Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Spring 2011

I almost missed this year's Bloggers' Quilt Festival  for Spring 2011. It started yesterday May 13th. Life is getting really hectic these days. I never thought anything of it until a dear colleague who reads my blog asked me one day how I manage to do so much while also working full time. She said I'm so prolific with what I do! I'm sure that was a compliment. I don't know how to live any other way. I seem to have a lot on the go at any one time. I love it!

The quilt I'm entering in BQF today is this small friendship quilt I made two of them, one for myself and one for my friend Linda (no blog) who gave me the heart fabric for the border. To me the heart fabric by itself was overpowering, but setting it around a redwork embroidery toned it down a bit. I love it much better now.  

It's only 36" x 36" square. I hand embroidered and quilted it using a bow pattern. It's not a brand new quilt, but I haven't blogged it here before so I thought I would share it in this year's Bloggers' Quilt Festival. Thanks again Amy for hosting this wonderful event. I'm looking forward to visiting all the blogs and viewing all the wonderful quilts.

Civil War Quilts Block 13 - 16

Hope everyone enjoyed the Easter break. We had been away for a week visiting DS's family and lot of hugs and kisses with our DGC. I discovered so many new plants on the Sth. Coast to use in natural dyeing. I will post about that in the next few posts. Today though I would show you the CWB blocks that I completed before Easter.


All four Civil War Quilts blocks are together in this post. I have been making them every week when a new pattern comes out. I'm looking forward to it each Sunday when the new pattern gets posted on CWQ Blog. Because of the time zone differences between Australia and North America some of the blocks are made by the time I get up in the morning. I do like it that way because I can see some finished blocks posted on Flickr before I even thought about what fabric to use in each block. It helps a lot to see what colours are being used in the block. Thanks Dustin for providing us the Flickr page. 

Block 13: Little blue basket. I love this block, I love blue and basket so there is nothing better than combining them in one block. I found a place for my 'F' (red) fabric here as well. The original pattern doesn't have handle, but I like the handle on my basket. 

Block 14: Fox and geese. I get to use yellow in this block to brighten up the overall quilt. I have been thinking about using that brown and blue fabric for the corner stones. I have got a lot of that fabric. I will see how it goes once I cut the sashings. It's fun to plan the quilt as I go!

Block 15: Fort Sumter. A great block to feature the fabric you like in the center piece. Each block does not need a lot of fabric which is good because I only have little bit of some of this fabric. 

Block 16: White House. I like the name of this block. The white pinwheel represents the White House and the stars are the FBI, hehe!  I have been collecting Americana fabric since I went to Houston Quilt Festival 10 years ago. I'm glad I got to use some of this fabric in this quilt. There are stories behind each of these blocks so if you are interested please hop over to CWQ Blog to read all about them. I hope you have been enjoying my Civil War block of the week. I'm having fun making and sharing them with you. 

Civil War Quilts Block 11 & 12

Twelve  blocks down forty blocks to go! I'm pleased that I'm keeping up with all the blocks. I know I will be behind when I'm away. I hope during those weeks Barbara would put out easy blocks so I can catch up when I get back. 

(Block 11 London Square)

I can't remember if I mentioned that the 'F' fabric (red one) was the fabric I picked up from the op-shop Savers. It is Liberty fabric. It was a large piece over 2 meters in length. In block 11 I decided to use a piece of Liberty prints from my collection to make this block. 

(Block 12 Louisiana) 

Block 12 was a nice and simple one to make. The finished size of these blocks is 8" but some of my pieces end up bigger by 1/8". I've been caught out many times by cutting them 1/4" instead of 1/8",  so now I test each piece by making a trial unit to make sure that I end up with an 8" finished block. 

Now that I have 12 blocks I thought I would lay them out to see how they would look together. I think I need more greens and yellows in my future blocks. The red looks a lot brighter in real life than in the photo. I'm happy with how they look together so far. To read the history and see the original block please visit CWQ blog and see all members blocks on flickr. 

CWQ Block 9 & 10

A devastating earthquake hit Japan last weekend. The images on the news were hard to bear. To think that it was only a couple of weeks ago that it happened in Christchurch, NZ. Do you feel that there are disasters happening too often lately! Let's send them positive energy to help find more survivors.

