Blogger's Quilt Festival - Circles Quilt

I am once again participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival organised by Amy of Amy's Creative Side from October 25 to November 8, 2013. The Blogger's Quilt Festival is an online quilt festival where bloggers from around the world showcase a quilt. Once you have had a look here, head on over and take some time viewing the other wonderful quilts.

 

This time, I am sharing a quilt made by my customer Sally.  Sally has tackled curved piecing for the first quilt she has ever made with wonderful results.  I love Sally's selection of oranges, blues and greens.

 

 

Sally's quilt has been quilted with a simple figure 8 loop for a modern looking quilt.

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed Sally's quilt - remember to head on over to see many of the other wonderful quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival - enjoy!

 

 

AMQF 2012

I am very excited to be heading off to Adelaide tomorrow for the second Australian Machine Quilting Festival.  I will be travelling over with two of my machine quilting friends, Mandy and Anita, for a long weekend of classes with Ricky Timms, Renae Haddadin, Sherry Rogers-Harrison and Myrna Ficken.

The 4 day event will also include a vendor mall (looking forward to some shopping) and the Australian Machine Quilting Association Quilt Show. I have entered two quilts in this exhibition and it is always fabulous to see your own quilts on display amongst a fabulous collection of quilts.

I am looking forward to 4 days of machine quilting and the company of like minded people.  Are you heading over?

Nominated! Vote at Blogger's Quilt Festival

I was thrilled to receive an email from Amy today to say that my customer Linda's Red Cross Quilt had been nominated for voting in 2 categories - Favorite 2 Colour Quilt and Favorite Professionaly Machine Quilted. 

Voting is open now and anyone can vote - so, head on over to Amy's Creative Side.  There are a number of categories to vote on with a wonderful selection of quilts.

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Red Cross Quilt

I am once again participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival organised by Amy of Amy's Creative Side from May 18 to June 1, 2012.  The Blogger's Quilt Festival is an online quilt festival where bloggers from around the world showcase a quilt.  Once you have had a look here, head on over and take some time viewing the other wonderful quilts. 

This time, I am sharing another of Linda's quilts.  Linda is from Quilts in the Barn and, after visiting the Infinite Variety Exhibition of red and white quilts in New York City last year, she has developed a love of red and white quilts.  Linda's quilt is the traditional Red Cross Quilt which was pieced to perfection.

Linda loves feathers, so feathers I quilted ...

As a contrast to the feathers, the red crosses and the red sashing have been quilted with simple continuous curves and cross-hatching.

This quilt will be exhibited as part of the Quilts in the Barn Exhibition

(a fundraiser for Breastcancer Research)  as follows:-

Quilts In The Barn 2012

Infinite Variety Revisited

An Exhibition of Red And White Quilts

5th, 6th, 7th October 2012

Also featuring Red And White Antique Quilts

by Mary Koval

Check Linda's Blog for further details

I hope you have enjoyed Linda's quilt - remember to head on over to see many of the other wonderful quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival - enjoy!

Ricky Timms is coming to Australia

I was very excited to meet the extremely talented and very friendly Ricky Timms in Houston last month.  He was more than happy to pose for this photo together.  If you are not familiar with Ricky, go and check out some of his quilting and musical achievement on his website.

As I didn't take any classes with Ricky, I was thrilled to find that he will be coming to Australia next year.  Ricky is going to be teaching an all day class on Friday 28th September, 2012 at the Australian Machine Quilting Festival  at the Adelaide Convention Centre.  Registration for the Ricky Timms all day seminar "Ricky's Best Kept Secrets" opens on 15th December, 2011 through the AMQF website.  More information is also available through the AMQF Blog.

The AMQF is being run over 4 days from 28th September through to Monday 1st October, 2012.  The festival is catering for all machine quilters from Longarm quilters, Mid arm and domestic sewing machines.  If the 2010 AMQF was anything to go by, it will be another wonderful event and I am certainly looking forward to attending.

Vintage Quilts of Houston Quilt Festival

It is over a week now since Mandy and I returned from our trip to Houston.  We had a wonderful time - the events certainly lived up to their reputation.  The quilt exhibition was wonderful and the standard of quilts amazingly high.  We had some fabulous longarm machine quilting classes and the booths at Quilt Festival were endless...

I must admit, however, that my favourite part were the vintage and antique quilts.  Unfortunately, we don't see many vintage quilts in Australia - we just don't have the history.  I was pleasantly surprised that there were some 8 or so booths selling vintage quilts, quilt tops, fabrics, orphan blocks and sewing notions - by the end of Quilt Festival, several of the booth owners knew me by name.

