Busy day sorting through all my crates, well some of my crates prior to our move. i have already sold one of my five kilo satchels of vintage trims and fabrics...yeah! Twenty more to go…give or take a few.

Having a break from my research for a future blog post which has proven both time consuming and informative.

My copy of Kaffe Fassett’s Quilt Romance came from Amazon.com today. Kathy devoted a blog post to the book here. ….her post has photos of the projects too! I adore this book because it is photographed in Portmerion....where my favourite china originated. It is a village in Wales where quaint cottages and buildings are painted in the most glorious colours.

I popped out for a while to get fresh veggies for dinner and on the way popped into Vinnies where I found the cute sewing basket. While it is a tad small for my sewing needs its perfect for my evening beading. It will be perfect for my pliers and findings and wire etc. I also found the as new skirt which was exquisitely hand tailored…you know with the seams sewn with a top stitch not a zig zag. Pity to cut it up…but don’t worry I won’t lose any sleep over it…it will be perfect for my LibertyV Quilt. I need masses of blues for that and also it will be good for the mosaic one below….still looking out for Liberty fabrics for that one!

Okay off to watch television for a while..then more research!

This week’s POTW  [photo of the week] on FPAQ on flickr is by rOssie. The way Rossie has photographed this quilt is sublime…the shades of colour in the background…in the branch…echo the subltey of the colours in the quilt.

This quilt really has to be seen large to appreciate the detail. The quilting is exquisite, as is the use of the itajime resists which Rossie sells in her etsy shop. Rossie learned about this process from Malka of a stitch in dye.

Rossie actually has this quilt for sale here in her etsy shop rossie.etsy.com where she explains a little more about the dye process.

She also started the flickr group Fresh Modern Quilts where many hours of inspiration is to be found.

Look ….went shopping in Spotlight on my birthday and bought enough fat quarters for my new half hexi quilt!

Also bought two metres of fabric for border

and a metre of this for the binding. The butterflies are about seven centimetres…three inches at their largest.

I like this colourscheme for spring/summer and love the hint of gold/beige in there too!

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And look what else I got! Yes it co-ordinates!

The NX 200 fully computerised sewing machine… quilter’s edition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got over three hundred dollars off too!!!!!!!!!

More of my rescued from landfill fabrics.  “Odalys” by Romanex de Boussac of France

with blooms 15 to 20cm each…stunning…I made this bag set below with it.

Though I still have heaps of offcuts if anyone is interested.

Xian chintz….1994 a panel about one metre in length…quite glorious and highly unusual…again thrown out of the charity shop by staff.

This one I found for sale in a pile of what looked like a deceased estate goods at Vinnies. It is a gorgeous curtain panel from the sixties…as new and glorious in colour…..

like a painting. Would look wonderful fussy cut and framed or fabulous in a retro home as an ottoman cover.

I still have over a metre of this fabric left….would be happy to fussy cut it for you or provide a bigger piece if you wanted to make something larger. I am pretty sure it is a form of barkcloth…highly collectable and hideously expensive in vintage fabric shops online.

This week at Spotlight I found some gorgeous fabric plus some co ordinating fat quarters

…some jewellery findings

and gorgeous tree decorations ….I know its only October but they are purple!

Am thinking half hexi quilt for the fat quarters….skirt with butterfly border for the fabric…leaving enough to border and bind the quilt of course…must get one’s priorities right!

Hope you are having a safe peaceful weekend….its freezing here in Sydney…well at 17 degrees celcius it is a change from the near 30 celcius we have had lately. A good temperature to start on quilts for the many affected by the disasters in our region this week.

This was brought home to me while I was in Spotlight on Thursday. A lady in her thirties was weeping silently as she spoke into her cellphone in a corner of the store. She had obviously tried for the quietest place in the shop…or maybe the place with the most compassionate shoppers…who knows …but as she huddled in the quilting nook she wept… her desperation at not being able to get through to any of her family in Samoa so palpable…it took my breath away.

I turned away to allow her some privacy and when I returned there a few moments later she was gone. We can donate money at present and donate our time to making quilts which can provisde a warm hug.

When words are never enough, or too much, a quilt is a wonderfully therapeutic thing to have. But I would ask everyone to consider what they make…I like to make beautiful quilts and I see no reason why disaster quilts should be any different…lets not swamp these colourful communities with drab quilts which we have salvaged together from our rejects or leftovers. It is not that hard to get a scrap quilt going in a colour scheme which will actually enrich people’s lives…not just keep them warm and alive…. by celebrating the power of colour and art to heal. And all those prayers and positive thoughts stitched into the quilts help too, even if it is only we ourselves who benefit at the time.

