kaleidoscopes

Catherine Wheel Kaleidoscopes.... a year of obsession!
This time last year I borrowed Bethany Reynold's book on stack and whack. I was determined to make a kaleidoscope quilt in 2006. To my great disgrace, the book remained as bedside reading for a few months more than it should have but finally I had to give it back to the Canberra Quilter's library. (I had made a few grovelling apologies to Susan Blood over those months...)
I loved the look of the blocks she was making in the book but I needed something easier. Something where I didn't need to cut filler shapes to complete the block.

Then I had a "moment". I don't know why I thought of it but I wondered if I could make a pointy Dresden plate in a stack and whack kinda way.
Eureka!
So began the obsession.
First I bought a very small amount of nice fabric and gave it a go... it worked! I got 8 plates out of that and a cute small quilt.
Next I bought a very cheap, ugly fabric. The fabric was in nice colours but as a border print, it was quite horrible. Once it was turned into plates, the fabric was completely transformed. I had no idea what was going to happen and did not plan the plates but just let it happen serendipitously. It was fabulous.

It was so much fun, and such a success. By now I was starting to have a few more clues about what I was doing but still let chance play its hand. I bought wicked flaming fabric and a whole bunch of screaming reds and oranges. This quilt looks dazzlingly bright and not very "me".
Next? A Japanese print I teamed up with lime and purple. It's pictured at the top. It is now on my DD(10)'s bed.
I made tiny ones to use as flowers in a huge scrappy quilt with an appliqued vase and vine.
After that was another Japanese print. It was intended for DD(8) but it isn't fun enough for an 8yo so I will give it to some one else.
I have just started another for DD2.
Here is the sample of fabric I am starting with.....

I haven't decided on a setting yet for the plates it is yielding. I think the setting is pivotal. Otherwise I doubt I would have stayed interested this long. Maybe an Irish Chain?
The plates I have made from the fabric have been scattered through this blog entry.

I have been teaching the technique now for about 9 months. Everyone seems to get just as hooked as me. At first I can see that they don't trust me and they worry that they don't know how the blocks will look when made. I assure them that they don't need to and that all will be well. And it always is! It is such a great fun class. There is instant gratification in a big way. How gorgeous is this block?

Christmas Bits

G'Day!
I have spent the last week having a bit of fun. Too late really to have time to do anything significant, I decided to make some Chrissy presents. Mainly for the girls i work with, but also for my stitching group and a few for the kids' teachers.
I was chatting with my friend Sylvia about it and she recommended an older book of Debbie Mumm's. I borrowed hers and went home to have fun with buttons, scraps, vlisofix and black felt. I have made a happy collection of tree ornaments or glorified gift tags. I think they are pretty cute and the girls (8 & 10) liked the reindeer so much they made one each for their teachers.
I was lucky to have two tubes of black buttons! I guess this when being a collector helps. It was at least 5 years ago that a shop was getting rid of their buttons and I bought the buttons for no particular reason. Very handy they were!
Now it is back to working on the Mystery for 2007...or could I be tempted to do a few more Kaleidoscopes???!!! I think so...

Exercising the New machine

In July, while quilting my show exhibit, I decided it was time to move on. The machine and I simply could not come to a happy understanding about tension. Even after a good service I had both back and front of the quilt sufferng.

I went to the exhibition and started looking at machines. I narrowed it down to Brother PQ1600, Husqvarna Mega Quilter or Pfaff Grand Quilter.
The DH only said "yes" when I bargained away all my birthday monies and sold two patterns to the magazines and cleared the Mastercard. (Tough, isn't he??? Never mind, the M/C was clear for a Thursday afternoon only! LOL)

At last the Mega Quilter arrived. Reverently I carried the box in. I unpacked the machine, admired it and then put it away until I had time. Finally, 5 days later I gave it a careful run. Then I put it away again. Reverently. After a full dusting and oiling.

