 24th January 2011.
6. At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winners will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment has been received, I will psot your Geisha Quilt to you, free of charge.
7. Thank you for participating and happy bidding!

♥ Ann

IKEA - Dubbed Husband...A brief departure from quilting.

2011-01-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

I Just had to post this! Let's have a brief departure from quilting to the kitchen for a moment...
When I was in high school, many years ago, I used to walk home as quickly as I could to catch the end of The Young and the Restless (and Days of Our Lives). One of my friends on Facebook posted this video and I just had to share. As soon as I heard the dubbed voice I recognised Victor. Any one else?

Queensland Flood Appeal Auctions

2011-01-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to add a few detailed photos of the quilt I am auctioning (in the post below) for the Queensland Flood Appeal Auctions.

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The Harvest Dance Geisha is 122cm high x 75cm wide.
She is quilted around all outlines and a quilted image of her appears in black on the back of the quilt.

which is a beautiful golden,yellow, orange Lonni Rossi fabric on the back.The background is stippled with a thread to match its colour.

I used a mixture of red, orange, black and metallic gold threads to satin stitch over the edges of the raw edge applique.

She has quite a striking presence and has inspired many quilters to make one of their own and she has certainly paid her way already having been the inspiration for over over 9 happy workshops!
I had decided I didn't want to teach this particular quilt again and had retired her.
Then I read about the Flood Relief Auctions and my little Geisha suggested she work just this one last time - to raise money for those affected by the floods.
If you would like to help, and own the Harvest Dance Geisha, scroll down to post below and join the bidding!
&hearts Ann

Finished the 2010 Quilt Top

2011-01-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

I have finished the 2010 (do you say two-thousand and ten or twenty ten?) quilt top! It is 13, 4 3/4 inch blocks x 13, 4 3/4 inch blocks, so 169 little liberated log cabins. I kept being able to scrape together just enough fabric scraps from the shop to make row by row.
You can see the back here:
Each block was pieced on a foundation of calico, muslin or left over quilt backing. I pressed the seam allowances open in the hope that it will make quilting it easier. I didn't find that the seams matched up quite so accurately as when I push and press the seams to the sides.

These were finally the only scraps left.
Definitely not enough to make two more rows of 14 blocks each!
So I stopped here.

Dusty found the leftovers a nice comforting spot to nestle during all our wet weather!

I took the quilt top into the shop to choose a really nice fabric for the back...but I didn't end up using one of these two Prints Charming ones. I 'm using a greenish Art Gallery fabric instead. And I'm up to my least favourite step in the process - basting. So it's all sitting over the back of a chair at home waiting.

The scraps left in the bin after piecing the original scraps into log cabin blocks:

I was almost considering using them in another quilt...
I know some of you might have done that!
Now I've got some new scraps from the ends of strips I cut to make my I Spy Packs and I plan to make something out of them too.
I'm very thankful that we've been spared the devastation of the floods, and my thoughts go out to all of you who have been affected,
♥ Ann

Queensland Weather.

2011-01-10T20:44:00.000-08:00

Just a short post about the Queensland Weather situation.We went for a Micro Holiday (just one night in a luxury hotel booked through Wotif) in Brisbane last weekend.

It was really relaxing.

We did have a lovely time exploring by car and on foot.

A textile arrangement at the House of Warwick and an amazing collage made from cardboard fruit and grocery boxes.

A beautiful necklace.An interesting Bar...

But on the way home the huge storm hit and I think we were lucky to get home on Sunday night.

It's been raining ever since.

We have a waterfall and small flood under the house.

The poor little Grinch (the feral cat that shelters here) has been curled up exhausted under the house.

Our own cats are getting cabin fever... Where's Dusty? Oh yeah, as close as he can be to me...!

I haven't had any customers in my shop and we had a power - out in town today. I spent all yesterday cutting 5 inch charm squares for my "I Spy" fabric packs - 5 hours and 8 complete packs! (And a very sore foot from standing).

My thoughts and wishes go out to all of those, you, who have been affected by the weather and flood here; and those affected by the fires in WA. The world seems to be in turmoil!
xo xo Ann.

Quiltopia!Design 2010 Closure Quilt

2011-01-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

Here are the first blocks of my Quiltopia!Design 2010 Closure Quilt, stacked up like fabric pancakes! Each finished block measures 4 3/4 inches.

I made them out of this:

This is the mass of tangled fabric strips I cut off from the beginnings of bolts in my shop. Every fabric bolt that started with a ragged or uneven edge had a strip taken off to even it up, and the strips were collected over the cupboard door handle. There was quite a pile by the end of 2010!

This is the sewing machine I stitched the blocks on:

This is also the sewing machine I learnt to sew on in 1970's. It was second hand then and belonged to Mum. She recently downsized and I kept her sewing machine, not used now for many years. I had it serviced and it sews like a dream. This particular Singer model was apparently Australian made. It was/is a lot of fun to sew on!
You can see the blocks taking shape. I decided on a liberated Log Cabin style I constructed them in a liberated manner on a calico/muslin foundation so each block could later be cut down to a uniform size. After making quite a few blocks, I wished I'd chosen a larger size!
I tried out some different layouts and I decided on the very traditional Straight Furrows design - it seemed to show up the subtle lights and shadows best. Sometimes it was quite difficult to find enough darker fabrics.
I began to notice that the blocks tended to use certain colours in their light half and I organised them so the colours flowed diagonally up the quilt in stripes of yellow, pink, blue and mauve.

Then I stacked them into piles of their rows and took them home to continue over my Christmas break. It has been a fun exercise.The challenge I set myself was to:

use only fabrics I'd had in my shop
make small improvised blocks
finish by the end of the year 2010

I succeeded in the first two, but the third? I'm still going...although I have finished the quilt top!

I will post some more photos of the quilt's progress next time. In the meantime, you can follow its progress on Quiltopia!Design Facebook page if you'd like.

xo xo Ann.

Hello 2011

2011-01-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year and Hello 2011!
This is the first post from my new computer....
I've started this post a million times but, to tell the truth, I'm not finding the MacBook Pro as user friendly and fantastic as I'd anticipated ;(
Anyway, I've updated my blog's appearance with a new template and a photo of one of my quilts as the background.
The quilt is one I made a few years ago and called Lima Puluh Bintang, which is Bahasa Indonesia for Fifty Stars, and won fist prize for traditional quilts at the Brisbane Exhibition... it must be in 2003 I think. It was really popular as a class - so much so that I made another one in different colours. This one won First Prize Traditional in the Australian Quilt Show, and was exhibited at Houston, Chicago and Lyon. It was still 50 Stars, but I called it Sea, Stone, Sand and Sky - Darwin Cliffs.
Then I made another one in shabby chic .... and I've lost count of the number of times I've taught it now. I even gave a workshop for it at Barcaldine last year!

The original quilt was made soon after I left Darwin with memories of Indonesia and contained many Indigenous prints and Indonesian textiles in those earthy colours. I thought it looked nice as my background - and Blogger let me upload i.e. it wasn't too big!
I've been busy finishing a couple of commissions and a quilt made from all my strips evening off ends of bolts in the shop. It's called 2010 Closure quilt. There are 144, 4 3/4 inch improvised Log Cabin blocks.