Cherri of Cherry House Quilts is hosting a fabulous giveaway of Amy Shimler fabrics for Robert Kaufman which would be wonderful for this purpose…can you imagine the joy a child in those colourful communities would get from that fabric…and the family of that child?

The giveaway finishes on October 7th, Cherri and my birthday. Good luck!

Oh and its a challenge giveaway…I love those!

The first one is a Sanderson lookalike from 1982.  I have 50cm x 140cm piece of this lightweight cotton, it is screen printed and dated 1982. It is by House ‘N Home Fabrics and Draperies Inc.

Then I have this gorgeous piece of  German made chintz with a HUGE print….this is a really big fabric sample which is about 130cmx100cm….now what to do with it…would make a great table topper or a big bag or a table runner. Available

Then about two metres of cotton chintz…shabby chic style bouquets. Available

Then two metres of what might be Liberty Of London…fabulous quality lawn. Available

The EDITH Toile , an exclusive design for ASCRAFT fabrics 1992
8 metres of lightweight upholstery weight fabric found in a thrift shop. Available

Today I packaged up Jan’s future grand daughter’s quilt which she won in my second bloggiversary giveaway. Dragonfly Horses is now jetting its way  to Devon to hopefully cheer up dear Jan while she recuperates from her surgery. Should not be too long before her grand daughter is born as well….a busy time ahead.

This quilt took a lot longer than it should with my husband having a near nervous breakdown due to the work issues at the charity where he works but I finally managed to find the peace to work on it….or rather…the quilt gave me peace as I stitched it….very therapeutic.

It was made using remaining pieces of the fabric from the quilt below

along with dragonfly fabric given to me by my dear friend Ester. The butterflies on the back and binding were found by my husband who is ever vigilant for fabric for me.

I mentioned before that after I completed the quilting …perle cotton, medium stitches I started swirling circles all around the back edging…in chain stitch…just to keep things interesting!

So this long overdue quilt is on its way to Jan….with so much love and thoughts of the baby to come all mixed in with memories of past quilts made using some of these fabrics.

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Jan ….if you lived nearer I would wrap you in the most wondrous of quilts as you recover from your surgery…surrounded by your loved ones in your garden. As it is this goes with my love, my prayers and my sure knowledge that this is a turning point in your life and one that you will handle with your usual wit and grace.

May God bless you and protect you, and the new baby, always

Jan is having corrective surgery on her leg on Tuesday to repair the aftermath of her surgery for cancer years ago.

I have returned to sewing with a vengeance. Here is my latest tote WIP. At the moment I am ready to quilt the bag and handles. Tonight I found the wadding I needed in the garage and as soon as I finish sewing the binding down on Dragonfly Horses I will start on the quilting. Am thinking pink perle cotton in a largish stitch.

In the background are our new Marie Claire mix and match dishes. My nerve damage was affecting my hands so badly we had to get a different dinner set. I had been using Corelle the shatterproof servingware but when I dropped the dishes etc, which is often, the things exploded upwards and remnants richocheted almost blinding me on several occasions. So the solution, mix and match porcelain which is a reasonable weight and does not explode when dropped.

The fabric I used for this bag is Moda Soiree which I won from Miss Mabel Studios some months ago in a giveaway. It was a charm pack and easily went together in this bag as the work of choosing co-ordinating fabrics was already done for me. Unlike the Marie Claire seringware which took two shopping trips …one to the city and one to Bondi Junction!

This bag is for a silent auction at my friend’s son’s high school in October, the bag should be just right for Summer 09.

which I won on her blog after she celebrated her 2nd year in business as  Cherry House Quilts.

I adore these two quilt designs and am hoping that Cherri will organise a quiltalong at some stage.

It would be wonderful to have a quilt along under the tutelage of someone like Cherri don’t you think?

Here is her quilt which was published in the Spring 2009 issue of Quick Quilts. Sherri called this quilt Florin from her Coins Range, Quick Quilts called it Gilded Asian Elegance …I just call it Splendid, as is all of Cherri’s work.

You can find Cherri on her blog, her pattern shop and here is her flickr stream. I do not know of any other pattern designer in any of my groups who has been so delightful to know, nor so generous in her praise and appreciation of others work. Her generosity also extends to the readers of her blog where she regularly hosts giveaways. Go visit Cherri, you will be inspired, entertained and treated as a member of the family.