Sculpture by the Sea 2012

This week has been slightly cooler so we finally went to see Sculpture by the Sea at Cottesloe beach. As always it was a fantastic event to visit and we had a great day out with a delicious lunch of Barramundi at the OBH too. Here are some of the photos I took. Above: by Toshio Iezumi

The exhibition finishes this weekend.

I was intrigued by this work by WA artist: Anne Walmsley - it's made from wool blankets, squashed into cubes.

The red boy: childhood - morning by Chen Wenling was shockingly stolen last night. It is made of brass but was chopped off at the ankles and removed - such a pity - it was a beautiful sculpture and now it's ruined by some idiot criminal.

The Yearning by Margarita Sampson. There were many more of these in little groups around the rocks as well as some knitted creations.

just another conversation by Robin Yakinthou

Ship of Fools by Deborah Halpern

Journal quilts, a bag, BOM

I finally finished my 4 12 x 12" journal quilts - they have to be in Canberra next Friday so I'm cutting it a bit fine but they should get there on time. Above is 'Moroccan Mosaic' detail below.

'Kiwi Greens' which I showed before. I've added some beads and french knots to indicate moss - its still subtle but as it's a small quilt it doesn't have to work from a distance so I think it's OK. detail following.

I finished this bag made with some of the fabrics (a scrap bundle) I bought in Japan.

And finally the Craftsy BOM for March. I'm happy with the way this turned out - its the right size - pink only just! and was enjoyable to make.

Thanks for advice on sewing machines - I've ordered the Brother - will get it next week. I liked the Juki but the Brother had more features and accessories and extra feet etc are cheaper. The only downside is that it is quite a large machine so won't be so good to take places but I did get a free trolley bag with it. Blackmore & Roy, where I bought it, were very helpful and have a full servicing on site and free lessons which I'll need because I've never used a Brother.

The winner is...

Well, we did the draw for my giveaway tonight. I wrote all the names on pieces of paper put them in a container and my husband drew out Joy V's name - congratulations Joy. The fabric below was printed with the thermofax screen design which is part of the prize package.

Thank you to everyone who commented - I do enjoy reading them and being part of the community of textile bloggers.

I've nearly finished my 4 12 x12 different country quilts. I'll post pics before I send them off.

Tomorrow I'm going to test drive a Juki Exceed HZL-500. I've been looking at buying a new sewing machine for a while - had decided to buy a Pfaff Quilt Expression 4 but when I tried it on the type of sewing I need it to do (free motion stitching on lumpy, thick, uneven surfaces) I wasn't convinced.

My dealer suggested I try the Brother QC-2000 which I was very impressed with but was a little concerned it wouldn't be strong enough so I continued looking. I've heard great reports of both machines so it may be difficult to decide.

Araluen

Last Sunday daughter Renee came up and we decided to visit Araluen, a park not far from where we live. These are a few of the photos I took there. The waterlilies were gorgeous.

So were these - I momentarily can't remember what they're called!

The bush looked a bit dry but the creek was still running.

There is still time to enter my giveaway - it's drawn on Monday. Details in a previous post.

New work

I've got to get 4 12" x 12" quilts finished very soon for the Aust/NZ Art Quilt Yahoo group. The theme is other countries - this one is New Zealand, inspired by it's greenness and lush ferns. I've finished Japan, Brazil and well on the way to getting Morocco done. The group is having an exhibit at the Melbourne Quilt and Craft fair.

While I'm happy with this, I think it may need something extra - its a bit the same all over - what do you think?

The yellow cotton fabric has leaf and gelatine prints the green/blue border fabric is sunprinted on silk.

Work in progress: Monoprinted with thickened Procion Dyes. I intend to give this a little more complexity with some more layers but sticking to the squares design.

This is better than it looks in the pic, it was a fat quarter of commercial novelty quilt fabric. It had little fluorescent orange bugs with green shoes and white googly eyes - one under each spot. No, I didn't choose it - it was in a bundle I bought.

I knew I'd never use it, so I altered it by stencilling the spots and then using some plastic lace to print the background with metallic copper textile paint.

Don't forget my give-away if you haven't already entered - details in the previous post.

Finally, a warm welcome to my new followers.

Catching up & a new blog started

My blog has been a little neglected recently. There have been a few things happening - first, I've finally started the blog for Designing Women (a textile group I'm a member of). Its early days but I hope it will have regular posts, member profiles, lots of pics and information to share. It is a big year for us because our next exhibition will be this November, so there should be lots of activity leading up to that. Visitors and comments are very welcome - click on the link.

The small quilt (55 x 38cms) above was finished Saturday. The pattern was from Workshop on the Web quite a while ago. I thought it would be good to do to learn some new techniques and use up some of my hand dyed scraps - I was pleased with how it turned out - slightly different to the pattern. I've also started a patchwork cot quilt which will be a gift for someone.

Give Away: It's still happening but I've decided to postpone the draw 2 weeks until Monday 5th March because there have not been many comments yet - please feel free to spread the word - if you post a link and let me know, I'll give you another entry. The winner will receive a small thermofax screen, a collage pack of some of my fabric peices - colour co-ordinated and more than enough for a book cover or small collage and a surprise pack.

My DD brought me these gorgeous roses as a surprise because she said she knew DH wouldn't remember Valentine's Day. She was right but he did spend most of the day making shelves for a wardrobe in a spare bedroom so I could keep my collection of quilt fabrics in order.