This is just the beginning.

You can follow its progress at this stage on Quiltopia!Design facebook page. (I've added a plugin to this blog towards the top of my sidebar on the right, if you'd like to become a fan and see news from my shop.)
This is getting way too long for a blog post in my opinion, so, my New Year's resolution is:
to get a better handle on technology - be more regular at posting on my blog, work out a better web presence solution including my shop, rework my website AND make quilts I really want to make.
How about you?
Till next time,
xo xo Ann.

Last Post from this computer...

2010-10-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write one last blog post from my trusty old laptop. We've been throug a lot - I've learnt just about everyting I know about the Internet on this little BenQ. Its got a busted h key, stuck onto the keyboard with sticky tape, so nearly always h doesn't register when I type and I have to correct in editor. I've left the mistakes in this time, for posterity.
Next time I'll be posting from a brand new MacBook!
How exciting is that? I guess it will take a while to get used to and I'm a little apprehensive, but I'm really looking forward to a faster process. Today I'm taking this one in to get all my files migrated onto the new one and on Friday, I'll be able to play with my new one.
Enough of that.I've posted some new photos of Gypsy, that rose quilt that I washed with disastrous results. I couldn't bring myself to actually take photos of what happened to some of the silk squares, but they were really frayed and wadding was exposed. I tried a number of different solutions using large turquoise roses cut form a Valerie Wells fabric and intended to be appliqued on. I even tried making them three dimensional.
I had it hanging in my studio for ages auditioning, and I just wasn't happy. My daughter was quite vocal about how muc she DIDN'T like the roses, their colour, their number etc, but how much she likes the quilt as it is, so....I decided to only patch the spots with the fraying and wadding, and I used some fussy cut roses from a Phillip Jacobs print (also in the quilt). They toned quite well and don't detract from the actual quilt. It will never be a quilt I love... O well.
I don't have a full photo of it yet - Amelia's gone to school camp with our shared camera (hers) while mines getting repaired on warranty.
I've also been working on something new using the beautiful Under the Australian Sun fabrics, by Leesa Chandler. When I saw this range, I was immediately inspired to make ... something. There are so many quilts waiting to be made with these intense, oriental/Australian fabrics.

It's taking shape slowly, with sewing machines being serviced and all the other things that happen in life.
More next time,

xo xo Ann.

Solomon Islands

2010-10-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

We've been to the Solomon Islands!

It was truly a tropical getaway with beautiful beaches, incredible water and colours, lots of fun and family. I didn't even look at fabric... I tell a lie! I did buy some cute rickrack and a couple of pieces of SI printed fabrics in shades of blue.

We went to the largest ocean lagoon on earth and you can see what the water was like. Coral, fish, WWII plane wrecks, wonderful carving and amazing rainforest right down to beaches.

This village is on a volcanic island with bubbling hot springs, friendly local people and dolphins swimming close to shore. When we arrived, we were greeted with fresh young coconuts to drink and eat the flesh of when we'd finished. Cut open, I thought it looked a bit like a bustier.

Unfortunately, my camera broke while we were there so I don't have any uploads for posts on my latest work. I'm making a new quilt and feel very refreshed a inspired after our break.
I want to add some more photos to this so stay tuned.

xo xo Ann.

Cats and Quilts

2010-09-22T14:14:00.000-07:00

Isn't he handsome? Dusty really knows how to charm.
He's sitting on my finished Gypsy Quilt... Before I wrecked it by washing and drying it too strongly. I gave it the usual treatment of a gentle wash and drying in the dryer, but I forgot about the SILK. When I took it out of the drier, some of the silk squares had frayed out of their seams AND their colours had run through to the stylish cream and black back. You can imagine some of what I said alone down stairs in the laundry...
It's now in the process of a transformation, so watch this space _______. I haven't been terribly inspired yet but I've got a few ideas.

It's raining again in Maleny and the cats are in their favourite viewing spot on the ironing board. We've got a big fat tabby feral cat trying to make our home his at the moment, and this morning I discovered him fast asleep on our veranda chair (I'd had suspicions) to keep warm and dry through the cold, wet night. It's very disturbing for all of us, especially the cats.
Happy stitching,

xo xo Ann.

My Comfy Chair Just Got Comfier, Again.

2010-09-03T14:29:00.000-07:00

Another cushion for the comfy chair!
I made this one while I was a t the Mapleton Quilt Show a couple of weekends ago. I realized I'd forgotten to prepare anything to do/sew while I was sitting at my stall, so I opened an extra large Yo Yo Maker, a pack of Moda Charm Squares and a skein of Sashiko thread, and started hand sewing. By the end of the weekend, I was giving demos on how to use the Yo Yo tool ( which I'd never used before...it's that easy!)
I'd been dying to use these Sugar Pop fabrics for a little project and this turned out to be it.
I finished the cushion with some chocolate solid fabric as a backing, a scrap of lime for the border and two different sized rick- racks.
I like the jumbo one on the edge as a finish.
Anyway, I thought it was very cute and intend to make a quick a pattern for it. Meanwhile, feel free to come in and try it out when you browse the fabric shelves!
This weekend is the inaugaral Quilt Show of the Maleny Arts and Crafts Group to be held at Maleny Show Pavillion. There will be some amazing quilts there as there are some very tallented quilters in the group, so make Maleny a destination this week end.
See you there.
xo xo Ann.

Spring Sale

2010-09-02T05:30:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note to let you know that I am having a SPRING SALE in my eBay Store, quiltopia!design, to celebrate Spring and to do a little Spring Cleaning in my shop. The Jelly Rolls are piling up and I just got a new delivery today.
New items not yet listed and just arrived are: La Petite Ecole, Sugar Pop (watch out for a cute new cushion I've just made from that one), Wee Woodland, and more!
For the next week, nearly everything is 10% off so don't miss out on Jelly Rolls and Layer Cakes for the amazingly low price of $41.85 and Charm Packs for $15.30.
Good Luck - Hope you grab a bargain ,

xo xo Ann.

Miscellaneous

2010-08-31T20:27:00.000-07:00

Here is the photo of my quilt, Wuthering Heights, which you will see in August/September issue of Down Under Quilts. The digital version is out now and the real magazines will be in the shops next week... I think. DUQ has started a Facebook page, so you can keep up with them there. I just checked it out, and it looks pretty good.

I really like the quilt hanging on the line with those weathered boards in the background.

The other day I lashed out on some Colin James ice cream. How good it looks on on our blue African tablecloth. The flavours are cherry, vanilla, blood orange and chocolate and it tasted delicious.

As I was sneaking a quick spoonful before stashing it in the freezer for later, I looked out the kitchen window -

an echidna (spiny anteater) was bumbling along fossicking in the earth for ants. They are the cutest, funniest little creatures with their long leathery snout, just right for sticking into the ground, and slow waddle. I decided to get a bit closer to photograph him, but he wasn't having any of that! He hid so effectively with his head in the grass and his spiky back to me. I've tried to touch them before and those spikes do protect them very well!

