Quilting Owl

Hexagons make a wonderfully versatile block whether on their own or as a pieced shape and here are just some I have played with over recent years. "Licorice Allsorts" by Frances Leate AP&Q Vol 24 No 10 "Christmas Tree Skirt" by Frances Leate AP&Q Vol 25 No 5 "Marmalade & Jam" by Frances Leate AP&Q Vol 19 No 8 Hand pieced hexagon UFO blocks by Frances Leate To finish here is some of Lesleigh's work - one of her earliest quilts and a more recent table runner where she has added some beautiful embroidery. Till next time Frances

As the end of the first quarter of the year approaches we are very thankful in the Far North for a reasonably mild Summer unlike other parts of the country which have experienced floods, bush fires and heatwaves.  We always expect our norther summers to be hot, wet and humid so it was good to be able to get out and enjoy some blue skies the other day to walk on the Esplanade. Back in the studio I have been busy raiding my stash and scrap basket to make these blocks and have been having so much fun that I think I will make this quilt larger than first planned. I have also caught the hexagon bug - it must be because of seeing all the lovely work Shirley has been creating over at  Stitcherydo  - and these will be incorporated into a new hand pieced and appliqued medallion design which I am currently working on. Talking of medallion quilts, Lesleigh has been creating her own version of my new quilt, "To the Manor Born" and is doing a wonderful job.  A...

As the year draws to a close I have been thinking about what I want to do in 2013 and I have decided that " Fun " is going to be the most important thing so that will be my word for the year.  I also believe that it will be a lucky year and I am going to go out of my way to make it so for me.   This year I have been focussing on finishing projects and while there are still a lot of unfinished ones in the studio I am pleased to say that I finished more than I started.  All of the projects I started in 2012 have been finished although some are tops waiting on quilting, like "Birds, Buttons and Blooms" which I designed around a panel. "Birds, Buttons and Blooms" by Frances Leate This hand pieced Double Wedding Ring, a long time UFO is now a bed runner and is in the quilting queue.   Some of the projects I made this year were mini quilts like "Petite Fours" and I had a lot of pleasure hand piecing this small one. "Petite Four...

Its that time of year when lots of hand stitching happens as we keep an eye on the Aussie cricketers.  If you miss any of the vital action well there is always the replay to watch and today they are giving the South Africans a run for their money.   I am hand piecing at the moment and with some blocks that have lots of different shaped pieces I usually lay them out on a block holder (a piece of card covered with cotting batting) as this way there is less chance of sewing the wrong sides together and having to do some reverse stitching.   My current favourite tools are - Mettler Heirloom 60-weight 100% cotton thread, John James quilting or applique needles (the smallest size I can thread), Clover very fine glass head pins and small scissors for cutting threads.   As I finish each block I lightly finger press it to arrange the direction of the seams and then place the block in a zip bag for storage.  By flattening the bag and zipping it clos...

For a long time I have regarded my quilting style as traditional with a leaning towards blocks and borders while using fabric designs from the reproduction through to more modern styles.  I have an ongoing love affair with medallion or framed quilts and one of these designs has been published as a project in Quilters Companion's latest issue of "Precut Fabrics No. 2".   "Mary Mary Quite Contrary" by Frances Leate - Quilts from Precut Fabrics No 2 This design predominantly features the block "Contrary Wife" and as Mary is a name that predominantly features in the family the quilt is called "Mary Mary Quite Contrary".  My brief was for a precut friendly design so I selected twenty fat quarters all with a bright floral theme and started work on EQ.  Usually when I design a quilt I jot down a starting point and then let the quilt evolve but this time I could see exactly where I was heading and was able to draw up the whole 82" squar...

A wall quilt that I designed and had much pleasure in hand piecing and machine quilting has been published as a project in the current issue of Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol 21 No 11. "Flowers in the Sun" by Frances Leate By precutting all the pieces and placing them in little zip bags I was able to take this project with me and stitch at odd times on the go and I was surprised by how quickly all the blocks came together.  Hand piecing and blanket stitch applique are my favourites for portable stitching. "Flowers in the Sun" AP&Q Vol 21 No 11 Till next time Frances      

I have been thoroughly enjoying watching the olympics this week and this gave me the opportunity to work on projects old and new.  My very long time Double Wedding Ring project was brought out for an airing and I enjoyed doing some hand piecing to progress this quilt.  I am still not completely sure how large this project will end up but I am determined to finish it some time. As I have also been recovering from a particularly nasty bout of flu/cold I needed some comfort stitching and the machine pieced Farmers Wife blocks filled the bill beautifully.  I am still using an eclectic scrappy mix of fabrics and so far have not repeated a fabric in more than one block.  The block count is now 59 and I have passed the halfway mark. I like to vary my stitching so I have also been doing some nice and easy fusible applique with blanket stitch by hand.  These have been the perfect blocks to stitch while watching the games when I have enjoyed sports I don'...

