I am famous for a second lunchtime

Remember when I was famous (in my own lunchtime)? Well - it's happened again! My Freshcut quilt has made the front cover of Patchwork & Stitching magazine! Cool - here's a copy of the styled shot they did for the inside of the magazine too.

For those who actually buy the magazine - there is also a profile on me complete with my true love - cloth dolls! I'll be kind and spare you the photo of me though ;-)

I still think it's funny that I am on the front of a quilting magazine because I am soooooooooooo not a quilter. Mind you - have to say it's improving - what with all the quilts I've been making!

Later fans!

More Log Cabins and a new quilt

This is a quilt I finished at the end of last week. I saw it in Jean Well's Patchwork Made Easy and loved the colour combination. I realised I had just the right fabrics in the shop to make it up - took me a while to quilt it and bind it though! The purple is actually a rose print from Eleanor Burns - Through The Seasons range, as is the small purple floral, the red check and the dark mustard. The other fabrics are from Nancy Halvorsen of Art to Heart.

I've now started another quilt (not a log cabin). It is the free download pattern using the Empress Woo range by Robyn Pandolph. For those who'd like to see what I am aiming for you can look here.

I've been really, really busy this week.

Let me have a trumpet solo please - I have finished not one but two UFOs this week. The biggest one was a queen sized colourwash heart quilt for my mum and dad (Three years in the making from before they moved house). Will have to take a picture and post it here.

The second UFO was a log cabin quilt for Patchwork and Stitching magazine. I started it back here in April. Well here it is finished in one hit yesterday and ready to send.This pic is from before I quilted it and did the binding but it photographed better here than the photo I took when I tried to hang it up to snap it. Now I have to finish the instructions but that's the quick part - I am so much better with words!

I've been busy

One of the things I've been busy doing is helping my Mum and Dad clear their house out as they finally sold it. It's been the family home since 1968, despite various stints overseas (Petersfield in Hampshire, England from 1972 - 1975; Ossining, New York 1982 to 1984 and Holland after that).

They actually moved two years ago - but Mum wanted to be sure she liked her new digs before they gave up the house. Needless to say it was a big job - so Mum and I swapped several days - she went to play lady-in-the-shop and I went and got really ruthless with the stuff. Some got flogged on ebay - others went to the Salvation Army - books went to Lifeline for their annual book fair. Mum has an extensive collection of clothes from the 1950s - they went to Cavalcade of Fashion - where they will be properly curated and looked after which is nice to think. Anyway the last night the four of us (Mum, Dad, Kylie and I) had a "last supper" around the kitchen table. My older sister Ann was missing (gadding about in Bali for a month - smart girl!) But it was just like old times. It's kind of funny to think of it not being in our family anymore - lots of memories that's for sure. The best ones are always family dinners - where we'd sit around the dining table and laugh uproariously at something - you know the sort of laughing that brings tears to the eyes mixed with an inability to speak? Eventually Grandma would sob "oh stop, stop - before I wet my pants" and that, of course, would set all of us off again.

Here is one such scene - I am obscured by Dad's finger - and am wearing the floral circle skirt that I made as part of Home Science (mandatory in Year 7). That was the sum total of my learning to sew really.

Then it's Grandpa, my younger sister Kylie, Grandma, Mum, Nanna and my older sister Ann. This was taken Christmas 1978. Mum is about to cut Grandma's pudding (done the old fashioned way in a cloth (no basin) so it formed a floured sort of a skin). Ann and I had both made Christmas Cakes at school at the end of year activities week. The icing was as hard as hard but the cake turned out great! We only had one more Christmas altogether before Grandpa died in 1981. Each year someone would say, "this might be a Last Supper you know" - bummer when it turns out to be true. The most scary thing about this is that my mother's hair is a lot darker than mine is and I just worked out she is the same age in the photo as I now am (42 this year). Tempus Fugit.

Trade Show

Well - I should have posted this about a month ago but - well - I've been a little busy!

Went to my first Trade Show (I can do these interesting things because I own a shop). The main motivation was to hear Kaffe Fassett speak. I have been a long time admirer of all things Kaffe - being seriously so much in love with his books such as Glorious Inspiration and Glorious Interiors (and Glorious Needlepoint etc. etc.) that I have hunted them all down on ebay over the years and bought them all, mostly because I was embarrassed by how many times I'd borrowed them from the local library.

His talk was most interesting and I had a bit of a chat with him at the book signing afterwards. This is where trade shows are so much better than retail - not half so crowded! He had the proofs for his new book (which is due out in September) and graciously allowed people to have a look through so they could get organised making quilts in it before the book comes out in print. I told him how much I liked his old books such as Glorious Inspiration. He asked me how I liked it. I told him, "it's probably not the thing to say to a very visual artist - but gee it's a great read". He took the compliment. My favourites of all his fabrics are the paperweight series and the planets series and the good thing is Rowan Fabrics (who produce all his material) are doing a series of classics that will be available on a permanent basis. As he pointed out people are still buying the books and get frustrated that they can no longer get the fabrics. Here are some pics I took during the talk. I was in the front row but the lighting was absolutely terrible. I've enhanced them to within an inch of their lives so you can see. The quilts are totally spectacular in real life needless to say.This one was my favourite - loved the blue.

The final thing I thought was suprising was how tall Kaffe was. He'd be at least 6ft 2" I think. I'd always thought he was a slight sort of a man having seen him in his various books - so it was a bit of a suprise. Also the fact that despite living in England for 30+ years he hasn't a trace of an English accent. Actually I thought he sounded rather like elinor. I'm sure they'd get on a treat.

Well apart from Mr Fassett, the show was also interesting for the other things I saw there. Monica Poole is a designer of really gorgeous handbag patterns and I spent loads of time circling her stand. I'll be getting some of her bag patterns in for the shop. She's actually in a DVD in the latest Homespun with a pattern and all the tips and tricks to make a bag - totally different process from the one I'd imagined!

There were gorgeous trims everywhere which I couldn't resist ordering as well as the more mundane (but necessary stuff) like handbag magnetic clasps and perspex bag shapes for lining the bottom of the bags. I also went to a talk by Julie McKenzie of Material Possessions. She is a quilt shop owner as well as a designer of patterns - she is responsible for the cupcake cookery book that you see around - very cute projects and her stand was just gorgeous. She was very generous with her knowledge about what works and what doesn't.

I also spent some time talking to Karen and Nora who have recently launched iQuilt. This is an online magazine - huge potential - and both ladies are right up there with those in the know about who's who and what's what.

Ok - this post is getting realllllly long so will buzz off now - more later.