On a brighter note I have been keeping up with CWQ blocks, but it's quite a challenge lately. A week comes  faster than you think. I like to try to get it done at the same weekend the new pattern comes out on Saturday evening. The best part of making these blocks for me is deciding where on the block to use my 'F' fabric (the red one). 

(Block 9 Birds in the air)

I always like Birds in the air block. I made a scraps quilt using this pattern once and still feel sentimental about the block. I'm happy I can use my 'F' fabric for the main corner.

(Block 10 Linclon's Platform)

This is really a churn dash block with one extra colour for the center. What makes all these blocks so special is the story behind them. To read the history of each block visit CWQ blog.

I hope you are keeping well. I haven't been visiting many blogs lately. Life seems to be running away with me this year!  

Civil War Quilts: Block 3 & 7

At long last I have finally finished block three, the Seven Sisters of Civil War Quilts block of the week. It took me that long and I had to challenge myself to do one star per night. I'm happy I finished it now. I'm now up to date with all the blocks. Block seven came out last weekend and it was an easy log-cabin block so I finished it on the same day. If you have not visited the Civil War Quilts blog I hope you will do so soon. There is a Flickr page set up for the finished blocks from the members. It's a treat to see all of the blocks made for each week displayed together. 

(Block 3 Seven Sisters)

Block 3 has only 7 seven stars, so it wasn't hard to choose where 'F' fabric would go. I have had the background fabric for ages. Even though it was quite a simple block, it has too many points to needle turn. I'm out of practice with appliqué I think. I do love it now it's done!

(Block 7 Log-Cabin)

I wanted to use yellow in some of the blocks, and block 7 gave me a chance to do just that. The original block has only 2 logs; 3 including the center piece. My version has 3 logs, 4 with the center piece. My 'F' fabric is used for the center piece which was the obvious choice. 

Apart from these Civil War Quilts block I haven't been working on any traditional quilts lately. I'm in the middle of my Contemporary Woven Boro workshop with Jude Hill. It's another kind of quilting altogether. I don't have to worry about the dreaded 1/4" which I'm not very good as keeping.  Also I don't have to use only quilting fabric for this kind of quilting. 

In this decade I've promised myself to use up my fabric stash and recycle and reuse as much as possible.  It's my way of helping the environment. I'm sure you have your way of helping the environment too.  Thanks for visiting. I do appreciate all your kind comments. 

Happy Valentines the BORO Style

For the first time in ages I can say I'm back to the land of living without the nasty flu again. A couple of visits to the doctor and sometime to rest and I would say I'm well again yay! Today I'd like to start on a brighter note to wish you lovely bloggers and friends out there a Happy Valentines Day for Monday! I would like to share LOVE all around this Valentines Day with my readers. Blogging has been fun for me and after 2 years I can happily say I have met and made many wonderful friends through blogging. I'm loving it!
At part of my Contemporary Weaving BORO online workshop with Jude Hill. We were weaving hearts in one form or another, and this is mine to share.

This is my Red Heart I did using scraps silk, satin, velvet and vintage silk for the background. The stitching give such a nice texture to the piece. I must say it took me 20 years of quilting to feel totally comfortable using raw edges. I'm glad to say that I have two quilting lives. One for the traditional and one for contemporary. I'm happy working on both concepts. BORO cloths are totally hand stitched.

Silk Study Tour piece. The best part of my travel always includes projects I take along to work on. We used to be away 6 weeks at a time and in some of those trips I appliquéd enough for a quilt. Sometimes I just take fabric and embroidery threads and do whatever idea I have while travelling. In my next trip with the Silk Study Tour I have prepared a basic SST cloth to take with me. I have already put the moon on there. The moon reminds me of Glennis (Shibori Girl). I will add Sakura (cherry blossom) flowers somewhere on there too. I'm not sure the trees will still be in bloom when we get there. At least I have them here on my cloth!

Another BORO woven piece I did for the class assignment. It was weaving without foundation. I don't have the right frame to use for this assignment, so I used a shoe box as a loom. I called this piece 'Namaste' to remind me of Kathmandu, Nepal where the silk tie came from.

I un-stitched it to open up the tie, and made slits in the large part of the tie. I didn't cut it right through; only as much as I needed. I then used mixed scraps of silk to weave with. I then appliquéd with a Buddha figure I cut out from a scarf and stitched all over it. After that I folded the tie back in shape again. Some people in class suggested I use it as a scarf. It's a lovely, soft piece. The stitching gives it a lovely texture. The stitching on the BORO pieces completes the work. 

