Quilting Owl

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

In 2005 when Peter and I were attending the European Patchwork Meeting in Alsace, France, we had the great pleasure of hearing a talk on Welsh Quilts given by Jen Jones.  Her enthusiasm and passion for the subject truly inspired us to learn more about these historic quilts and we began this journey with her books.  In her publications Jen Jones talks about stories behind some of the quilts she has bought, sold and collected for more than 30 years.  Her private collection of over 200 quilts represents more than 100 years of Welsh quilting. Our visit to the UK last September took us briefly to Wales and a visit to  The Jen Jones Welsh Quilt Centre  in The Old Town Hall in Lampeter a fabulous building which has been recently restored.  We viewed her inaugural exhibition which focused on Welsh flannel geometric patchworks. We then travelled about 5 miles to Jen Jones' shop in her 1735 listed cottage at Llanybydder where there was a wide selection of ...

I have been waiting with much anticipation for my copy of the latest issue of Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol. 18 No 11 to reach me here in the Far North and today was the day!!  It is always exciting to see your own design in print but especially exciting when it is featured on the cover. "Days of Wine and Roses" was my portable travelling project for some time with the large applique corners and some of the hand pieced blocks being worked while we holidayed on a yacht in the Whitsundays with family and friends - VERY relaxing!  There is nothing I enjoy more than doing hand piecing or applique while chatting and soaking up new surroundings. Read more about whats in this magazine by visiting CraftlLovers.com Till next time Frances

The Sunday Stitching Group meet once a month at Cairns Craft Centre and there are always lovely quilts produced for us all to enjoy. Lesleigh hand pieced this beautiful quilt - Shirley is having way too much fun with the Creative Curves Kaleidoscope ruler - Joan with a cute baby quilt - Karen with some good advice for quilters - I never tire of looking at other people's quilts and hope you enjoy them too. Till next time Frances

Jane Austen  has enjoyed new popularity in recent years and a highlight of our recent trip to the UK was a 4 night stay in Bath.  Peter and me outside the Jane Austen Centre While there, we did a walking tour organised by the Jane Austen Centre  and it was wonderful to be able to see some of the buildings and places mentioned in her books.  Our very enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, Dickon, made us feel as if we were walking in her footsteps. Royal Crescent, Bath Pulteney Bridge, Bath There have been many movies and television series made with different interpretations of her novels and I enjoy watching them all.  I particularly like doing some applique or hand piecing while they play. I couldn't resist purchasing a few thimbles and a trinket box while there to add to the collection. Till next time Frances

As I was organising some of my photo folders today I came across my students work from previous years' classes at Cairns Craft Centre.  It is amazing how they can all start with the same pattern and yet end up creating their own wonderful masterpiece just with the aid of different fabrics and borders. Joan with her first sampler in lovely pinks and blues: Jenny interpreted the same quilt with a more dramatic choice of fabrics: Carol-Anne chose to omit the border and used fabrics to create a more tropical look: Gaye added a few more blocks and used a border print instead of a pieced border and chose a vintage look with pinks and grey: Another favourite workshop was the hidden wells quilt and here are a few interesting interpretations. Kerry Ann's hidden wells quilt used fabulous hydrangea fabric with some wonderful co-ordinates: Shirley chose to stay with the look of my class quilt but varied the size: This project was a popular class at a retreat on...

I have always enjoyed making quilts designed around traditional blocks from my very first quilt, "Log Cabin Downunder" which featured a range of Australiana fabrics - to the sampler quilts which have been favoured by me as teaching projects.  I like to teach students as many techniques as possible in classes and these samplers offer a lot of scope for this approach. Or another style of block quilt is my very popular "Westward Ho" (Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol. 16 No 8).  This quilt uses a traditional centre block with the "54-40 or Fight" Block alternated with my own "Corral" block. Another favourite class quilt is "Borders Abound" (Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol. 17 No 3) which is a sampler of different border styles. When you make a quilt designed around traditional blocks it is nice to put a pieced border around it. I always seem to have many projects on the go at once and sometimes it is quite some time befo...