Amongst the vintage quilt booths with their wonderful treasures were:-

Cindy's Antique Quilts

Mary Koval Antique Quilts

I think my favourite purchase from Houston is the very green vintage 1930's Double Wedding Ring quilt top which I bought from Cindy's Vintage Quilts.  It is shown here by Cindy.  Eventually I intend to quilt this gorgeous quilt top.

The vintage applique quilt top below was bought by my friend Mandy, also from Cindy's Antique Quilts.

I did buy another vintage quilt top - a 1930's Eight Pointed Star Quilt shown here together with the Double Wedding Ring Quilt.

I spent the last day of Quilt Festival trying to shop with "fresh eyes" after Kathy from Patchwork House showed us some of her purchases.  Whilst I had been looking at the vintage quilts, I had completely overlooked the vintage sewing notions.  I managed to buy a lovely collection of spools, a Dutch retractable tape measure, a needle holder, thimble and needles - some great treasures.

It is back to the present and reality for now - working hard to finish numerous quilts before Christmas.

Houston International Quilt Market & Quilt Festival 2011

Only 4 more sleeps and I will be heading off to Houston with my quilting friend Mandy.  We will be going to both the International Quilt Market and Quilt Festival. 

My bags are mostly packed, everything is just about ready...  Neither of us have been to Houston before but we can't wait to see the amazing quilts, the huge number of vendors and to experience some of that famous Texas hospitality. We will also be undertaking Longarm Machine classes with tutors such as Jamie Wallen, Linda Taylor, Sue Patten and Irena Bluhm so should be coming back with lots of quilting inspiration.

I can't wait for the adventure to begin.  Is anyone else lucky enough to be going to Houston this year?

Australasian Quilt Convention

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I am excited to be attending the Australasian Quilt Convention which is on from April 14 - 17 at the Royal Exhibition Buildings in Carlton. 

I am particularly looking forward to seeing the entries in the APQ Seven Deadly Sins Quilt Challenge.  This year I was fortunate enough to have my quilt "Envy" juried in as one of the 30 finalists in the challenge.  As a result of participating in the Quilt Challenge this article appeared in today's edition of our local newspaper, the Northcote Leader.  Click on either the link or the photo below to read the article.




You may recall my quilt "Envy" from previous posts - be sure to look out for it if you are attending the Quilt Convention.

I hope those attending the Australasian Quilt Convention have a great time - I am sure I will!

International Patchwork & Quilting Magazines

I have just returned from our annual summer holiday - we have had a lovely time of beaches, sunshine, relaxation, the company of family and friends and too much good food and wine.  It is great to be back and I am just starting to get back into quilting.  I hope everyone has enjoyed a great festive season and has had a wonderful start to 2011.

On my return from holidays I was thrilled to find a collection of quilting magazines amongst my mail.  I had ordered a number of back issues of the American magazine Machine Quilting Unlimited which, as the title suggests, is mainly concerned with machine quilting.  In addition, I received a German Patchwork magazine as a result of liaising with Brigitte Heitland of Farbstoff.

Some time ago, Brigitte had emailed me, asking permission to use a number of my photos in an article on the subject of machine quilting which she was writing for the German Patchwork Magazine.  The article has resulted in a fabulous look with a combination of photos by Brigitte and myself depicting the different styles of machine quilting possible.  Unfortunately, apart from the title, I will need someone to translate it for me!  Thank you again Brigitte for sending me a copy of this magazine - it was great to be involved.

I love reading the Machine Quilting Unlimited magazines - they are always full of wonderfully quilted quilts, great tips on different quilting techniques and often very useful articles on maintenance specifically for longarm machines.  In the January 2011 issue I was thrilled to find an article on the Australian Machine Quilting Festival which I attended last year in Adelaide in early October. 

I was even more thrilled to find that the article included a photo of my Field of Flowers Quilt which had won first place in the Edge To Edge category.

I hope everyone in Australia is enjoying a relaxing Australia Day holiday.  Back to quilting soon ...

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I am once again participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival being organised by Amy of Amy's Creative Side from October 29 - November 5. The Blogger's Quilt Festival is an online quilt festival where bloggers from around the world showcase a quilt - once you have had a look here, head on over and take some time viewing the other wonderful quilts.

This time I am sharing a beautiful quilt made by my customer Susan.  Susan's quilt is a chubby star quilt made with gorgeous fabrics - I particularly love the owl fabrics which are featured in the centre of the stars.

