It's finished!

I thought you might like to see my completed Angel's story quilt.... I am rapt that I've actually managed to complete some quilts that have been languishing in the UFO pile for a long time. Here is the full photo.....

At the time I took the photo above, I hadn't had a chance to sew on the buttons I'd bought for the garden block, so here is what it really looks like.......

This quilt was a landmark in many ways - it was the first one where I actually decided on the border first. I was attracted to the green for some reason, so decided to 'go for it'!
It was also the first time I had used a range of fabrics predominately, rather than bits and pieces.
Another achievement was that I organised the applique on all the blocks and completed them together - I chose one thread colour and sewed all the blocks that needed it and then changed to another colour. The end result was that, all of a sudden. I had many blocks suddenly finished!
After attending a wonderful colorque workshop with Helen Stubbings, I added colour to some blocks with both pencil and paint.
I love the applique and embroidery components of quilts and look forward to playing more on this style in the future - there are several lined up in the 'to do' list!

Ideas needed please.

I have decided I want to try and machine quilt the geisha wallhanging quilt I made late last year...... I want to use my new Janome 6500P and see what it (and I!) can do, but I'm unsure what would be the best way to do it... any ideas or suggestions would be gratefully received!

Two down....

countless more to go! I've managed to finish two quilt that have been languishing for far too long. Both contain 'firsts' for me, even though I've been making quilts for about 14 years.

Quilt 1

The "Scrapbag Whirl" quilt was sewn during a class at Needles and Pins in Warrandyte. It is the first time I'd used autumn toned fabric in a whole quilt, and I was really pleased with the end result. I became adventurous and managed to machine quilt it, also. It was the first time I'd quilted such a large quilt, but the straight lines made it quite manageable.

Quilt 2

I fell in love with the hydrangea fabric in the kaleidoscope quilt, and so HAD to make one of these. Once I sorted out the repeats and layers, it was a reasonably quick quilt to make, but then I also attempted to machine quilt this one and gave up in disgust. It sat folded away until I decided to get Chris from Sandlyn House to quilt it for me - she did a lovely job!

I now only need to add a label and it is officially finished! I love the way you end up with 12 totally different blocks from the same fabric - I'll have to make a different one, some day.

Quilt 3
I'm now sewing the binding on my Angels quilt, custom quilted by Chris. Here's a sneak peek at a couple of the blocks. Check back in about a week - I should have it ticked off the list too!

Supercars at last!

After several years of trying, I finally made it to a V8 Supercars day. Although it was only practise today, I enjoyed watching the drivers race around the track and set up their cars. The noise was awesome, as were the fumes!! Going into the pit area was great also, as I was able to see all sorts of interesting components! Hopefully, I'll get to see two of the races on Monday, if no one else grabs my husband's second ticket!

More photo play....

I've been playing a little more - I'm using a reflective car shade to improvise a real reflector - it does help get the light on the face quite well! One day, I'll buy the real thing, but I want to see if I can take decent photos before I spend the money!

Now - a question for you..... which photo do you think is the 'best' photographically? Let me know!

One day soon....

I'm going to finish my Jacobean quilt - I managed to finish the blocks and then became distracted for well over a year. Now I'm back on track, progressively completing the border. I'm hoping to have it quilted in August, so I'd better get a move on!

Magic woodwork

I have the most amazing husband - he is a very talented woordworker when he gets a chance - he makes these sewing boxes, which are a reproduction on a old design he was shown. He also creates stunning jewellery boxes and wood turned items. Occasionally, he sells them when he runs out of room.

Dyeing play

I managed to spend a couple of days dyeing recently - it is something I enjoy doing, but full time work has limited my chances severely! I decided to play with some bright colours and then tray dyed this cheerful piece - what do you think?

Music quilt

Two of my children were fortunate enough to be taught by a fantastic keyboard teacher named Dianna. To thank her for her outstanding teaching and calm, gentle manner, I made this music quilt for her. She seemed to really love it, which is the best reaction you could hope for!

Photography at Montsalvat

Last weekend I attended a portrait photography workshop at Montsalvat, east of Melbourne. I love taking photos, but don't have a huge amount of confidence with taking portraits. I also had never got around to using my camera on manual controls, due to always being in a hurry to grab the shot, probably!





Well, I learnt a hell of a lot, and now need to play a little to see what I can do on my own! The first portrait shot was taken during the workshop - the second one was me playing with a vaguely willing subject the following day!