New shop on the block

Mine that is! I have opened a new shop on Etsy to sell my patterns. It's called PatchworkFUN so go on over and check it out - they take Paypal and cards for purchases. I hope you like the selection. There is a button on my sidebar as well.
Now for the funnest bit. Have you seen pics of this quilt from the V&A exhibiton last year?

Isn't it amazing! Well Marta from http://cartulinas.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/el-rey-jorge-pasando-revista-a-las-tropas has begun a Sew Along to make the 16 different blocks surrounding the centre panel of King George III reviewing the troops.

She has drafted the blocks from the original which was made in 1803. The rosettes are @ 6" in diameter but you could make them any size you like. She will be releasing one block each month starting January so there are three already. Her blog is in Spanish and sometimes the Google translation can be quite amusing. However her PDF patterns are in English

Sue Prichard the curator of the exhibition has a few interesting things to say about the quilt here and Janet Bottomley has posted some more pics on her blog here.

There is even a Flickr group here.

Thanks

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and left a comment on my blog. It's lovely to hear from everyone especially the newbies who have finally taken the plunge - you know who you are! And thanks to all the "lurkers" as well.
Check out my op-shop find of the week - a quilt. Someone said it was just what I need!
In our little strip of shops we have three op-shops - what does that say about our area I wonder. As well as some really good linen pants and a top I scored this blue and white quilt. I hope Lonza, whose name was on it with the date 1997 will know it has gone to a good home. The piecing is perfect and the colours divine.

The latest quilt show meeting was at my house last Thursday evening and Petal bought the finished quilt along. Isn't it amazing. Check out the blog for the show in the coming days for more news.

We have several followers already and one of them is from Norway! How exciting is that. Hope they can come over for the show in April 2011.

 This pic is the start of five Noodle Box quilts from my Berrima class. They are all different but will come together beautifully - top right is Xmas-themed and you can see the violin in the centre. Bottom left is Tamsin's from the shop and she's using Clarice Cliff fabric in the quilt for her mum.

I'm off to Orange again this weekend for two days of NYB classes. Hope it's a bit warmer than last time!

And have a look at my class schedule on the sidebar for new classes coming up next year - maybe I'll see you sometime.

Classes

I've just received today issue 130/September 2009 of Quilts Japan. Tho the whole mag is in Japanese the pics are fantastic and the projects could be accomplished with a bit of concentration. Anyway this issue has an English flavour with pics from several museums in the UK - Norwich in particular. Why wasn't it around before I was over there last year. This pic is of the Brereton Bed Hangings and more can be seen here. Real eye candy!

These two pics are from my workshop at Quiltsmith on the weekend. They include two projects from a past class and the start of the weekend's Oriental Mariners quilt. We had a great day playing with the same design in different fabrics and tho the quilt wasn't finished over the two days I'm sure the girls are well on their way. Can't wait to see them finished.

Now this one is a version of my Doily quilt below. Gabrielle from my Blackheath class has used up a lot of embroideries, hankies, lace and doilies in this beautiful, soft-toned example of how to get things out of the linen-press and into the daylight. She has @ 5 weeks to quilt it for our Springwood quilt show - no golf for a while girl!

This quilt apparently has caused lots of discussion in the shop - Ribbons and Rainbows - when people comment on their own stash of stitcheries and doilies languishing in the cupboard. Cut them up!! and get them out there I say.

Hubby's finally got the all-clear on his ribs nearly 10 weeks after the event so he's pretty much back to normal now. What a saga!

Who's a lucky girl then

How about that! There's my quilt on the cover of BCC - what great photos they produce. It's a scrap thousand pyramids quilts just right for hand-piecing over the summer hols. Hand quilted with number 8 thread - how quick and easy is that.

This is the first of my order of three quilt history books to arrive from Amazon. What a delight it is. Every time the courier walks down the path with a mystery bag/box it feels like Xmas - maybe it is! Full of quilts and the stories behind them it will be consumed over several weeks and lots of cups of tea.

Another real surprise is the mention of my Mariners Garden quilt pattern on the blog of Penny The Dedicated Appliquist.
Go and have a look at her fantastic site all about applique with a bit of her life thrown in. It's a treat to read. Thanks Penny for mentioning me, I am thrilled. The pattern is available from my SEWnSELL shop and the button's on the side bar.

Penny also put me on to the three new quilt history books available from Amazon at a really good price. If you're interested just scroll back thru a couple of her posts and you'll find it.

Various

What do you think Bernina would think of
this classic image! Lyn hadn't cleaned her
machine since buying it and there was
quite a bit of gunk in the bobbin area.
Typical male solution - get some
machinery on the job - it worked a treat
I can tell you.



Last year in Houston I bought some uncompleted double wedding ring/pickle dish arcs in 40's fabrics. They were so wonky with no two arcs the same size so I redrew the block in EQ and made a new arc template. I recut the arcs to be all the same and am in the process of piecing them with a yellow spot centre. Haven't decided on the colour for larger joining piece yet but it is fun working with all these lovely vintage prints.
Check out Martha's blog here to see some pieces almost the same and a different way of piecing them.


Keep an eye out for the next issue of Down Under Quilts which will be featuring the raffle quilt we made for this year's
Springwood Quilt Show. It's in an article on new ways with old designs and this is the quilt.

Have a look at Deborah (the editor's) blog here for more info.

Home again

Finally home after a wonderful trip. More details over the next few posts but I had to get this one up. In the latest issue of Down Under Quilts you'll find Jan Urquhart's EQ column with a query from Chris J. about how to draw this block from an old quilt - that's me!
She very kindly answered my query by writing a whole column on it - how kind she is - thanks Jan. The pic is of wrapping paper I bought and I'd love to make the same pattern but where to begin. EQ was the answer, now all I have to do is start sewing.