The Last Piece

A Quilt for Amy

Earlier today a posted a little about my friend Amy. I hadn't spoken to her yet about what I was doing and felt I needed her permission to tell you a little more before I did so. 

A lot of you will know Amy as Mrs Schmenkman. Her blog is full of her awesome, wicked humor and her beautiful quilts. For me, she's not just a business partner and a quilting friend, she's a best buddy. I just love her.

If you read her blog, you will know that Amy's husband, Dan, passed away yesterday. I would give anything to be there to help her and give her a huge hug, but as I can't Katy and I cooked up a virtual hug instead. 

We're going to do something quilty for Amy and we would love all her readers and twitter friends and internet quilty peeps in general to help us out. I am overwhelmed by the response so far, thank you SO much to the multitudes of you who have responded.

If you're interested in helping us out, please email me at [email protected] and I will send you the details. Thanks everybody xx

 

Ammended to add: I am overwhelmed and so touched by the sheer volume of help that has been offered. I am getting through the emails to send the info so please be patient if I haven't sent you one yet :) Also a lot of you have asked how you can help Amy financially - her family has set up a donation site, you can find it here: http://www.gofundme.com/DanSicko

The Grass is 'Riz

Every year I like to do my little post about the first flowers in my garden, and quote Spike Milligan:

Spring has sprung, the grass is 'riz

I wonder where the birdies is?

Spring has certainly sprung. Walking thrugh my neighbourhood at the moment there are magnolias, azaleas, camellias, lavander, daisies, orchids, hawthorn, roses... bees are busy and the warm weather had gotten me out of the house finally, trying to rid myself of a few extra kilos piled on over winter before I head off to Houston!!

The azaleas in my garden are so lovely at the moment that I couldn't resist tucking one into the top of the present I wrapped for a bridal shower tea on Sunday afternoon (hi Steph!).

When I got home from the party on Sunday the weather was so beautiful I took a quilt outside to bind. The afternoon sun is a bit glary, but doesn't the quilting look incredible highlighted in the sun?

This is a quilt for Quilter's Companion - you get the pattern for it and see my article about designer Aneela Hoey coming up in a few months time. 

And looking very spring like and zingy, guess what arrived in the post today?

The US version of Quilting: From Little Things, with my dear little Madam doing her celebrity dog turn on the cover. USA, coming your way soon, watch out for it!

PS. Lovely internet peeps, if you read my beautiful friend Amy's blog you will know of her terribly sad news. I'm organising a little something for her and her daughter, if you would like to be a part of it please email me at [email protected] and I will send you the details. Thanks x

QuiltAlbum

Here's a fun gadget for you all. Do you know about QuiltAlbum? It's a piece of software that my friend Pat Sloan has put together for you to document the quilts that you make. 

It is basically like a photo album stored in your computer. You can put a pic of your quilt, all the info about how it was made, who or what it was made for, what batting you used, how you quilted it.... here's an example I did this morning with one of my Dollies Online quilts. 

This seriously took me about 4 minutes, even though I have never used the software before. It's really easy and you can just drag and drop pics of your quilts in, you don't have to wait for them to upload.

The cool thing about it is that once your quilts are in the system, you can use them for other things. The program has a bunch of templates you can use to print off album pages, make address labels for postage and your own quilt labels for the back of your quilts, and even greeting cards. I thought it would be fun to have a card to slip into packages when I post purchases to customers - here's what I knocked up in about 2 minutes.

 Too fun! The software is $29.95 but it's the kind of things you will add to over years and you will have created a memory of all the quilts you made and gave away :) Go and check it out!

And... More Classes.

Wow there's been a load to show from class the last few days. Yesterday Lynette made a a great start on her Whirligig quilt (from the cover of Quilting: From Little Things). My quilt is blue and yellow but hers is going to be pink and green. It's looking delicious so far.

Here it is on the cover of the book:

And here is the whole quilt. There are two versions of this going on in classes at the moment, both very different. I always love seeing how everyone's different interpretations come out.

Sandy is making The 'Burbs. She has made heaps of little ladies and is now starting on the houses. I love all her vintage dresses and funky hats!! 

