Fern Quilt

I would like to share my customer Peney's Fern Quilt.  Peney makes beautiful quilts - her designs and fabrics are always striking and this quilt is no exception.  The quilt has been made from Joelle Hoverson's fabric range called Cake Rock Beach which has resulted in a very earthy, organic quilt.  I particularly love the colours in this quilt.

Peney wanted the quilting on this quilt to be fairly simple.  When I saw this quilt, the "Fern" quilting design by Kathie James came to mind.  This pattern seemed to be perfect for this quilt and also met Peney's requirement for a simple quilting design.  The fern quilting design has added great movement  and texture to this quilt.

I love the way the ferns appear to go in both directions.

Peney has made this quilt as a gift - I am sure it will be well received and enjoyed.

A Parcel from France

When I got home from work yesterday, my husband declared that I had received a "funny little parcel from France".  It is always very exciting getting a parcel in the post - a parcel from France seems to be even more exciting.  I received this beautifully handwritten envelope from Anna's Etsy Shop, Lilla Lotta.

Lilla Lotta has a fabulous selection of handmade cotton tapes including custom made tapes.  My parcel contained my custom made Quilts on Bastings quilt labels and I am thrilled with them.  I intend to use them for quilts that I make to sell and my personal quilts.

The labels are a great addition to my recently designed logo, business cards and flyer.  After years of using home printed flyers, it is great to have some professional looking stationery and labels.

Now all I need is some time to make some quilts for myself to use my labels on.  I am hoping to squeeze in some personal sewing once all my Christmas orders are completed.

Japanese Flower Garden

I love the versatility of patchwork - the fact that you can take a traditional pattern like Grandmother's Flower Garden and make it in a totally different style.  I have just finished quilting a Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt for my customer Dorothy who has made a stunning Japanese version of this very traditional pattern.  This quilt was hand pieced using the english paper piecing method.

I quilted this quilt with Baptist Fans which was done using the Quilt Ez templates.  The Quilt Ez templates are an easy system to use - the templates sit on the quilting table and a stylus drops into the grooves.  It is then a matter of following the grooves with the stylus as you quilt.  With a little bit of care where over-stitching is required you get a great result.

I love the end result on Dorothy's quilt - a traditional quilting design on a modern version of a traditional quilt.

Dorothy has also put some beautiful detail into this quilt.  Each of the centres of the flowers has sashiko stitching on it as has the outside border.

I hope you have enjoyed Dorothy's Japanese Flower Garden.  Happy quilting...

Field Trips in Fiber

I was thrilled to find that Vicki from Field Trips in Fiber has included my little Just Leaf It Quilt in her list of Longarm Specific Eye Candy.  Thanks so much Vicki.  Follow the above link if you have some spare time and would like to have a look at some fabulous blogs - her list of eye candy is quite extensive!

Enjoy - I did!

Australian Quilt Market

I attended the Australian Quilt Market on the weekend in Melbourne.  The Australian Quilt Market is a wholesale market which has been the prime venue to view and buy the very latest in patchwork, fabrics, professional quilting machines, threads, domestic sewing machines, notions, patterns, beading and accessories in Australia.  I had a great time with Rita from Red Pepper Quilts and also met up with a number of other bloggers - it was great to catch up over a coffee.  It was wonderful to see the beautiful fabric ranges of fabrics that are coming out.

As a machine quilter, however, I wasn't really in the market for buying a range of fabrics. My purchases were a little more humble - they included the following from Constantine Quilts:-

I was thrilled to get the current issue and some back issues of my favourite quilting magazine Machine Quilting Unlimited.  I tend to find that many patchwork magazines focus on the piecing with the quilting being a secondary consideration.  I often find myself peering at photos in patchwork magazines to try and see how a quilt has been quilted.

Machine Quilting Unlimited Magazine (MQU), however, is focused on the machine quilting process, whether you are using a domestic sewing machine, small frame system or professional longarm machine. I find their articles instructive and informative, showcasing the latest products, designs, teachers and quilting celebrities.  The magazine tries to educate the reader via how-to instruction and detailed product reviews. A portion of the magazine is often decidated to showcasing award-winning, machine-quilted items, whether quilts, garments or miscellaneous creations and profiling industry leaders and businesses.  I also love their maintenance articles which have proved very useful for my longarm quilting machine.  MQU is published six times per year.