I have posted these on the class blog this past week so some of you from there would have seen them already. 

Have a good weekend all where ever you are. 

A Moment of Weakness

In early January I was concerned that I might not have anything to do, ha! In a moment of weakness I joined the Civil War Quilts block of the week. This year is the 150th  anniversary of the American Civil War. Barbara Brackman a quilt historian, and author of Civil War quilts books and a fabric designer kindly offered a free weekly pattern to commemorate this event. At one block a week I thought I could manage that. It was more than just the great traditional patterns that Barbara offered to us; each block has a history to go with it. Block 6 just came out this weekend, so you are never too late to start. All the patterns would always be on the blog. You can catch up at any time. Apart from that there is a CWQ Flickr group for those without blogs to put up their photos. They are surprisingly enjoyable blocks to make. I don't have all the CW repro fabric to make them with. For me it's a challenge to use whatever I have on hand for these blocks. 

(Block 1 Catch me if you can)

I'm so excited to use the red Liberty fabric I found in an op-shop to use as 'F' (feature) fabric. I will have enough for all the blocks when I add other fabrics into it. It's not like other typical Liberty prints that I have seen before, but it definitely has LIBERTY Exclusive Design on the salvage! 

  

(Block 2 North Star)

It's a challenge to see where I can place my 'F' fabric on the pattern. I'm happy with what I have done so far; what do you think? 

(Block 4 Tears for Texas Tears)

I must say I didn't enjoy piecing this block. I had to unpick it a couple of times to get it right. Right no not right, it's a little bigger than 8.5" finished, but I will worry about that when I put them together in a year. I could use it alone as a label! Again the 'F' fabric finds its home nicely in this block too. 

(Block 5 Kansas Troubles)

I was surprised how well this block went together. I actually enjoy piecing smaller blocks. Again the 'F' fabric found its place nicely in this block too.

 (Block 6 Richmond)

Block 6-Richmond only came out last night so I thought I would get it done for this post. When I checked Flickr this morning there were already many completed blocks posted. A lot of very keen quilters out there were ready to get started when the pattern came out. I like the 'F' fabric on this block. I placed it on the outside border instead of inner pieces. It's important for when it comes to joining the blocks to have the balance of light and dark blocks.

Did you notice no block 3 here? Yes block 3 is an applique block and I just started when I was called away on duty as a Grandmother (any excuse, right?), but I'm working on it now, only 2 more stars to applique.  

Hopefully some of you might like to join the fun to make this historical quilt with me. Only one block a week, COME-ON!!! 

Where was I?

For nearly two weeks I was away to help out when DGS was born. I was glad I went. I got to see him on the first day home, and I got to take care of DGD for a little while just us two. DGS was settled well into his routine. Let's just say I had good sleep at nights, but I couldn't say the same for his parents! 

I came home in the weekend, but I must have caught the flu somewhere on my travels. I'm now sick and house bound for the rest of the week per doctor's orders. 


While I was away, I started a couple of projects. You might remember I mentioned that I'm taking Jude's online workshop. The workshop started while I was away and even though I had access to the internet, I didn't have time to follow it. Jude mentioned that I could make a baby cloth and that is what I did and finished it as well. DIL said she would preferred it rather than a proper quilt which takes more storage. I think so too!

Here is the Baby Cloth I did, I used boro and weaving style quilting. All the materials were boro and re-purposed fabric. The quilt is all hand pieced and hand stitched. I can go on stitching this quilt forever. You might think that it doesn't look like a quilt for a baby boy! Baby grows up fast these days. I feel that DGS can take this quilt and hang it on a college dormitory wall  anywhere in the world!

Another project I worked on was this long neglected netting bag I started when I was more into basket weaving years ago. The technique is not weaving but it's a net, like fishing net. The first couple of inches on the top was made using cordyline leaf striped thinly and twined into string.  

When I finally found it again for the life of me I couldn't face doing that again. It was a lot of twining! In one of the Fibre Forum events I found a ready made twine to use for the rest of the bag. You can't tell the difference right? I thought I didn't have time in this life to make everything! Bought items are sometimes useful, don't you agree?