Patsy dropped into the shop with her finished French Collection Quilt. She stitched all the blocks, then set them in an attic windows style with a background of French map fabric (Moda's Patisserie by Fig Tree Quilts) which was perfect for the theme. These quilts are truly an achievement in effort, concept and skill.

Finally, at the bottom of this grab bag of a post, is my Rose quilt called. I started collecting fabrics for this when I went to Barcaldine with some beautiful ones from Sandy at The Silver Thimble. I used a huge range of rose print fabrics from Kaffe, and Philip Jacobs to some of the very first patchwork cottons I bought at Spotlight when I started quilting. I threw in a cute pack of coloured dupione silks by Moda from a new pre-cut range called Crazy Cuts. I wanted to see how they would go, and I quite liked the effect... they make a nice scrumply sound too. So, with the roses and silks and swish, I called the quilt "Gypsy".
Does anyone know how to get one of those little Facebook thingies on their blog? (Not the big badge, but the little one with an f on it. I've been spending a bit of time on my eBay Store, quiltopia!design, where I sell all sorts of Moda pre-cuts and I want to get more savvy with all the little code things and badges so I can be better at networking.)
Happy sewing, till next time -

xo xo Ann.

Wuthering Heights Workshop in Maleny

2010-08-11T00:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it's been a while, and thanks for all your kind enquiries after me. I'm fine - just a bit snowed under and the blog has had to take bake seat for a while...

I've been SEWING!

I've also been teaching and have just given two lovely workshops, one in Barcaldine (that was a major one and there'll be a separate blog post for that, including photos etc) and the other in Maleny which I'm posting about today.
This workshop was for the Wuthering Heights quilt seen in earlier blog posts and to be featured as a project in August Down Under Quilts. So if you want to make it, the pattern will be there. We had the workshop at Helen's place and she provided a fantastic working environment, sumptuous morning and afternoon teas (as you can see) and excellent company with the addition of her little sausage dog, Rosie, who was definitely a member of the class!
Jo is sitting in front of my quilt, below. She chose to work with a mixture of green and purple hand-dyed fabrics instead of a Jelly Roll, and the results were lovely.

Helen and Mary both used Jelly Rolls for their quilts. Mary tried a variation with the background fabric a and used small print instead of a cream solid. Sue and Lyn both used Jelly Rolls too.

By the end of the first day, we had a few blocks to show for the our efforts and they were all shaping up marvellously! It was a very pleasant day.
The next lesson happened a couple of weeks later, after I'd been to Barcaldine and back. With slightly diminished numbers, the girls all zoomed on with their quilts and managed to organise their quilt top layouts and and sew most of them together.
Here they are pinning Jo's to the design wall.
And here's how the quilt will look when finished. Don't the greens and purples look beautiful. She's making it for a niece's 21st birthday... Lucky girl!Helen used a Jelly Roll from the new Moda range, Awesome by Sandy Gervais, with gorgeous autumn tones and oranges (my favourite colour) and a Kyoto Cloth (bamboo cotton) background the same as I used in the original quilt. Brilliant result.
Sue's was made with a deep, rich Jelly Roll and quite a dark cream background. The quilt's strong shades and deep colours made it quite masculine and dramatic.
I think everyone was satisfied with the results and the workshop went well. Now all they have to do is baste and quilt their quilts and I recommend with this one, NOT to get it commercially quilted with an all-over design, but to persevere and quilt a small diagonal grid across all the squares to keep the integrity of the squares in the design.
Finally, to finish off the day, here's Sues completed Sewing Circle quilt from our BOM group in 2009 - 10. A few of us have finished now, and they're all a bit different. I continue to get orders for this quilt kit and have a whole new set of ladies sewing away at home all over Australia! Lovely!
Well, till next time - and I know there's a whole group of outback ladies eagerly scanning the blog for some photos of their workshop... it's coming girls!

xo xo Ann.

3 Squares

2010-07-19T01:04:00.000-07:00

This is the next stage in my 3 Squares quilt. I am making a border of rectangles combining the two sizes of the central squares - 2 inches x 4 inches. Originally I had planned large 4 inch x 8 inch rectangles but when I was writing up the previous post about 3 Squares I realized they weren't true to the dimensions of the original fabric. So I changed them.
I haven't got much further because I've been working on another sampler quilt using French General Rural Jardin fabrics

(it's proved a little more problematic than I expected)

and I'm planning for a challenging workshop in Barcaldine, in outback Queensland, which is suddenly coming up this weekend!
More about all this later,

xo xo Ann.

batik of java : poetics & politics

2010-07-17T23:06:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to the opening of a beautiful textile and painting exhibition, batik of java : poetics and politics, at the Caloundra Regional Art Gallery.
I lived in Indonesia for two years in the mid 90's and fell in love with the many varied textiles produced there and was inspired by the creativity of the crafts people (many of them women and weavers) and artists.
I wanted to share some images of details in some of the exquisite, hand made Batik Sarongs hanging in the exhibition. The fine details and dots created by the hand poured wax and dyes is incredible.
The Batiks belong to the collection of Ian Reed and Greg Roberts and were collected from the Javanese North Coast region.
Many of the Batiks featured motifs taken from nature, including butterflies,

these traditional Chinese style clouds
flowers and birds.

But some of the most interesting and appealing to me were those depicting strange and quirky interpretations of sea creatures and fishy crustaceans (the batiks originating from the coastal areas remember) like the ones below.

The one above was my absolute favourite and has now become my phone background!
(Speaking of which, I took all the photos with my iPhone because I've lost my camera, so sorry if the quality is lacking.)
If you're in the area, the exhibition is well worth a visit to feed your inspiration, and it's on till 14 August.

xo xo Ann

3 Squares

2010-07-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

At the moment I am working on a few new projects. I don't know what it is, but I seem to start a project, then lose interest while it's still in progress. I'm having to force myself to carry through...

Anyway, this one is called 3 Squares, and it's inspired by a Keiko Goke fabric I bought at Melbourne Quilt Market last year. I bought 3 different colourways of this amazing fabric, knowing there was a ready made quilt in there somewhere.

The fabric print features two different sized squares, 1 inch and 2 inch, and a rectangle combining the two measurements, 1 inch x 2 inch, printed in three distinct sections across the width of fabric. You can see it here, with its crayon -like colouring effect. I love the textural look and the subtle colour combination.

So, I sketched up a rough quilt plan combining the three different shapes. Then I chose some fabrics that toned with the colours in the 3 Squares fabric.
I divided the 3 Square fabric and cut it into its three distinct sections
I made a centre panel of 100 2 inch squares as the smallest size square. These squares included the 1 inch part of the original fabric.

Then I cut some squares twice that size, finished 4 inches, to make a border around the 100 square panel. The fabric print 2 inch squares were used here, and the blend in size with the 2 inch mosaic of the centre squares so they seem to extend outwards.