I have quilted Susan's quilt with spirals on the centres of the stars, swirls in the areas around the stars, feathers in the white sashing and swags with feathers and piano keys in the border. 

Sometimes I dread plain backs...luckily I didn't have to work with too much contrasting thread on the back.  This time the plain back has made for a stunning result - I love the quilting on the back!

I hope you have enjoyed Susan's quilt - I had a great time quilting it and am thrilled with the end result. Remember to head on over to see many of the other quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival - enjoy!

Back Home from AMQF

I have returned home from the Australian Machine Quilting Festival exhausted.  The four days were fabulous - I would like to thank Tracey Browning and Sharon Parkinson for organising this fantastic event.  Thanks also to the many volunteers, vendors, teachers, sponsors and judges.

The American instructors were truly inspirational especially Pam Clarke, Kimmy Brunner and Anne Bright - they are all so passionate about quilting and were great instructors.  I have learned a lot and am looking forward to putting some of these quilting ideas into practice.

The Australian Machine Quilting Show was held in conjunction with AMQF and was a wonderful display of quilts.  I was thrilled to learn that two of my quilts had been awarded ribbons.

My wholecloth quilt "Envy" was awarded a Second Prize ribbon in the Custom Heirloom / Show - Wall Category.

My quilt "Field of Flowers" was awarded a First Prize ribbon in the Edge-to-Edge Category.

It is back to the quilting machine now - lots of quilts to be done before Christmas!

Australian Machine Quilting Festival

I am very excited to be heading over to Adelaide tomorrow to attend the inaugural Australian Machine Quilting Festival.  The event is running from 1st to 4th October, 2010 and I will be travelling with 2 Longarm Machine Quilting friends.

I am looking forward to taking classes with international teachers Pam Clarke and Kim Brunner as well as an amazing group of talented Australian tutors in all aspects of machine quilting.

The AMQF is catering for all machine quilters that own either a Longarm, Mid-arm or domestic sewing machine.

The 4 day event will also include a vendor mall (looking forward to some shopping) and the Australian Machine Quilting Association Quilt Show.  I have entered a number of quilts in this exhibition and it is always fabulous to see your own quilts on display amongst a fabulous collection of quilts.

I am looking forward to 4 days of machine quilting, the company of like minded people and getting away from the stresses of the St Kilda / Collingwood Grand Final Replay on Saturday.  Go Saints!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I am once again participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival being organised by Amy of Amy's Creative Side from May 21 - 25.  The Blogger's Quilt Festival is an online quilt festival where bloggers from around the world showcase a quilt - once you have had a look here, head on over and take some time viewing the other wonderful quilts.

This time I have chosen to show a quilt I have recently completed for my customer Caroline.  Caroline's applique and piecing is just beautiful and incredibly accurate - the detail in the appliqued flowers is just fabulous.

I quilted Caroline's quilt with a formal feather border up to the applique. I have surrounded the applique in the border with a combination of feathers and McTavishing whilst the large setting triangles have been quilted with orange peel.  The sashing has been quilted with a feather design.

In the appliqued blocks I have quilted McTavishing and swirls.

I hope you have enjoyed Caroline's quilt - I had a great time quilting it.  Remember to head on over to see many of the other quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I am participating in Park City Girl's Blogger's Quilt Festival - an online Quilt Festival being held from October 9th - 16th.

I have had a hard time choosing one of my favourite quilts but have decided to include Claire's Gelati Stars.  This quilt was pieced by my customer Penny a few years ago for her daughter Claire.  It is a gorgeous quilt with stars in soft colours set with hexagons in a cream fabric.  I particularly like how the pink stars draw your eye in.  Penny machine pieced her quilt with a class by Kathryn George at Calico & Chintz.  Please contact Kathryn directly if you are interested in this pattern at calicoandchintz@bigpond.com.

Penny gave me permission to quilt as desired - I quilted all the stars with line-dancing swirls and quilted feathers in each of the setting hexagons.

Here is a close-up of one of my favourite pink stars:-

Some of the quilting in this quilt is quite dense which, as a machine quilter, I reall love although it is not to everyone's taste.  I discovered this when this quilt was exhibited in the Australian Machine Quilter's Exhibition in 2007 when I overheard someone say "and this quilt has been quilted to death".  It did teach me to be careful about what you say at an exhibition as the person who made the quilt may not be too far away.

I hope you have enjoyed Claire's Gelati Stars - I certainly enjoyed quilting it!  I hope you enjoy the Blogger's Quilt Festival.