PP Blog

Jo Morton Block 3

2012-02-24T00:06:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it was good to get back to some applique - I am convinced that is my favourite

technique. I find it relaxing and can do it in front of TV and in a social setting.

But I do need to keep at the quilting, so back to it tonight, but this is the next little

Jo Morton block - just 6 1/2" finished.

Have a great weekend. Robyn

1800s Quilt

2012-02-22T23:55:00.001-08:00

Thank you all for your comments on the Japanese Quilt progress. I have done another

hour of quilting tonight so I am nearly done.

This is the 1800s quilt hanging in a tree at the back of the shop between rain showers.

What a mission it was to get it photographed - it was just too big for two of us to

manage - one to hold it up and one to click the camera just didn’t work, so it

had to be in the tree!

It is now all ready to go as a Block of the Month – check out the shop website for details www.patchworkpassion.co.nz – on the Block of the Month page.

Now I think I can take a break from hand quilting and do some applique.

I think I have a Jo Morton block all prepared and ready to sew so that sounds like

a good idea for the rest of the evening.

Thanks for stopping by, Robyn

Quilting Progress

2012-02-21T23:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry that there hasn't been a post for a while - I have been busy hand quilting and

that doesn't show that well in photos - or change very much from day to day or week to

week for that matter, but here it is.

This is one block and I think you can just see how it is quilting - the block is outlined about

an eighth of an inch out, I have gone through the small purple centre of the squares

on the diagonal and then I have done parallel lines from that diagonal inside the block.

The borders are treated differently so they are a little more defined as borders - they are

quilted in parallel straight lines.

Plus the binding is on - I know against the rules but the borders are quilted and the

blocks are all stabilised with the in the ditch by machine around each block, the outlining

around each applique and t e long liens through the small squares. So it went on just fine

and I was pleased to have enough of the background fabric to do it.

Yoko Saito Block

2012-02-13T00:43:00.000-08:00

I have just had an amazing weekend - well long weekend. I have been away on a

Quilt Retreat from Friday 3.00pm until Monday 3.00pm. This was organised by a Quilt

Group that I belong to and they have been doing it for years but this is the first one I have

been able to make - now I may be addicted! All that time dedicated sewing with meals

cooked for you, no interruptions and time with quilting friends - what more could I ask for.

So I made a quilt that will be kept secret until the Craft and Sewing Show at

Greenlane on March 16 - 18.

But I also got lots of quilting done on my Japanese Quilt Block Quilt - it is almost

finished - yeah. This quilt will also be on display in the Exhibition at the Craft and

Sewing Event.

Then I got one more 10" block completed on the Yoko Saito quilt and another 20" almost

freezer papered and pinned onto the background. This one she called 'Four Buds'.

So all in all what an amazing weekend + of quilting - so productive when you are

totally focussed on sewing.

New Flower Block

2012-02-07T00:51:00.000-08:00

This is the next in the Yoko Saito Quilt - another small block -10" finished - so not

that small really. But fun to do - so quick compared to the last one with all those little

leaves and strawberries.

The oval in the centre of the flower is just the fabric - it is not embroidered - how cool

is that. It is a small piece that my friend Hitomi in Japan gave to me in a scrap bag

so it is a little bit of a treasure.

Strawberry Block Embroidery

2012-02-06T01:28:00.000-08:00

I have had a lovely time doing the embroidery on this block - in fact it has inspired

me to go back to the other blocks and a few more stitches.

This is the whole block with the embroidery added.

And this is a close up of the embroidery.

Now onto the next block which is quick and easy in comparison.

Yoko Saito Strawberry

2012-02-02T23:54:00.000-08:00

This is the next block in the Yoko Siato quilt and it has been much more fun to do than

I thought it would be. I was initially put off by all the small pieces, but actually they weren't that small or intricate as I originally thought.

This block is 21" by 11" and is not actually finished - I have lots of embroidery to do

in it yet. The stems are stem stitched so far. I will repost when it is finished so you can see the difference some embroidery makes on these Yoko Saito blocks - she uses

stitchery a lot to add to her applique blocks.

Jo's Spiky Flower

2012-01-29T22:05:00.000-08:00

This is the second block in my Jo Morton Quilt.

I haven't worked with these stronger murky backgrounds from the 1800s before,

but I do like them. This block will also be 6" finished.

Now I have two blocks to display to promote the Jo Morton Club starting at the shop soon.

And I am back working on the Yoko Saito Quilt. The block coming has lots of work

on it - is a bigger, longer block with an appliqued strawberry plant on it. It also has

lots of embroidery.

Another New Project

2012-01-25T00:50:00.000-08:00

Oh dear another new project - just one of the pleasures of owning a Quilt Shop.

I have started working on another applique project - can you believe it! But I just had to.

My new group at work - the Jo Morton Club is starting soon, so I thought I had to be one

step ahead of my participants - how's that for an excuse. Altho' several people have already picked up their books over Christmas, so I may actually be behind some of them!

Anyhow this is the first block and my favourite - well it is now - I did this one first because

I loved it - there are lots more to come - well not that many - probably 12.

This is taken form Jo Morton's Book "Prairie Flowers Encore". All the blocks are 6" finished

for this little quilt and they are 1800s Reproduction fabrics. Jo has presented five different settings for these quilt blocks. This is the setting I think I will do.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wonky Houses

2012-01-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been such a long time since I last added a post - I lost the cord that

connects my camera to the computer so couldn't upload any photos. I always regret

having a big tidy up!!!! But lucky we finally found another cord that would fit.

So here is the next block - what fun it was to make.

It did have a ghost coming out of the top window but I left that off.

And I have finished the quilting on my Amish Bear's Pay quilt. I just have to add the

hanging sleeve and it is ready for the Craft and Sewing Exhibition in the middle of March.

I wonder if my Japanese Quilt Block Quilt will make that exhibition too!

Olive Branch

2012-01-12T23:22:00.000-08:00

This is the next small block - well actually the small blocks for the wedding quilt are

not that small - 10". After all it is going to be a King sized quilt, so the blocks

need to be big!

I love the background fabric and think Kate will too.

Some of these woven fabrics from Japan are able to be used on the back side as well,

but not this one - the loops are just too big and would get caught in things. But I do always check and do use the reverse side quite often.

I think this is the fastest block I have made in a long time. It is quite simple but

some of the blocks in the original inspirational quilt from Hitomi's "Quilt House"

book were too. But of course it was much small in the Yoko Saito book

that it came from. Nothing like a bit of space! So Japanese.

Thanks to all those who are commenting - there is nothing like a quick comment

to keep a blogger going.

Finished1800s Quilt Top

2012-01-11T22:17:00.000-08:00

This is the border on the 1800s quilt top - I have appliqued these tongues along each side

of the border strip.

This quilt is designed by Sue Daly and will be our new Block of the Month starting

in February 2012.

Next is the quilting - I am going to machine quilt in the ditch around the blocks and then

hand quilt around the motifs and circles.

This is the backing fabric I have chosen. I think I will hand quilt with two colours - muddy

ecru King Tut #974 and the cream King Tut. For the machine quilting I will use red on

the top and muddy ecru on the bobbin.

French Lavender

2012-01-05T00:45:00.000-08:00

This is the first of the three large blocks that I plan to make – it is called

French Lavender and is 20” square.

The feature flower has a row of French knots around it. I added the two buds – in the

original there were leaves on the end of these stems. But I needed to extend this block

out a wee bit, so this was one way to fill the space. I also added a few of blue circles down

the left hand side to fill that side up a bit.

I enlarged all the blocks for this quilt on the photocopier as they were all quite small

in Yoko Saito’s book. But Kate and Paul want a King sized quilt, so big blocks were t

he order of the day.

