Quilting Owl

After a self enforced time of rest and relaxation not to mention lack of motivation, I thought it was time to get moving and start sorting out some of the accumulated piles of fabric, projects and magazines in the studio.  The really fun part was working with the piles of fabric although this did lead to lots of distraction. The magazines which were to be found everywhere throughout the studio and house were then put into order. Then it was time to tidy my hand stitching corner and while I was watching some cricket work on some more blocks for a long term project, the 1718 coverlet I have divided this project into sections and this is Section 1 and 2. Now the new addition will be blocks 44 and 48.   A little progress. In the sort out I also came across another long term wip, the Farmers Wife project - 72 blocks finished and only 39 to go.  This is a true scrap quilt and my personal challenge is not to use the same fabric in more than...

The last few weeks have been quite busy though there is not a lot that I can show you.  Autumn has finally come to tropical Cairns and there is now actually sunshine between the odd shower of rain.  The grass is still leaping out of the ground needing to be cut at least once a week and the temperature usually hovers around 30 degreesC with the humidity often around about 60 percent.  Peter has started a massive clean up in the garden to get it all nice for the winter months which is the best time of year here and sees us all come out of hibernation. In the studio the design wall has been stripped bare and is gradually being filled with the latest design commission.  I just love a blank canvas to create with.  Lots of different fabrics have been taken off shelves and out of storage boxes, played with and often put back while I decide on a colour pallette to work with.  This is the best part of my job and I just love it. While all this has b...

It has been a busy week while I finished off another project commission so I am only now catching up with a few photos from the camera.  This is the happy group of Sunday Stitchers who gathered this month at Cairns Craft Centre for another fun morning of chatter and stitching. Jenny brought along her latest appliqued wall quilt with a New Zealand theme and also a quilt which she made for a charity auction which has just come back from her long arm quilter and just needs some binding. Easter has been a lovely time here in Cairns and to celebrate this long weekend a few Farmers Wife addicts gathered in my studio for a great day of stitching with Peter whipping up his usual creations in the kitchen to keep us well nourished.  I actually managed to finish two more blocks to add to the block pile #17 Cats & Mice and #19 Checkerboard and here is the happy group busily working away at sewing machines and the cutting table. Till next time Frances

There have been a lot of tropical downpours in recent times in our neck of the woods as Cairns endures a late wet season and suffers the usual inconveniences of flooded and closed roads.  So while all this was going on outside I retreated inside to my studio and have been working on a number of projects.  On the design wall is a new design where I have been working with a gorgeous panel and having lots of fun adding borders but this has now been temporarily put aside so I can finish the quilt on the worktable.  This soft floral two block quilt needs some borders and then I will machine quilt it to meet a looming deadline. On a smaller design wall are the Pies and Tarts quilt blocks and this project needs one more Pie block before I stitch them together and start adding the Tarts to the block intersections. Till next time Frances

Daily life for Peter and I has just started to get back to normal and I realised that I haven't posted for a while so here are some photos I found in the camera from last week. The Thursday night class have progressed wonderfully with their first sampler quilt and here is Margaret's lovely creation all layered, pinned and ready for her to begin the next stage to machine quilt it. Mandy is also at the same stage and I just love the striped border and owl print. Rachael is nearly there and just needs to add the borders to this stunner. I also found this photo I took of the main design wall area in my studio when I was having lots of fun playing with my Farmers Wife blocks which I hope to get back to real soon now! 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...

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

In my Studio I am fortunate to have 3 design walls although there are times that I wish I had more with the number of projects I currently have in progress - my "focus" has been a bit dimmed this week. Two of the design walls are the front and back of an old office divider which has been modified with the addition of a wooden frame to add extra height and then covered with a pellon sleeve.  On this design wall is a project that is desperately waiting to go up the priority list because I know what I want to do next but can never seem to find the time to do it. On the other side is the top for a baby quilt in soft muted colours with a dash of my favourite "yellow" that is now in the queue for quilting.  Having it pinned up makes it easy to measure for wadding and backing and choose a binding. The main design wall is positioned behind my sewing machines and goes from floor to ceiling.  I joined two lengths of pellon with the edges butted t...

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...