Originally I planned a third border of 4 inch x 8 inch rectangles to extend and finish the quilt, But I changed my mind on this because when I put it up on the wall I realized it didn't reflect the original fabric correctly. So I altered the original plan and made a wider 4 inch square border, and I'm now finishing with a 2 inch x 4 inch rectangle border... which I'm still working on.
I'll put the next steps up soon.
Enjoy the process,

xo xo Ann.

An Australian Country Quilt Show

2010-07-02T19:01:00.000-07:00

Australian Country Quilt Shows are unique and special events. A few weeks ago now, I was lucky to attend the iconic Peachester Quilt Show as a stall holder. Peachester is a little country town in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland and its biennial quilt show is renowned for its wealth of talent, rustic charm, and delicious country hospitality . The Mountain Quilters certainly boast some more than their fair share of well known quilters and artists.
From Maleny, the drive takes you through the the picturesque Glasshouse Mountains,
past Bald Knob (!),to the community hall where the show is held. This year the show was called "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" and featured displays of antique and retro handwork. Look at this beautiful Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt. It was all made of silks and fine fabrics, and becoming very fragile.
There was also a display of embroidered aprons. Remember those? I know I've used a few more worn ones in patchwork quilts. Love that kangaroo one!
Then just on the other side of that screen was a display of the exquisite works of Bernadine Hine, world famous art quilter who is one of the Mountain Quilters. Here she is explaining some of her techniques to an admirer. Bernadine's award-winning pictorial quilts feature in many exhibitions around the world.
A feature of every Peachester Quilt Show is the famous "Challenge". This year the fabric was a shiny gold lurex type. This is one of the quilts, with the fish being made of the challenge fabric. I loved this one.You can see the kind of interest generated by the Challenge! There is a constant crowd of people looking, admiring, and voting for favourites. The variety and quality of entries is quite amazing. One of the winners (not sure whether it was first or second) was the long, elegant quilt,with the appliqued work and black border, on the far right.
There were some lovely display quilts too. This one by Barbara Groves has a beautiful tree of life interpretation as its centre panel,and I loved this opulent, colour saturated Oriental quilt by Lyn Hargreaves.
Martin, the group's president conducted the event with a green bag full of raffle tickets and a steady stream of lucky draws throughout the weekend.
Peachester is famous for its warm and generous country hospitality, and here are the ladies with the welcoming spread of morning and afternoon teas, and lunches. We stall holders certainly weren't hungry.
Just a friendly country warning adding to the rustic charm!The floral offerings, made from flowers from the members' gardens, were as spectacular as the quilts. I loved this Grevillia arrangement which decorated the bathroom. How beautiful is that?And finally, the stall holders. There was a good spread of local traders represented at the show, and we all had a great time as well as a profitable one. This is quite a new thing for me, and despite the effort involved in preparing and taking everything, I love meeting the people and connecting with other quilters and shop owners. That's my stand, Quiltopia!Design, at the front and next it is Appatchy Quilting with Joan and a customer chatting.
Some handmade porcelain button badges - I bought one of the little sewing name tags
The weekend over and all packed up, a lone quilter makes her way home with her bundle of quilts and perhaps a few goodies she's gleaned through the day...
It was a lovely weekend and I'm looking forward to the next one in two years time.
I went to The Gympie Quilt and Craft Fair the following weekend... but more about that another time.

xo xo Ann.

Show and Tell

2010-06-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

I was looking through my photos yesterday and there were so many I realized I have not yet blogged about. So many activities, projects and ideas... so little time.
I felt I really must show you some recent work of friends and students. Firstly, here's Jill with her finished Lilly Pilly. I showed you some other photos of this one here. I love the aquas, greens and raspberries in this one and her individual border, too.

Jill hand quilted her quilt all over with leaves to echo the applique pieces. It looks wonderful - what a labour of love. Her daughter in England is a very lucky woman.

Yii Mei has been learning patchwork with me. She recently moved to the area and decided to take up the hobby and I think I'd be right in saying, it's become an obsession! This is her first quilt top completed. She's now learning how to machine quilt and doing a fantastic job. It's great welcoming new patch workers and quilters into the fold.

Finally, Sharon joined my French Braid class and brought in her finished quilt recently. She chose to use all Bali Batiks in these unusual autumn tones, and was rewarded with a beautiful result. She also hand quilted her quilt and it looks absolutely stunning and warm.

As for me, I've attended three local quilt shows as a stall holder last month, so most of my energy has gone into preparing for, and being at, them. I have started a couple of new quilts and I joined the Process Pledge - you'll see the button on my side bar. So I've got a few projects and ideas up my sleeve...
I've also upgraded my blog to a new blog design. I'm working on the pages feature, but time is always at a premium.
As the end of the financial year approaches, I've scheduled a 20% OFF SALE in my eBay Store, quiltopia!design. It starts around 5 PM today and finishes at 11:59PM Wednesday 30th June. (You can also visit quiltopia!design by clicking the button in my side bar.)
Why don't you drop by and grab a bargain if there's anything you fancy.
Happy stitching, dreaming, and shopping,

xo xo Ann.

Maleny Quilt Show and a New Quilt.

2010-06-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

This is one of my latest finished quilts. (Actually my latest is The Sewing Circle - the quilt featuring whimsical retro 1950's themed embroidered blocks... but more about that in a later post.) This one is from Julie Wallace's pattern, Floral Maze. I saw the original quilt at the Melbourne Quilt Market last November and thought I could do something with it. It's another pattern using the Lanterns of Light Ruler and hexagon shapes, which I've formed a sort of love for. These are big so you get to see a fair bit of the fabric, and I like that too.
I decided to use a selection of lovely floral fabrics with the main criteria being " beautiful fabrics that haven't sold well"! So I just went to the shelves and picked out 12 lovely fabrics that for some reason, people haven't been buying. I put them together and, voila! A beautiful quilt was born.It's quite a small quilt, but easily enlarged with in multiples of 6.
I used a gorgeous Valerie Wells floral on the back, quilted the heck out of it and bound it in that other lovely turquoise Valerie Wells print. Love this one and it's going to stay with me.

I took it to the Maleny Quota Quilt Show a couple of weeks ago and here are Annie and I with it at my stand.

It was a lovely country quilt show, set up in the Maleny High School Indoor Stadium. There were some beautiful quilts but you'll have to be satisfied here with the pics from the traders' area. In the foreground is Kimz Patchwork, The Gympie Patchwork Factory, then Shirley's Buttons, Me and on the other side, Van Coutens Drapery, and Palmwoods Ats and Crafts. It was a small show, but lots of lovely quilts and fun.

Last weekend I took Quiltopia! to the Mountain Quilters' Show, Silver Threads and Golden Needles... but more about that in a longer newer post. I was a lot more relaxed there and took the opportunity to wander around and look at things! Next week I'll be at The Gympie Quilt and Craft Spectacular... sounds really big and scary to me, but when you look at all the blogs about Quilt Market in America now, it definitely puts things in perspective!
Till next time - Happy Stitching,

xo xo Ann.

African Dreams, again...Then I promise I'll move on!

