Quilting Owl

Sometimes you just have to come out in the open and own up - I am a magazine junkie!  While doing the big sort out I am finding magazines piled up in every corner and I still can't believe that our little house actually has that many corners and still I keep finding more. The magazines used to all live in this bookcase neatly filed in order but then I started running out of space and was too busy doing other things to start sorting. Well the problem just compounded and at the moment the worktable in the studio is covered with ever growing piles.  This photo was taken early in the day and believe me the heaps have grown. I am not a minimalist and really love my magazines so a lot of these will be kept and put into archive boxes at least for the foreseeable future.  My love of quilting and all my inspiration has generated from these publications and my earlier quilts all began as magazine projects so they have become part of my quilting life.  I just wis...

The Festival of Cairns is an annual event which lasts about 3 weeks with lots of fun things happening around town.  One of these fun things is the temporary art installations along the Esplanade and there was lots for me to look at when I took my 6 km walk there yesterday afternoon. There was "Steve the Iconic Crocodile" by Adrian Wolf, a Cairns artist who works primarily in textiles.  His pop art inspired screenprinted fabrics are a trademark of his quirky and individual style. I just loved these little houses by Hayley Gillespie another favourite local artist. There were lots of other fun art works - and lanterns in the trees - and rehearsing performers - It was a beautiful afternoon and took me a lot longer than usual to do my regular walk as I just couldn't resist stopping for all these photos. Till next time Frances

I was pleased to have the opportunity for a brief visit to the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney's premier shopping centre and a must visit attraction. For many years this amazing building was used as office space and at one stage there was talk of demolition to make way for a city car park.  Luckily the building was restored to and is now an architectural and commercial success.  You can read more about it here Standing under the centre dome Beautiful leadlight windows above the centre doors An inspiring floor tile Till next time Frances

After an excessively long wet season - over 6 months of constant rain - it is probably not surprising that a lack of sunshine has contributed to my mood being somewhat in the doldrums.  I don't seem to be able to summon up the energy to finish off a lot of my projects so instead I thought I would indulge myself with the fabric stash and if the urge and inspiration came then I won't feel guilty about starting a new project - Then again I could just stop procrastinating, put on some stirring music like opera or an audio book and go back to the sewing machine and finish the quilting on the quilt I have made from this selection - I guess its nice to be spoilt for choice! Till next time Frances

As I watched Joan and Thora talking about the designs they were working on during the "Cutting Corners with Rulers" class at Cairns Craft Centre  I thought of different things that had caught my eye and which I had photographed as inspiration for the future. An antique sampler quilt the floor in a hotel lift the tiled floor in a temple the carpet in a hotel corridor a stained glass window in a Church No wonder I always have too many projects on the go at the same time when there is inspiration all around me.  It is wonderful being a patchwork quilter. Till next time Frances