Here's my 'Burbs quilt, pattern in Material Obsession Two:

And Liz is making Kismet. The combo of that Anna Maria Horner floral and the Kate Spain background is just killing me. Huge restraint was required not to start making something with these myself, right then and there.

More classes tomorrow at C&I!

Footy season has come to a close and no longer will I be throwing two of these in the car and hosing them off when we get home:

He did manage a try in his last game of the season though and was very pleased with himself. Oss had a great season too, strange to think this is his last year of club rugby and next year we will see him in a high school Shore jersey too!

Go the mighty Pirates. Now what will I do with my Saturday mornings??

More Classes!

Lots of teaching in the last few weeks. The girls at Calico and Ivy are powering ahead with their projects! Maggie came along for the first time and brought some beautiful hexagons she made on a trip around Australia to play with.

We played with a lot of different placements before we settled on this. Doesn't the background fabric look great? The little red circle in amongst the grey really pops when surrounded by all that full colour.

Sue is making Summer Sunshine from Material Obsession One. My original quilt is blue and white so this is a real departure. I can't wait to see how all these beautiful blocks come together. This is her first quilt so she is doing really well with her applique.

Halfway through class, the shop was visited by a big bus tour of ladies, all touring the quilt shops of Sydney. They had a great time rummaging around and looking at what the class was getting up to.

I am teaching three days again this week so come back to what's been happening in those classes! I'm also waiting for the yardage of my new fabric range with bated breath.... as soon as it arrives I promise to share a sneak peek with you.

Leaving you now with a lovely version of Looking Back (Material Obsession Two) that was sent to me by Toni. Hasn't she done a lovely job?

Classes

Wednesdays are my monthly day at Cottage Quiltworks and it's something I look forwward to. There is such a variety of projects being made in class, and it's always fun to see where everyone got up to since the last class.

I managed to forget my camera bit the iPhone took a few passable (only just mind you) pictures. And as I've only taught this group twice, I don't remember everyone's names yet! Apologies...

Masses and masses of flowers bloomed for this version of The Night Garden, which is coming along beautifully! Such an organised work station with little piles of blocks all ready to be positioned...

(oops they really are blurry)

And here they all are coming together on the wall. Wow.

This is going to be a stunner. The fabric chosen for the setting rectangles is an aboriginal design and the graphic lines and bright colours will really fill in the "undergrowth" of the garden between the flowers. Great job!

Next up is a Candy Shop quilt. Candy Shop was one of the first patterns I ever did for commercial sale, and nearly 10 years later it still turns up all over the place! You will find the pattern to make your own Candy Shop in Material Obsession One, and is a fantastic beginners quilt. This is the centre panel:

They will be filled with embroidery and there is a border going on as well. We're going to put some extra borders as well and make this quilt a bit bigger!

And last but certainly not least I have TWO girls making Sunshine and Shadows, which is my pattern in Quilters Newsletter this month. (Sorry Belle I pinched your pic)

The girls making it only started quilting this year, and look how well they are going!

Its taken a bit of trial and error to get used to sewing diamonds, but they are doing really well.

After the next class I will give you updates on the progress of the Stars in Your Eyes, Hanging Lanterns, The Burbs and Seasons quilts all being made in this class! So much to see, and today I'm off to Calico and Ivy for another class. I promise to remember my camera this time. :)

HOUSE KEEPING!

* I still have two complete fat quarter bundles of From Little Things available. If you want meterage, The Patchwork Orange tell me she still has some for sale! Template sets for The Night Garden, Hanging Lanterns and Jazz Hands are coming soon to the shop, I have them ready for sale though so if you would like them just email, [email protected].

Also if you would like to download a copy of this month's Home Beautiful to see my house, you can do so for $7 from www.au.zinio.com. Thanks for that tip Susannah!

For those waiting for a copy of Quilting: From Little Things or Material Obsession Two, I should have the books to post to you in a few days. I will keep you updated. 

Home Beautiful and Get Creative

Wow, so many things to show you. First up, September Home Beautiful is out with my house in it! I feel like such a grown up. 

Pop out and get the mag and you will find 8 pages of my place, beautifully photographed by my wonderful friend Sue Stubbs, who also did the photography in Quilting: From Little Things. (BTW, QFLT is now up for sale in my online shop, along with MO1 and MO2.) If you are overseas, unfortunately HB don't do an international subscription but if you really want one, send me an email and I will ship it to you. The mag is $7.50 and I will let you know on the shipping depending on where you are.

