Monday 25 August 2014

Stitched and Bound Exhibition 2014 - Back to the Razor's Edge

A couple of weeks ago Miss M and I visited this exhibition which is held by the West Australian Quilters' Association (WAQA) biannually to "...encourage individualized expression and excellence in contemporary quilting." (Stitched and Bound 2014 catalogue)

This year was the 10th exhibition in the series and there were some very inspiring pieces. My favourites included...

'Green Corridors' by Stephanie Knudsen
'Mysterious Outback - Bowl of Plenty' by Jennie Abbott

'As Ye Sow We Hope Ye Will Reap' by Taryn Blight

'Munda Biddi Sojourn' by Meg Cowey
Miss M studies the various stitching techniques

Some of the pieces made political statements, others commented artistically on nature and/or events that impact heavily on communities, while another reflected on the 'public' vs 'private' face of men.

'Sovereign Borders' by Virginia O'Keeffe
'Out of the Ashes' by Pamela Manika

'Honouring Good Men' by Louise Wells

There were also a few pieces from the inaugural exhibition included. All in all it was a lovely, very inspiring morning.

I hope you find something to inspire your creativity this week.

Cheers,
Tracy

Sunday 17 August 2014

FNSI, a Finish & a Secret Project

After a very interrupted sleep on Thursday night, thanks to Miss M, & a trip to Lancelin for lunch with my sister on Friday I was too tired to stitch on Friday night. I was, however, with everyone in spirit & flicked quickly through the latest Patchwork & Stitching magazine which has some wonderful projects in it.

Congratulations to Wendy Bertello (Sugarlane Quilts) and Anorina Morris (Samelia's Mum) for each having a project included in the magazine. They are lovely projects and you ladies should be quite proud of yourselves.

I did manage to do some stitching on the binding of my crazy patchwork Christmas placemat (see a pic here) in the car on the way to a family lunch in Mandurah yesterday though. It has to be handed in to Community Quilts on Tuesday so I have to get moving to finish it off!

You may have seen the froggy fabrics I had for a project in an earlier post. This project is finally finished and I'm very happy with it. Just have to find somewhere to hang it now.

Pattern is 'Lucky Frogs' by Helen Lownds from Pathwork & Stitching Vol 14 No. 4

I've also nearly finished a secret project I've been working on for a friend. I can only show you a sneak peak right now but I'm very happy with how it has turned out.


If you would like to see what everyone else got up to for FNSI you can check out Wendy's blog here. I hope you all get very inspired and have a wonderful week.

Cheers,
Tracy

Saturday 2 August 2014

FNWF

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any stitching done last night as we didn't get back from dinner until late. I did flick through my new 'Love of Quilting' magazine while watching some of the finals of the Gymnastics in the Commonwealth Games though. I do love watching the gymnastics!

I also heard, after doing my post yesterday, that I was lucky enough to win 2nd prize in a raffle at the craft fair yesterday. I'll post a pic after I collect it later in the week.

Hope everyone else had a productive night. If you'd like to see what they all got up to you can check it out here. Thanks again for hosting us Cheryll.

Beautiful sunset over South Perth in May - Aren't the colours just gorgeous?
Have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Tracy

Friday 1 August 2014

My Poor Credit Card

... needs a well earned rest after the workout it had at the WA Craft Show today. I admit to being both an impulse buyer and a Christmas-holic, and my good "friend" Phil egged me on at Logan's Patchwork stand with the beautiful Christmas panels and fabrics they had for sale today. I'm not complaining though, I picked up some lovely pieces. Thanks Phil :)

Beautiful Xmas panel from Logans - luckily the red/green & black/gold
ones had sold out or they would have come home too!

Xmas panel #2 - also stunning!
Xmas stocking from the Teddy Tree for Miss M, stocking advent calendar &
Xmas fabrics from Logans, & the beautiful blue fabric from Logans because
I couldn't resist!
I also bought some essentials...

Thread organiser, bobbins, sewing machine needles, an
applique mat & a hand-crafted wooden needle case

... and some gorgeous threads & bits & pieces.

Thread packs & Angelina fibres from the Thread Studio, owl applique packs
from The Quilt Fairy, Winnie the Pooh fabric book from the Teddy Tree

Finally, I also picked up a few Xmas presents for family and friends. The WA Craft Show included the WA Teddy Show and was paired with the WA Wood Show. One of the Wood groups/Guilds (I can't remember which one) always has some lovely small items available for sale - that's where the needle case pictured above came from.

Wooden toys for my nephews, an Irish rolling pin for a friend, cute owl ornament
for Miss M's friend, jelly roll & red/black fabric pack for some wonderful ladies

We were also treated to 2 wonderful exhibitions - the Bunbury Quilters 2014 International Challenge (nautical theme) & the Southern Cross Quilters exhibition. There were some absolutely awesome pieces on display.

I also got the chance to meet Australian Quilt Artist, Caroline Sharkey, and have a chat to her about how she does her quilts. Her work is so inspiring! She is coming to Perth to run a workshop next year but unfortunately I won't be able to attend. I'm hoping to try out one of her online courses soon. If you'd like to see who she is & what she does, her website is here.

The shows run all weekend so if you get a chance I highly recommend going along.

I'm hoping to join in with Friday Night with Friends tonight. If you'd like to participate too, jump on over to Cheryl's place and sign up here.
Preview

Have a great weekend everyone!

Cheers,
Tracy