2016 Sydney Quilt Show

Last year, I missed the entire 2015 Sydney Quilt Show as I was in Paris at the time. So, I'm very happy to be around home this month. I went to see my 'House Quilt' hung at the 2016 Sydney Quilt Show last Thursday. It was a glorious day at Darling Harbour. Quilts on display were so marvelous. I also enjoyed catching up with many quilters that I'm fond of but rarely see them, including my quilting teacher, Meg Orr. It was definitely a wonderful day for me at the Show.

Travelling to the Show by ferry.

mE and my 'House Quilt'

 Photo of the quilt top when I entered it to the Show in March 2016 on the closing date,

2 days after my return from an overseas trip.

 Quilting, quilting, quilting.... I had to get the quilting done earlier in the process before leaving home for another trip  overseas.

Covering up the quilt label was required before I handed the quilt in,

a couple of weeks before the Show started.

.... I keep saying to myself that I would get organised early for the next year Sydney Quilt Show, and I'm trying to.... but.... !! So, I will see....

Quick Quilt for My Little Sister

After two weeks of moving and reshuffling small and big things around in my quilting room, including the monstrous 12 foot table for my wonderful Gammill Statler, I had half a day and half a night to quickly finish this quilt for my little sister, before hopping on the plane and taking the finished quilt with me. She likes pink, and hence, the quilt is pink although it's a little bit too much pink for me.! She loves the quilt, of course. :-) And now, all my beloved friends would like one and have put in their orders.... There wouldn't be a dull moment (for me) for a very long time.!!

 

 

Happy New Year 2016

(My favourite Christmas tree from Zermatt, Switzerland)

Wishing everyone who drops by to read my blog a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year 2016, with good health and happiness.... Last year seems to have gone by very quickly for me. It must have been all the good time that I had and all the things that I love and enjoyed doing, and still continue to enjoy some of them, quilting is definitely one of those. :-) .... Since I have settled back into the routines after my last trip to San Francisco, I have been very busy with the festive season celebrations, catching up with family and friends, and not to mention all the quilting to be done.!

Before I left for San Francisco, I had one free morning to make a Christmas wreath for the front door. I bought Christmas fabrics from a local fabric shop for the project. It turns out quite nice (I like it, anyway) although it doesn't look exactly like the one in the picture from AllPeopleQuilt.com where I have got the idea from.

(AllPeopleQuilt.com)

I have got a few strips of the fabrics left over from making the wreath. I had an hour free on Christmas afternoon before my big Christmas dinner cook up started, so I made a pot stand by wrapping the strips of fabrics around piping cord while sewing the cord round and round in circle using my domestic Bernina sewing machine (which I also love). The idea isn't new. I have learnt the technique from when I was becoming 'acquainted' with my Bernina when I first acquired it, and have made a few of the similar pot stands previously. My crochet skill comes in handy for the edging, giving a nice finish.

I hope to be around home more this year, with only two overseas trips planned, so far. I'm looking forward to spending more time sewing, quilting and cooking all the yummy dishes while 'fitting in' work here and there in between.!!!! :-)

Katie's Quilt

Katie's son was in the same class as mine when they started kindergarten 4 years ago. We have the same background for our professional training, and so are speaking the same kind of 'language', more or less. And of course, we get along well. Katie had a few attempts at getting this one quilt finished over a span of 10 years, but was unsuccessful. When she first showed it to me, it was partly quilted by a domestic machine. So, I encouraged her to keep going. I even lent to her more pins to pin the quilt.! And, off she went home with the quilt AND more pins.!! Not long after, I have had a think about the quilt a bit more and made an offer to quilt Katie's quilt on the condition that she unpicks all the quilting that was done, so far. A few months later, Katie brought the quilt back to me. I had it for a while before getting around to quilt it as I was keeping busy with quilting for my clients. Katie's quilt is now done and looking beautiful. There is substantial amount of negative space on the quilt top, so the quilting pattern shows up very nicely with darker colour thread. I chose the quilting pattern named 'rosebud_e2e' by Sharon Sweetland for the quilt. Katie's cutting and sewing skills were very good considering it's her first attempt at making a quilt as the quilt top was almost perfectly square [every longarm quilter knows that perfectly square quilt top is hard to come by because fabric does stretch, naturally]. So, quilting this quilt was a breeze for me (and my wonderful Gammill Statler). Katie is now handsewing down the binding, which I also attached for her. I'm pleased to hear that she is very happy to finally have the quilt to snuggle up with this winter.