Owl Block

2012-01-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

This is block three – another 10” one. A set of four 10” blocks go together without

any sashing to equal the size of the 20” big blocks.

As you can see some are on light backgrounds while others are on dark.

Now it is onto a big block, but yeah the sun is shining here, so there will be less sewing.

Happy New Year everyone.

Sweet Pea Block

2011-12-30T22:40:00.000-08:00

Another rainy day at the bach – but it is good for the sewing! But what a shame

for all those camping over the New Year break.

Another block is made - a flowery one this time – called Sweet Pea. It is from the

same book – in fact all the blocks are from Yoko Saito’s “138 Original Applique

Designs” book. This is another 10” one.

New Year New Project

2011-12-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

This is what I have achieved today as we are away on holiday and it is raining.

And the second block is prepared ready for hand stitching.

This is the start of a new project – oh dear should I be doing that with all that hand

quilting backing up. But yes I should – this is a special quilt. I have a nephew getting

married in May and his lovely partner Kate has asked if I would make them a quilt.

So I showed her a big range of books representing as many quilt styles and colours

as I could muster. She poured through them putting a post-it sticker on each page

that had a quilt that she liked on it and we worked from there. You can imagine how

excited I was when she chose an appliqué quilt and she wanted it made

in the taupe fabrics.

So here is block one – Mushroom Gathering - 10” square. I have used my favourite

Freezer Paper appliqué technique. Each block has a little bit of embroidery

on it – in true Yoko Saito style.

It is taken from Yoko Siato’s book “138 Original Applique Designs”. As the name

suggests this book is packed with appliqué blocks so we have chosen 18 of them to make

up the quilt. The block sizes range from 10” squares to 20” squares and some 20” by 10” rectangles. They are placed in a slightly irregular layout taken from another of my Japanese Taupe books – this one by Hitomi Hanaoka.

So onward with these blocks as they are getting married in March! The hand quilting of the other projects will just have to wait – so much for that rule I made a month ago – whoops I didn’t even bring any hand quilting projects away with me! But I will re-instate that rule when I get home.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T23:46:00.000-08:00

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas. This is a block from a Christmas quilt that

I made many years ago - 1994 to be precis.

My Blog posts have been rather lacking over the last week or two - sorry.

Just before we closed for the Christmas break we launched our updated website - and

that turned into a rather larger than expected mission as they crashed the old site

in the process. So the pressure was on to get the new site up and running before

Christmas instead of at my leisure!! But it is almost done, but no sewing got done for

days and days and days.

But now I am back into it but don't have a lot to show as I have been preparing my

applique pieces for sewing onto the 1800s quilt border. Can you work out how this will go together?

And I have been keeping to my rule of quilting before any other project each day.

So my Amish quilt is nearly done - I have worked on stitching the borders tonight and it

is going well - a nice flowing cable that is easy to stitch in one direction without having

to keep on moving and reorganising the quilt.

I have drawn the design with my Clover white marking pen that irons away when I am done

with it - what a wonderful invention from Clover. This is the stencil that I used. I did have

a bit of a debate about whether to use a design with curved lines when the rest of the quilt

was quilted with straight lines. After checking some photos of old Amish quilts I

decided this would be fine.

I did sew on the binding first so I could get the final cable design properly centred.

If I don't get back before New Year's Eve have a great one - welcome 2012 in style.

1800s Blocks All Together

2011-12-18T11:16:00.000-08:00

Well I met the deadline that I set myself last week and got all my 1800s blocks
finished and sewn together - well just.

I was surprised how big it actually was - one row of blocks went over each edge
when it was put on our double bed and it still has borders to go on.

And I do love these little blocks and all the colours and fabrics reproduced from the 1800s.

It really looks like a scrap quilt - it has so many different fabrics in it - we have cut

63 different squares for the blocks!!!

Now it is onto the borders which have some more quite simple applique.

But first I should spend a few nights quilting - I have my Amish Bear's Paw and

my Japanese Quilt Block quilt awaiting lots more quilting stitches.

I think there is a rule coming on - that I have to quilt for at least 30 minutes

before launching into more applique!!! I find this a good way to get way

to get quilting done when I would rather be doing applique.

1800s Quilt Progress

2011-12-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

These are two of the final blocks needed for my 1800s Applique Quilt - I just need to

make two more of this block in different colours and then I can out the whole

quilt top together.

My plan is to get the blocks all joined up next weekend and then I can start on

the applique border - no, not a vine - you will just have to wait and see!

This Block of the Month looks like it is on target to be released early in the New Year - the sample won't be quilted by then but that can be work in progress.

Central 1800s Block

2011-12-07T22:58:00.000-08:00

This is the central block of my 1800s quilt.

Now I just have four more large applique blocks to make in a new design - my challenge

is to get them done by the end of next week!

From Vietnam to 1800s Blocks

2011-12-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hi - we are home from Vietnam having had a wonderful time. The old clothes that I bought

from the Hmong ladies are washed and have lost their smoky smell. They were definitely

dyed with old indigo as my hands had a touch of the indigo blue from handling them when

they were wet - not that there was actually any doubt in my mind.

This is part of a child's set of traditional clothing - dress and long sleeveless coat - the same

as all the ladies were wearing. Under this they wore knee length velveteen trousers and leggings. The ladies were wearing and making the embroidered sleeve inserts, but this one is ribbons sewn on by machine. The colourful edge stitching on the jacket looks hand couched.

This is a Hmong jacket - isn't it a delight with its embellishments - embroidery, sequins, beads, baubles and metal pieces.

Now it is back to the 1800s quilt with all those blocks. I finished off one last night that didn't

quite get finished before I left on holiday. And this is an idea of the layout coming up - but

there are nine big blocks and they are not all the same as these two.

Thanks for stopping by - do leave a comment.

More from Hoi An

2011-11-28T02:35:00.000-08:00

The silk collection has grown a wee bit – it is much harder to get raw silk than I imagined.

We have visited some Art and Craft Workshops on a tour of historical Hoi An. He first was a lantern making one. These large bamboo frames are covered with silk fabric. Last night we explored the town a bit more and hey were hanging everywhere looking magnificent, but my camera didn’t catch them well.

Other young girls were making smaller table lanterns – this was great to see these being as I made these with the Vietnamese children that I once taught back at home many years ago. They were a big part of the Vietnamese Autumn Festival that we celebrated with our Vietnamese students. We made them in the same process but our ones we made were hanging ones so they could be paraded.

Then there was this style of lantern which is cord woven around the frames and looking very colourful, The full sized version is the traditional, but they are now making some that are just half versions so they can go onto the wall and sit flush.

This lady was making a colourful woven sleeping mat at great speed. She worked with a team mate who passed over the coloured length ready on the shuttle to thread through the loom.

So colourful.

Next stop is Saigon or Ho Chi Min City - not sure what textiles related things I will see there.

Silk In Hoi An

2011-11-27T01:36:00.000-08:00

We are now in Hoi An. Coming in to this city was exciting – well for me – there were huge advertising boards all along the highway and all of them were advertising silk shops!!!

This is how my collection of raw silk started in Hanoi – just three colours and one of them is cream as you can see. So it is time for more variety.

I think I have a bed runner in mind for the end of our bed and a long landscape shaped wall hanging for above the bed head. I think the runner will be geometric and the hanging will have some appliqué on as well – who knows at this stage – it is such a vague idea that I have.

