NEARLY TRIBAL QUILT FINISHED

If you are in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne on Friday or Saturday, there is a quilt show on run by a lovely lady by the name of Carol.   It is called "All our own work" and is on at the Baptist Church in Heathmont - just near Ringwood.   Always worth a look.

All Our Own Work Quilt Fair 2013

A Quilt, Patchwork, Applique, Textile Art Display

Friday 10th and Saturday 11th May, 2013

10 am to 5 pm

Heathmont Baptist Church

78 Cuthbert Street, Heathmont 

Light Refreshments and Lunch available

Displays and Traders

I have five quilts in the show.    As it is run every second year, "The Ghastlies" haven't had an airing for a while, so that one has gone for display.  Also out for a run are my "Nearly Tribal", Faux Cathedral Windows, Maurice and Mathilda Garden Gnomes and the Shabby Chic Roses.  I finally got the binding on last week after it hung around the house for quite some time.  

 

I realised when getting quilts ready that I haven't shown off the finished Nearly Tribal Quilt that I made late last year.    It turned out very well and has a lot of dingle dangles that I love so much and of course, 3d leaves and flowers and beads.    I entered this quilt in the Lilydale Show in November and it won a few prizes, so it is very remiss of me not to have put it out into the ether to show off.   So, here it is:

 

 

The leave and flowers are a stylized version of Black Eyed Susan.   It was enjoyable making beads from bits of fabric and yarn using drinking straws as the formwork.   As with many of my quilts, there was a reasonable amount of shopping for the necessary beads to go with the project.  A couple of the guys are wearing feathers in a jaunty fashion.  

 

The mask designs are available over at my Etsy Shop (see the side bar).

 

Getting quilts ready for showing makes me want to slap myself sometimes.   The Cathedral Windows Quilt had three diamonds that needed to be quilted - I can't even remember the reason I stopped, but three diamonds to go, and I left it unfinished.   So that is another one now off the UFO pile.

 

 

 

This Shabby Rose Quilt finally got its much needed wash, to bring all of its shabby glory to the fore!

I quilted this at our March Quilting afternoon,  went on holidays for the April one and finally got the binding on it last Saturday at our May Quilting day.    I have kept this one light and used a polar fleece on the back instead of wadding and a second layer of fabric.   There is a tiny wedge of pink used as piping in the centre panel surround.  

 

 

Pink and green fabrics are from my stash of hand dyed fabrics.  

 

If you click on the first photo of this post, you will get nice big pictures to see the details of the quilts.

 

I'll be back shortly with a few shots of some hand dyed fabrics I have been making.   Lots of fun.

 

Sue xxx

 

HIGH TEA

Today's post is all about food.   My friend Sue and a few members of her family all celebrate birthdays fairly close together.   Some were birthdays of note, 50, 18, 16 and 8 - Sue's was in there too, but she is a lady so we won't disclose her age.  

Sue wanted High Tea.  Sue didn't want to make it.   So Sue, asked "moi" to cater.   I didn't hesitate, a chance to bake cake, lots of cake!    And so to work I went.  

So, what was on the menu.......

Sandwiches

Red Salmon and Cucumber

Beef and Chilli Jam

Turkey and Cranberry

Smoked Ham and Havarti

(the teeny tiny ones on sticks)

Savoury Boats - Brie, Smoked Salmon and Capers

Egg and Bacon Tarts

Sausage Rolls

Scones with Jam and Cream

Sponge Drops

Cream Horns

Passion fruit Matches

Lemon Meringue Tarts

Deconstructed Cheesecake

The birthday cake - Cupcakes with  vanilla butter cream icing.



The good news is everybody enjoyed the faire and most importantly nobody died.   Such a relief!! 

After the party, I came home and flopped in a chair, it had been a big few days of food preparation so I didn't unpack my car.     Monday I had to go out so I took my sons car.   Tuesday I had to go out, I was running late, I took my car, still with a china and plastic containers.......Thursday, it was my turn for morning tea  - I need icing sugar, I got it out of the front seat......Thursday night, my husband was wandering around the kitchen looking for dinner plates - I said they were in the boot of my car - he doesn't even ask anymore when these statements are made - he just went and got the good set out of the dining room.........

Have a great week.

Sue xxx

SAILING QUILT

 

After having a break from this project and playing with rabbits,  I got back into the swing of the boat quilt/bedspread and finished it.    There are lots of photo's so hopefully I have covered all the different parts of this piece.    As it is such a large piece, I needed to find a simple way to put it all together and make the quilting of each piece easier for me to handle.   I used a thin polyester type batting in between the layers, but it still came out pretty hefty.  Each strip was embroidered, quilted and then stitched together to create a raggy quilt in strips.    I have seen this done for smaller baby/children's quilts and had a ''duh moment' - how easy is this for a larger quilt - if it suited the particular theme.     So for anyone who asks, the shaggy bits are the sea "foam".

 

You can see that the end of the quilt has been boxed - this should, and I say should optimistically, make it easy for the elf to make the bed!!     I checked with the kid if he could cope with the colours I had chosen for the room - (he is nearly 18) and he wasn't fussed.   The room is his room, but will also double as a guest room.     The colour is called "Mineral Showers".   I spent one afternoon painting the one wall from beige to this colour, it is beautiful.   I did add  some Floetrol to the paint so I could create the look of a lime wash like I did in my bedroom, but for my hours spent carefully cross hatching the only way you can tell that a brush was used is if you stand next to the wall and look at it into the sunlight.   From front on, it looks like the perfect paint job - oh well!!  

 

The beige curtains will go at some point, but for now they will stay, and I need to find some artwork for the wall.    There are a lot of pictures because in reality this room isn't big enough to swing a cat, but it is just for sleeping and the views make the best curtains of all.

 

I finished the clipping over a couple of days.   I made  the quilt as two pieces for easier washing.    I took the lot down to the Laundromat and put it through a cold wash and then for a spin in the dryer - the shaggy look was complete, the lint filter at the laundromat was chockablock.

 

 

 

 

 

Each time we visit Merimbula, I try and add a bit of decoration here and there.   This time I found these in the hardware shop (they have a lovely gift/decor section).    The propeller was a brown/copper colour but I the paint was there so I gave it a bit of green to add some verdigris.    

 

I finally found a space for the "Pirate Quilt". (If you want to see the detailing up close, you can see them here in Photobucket).   No doubt this wall will end up a different colour sooner rather than later, and the TV that is next to it, will get a new lower stand, but at least it has made it up on a wall finally!

 

 

Two weeks on holiday is gone in a flash.    I hope you enjoy some of these snaps just to finish up.

 

Husband and son coming back into the lake after an abysmal morning of fishing.......

 

 

 

O'Reilly enjoying an icy pole on the Boardwalk......

 

 

Fur seal having a rest in the lake.   Sometimes the odd seal arrives in the lake for a rest on their journey.   We saw a number of them out in the bay one evening, just lazing around, scaring the fish away!!

 

Someone was feeding the seagulls - there is a lot of fighting between the recipients!

 

This fellow didn't seem to mind me taking a few shots at his fishing endeavours.

 

Breakfast at the Waterfront Cafe never fails to deliver.......

 

and finally the journey home.    O'Reilly had been shunted to the back of the car for the first part of the trip home.    He wasn't happy, he likes to be up near his mum.......he won!!







 

Hope you enjoyed the holiday snaps.   Til next time.

 

Sue xxx