We had a lovely day yesterday

Well, we had a lovely day yesterday with the family for a Christmas lunch, swapping pressies and generally not doing much. It was a lovely summer's day, and we rolled home and were early in bed.

Today it is pouring and we won't be going anywhere. Maybe from the lounge to the machine and back!

It has been very busy here, and I finally turned off my big machines at about 2pm on Christmas Eve. I had a last minute frantic call from a new granny, and how could I say no to that .

Anyway, I probably won't be posting for the next couple of weeks as Harry and I are off to visit with my sister in LA, flying out tomorrow. I have checked the weather sites and it should be good to go. If I can work it out then I will post some holiday pics, but other than that - I'll be back.

Enjoy the New Year,
See you soon
Belinda

Symbols of Japan

I quilted this beauty this last week for Margaret. Isn't it divine? I love the different shades of the pinks and greens.

It is a design based on traditional Japanese designs, interpreted by Val Moore and Patricia Cox, and other pics can be seen on www.simplyval.net.

Each of the applique pieces has been machine satin stitched on. Exquisite. I have quilted it with a filler of a sort of clam design, big and little; parallel curvy lines, and a design by Anne Bright in the outside border called Asian Gardens b2b.

Totally not quilt related, but isn't she cute? Indiana Lara (named by 2 men - I wanted something like Fifi) wrapped in Harry's original baby towel post bath!!! I'm thinking my dearly beloved is having a moment and thinks he wants another baby. Ha!

Enjoy

Belinda

I'm trying something.

I have a problem in that some of my pics are not able to be clicked on to make them larger. So after consulting my web guru, we are trying making them larger. So, we'll see.

Last night was our school awards night, and Mr Smarty Pants above received the school library award for consistent library use and actually reading the books, not just leaving them in his bag. Well.....we were very surprised and pleased with this achievement.



These are my nearly current NYB blocks. What do you think? I think it is a little much, and I will probably rearrange them to try and tone it down. I like the colours though! (Don't you love the stripey flannel sheet as a design wall?)

Enjoy
Belinda

Feathers 2

We have been a little busy here, with a school excursion, birthday, homecoming, rain and getting sorted for Christmas, and I have not many pics to show for it.

However this little quilt is one of mine from a couple of years ago. It is a Mexican Feathered star and has been very heavily quilted and trapuntoed.

I have used the "cutaway trapunto" method for this quilt which took ages, but, I think makes all the puffy bits very puffy. When it was quilted, I echoed the star shape, and then put in lots of feathers and fill.

When I was quilting it I used a blue washaway marker which I was spritzing with water to get it to disappear as I am a bit leery of leaving the blue in for longer than it needs to be.

Next morning all the black had run. Nice. Not. It has been washed in a large wash in the machine and, touch wood, all the black came out. And, no I didn't pre-wash. Silly girl.

Anyway, enjoy

Belinda

Pretty in pink - and something not so pretty at the end!

This quilt was made by Lynne of Sydney, in a class with Jennifer Corkish. It has lots of flowers which have all been needleturned, and lots of open spaces for quilting.

It is quilted using rulers and templates, and freehand fillers and feathers. The outside curved cross hatching was done with a new ruler from Westalee Designs and doesn't it look great!

Lynne always uses gentle and pretty fabrics in her quilts, and I particularly love the pink rose border she as used in this masterpiece.

We are very excited as Terry is back tomorrow after being away for 3 1/2 weeks. He is coming back to this....

and long grass, washed out driveway, 2 dogs who will be beside themselves and a 10year old who CANNOT wait for his fav dad to come home. And me.

Enjoy

Belinda

Portobello Market

This masterpiece belongs to Di from Molong, and she is giving it as a gift - unfortunately not to me! It is the Portobello Market quilt by 3 Sisters for Moda, and you can download the pattern at the United Notions site.
It has many pieced blocks which Di says gave her grief, but I can't see what her problem was! .

