A Couple of Finishes

The last couple of weeks have been fairly manic but I was able to finish a gift for my niece and the other samples from the Cathedral Windows workshop.

Miss T's birthday present



You may have seen the wall hanging I did for myself with an almost identical design at this post here. I loved it so much that I thought it would make a lovely gift for my niece. As she goes to boarding school my sister suggested a cushion would be better than a wall hanging. Miss T loved it, even if I was in such a hurry that I sewed on the fabric for the back of the cushion upside down!

As I couldn't do binding with mitred corners on a cushion I did a You Tube search for a tutorial on mitred borders. I found this tutorial from Riley Blake Designs and it was fantastic. Very simple explanations with each step demonstrated clearly. You can't really see it in the pic but my mitred border corners, happily, turned out almost perfect. If you want to have a go you can find the video at this link - How to Quilt Series: Mitred Corners for Borders.

On Thursday I was able to finish my Cathedral Windows samples in time to show Mum before she headed North again. Here are the finished pieces.

Cathedral Windows traditional method - Hand stitched

Cathedral Windows traditional method - Machine stitched

Cathedral Windows - Folded corners method

Cathedral Windows - Jelly roll method - Full window

 

Cathedral Windows - Jelly roll method - Flying Geese unit

 

Cathedral Windows - appliqued

One day I wouldn't mind making a project using Cathedral Windows but it probably won't be for a while.

Happy stitching,
Tracy

A Little Stitching for FNWF

I started a new stitching project a couple of nights ago and have been itching to get back to it but been to busy. Thanks to the lovely Cheryll at Gone Stitchin' and her monthly Friday night with friends (FNFW) get-together I was able to work on it some more tonight.

 

I'm using a variegated thread (Colour Streams D/L 15) for the first time and am loving the effect. It does take a little thought sometimes though to make sure there is not too much of one colour in an area. I'm looking forward to finishing this butterfly and moving on to the smaller one on the other side of the design.

Hopefully everyone else who joined me at Cheryll's tonight had as much fun as I did. You can see what everyone got up to on Cheryll's blog.

Have a great weekend everyone & Happy Father's Day to all those amazing Aussie Dad's.

Cheers,
Tracy

Cathedral Windows Quilting Workshop

Yesterday was so much fun! Very intense...but sooo much fun! I took a workshop with WAQA tutor Stephanie Knudsen which covered a variety of methods for creating Cathedral Windows, including both hand and machine work. Here are some of the samples I did.

I managed to fully complete 2 of the 5 sample variations but am very inspired to complete the others so I don't forget how to do them.

Don't be fooled, it's fiddly but not difficult. If you like handwork, it's also something small you could carry with you to do in waiting rooms or on holidays etc. If you have wanted to try it but been a bit unsure I highly recommend you give it a go.

Have a great week!

Cheers, Tracy.

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

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

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

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.



Have a great weekend everyone!

Cheers,
Tracy