The Joy of Colour

I work as a special education teacher and today I loved watching the complete joy of some of my students as they painted with some beautiful bright colours using a stencil they had made.  The teacher was so good with them and rejoiced wuth them in their complete excitement as they painted.  Sometimes I am so apathetic about the beautiful choices we have in fabric these days.  Today changed my perspective towards the choices of colours available out there.

A Katrina Hadjimichael Design

This quilt was being taught in a class at "Pioneer Patchwork" by Katrina Hadjimichael.  She made it in navy blues and darker colours.  I wanted to make mine the same but at the time I could not find a range of blues that looked good together.  In the end I found this range of fabrics at Spotlight and began making the quilt in bright blues.  This is as far as I have gone with it.  I have to make 3 more of these borders and they take a lot of work.  I will get back to it at some satge!  I love the centre border and really enjoyed doing it.  The hearts on this border are cut out of one piece of fabric and it is hard to get them on the fabric looking even and centred.  It will be fantastic when it is together but I think it will be a long process.  I'm off now to look at some other blogs, I had so much fun last time - will blog again soon!   Robyn

Sample Quilt by "Moonshine Designs"

This quilt was taught at "Patchwork Mania" (Camden) and it took me 18 months to make it.  I changed the design slightly because there was one flower block that I didn't like.  I doubled up on the butterflies and the fans that are in the corners.  The quilt done by the teacher was done in pastel florals, similar to the original.  I liked blues and reds together at the time and was so pleased with the end result.  It has an oriental look about it, this was not planned.  I got this quilt professionally quilted because I put so much work into it and wanted it to be perfect.  I finished a few years ago and still have not put a border on it.  The original had a scalloped border but because mine is not floral I am considering just adding a straight border, what do you think?

This quilt has fantastic colours and is a cute panel.  Yes, its a panel.  I would love to say it is all my own applique but sadly it isn't.  It came in two parts, the square panel in the bottom photo and the cute wide border in the top photo.  I had bought a couple of lots of it in different places and didn't realise that I had bought it twice.  When it came to making the quilt I was glad I bought this amount of it.  We use it in the family room to keep us warm when we are cold, its big enough for my 6ft 2in husband to cover himself and keep warm so, at times, the whole family fights over it!  I can't remember what the fabric was called, I'm sorry I didn't write it down.

More of My Quilts - "I Think I'm Turning Japanese"

I love this quilt - I founf the two main block fabrics when I was in Tasmania in 2007.  I fell in love with them both and decided I wanted to put them in the same quilt as a memory of this holiday.  The cream material was found in Melbourne when I went to Melbourne for the Quilt Show in 2008.  This quilt is a memory of both these trips as it turns out.  I quilted large dragon flies in the cream blocks and continuous water lilies around the border.  I use this quilt almost every day as a lap quilt when it is cold.  It is my favorite for the memories it holds and the material I love.  I hope it inspires you too.

Hi guys, thanks for following my blog - to my first three blog friends.  I was going to add some more of my work tonight but have just spent the last hour getting lost in everyone elses blogs.  The work out there is fantastic - I spent so much money on patterns too!  I'll add some more of my work in the next two days, keep up those wonderful stitcheries and quilts.  I'll endeavour to find out how to leave comments on other blogs (am a little technologically challenged!).  Will blog again soon!

Quilt Overload!!

I have added a lot of my quilts in this one blog already.  I think I will give it a rest now and come back in a few days and show you some more.  I have a lot of UFO's lying around that I can show you as well.  I aim to finish a lot of them this year.  I have been doing a post-grad. course at Charles Sturt University, by distance ed., over the past two years so I have had to put my quilting aside.  Now that I have finished uni I can't wait to finish all these projects!  I am a mother of two that has been teaching for 13 years, full and part time.  I teach high School (Yes, I'm crazy!!).  When my children were very young I worked from home or taught casually at different schools.  I have taught History, Geography and English.  I have retrained in special ed. in the last two years and absolutely love it!!!  My children are 14 and 11.  My quilting is my escape when the world gets too stressful!  I can disappear into the quilt I am making and take my mind off work or anything else that is worrying me.  The satisfaction I get from quilting is great too.  Anyway, will talk soon, Robyn.

Flutterby's

I spent a whole day in Berry with a friend one day and when we saw this Moda jelly roll ("Flutterby's") we both decided we had to buy one.  It was near Mother's Day so we asked our families to give them to us for Mother's Day gifts.  We both did a 'quilt as you go' quilt but we arranged the colours differently.  They both turned out to be very different looking quilts, you wouldn't have known that they were made from the same fabric.  I arranged my colours so that they went from a dark colour in the top left corner to the lightest colour in the bottom right hand corner.  I am not really overly happy with this quilt because it hasn't been planned well.  I do love the colours and patterns in it though.

Postcards, Letters, Memories....

This is the first quilt that I made from beginning to end.  It is based on a pattern by Jenny Thurling who owned the shop, "Patchwork Mania" at Camden (it has since closed).  I followed the pattern and quilted butterflies in the squares, on my machine.  I also used a continuous butterfly design on the boarders.  I got such a sense of satisfaction from quilting the quilt myself.  I still try to quilt many of my quilts now but if they are large quilts I prefer to get them quilted professionally.  You can see the detail of the butterfly design, in the squares, in the first photo.  I cannot remember the name of the material but the theme was letters and memories.  You can see the handwriting and postage stamps in the close up photo.

Ashleigh's Second Quilt

This is a 'quilt as you go' quilt by "Moonshine Designs".  I had so much fun making this quilt, although I struggled with the random fabric choices.  I tend to like even quilts that are equally balanced on each side, with ordered colours - I had to ignore these obsessive thoughts while making this quilt.  I did enjoy choosing all the bight colours that I knew my daughter would love.  This quilt is always on her bed, even in summer, when the bed is made up.  It is a joy watching her take it to different places, I am glad she likes it so much.

Portugal

This quilt was made from a Jelly Roll my mother bought me to encourage me to continue quilting.  It is a Moda jelly roll called "Portugal".  I wasn't overly keen on the material when I saw it in the jelly roll but once I had the quilt together, I loved it.  My friend Sandy is holding the quilt for me - she has a great blog called "Sandy's Patchwork Angel" that you will have to have a look at.  We love talking quilting and spending hours doing our projects together.  There is nothing like chatting over quilt-making and getting closer as friends as we let our worries melt away and we focus on what we are making.

Ashleigh's First Quilt

This is one of my first attempts of quilting.  I had bought this panel and it had been in the cupboard for a long time.  Finally I decided to get it out to try quilting on my machine.  I simply quilted around the flying geese and the borders around the pictures.  I also learnt to bind on this quilt.  Ashleigh still puts it on her bed although she is 14 now.

Welcome!!

Hello to my fellow quilters and quilt lovers.  I have just learnt how to start a blog and will add pictures of my work and favourite sites in the next couple of days.  Stay tuned!