2010-05-27T14:36:00.001-07:00

The latest e-issue of Down Under Quilts has just hit the Internet and you will now be able to find my African Dreams quilt there too. If you want to make it, follow the link to see the project instructions. I also put an ad for my boutique, Quiltopia!Design in this issue for the first time, so I guess that's in there too.
I'm off to the Mountain Quilters' Quilt Show in Peachester this Weekend and haven't got my stuff together yet so have to run...
Maybe I'll see you there,

xo xo Ann.

African Quilts

2010-05-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

Look what I just found!

After recently posting about my friends' African Quilts, another friend told me she'd found some photos of another one on another blog. These pics come from Alison's blog, Cardygirl, and the quilt was made by Lea. It was really amazing seeing the quilt after selling Lea the African Squares pack and leopard print from my eBay Store.

Online selling is great, but it also tends to be a bit impersonal. You often only ever know your customers by their log on IDs, and you never really know what they use the goods they buy from you for.
The African Fabric Squares are a bit significant for me, as most of the fabrics were bought by me in South Africa and Swaziland, came from pieces my sister gave me, or markets in Zimbabwe when my daughter and I went over to visit my sister when she was living in Pretoria, South Africa. Some were even remnants GIVEN to me by a lovely African tailor in Pretoria, Images d'Afrique - so exotic!It was a wonderful trip with my little girl, to an amazing place and my love affair with fabulous African fabrics, colours and designs began. When we came back to Australia, I wanted to make a quilt to showcase the fabrics I got in a quilt, as well as design a quilt that could be taught with kits so I could sell some of the fabric.
I came up with The African Quilt (you can get a free pattern if you click on this image on my website):
It started as a wall hanging with the central 36 fabric squares and a border but I liked it so much I went on and made it into a single bed quilt. I used a strange and ugly large harlequin diamond black and white print and fussy cut it for the sashings. The zigzag edge on the border is made from the left over strips between the fussy cutting! Then I decided to teach the quilt and make kits - my first commercial venture.
It was so popular, Australian Quilters' Companion asked me to do it as a project, and it became my second published work.
Then I made a new version as a wedding quilt for my sister and her husband. It's a queen size and quilt- as- you- go and as I was running out of the Black and White diamond print, I decided to cut it just as it came. It still looked good and was much easier with no wastage, and it still created the alternate light and dark effect.
I used a golden yellow Lonni Rossi fabric for the corner stones. One of her friends liked it so much, she commissioned me to make one for her, with turquoise accent fabrics. I chose a gorgeous Phillip Jacobs print for the corner stones to give a different effect. It's also slightly larger.
I entered it in the Queensland Quilt Show and was invited to submit it as a project to Down Under Quilts, where it was published in issue 141, April 2010. (I've already had a good response to the project, thank you!)
It's quilt-as-you-go and reversible. Here's the back:
So, there's the story, started by Cardygirl with Lea's quilt and ended with one of Alison's photos, another cat and quilt cameo. Thanks Lea, for following through with the quilt. And Thanks Alison for posting the pics!
Happy stitching,

xo xo Ann

And the Winner Is...

2010-05-23T01:22:00.000-07:00

The lucky winner of the beautiful Rural Jardin Jelly Roll is Katie, pictured here with her son, Freddie, at Quiltopia.
Thank you to all of you who popped in and helped make some room on my shelves.
Happy stitching,
xo xo Ann.

SALE!

2010-05-14T00:58:00.000-07:00

Just in case you're passing , or coming up to Maleny on the weekend, I am having a SALE:

20% OFF FABRICS ON THE ROLL
* a few exceptions!

The sale is on
SATURDAY 15TH May 10 AM - 2PM and
MONDAY 17TH May 9:30 am - 4 PM
Help me make some room for new fabrics.

I wanted to have a Mothers' Day/ May Day sale... I know, those days have passed, but we can still celebrate the Month of May, can't we?
See you in Quiltopia Boutique,
Maleny Q
And, mention my blog, or email, and enter the draw to win this lovely new season Moda Rural Jardin Jelly Roll!
xo xo Ann.

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY

2010-05-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

MUMARAMA

My beautiful daughter, and only child, made this for me.
When I say beautiful, I mean outside and in.

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY!

Show and Tell

2010-05-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

I had some lovely visitors this week, who brought in their quilts to show and tell. The first two were Kathie and Sandra with their African Quilts. About three years ago, I had my original African Quilt at the Maleny Quota Quilt Show, and these two girls bought a packet of African Squares each. Of course, almost every time I saw them after this, I'd ask them how their quilts were going...? I caught up with them again at this year's quilt show (last weekend - haven't posted about it yet) and they promised to bring their quilts into the shop.
And here they are! They used a 1 inch black and white stripe, instead of the original diamond print I used and has become very hard to find. (Of course there's instructions to paper piece the sashing in the pattern I did for the magazine - but it's a lot of work and a similar effect can be achieved just by using an effective fabric and imagination.)
The second one was my friend Jill who's been making Kellie Wulfson's (Don't look now!) Lillie Pilly quilt, which her daughter fell in love with in my shop. Jill used aquas, blues and turquoises for Greta's quilt and extended the borders to make a large bed sized quilt. The background fabric is Kyoto cloth (again - I just love this bamboo cotton!) and she's hand quilting it. It's so soft with the bamboo and a lovely beige gingham on the back!

Here's a close up of the tree:

And the birdies, with their dear little cleverly cut wings:

Thanks so much for sharing girls!
Have a lovely weekend and get plenty of stitching done,

xo xo Ann

Finished!

2010-05-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

I've just realized, I haven't posted about my latest finished commission. You've seen bits and pieces of it here, here and here if you'd like to follow its development. It's already gone to its owner... and I've finished another quilt I haven't even uploaded the photos for! This one is for a grandson. I slowly built it up from the star in the centre and half square triangles which features an African Shweshwe pack of 5 inch red squares. These dictated the size of the star, the medallion and the quilt. I think they also give the quilt a bit of an African flavour too.
I used the left overs and some of the fabrics given to me by the client to finish the quilt. The dark blue strips on the are a synthetic sear sucker with a metallic thread pin stripe! -You can see it better in the top pic.
I love the backing, which is a Moda one. They quilt by machine so beautifully - a very soft and crinkly finish... just what you want under a quilt next to your body!
I like medallion quilts, but they definitely are a bit slower and seem to take a bit more consideration than some of the others. They tend to spend more time on the design wall waiting for the next border to take shape in my mind.
I was very happy with this quilt and I think its my favourite of the 6 Grand children's quilts I've made for this lovely Grandmother.
I've got lots more to write, but will put it in a new post later,

xo xo Ann.

The Sewing Circle

2010-04-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

I've been stitching Robyn Allen-Waters, The Sewing Circle for over a year now! It was actually one of my first blog posts back in 2009.
I finally sewed the last stitch in the embroidery blocks a week or so ago, and here they are being trimmed to size for sewing into the quilt. It was quite a departure in style for me. Firstly, it's designer's concept and, and secondly it is primarily a hand embroidered work. I can honestly say, it's the first embroidery I've done since college art class. And I really enjoyed it! It was a bit s l o w (for a machine quilt piecer) but...

