Whirling and twirling

Guess what ... I can sew curves on a sewing machine.  Honest!  And I didn't want to slit my wrists at the end of it!  In fact I can't wait to do the other 8 blocks on this amazing quilt by Margaret McDonald.

I'll hold my thoughts on setting the "whirl" into its border.  Time to get a glass of champers and enjoy a Royal wedding now.   :-)

April 2011

Has it really been 8 weeks since I last posted?  What on earth have I been doing?  Well! I was lucky enough to be at the Royal Exhibition Buildings yesterday doing a 1-day workshop with Margaret McDonald at the AQC (http://www.margaretmcdonald.com.au/) .  It was heaven!  What a gorgeous building. All the classes were held on the upper level and during tea breaks you peer over the balcony at the shopping and exhibition below (if you're not shopping that is!).  There were 19 women in my class and only 5 from Victoria. Many from regional NSW, one from Emerald QLD, a couple from Adelaide ... all 4 day gold pass holders ... lucky ducks. We worked on a quilt called Whirling Twirling. If you click on the link to Margaret's website, this quilt is in the 2nd bottom row of the gallery, on the left.  
In her intro Margaret explained that she has about 40 quilts on the go at any one time!!!!  Oh how I loved that news! I have about 9 or 10 on the go and was feeling anxious about them but now I'm completely ok about them.  All hail Works In Progress.

Georgetown circle

2011 is feeling like a very circular year.  Three of the (roughly) nine quilting projects I have on the go feature circles.  Here's the latest block to take my fancy, it's called Georgetown Circle and it's absolutely huge.

There are 113 pieces in each block and it measures about 23" across. There will only be 9 blocks in this quilt. And judging by the time it takes to piece a block, it may be a very long time until it's completed.

Business card holder

What a strange summer we're having. It's hot, it's wet, and it's almost over.... 
I borrowed Kate Golda's "Hand-Stitched Felt" from the Bendigo library and sat watching the Top Gear "3 wise men" (screamer!) 2010 Christmas special stitching this sweet little business card holder using the teensiest pieces of felt scraps.  The aim is that it will hold the copious number of coffee loyalty cards that are currently crowding out my purse. :-)  There's a slightly larger version in the book too which is used for carrying photos. Might be a good Mothers' Day idea for our kids to make for their Grannies? I think I'll include that on the Term 1 Sew Much Talent program.

My son Max (9) attended the Art Gallery today for a kids' workshop where they viewed the current exhibition Your Move and then created their own board game.  Max loved it and came home with a Karate-based gamed that we are looking forward to playing over our coco pops tomorrow.   I hope you're enjoying your holidays too.  Kristen x

T is for Tom

There are 6 boys in my sons/nephews generation in our family. Our youngest nephew, Tom turns 1 on January 24th. Here he is (with panda) on his Christmas present - a quilt featuring T-blocks alternating with fussy-cut panels of the gorgeous Michael Miller fabric "I think I can".

Sew Much Talent workshop

This bunch of kids has SEW MUCH TALENT!

Thank you to the boys and girls who took part in Sew Much Talent on Thursday 23rd December. You were a pleasure to have and you taught me so much!

I am very proud of the beautiful Christmas decorations you made, I hope you feel very proud too. Sewing beads can be very tricky and the final results were really gorgeous.

In the afternoon, it was a pleasure to watch the patchwork group choosing your fabrics and arranging your them into a pleasing layout (that's my favourite part too). We did need more time didn't we? I hope you will come back in January to finish the cushions or quilts off and I think you were right, we need to use sewing machines.

I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and hope to see you for the next workshop on the 13th of January.

5 photos, 5 facts

I'm playing 5 photos: 5 facts as blogged by Pip Lincolne from  Meet me at Mike's

Wonder

Explore

Rejoice

Experiment

Play

My 5 facts:
1. I adore electrical storms, especially with open windows, loud music and a glass of wine
2. I believe that everybody has a book and a song in them.
3. I think that every senior citizen deserves a scribe to capture their life story and every child deserves the opportunity to achieve their potential.
4. Sewing means more to me than exercise.
5. I want to make textiles within the reach of young children.