It is quilted with freehand feathers in the red background fabric. I used a chalk marker to give me an idea where the spines would go, and then filled in the gaps with big and little feathers. Very effective and looks great. The blocks were done with an Anne Bright p2p on the statler (Majestic I P2P). All the blocks are quilted with the same design. I picked a pattern which wouldn't come too close into the centre with all its seams, but one which would pick out the centre star.

Love it. Maybe it will have to go on my "to do" list, along with all the others. Or, maybe Di will make me one?

Enjoy

Belinda

Redwork quilt - done in greens

I finished this beauty a year or so ago but found the pics on my computer this morning whilst looking for more quilts to post. I have been busy doing "non-publishable" quilts, so am a little light on with stuff to show.

Anyway, this was done by Margaret in Sydney, and is a pattern by Tita Leach called "Redwork Quilt". If anyone wants to purchase the pattern, let me know and I'll pass on Tita's email.

It has houses, mushrooms, snails, frogs flowers and they are all stitched beautifully and all the greens work so well. Very scrummy.

I quilted it on both the statler and freehand, with an Anne Bright design in the outside borders. It has SID around the applique and in the ditches, with fillers where needed. The background fabric is like a linen and was very easy to stitch with.

I also found about 600 pics of a bionicle battle which occurred on my front verandah...

Enjoy

Belinda

French Braid

I was never really intrigued by these French Braid quilts until I saw one up close and personal with Bonnie at a little show in the middle of NY - we both decided that we had to make one (or more), and immediately started collecting fabrics.

In my machine quilting life I have really only quilted one of these with an all over pattern, as the fabrics were soft and didn't need full custom.

But, earlier this year, this beauty came to visit my studio and, after too long, I finally worked out what to quilt on it. I didn't want to spoil the transition of colours by putting too few thread colours on it, and didn't want each of the segments to be the same. I also didn't want to make it too "cute", it was way more elegant than that.

Anyway this is the end result. Fabulous.

Belinda

JAB 2

Julie, Ann and myself (hence the title JAB) decided that we needed to be making a series of traditional style quilts together. Initially it was to be yearly but I've held up the bus by not getting to the latest one, but Ann would design it and work out all the requirements, Julie would make it and I would quilt it. We would rotate who would get to buy the fabrics, make the final decisions on the quilt design and then keep the quilt.

The first one would go to Julie, but I don't have a picture of it. This was our second piece, and it is mine. It is 2 plain fabrics, purple and white. The white feathers all have a second layer of white wadding in them to stop any purple threads showing through - wasn't that a gem of a task!
It is very heavily quilted with feathers (of course!) and fill. The white is not stitched in at all.

The quilt is very deceptive - when you first look at it, you think there is not much quilting on it, but voila, when a light is put on it the quilting really stands out. I love that surprise.

I'll have to get pics of the third one, and then quilt the fourth so we can get onto the next one.

See you

Belinda

Piecemakers Times and Seasons Calendar 1999

I have recently quilted this beauty for Marg (which is a gift for her son for his significant birthday). It is the 1999 Piecemakes Times and Seasons calendar. There is a huge amount of needleturn and reverse applique in this quilt and her choice of colours and textures is a work of art in itself!

The sky in the top pic (not well shown, sorry) has a seam down the middle and Marg has matched the pattern perfectly.

It is quilted freehand with textures, until the outside borders where I have used a fish p2p from Kerryn Emmerson (www.kerrynemmerson.com), an anchor from Sweet Dreams Quilt Studio, and a rope from Laurie Thomas (www.itsaquiltthing.com). Worked beautifully to frame this nautical quilt.

See you later

Belinda

Postage stamp quilt

This masterpiece has just come off my machine to be returned to Jenny tomorrow - all those tiny pieces are 1 inch finished and most of them are fussy cut. Just gorgeous. And it is Jenny's original design.

I have quilted it with lots of feathers - in a rolling feather design in the outside border, a wavy feather in the inside plain border and in a wreath in the blocks in the centre.

The 9 patch blocks have straight lines in them, and the inset triangles have a line dancing design.

All in all, this beauty could live very nicely in my house!

See you

Belinda

It's been busy here...