One stop in old Hoi An was to a silk factory where a lovely Vietnamese lady took us through the process of silk production. These are fat silk worms munching away on mulberry leaves – they get a new batch of leaves to munch on every three hours – these ones are 19 days old and nearly ready to go into cocoons. Most start spinning cocoons after about 23 days and it takes them about four days to spin it rotating their body in a figure eight direction over 300,000 times.

Once in cocoons they are gently placed in these racks – the two colours are because there are two different varieties of silk worm breed in this factory. Some are kept to go full cycle and turn into moths to start the next generation of worms off. Others are taken for their silk.

These cocoons have been chosen for silk production and dropped gently into hot water to kill the worm and release the silk fibre. A strand is taken from four to six cocoons and twisted together to make one thread and wound onto the big reel on this machine – done by hand here.

These reels of thread are then ready to be dyed – the white and the yellow are in the natural state and the blue has been dyed.

Then it is off to the weaving machine – this one was electronic and noisy, but fast. It was producing silk which has the crosswise threads of one colour and the length threads of another to give a shot effect.

Other thread were kept for the ladies doing the traditional silk embroideries.

Watch for progress as we are back into town tonight and into the night market. So who

knows what we will find - more silk products and fabric I suspect.

Vietnamese Embroidery

2011-11-25T05:46:00.000-08:00

We are now in Central Vietnam in a lovely city called Hue, having flown down from Hanoi.

Before leaving Hanoi we drove down to Halong Bay where we spent overnight cruising

on an historic replica Junk, out on this magical World Heritage Site.

On the way to and from Halong Bay we stopped at several places where local young women were working on embroideries. The quality of the stitching does vary as obviously they are stitched by so many different people.

In some the background is totally stitched too while

others just the subject is stitched. The boy on the bike is the only part stitched on this one.

In Hue we were taken to a very classy shop and workshop where the women were making the double-sided embroideries – the back is as good as the front – they are totally reversible. They take many months to make these pieces and some were even the amazing double sided versions that many of us saw the Exhibition at the Temple out by Botany, Auckland, New Zealand. These two are working on a double sided one and it will take them four months to complete it. The background fabric is see through and is stretched onto the frame really, really tightly. They are stitching with fine silk thread.

Others were quicker and easier to make and were more for the average tourist market

rather than the fine embroidery connoisseur. These were framed as pictures, sold as

just stitcheries or made into bags. This is a close up of he pansy bag below.

Next stop is Hoi An famous for silk. I start my collection of raw silk in the Old Quarter

of Hanoi, but I definitely need some more.

Day Two In Sapa

2011-11-22T00:21:00.000-08:00

This Blog post has been a bit delayed as the system has been playing but I found

a new way in - I hope it lasts!

On the second day in Sapa we headed off on another trek – this one was shorter

but more uphill and down dale. We are headed down there!

We started off in the markets in Sapa township – these were a produce market where the locals picked up their fresh meat and vegetables each day, a clothes market for modern clothing and the traditional wholesale area where traditional clothing was available. It was fun to see the local ladies buying up before heading out onto the streets to sell their wares.

So I did have to do a bit of shopping here too – but came back after the walk so as not to hold up the others who were not really interested in old textiles - can’t understand that!!!!! So I bought some old pieces from a Red Dzao lady. These are clothing pieces worn around the neck but she wanted me to have them for wallhangings. The red version is the one that we saw more of being sold in the streets and of course they were new.

My Red Dzao lady was very happy to pose for a photo - in fact she added more

interest to her clothing for the occasion.

She was busy at her treadle sewing machine along with lots of others producing

pieces for the market.

We were heading to CatCat which is another Black Hmong Village – but we had no followers this time. On the way we saw buffalo grazing – these are prized in Vietnam as they are

used for working the fields and a good way to make money – they are worth the same as a modern motorbike when sold in the livestock markets.

We saw indigo plants growing on the hillsides – all Black Hmong clothing is indigo dyed.

These bed covers were for sale – they were a mixture of plain indigo fabric, pieced

areas and embroidery panels.

The items that the Black Hmong ladies had in their baskets were mostly small bags.

Some were hand embroidered while others were obviously machine done like the one this young girl is selling us.

The Black Hmong have certainly got their sales techniques fine tuned whereas the Red Dzao people are much more private – they specialise in providing Home Stays in their Villages

for the tourists. We only saw a few of them selling their wares in Sapa Township and they

were a little more hassling with lots of “buy from me, buy from me” and no other conversation. The Hmong ladies have such a friendly approach and make you feel as though they are genuinely interested in you and where you come from! And they engage you for long time chatting and are happy to answer any questions that you have.

That is it from the Northern Hill Tribes.

Sapa - Vietnamese Hmong Villages

2011-11-19T21:02:00.000-08:00

Hi there from Sapa in Northern Vietnam. We have spent two days trekking from hill tribe village to hill tribe village and it has been great.

One lady and her friend started chatting to us outside the hotel and while we were wandering around Sapa Village before joining the walking tour. Unbeknown to me this is their ploy - I was now her "friend" for the rest of the day. But she was lovely - friendly, not hassling, spoke good English, was happy to chat about her culture and lifestyle and happy to pose for photos.

This is the traditional band of followers on the walk - Hmong women - including my new found friend. Their husband's bring them into Sapa in the early morning and they walk home with a tourist group hoping to make some sales at lunchtime - our group was not that successful for them as I was the only one to buy.

My new 'friend' stayed close by all the way and helped me when the track got a bit rough - the helping hand was always welcome and I did want to buy.

As you can see even baby comes along for the ride.

They didn't put any pressure on until we sat down to lunch in her village - this is the traditional time to purchase. And by the time we got to her village I had decided what I wanted to buy - believe it or not a set of traditional clothing - a child's as it was smaller to pack and old rather than new. But as I suspected she didn't have that in her basket as most tourists buy the embroidered bags - trust me to be different. But while we had lunch she was happy to go off

and get what I wanted!!!! They it was gentle bargaining time - she was very sweet and a pleasure to buy from.

Below is another Hmong lady sitting outside our hotel sewing while she waits for a tourist who might like to buy from her. We got talking to her and did buy a couple of hand embroidered bags from her. She is stitching the insert that goes into the sleeve of her outfit. No time is wasted - she has a portable stitching project just like us! And she was happy to show and to explain what she was doing - we learnt so much from these ladies. I guess most tourists don't that much interest in their handwork.

Her friend was joining long pieces of hemp fibre together ready to be woven into fabric and dyed with indigo back in the village - these women worked away at this as they walked along - they started the day with a large hank of fibre hanging around her shoulders and by the end of the morning it had all been joined and wound into her hand neatly. She too was happy to be photographed and explained and demonstrated the process of joining the fibre lengths together.

When we stopped on the walk to the village for drinks the women would settle down to embroidery - there was no hassling to buy while we were walking - just when we got to their village at lunchtime. Such patience as we left Sapa at 9.30 and got to their village - Lao Chai - at about 1.00pm.

Well that is the day with the Hmong ladies - they certainly added another level of interest and a personal touch to the walk.

Vietnamese Embroidery

2011-11-16T03:53:00.000-08:00

Hi there from Hanoi - today we took a day trip out to the ancient capital of Vietnam, Hoa Lu.

The highlight was a trip in sampan up the Tam Coc river. We went through some amazing limestone caves on the two hour trip.

And as we are fast learning the Vietnamese never miss an opportunity for a sale - on the way back out came the local embroideries, table cloths, T-shirts, etc for sale. I was pretty easily persuaded to buy a couple of hand long stitch embroideries on black fabric made by local women.

I am sure I can feel a quilt of some shape coming on with a collection of these put together with

our Shot Cottons from the shop or maybe some silk I get here - who knows.

