Busy Quilting

This quilt has been pinned for some time. It was made with scraps left over from trimming dyed fabric and of course left over pieces from other projects.
It is big enought for my bed, exact measurements I don't know. I'd like to get it on the bed so the quilting has begun.
How nice it would be if it was finished before the end of winter which in Queensland isn't far away.

New Design Wall
Busy time this morning making a design wall that is more useful sizewise than a quilt thats already hanging on the wall.
This is a 2mtr piece of marine carpet bought from Bunnings Hardware Store. I think it cost me $60ish.

I can't take the credit for doing the installation, here's a picture of the cheap home handyman (husband) that did most of the work. If you look closely you'll see the stacks of fabrics & containers that now have to be put in a new place. Had to move a cupboard and bookcase. The hardest part will be putting everything away.

Postcards Delivered

This weeks mail is exciting. I'm in another postcard swap and the postcards are starting to arrive.
the first one to arrive from Carolyn Minto of Canberra with an Autumn theme


the second one from Jan Cotton of NewZealand with a Winter sports theme

Present Time
Here I am unwrapping my present.
Bought for me by Lexie while she was in Devon, UK on holiday.
I asked Lexie to say hello to Devon for me while she was on her holiday as I was born there and she was thoughtful in her present buying to get some watercolours with a local Devon theme.
Also a lovely picture frame.

Giving out Presents
Our birthday weekend was a great success.
Lots of laughter and a few tears, it was all too much for the wonderful Allyson who does all the organising so we can have a stress free weekend. She really does emotional well. I think this was when the first present was opened.

Retreat Visitors
This little Joey had just had a run around in the cool morning and was about to go back to his warm bed. A very cute show early in the morning. The rest of the house was still in bed so I had this entertainment all to myself.

Raggy Hexagons
Using up flannel fabrics. Squares sewn together, layers glue basted, then the hexagons were stitched around the outer edges. All raw edges were clipped.
A good size knee rug that keeps my knees warm on cold evenings.

Double sided

Present Open
Concertina style, it will be able to sit on a shelf or be folded up.

Birthday Present
This weekend I'm going away for a retreat and we all celebrate our birthdays during this time.
Each lady gets a present specifically made for her by one of us. This is my present for a special friend and I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Discharged Fabrics


Some of the discharged fabrics pinned together.
I'll just look at them for a while, move them around and take a few more pictures until I dicide what to do with them.
They haven't been cut, just overlapped and pinned together. Next with be some cutting and playing to see what else I can do.

The Wedding Ring
This quilt began in a workshop at Beenleigh Quilters with Tutor, Pam Hill. I cant remember the year.

It was the first time I'd dyed fabric and did the colours specifically for the workshop.

Well, some yrs later it has been taken out of its box and is now spray glue basted awaiting quilting. I'm going away this weekend on retreat and I'm taking it with me to work on.

I have one other thing that I'm taking to do some work on. Hopefully I'll have uninterupted time to work on both.

Country Sampler

This is a quilt that I designed as a group project. I supplied a pattern each month for 6 months to the ladies in our patchwork group and each person made their own quilt.

This one was made up by my friend Julieanne Mathison. We pooled our scrap fabrics for this quilt and Julieanne did all the applique.

It did sit in my house for some time waiting to be quilted and finally its done. We are both pleased with it.

New Retreat

This is a close up of the view from our new retreat home. I forgot to take a photo of the house. There's plenty of room for everyone, sleeps 23 and we usually have 14. Its also 20Klm closer than the last retreat so although we have to pay more we're saving on petrol.






Pam's Quilt
Finished at last, much to Pam's relief. We all love this quilt and know how Pam loved making it. She is on a mission to make a quilt for her bed for each season, this is her Winter quilt, just in time to get it on the bed for the Australian winter.

Discharge Day

Played with bleach today and did some discharge on black fabric and some dyed fabric.

Tried putting leaves on the fabric and overspraying with bleach, not too successful, though I did like the finished results.

It was a great way

to play and experiment with small pieces to see what happened.

The challenge now is to use these fabrics together and make something

up to show them off.

On the design wall

This piece has been on the wall for some time now.
It's not something I normally do (there's no flowers) and I got to this stage and everything stopped.
I guess it's part of being comfortable working in a certain way and then doing something different and feeling slightly uncomfortable with what you're doing.
I may have to just sew it together and see what happens.

Rainy Day

I had washed some fabric and trimmed the fraied edges and had a lovely colourful pile.
I spread the fabric trimmings over a piece of fabric then with some of the brighter pieces I made some flowery shapes and gave them centres.
Then it was covered with 'washaway'and pinned around the edges to hold it all together then sewn, giving the flowers some shape and stitching down the background.
When there was enough stitching to hold everything together I washed the piece to remove the washaway.
I folded the backing fabric over the edges and topstitched around it, then trimmed the excess away.
Plenty of trimmings left to play with.

Fabulous Fabrics

Here are a few shots of fabrics that were painted over the weekend.




Playing with colours.


Some tree trunk fabric on right.



This butterfly is going to make someone's granddaughter very happy.





Sunsets with and without trees.

Dyeing Workshop in Chinchilla Queensland

The hall where the class was held, in the Museum grounds where old historical buildings are on display.
I'd love this hall in my back yard.

Some of the ladies having a break, you can't lose your face mask if you wear it as a party hat. Morning tea and lunch were wonderful, thankyou everyone.



At some stage there was a cyclone in the building, must have been, surely we couldnt have made this mess.
We had plenty of room to spread out and get creative, there was a riot of colourful fabric produced and lots of projects planned as the colours were produced.

'Tulip Corner'
Some tulips to stand in the corner and brighten the room. I love flowers and they brighten my day.
A preview of my newest pattern. I plan to add it to the website today.