Quilting Owl

I have been very busy working on a lot of different projects inside the studio but don't seem to have a lot to show at the moment and every day I seem to be getting into a bigger mess so I thought I would take a few photos of some of the things in the garden just outside the windows. Grevilleas Lipstick Palm Orange trees During the day while I am busy quilting Peter can often be seen working away in his gardens - there is always a lot to do particularly after the very long wet season we had as everything grows so fast here. Till next time Frances

I have had a busy week but here are just a few bits and pieces.  I finished quilting and machined the binding on a soft blue baby quilt and now I just have to hand stitch the binding and finish stitching the binding on "Redlynch Village".  Next it will be time to write a few patterns - this job always ends up taking far more time than I would like as I would much prefer to be stitching. Earlier in the week I taught a class which included strip piecing log cabin blocks and here are a couple of blocks which I managed to photograph made by Karen and Jenny. Peter and I have invested in a lecture series entitled "How to Listen to and Understand Great Music" given by Prof. Rober Greenberg.  This makes extremely entertaining lunch time viewing and something I have enjoyed watching while stitching. I am currently finishing a large project with a deadline but somehow I have allowed myself to be distracted by these fabrics - I must sharpen my "focus" and get bac...

A project for my "Westward Ho" quilt appeared recently in the magazine "World Class Quilts".  This popular quilt  was originally published as a project in Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol 16 No 8 and it is nice to see it reappear for another outing. "Westward Ho" by Frances Leate Last Sunday the usual suspects gathered for a stitching morning at Cairns Craft Centre and  there was some lovely show and tell for us all to enjoy.  Jenny has created this quilt top which reflects shades of the Australian landscape starting with the colours of the sea and moving through to rainforest, desert and finally sky. Thora brought her quilt top for "Broken Star" which resulted from a class she took with Jenny Bowker at AQC a couple of years ago. Mary had two lovely wall hangings showing the same design as positive and negative images which she made with a local tutor. Shirley brought along this lovely bright child's quilt she made with the ...

I have spent the last few days catching up with some of the unfinished projects in the Studio. I have fallen a bit behind with my Civil War quilt blocks and have now stitched the "Missouri Star" and "New England Block" - just blocks 21 and 22 to do. "Missouri Star" - Block 19 CWQ "New England Block" - Block 20 CWQ At the quilting class last Sunday I was able to take a photo of Sue's lovely version of the "Snowball Connection" quilt which she made in class at Cairns Craft Centre.  The border print fabric which she chose really suited the quilt and she has achieved a great result. My fun little red and white houses quilt has grown a bit and finally got its borders on and I have had a lovely day working on the machine quilting - still a long way to go. During the last week or so I have been experiencing a few problems leaving "comments" on blogs but I am still keeping up with all your happenings. Till next time Fr...

It is always exciting to see one of your own designs in print and so it must have been for Joan Taylor to not only see her beautiful quilt published as a project in the current edition of Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol. 20 No 5 "Whirls of Colour" by Joan Taylor AP&Q Vol 20 No 5 but to also see it featured on the front cover. Joan began her quilting journey about 6 years ago in one of my Sampler Quilt classes when she machine pieced and quilted this beautiful quilt. Joan's first Sampler Quilt designed by Frances Leate She returned for another series of classes to learn some new techniques and made my "In the Spirit of Christmas 1" quilt with a few variations.  It took her a little longer to finish this project and she has done some lovely machine quilting on the blocks. Joan's "In the Spirit of Christmas" quilt designed by Frances Leate By the time she signed up for the "Colourscope" class with Peter and me she was...

Today was the second class for a very keen group of new quilters at Cairns Craft Centre and it was very rewarding for me to watch them assemble their quilts - the first for many of them.  They could choose to make either a medallion or a two block quilt and I hope they enjoyed themselves as much as I did teaching the class. The students ranged from the young to the not so young and there were some lovely colour and fabric selections to see around the room. Karen's black, white and red quilt top looked stunning. Mary was so keen after the first class that she rushed home and finished her quilt adding a few extra borders.  It was even quilted and bound. Andrea's Star is now waiting for its final border. There was some serious work happening here. As is always the way, the camera ran out of battery before I could photograph more of the finished quilt tops so I hope I get a chance to do so when they are finished. Till next time Frances

Pippa at Welsh Quilts  is coordinating efforts to make a commemorative quilt for Christchurch Cathedral, New Zealand, which suffered so much damage in the recent earthquake and she has asked for blocks from bell ringers and quilters.  Pippa has designed a block based on an old pattern called "monument" and here is the block I sent to her. I have also been catching up on my blocks for Barbara Brackman's Civil War quilt and here are numbers 17 and 18. "Comfort Quilt" - Block 17 CWQ "Union Square" - Block 18 CWQ My collection of owls is growing and they make me smile each time I go pass them. Till next time Frances