Next Big 1800s Block

2011-11-12T22:34:00.000-08:00

I have made some progress today on the next large block for the 1800s quilt - I need to

make four of the block that I post d yesterday. So today I thought I would show you the

fabric that I chose for the next lozenge shape and then the lozenge so you got an idea

n how this clever block is made using a striped fabric.

The striped 1800s reproduction fabric.

The lozenge piece ready to add to the design.It is one piece of fussy cut fabric.

Check out yesterday's post where it fits in the block.

1800s First Large Blcok

2011-11-11T20:39:00.000-08:00

Sorry that you haven't heard much from me over the last fortnight.

It was Calico Christmas - a local Quilt Show last weekend which has kept me a bit busy.

We had the shop there and had a great time over the three days.

As you can see we had a bit of a Christmas theme this year mixed in with

our favourite taupe fabrics.

But I have finished off all the small blocks for the up-coming 1800s Block of the Month and I have got one of the large blocks made.

I just love the effect of the striped fabric in the lozenge shape around this little star block.

It makes it look more complex than it actually is.

I am off on a few weeks holiday next week. We are going to Vietnam and I hope to

post some photos as we go.

1800s Block Progress

2011-11-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted for a while - I have been busy hand quilting my Japanese Block quilt

and my Amish quilt so there has been nothing new to show you.

But in between I have made a few more 1880s blocks, so here they are.

I need to make four of each of these and then the little ones will be done.

It is Calico Christmas Quilt Show this weekend so I won't get much if any sewing done.

But I do look forward to catching up with lots of you there. It is at Albany Rugby Stadium

on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Cute Little 1800s Blocks

2011-10-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

This is the next set of four 1800s blocks - aren't they so cute. A little too red as

it turns out but they are scattered across the quilt they will be fine.

I already have two ladies booked in to start this Block of the Month early in the new year so

I need to get going. I have made 40 out of the total of 64 small blocks needed.

Then there are nine larger blocks and a border - all appliqued or English Paper Pieced!!

But I am loving doing this project. I am getting one set made in an evening if it has been prepared, so you do race through them quite quickly. It is a great project for a sense of achievement re progress.

It will be a great one for people to start over summer as you will be working on small pieces

while I will probably be still quilting it - oooh that could be hot work at times.

Next I have to work on a cushion challenge from the Modern Quilt Guild. We all have a piece of the same fabric that has to be used in the cushion and it is a bit of a challenge and a bit of change of direction for me. But that is all good.

Back to the 1800s

2011-10-21T01:22:00.000-07:00

Now that the Japanese Quilt Block Quilt top is done and I have started quilting it, I have returned to some hand applique on the 1800s quilt.

Maybe if I go in closer you can see the quilting!!!

I am quilting with black King Tut thread outlining the applique blocks at this stage.

Now for the new 1800s block.

These were supposed to be English Paper Pieced. I did the first one this way and

then decided to try Freezer Paper Applique and I must say that I prefer the Freezer Paper.

I guess I am just a Freezer Paper junky!

Off to stitch a few more blocks as the Welsh play the Australians in the Rugby World Cup,

so I have more to show you tomorrow.

Japanese Block Quilt

2011-10-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

My Japanese Quilt Block top is finished. It has been so much fun choosing blocks from

Susan Briscoe's book "125 Japanese Quilt Blocks". All the applique blocks and the

repeated pieced block came from the book.

I have used old kimono fabrics It all started with a roll of kimono fabric that I picked

up in the Flea Market in Japan several years ago. This roll had never been made into a

kimono but had been around for a while. This is how you buy fabric for a new kimono -

in a 13" - 15" wide roll of about 13 metres. All through the project I wondered if I was

going to have enough and look plenty left over - thank goodness.

But the other fabrics were all from scrap bags or smaller pieces that I had been

given or collected over the years. And they too kept running out - what a fun challenge this

quilt has been. I do think that sometimes having to make decisions like this when fabrics

run out often makes the quilt more interesting - if a little stressful at times.

This is the fabric that I started with for making the blocks and if you look closely you can

see that it didn't make enough blocks.

So this was added to surround the central block and a few random pieces were

added to the border units..

Then of course that ran out too. So this was added to make the border units.

Oh what fun, but I am really happy with how it turned out. It has been so good to get into

these fabrics that I have been putting away for years to make something special and now

I think I have done it.

Now it is on the pin basting and quilting - I think the quilting will be a combination of machine

and hand. Machine quilting in the ditch of the blocks and them hand quilting were it really shows.

I am hoping it is going to be easy to hand quilt, but I suspect it may not be the best - it is a pretty tight weave, which made it great to machine piece with and hand applique onto it was fine, but hand quilting - we will see.

Next Pin Cushion

2011-10-13T23:52:00.000-07:00

Last night was Pin Cushion Club and this is what we made.

It involved fusible applique with lots of different embroidery stitches.

And of course some more taupe fabric.

Final Block

2011-10-08T02:17:00.000-07:00

Well that is all the Japanese Blocks done for this quilt.

This last one is a variation on a Chrysanthemum Block from Susan Briscoe's book

on Japanese Quilt Blocks.

The Chrysanthemum is the kamon (family crest) of the Japanese Imperial family.

Now I need to choose some fabric for the borders - I want to continue the pieced

block formation into the borders but don't have any of either of contrast fabrics left.

So it will be a search through my dwindling stash of old kimono silks.

The border may have to be scrappier than expected if I want to use fabrics from

my stash. I'll let you know how I get on.

Japanese Block

2011-10-07T23:47:00.000-07:00

This is the second to last Japanese block needed for my quilt and it was a nice easy

and quick one.

Isn't the Rugby World Cup great for getting a bit of hand sewing done!!!

I just can't sit in front of TV without something to sew in my hands.

Maybe I will get the last block done while we watch England play France.

It is all prepared and ready to sew, so it should happen.

Japanese Block - Knotweed

2011-10-02T23:51:00.000-07:00

This is the next block from Susan Briscoe's book and it is called Japanese Knotweed.

I did enjoy getting a little embroidery onto this block - I felt I needed another block or two to balance off another one with quite a bit of embroidery on (posted on 22 April).

Going back to find that was interesting - I posted the first Japanese Quilt Block on 10 April - what a long term project this has been - time to get going and finish these blocks and start quilting it!!!!

Just two more to go I think. OK back to the sewing!

Christmas Present Quilt

2011-10-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

I have spent the last week making this cool 'modern' Christmas wallhanging.

It measures 32" wide by 60" long.

This Moda fabric range is called "Countdown to Christmas" and is designed by Sweetwater.

We will be finishing off making up the kitsets for this quilt on Monday

I outline quilted the presents and did straight lines in the sashings and borders.

I used the width of my walking foot - half an inch - which made it easy to keep the lines parallel.Luckily the sashing and the borders were easily divisible by half an inch.

The binding is a red and white stripe.

I do love striped quilt bindings.

The back is a creamy plain which shows up the quilting and binding nicely too.

1800s Tulips

2011-09-25T01:27:00.000-07:00

Now that life has settled down since the big Hamilton Quilt Show I can focus on other things

again - like the garden which got some long overdue attention this weekend..

And I have decided to try and get the 1800s Block of the Month pieced and the quilting started by Christmas - that will be fun - hand quilting over summer!!!!

But it is a great project to be working on - I am just loving all these cute little folk art blocks.

This is the next set of four - tulips - don't you just love them.

I think that is the end of the applique blocks. Next I move onto English Paper Piecing which I also love - in fact any hand work is my favourite as I can sit in front of TV at night and be social rather than being tucked away on my own in the sewing room with the machine buzzing away.