I've now sorted them into colours got them nicely organised - just need to get my sewing room done now!

This is my new computer and desk in the dining room. We had a big table there but it belongs to my other DD who is now renting in Perth so she took it back. We didn't use the area much as a dining room so we bought a smaller table which I use as a cutting table and the desk.

I wanted to keep my old computer because of my sewing machine software and also my machine uses floppy disks. I don't use the digitised sewing designs very often but may as well keep it going as long as possible. I bought a new printer too but it's gone back back to get fixed.

We've had a few issues with technology lately.

Feb BOM, more quilting & a Giveaway

Above: using scraps - I had a lot of pieced trimmings from another project so put them together in a log cabin design. This will grow as I haven't finished the cutting yet. It might make a background for something.

Below: my Feb blocks. Doing these has made me sure I'll never be a traditional quilter! (I was sure before actually) The left one wasn't too bad but the right one turned out 1/4 inch too small. I'm not going to do it again at this stage, maybe when it comes time to put them all together, I might get enthusiastic and redo it. The dark pink central shapes are not as dark as the pic shows.

My entry for Beneath the Southern Sky 'The Garden in a Dry Climate' was not accepted so I can post the pics. I was worried my photo may not have been good enough but apparently it was acceptable and met the requirements. They felt my quilt didn't fit with the others, which I understand. I printed the fabric using a photographic screen - its a repeat print which I've cut a section from. I added 3 appliques and free machine quilted it. It has wadding and a backing.

Detail below:

It seems I now have 200 followers - thanks all! So I'll have a giveaway - stay tuned for details. I'll keep it open until Feb 23rd and everyone who leaves a comment will be entered.

Fibre Arts at the Monastery

I meant to tell you about the new textile workshops that will be held April 15 -22 at New Norcia WA. in my last post. There are some great workshops on offer with places still available. For all the information on these and others in the eastern states, click on fibrearts.

I didn't want to post with out some pics, so here are a few more of my dye printing. Above: credit card scraping, Below: breakdown print & plastic lace print. Although some pieces are purely experimental, most will be taken further with more layers or cut up and used as backgrounds or in other work. I really like the lace area in the piece below so that will be used. Not so fond of the purple area. I may discharge some of the olive green but I like the area around the lace print, gives an aged look.
The last fabric needs lots more work - maybe more dye printing first then some textile paint. Turquoise, which I've used for the blues and greens doesn't discharge much.

Thanks to the quilters who advised me on thread colours for my quilt in my last blog post. I had 3 different answers, but they have given me some ideas and I feel more able to make the decision.

Procion Dye Printing & a Quilt

Some of these are from before Christmas and some a little earlier. Above and below are breakdown prints.

I bought the new book Making your Mark by Claire Benn and Lesley Morgan - the 3 pieces below are from trying some of their techniques. Great book, as all of theirs are. It also includes a DVD which is useful.

Below: another breakdown print - the screen was made by allowing drips of dye to run down it - when dry they formed the resist.

I've also been doing more quilting - finished this small 32" square top recently. It was from another new book I bought: Scrap Republic by Emily Cier. The quilts are mostly simple and she has a great sense of colour. I enjoyed doing this one. Maybe some of you quilters could advise me - I'm not sure what colour thread to use for the quilting - it will be just machine stitched lines - is it best to use a neutral coloured thread? a variegated? or what?

I also finished my entry for Beneath the Southern Sky exhibition today right on the deadline! - will let you know how it goes. I have no expectations.

A change is as good as a holiday

In January, when its usually very hot here - too hot for the studio - I like to do some different things. Above: my first blocks for the Craftsy BOM (so far, so good) and below: I had these charm squares that were not to my taste but I didn't want to waste them, so I made a quilted bag for my A3 cutting mat and rulers.

Today I've started a quilt to submit for an exhibition: Under the Southern Sky which has to be finished by 24th Jan. I'm using some fabric that I screen printed quite some time ago which fits the theme.

Happy New Year!

One of the things I'm going to do this year is quilting - I've signed up for a free online BOM class at Craftsy and these are the fabrics I've chosen from my collection. I didn't want to buy any new ones but I might need just one more bright pink. The background colour will be white. We'll be doing 2 blocks each month, 20 altogether, which shouldn't be too challenging. I've never made a large quilt before and said I never would, so we'll see how it goes. It's not a huge one - twin size apparently.

I'd like to wish all my readers a happy, peaceful, safe and creative 2012. Thankyou to those who visit, leave comments and follow my blog - its much appreciated.

I see that I'm getting towards 200 followers - will have a giveaway then to celebrate.

I'm not sorry to leave 2011 behind - it's been quite a personally challenging year with family health issues and other things, and so many traumatic events here and overseas, but there were some good things too. My exhibition (shared with my husband's wood turning) and tutoring at Fibres West are 2 that come to mind. My husband's health is much better now but our parents still have ongoing health issues.

I'm already getting a rapidly increasing things to do list for this year. It includes:

Dressmaking, revamping my Etsy shop with more designs for my thermofax screens and some printed fabrics, setting up a blog for Designing Women, much more work with dye printing, teaching, submitting entries for exhibitions and working towards the Designing Women exhibition later this year.

That's it for the new year resolutions! (not really resolutions - just intentions)