The week that was!

Those of us in business as longarm quilters don’t come up for air much at this time of year but I needed a breather and thought I’d share a little of what I’ve been up to this week. 

These quilts belong to 2 new customers, mother and daughter – beautifully pieced.

This in one of Jeannie’s quilts – she is a prolific quilter and had actually forgotten that she’d given me this one to quilt

I love this quilt – it belongs to Ethel and I really wanted to keep it.  I don’t know why but some quilts just take my fancy.  I was up close and very personal with this quilt for some time.  My longarm machine – affectionately known as Dolly – has never liked to sew “fussy threads”.  In this case I was more determined than her and for the first time I managed to run Glide thread.  I chose a pattern that had holly and berries on it and set the IQ on its merry way.  As you can see the border fabric is busy and has lots of gold in it and I couldn’t see the pattern clearly.  Let me tell you it became apparent during the 2nd pass that I hated it!  So then came the painful task of unpicking and yes, the tension was perfect which makes that task even more difficult.  I have to say the end result was definitely worth it and I loved it that much that I had it hanging in the studio for more than a week before I let Ethel know she could pick it up…..lol! 

About the quilt – it is a Hunter’s Star which was taught by Shontelle at one of our Workshops using Deb Tucker’s Rapid Fire Ruler.  Oh, and yes, I chose a different pattern – still holly and berries but much more beautious.

There will be more photos of this quilt to come as it has a Centre Medallion and small applique blocks around it and I’m going to custom them – a bit of Edge-2-Edge Plus going on here.  Stay tuned.

The quilt below belongs to Carolyn and I’ve used a pattern from Lorien Quilting called Exquisite.  The quilt itself is called Galette and was designed and taught by Shontelle at our Mannum Retreat this year.  The fabric range is Papillon and there are still kits available for this quilt, if you’re interested send an email for further details.

This is a simple but effective way to use Fat 1/4s – add a sashing and border and voila! you have a quilt.  Another of Lorien’s patterns used, Bubbles – it is so versatile and really quick which is a bonus!

The last quilt belongs to Dianne and I can’t believe how long I’ve had this on the machine – thank God I have 2 machines or I’d be in real strife.  I find quilts such as this difficult to come up with designs as the negative space is different in each block so it’s not easy getting it to flow.  Having said this I’m pleased with the result and was so happy when I finally took it off the machine.  Dianne will be happy to get her quilt back because it’s dragged on like Blue Hills!

Open Day and Sale

If you happen to be free on December 1st anytime between 10am and 4pm we’re having an Open Day and Sale here at Patchwork on Parade and we’d love to see you.  There are some fantastic bargains and homemade lemonade and slices to consume whilst sitting in the shady garden.  For further details click here.  Hope to see you then,

Hugs,  Sharon

In with the Old, out with the New

I’ve finally given in!!!  I’ve persevered for some time now with the Wordpress blog and have decided to kick it firmly to the kerb and come back to blogspot.  There are a few reasons for this and the biggest one is when I get stuck or can’t do something I can ask Shontelle to help me.  Also there comes a time when continually learning new stuff gets a “bit old”. 

So, I’ve spent a few hours transferring my Wordpress posts back here and I’ll attempt to get my act together and see how it all goes.

Between running Patchwork on Parade and the Australian Machine Quilting Festival I’ve had to learn so many new things and I just want to chill for a bit

My website is undergoing a major overhaul and should be up and running in the next few weeks so hopefully you’ll stay tuned and visit me regularly.  If you call by please leave me a comment.

Friday Finishes

It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted a Friday finish but I feel like sharing some of what I’ve been doing.  If you’d like to know anything about the quilts you see please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.
I’ve been doing quite a bit of custom work lately and for those quilters amongst us will know how this slows us up.  Sometimes I agonise over them, well mostly I do, but when they’re done I have such a sense of accomplishment that it’s worth it.  Then the hard part……parting with them.

The first photo is the 2nd quilt I’ve done for Lyn – both the same – however it’s quite some time since I did the first one and this one had a “feather treatment”.  Lyn had added all the embellishments before she booked the quilt in and it was quite challenging quilting around/between all the beads and bling – luckily there was only one casualty.  The second is a Star…..lmao….I have no idea which star it is as I’m not a piecer as such and I simply don’t remember.  It was all bias piecing so all in all the outcome was a good one.  I love the greens and black – very striking.

