Quilting Owl

Quilts from the Sunday Stitchers made by Jan and Jenny feature this week and first up is Jan with "Vintage Roses" that she began in one of my classes which she has now finished machine quilting.. Jan with "Vintage Roses" by Frances Leate Another very happy panel quilt made by Jan which she has again finished with her own very effective machine quilting. This quilt was made by Jenny as a gift to Joan who recently lost her little black dog, a long time friend.  Jenny has also machine quilted this with a bone motif on the background. To finish off I thought I would show you my one handed attempt at some hand quilting.  The quilt top was made for me by Jenny some time back and while I had done all of the machine quilting on the background and border I had put the quilt aside when I ran into some tension difficulties on the owl appliques.  For the last few days I have been racking my brain about what I could do while watching TV and came up with the idea...

It is wonderful to see beautifully finished projects from classes and I was very pleased to receive an email with this photo of Lesleigh's "All Points" cushion which she began at a Mini Quilt Workshop at Cairns Craft Centre. I found some time this week to make a couple more Farmers Wife blocks which now brings my block count to 44. I also managed a couple of tarts for the "Pies and Tarts" quilt and in between I have been machine quilting a shop quilt that I promised Peter way too long ago. On Saturday night we helped to celebrate Heather's 60th birthday and you might have guessed that the colour theme for the party was purple.  Heather was one of the first customers to come through the door when Peter and I opened Cairns Craft Centre over 15 years ago and we were delighted to be able to join her for this momentous occasion. While we were at the party I spotted a lovely signature quilt given as a present to celebrate the arrival of...

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

One of the highlights for me over the last couple of weeks has been introducing new quilters to the absolute delight of patchwork and quilting.  Here is Noelle's completed quilt top which she should be proud of as I think it looks absolutely stunning. Another stunner is Barb's quilt which just needs the outer border to be stitched on.  Well done girls and I hope this is the beginning of a wonderful journey. I also enjoyed a girls day out to visit a local quilt show at Gordonvale with Jenny and Joan.  I didn't manage photos as the strong sunlight streaming through the windows made it very difficult for me with my limited photographic skills. I have spent a lot of time at home during the last few weeks after my flu bug turned into a very nasty cold and while stitching in the courtyard I was lucky enough to catch this Kookaburra sitting on top of the flag pole in our garden. Till next time Frances