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Monthly Archives: March 2009

Aglow

The incredibly talented EmmaLouise of Sampaguitaquilts.blogspot.com made this quilt as a prize for the 10,000th visitor to her blog  …how lucky were they? I will leave you to read the story behind the quilt but any Australian will remember the Canberra fires and will also note that the date when it was received in Victoria was significant.

Below is her bushfire appeal quilt for Victoria...a stunning use of colour…no running away from the savage beauty of fire for Emma. It is well worth a trip to her blog to see how she has photographed this quilt in the starkly dry beauty of her creek. I find Emma to be one of the most talented quilters in any of my flickr groups. Her scope is broad and she is a true artist….and she is a young mum ….so imagine how her talent will blossom and deepen in coming years…am really excited!

Emma takes commissions for quilts, if you would like to talk to Emma about having something made please contact her at her blog or I can put you in touch.

 

Constellation Consternation

Found Object

Found this while sorting my fabric in the garage into various plastic drawers that I bought at Go Lo for half price [guess it is because they are under receiver's orders] I also managed to construct the two sets of drawers myself! Of course that was after discovering halfway through the first one that it was upside down! No problem….just turned it right side up…although I had been wondering how the drawers would go in! I now have two sets of drawers…each with seven drawers and two linen cupboards, full of fabric. It sounds like a lot but its not a patch…pun intended…on many quilters. I do intend to go through and cull anything that i do not think i can use within the next five years however. That way I have a realistic chance of using up a lot of my upholstery fabric as well as gifting a lot of fabric to the various appeals and charities which are always in need of fabrics and quilts for that matter.

My new friend Aneela, of Comfort Stitching has some stunning photos on flickr of her duvet covers made using Laura Ashley fabrics
floral brick path cover detail

as well as Liberty and Philip Jacobs, see the fabulousness above, and she also makes quilts using her daughter’s old clothes. I was so thrilled for Aneela this week when well known fabric designer Philip Jacobs commented on her flickr photo which showcased a lot of his fabrics which she is going to make into a quilt. What a great guy…he joined our groups immediately and got straight into commenting…chatting really…and well, I was so happy for my creative ladies …and men…that he was just so approachable.

I mentioned to him that I have some Brunschwig and Fils fabric which is a reproduction of a Russian priest’s robe from a museum. It has big and blowsey flowers, quite like Philip’s work. I have several museum reproductions….all found in the local charity shop over the years. I usually share half of my finds with my friends straight away but I still manage to have quite a bit downstairs! Here is a taste of some of the museum collection.

Brunschwig and Fils

Brunswick and Fils

Brunschwig and Fils

My drawers are useful as it makes it so much easier for me to access all my fabric. I find large plastic storage boxes exceptionally good against mold and moths etc but with my spinal issue I cannot lift the many boxes off each other…it is much more sensible this way. Although I probably should store the museum ones in folders of some sort…also the chintz ones as it is not good to have folds in those…they leave a mark which just will not come out.

When I was diving into all the plastic boxes and canvas bags in the garage I found the Sanderson tote bag which I had started

Sanderson WIP

and also the vintage Sanderson  linen fabric which I had started to make into a throw  and matching quilt years ago and then I could not find it again.

Sanderson throw
It is really calling to me as there is so very much of it…I found two chaircovers and that is a lot of fabric [about three metres by two metres...each] Which reminds me, I also found two bedspreads in another Sanderson print last year just prior to the debacle in the charity shop…have  a little news about that. One of the women who had worked at the local branch of the store where I had the incident has resigned from the charity ..and yes she left the charity not that branch of the charity after many years of service there. She was  a difficult person at times but a hard worker and could run rings around the new manager and often did. More on this in the coming weeks….keep tuned!

Ring Around the Flowers, edge

This gorgeous quilt is the delightful work of Julie, known as jarobichaux on flickr,

below are her absolutely gorgeous cats, which I adore.

Orphan cats #2-4

More of the amazing flowers on her quilt.

Ring Around the Flowers, piecing

She also has a blog, a little bit pregnant, where she catalogues her wonderful adventures with quilting and patchwork. Now I am not sure if she is a little bit pregnant or if her quilts are pregnant with promise but her blog is exceptional. In a field where every quilter and her cat has a blog she is a stand apart in the stark honesty of her posts about her sewing adventures. I thought that her work and blog would appeal to my readers of her generation as she is very current in her application of design and colour. Then there is the truly exceptional quality of her work. It is interesting finding artisans on flickr as I do not often know if they are teachers in the field or even in fact well known designers. There are some ways of telling, usually if they have a blog or website then I can find out a little more about them.

Hope your weekend was relaxing….see you later in the week.

 

 

 

 

 

Japanese porcelain and flowers ...two of my favourite things

I have been sewing lots of different things and have almost finished a tablecloth /quilt which was inspired by a project in a Japanese craft book I found in Kinokuniya after I met Dina and family. This book is chock full of so many fun projects and the most stunning tote bags complete with matching blackberry holders!!!

Lime Plus Crosses Equals Heaven

Have you ever seen anything so sweet? I cannot wait to make it and I am going with black and white patterned cotton with lime green and maybe hot pink touches…..need to get those leather handles too. I also have been making this Wonky Geisha Quilt…it is a quilt as you go and quite achievable for non quilters…any takers? First of all i tried it like this

wonky geisha

then i settled on this which works heaps better for me, although a lot of my friends on flickr like the first version!

wonky geisha...finally got it

This tablecloth is hopefully going to be finished by Thursday so that I may spoil my friend Ester with afternoon tea.

Blue Crosses

I will be getting out my butterfly china and doing the whole elegant tea thing. Oh if you look carefully you will see the border fabric in the quilt has lots of yellow butterflies.

Sherbert butterflies

afghans and pillows

Isn’t this the most divine use of colour? I believe these are  Kaffe Fassett designed throws and the cushions are cross stitch kits. This photos was found on flickr in my Decorating With Textiles group and the lady who had it there did not know where it came from as she found it on a Chinese photosharing site! I am presently knitting a striped throw but in muted shades of heather and would adore to have some of those cushions.

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