Deadlines

Possibly it's the end of the financial year lurking on the horizon, bringing dreaded thoughts of tax returns to be completed. Whatever it is, this month has been full of deadlines.

As a consequence my poor Etsy and MadeIt shops have been woefully neglected and the fabric I had purchased at the beginning of the month lay there staring at me mournfully.

Finally I was able to make this reversible swing dress, with promises of more completed items next week.  With that behind me, I couldn't put off any longer the next most pressing deadline ... machine quilting a challenge quilt, due in Brisbane in a couple of weeks.

Wish I could show you more, but shhh ... it's a secret.  However, you can go here to take a look at an earlier challenge. 

I guess I should be grateful for deadlines, otherwise I would possibly just sit here in front of my computer screen and vegetate.  Sigh. 

Craft & Quilt Fair Brisbane

On Wednesday the Brisbane Craft & Quilt Fair will commence at the Brisbane Convention Centre.  My friend textile artist Sharyn Hall will be featured as guest artist.  You can't help but be inspired by her work and her enthusiasm to impart her knowledge onto others.  Highly recommended.


Shibori Textures  by Sharyn Hall



















I will have a couple of small quilts as part of the Jems Quilt Sitters' display, one in the Whispers Challenge, and the other a small quilt of memories of our time in Rome last year.

Detail: La Dolce Vita

It promises to be a brilliant few days, with so many tempting crafty vendors' stalls and some stunning quilts courtesy of Queensland Quilters.  Can't wait!

And All That Jazz

The rains held off, we built it, and they came.  JEMS Quilt Sitters' 13th Annual Exhibition took place over the weekend and was a raging success.

Anything that didn't move had a quilt thrown over it...

...or some bunting.

By the time we opened on Saturday morning, there was a healthy queue anxious to get in early. 

Those in the know headed straight for the Sales Room, where all sorts of hand-made goodness awaited the anxious buyers.  After that they relaxed a little, taking in the marvellous quilts.

As you can see, there was a wide variety of stunning quilts and considering we had to adhere to a strict set of rules (a little too complicated to explain here), it was quite amazing to see the results.  I wish I had room to show them all, but my poor computer would be crying out for mercy. 

My own quilt was was inspired by our recent overseas trip.  Our last port of call was a glorious week in our favourite city, Rome.  I manipulated some of my images in Photoshop before printing them out onto fabric.  I wanted to show how the ancient and modern meld so beautifully into today's Rome.

The refreshment room was busy all day, with people enjoying some time out to enjoy freshly ground coffee, tea, sandwiches, scones and slices.  Then it was time to hit the sales room again.  I was delighted with my sales of Hot Fudge clothing over the two days, selling several dresses and skirts, as well as cushions, library bags and traveller's shoe bags.  By the end of the first day the three trestle tables which had been laden with so many tempting goodies was looking a little sad, so we consolidated them onto two tables and covered the remaining table with beautiful quilts for sale.

On Sunday afternoon more crowds turned up to veg out to the cool sounds of Stitched Up Jazz.

Note the young ring-in playing his guitar next to his adored grandfather.

We were lucky to have not one but two wonderful vocalists, who sang all the classic hits of the jazz era.

And there was dancing.

The next generation are well and truly converted to jazz.  A perfect ending to a wonderful weekend.

Mission Impossible

Well, not quite - it is possible to be in two places at once if you plan ahead.  Take next weekend for instance.  Jems Quilt Sitters will be holding their annual exhibition on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 July, while BrisStyle will be holding their first Eco Market on Saturday 10 July.

Mid-winter in Brisbane is the time to get out and about, and what better way to spend the weekend than take in both a market and an exhibition?

What do a Roman cafe and exotic, fanciful birds have in common?  These are tiny glimpses of just two of the many art quilts which will be on display at the Jems Quilt Sitters' exhibition.  Historic Brookfield Hall is the perfect setting for this ever-popular weekend.  Apart from the stunning quilts, there will be a sales boutique where you can start your Christmas shopping super early.  There will be quilts for sale, as well as beautifully hand-crafted items from the very talented members of Quilt Sitters.  I will be selling my Hot Fudge label, so do stop by and say hello.

