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

 

Wallaroo Retreat–2 Vacancies

If you would love to take some time out for a fantastic weekend by the seaside then look no further.

There are 2 vacancies on the Wallaroo Retreat which is being held from Thursday 27th October until Sunday 30th October.

This is a fantastic weekend, you will find yourself being totally spoiled and we have some lovely projects on offer – Carpenter’s Star, Hunter’s Star & Dresden Plate.  If you prefer you can work on your own project or just chill out and relax!

All details can be found by clicking here.

Hunter’s Star Workshop

Sunday, 31st July saw us leaving home early and heading to Mawson Lakes to host our first Workshop for the year.  Shontelle taught a variation of the Hunter’s Star using the Rapid Fire Hunter’s Star Ruler which saved many, many hours of cutting.  It was simply amazing watching how quick and proficient the girls were with the cutting and getting their blocks together. 

Here are some of the girls proudly displaying their blocks and it’s always interesting to see the different effects produced depending on fabric choice.

Denise & Carolyn looking happy                 Robbie, who is piecing hers  themselves!                                                  row by row- rather block by block

Pat & Faye – great work                            Marina & Deb – new to the mix and it

                                                                    was great to have them with us!

Doreen – the very quiet achiever            Teinano – always great with colour!

Margaret – good job!

Well done girls, it was a great day and Shontelle and I enjoyed catching up with you all.  I have to say I was exhausted when I got home and all I did was sit around and watch you all work!

If you are interested in learning how to piece this quilt and would like to have Shontelle do a workshop then please feel free to email Shontelle for details.

Hugs,

Sharon

Dealing with Fullness–tips & tricks

As a longarm quilter I get to see many quilts and always feel fortunate that the people that piece these quilts trust me enough to allow me to quilt for them.  Longarm quilters get to see and handle all types of quilts – some beautifully prepared and pieced and sometimes they need a little bit of coaxing and that is where the skills we learn come into play.  A lot of time, effort and money is spent on equipment, tools and education and I, personally, have shed many tears of frustration during what has been the biggest learning curve of my life.  There have also been tears of joy and beautiful friendships made within the industry and also with  my customers.

Having said all that I’d like to share a quilt from one of my favourite customers who has also become a good friend.  The quilt was given to me to quilt well over 2 years ago and it was only finished about 5 weeks ago…..thanks for your patience Judy!  If I’d attempted to quilt this when it was given to me I’d never had managed it – it would have looked like a “dogs breakfast”!  That’s where education and experience are invaluable.

This quilt had a large amount of fullness in the centre due to the insertion of the Mariners Compass….

As soon as I hung the quilt top over the front of the machine I could see I was going to have issues.  Following are the steps I took to combat (yes, it was a little like going to war) this fullness,

• Laid the quilt top on a flat surface to get an idea of just how much fullness there was
• Cut 2 layers of Hobbs Wool Batting  a little larger that the centre circle of the Mariner’s Compass
• Used Roxanne’s glue to stick the 2 layers together
• Sprayed basting spray on the back of the quilt top, then stuck the 2 layers of batting on the back of the quilt top to cover the Mariner’s Compass
• Loaded the quilt top, very carefully,  basted the top and sides and proceeded to quilt.  The quilt had 2 layers of Hobbs under the Mariner’s Compass as well as the Minijumbuk that was being used on the whole of the quilt.
• I pin basted the quilt as I was quilting, taking particular care throughout the centre of the quilt.
• Once the majority of the quilting was completed I then worked very slowly and precisely on the centre piece

And here is the finished product,

So, what could have been a total disaster turned into a beautiful “trapuntoed” heirloom for their new boat.

I hope you enjoyed this mini tutorial and if you ever find yourself in a similar situation it may be of some help.

And finishing on a personal note….here’s another photo, complete with a story of Scarlett.  We were about to have a spa and she asked if I could take her hair out of her ponytail as she wanted to be a mermaid.  She was in the spa and I during my very inelegant attempt to join her asked if she could please move her legs so that I could get in.  She told me in no uncertain terms…..”they’re not legs Nanny, that’s my tail”!!

Until next time,

Hugs,

Sharon

Time Out For Me!

It’s only taken almost 5 years but I went on a Quilting Retreat on the weekend – yes, that’s right – I was a guest instead of the host.  Thanks to Wendy for organising a fantastic weekend with lovely people and great food.  It was so nice not doing anything other than eating, chatting, sewing (if one was inclined), walking and just slothing around in general.  Thanks to Mike, the retreat photographer, I have a few photos to share.

Yes, I am the Pyjama Quilter…oops that name has been taken….I’m the Dressing Gown Quilter.  You’d never think so much concentration and joint effort could possibly go into a “Disappearing 9-Patch” made from a Charm Pack.

Here’s one I prepared earlier – a “Lasagne Quilt” for Scarlett.  Yes, I hear you all – does that girl only piece strips of fabric????  Well, yes that is all she does!!  She also sometimes performs miracles but that’s a “whole nother story”.

Now we have the group shot – somebody (Wendy) told us that if we held our hands under our chins we’d look slim – do you think it worked?  Thanks Mike for taking the photos, great job!  And thanks to everyone else for making me feel so welcome.

That’s it for now – please visit again soon as I have some great shots of recent quilts to share!

Hugs,

Sharon