You will also find me this month in Get Creative magazine, which is the Spotlight publication. I'm in Issue 4, you can download it for free here! They have a lovely article about me, and in the next two issues you will also find an article I wrote about the Australian designers working with Lecien Japan, and a project using Denyse Schmidt's new range, Picnic and Fairgrounds. You can see what peeps have been up to with this fabric at Flickr, and stay tuned for my pattern which is called Bangles. 

And pop on over and meet the Jelly Roll Quilters, who have me as their featured link this month. Promise if you do, you say hi from me. :)

Belle has been stitching up a storm with some of the designs from my From Little Things fabric range... here she has worked on the kissing birdies. One's chest is French knots and the other is punch needled. How cute are they?

Tammy at Karamat Fabrics has been making my Ups and Downs quilt, also using FLT. You can see more pics at her blog, but I just LOVE her version. She used Moda Crossweave for the background instead of linen. If you would like to buy the pattern for this quilt please email me, it's in the process of being loaded into the webshop but I can do the transaction for you via email if you like.

I know that FLT is getting kind of hard to find, a lot of shops have sold out. If your shop still carries a good range of From Little Things please let me know and I will blog it! People are emailing me wanting fat quarter bundles and I am getting some ready from my left over yardage. If you want one please email me asap as they will sell fast and I don't have a lot.

Classes are rocketing along and we are having a fantastic time as always. If you want to take a class with me there are a few spaces left for a monthly Wednesday at Cottage Quiltworks at Warriewood. Here are some pics of what the girls at Calico and Ivy have been getting up to. Margaret is making Whirligig from Quilting: From Little Things:

She's making it in greens to match her lounge roon, and that is LIBERTY bias tape you see her glueing down there! Just wait until you see her other fabrics, SWOON...

Asako is making a small version of Sunday from Material Obsession Two. 

Her colours are so bright and cheerful!! 

That's about it for today, are you tired? I am. Too much to see. Here's a pic of fabrics I bought out shopping with my friends Jeltje and Madga, who are here from the Netherlands. We went to four Sydney quilt shops in one day! Jeltje owns the shop, 100 Rozen in Deventer where I taught earlier this year. I will be back in the Netherlands in January 2012 - who's coming to classes?? Can't wait to see you all again!

(From front: A Day in the Country spot, City Weekends by Leisl Gibson, Isso Ecco and Heart by Lecien, Birch from Cloud 9. Sherbert Pips by Aneela Hooey)

 

 

American Patchwork and Quilting

You gotta love your sistas. Expecially when they go and do something like this.

In the October issue of American Patchwork and Quilting you will find an interview with Monica from the Happy Zombie, Lecien sista extraordinaire, and this devine project from her using my From Little Things fabric. How cute? How cute is that I say?

Thanks Miss Zombie! xx

Life's Tough

but someone's got to do it. I finished my toothbrush rug (which yes, is just like a rag rug), and apparently I have made it for the dog. That's what she's telling me anyway.

More pics of my wool embroidery quilt up on We Love French Knots - what do you think? The full quilt will be revealed soon when I can announce my online classes!

In other news, my class at Cottage Quiltworks in Warriewood is full to bursting and the girls have opened another block. If you would like to come along, give them a call. You can make any of my patterns that you like and the class is once a month on a Friday. We had such a great time in my first class there, the shop is so lovely and Chris and Jann keep us well supplied with morning tea!

OK I'm off to the sewing room now. I'm working on a project with Sherbert Pips for Quilter's Companion - in the coming months you will find a project using Momo's Wonderland, a DVD with an applique project and the Sherbert Pips quilt too! 

PS. Isn't this a great pic? The issue of Home Beautiful with my house in is on sale on Monday, you can have a sneak peek inside my renovation :)

I Love French Knots

I do. And so does Bari J. Have you seen her new website, We Love French Knots? You can hop over and see a little project by me and an interview (if you're not already sick of my whitterings!) You can also check out other fab embroiderers and see some of Bari's beautiful embroidery finds and tutorials. 

And you might also see a little sneak preview of the wool quilt for my soon to be online class. Check it out!