It was surprisingly satisfying!

I decided to frame the embroideries with a lovely black and ivory stripe and use a Boutique Layer Cake, with a retro theme and softish but rich colours - similar to the ones I used in the stitching- for the pieced quilt part.

I set it all out on the wall and I've started started sewing it now. Actually I've almost finished sewing it together, but you'll have to wait for more on this in the next post.

I added some special vintage bits to the mix and I think it's looking pretty nice. A slow project seems to add another dimension to your life. Not sure about the quilting now...
We'll see.

xo xo Ann.

African Dreams

2010-04-22T14:01:00.001-07:00

Take a look at my latest quilt project in print! African Dreams is in the April Down Under Quilts! I made this quilt as a commission and entered it in the Queensland Quilters' Show last year, and was invited to submit it to DU Quilts as a project.
It's easy to make with 5 1/2 inch African fabric squares (available from Quiltopia online or contact me) and finished by quilt-as-you-go.
Another African Quilt to add to my collection!
In the same magazine is this quilt by fellow Queenslander Christine Cohrs. You can catch up with Christine on her fantastic blog, Once upon a Quilt. Or buy the magazine to have a little bit of both of us on hard copy. You can also read Down Under Quilts on line by subscribing here.
Look out for another project from me in the August issue, when you'll be able to make my Wuthering Heights quilt .
Happy weekend,

xo xo Ann.

Quilting

2010-04-20T00:10:00.000-07:00

Just quickly - here are two samples of the different quilting on the two quilts in the post below.
The top one is the medallion boy's quilt commission.(I've just finished it!) I did an allover large meander in a variegated blue thread. I've really only just got comfortable with this type of quilting.
On the Shweshwe Quilt, I hand quilted with sashiko thread.

The lines of white quilting show up really well on the red back of the quilt. It gets a bit lost on the white fabric, but pops out on the indigo and red ones. It's a while since I've done this type of quilting but the sense of achievement at finishing is very satisfying.

The whole thing is nice, don't you think?

xo xo Ann.

Update on the last couple of weeks...

2010-04-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finished a couple of things I blogged about a little while ago!

The first one is my African Shweshwe Quilt. I showed it to you here and here when I'd just finished basting it and Dolly was curled up sleeping on it. I made it from a pack of mixed indigo and red shweshwe squares and a fabulous Prints Charming red-and-white print, with a background of white Moda Bella Solid all fabrics I LOVE to sew! I hand quilted this one with an ecru sashiko thread. It took 3 skeins of thread and several weeks to finish, but worth it in the end. You can't really see the quilting in this photo, but it's wavy lines in a grid. I'll do another post with some details.
The quilt was already dirty, as It's been in progress for a year, and in use, unfinished as a table cloth in Quiltopia Boutique.

The next one is my latest commission with the star medallion. It's been basted here - but I finished quilting it yesterday! I want to finish it today. I used Shweshwe in it too - the red squares and a little bit of Nelson Mandela - a good roll model and someone to inspire any boy (or person for that matter!).
The one below is a new Jelly Roll quilt I'm working on. It's a sampler and you need a special ruler to cut half square triangles from the 2 1/2 inch strips. I saw the sampler at and went on to develop it in my own way. Quite fun but a bit frustrating for some reason. I used a Moda Verna Jelly Roll for mine. I'm still deciding on the border...

And finally, here's one of my students and her stunning finished quilt, from my last Stained Glass Stack and Slash class @ QuiltEssentials. She used a selection of semi-solid bold fabrics and black quilting thread. Doesn't it look stunning?

I've been busy... but I've been thinking about doing a blog quilt along of my Three Easy Pieces Modern Sampler Quilt featured as a Free BOM on my website. There's also a picture of it in my side bar.I picked some new fabrics (including gorgeous Prints Charming ones) and thought I might rework it as a quilt along. What do you think?
Life goes on...

xo xo Ann.

Baby Shower

2010-04-11T00:14:00.000-07:00

We went to a Baby Shower today. Can you tell what the baby's going to be?

Big-sister-to-be, Caitlyn, invited everyone and organised the whole event- including food, decorations, and games. As you can see, the food was excellent. And the games were...different!

Prepare for grossness!

One of them involved different melted chocolate bars squished into nappies! We had to open the nappies, smell the chocolate and guess what type of bar had been used. The girls relished the task but it was a bit off-putting.

Mum-to-be, Chris was calm and considering when her turn came. Perhaps she was anticipating future events!

Now for something quilty: Christine is a keen quilter and look at the sweet little quilts she's made in preparation for the new arrival. The look so lovely with this gorgeous rocking bassinet she picked up for a song from eBay!

It really was a lot of fun! Thanks Caitlyn and Chris.
xo xo Ann.

Happy Easter...from the Easter Lizzy

2010-04-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter from
the Easter Lizzy!
Wishing you all a very lovely Easter with family and friends.
xoxo Ann.

This is one of our Bearded Dragons, or Water Dragons, who meets us for coffee at a local coffee shop, Maple 3, in Maleny.

Three Things I'm Working On

2010-04-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

I wanted to let you see three works in progress that have been taking up my time lately.Here they are in order of finished-ness:
The first one is my second commissioned quilt for a boy. I've decided on this medallion star centre and a number of borders. It's been a bit slow going, but I want to finish the top over Easter.
The second is a strip pieced hexagon quilt. I decided to use only fabrics from my shop - beautiful ones that for some reason aren't selling well. As soon as I started working on the quilt top, people stared noticing the fabric - and buying it! So I took the top home and finished working on it here so I'll have fabric to make some kits with. It's now ready to be basted...my least favourite part.

And the third is one I started over a year ago! Dolly's already found it where it waits between quilting times,- usually at night in front of the telly. This one I made from a pack of indigo and red Shweshwe squares. I used a gorgeous Prints Charming red and white fabric in the sashing. For almost a year this quilt has existed as a top and been used as a table cloth to cover a trestle table. It's already a bit dirty and stained... I'm free hand quilting it with an off- white sashiko thread (to stand out against the bright white background).

It should be finished very soon, with a binding in the same red and white fabric.
I have given myself a couple of days off over Easter and I have so many things I want to do including:

working on all the above quilts
adding colour the stitcheries for The Sewing Circle quilt which I started at the same time as my blog - just over a year ago
gardening in my jungle of weeds
catching up with friends and spending time with my daughter
writing a shop newsletter for Quiltopia and updating my contacts list
updating my eBay store
reading some blogs!
writing some blog entries!
...and the list goes on

Oh yeah, and FINISHING my book, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - only another chapter!
That's what I'm going to do right now.

xoxo Ann

Banaghaisge: Blogaversary Give-away

2010-03-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

Banaghaisge: Blogaversary Give-away

Two Fantastic Giveaways!

2010-03-11T12:46:00.000-08:00

I've just found two fantastic give-aways, both from talented Australian quilt makers!
The first one is a beautiful, fully made quilt from Jasmine. I made a special link to this one, above, from a gadget she has on her comments page.