This is another in the girls day out series…. I think….and I enjoyed quilting it.  I quilted lots of different little designs in the various piecing and had quite a play. 


The quilting on this had been started before it came to me – all the SID had been done and the Butterflies had been echoed around.  This presented a few issues but sometimes working outside the square challenges us and increases our skill set…..not that I want to do that all the time.  It was a pretty good outcome considering.
That’s it for now, I’ve surprised myself getting 2 blog posts done in a month, hopefully somebody reads it.

Hugs,
Sharon

The Reno’s

Who would believe I’m finally doing another blog post?  Not you Carolyn, I’m sure!  Carolyn called in a few weeks ago to pick up one of her quilts and said if she saw the “anniversary pics” one more time she’d cut her throat – well, I couldn’t have that on my conscience, could I?

Our lives are always busy, and it seems we all say the same thing so I won’t bore you with that.  However, to add even a little more onto my plate we have been undergoing “renovations” for the past few months – seems like years.  We decided to change our flooring from tiles to floorboards – that can’t be too hard, can it?  We had the tile removers come in and remove the tiles and there was to be a 4 day gap before the floorboards went down….WRONG! 

I went to a quilt show one day, having a lovely time with Shontelle and a few of our quilting buddies and come home to…..”We (Tony and his friend John) thought it would be a good idea to remove a wall to “open up the kitchen area”.  They’d already contacted another friend who was here measuring up for the kitchen alterations.  That has held things up for a further 2.5 months and this is how we’ve been living.  The moral to this story is “never leave your husband alone with “Workmen”!!

The tiled area covered 80 square metres and I’d never have believed the places that dust could get into – concrete dust has incredible powers.  Everything we touch is covered in dust and I can’t wait for it all to be beautiful!

Quilting and AMQF

I have still been quilting throughout this although the interruptions have played havoc with my schedule…..what else is new I hear some sayAlso, we have taken AMQF on the road, doing what Shontelle has fondly named “The Ricky Roadshow”.  We have been visiting groups and doing a little talk on AMQF and how fabulous it is going to be.  We can’t wait for it to begin and share it all with everyone – hope to see you there!  If you’d like to find out more visit the website.  Here are a few photos of what’s been leaving the studio over the past few months………

Scarlett absolutely loves doing craft – they have a dedicated craft room at their house where her and her “mumma” are continually churning out masterpieces.  Here she is in my studio using the Baby-Go to create another purler!

And here are “3 of my top 5” – how lucky am I?

Until next time, whenever that may be, be happy and keep on quilting!

Hugs,

Sharon

PS  Just for you Carolyn – we’ll see if you really do read my blog

The year that was 2011

It has been quite a few months since I’ve blogged and I have no idea where that time went.  It wasn’t until I looked back through my diary and downloaded my photographs that I thought….”geez, how’d I fit all that in?”

The following was my life for the past 6 or so months,

•  100 quilts were quilted
• 2 Trade Shows in Melbourne were attended
• Wallaroo Retreat was held in October
• 4 visits to Mums’ at Wallaroo
• Our 20th wedding anniversary – pilgrimage to Mildura (for Speedway)
• Babysitting duties recommenced in September – my favourite time of the week!
• Other duties as required:-)

Below are a few photos from the “20th Wedding Anniversary”.  These were taken at Trentham Winery – the wine and food were delicious and the view was gorgeous.  Don’t you love the limousine??  Many a bride would be jealous!!

 

At present I’m having a brief holiday in Tasmania, once again my holiday has a Speedway connection – it seems the only way I can see Tony! Once I get home my work will begin in earnest – quilts are lined up ready to go and my workload for AMQF will increase.  If you’d like to see what’s happening for the Australian Machine Quilting Festival have a look at the website and register for the Newsletter http://www.amqfestival.com.au/

I’ll post some photos below, in no particular order, that I happen to have here with me on my camera – my plan is to post more of my customer’s quilts in the coming months.  Please don’t hold your breath as it may not happen but you have to have a plan….remember the saying…..if you fail to plan you can plan to fail. 

  

Hope you enjoyed the quilts – I had more on my camera than I thought!

And to end on a personal note I thought I’d share a photo of my beautiful grandchildren, Scarlett (the angel) and Ethan (the little prince).  They are just so adorable!!

Until next time (hopefully soon),

Hugs,  Sharon