Bonjour Quilts: patchwork

Showing posts with label patchwork. Show all posts

Monday, January 13, 2014

2014. Can you believe it?

Another New Year is here; I can't believe it's 12 months tomorrow that we arrived home in Australia.

After all the Christmas hoop-la it's nice to take a step back and reflect on the past year and what might happen in the year to come.

In 2013 I had to come to terms with a few sad things:

1. I no longer live in France. Sniff.
2. I no longer have as much time to sew *grumblepaidwork* *grumbleshorternaptimes*

But of course, there's always a silver lining:

1. Australia is awesome, yay!
2. Less cheese and no baguette means my ass is smaller.
3. Paid work means I can buy fabric without guilt*

This year, I have a few plans and so I'm writing them down here to try and keep myself honest and on track.

In 2014 I will be sewing:

1. Two queen-sized quilts for our bed (finally!) One will be a bit complicated, the other quite easy. I haven't decided if I will quilt them myself... am I up for the challenge?
2. A log cabin twin-sized quilt for my daughter (yellow, of course).
3. A yet-to-be-decided twin-sized quilt for our 9 yr old son.
4. A big ol' picnic rug-type quilt
5. At least two tops or dresses or something for me to wear.

The first queen-sized quilt underway

I will also be attempting to:

1. Free motion quilt one of the above projects.
2. Paper-piece something. Anything. I'm yet to decide.
3. Sort out this blog's design (bit of mess at the moment, sorry).
4. Write up a pattern for sale.
5. Perhaps start a newsletter.

Speaking of the blog, I know many of you enjoyed the travel posts I would put together on France, but I'm not sure if you're as interested in Australia. Here's your chance to have your say in the poll over in the right-hand sidebar. Or feel free to leave a comment.

But now, on to more pressing matters: The Pantone 2014 Colour of the Year - Radiant Orchid.

How are we feeling about this?

Source: Pantone website

I have to admit I'm feeling a little disappointed because I'm not a purple person (literally or figuratively). I was hoping one of the blues would be chosen. Maybe by the end of the year I'll be feeling the love.

Right, back to the sewing I go.

I hope 2014 has started off on the right foot for you all. Have you made your own 'to do' list? Have you made it public?

Until next time, may you all have plenty of sewing time and may your bobbins never run out mid-seam!

* Guilt-free fabric shopping? Not really. Like many of you, (I see you there, trying to close your cupboards without me noticing) I have a healthy sized stash that could do with some thinning out.

Therefore: I will try to make all of the projects on my 2014 list from fabrics already in my possession.

Yeah, who am I kidding?

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Craft and Quilt Fair, Brisbane 2013

Marg and I had a wild day out a few months ago when the Craft and Quilt Fair came to Brisbane.

Don't let the grey hair fool you - there were some hella-rough poker games going on at those tables down there.

I love wandering around the exhibition quilts and seeing all the clever ideas people have come up with.

A little retail therapy never hurts, either:

Following are various works that caught my eye - all have their creators listed below their photograph. If you are one of the artists and wish to have the photo of your work removed, please just email me and poof, it'll be gone.

Flying Colours: Budgies Uncaged by Brenda Gael Smith (with hand dyed cotton fabric)

My kind of nude, I could claim my wobbly bits were just stippling:

Free Beach by Elaine Sturmfels (with hand dyed whole cloth background)

Free: Soaring into Sunlight by Bob James

Liberated by Kathy Beilby

Coreopsis by Bernardine Hine

Brighten the Corner Where You Are by Robin Ginn

A masterpiece. If this was mine, red wine would be banned from my house:

Golden Ivory by Rachelle Denneny

The top of my head blows off when I think of how long this took to make.

And this one. Amazing. Look how big it is. Half inch hexies. 3 years and 10 months to complete. I was in awe.

Hexagon Trellis Roses by Olive Claydon

I really love the shading on the trellis and how it changes across the quilt:

I loved many of the blocks in this sampler:

My Dear Jane by Elizabeth Rixon

Fun texture:

Untitled (that I could see) by Jan Scudamore

William Morris Sampler by Judith Carrow

Morning Mist by Lorraine Carthew

On the Wing by Pam Hill

I love the mustard and the quilted scallops. Mmmm, mustard scallops.

Charity by Shirley Chiu

Some lovely machine embroidery:

Polished Posies by Trish Taylor

Gorgeous free motion quilting:

Pink Silk Fun by Jane Rundle

It was really hard not to touch this one, the texture was fantastic:

The Best Things in Life are Free: Sunset Over the Ocean by Barbara McLennan

One of the guest exhibitors was an American quilt artist, Judy Coates Perez. She paints her artwork on fabric and quilts them with amazing designs and colour. Each quilt was filled with such incredible detail, I wanted to look at them all day. It was hard to move on to the next display.

But Where are All the Martians? by Judy Coates Perez

But just as well we did move on or we'd have missed Loanie Prior's whimsical tea cosies. Aren't they just the best?

(It was rather dark around Loanie's display - head over to her Ravelry page to see much better pictures of all her great pieces. They'll make you chuckle.)