City LIghts

2011-09-22T03:14:00.000-07:00

This is the final in the series - in fact it was the starting point for this adventure into shot cottons!

And it was so much fun to make - easy to piece and I machine quilted the grid across and down.

All of these projects we have either a kitset or a pattern for.

They certainly got quite a lot of attention at the Hamilton Show.

City Cushions

2011-09-20T01:20:00.000-07:00

This is the next instalment of the City Series - this time a set of cushions using the shot cottons.

In fact all the City Series is using the Shot Cottons.

You can tell how much I enjoyed working with them!

Circle Cushion - the stripes in the circles are pieced.

Don't you love the look of the silky shot cottons.

Half Circle Cushion - I did enjoy the straight line machine quilting using a variegated thread

from the King Tut range. For those who know me well you will be surprised at the word

'enjoyed' in that sentence!

Striped Cushion - as the name suggests this is just a series of stripes made with shot cottons.

I have written a pattern for these three cushions.

Thanks for stopping by,

Robyn

City Circles

2011-09-19T01:07:00.000-07:00

This is the second in the City Series of quilts that we took to the Hamilton Quilt Show.

It is made of the wonderful shot cottons like the City Lights was.

It is a wallhanging measuring 39" by 48". I machine pieced the background, hand

appliqued the circles and machine quilted it. This was one of the quilts I was working on

and keeping secret a while back - I hope you like it. This series was a bit different from

what I usually do, but I did enjoy it - these shot cottons were so easy to work with.

Waikato Show

2011-09-14T01:01:00.000-07:00

We are back from a great few days at the Hamilton Quilt and Craft Fair.

We had a great fun at the show and sold lots.

These are a few shots of our stall focussing on our new look using the shot cottons.

These are what I have been busy sewing and keeping secret!

City Lights

Lucky Owls

The Stall

City Circles and Tumbling Leaves Block of the Month redone in shot cottons and plains.

Japanese Quilt Block Quilt

2011-09-03T03:04:00.000-07:00

My Japanese Quilt Block is making good progress now - I am getting a pieced block

made most mornings before I go to work and the applique blocks are coming

along nicely too. This is the latest Treasure Wheel from Susan Briscoe's book.

I did have to make a change so that I had a full purple circle on this block. I wanted four

Treasure Wheel blocks all with slightly dominant purple circles. In fact now that I see the

photo I can see another change that is needed - the centre circle is really not quite

centred - oh bother. I feel some unpicking is coming on.

These are the blocks made so far on the design wall - I have two more rows to make.

I have decided to leave the blocks straight set rather than on point as I thought I might do.

The diagonal lines created by the pieced blocks looked better set this way

and made the blocks look like they were on point anyway.

I had better head off in search of the quick-unpick!!

1930s Feedsacks

2011-08-31T01:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I went to the Vintage Textile Fair and bought these 1930s feedsack fabrics.

These cotton fabrics were used to package feed in for sale.

Cotton had become cheaper with the introduction of synthetic fabrics and feed

companies were competing for sales.

The women at this time were using these cottons for quilts, clothing and all sorts of

other household items, so the companies became competitive trying to produce lovely

designs that the women might want so they would buy their particular brand of feed.

I am not sure what I might make with these but will enjoy having them.

The winner of last week's prize draw was arncar - can you email me on

robyn.burgess@gmail.com to let me know where to send your prize.

There will be another prize this week.

Thanks, Robyn

Two More 1800s Blocks

2011-08-24T03:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone - progress is going really well on these little blocks - they are just 6 1/2" finished.

These are two of the next set of four.

Ultimately there will be 64 of these little blocks mixed in the with some bigger blocks.

We are going to do this as a Block of the Month probably starting near the end

of this year or early next year, depending on how progress goes. If I can keep up the

current rate it should be sooner rather than later.

Next 1800s Blocks

2011-08-23T01:29:00.000-07:00

Oh these little 1800s blocks are so much fun.

You see progress so quickly - 20 blocks made already.

This is the next set of four.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to comment and be in for a little prize.

Japanese Pieced Blocks

2011-08-22T01:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a productive day in the sewing room - when I probably should have

been out in the sun pruning the roses!

So happily in my sewing room, I made decisions about the setting of my Japanese blocks - posted last Saturday - and then got some of the pieced blocks made.

I am going to make all the alternating pieced blocks in this design so they unify the quilt.

Here is a taster. I like the secondary pattern that is being created with these pieced

blocks running across the quilt.

This block is also from Susan Briscoe's book and is based on traditional kasuri fabrics

from Japan. Here are some sample pieces that I picked up in theflea markets in Kyoto, Japan.

Kasuri is the Japanese word for ikat. Kasuri is woven from threads that are specially dyed before weaving. As the threads are woven they create the pattern, so imagine the planning and measuring that has to go into the preparation before the hank of thread goes into they dye pot. You can tell that a piece is genuine by the uneven edges as the dyes soaks intothe tied areas slightly.

Japanese Block Arrangement

2011-08-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

Now that the sewing for the Hamilton Quilt and Craft Fair is pretty much done and I am back

in my sewing room progress is being made on some outstanding projects that have been

on hold for a month or two.

I have had my Japanese Blocks from Susan Briscoe's Book "125 Japanese Quilt Blocks"

laid out on the floor and have finally decided on the layout for this quilt.

The blocks need to go on point I think, but that will mean taking off the circle in the central

block and turning it slightly so the scene sits up the right way.

Obviously I need one more block, but I actually think that I will make four more so I can create another row to make the quilt rectangular rather than square. I think this quilt will go on a wall and I prefer longer quilts for walls.

Now I need to go back to the book and the fabric and see what I am going to do in the alternating blocks. This is going to a bit limited by the fabrics that I have available. I want to continue using my Japanese silks and some of them I only have small pieces of. This is not going to be that helpful for pieced blocks. So watch this space to see what I come up with.

I will also be offering small prizes over the next few weeks to encourage all you guys that are following and commenting in person, but not online. So go ahead - it is easy to post a

comment and you just might win a prize.

I will be making the prizes match the posts - so if you win by commenting on a Japanese

block you would get some pieces of Japanese silks or if you comment on the 1800s

project some Reproduction fabrics and so on.

I have chosen some lucky numbers so try and be that one each week!!!!!

1800s Basket Block

2011-08-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

Progress has been good on the 1800s blocks. This one is a basket.

And here is the collection so far - I think they look so much nicer altogether than one by one.

They won't quite be laid out like this when the quilt is made but almost.

There are some bigger blocks to go in amongst these.

1800s bird and snow

2011-08-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

Well, the snow has continued in Wellington and so has the sewing

- it hasn't been very inviting to go out and about. Although we did you out in the snow to

take some photos.

My sister-in-laws garden complete with snow - in the Lower Hutt hills.

View out the apartment window - central city Wellington - look at that snow falling!

But not enough to be thick on the ground here yet.

Now for the new block design - I am liking these simple folk arty style appliques.

And making four of each is so manageable.

Snow and the next block

2011-08-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well it is official - the polar blast has hit Wellington - we have light snow

falling in the central city. If it gets dramatic enough I will post a photo!

But here is the next 1800s block

And here is the collection so far

1800s Block 2

2011-08-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

Here is block two of the new 1800s project - these are such fun to make as they are

small and manageable and it is fun choosing which colours to make each block in

so that they are all different.

The sun is shining in Wellington and the weather is mild - so nice. But with the paper

headline reading: "Hunker down for Polar Blast" it seems this will not last.

So it will be lots of good sewing time over the next few days.

New 1800s Project

2011-08-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

The sewing is all done for the Hamilton Show so now I can start something else

- isn't it a great feeling - that starting!