Its been a fun week working in the studio and I have lots of projects to keep me amused.  I have now finished the 49 8" Pie blocks and am enjoying moving them around to find a pleasing layout.  They are up on the small design wall (an old office divider covered with pellon) and it is not in the best place for photographing but you get the idea. In the meantime I am making some tarts to go on the intersections with five down and 31 to go. Most of my time has been spent working on a large project commission which features fuchsia and white along with lots of other vibrant colours. While watching television of a night I have been doing some hand piecing on another of my many projects.  I find hand pieceing to be very relaxing and therapeutic and I do this now when once I would have knitted. Till next time Frances

Some quilts become a very important part of your life while being created and so it was with "To Have and To Hold" which was a constant travelling companion with me on trips to England, France, USA and also to southern parts of Australia.  Some sections of this quilt could be organised so portably that it has literally been stitched on planes, trains and automobiles. "To Have and To Hold" has just been published as a project in the current edition of Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol 21 No 4 "To Have and To Hold" by Frances Leate and a really special treat was to see it featured on the cover of this magazine.  I am quoted at the beginning of the project as saying: "Take pleasure in every step of the patchwork journey, rather than rushing to the destination, and hand-piece this medallion-style quilt with its bridal themed blocks".  I can honestly say that stitching this quilt gave me immense pleasure and happy memories of the process. ...

There has been plenty of stitching going on here at Quilting Owl Studio and I have my first three "Building Little Houses from Scraps" blocks to show you.  I decided to hand piece these little blocks and have prepared a few more so they are ready to stitch on the go. These 3 inch little blocks are fun to make and you can get the pattern from Jenneke by clicking on the button on my sidebar.  I always knew there was a reason why I saved all those little bits of fabric and I have been tossing them all into a big basket to use in this addictive project. There has also been some serious machine quilting going on and I have just finished quilting this little quilt for the first class of the year at Cairns Craft Centre. Quilting "All Points" Till next time Frances

It has been stressful for quite a while as we try to sort out a few things in our house so to cheer myself up I commenced a new project.  Cairns Craft Centre has just had a large shipment of lots of new paper piecing shapes and I decided to try out the Apple Cores using lots of black and white fabrics from my stash.  I have to say that this project is coming together much faster than the Pies & Tarts using an applique stitch and it is proving to be lots of fun. Christine over at Once upon a Quilt...  has a new blog where she is selling off lots of bits and pieces and I fell in love with these thimbles and just had to have them for my collection.  I might add they were speedily dispatched and beautifully wrapped so they all arrived safe and sound. I have also been adding the odd little owl to the ever growing collection and they now have a new home on a shelf between the button jars and lots of fabric. The other new addition is to the library and thi...

In between recovering from a bout of flu and teaching the odd class I have just figured out that I have actually done some work on 7 different projects over the last 10 days or so.  I have been working on a log cabin block project, designed and started cutting for a new wall quilt and have been doing lots of hand stitching however the only finish I have had is this delightful little Sweet Treat Bag from the Moda boxed kit.  This little bag is a shop sample and has been on my "To Do" list for far too long and if I had realised how quick and easy it was then it would have been made a lot sooner. I have been working on the Pies & Tarts quilt and have been busy preparing and stitching a few of these. In a mad moment I decided to do some work on a very long time UFO and resurrected my Double Wedding Ring project and made a little progress on it. In between these I had made a little progress on two other large projects that I am enjoying hand piecing, one of which is ...

The Sunday Stitchers got together this morning at Cairns Craft Centre for a post cyclone recovery party and as usual there was "Show and Tell" for us all to enjoy while Peter served up Raspberry Muffins. Thora has just finished the top of a Kaleidoscope block quilt which she began in the Colourscope Design Workshop Peter and I conducted some time back.  I just love the rich colours and Thora's design really makes a statement and I am looking forward to seeing the finished project after quilting. Some of the girls have caught the Civil War Quilt bug and Jenny had her completed blocks 1 to 5 to share with us. Kathy, our high achiever, is doing two of each block and I really enjoyed seeing the blocks in all the different colourways.  I think she has something special in mind for the second Seven Sisters block. I had a small mug mat which I made to give my machine a workout after I took it from storage.  I love these small projects for using up small fabric a...