Quilting Owl

Hot off the press in the latest edition of Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol 19 No 8 is a project for a small quilt I hand pieced and hand quilted using the big stitch Perle thread method.   "Marmalade and Jam" by Frances Leate AP&Q Vol19 No 8 It was a fun little quilt to design and make and proved to be very portable and travelled with me on the odd trip away.  The only time I resorted to the sewing machine was to add the prairie points as stitching through so many thicknesses of fabric can be very hard going on my right hand.  My favourite colour "yellow" also managed to creep into things! Till next time Frances

"On Parade" is finished and packed up ready to post to Australian Patchwork & Quilting as a forthcoming project.  This quilt uses a Moda Kansas Troubles fabric range and the quilt top has been in the "to be quilted" heap for a while now.  One more to cross off the list. To celebrate finishing a WIP I instantly started another project which proved to be a much faster one to produce and only required some very simple machine quilting on the trusty old Bernina.  So now all I have to do is finish hand stitching the binding on "Floral Marathon", sew on a label and write a pattern. There hasn't been much progress on the EPP Pie project this week as I have been spending my evenings stitching bindings and I can't wait to get back to stitching a few more particularly as I have a few prepared and ready to sew. Till next time Frances

While I was sorting out some bits and pieces in the Studio this week I came across an interesting piece of fabric, an idea followed and the end result was these fabric strips which are quite a change from the colours I have been working with recently.  Time will tell if the "idea" works out the way I envisage! The Sunday Stitchers didn't disappoint this week with more lovely projects to share with us all. Shirley M bought along her beautifully pieced New Zealand quilt which has just come back from the quilter so we could all discuss some binding options. Shirley W has just finished a lovely small quilt using the bits and pieces which were left over from her "Butterfly Garden" Block of the Month quilt. Linda  is making one of my designs "Four by Two" and spent some time choosing border fabrics.  The quilt is Linda's third project and she has pieced this expertly using a Jelly Roll.  I am looking forward to seeing the finishe...

Every year a week long art school called "Artescape" is held at the Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns and last year I enrolled in a "Drawing for Pleasure" class.  I had a theory that if I improved my drawing skills then this would help me improve my free motion machine quilting. The class was very relaxed and extremely enjoyable and even if I didn't do a lot to improve my quilting skiils then I certainly had a good time.  Some of our sessions were held outdoors in the Botanical Gardens and Centenary Lakes located next to the Tanks Arts Centre and some sessions were indoors with still life and life models to draw. There was a lot of talent around and it was fabulous to just wander around and have a look at what was going on in some of the other classes like the watercolour group here. At some stage I would like to spend some time and work on the techniques I learned during that week but time passes so quickly.  I truly admire people who can draw and wonder if this ...

It was back to the machine this weekend to finish the quilting on a project that now has a deadline.  I don't know about you but I seem to finish a lot more quilts and other items when deadlines loom. The other day I was rummaging in a cupboard looking for some special fabric when I came across a few Candlewicked blocks made from designs in a Jean Jensen book.  I had embroidered these blocks quite some time back and never got around to assembling them into a table runner.  The blocks are now stitched together with beige tone on tone borders and I just need to layer the runner and add some quilting - progress! These new tarts were added to the heap for my very addictive Pies & Tarts project.  I do enjoy hand stitching so much. Till next time Frances

My quilt "A Summer Place" is a project in the latest issue of Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol 19 No 7.  This project began as a quick and easy Jelly Roll quilt but when I set out my blocks on the design wall I  just wasn't happy so I then decided to add sashing, applique and then a pieced border and "just like Topsy" the quilt design evolved and grew to a Queen sized quilt.  It is now about 5 months since I bundled up the quilt and project instructions and sent them off to Express Pulications so it is quite exciting to now see it in print. Also featured in this edition of Australian Patchwork & Quilting is an in depth article written by Peter about the design and construction of the Studio in our back yard.  A tropical climate influenced many of the design aspects in the construction of this building which was built to accommodate all the quilting and office paraphernalia which would no longer fit inside our home. You can read al...

The talented group of Sunday Stitchers once again came up with some lovely projects for us all to enjoy. Kathy has excelled herself with her Baltimore style quilt.  She started this project in my applique class and after completing three blocks branched out and finished the quilt with her own creative style . Kathy has included some wonderful detail in the border with some lovely flowers, birds, butterflies and baby birds in the nest and birdhouse.  I am not a very good photographer so I hope you can see these cute birds. Kathy also brought along her hexagons to work on - Jenny has been off to a workshop and is finishing a reversible log cabin quilt-as-you-go project -  and Shirley was stitching a very cute block for a child's quilt. Till next time Frances