But do check out our stall at the Show for all the new sewing and the new look.

It is on at Claudelands from 8 - 11 September.

Now for the new project - this is an 1800s design and is made from our range of 1800s Reproduction fabrics. This the first block of many.

I need to make four of this block and then four of another 15 designs,

but they are quick and fun to make. They are small - 6" finished.

Then there are some bigger blocks to intermingle with the smaller ones.

When it is finished it will be a Block of the Month, so start finishing off a project

or two so you are ready to join it in about 4 - 6 months.

And stay posted for more progress - I hope it will be daily for a week or so as I am down in Wellington looking after my lovely Mum-in-law who is in recovery mode at the moment.

August Pin Cushion Club

2011-08-05T23:11:00.000-07:00

Last week was Pin Cushion Club and the technique I wanted to teach this month was wool applique. It has been a bit of fun, because you should have seen the first design I came up with - I think it has to be my worst ever. And the girls in the group agreed - they really wondered what had stuck them when I presented it at the end of last month's session - they burst into laughter and threatened not to come if that was what we were making - and rightly so!!!!!

But the poor little grotty pin cushion did manage to find one fan!

His name is Smudge and he is now confirmed as my biggest fan! Or is he just plain dumb! Anyhow he has a new toy to play with - everything has its purpose in life!

Anyhow this is the Pin Cushion that we made and I did learn a lot about working with

wool in the process and I think this one is a success and the cat can't have it

when he has ruined his one.

We ironed on a product that we call silk stabiliser because we first used it for backing

our kimono silks to give them more stability and because it comes from the supplier

with just a code number! This stops the edges of the wool fraying or looking raggedy

when you blanket stitch it on with raw edges.

I do like the little touch of Kaffe Fassett fabric in amongst the wools.

Our wools are hand dyed by our local and in-house designer, Karen. She does do a

stunning range of colours and is constantly designing new projects for us to use them in.

A Modern Quilt Being Planned

2011-07-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

We had our local Modern Quilt Meeting the other night and now I am all inspired to get going

on a project that one of the members alerted us to. I have promised my sister a cot quilt

to give to a close friend's daughter and new baby daughter. These are the fabrics I am contemplating.

Maybe that is just too many to deal - how about this as a more realistic starting point.

Or maybe I just one of these oranges added into the mix.

The block that I am planning to try is a Modern Block of the Month Sew Along with Alissa Haight Carlton. You can see it on her Blog via http://sewmamasew.com

I will post again once I have a block or two made. So back to sewing room, the cutting

board and the machine.

Next Japanese Quilt Block

2011-07-26T03:32:00.000-07:00

The next block is made, but it is another applique block - I just keep putting off making those

pieced ones!! What does that say about my quilting preferences!?!?!

I enjoyed doing some more embroidery on this one. I had looked at all the blocks that I had

made and decided that I didn't have enough embroidery on them, so I chose a block

that would suit some.

Silk Kimono Roll

2011-07-21T02:08:00.000-07:00

The background fabric that I am using for my Japanese Quilt Blocks is from a roll of Kimono

fabric that I picked up on one of my visits to Japan. It is 14.5" wide which is the traditional

width of fabric made for kimono. The roll contains about 12 metres of fabric which is enough to make one kimono.

Don' t you just love the fringe end of the roll - I am sure it is going to make its way into a

project one day, that's if it doesn't go into the Block Quilt.

Japanese Quilt Block Number 7

2011-07-19T01:20:00.000-07:00

I have finally got back to creating more blocks from Susan Briscoe's Block books.

This is the 7th in the series of applique blocks and I am pleased with the addition of the

striped kimono silk - must do that again in the next block!

I have one more applique block ready to stitch and then I think it must be time to decide what

I am going to do with them - maybe intermingle them with pieced blocks as I really

didn't like the look of the sashiko block that I made (posted on 22 April).

Thanks for stopping by, Robyn

Amish Lone Star

2011-07-09T01:43:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone - wow I am back again posting.

Last week I had my Amish Group in and we were talking about stars. I dug another

quilt out from the stash to share - a Lone Star made in 1990.

We are enjoying working with solid fabrics - it makes such a change from what most of have

been doing over the last few years - working in florals and various prints. The girls in group are making some great quilts - really inspirational.

And as a result of this group some of them are hand quilting for the first time or reviving

their skills from yesteryear - how cool is that. In fact I am noticing a swing back to hand quilting.

Next Pin Cushion in the Series

2011-07-08T03:28:00.000-07:00

Hi there everyone - sorry I haven't had much to post over the last few weeks. I have been busy working on quilts for the Hamilton Craft and Quilt Fair in September and I really want to keep it all top secret so we can go public with it first at the Show. We are planning a totally new look, so hopefully you will find it worth waiting for!

But this week I had Pin Cushion Club and we made a little Paper Pieced Pin Cushion using solid (plain) fabrics.

One side

It was exciting to choose a new product that we found about at the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair that we visited at the end of June. Instead if tacking the fabric onto the card templates we

used a new glue stick - Sewline Fabric Glue Pen - and it was so much faster.

The fabric seam allowances stuck on well and didn't come off as you sewed the little hexagons together. It pulled out easily when you wanted it to and the card wasn't all tacky so it could be used again.

The other side of the Pin Cushion

I wish I had this product when I made my very first quilt way back in the early 1980s.This is it on our bed as I write, so we do even still use it!

I went shopping for fabric for this quilt in the middle of a Wellington winter - and there were no Quilt Shops, so I was having to try and buy cottons in dressmaking fabric shops - a bit of a mission. So most are not cotton and they were all very cheap - straight out of the sale bins as who wants summery fabric in the middle of a Wellington winter! I did find one charm pack of Laura Ashley fabrics and that and the calico is about all the cotton fabric that is in this quilt.

Once I had had enough of sewing hexagons I decided to finish it - it was going to the floor of the double bed! So there was a shoe box full of prepared hexagons left over.

I seem to remember wondering how on earth I was going to finish the irregular

shaped edges of this quilt. Finally the decision was made - the hexagons were simply appliqued onto border strips and it was hand quilted - well there wasn't a lot of quilting - we didn't seem to do much then!

But isn't it great to see that the hand piecing hexagon technique hasn't disappeared - in fact it seems to be staging a bit of a come back.

Thanks for visiting my Blog and I will try to keep posting more often again.

Gee's Bend Quilting

2011-06-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

Today I have been at the Quilt Group that I belong to. It has been a great opportunity

to sit and quilt and chatter. I took along my Gee's Bend quilt and started the quilting having decided what I was going to do last night.

I decided to go ahead with chunky quilting stitches in embroidery thread. and just went

roughly down the middle if each piece. I chose Cosmo Threads from Japan as I

really like working with these. They come on a spool and are two strands,

which makes them so much easier to keep tidy. And they have a subtle sheen

on them even though they are 100% cotton. And the colours are lovely greyed tonings.

Hopefully I will finish the quilting tonight and put the binding on tomorrow ready to take to

our Art Group Meeting on Monday.

Amish Roman Stripes

2011-06-16T03:09:00.000-07:00

This week I have had my Amish Groups in and we were talking about Roman Stripes quilts.

This is one the that I made way back in the late 1980s - my first Amish phase! So I took it in for Show and Tell.

This is a small quilt - 25" by 29" which of course is not the size that the Amish would have made - they would have been making full size bed quilts. Otherwise it pretty much follows the Amish traditions for this quilt design - black triangles set with equal width stripes, narrow border followed by wide border.

Please post some comments to let me know that you are there and watching - there is nothing like a comment - even a "Hi Robyn" - to keep a blogger posting!