If you are partial to a little jazz, then come on the Sunday, bring along a picnic blanket or fold-up chairs and sit back for the most enjoyable afternoon filled with fun, laughter and music.  Oh, and there will be lashings of scones and cream, freshly made delicious sandwiches and coffee, tea or soft drinks.  Bliss.

To complete your shopping spree, take a trip out to Hamilton on Saturday to St Augustine's Church grounds and hall, where you will find the BrisStyle Eco Market in full swing. 

From top: Kitty Boo Boo, Cairo Made That, Edward and Lilly, Renee Treml, Little Jellygnite, and Ruby Red Studios.

This is a first for Brisbane, an Eco-friendly market where you can buy the most gorgeous items, knowing that you are doing something to help the environment.

So if you'd like to spend a few hours next weekend admiring stunning quilts, listening to some cool jazz, buying up big, or simply wanting to save Planet Earth, look no further.

Deadlines

What do you think of when you see the word deadline?  Stress?  Tension? Panic?  Yes, all these and more.  However, without deadlines I for one would simply sit around all day dreaming of what I would like to create, be it a quilt, dress or recipe.

For me deadlines usually mean there's an upcoming market on the horizon or a quilt exhibition, or maybe a desktop publishing job.  Right now I am working on this quilt.  I can only show you little bits, otherwise I would be shot at dawn.

I'm not quite at the head-in-brown-paper-bag phase, but I can feel that the deep breathing exercises are just around the corner.  I have finally completed the quilt top, but now the fun bit begins - machine quilting. 

The completed quilt (ha!) will be part of the Jems Quilt Sitters' exhibition to be held on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 July at Brookfield Hall, Brookfield Road, Brookfield.  Opening hours are between 10.00am and 4.00pm and the hall will be filled with the most creative quilts.  I will also be selling some of my Hot Fudge children's clothing in the sales room - more deadlines.  It promises to be the most marvellous occasion, with lots of delicious refreshments and even a jazz concert on the Sunday.  Pop it in your diaries now.

Deadlines - who needs them?  Me.

One Perfect Day

When Brisbane turns on one of its beautiful May days, there's nowhere else on earth. We had one of those days yesterday when  Jems Quilt Sitters held their monthly gathering  at the home of one of the members, as our usual meeting hall was unavailable.

What a difference a year makes.  Last year when I attended the meeting I was cut off by floods and it took ages to get home.  You can see some pictures here.  However, not a cloud was on the horizon to mar our day yesterday.  We gathered outside, as it was too beautiful to waste indoors.

After a heart-starting cup of freshly brewed coffee and a slice of non-fattening cake (you have to think positive), it was time for show and tell.  Sadly, I can't let you see the challenge quilts which were brought out to be admired, as they are for our eyes only until our exhibition on 10-11 July.

However, these girls are truly prolific and there were many other quilts brought along for all to admire and/or critique.

One Quilt  Sitter, Muffin, is making an heirloom quilt for each of her four granddaughters using Liberty fabrics in each quilt.  So far she has completed two hexagon quilts ...

... and she is a fair way into completing a Dear Jane quilt for another of her fortunate granddaughters.  She decided to keep a journal as she worked on this quilt, so for each block she worked on, she jotted down world events, local happenings, random thoughts, a picture of the block being worked on and a snip of Liberty fabric used on that particular block.  What a gift this granddaughter will receive.  Not only will she possess a beautiful heirloom quilt, but she will have her grandmother's hand-written journey to treasure - a piece of history to hand down to future generations. 

 

Another talented Quilt Sitter is Fiona Wright.  Coming soon is her online fabric store, Fifi's Fabricology. 

Not for the timid, this store will stock wonderfully bright and colourful fabrics, so if you love all things bright, log on to her website to register and you will be informed as soon as the store is up and running.

We lucky few had a preview of her stock yesterday and I was nearly knocked sideways by the crush around the table.  Quilters are such polite, courteous women until they sniff new fabric within fifty paces. 