The other one is from Christine with a whole lot of quilty goodies, including fabric!
All you have to do is have a look at their posts, make a comment and link their posts to a post on your own blog and you will go into the draws.
Good luck!

xoxo Ann.

Two New Quilts, Another Commission Finished

2010-03-07T23:20:00.000-08:00

Just to start off, here's a little doll quilt I made from the scraps left over from Amelia's quilt. I used all the cut off edges for the triangles and the border comes from the backing. It's sweet, and just visible in the background of the ironing board photo. I've got another one in progress, from the really little scraps of the same quilt.

I love doll quilts - so random and cute!

Behold the scene of conception of a new quilt commission in my studio. It's not very pretty. I was asked to make quilts for two 12 year old boys. This is the first. The colours were chosen and I decided to make a snowball block, with a look of tiles and tortoise shell, from fabrics provided by my client with a few of my own thrown in. It turned out to be quite a fiddly exercise with all those little corners and lots of cutting and pressing.
How do you like my ironing board cover? I can't help smiling every time I use it. I covered it with a fabulous Alexander Henry fabric called The Outdoor Type from my shop.

The quilt was finished with a simple black border and binding, and minimal quilting in the ditch so it retained a soft and cuddly feel. It's quite a large single bed size. I used lovely 100% bamboo wadding again.

In 12 years of quilting, this is my first quilt made specifically for a boy! I made a small one for my Dad, early in my quilting life. Apart from that, all the others have been for girls, women, or non-gender specific - just quilts I wanted to make. It was a bit of a challenge, and I think it's worked. I enjoyed working with the strong, earthy colours. I do think a lot of girls would like it too...

xoxo Ann.

It's Raining Cats and Dogs!

2010-03-05T23:31:00.000-08:00

We're all getting a bit stir crazy! Last Saturday it was foggy and raining...
This Saturday it is too.
And it has been all week. There's water every where. The towels are wet, the inside of the car is wet, the roads are running with water, the tanks are overflowing, and the constant trickle, patter and roar of falling rain is like a curtain of white noise, always in the background.
The cats are getting quite disgusted...

Mini Beasts

2010-02-26T13:45:00.000-08:00

Good morning!

I found a selection of mini beasts waiting to welcome me,
and you,

to another misty Maleny Saturday morning!

Have a great weekend!
xoxo Ann.

My Comfy Chair Just Got Comfier.

2010-02-20T23:17:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to show you...

Here is the cushion I finished a couple of days ago - finally after months of it sitting in pieces waiting... It didn't really take that long to sew the final bits together, quilt minimally by machine, and add embellishments. And it looks so cute, feels so good, on my comfy shop chair.
This is my comfy chair. Everyone loves sitting in it and gazing around at the fabric shelves. They can even browse from the magazine rack. Once they relax and take a load off, they can discover all sorts of pretty things they need... and want to sew with!

xoxo Ann.

Rainy Maleny

2010-02-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Maleny has been living up to its nick name, "Rainy Maleny" lately. We had a huge downpour today, the rain falling in sheets from the sky, thunder and flash flooding while I was in my shop fiddling around with a little quilt I started last year. I had to dash out side to take some photos to share with you!

When I went back in and surveyed my progress... OMG... It took a while to work out what the problem was, but I'd sewn the bottom row on the wrong way. (You can see the dark halves of the log cabins are all on the wrong side of the blocks.) Did it matter? The piece was only destined to be a cushion in the end, to make my shop arm chair more comfy. I spent way too long deciding that it DID matter, and reluctantly unpicked the row. Lucky it was small...

It does look better now! I went home and finished the top later and will show you in the next post. It's very cute - even if a bit fussy.

xoxo Ann.

Fish and Flowers Quilt Finished.

2010-02-10T23:49:00.000-08:00

Well here it is, completed! I thought I better post the finished quilt before it got too far in the past and I forgot. I made this quilt for a friend of my mum's 80th birthday. She's young at heart and was thrilled with the gift.
This was a different quilt for me, but when I think about it, it's a bit similar to the Outback one, with a background of strips and raw edge applique on top.

I used a Moda Marbles Pastels Jelly Roll plus some summery fabric strips for the background, then scraps of bright fabrics for the applique. I like the rickrack flower stems and stripey fish. Then I outline quilted in black around all the shapes and stipple quilted the spaces. I've never been a fan of stippling, or done quite so much, but it grew on me with this quilt. So much so, that I stippled a whole quilt after this one!

I used a 2 inch black and white stripe on the back, and I think it works. When you turn the quilt over, you can see the quilting (also in black and white) like a line drawing on the back. It's a bit of fun.

xoxo Ann.

Memories

2010-02-10T23:01:00.000-08:00

Remember I told you about the quilt I bought from the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, "Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece"? It arrived today! The idea was that the quilts were the size of a USPS flat cardboard priority mailer without folding. When my daughter brought it up the drive and told her it was my quilt, she said in disbelief, "That's not big enough to be a quilt!"

But when I opened the package and there it was... It was so exciting! The quilt, called Memories, by Victoria Findlay Wolfe, at Bumble Beans blog, is exquisite. The applique is hand done using invisible stitches, and the quilting dots all over the piece. It's really lovely.

Thank you V!
xoxo Ann

A Very Nice Day

2010-02-06T23:54:00.000-08:00

I had a very nice day at the end of last week.
I was quilting my Fish and Flowers quilt in my shop, when a quilter and blogger from Cairns dropped in. Debbie, from Deb's Quilting, stayed for a coffee and chat. It's really special when someone you've never met in person, but reads your blog, contacts you and you meet in the flesh. I'm sure you know the feeling.
I used an all over stipple on the quilt, after free motion stitching around the flowers with a black thread. They're quite large, and I found it a little challenging keeping the stitching lines straight, or smooth, and although I've done a lot of machine quilting, I've never actually stippled such a large area.

As I was doing the stippling, I was surprised by some old friends from Dalby, a bit further west of Brisbane. I went to school with Ruth, and was the bridesmaid at her wedding. It's great to see a couple still together and happy after more than 20 years!

I finished the stippling, and was quite pleased, then to do the border in some kind of wavy, crinkly design... my sewing mahcine spat the dummy about a foot from the end of the last edge.
That's when Sandi from Embroideroo popped in with her sock monkey for a loan.
Here he is sitting on a can of insect spray. Since we've had so much rain, the ants have invaded and I've had to resort to surface spray to protect special things like the cats' food mat and kitchen tidy bin. Yuk!
But the monkey is sweet. Just in front is a magazine with quilt patterns from Don't Look Now. Kellie is a really talented designer - beautiful quilts- and I'm pleased to stock her patterns in my shop.

Later that evening I was visiting some blogs and a beautiful little quilt at Bumble Beans caught my eye on a number of side bars. (I think Victoria at Bumble Beans must be one of the most prolific and amazing quilters in the world!)It was part of an exhibition to raise funds for Alzheimer's disease research and awareness, Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. I checked out the website, and bought Victoria's beautiful quilt, Memories! So exciting! My own grandmother had Alzheimer's, so I felt a special connection to the quilt and the cause.
Have a look at the websites, and you too may find something you like to support this worthy cause.
Hopefully I'll receive the quilt soon - I'll show it to you,

xoxo Ann.