Gee's Bend Quilt Top Finished

2011-06-15T03:49:00.000-07:00

Today I had our 1800s Revisited Group in at the shop so I was able to take my completed Gee's Bend Quilt top along for show and Tell.

I had finished it by adding in the filler pieces to get all the blocks to go together and then added on the borders. As you can see I couldn't be quite as as wonky as Lola Pettway - it just doesn't seem to be in my make up! But I am happy with my interpretation of her quilt. You can see a photo of her quilt in my last post.

Now I have to decided how to quilt it - I am thinking of chunky hand quilting with embroidery thread and maybe following around each frame in the middle with a matching thread colour - I think I will just eyeball these quilting lines rather than measuring and marking them! I will have to do one block to see if that works - so watch this space.!!

Gee's Bend Quilt

2011-06-12T00:06:00.000-07:00

Over the last week I have been making 'Housetops' blocks for a Gee's Bend Inspired Quilt.

Gee's Bend is an isolated community in the bend of the Alabama River in America. The community is predominantly Afro-American having descended from a slave community set up on a cotton plantation in the 1800s. This community has been one of America's poorest.

The people and their quilts came to widespread public knowledge in 2002 when

their quilts were exhibited in The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

The quilts then went to the Whitney Museum in New York City.

They were hailed as "some of the most miraculous works of art American has produced".

The Housetop block was one of their most popular designs.

I am using a quilt by Lola Pettway in my book "Gee's Bend - The Architecture of the Quilt"

as my inspiration.

Lola's quilt was made with corduroy in the 1970s. During the 1960s and 70s Gee's Bend was the location of the Freedom Quilting Bee - a co-operative organised to bring jobs and income into the community by making and selling quilts. Sears also awarded the group a contract to make pillow shams from corduroy. The left over fabric of course made its way into quilts like Lola's.

As you can tell I am changing the colours. I managed to get hold of some reproduction

Gee's Bend fabrics so I am using those. They look like old hand dyed fabrics which

I think really suits the Gee's Bend style.

These are my blocks on my design wall - now I need to fill in the white spaces to make the blocks all fit together and then border it.

The next decision to make will be how to quilt it - I am thinking of using two strands

of embroidery thread and quilting with larger than normal stitches.

As you can see I have way to many quilting interests - mostly related to groups that I run at the shop - Japanese, 1800s Reproduction, Amish, Pin Cushion Club and then of the new Modern Quilt Guild. And I have a project on the go for most of them!!!!!!! But the good thing is I do finish them all - the groups keep on track with deadlines!

The good thing about all these projects on the go is that there is always plenty of variety to choose from - hand quilting a Japanese project or my Amish Bear's Paw, applique on my Japanese Block project, stitchery or whatever on the latest pin cushion and machine piecing the Gee's Bend quilt. And planning the next Modern Quilt!

New Pin Cushion

2011-06-09T02:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Pin Cushion Club and this is the project that I designed for them.

They had the choice of three colours - light, medium or dark woven taupe fabrics.

I had made mine in the light version and they all chose either dark or medium.

And they all looked so good.

We had fun experimenting with a variety of stitches to go up the seam

lines and one even added some daisies in the middle of her pieces.

They all looked so cool. I love taking this class as everyone goes home after a

couple of hours with a pin cushion almost done.

And one member always makes two so comes back with them for show and tell the next month.

They are going to have a good collection of Pin Cushions scattered around their house

or sewing room or a lovely set of gifts to give away to sewing friends this Christmas.

I have kitsets for all the Pin Cushions in the series available and also offer them in a

Block of the Month format, so you can do them too.

Next Treasure Wheel Block

2011-06-01T03:31:00.000-07:00

I have finally got back into my applique blocks from Susan Briscoe's "125 Japanese Quilt Blocks" book. I now have six applique blocks and one sashiko block made.

I think I am going to have to re-plan what layout they are going to go into.

I thought originally that I would make three panels mixing applique, pieced and sashiko blocks. But I am not that ken on the sashiko block that I stitched so I am now thinking just one panel and just applique and pieced blocks.

These are all the blocks lined up so you can see them in one post. They are actually all on the same grey background fabric - it is amazing how different it can look in some photos.

Cranes (the Bird kind) in Old Indigo

2011-05-30T00:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately as I have been working on things that we will be releasing at the Waikato Quilt and Craft Fair and I am not releasing any info on them

until the Show - I will post photos of them after Septemebr 10. Sorry about the long wait.

Plus I have been quilting my Amish Bear's Paw.

Tonight will try to get another of my Japanese Blocks stitched - it is all ready to go,

so I will have a photo for you soon.

Oh but wait - I did put together another project that has been in the wings for ages - maybe nearly a year. I had all but two of the blocks done - I just added another stitched crane and the words. Now it too is ready for hand quilting - there is a bit of a back-log in the hand quilting stakes at the moment.

Some of the cranes are appliqued

and others are stitched.

In Japan the cranes - Tsuru in Japanese - is a symbol of longevity.

The fabrics are some old, some new, but have all been made in the old traditional way. I bought them in a super speciality shop in Kurashiki in Japan.

Shop beside the river in Kurashiki - the family probably live upstairs

Typical white washed house in the old area of Kurashiki

Bridge over the river in old, central town of Kurashiki

Amish Bear's Paw Quilt

2011-05-20T00:37:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks I have been working on a new Amish quilt for my Amish Club.

This month we have been looking at one block quilts that were popular in the Mid-Western Amish communities. I have always wanted to do a Bear's Paw quilt having made one block in my second ever quilt - a Sampler Quilt - way back in the 1980s.

This is a photo of the quilt partially hand quilted - not a great photo but it gives you an idea.

I was going to put black where the grey/blue is but decided this would be a lot of black to

quilt with black quilting thread at night! And all my quilting is done at nights. Black is the traditional thread to quilt with no matter what colour fabric you are going up and over. It certainly makes you take more care when the quilting stitches are going to be so obvious.

I am hand quilting it as you should do to an Amish quilt.

The solid blocks are quilted like this - parallel lines 3/4" apart - marked with masking tape.

And the Bear's Paw blocks like this - well it is not quite quilted all over yet.

These lines are 1/2" apart.

I seem to have my quilting fingers in so many pots at the moment with the groups that I run at the shop. I go from Reproduction to Amish to Arty and then squeeze in my Japanese passion. I really must get onto another Japanese block!!!!

Redwork Pin Cushion

2011-05-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night I had the next meeting of our Pin Cushion Club and this is what they made.

They even made their own braid from DMC Stranded cotton - how cool is that!

They now have a collection of four Pin Cushions. A sewer can never have too many - I have three in regular use - one by the sewing machine, another at the ironing board and the third beside my hand sewing chair. I guess the rest will just be for display!

Passion For Taupe

2011-05-10T01:32:00.000-07:00

I managed to get a full photo of my quilt "Passion For Taupe" while it was hanging at our Quilt Show over the weekend - it did involve twisting the quilt stands around so I could get far enough away from it - but at least I got a full photo - much better than the one I got on Saturday.

This quilt is made with a selection of the Japanese woven taupes that I love so much. And it is big - covers a double bed and well down over the sides. I used the biggest variety of taupes as I could - many pieces came from scrap bags that my friend Hitomi in Japan gave me. The outside squares are pieced but the little one in the middle of each block is appliqued on. The blocks are 10" finished.

This is a small version of the same pattern made in 1800s reproduction fabrics, the blocks are half the size. I called this one "Worn and Loved" as many of the fabrics came from a range by the same name put out by Windham fabrics and these fabrics reminded me of the colours of the clothing that would have been worn by the women crossing across America to the West in the 1800s. This one I have as a pattern or kitset at the shop.