Seasoned campaigner that I am, I managed to snaffle these three fat quarters.

I absolutely love them and that bright lime piece in the middle may end up in one of my Hot Fudge dresses in time for the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market on 5 June.

Ah Brisbane - beautiful one day, perfect the next.

Work in Progress

At long last I have started on a new quilt - well,  a wall hanging to be precise.  It's part of a challenge and this is only a tiny portion of the design.  I would be shot at dawn if I showed any more.

Jems Quilt Sitters will be holding their popular annual exhibition mid-year and I have two quilts to complete in that time.  This wall hanging is part of the Whispers Challenge.  We are divided into groups of five. The first person received a photograph, and was required to create a quilt inspired by the photo. The second person gets to see the first quilt (but not the photo) and makes a quilt inspired by it. The third person gets to see the second quilt… and so on.

I am fourth in the line and have already passed on my quilt to the last participant in our team.  I can hardly wait to see them all together, and to take a look at the original photograph.

More on this and the other quilt which is still in my head later on.

Coming Up for Breath

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I do all this for fun. What I had planned to complete at leisure (ha!) suddenly became a mad scramble to finish before the hanging day - eight days away. What you see below is a small section of a quilt which was going to be queen sized, but in the event will end up a cot sized quilt.

Yesterday I took time out to spend a large chunk of the day with good friends at our monthly gathering of Jems Quilt Sitters. Most of the girls proudly displayed their completed quilts which were simply beautiful. Those of us who still had a fair way to go could only stand back and gasp at the work before us.

This is not your usual quilt show. Jems Quilt Sitters are given a block at our Christmas lunch each year and in the past we had the luxury of not having to complete a quilt using that block until the following November. However, this year there were some changes. Instead of designing a quilt using one block, we were given three to play with, all related but a little different from each other. It was also decided to bring the event forward to July - not such a big deal - plenty of time to plan, design, construct and have the quilt ready to hang in the time allotted.

So what happened?

This happened. An emergency trip to Sydney when our pregnant daughter was rushed to hospital. Her waters broke at under 32 weeks and she was kept immobile in hospital for around 10 days, when it was decided it was time to bring Daniel into the world on 1 June, looking so frail and tiny, but oh so beautiful.

Now, after over a month in hospital, he is home, being carefully watched over by his big sister and brother. And yes, he is man enough to get away with a pink bib, as was his brother before him.

So why am I even worrying about something as simple as completing a quilt? Miracles happen and all is well in the world. The quilt will be finished.

I won't be in Brisbane for the exhibition, as Mr Fudge and I will be flying back to Sydney over that weekend. My brother had so kindly bought tickets for us to accompany him to a performance of the Michael Nyman Band at the Sydney Opera House, figuring in advance that we would be in town for the expected birth of our grandchild. Should I mention mice and men? We are really looking forward to staying with my brother, attending the concert and, of course, to getting in more grandchild hugs.

But if you are in Brisbane over the weekend 25-26 July, you can't do better than visit the Jems Quilt Sitters' Exhibition. It will be held at the historic Brookfield Hall, Brookfield Showgrounds, located where else but on Brookfield Road, Brookfield!

The hours are between 10.00am and 4.00pm and apart from the stunning quilts, there will be delicious home-made refreshments and a sales room full of beautiful goodies made by the quilters. Some of my Hot Fudge clothing will be for sale. It's a good idea to get to the show early, as the sales room is usually rushed and things can get pretty ugly.

Oh, and I just remembered. One of the quilts shown yesterday was a fabulous African themed number using fabric from my fellow BrisStylette Georgia of Ogekko's stash. Nicky, the quiltmaker, had admired the fabric used in Georgia's clothing on her Etsy shop and I was able to put her in touch with Georgia, with happy results. If you have seen Georgia's wonderful children's clothing, you can imagine how stunning this quilt is. Here's a sample of her work:

However, Sunday at Brookfield has the extra bonus of Stitched Up Jazz.

Buy yourself some delicious refreshments, sit out in picnic fashion and be swept away by the sounds of jazz. All this and a quilt show to boot - how can you lose?