Quilting Owl

I have had a great finish to 2011 today stitching blocks in the Studio.  I have decided that "Finish" is going to be my word for 2012 and this was inspired after reading what  Shirley  had to say last night and looking around at all the UFOs and WIPs I currently have.  That doesn't mean I won't be starting new projects but  just focussing more on finishing some of them. Here are the latest Farmers Wife project blocks which brings my block count now to 16. I am also completely up todate with the Civil War quilt blocks and only have one more to do which I won't be able to download until late tonight. A new owl has appeared on the inside of the Studio door, courtesy of Peter, to watch over me while I work.  It is a wooden cutout from Cairns Craft Centre which Peter has just finished painting.  I will sign off for the year and wish everyone who follows and reads this blog a very happy and peaceful 2012 full of lots of joy, hope and lov...

Santa was very kind to me and brought some wonderful new books for the library:  "Indigo & Sarasa" The Quilts of Shizuko Kuroha; "A History of Dutch Quilts" by An Moonen; and "The Quilters Hall of Fame" 42 Masters Who Have Shaped Our Art.  These are wonderful books and filled with lots of inspiration. Peter is always on the prowl for new owls to add to my collection and now I have this wonderful selection to add to the owl shelf in the Studio.  I also received a lovely hexagon mug rug from Suz over at PatchworkNPlay  which has an owl in the centre. Outside the Studio there are some pineapples just ready to be picked.  All Peter has to do to grow these is plant the top part of a pineapple and wait a few months - mind you at certain times of the year I think that if we planted a stick it would grow in the warm tropical earth. What with Christmas and preparing for classes in 2012, I had fallen behind with some of my ongoing projects but have managed to...

At last, the house is clean, the presents are all wrapped and some last minute decorations have been hung so its time to sit down and wish everyone a Merry Christmas!  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my loyal followers and everyone who takes the time to read this blog and hope you all have a very happy festive season. This morning while having breakfast we got the rare opportunity to watch a Blue Ullysses butterfly hover in this red bush outside the window for a quite a long time.  Usually these vivid blue butterflies just do a very quick flit through the garden and disappear before I can get out the camera, but today we had lots of time to fully appreciate its beauty. It has truly been a lovely day and we decided to have lunch in town on the Marina Boardwalk at a favourite spot.  It was quite novel the way they served the fish and chips in what looked like newspaper. As it was a balmy tropical night  we enjoyed a ...

There are a lot of distractions in the studio at the moment which means I haven't had enough time to truly focus on all the Christmas quilt projects and decorations I had envisaged creating.  I added a few decorations around me so that I don't lose sight of what is only just over a week away and I really must get out and do some shopping and write my Christmas cards. What I have been doing is playing with these fabrics and making some exciting new quilt projects for classes happening at Cairns Craft Centre in Term 1, 2012. While checking around a few blogs I did find a link to Jenneke and her wonderful blog Building Houses from Scraps  where you get to make a quilt in 2012 with 365 3" house blocks plus one larger one.  That is a block for every day of the year - how cute is that.  I just had to register and only hope I can keep up with everything else that is going on but I am always tempted by blocks with houses. Till next time Frances

While the Sunday Stitchers enjoyed their morning tea and Christmas cake at their last get together for the year, Peter was kept busy at the fabric counter of Cairns Craft Centre which has now celebrated its 15th birthday. Jenny, who has just got back from her annual visit to New Zealand, provided the show and tell with this very cute child's quilt which she blanket stitched on her travels. Jenny has also been madly catching up with her blocks for the Civil War quilt and is now up to date once again . I also spied this lovely sewing case which Kay received as a gift from a good friend. Till next time Frances

There is only a few more blocks to come for the Civil War Quilt project so I have decided to do the Farmers Wife quilt next.  For the last few weeks I have been trying to restrain myself from starting this new project but to no avail and here are the first nine blocks I have pieced.  I agonised for a while on what colour pallette to use but finally decided to make the blocks very scrappy with earthy country tones.  These 6" blocks are very addictive and I don't think it will take me too long to finish the 111 blocks in the book unless of course another projects distracts me first.  There is no doubt about it I am a blocks and borders girl and I know I am going to love piecing these blocks as much as the Civil War ones. Our next round of visitors arrived in Cairns this week and what better way to welcome them than with a birthday cake with lots of strawberries, cream and candles.  Peter's daughter, Liz, with Amiel and Kaen  Till next time Frances

Today was a wonderful day because I got to welcome to the Far North for the first time my niece, Maree, and her daughter, Nicole, who sailed into Cairns on the P&O cruise ship the "Pacific Sun".  This was the first of many visits from family and friends that we are looking forward to over the next 3 weeks.  Their ship docked at the city's new Cruise Liner Terminal very centrally located right in town and we took in some of the local sight on a steamy and tropical day.  Nicole and Maree at Cairns Craft Centre Maree with me at Palm Cove Till next time Frances

Well the "silly season" has certainly started around here and I always enjoy digging into the cupboard and bringing out some of my favourite Christmas quilts.  This one is my all time favourite design which I hand pieced and appliqued but machine quilted. "In the Spirit of Christmas" by Frances Leate In the studio I have just been flitting from one thing to another with nothing yet ready to photograph - some days I just seem to take one step forward and two backwards but I am sure it will finish up alright in the end. I am getting ready to start on a another project involving lots of blocks so I decided to prepare some boards where I can lay out the pieces for each block as I cut them and in this way I can cut and sew several blocks at the same time.  I have used some stiff cardboard rescued from discarded packaging and covered it with an offcut of 100% cotton batting.  I fold the batting in two and cut it approximately an inch larger than the card and then sew ...

