fuchsia - facing finally finished

I finally finished the edges of this little quilt! I didn't want to use binding so I finished it with facing instead. I like the fact that you can't see the facing on the front. This is a fantasy fuchsia. The idea for it came after doing a class with Jane Sassaman in which we used a photo of a flower, erased a lot of the details and exaggerated what was left. I like the way the colours worked together!

connections

I made this for a quilt challenge several years ago. The theme of the challenge was 'connections'. I wanted to try using non-traditional embellishments so went shopping at the hardware store (that is FUN). I found all kinds of things that can be used to 'connect', like nails, screws, nuts & bolts & washers, split pins, chain and threw in some safety pins too.

 I used quite a few different techniques - machine piecing, machine quilting, hand applique, hand embroidery, beading. All the parts that make up the wall hanging are different sizes and shapes. I entered it in the Tasmanian Quilt Guild's annual show and was thrill ed when it won two prizes - overall Best Use of Embellishment and also Highly Commended in the Art Professional category.

trees

I don't think I ever posted photos of this quilt from a few years ago. It's my own design that originated from a challenge between my friend Judi and I. We each used a photo and traced some of the lines from the photo onto tracing paper, then simplified the lines even further by erasing some of them. We then cut a 1" square hole in a larger piece of cardboard and moved the cardboard over the drawing until we found a section that seems to have interesting design possibilities. The drawing takes on a completely different look when you can only see a 1" square section at a time. We had to expand the design from the little section we'd chosen, without referring back to the original photo.  It was a very interesting exercise. This quilt was the result. I did the quilting on my Husky rather than the longarm, as I didn't think I'd be able to do all the echo quilting as well as I would like on the longarm. I wrote up the pattern for it last year and it was published in Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine.

Flower practice quilt

I made this little quilt as a practice for a larger quilt I want to make. I tried out a few new things on this quilt - I did all the applique and quilting on my longarm quilting machine. The tiny little circles around the flowers and the mock buttonhole kind of stitch on the leaves took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to do but I'm quite pleased with the way they came out.

 I wanted to try McTavishing on this one, and also try to scale down a meandering feather as a background filler. I decided to put the diamond shape in just as a bit of added interest.

 So this is the finished quilt. Don't know why I haven't taken a photo of it with the binding finished yet. What do you think?

summer serenade part 7 - the finished quilt!

If you've read this far, thank you.  Please consider leaving a comment...

I took photos of the quilt in my studio, in various places and at various times, but had great trouble getting one that showed the true colours or the quilting design.  In the end Murray and I took it outside and tried there.  This is the best of a bad lot.  The closeup photos are much better though, so I hope you enjoy looking at them.

I sent the photos away to my tutor, who replied that she loved the quilt and that the quilting was 'exquisite'!  Needless to say, I was more than a little pleased at her response.  I received my certificate from City & Guilds in the mail yesterday!  Yes!!



the old tulip quilt

In June 2009, I posted a photo of a quilt top I made over 25 years ago.  I did actually end up quilting it but never did show any more photos.  Here's a few just to prove I did it.  I keep meaning to go back and quilt something in the  middle of the feather wreaths but haven't got round to it yet.

shattered nine patch

This is one of the quilts I finished last year.  Yeah, I know I've been a bit slack in getting the photos up!  I started it in a shattered ninepatch workshop with Fran Williams from The Quilt Patch in Launceston.  The fabrics are various Japanese styles in blues and purples.  I modified some of the blocks so I could add the applique designs.  I gave it to my Mum for her 75th birthday.   Oh wait, that must mean I finished it the year before last.  Wow, I have been slack with the photos!