Quilting Owl

We have been back from Hawaii for a couple of weeks now but have been having problems with the blog which hopefully will be sorted out soon.  I still need to work on the photos from the trip but here are a few other varied ones to share with you. First up are a couple from the Sunday Stitchers and Jenny has been working on a UFO from an earlier Baltimore quilt class. Lesleigh has placed her own interpretation on the block from the Nostalgia workshop and has made a very happy child's quilt. A lovely lady sent me a photo of her Mum's interpretation of  my project "Red Sky at Night" which was published as a mystery quilt in  recent editions of Australian Patchwork & Quilting. So far I am up todate with Barbara Brackman's "Threads of Memory" BOM which she is publishing on her Civil War Quilts blog  towards the end of each month. Block 2  Barbara Brackman's "Threads of Memory" BOM While I was in Hawaii I indul...

I thought it was time for those Civil War blocks I made from Barbara Brackman's BOM some time back to see the light of day again.  I had finished 52 and only needed to make the last one and then have some fun arranging the blocks on the design wall.  For the border I made blocks using up some of the stash fabrics and now I am working on the sashing. Now for some show and tell from the Sunday Stitchers and here is Dayna's absolutely stunning sewing machine cover which began life as some seminole pieced strips made in an earlier class. Jeannie just loves the project from my class "Come Fly with Me" and has made another version in a different colourway. I caught the Christmas bug late and just had time to make a dozen of these little purses to give to family and friends as gifts.  Talking of gifts, I received this little owl pincushion yesterday handmade by Kathy - how cut is this! My niece, Annette, also surprised me at Christmas with ...

There was a particularly good turn out at the last meeting of the Sunday Stitchers at Cairns Craft Centre with the usual chat, laughter and cake. Jenny brought along a quilt she has just got back from her longarm quilter, Sue Cann, which is the Civil War one made for a block of the week which Barbara Brackman did on her blog some time back. Donna had her very happy quilt made in my Begginers' Patchwork Class and I really enjoy seeing these projects finished. Back in the studio I have been playing with a layer cake and most unusually for me I have been doing some hand quilting on my Amish Star quilt.  I long ago gave up hand quilting using the needle rocking method because of my right hand but lately I have started  stab stitching and while slow doesn't cause me so many problems. Till next time Frances

The Sunday Stitchers brought along some wonderful work to share with us and first up is Thora's beautiful Civil War quilt which took out first prize in the Patchwork Open section at the recent Atherton Show.  Thora made this quilt from the blocks that Barbara Brackman posted on her blog every week last year and it has turned out to be an absolutely wonderful quilt.  Congratulations Thora!  Maybe I will now be inspired to set and finish my stack of Civil War blocks. Jenny has finished the top for "Star Turn" from my recent Mini Quilt workshop. We have been watching Kathy work on Anni Down's "An Angels Story" and we were delighted to see the finished quilt.  Kathy quilted this herself on a domestic sewing machine and I have shown some detail from the border. Kathy also had a beautiful block roll she has recently finished with the lovely message "I'm always happy when I am stitching".  Till next time Frances

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...

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

A small finish this week was this needleturn appliqued rose wreath mini quilt.  I appliqued the block some time ago but couldn't decide what to do with it and at the time envisaged a much larger quilt but finally I decided to keep it simple and just make a small quilt which I hand quilted very simply using the big stitch Perle thread method. I also made the layered quilt top that Peter is holding up as a shop sample which features a marine themed panel.  It has been ditch quilted and now I just need to add some free motion work and bind it. I have caught up with the Civil War Quilt blocks - 36 down and 16 to go which means that this year is certainly whizzing by.  When I started this quilt I chose a fabric pallet of  teal blue, red, brown and a selection of beiges for background but as the weeks progress and I see new wonderful fabrics come on to the shelves I just have to include them - an interesting exercise and I am not sure what the finished result w...

I started sorting things out in the studio with a vengeance this week and the first job I tackled was making about 10 of the CWQ Quilt blocks that I had fallen behind with - and ta da!! I am now up to date with this project.  It was wonderful to spend a couple of days just selecting the fabrics and making up the blocks in this very enjoyable project.  Civil War Quilt Blocks 1-30 While I was sorting through a big heap on one of the tables I came across a couple of quilts that I had made using blocks I had candlewicked.  I really like Candlewick Embroidery and I used to do a lot of this and I particularly like the tone on tone look.  This quilt is called "Bouquets and Butterflies" and was made using tone on tone sage green.  The designs for the candlewicked blocks came from Book 6 of Jean Jensen's Candlewick Designs and then I designed the setting for the quilt and needleturned the orange peel blocks.  The design for the blocks in this ...

I have had a busy week but here are just a few bits and pieces.  I finished quilting and machined the binding on a soft blue baby quilt and now I just have to hand stitch the binding and finish stitching the binding on "Redlynch Village".  Next it will be time to write a few patterns - this job always ends up taking far more time than I would like as I would much prefer to be stitching. Earlier in the week I taught a class which included strip piecing log cabin blocks and here are a couple of blocks which I managed to photograph made by Karen and Jenny. Peter and I have invested in a lecture series entitled "How to Listen to and Understand Great Music" given by Prof. Rober Greenberg.  This makes extremely entertaining lunch time viewing and something I have enjoyed watching while stitching. I am currently finishing a large project with a deadline but somehow I have allowed myself to be distracted by these fabrics - I must sharpen my "focus" and get bac...

I have spent the last few days catching up with some of the unfinished projects in the Studio. I have fallen a bit behind with my Civil War quilt blocks and have now stitched the "Missouri Star" and "New England Block" - just blocks 21 and 22 to do. "Missouri Star" - Block 19 CWQ "New England Block" - Block 20 CWQ At the quilting class last Sunday I was able to take a photo of Sue's lovely version of the "Snowball Connection" quilt which she made in class at Cairns Craft Centre.  The border print fabric which she chose really suited the quilt and she has achieved a great result. My fun little red and white houses quilt has grown a bit and finally got its borders on and I have had a lovely day working on the machine quilting - still a long way to go. During the last week or so I have been experiencing a few problems leaving "comments" on blogs but I am still keeping up with all your happenings. Till next time Fr...