It must be hidden! - Label of My 2014 Show Quilt

I handed my quilt to the organiser of the Sydney Quilt Show this afternoon. It's a kind of log cabin quilt. This year, the quilt label must be covered or the quilt will be ineligible for judging. I'm obliged to comply although I don't think my quilt is a winning kind. I make a quilt for practical use, and not so much for keeping or to be put away as a precious item.!

(Details of the quilt label are blocked out in this photo)

.... I used 60 strips from 2 sets of the same pre-cut 2 1/2 inch strip batik fabric range (Tonga Treats by Timeless Treasures) for the quilt. The log cabin pattern was drawn up with my own calculation based on the amount of the pre-cut fabrics and their colours. In this day and age, it's probably less common, but I enjoy working out quilt patterns by hand using mental arithmetic as I find it relaxing, truely. :-) [I do have EQ7 but rarely use it] I have chosen shades of rainbow as the colour scheme for the quilt and have decided on a grey background (instead of white or cream) in an attempt to tone down the contrast. The quilt pattern has a lot of corners. To soften up the angular feature of the quilt, I used the swirl and circle quilting pattern named 'modern snails' by Anita Shackelford for the quilting. I used different colours of the same printed pattern fabrics for the binding, and some of left over fabrics from the binding for the quilt label. I like and am pleased with the finished quilt. I hope that I will be able to see it hung at the Show, but I will see....

I have been to places

I feel fortunate to have opportunities to travel to places as part of my work on the study related to global health. This is the latest trip I have just returned from....

I have had a wonderful time away. It was a productive trip work-wise, and there were also many fun-filled activities during trip. I visited a few patchwork shops along the way, and bought some fabrics and other sewing related items, naturally. :-) I also had opportunities to view a few art exhibitions at the museums, including my favourite Master painter, Vincent van Gogh. But the trip did come with a price tag - I have been kept very busy at work, with all the things to be done leading up to the trip. I'm by no mean a superwoman, so, am falling behind with updating my blog - an excuse, I know, but it's a good one, I think. :-)

I have been very busy working on the binding of my Show quilt for the Sydney Quilt Show this year since I got back as it must be handed in this week.!! Next update, I will have a couple of finished projects to share, and photos of the quilts that I quilted uploaded. I hope it will be before a draft for book chapter and a manuscript are done, but I will see.!!

Ultramod Mercerie opens Monday to Friday, and I was there on Saturday.!! .... Something to look forward to when I return to Paris next year.

It took a while to locate Moline Mercerie on 'Rue Livingstone' because the one street 'Rue D'Orsel' has its name changed halfway through to 'Rue Livingstone' (see below), but the map shows the street as 'Rue D'Orsel' all the way.

In Amsterdam, I breezed past Den Haan & Wagenmakers this time as I haven't yet finished the quilt being made using fabrics bought from the shop last time I was there, and that was a couple of years ago.!! I did returned to Birdblocks to buy some more modern Dutch theme fabrics. I would have like to buy a few extra pieces but I didn't have capacity to bring everything I wanted back home with me. So, again, something to look forward to when I return to The Netherlands next year.

 This cute little doll and her craft case was in the toy section in Galeries Lafayette.

The rest of the photos tells stories by themselves. :-)