Auckland Quiltmakers Show

2011-05-07T01:55:00.000-07:00

I had a great day at the Show today - it is always good to catch up with other members

of the group and all our customers who visit. We had good numbers through the door

and lots of really good comments about the quilts in the Show.

I promised photos of the other quilts I had in the Show.

One - Windows on Colour I included in my 11 April post, so check it out there.

This one below was designed by Jane McDonald and is made in Japanese woven taupe fabrics. It is a small wallhanging.

Luminescence

The next one is a large quilt also made in the Japanese woven taupe fabrics. Unfortunately it was impossible to get far enough away from it to get a full photo so this about half of it.

These are some photos of our stall at the Show for those of you who weren't able to make it.

We don't have lot of wall space behind for display as you can see with the windows running the length of the area that we are in. This is the entry point to our area showcasing our Modern Quilt Guild fabrics and quilt designs.

The view down the length of the stall with another Modern Quilt at the right hand side of the entry.

The far end with the woven taupes, the Lucky Owls, French General fabrics

and some Japanese bag books.

Amish area with fabrics, books and colour tools.

Kaffe Fassett and Modern fabrics, with the Dr Seuss range in the middle.

Quilt Show

2011-05-06T03:51:00.000-07:00

I will be spending this weekend at The Auckland Quiltmakers Show - I am a member of this quilt group and we have a Quilt Show and Sale over the first weekend in May each year.

I have four quilts in the Show this year. I have photos of these two Amish style ones and I will take photos of the others hanging tomorrow and post them tomorrow night.

This one is called Amish Bars and is a variation on the traditional Amish Bars design, but has a little touch of a Kaffe Fassett fabric added in. I must admit that I love the touch of Kaffe in an "Amish" Quilt.

This one is called Lancaster Diamond and is a very traditional Pennsylvanian Amish quilt in colours, design and and quilting. I just loved doing all the hand quilting on this, once I got over the fact that I would have do all the stitching in black - even on the pink, so individual stitches would show!

The shop also has a stall there so I will take some photos of that for you too.

The Show is at the Jubilee Building, Parnell Road (the old Blind Institute) and is on on both Saturday and Sunday from 10.00am - 5.00pm each day. We look forward to seeing you there if you are living close to Auckland.

Have a great weekend full of stitching,

Robyn

New Modern Style Quilt

2011-05-02T00:51:00.001-07:00

Well I had a busy weekend sewing - just as well the weather wasn't that great so the

garden wasn't calling!!

This is the cot quilt that I made with those stunning modern fabrics. I am really enjoying

working with these clean fresh colours - quite a change from the taupes I have been

working in for the last few years.

This traditional design - Rail Fence - is quick and easy to make and it is only cot size and totally machine made which is also a change for me - I do love my hand stitching and quilting. So it was a manageable project for a weekend. Plus I had a deadline which always gets a project going. I want to take it for display on our stall at the Auckland Quiltmaker's Quilt Show and Sale this weekend.

So enough chatter - here it is.

Totally New Look

2011-04-29T02:18:00.000-07:00

Now here is a totally new direction! What a change from Japanese murky silk fabrics!

Modern Cot Quilt Fabrics

As many of you may have heard over Easter we set up a Modern Quilt Guild - this is a huge worldwide movement for 'modern quiltmakers'. These are quilters who like to use some of the modern quilt fabrics in traditional quilts. Most of these quilters are making quilst that are not complicated but use stunning clear coloured fabrics. Spots, stripes, plains and geometrics seem to be more popular than multi-coloured florals.

So this is going to be my first attempt at a 'modern quilt'. Or maybe I should say second as I did make a Triangle Quilt as a class sample over Christmas. It used the hot pink Kaffe Fassett fabrics set in amongst plain white. This a photo taken when the quilt was on the design wall - sorry I don't have a better one at home - the sample is at work.

Hopefully by the end of the weekend the new cot quilt will be completed ready for you to see.

If you would like to find out more about the Auckland Modern Quilt Guild go to aucklandmodernquiltguild.webs.com or Google modernquiltguild to find the original group info - it was set up in Los Angeles several years ago as an on-line group, but most groups now have meetings and sew days as well.

I am off now to see if the Royal Wedding has actually started yet.

Robyn

Another Japanese Quilt Block

2011-04-26T13:22:00.000-07:00

I am pleased with the progress I am making on these blocks - sometime soon I am going to have to decide how I am going to put them together. The original idea was three long panels with applique blocks alternating with sashiko blocks. But as with most projects, those thoughts are changing. I am not so sure that I like the sashiko block so it might have to go and the basic revisted. Maybe the applique blocks will alternate with a pieced block form Susan Briscoe's

book instead.

This block is all appliqued on at even intervals around the circle. In her Japanese Quilt Block book Susan Briscoe gives good instructions about how to get these petals evenly spaced. All you need is protractor and a compass - I haven't used these tools for many years, but now realise just how useful they are to get circles the right size and petals evenly spaced around a circle. I am sure I will use this technique again in the future - it does make placement easy.

I have my Japanese Group in at work today so I must take these blocks in with me.

Robyn

Taupe Cushions

2011-04-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Today I gave one of my newphews and his new wife a set of taupe cushions to go on their new lounge suite.They got married a few months ago having returned from several years in London and are setting up their first home together - how exciting is that for them.

Their lounge suite is a medium taupe colour so as you can imagine that I had plenty of suitable fabric to make cushions for them. I raided my stash of woven taupes and made these five cushions.

The Collection

This is the first one I made - one piece of fabric with a large feature button pulling it in tightly. It is actually pulled in much tighter than it looks in the photo. This was Deb's favourite - she just loved the big button with its vintage painted look.

The next one was five strips of medium woven taupes pieced together with a plain back.

This one has a flap like an envelope - I made the flap and added it into the top seam. I have quilted the underneath fabric with serpentine stitch going across on the diagonal both ways. Serpentine is a wavy stitch on my Bernina that I use a lot a sit create the curves automatically and I am not a great machine quilter. I really prefer hand quilting.

The next one was just a stunning piece of fabric that I picked up at a Quilt Show in Japan - no I didn't have to stitch on all those little cross stitches - thankfully the fabric came like this.

The final cushion is one piece of fabric quilted in straight lines. I quilted across on the diagonal from corner to corner first and then filled that half of the cushion with parallel quilting lines about an inch apart. The other half I did a line from the centre of the first diagonal line out to the corner and then quilted each section in two different directions. This gave a nice texture to this cushion without distracting from the fabric.

Robyn

Japanese Quilt Block

2011-04-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

I have finished off the next applique block. It has embroidery on top of the applique.

I did the embroidery with the some silk thread that I picked up in Japan.

It looked really nice in the hank, but was not that great to work with - it shredded quite quickly.

I think I will go back to the Japanese Cosmo threads which are cotton but do have a slight sheen. I love them. They are easy to work with - come on rolls of just two strands and are nice to stitch with.

The weather in Taupo imrpoved this afternoon and we went for a long walk down the Waikato River to the Huka Falls. This is such a picturesque walk, especially at this time of year when the Autumn colour is just starting.

Sashiko Block

2011-04-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

This is the latest in the Japanese Quilt Block series. I have done some sashiko this time from Susan Briscoe's book "Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match".

Tsuta - Ivy Leaf

I have used Cosmo Embroidery Thread instead of sashiko threads.

I used red and chocolate - four strands of chocolate and and two strands of red.

I nearly have the next applique one ready so hope to share that one with you very soon.

We are on holiday in Taupo and the weather is cool and a bit overcast so there is time for sewing.