This weekend just gone, I went to a class with Chris Jurd and made these beauties! I am very pleased with them, although I was thinking my blocks would be a little more subdued than this! Eleanor and Morgie came along too, and we stitched away for 2 days. The class was great and if you get to do a class with Chris, then do it - great teacher, lovely lady and very easy pattern to follow. Her blog is Patchwork Fundamentals (www.chrisquilts.blogspot.com) and the pattern is called New York Beauty.

On Sunday night Morgie and I came home, and after scoffing pizza we had to go to bed as our brains were all worn out.

However, Monday we were ready to go again and we moved to the tidy sewing room to continue with our projects - the only thing missing was the bowl of choccies which should have been there for a sugar hit. We had already demolished the licorice! At 11pm we decided it was time for bed having stitched, laughed, drank, cut, recut, muttered under our respective breaths and made a big mess.

One thing we didn't participate too much in (due to our hayfevers), was the sheep shearing on Saturday morning. This is Harry leading our little flock down the hill to the little shearing shed across the road. They are very tame and come for food, so we had a little procession down the driveway.

This pic is Lizzie (who lost her ears in the recent dog attack).
She looks very odd now with no wool and no ears, but it is not worrying her and she is more interested in the sheep nuts which she loves to eat from our hands.

See you later,

Belinda

No quilts today - angels and stars instead.

This angel cross stitch I started before Harry was born, and it has been unfinished until just recently when I decided to start another big cross stitch. I had put it down when Harry started getting into everything, and I was in amongst the beading, and just never seemed to find the time to get back into it again.

Anyway, it is done now and came back from the framer yesterday. I am very pleased with it, the mats match perfectly and the frame picks up the blues and greens. Just lovely.

In amongst when I am supposed to be doing housework or other such drugery, I have been on the hunt for a recipe for royal icing which works for me, isn't hard to make and does all that is it supposed to do. And, I think I have found it, on a blog called Bake 350 (www.bakeat350.blogspot.com) , and, as you can see the sugar cookies looks great. A little rough around the edges, but the white set properly and the blue didn't run off the edges of the cookie. So, 3 dozen cookies later, I am going to try freezing some of them to see if they survive defrosting too. The white dots are cashous which were Terry's contribution.

Enjoy

Belinda

Sue Ross BOM

This BOM was last year's efforts, through Material Obsession in Sydney (www.materialobsession.com.au)

and each month a new pattern would turn up with lots of lovely fabric goodies.

I sort of kept up, and only really slowed down towards the end after I had had my hip done.

Anyway, it had an appliqued basket in the centre which I thought I might make into a bag, and so I made another circle design (taken from EQ7) and put it in the centre instead. It is quilted with a spider's web design. The bind is on but not stitched down.

I really like the busyness of this quilt, and I learnt a lot about circles and stitching them onto a background with nice smooth curves and no pointy bits.

We had a busy weekend, and my dearly beloved was promoted to Lt Colonel in the Army Reserve. He was very surprised when it happened as we thought it would take place later in the year, so that will keep him very busy next year.

See you

Belinda

Civil War Crossings

This is another one of my bind-on-not-stitched-down quilts called Civil War Crossings. It is a pattern by Eula Parris Smith and Barbara Brackman and was published in QNM Nov 2008 (p. 90). When I saw this I knew I had to make it, and its only taken 18 months to do (its been finished for a couple of months now).

I made it in scrappy browns, pinks and a blue; with the inset triangle fabric another one of those pieces one buys without knowing what they are going to do with it. It's probably not technically correct to have a birdie toile-y fabric in with civil war designs, but I liked the colour and the finish. It is quilted with an all over clam by Kay Oft. And the picture is sideways - sorry about that - but you get the idea

Last weekend it snowed. Enough said about that. The sheep and chooks were less than impressed, as were we trekking out into the sideways weather to go to a bass rehearsal.

This weekend is forecast rain for Saturday. Kate and I are heading off to a craft day at the Kenna Hall in Hill Street (if you're in Orange and have nothing to do). It is being organised by our friend Ruthie who is fundraising money for a memorial garden/contemplative spot to go and be peaceful. If you're around and can make it, come and say hi.

See you later

Belinda