I have finally caught up with my blocks for the Civil War Quilt and here are blocks 37 to 45.  These blocks have been pieced by hand and machine and there is also some needleturn applique. Here is a quick photo of all the blocks lined up together on my small design wall.  With only 8 blocks to go it is time to start thinking about how to set them all and Barbara Brackman has some great ideas over at Civil War Quilts  .  At the moment I am think of straight sashing with cornerstones but I have been known to change my mind (at least once or twice).  I have really enjoyed being part of this stitchalong project. Till next time Frances

There was some wonderful Show and Tell from the Sunday Stitchers at the November gettogether for us all to enjoy.  Shirley W has been very busy and brought along a couple of quilts for us to see, the first one is a lovely colourful wall quilt she made from a local class with Ruth Bloomfield. and about this bright and cheerful quilt Shirley said she just whipped it up from bits and pieces in her stash. Joan has just finished this very pretty quilt top - while Heather arrived with this log cabin bag she has just finished.  Inside the bag there are lots of zip compartments so it is a bag inside a bag. Karen was busy doing some crochet on this beautiful shawl. Till next time Frances

Amy's Creative Side is having a Blogger's Quilt Festival and I thought I would join in and show off my quilt "A Summer Place".  This quilt was just meant to be a very quick Jelly Roll quilt but like Topsy it just grew.  I love all types of applique so some of that crept in as well and the more I played with the wonderful colourful fabrics the more the quilt grew.  The quilt got its name because I live in a place that enjoys Summer all year around with some times in the year just a bit more humid and tropical than other. "A Summer Place" by Frances Leate One of the applique blocks I hope you enjoy this quilt and visiting all the other bloggers who have taken part.  Thank you Amy for organising this wonderful event. Till next time Frances

In the magazine Creative Patchwork and Craft which has recently been published I found one of my projects "Let's Start In Provence".  This quilt was originally published as a project in Australian Patchwork & Stitching Vol 8 No 9 and its great to see it available again.  I loved this French provincial range of fabric and it brought back memories of Europe in 2005 when Peter and I started the trip with a week in a small town in Provence called Bandol on the French Riviera.  Provence is definitely on our "to visit again" list. This quilt also featured on the cover of Creative Patchwork and Craft. I have taught this quilt in a few beginners patchwork classes and thought I would show you Ann's version with such a different colour selection.  She was very pleased with her first finished quilt project which she also quilted herself. Till next time Frances

Living in the Far North of Australia I don't often get to meet up with other quilting bloggers so it was a wonderful opportunity today to be able to spend a few hours with Wendy Whellum of Legend and Lace .  Wendy's many quilt projects have been well published in magazines over the last 6 years and it was great to have Wendy visit me in the Studio and talk quilting. As usual, Peter performed his magic in the kitchen and whipped up a lovely batch of scones for afternoon tea. Other recent visitors were Peter's youngest daughter, Fliss, husband Tim and very cute son, Leif.  Peter enjoyed taking them around some of the wonderful local attractions and here he is holding a koala for Leify to pat at The Habitat, Port Douglas. Till next time Frances

I have spent a lot of time in the studio this past week or so doing lots of machine quilting on a project that has a deadline looming.  This quilt is a mixture of hand and machine piecing with a lot of the hand work stitched on travels.  It was exciting to finally put the last border on the quilt and I have been thoroughly enjoying being totally engrossed in quilting this fairly large quilt.  Quilting from the reverse side  Peter spent a lot of time sightseeing with his youngest daughter and her family who were visiting Cairns last week and on his travels found this wonderful present for me to add to my owl collection. Till next time Frances

When the lovely Shirley over at Stitcherydo  had a giveaway recently I was the incredibly lucky winner and look at the wonderful thimble holder I received in the mail today.  Inside this beautiful and skilfully beaded thimble holder is a lovely soft pink thimble which moulds to your finger and is very comfortable to wear - sorry I forgot to photograph it in my excitement this afternoon. BUT.... there was more in the package which included another thimble, a lovely souvenir one of Taunton, and a recipe book of  "Favourite Somerset Recipes" which was a present for Peter so he can make treats for the Sunday Stitcher's morning tea and when we have an all day "stitch in". Thank you Shirley and these wonderful gifts have come to a good home where they will be treasured and loved. Till next time Frances