Last Weekend

2010-02-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was one of those weekends when you feel like all you do is work. Do you ever feel like you just can't catch up? I really needed to clean the house, but I'd set up my cutting table to baste quilts in the middle of the lounge room, and although I finished a few quilts on the Saturday night, I still had one to go on Sunday. I was tired on Sunday... but I did end up finishing basting the quilt. It's a top I made almost a year ago from African shweshwe squares. I've decided to hand quilt this one with sashiko thread.

The pile of basted quilts. Isn't that red one a lovely backing? it's from the Moda Rouenneries range and I used it for the indigo, red and white quilt above. You can also catch a glimpse of the large applique flowers and fish one from a few posts ago.

And here it is again! I'm trying to decide on a quilting thread for it, and Dolly's helping. In the end I chose the pastel variegated Signature thread to blend the pastel background strips. The flowers have already been free machine appliqued with a black thread to make them pop. (I've finished it now and love the look of it, even if I do say so myself - very different style of quilt for me... but I'll tell you more about that in my next post.)

Finally, I finished this little fairy Baby Wrap. I really made it to show case the fabric, but it's so simple and could be done with any print you don't want to cut. I just had to put the red half square triangle borders on the top and bottom. When I sew those, for some reason I feel happy. Perhaps that's what quilting is all about.
Do you like the background? It's the lovely shabby chic shelf full of fabrics in my boutique.
Have a good week ,

xoxo Ann.

Cats and Quilts

2010-01-30T16:09:00.000-08:00

Enter, the Cats...

Dusty

and Dolly...

make their first appearance for 2010, and they'd like to wish you all a Very Happy New Year, I'm sure!
They're both snuggled in their favourite spots. Dusty's on a quilt on my bed, and Dolly's taken over a quilt top waiting to be ironed before basting, on my ironing board. (it looks a bit like a surf board here.) It doesn't matter what's on there, Dolly will be with it - even a steaming iron.
The quilt at the top is an old one, Clare Valley Rainbow , when I was still practising and trying out traditional machine quilting patterns on my sewing machine. My wobbly vine stems always bothered me, but it looks quite nice in this light. I bought a pack of gorgeous fabrics which reminded me of the Clare Valley wine growing area in South Australia, from Frangipani Fabrics when they first opened in Darwin years ago. Then I proceeded to make a medallion quilt.
The next quilt has been in progress for about a year now, and has spent most of it's uncompleted life as a table cloth to cover up a trestle tabe when my shop was temporary. Now I've moved in, I have proper furniture and I can finish the quilt. It's quite nice, made with South African Shweshwe indigos and red.
I seem to have a lot of quilts at the quilting stage - actually at the basting stage, which I hate! I've spent nearly my whole weekend hours not at work, pin basting. What a dreary bore...
Now I have to get dressed and vacuum, yes, on a Sunday!
But I have had breakfast in bed while reading Memoires of a Geisha my latest book club book. I'm surprised that , although I've read it before and seen the movie, I'm enjoying and am gripped by it as much as before, maybe more.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend,

xoxo Ann

Sweltering Summer 2010, Baroon Pocket Dam

2010-01-29T22:08:00.000-08:00

It's been REALLY hot here, and Maleny is usually a couple of degrees cooler than Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast! We went for a picnic with friends from Darwin, to Baroon Pocket Dam.
The Kookaburras are very cheeky there and often swoop down to grab your sausage from its bun while it's en route to your mouth!
Here's one just waiting for the opportunity...

Black swans also joined us on the lake. I altered this image a little - it's a bit like a lino print now.

The water was so clear for this little flock of swans.

And here's something I'm working on at present, to fit the summer mood.

We've finally had a bit of rain today and things have cooled down a bit for now. Thank heavens for air-con in my shop!
Hope you're keeping cool too,

Ann xoxo

Searching for Inspiration at the Start of a New Decade

2010-01-25T04:16:00.000-08:00

It's time to post, but it's so hard to get motivated! I just read An Indian Summer, one of the blogs in my favourites thing in the sidebar, and the splashes of brilliant colour there helped.
I was really sad to see that Amanda Jean has written her last post at Crazy Mom Quilts. She has made an amazing collage of ALL the quilts she finished in 2009. That blog was truly inspirational and I'm a bit bemused about how upset I was that it's finished too.
I don't know... maybe it's school holidays, the heat, or opening my shop, Quiltopia full time that's to blame.
School goes back on Wednesday, so maybe I'll get some work on quilts done then... instead of watching the first 4 seasons of How I Met Your Mother, or season one of Gossip Girl. I've always been a fan of a good soap, since I used to almost jog home from school in the '70s to catch the last 10 minutes of The Young and the Restless.
I decided to put a little bit of the quilt I made my sister for Christmas up the top there, just to get some colour happening till I post properly tomorrow. I finished 23 quilts last year! And I've already finished a couple this year... but nothing to get excited about yet. I've also written up and sent my next quilt project for Down Under Quilts, Quilt Africa. And I've moved Quiltopia into a permanent retail location in down town Maleny. So I guess I've done something. I am constantly amazed and awed by the sheer persistence of those of you who create and blog and spread the word seemingly tirelessly, when we all know how much effort it all takes.
Right now, I'm finding out that full time retail is fun and very draining!
Keep up the good blogging all you out there and roll on 2010 and thanks for reading -
Ann xoxo

What TYPE of blog is yours?

2010-01-13T00:37:00.000-08:00

The Typealyzer says about my blog:

ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves.

The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

I found this entertaining little gem on Diane Wright Quilts .
Thanks Diane!

Quilts for Christmas

2010-01-06T00:28:00.000-08:00

The quilts revealed!
Happy New year to you all and may 2010 be a wonderful, prosperous, fun and fulfilling year!

Our family spent the Christmas - New Year break in an amazing Queensland style house backing onto The Noosa River and only 5 minutes walk into Noosa Heads. It was lovely.
The quilts I gave for Christmas were very much appreciated and I had to take some nature shots of them on the jetty at our holiday house. The day I took these was a king tide and I only just managed to rescue the quilts from a wave rolling over the spot where the quilts were posed!
How more satisfied can a quilt maker be than when her teenage daughter loves the quilt she's received? I made this one for Amelia from 4 Moda Charm Packs, each from a different range. I used Verna, Rouenneries, Rural Jardin and Blush.
It was amazing how the serendipitous selection turned into this pretty, subtle little quilt. It's the perfect accessory for the sun and sea bleached beauty of my daughter, and the soft weathered boards below.

Even at 14 months, Eva was overjoyed with her "I Spy"/ "Very Hungry Caterpillar "quillow! She got comfortable on it and started pointing as soon as it was unwrapped.

Here she is just ruminating on all the different things she can see. Look at those little feet! She spent many moments quietly gazing and pointing in her cot, pre-sleep. It's such a simple quilt (I posted about a similar one just a few weeks ago) but the kids love it.
Looking forward to another year posting,

Ann.