The original design had changed by this time. I couldn't remember what I was making then, just one of those things you like to learn how to do. With the boro fabric in my thoughts I thought I will Boro it. By the way, Boro means rag in Japanese. How cool, I can use the word Boro as a noun too.  I really like this bag. It's an original design by me. It has a long handle to go across my shoulders while I'm traveling. Did I mention that I booked the Silk Study Tour to Japan in May? 

I'm sure some of you play with these styrofoam balls at one time or other. I picked up a bag full of them at an op-shop while I was away.  DIL was trying to get some new ideas for the handmade market she and her friends sell at. So I made a couple to show her and gave one to DGD using owl fabric (forgot to take a photo of that one). 

Thanks to all well wishers when I posted about the arrival of DGS. Sorry I didn't get back to any of you. It's good to be back visiting blogs again. My life must have been very empty before I blogged. 

Please join me to wish everyone in north Queensland a safe 24 hours as they are about to be faced with yet another disaster -  a Category 5 cyclone yasi due to come ashore tonight. They are very well prepared according to what I saw in the news. Let's hope all are safe. 

Blogger's Quilt Festival

The forth Blogger's Quilt Festival organized by Amy of Amy's Creative Side is from Oct. 29 to Nov. 5. I have taken part in the BQF since the beginning. Thanks to Amy for putting on this fantastic online quilt festival. I'm so looking forward to seeing all the gorgeous quilts in the festival. I hope to meet some new bloggers here as well. You know that I don't finish many quilts throughout the year, but this year I managed to finish this one quilt so, it's an achievement and special. I named it "Christmas Vintage Scrap". I know it's almost 2 months before Christmas, but it will be here before you know it...!

Ever since I started quilting for almost 20 years now. I always buy a couple pieces of Christmas fabric each year. I can say my Christmas fabric is quite vintage so when I saw this Christmas quilt at Happy Cottage Quilter I thought I would make it using all my Christmas scraps. I'm very happy with the way it turned out considering that I only had a photo to go by. 

I used the leftover strips as part of the backing. This quilt is totally a scrap saver. I can now get myself more Christmas fabric to top up my stash. For some reason I'm not very fond of the new Christmas fabric out there lately. I still love the traditional red and green for Christmas colours. 

A closer look at the quilt. Of course you can click on the images to enlarge them. If you would like to make this quilt for yourself. You can find a tutorial I did on part 1 and part 2. This quilt will look good using any fabric. Even with blue and white...!

The quilt was machine quilted by Donna Ward in New Zealand. Donna has been quilting for me for years and years now. Without Donna I wouldn't have any finished quilts, thanks Donna!

If you haven't been in the Blogger's Quilt Festival before I would highly recommended that you try it this time. It's as easy as posting on your blog and linking your post to the BQF site over at Amy's Creative Side. After that you just enjoy hopping around to all the blogs in the festival to see all the quilts.

Quilts in the Barn: A Treat

Quilts in the Barn, what a treat! At the weekend I went to Quilts in the Barn exhibition with quilts by Secret Sewing Sisterhood. The weather was horrible that weekend, but rain or storm wouldn't stop us that day and it's worth every drop of the rain we went through. Linda the hostess with the mostess and her team did a fantastic job and they raised over $10,000 for Breast Cancer research.  Below are quilts from the exhibition for your eye candy...Enjoy

This is the treat we had with our cup of tea. Aren't they the cutest cupcakes you have ever seen?

Deb and her gorgeous Blue and Yellow quilt I thought Kathie would like to see it. I know she loves this quilt and is making one too. 

Two versions of Sarah Morrell  quilts I would like to make it one day. I even got a pattern pack ready. At first I thought I like the pink version, but when I saw the blue one, now I'm not sure which I like better!

The famous Civil War Bride Quilt by Corliss of Threadbear was there too. It is a quilt that started up a blog with members from all over the world. 

Linda never misses a bead. She was ready with her camera. Here we were Linda, Di and myself.  

Home Sweet Home quilt is for my friend Ria in the Netherlands. I know she collected fabric ready to make this quilt. 

Corliss set up her booth here too. On the left is Corliss' new design English Baskets. I just love the colour she used in this quilt.

I hope you enjoy the exhibition I brought you and if you are making a donation to any breast cancer research foundation anywhere in the world, please let Linda know through her blog; she will then add it to the grand total.