A Joint Project - Hand and Machine Sewing

My friend, Michelle, has decided that machine sewing isn't her thing but she loves hand sewing. I, on the other hand, will take any opportunity to avoid hand sewing.! Michelle has made all these lovely hexagon flowers from scraps. I was glad to help when she asked if I could put all the blocks together. During the process, we discussed and consulted each other about the fussy cutting, colour  scheme, and layout of the quilt. I, then, made up the backing from the left over fabrics Michelle already had, quilted the quilt top for her, on my wonderful Gammill Statler, of course, and with the new CS6 software, it's fantastic. I chose the pattern named 'Daisies Galore' by Irene Steele for the quilt. After the quilting was done, I attached the binding. It's now ready to be sewn down, by Michelle's hands, not mine. :-) She has plenty of time to finish off the binding as the quilt is going to be a birthday present for her second daughter, Caitlin, towards the end of the year.

'Muted' Quilt

Sightseeing as a tourist while travelling through Scandinavia, I admired and marveled at the interior designs and different colour schemes. In Oslo, on our way to the playground at Vigelandsparken Sculpture Park, my Sunshine and I visited a patchwork shop, Kathrines Quilte Stue. While there, I have learnt to be more appreciative of 'muted' colours.

 

I probably bough these fabrics in 'French General' range by Moda soon after my return from the trip. I was attracted to their quiet and pleasant colours. With a simple patchwork pattern, this 'muted' quilt was made. I chose the quilting pattern named 'am-gingerflower' by Apricot Moon Design for the quilt and I'm very happy with the result. It took me longer than expected to complete the quilt as my (still) wonderful Gammill Statler took a break half way through the quilting. Early morning chat to Gammill in the US identified that the quilting machine needed a new Galil board, and was subsequently serviced before I was able to continue the quilting and eventually finish off the quilt. Creative Studio software has made it possible for me to pick up the quilting where it was left off, and I have no complaint - I'm very happy about it, actually.

Bicycle Quilt

It has been quite a journey to get this bicycle quilt finished although it took only about 20 hours in total to make the quilt.

Last year, the fabrics travelled from Hamilton, MO to Seattle, WA, to Sydney, Australia via San Francisco, CA. As there was still relatively plenty of time, I left it till very late. By the time the quilt should have been made, I was running out of time and my hope of getting the quilt finished was dimmed. But things happened for reasons.... I found some pockets of time to work on it and was almost there, but then, my wonderful Gammill Statler decided to take a break 2 rows short of finishing the quilting.! I frantically sent out an SOS for help. And by this stage, my hope of getting the quilt done was dashed altogether.

 

Soon after, help came from the kindest people in the US and UK whom I have never met, and together with my fantastic dealer at EMCO, my wonderful Gammill Statler came back to life to finish the stitching.... But it was as if I was to be defied and the quilt wasn't supposed to be done in time when I ran out of thread for the binding, 2/3 of the way, at 1am on the day I wanted to give the quilt away as a 60th birthday present, to one of the very few special persons I have come across, up to this point of my life. I unpicked the binding and re-attached it with a different colour thread. To finish off the quilt, I machine-stitched the binding down because there wasn't time for the hand-stitching. I got the quilt done, it was looking beautiful and well-received.... Mission accomplished. :-)

A Jelly Roll Quilt

Keeping up with the trend...., kind of.! And, here is my version of jelly roll quilt with extra bits thrown in. It was fun to make. The binding actually took a lot longer to finish than the piecing for this quilt. I chose the quilting pattern named 'meanderinghearts' by Willow Leaf Studio for the quilt. It stitched very well, and I think the quilted quilt looks lovely and delightful.

'Tis the Season

Last year, I made up these blocks from the left over fabric that I used to make the Christmas oven mitts. I ran out of time to put them together then. Luckily, they don't go off.!! I had a chance to make this table runner to give a fresh Christmas decoration to the living room, just in time before the busy cooking schedule starts. I probably should have custom quilted the table runner, but I thought that I would try out the allover pattern named 'snowy night' by Laurie Thomas.It stitched very well. The table runner is now on the coffee table, adding the festive season atmosphere to our cosy home while we are getting ready for the celebrations.