Never too old to learn

I follow the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog and have been browsing thru their tutorials. There is something there for all sewers - quilting, garments, sewing for the home and more. Take the time to browse thru the topics - you never know you might pick up some new techniques.
Another blog I like is True Up - a blog devoted to fabric. They have a look at new releases, a sale alert section and lots more posted five days a week. A recent post included a link to the Rit fabric dye site. There you'll find a tool for mixing dye colours digitally - think of the time and mess this would save you if you're into dyeing your own fabric/clothes etc. I'm not but if you are it would be a very handy tool.

Ok that's enough school - a pic from Dawn in NZ. Her version of my Pickled Lillies quilt - looks great doesn't it. It is a challenging design to construct but Dawn has done a beautiful job. I can see the hands holding the quilt at the top but where are the legs?

This gorgeous quilt is from Anna in my Blackheath class. It is her version of my Spring Baskets doily quilt and I really covet this! Her collection of doilies is fantastic and her colour sense and sewing/embroidery skills are wonderful. It's a great way to use those lovely linens that are hiding in the cupboard - if you can bear to cut them up that is. Here are a few close ups of some of the blocks.

A blue and white spot border will be added with further applique and ric rac. I want it!

Happy campers!

We had a fabulous time at camp even if it was a bit chilly outside. The sewing room was full of hot air all weekend with the girls sewing their hearts out. Fantastic results all around including very creative free-motion samplers. Some learnt a lot of new things about the sewing machines they'd been using for a while so all was good.

As you can see there was a wide variety of 10deg wedge ruler creations - only limited by the imagination of the sewer really. Prizes were awarded for all sorts of things including to Jeanette for sewing her instructions into her sample! (top row, 2nd pic). Janice definitely sewed better with her tongue out and Ann looked impressive surrounded by wonderful examples of her quilting.

One of the highlights of show and tell on Saturday night was Pam's "out-of-the-attic" jacket - a real blast from the past. (She'll die when she sees this).

More pics next post of the myriad of beautiful quilts these girls are producing - some in classes and some under their own steam. It's a visual delight.

My friend Rachael who was at camp for the Saturday classes sure has a bit of bragging to do. She is the current featured crafter in the second edition of Fat Quarterly an e-zine for crafters.

Her interview is very interesting and all her friends are being constantly surprised by her hidden talents.

Well done Rachael - it's a pleasure to know you and have you on our quilt show committee.

Springwood Quilt Show and more

I can't believe I did it! I created a Widget to link from my blog to our Springwood Quilt Show blog.
It's on the sidebar - go and check out the progress on our raffle quilt.
Lots of problems this morning with blogger and photos so the previous post pics have no captions - never mind. From the top down they are

Lurley's from Blackheath

Work in progress on my 1940's DW rings

Another block from my circle sampler soon to be a bigger size

Judy's NYB quilt from Quiltsmith class

I'm off to Toowoomba at the end of September for the Quilting on the Downs week of classes organised by Lisa from Precious Time quilt shop. How exciting and in great company too. Sue Ross, Kathy Doughty and Robyn Ginn to name just a few. Have a look here at the program - it sounds wonderful and I'm so delighted to be asked along for the ride. It's in conjunction with the Carnival of Flowers Festival and should be great fun.

Various

Circle sampler

Here it is finally finished but not yet quilted. It was a lot of fun to make and I was sorry to see the

journey end.

It has created a fair bit of interest when I have shown it to current classes so hopefully

it will translate to more classes next year.

Some of the blocks are pieced into the background and some are appliqued onto it with a tiny bound edge.

I am now working on larger, stand-alone versions of some of the blocks which is very interesting. Foundations are easily printed in EQ7, any size you like.

Home sweet home

With all the beautiful weather we've been having lately I've been taking some pics around the garden. The resident possum is collecting leaves for her house - maybe in preparation for a new arrival?

Hubby is the mosaic expert and has a great eye for using re-purposing junk. We have a few of these "houses" around the garden and it's been a really good year for camellias in the mountains. The chair we found on the roadside - it's a bit "french bistro".
A few years ago our house was often used as the location for photo-shoots for several well-known Australian patchwork magazines . The friendly guys and girls would come with lots of magazine projects and set up vignettes around the house using their props and whatever was suitable amongst our things. It was fun to watch the process and a real thrill to see our rooms as the backdrops for beautiful photos when the mags eventually hit the street. They've since moved on to newer and less-seen locations.

Have fun!

Found this great site where you can make puzzles from pictures. Click on the quilt and have a go at the puzzle. What fun!

Hexagon magic

No pics in this post again - my trusty camera went back to Coonamble last Sunday! I'll have to start using the big guns from now on - hope it's easy. The girls travelled over 300kms to Bathurst and Wendy even drove up from Melbourne for the weekend. They all stayed in a local motel and were having a wonderful time as you can imagine.
All coped really well with foundation piecing and we had a Georgetown circle and two curved flying geese blocks all happening at the same time. It was a busy day.
On the train Monday into Quiltsmith for another enjoyable day - sadly the classes finish next month. It's a fantastic shop with just my sort of fabric at every turn.
Only 16 more sleeps til quilt camp - hooray! Requirements have been emailed and I'm sure students are busy sorting fabrics and getting ready for a fab weekend. More on the subject soon.