I also bought Maree Nordeng's book - Extreme Makeover - Feather Edition.  I am not sure my quilting library needed another feather book but I couldn't resist.

I also received a complimentary Quilter's Diary for 2010 from Universal Magazines and bought a Christmas pattern from the very inspirational Don't Look Now.  I have plans to use the Christmas pattern as a quilting design rather than an applique pattern - somehow I think it may not be ready for Christmas 2009...

Hearts in Bloom Quilt

Although it is still Spring in Melbourne, the last week has made it feel like Summer has arrived early.  We have just had a rather hot week with a number of days with temperatures over 30 degrees Celcius.  It is almost too hot to quilt although I still have quite a few quilts to complete before Christmas.

Last week I finished a quilt which has a bright and summery feel about it for my customer Maree.  It is a scrappy, square-in-a-square quilt which has used a larger number of fresh, beautifully colourful fabrics.

This quilt has been quilted with a design from one of my favourite designers,  Timeless Quilting Designs.  The pattern is called Hearts in Bloom which, as the name suggests, is a heart and daisy meander which ties in well with the many daisies featured in the prints.

I hope Maree enjoyes her new Hearts in Bloom quilt and that you have enjoyed reading about this cheerful quilt - enjoy the rest of your weekend and happy quilting.

Birds of Paradise Quilt

I recently quilted this "Birds of Paradise Quilt" for Kate from One Flew Over.  Kate made this quilt as an engagement present with fabrics chosen by the recipient of her gift.  As Kate mentioned in her blog, the fabrics are perhaps not those that she would have chosen herself and she was not all that excited with the end result.  I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however, and I for one really love this quilt - it is a beautifully fresh looking quilt.

I quilted this quilt with what appears to be my new favourite pattern called Gothic Vine - it is a lovely elegant pattern.

I particularly liked Kate's use of a plain white backing which made the quilting stand out beautifully.  I tend to love a plain backing - as long as you can match the thread to the backing fabric.

I hope this quilt was well received Kate - I am sure it will be loved and that the amount of work you put into it will be appreciated.

A Parcel

I participated in Park City Girl's Blogger's Quilt Festival a few weeks ago which was fabulous.  Not only did I enjoy visiting many blogs and looking at the amazing quilts, I was also lucky enough to win a prize from one of the sponsors.  My prize was a $50 voucher from The Fat Quarter Shop.  I spent quite some time deciding what to buy and today my parcel arrived.

It is very exciting getting a parcel in the mail.  I don't have a huge fabric stash and tend to buy fabrics with a particular quilt in mind.  However, the voucher had to be spent!  I settled on a number of solid fabrics for which I have in mind some baby wholecloth quilts.  In also included a dotty fabric which I intend to be the binding.  Here are my purchases.

I have also bought some more Aurifil threads which I have recently started using on my longarm machine - they quilt up beautifully and have a lovely sheen to them.  These were bought from Always Quilting - they include some gorgeous variegated threads which should look great on the solids I have bought.

I am looking forward to making these baby quilts and will be sure to post them on my blog.

I would like to thank both Park City Girl for organising the Blogger's Quilt Festival and the Fat Quarter Shop for their generous sponsorship and their excellent service. 

Kaffe Fassett Quilt

I have just finished a beautiful Kaffe Fassett quilt for my customer Peta.  My first ever post was the Single Girl Quilt which was also made by Peta for one of her daughters.  This Kaffe Fassett quilt has been made for Peta's other daughter.  Peta's daughters were so excited to have the Single Girl Quilt blogged by me that they asked if I could blog this quilt - how could I refuse?

This Kaffe Fassett quilt is not about the quilting - it is about beautiful fabrics, lovely subtle colours and a great quilt design.

I have quilted this quilt with an all-over design called Gothic Vine.

Well done Peta, you have made another gorgeous quilt - I hope your daughters enjoy their quilts.