The reverence thing couldn't last. I decided it was way too much fun and I have left it on the dining table to be played with whenever I walk past!
All the sandwiches I had prepared have been used up so I pulled out a class sample from earlier this year. I went to a machine trapunto class with Nicole Bridges.
It was a lot of fun, but I had not done much on the sample as I knew that the old machine and I were not up to the in-fill.

So here are two pictures of my practice runs with the new machine on the trapunto sample. I have done even more practice since. I just need some more ideas of designs to quilt as I now have stipples down to a fine art!

Mysterious Gathering

The most humbling part of my teaching over the last 3 years has been the trust that a group of ladies has put in me as they have continued to enrol in my series of Mystery Block of the Months.
Each year, they pick their colours, with only a scant clue of where the year's quilt will head. Their results have been terrific, I think. I love seeing quilts that are not clones of the class sample.
To celebrate the finishing of a third year we held a Mysterious Gathering. It was a chance to catch up, see some finished quilts and get a preview on next year's Mystery.
This first picture is Michelle Law's quilt from 2004. I love her dusty country colours. I think the suffering she experienced with the stretchy ticking background was worth it!
Next is Jenny's from 2005. it is lovely to see it quilted! She had a feature fabric very similar to Helen's from that year, but her cooler tones made it look quite distinctly different.
Here is Helen with her 2006 quilt. Her last class was only a fortnight before the gathering, so she is forgiven for having only one border on! I love her autumn colours! And her great choice of background fabric. Far more daring than mine.



Then Elaine's quilt with Elaine accidently cut out of the photo. Elaine always comes up with unconventional combinations that always wow us.

Christine, like Elaine and Michelle, is up to her third MBOM.So is Terrie, but I couldn't find her quilts while I was photographing. I think her 2005 MBOM (shown) is my favorite of hers.

The black and white quilt is Joan's. She works with me in the shop and gave herself the challenge of creating a quilt with just two colours. Well done Joan. The fabrics she has chosen for the 2007 MBOM suggests a similar challenge, but in purples.
The next MBOM is going to be the most beautiful. A pretty heavy going one, in terms of quantity of applique. It is going to be MBOM "Seasons". I am having to do mine in blanket stitch just to find time to get it done now that I am working so much. A bit sad :((


Karin's is next in my kind of colours! Deep reds and accent in black.This is the 2006 quilt again.

Next up is Wendy with her 2004 quilt. It looks great finished and she quilted it all by herself on her new janome. I love the colours of her 2006 quilt and can't wait to see it finished.

Finally ( because manipulating photos in this environment is not intuitive!) is Suzanne's quilt. I love it when people make quilts with the fabrics I don't have time to use!

And in case you are wondering, I am the one in a lime shirt at the end of each quilt. Thanks Michelle for taking the photos.

First Post

Ok! I have taken the plunge. Given the scarcity of time, I am not sure a new addiction is a brilliant idea, but maybe a diary is a better use of the spare moment than another game of RIP at
www.netives.com
If you want a word game challenge, give this a go. My best score is 234,000. I only play the free version with time limits. The practice it took to get a score this high is justified. I am sure it is...? I tell myself it is mental health issue.
The quilt pictured is an old quilt that has just come home from its travels in a Canberra Quilters suitcase exhibition. I picked it for no other reason than it was easy to find!
It has taken all morning to prepare this first blog as I had to get the photos from my computer to his computer as mine is too old to cope with blogging.
It took him all morning to get the photos over and then let go of the keyboard. That happened as my mac G3 seized up from too many file transfers.

Quilting plans: I am pondering my quilting options for the backlog of tops that accumulated while I saved for the Mega Quilter. Yesterday I finished quilting the machine trapunto sample that I started in a workshop with Nicole Bridges. This is a big deal as I can not tell you more than one other thing that I have finished that started in a workshop!
Mustn't let this first episode get too long....
Hoorooo