Quilting Owl

There were some lovely quilts for us all to enjoy on show at the Thursday night class.  First up is Anne's finished sampler quilt which she has now machine quilted and bound.  Then Margaret proudly showed us her completed version of "Jacob and Friends" and also the striking quilt she is making for her daughter's bed which just needs a few more borders. Catherine, a new member of the group, brought along a couple of quilts she made which have been professionally quilted - a stunning red and white quilt with lots of wonderful textured reds  and this lovely applique quilt which I think is from the first Material Obsession Book. Cairns has had a lot of rain lately and as a result all sorts of interesting fungi have popped up in our garden. 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

Some quilts become a very important part of your life while being created and so it was with "To Have and To Hold" which was a constant travelling companion with me on trips to England, France, USA and also to southern parts of Australia.  Some sections of this quilt could be organised so portably that it has literally been stitched on planes, trains and automobiles. "To Have and To Hold" has just been published as a project in the current edition of Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol 21 No 4 "To Have and To Hold" by Frances Leate and a really special treat was to see it featured on the cover of this magazine.  I am quoted at the beginning of the project as saying: "Take pleasure in every step of the patchwork journey, rather than rushing to the destination, and hand-piece this medallion-style quilt with its bridal themed blocks".  I can honestly say that stitching this quilt gave me immense pleasure and happy memories of the process. ...

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

The Thursday Nighters were all busy assembling their sampler blocks and adding sashing to their quilts at their class at Cairns Craft Center the other night.  Mandy's dramatic colours were all coming together nicely and there is a striped border to be added and then a very cute owl novely print for the main border. Anne's blues and lime greens with a dash of orange were looking stunning.  Then it was time for the Sunday Stitchers and the fun stitching morning we always have every month.  Joan brought along her beautiful "Crazy Garden Patch" wall quilt which has just been published as a project in the current issue of Australian Patchwork & Quilting Vol 21 No 3. Kathy has caught the little houses bug and is assembling her own version of this truly addictive quilt project. Jenny never disappoints us and  has just finished this bright and colourful runner quilt top and was stitching the binding on this fun child's quilt wh...

My little houses are now sashed and bordered and just need to be layered for quilting.  If time permits I would like to do a bit of big stitch Perle thread quilting and then add prairie points to the outer edge.  I have decided to name this quilt "Midsomer Madness" as some of the little houses were stitched while watching this favourite TV series and it was stitched here in mid summer. A couple of new books have arrived and are very welcome additions to our library.  These are Dorothy Osler's much blogged about book "Amish Quilts and the Welsh Connection" which is a great read and also Kathryn Berenson's "Marseilles - The Cradle of White Corded Quilting" which as yet I haven't had an opportunity to look at. At the last Thursday class it was Rachael's turn to put her blocks on the display wall and decide on what fabric to choose for sashing and borders for her version of the "Jacob and Friends" quilt.  Till next time Frances

It is always rewarding helping new quilters take those first steps towards making their first quilt and this morning's class at Cairns Craft Centre saw some stunning results.  It only took Marily two classes to come up with this bright and happy quilt top. Sami just has to add her borders to complete this lovely quilt top and I just managed a quick photo of Pearl's stunning quilt while she was preparing her borders for stitching. The Thursday night girls, a lively group, are starting to produce some wonderful results for their own version of the "Jacob and Friends" quilt.  Ann was the first one brave enough to put some of her blocks up on a design wall so she could start thinking about what fabric to use for sashing - more later. Till next time Frances