Flag love

Just a little excited.  My World Piece quilt is in Quilters Companion this week.
I have always loved flags, reading maps, just to see where places are in relation to other places.  I am fascinated by how people live and where and the sort of houses they live in.  I haven't been to all the countries in the flag quilt but many of them and at the risk of sounding like a Miss World contestant, I wish for a bit of world piece.

Mathilda's Market bounty

Once again, there is a flurry (love that word) of activity in the studio, making quilts for
Mathilda's Market.  I have a good range of quilts for boys and girls and a couple of single bed size quilts this time.  I am always amazed at the wonderful things you can find there to decorate nurseries and for children generally.  Such clever women about.  When I had babies, all you could get was Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddleduck.....not that there's anything wrong with that!

Darling buds of Crochet

Lately I have been very busy making granny squares, three projects on the go and none of them joined up.  It is so transportable and fun, peaceful and calming, like yoga.  It is yoga with yarn!
I am quite smitten with this beautiful shawl seen at Attic24.  I feel that it is important for me to have this for winter.  Looking forward to choosing colours, bright colours for a change, not my usual blues and greys, but possibly worn with grey!   I am hoping that I will finish it in the winter of 2013.

Tuesday classes at Amitie are always busy and my students are extremely prolific.  The are, by their own admission, unable to stop!  The oft heard comment from non-quilters  "how many more are you going to make" falls on deaf ears.  Many men and women spend hours and hours on the golf course and no-one says, "how many more games are you going to play".  I rest my case.

Lucy needs a quilt!

Whenever I go for a stitch at my friend's house her beautiful dog, Lucy, likes to model on my quilts.   I lay it on the floor to view it properly and Lucy appears, looks up endearingly and says, "ready for my photo".  She is the most beautiful quilt loving dog, I think she needs one of her own Linda!

quilting distinction

Fran, Tuesday regular and friend, is a really beautiful quilter.  Her stitches are even and neat and her quilts are stunning, all 28 or so of them, at last count.    Everyone she loves has one, or two, and her cupboard contains a collection of "for future babies" quilts.  This is one of them.

a good book and a glass of wine

....and this is a very good book, Green Tea and Sweet Beans arrived at Amitie this week.  No sooner had the delivery man left the boxes than they were torn open (patchworkers love a good unopened box), and they were selling.  A number of ladies had theirs signed by Jen Kingwell and I think a book signing with champagne and strawberries sounds very attractive.  I was very busy yesterday making little bundles of kits for the quilt which include many of the original fabrics.

a very fine tuesday

Yesterday was a good day.  Teaching at amitie, lovely students and a birthday, the actual number of which I will skim over.  Finishing with dinner with the family at my favourite Greek restaurant, practically perfect. Louise  made me a "very fine" pin cushion and other beautiful presents collected here.  Oh and of course more of those wonderful cup cakes.  The look so pretty with the card, how can I eat them?

cup cake couture

My daughter had a birthday surprise when she arrived at work today.  So beautiful, far too good to eat and most certainly too good to share!  Purchased here at Let them eat Cake, by a very kind boss.

Summer House

Guinevere made with Liberty

This version of "Guinevere" is made by Mitali from Liberty of London fabrics.   So pretty.

harlequin

This new quilt pattern "Harlequin" will be available in April.  Busy quilting it!  I always think, this one I am machine quilting, no time to hand quilt.... not.  I just love hand quilting and the colours in this quilt and the beautiful colours of Perle 8 could not be separated.

to do list

This little bedroom is so simple and the quilt on the bed is perfect.  I will make a hexagon quilt  one day and it may look something like this, then again it may not.

that's better

This will do nicely!
You have been introduced to Winston previously.  I was initially commissioned to make a bedhead for his  talented owner, not sure who it belongs to now.  The colour of the bedhead is more in greys and textured blacks than in the photo, I think it looks very smart.  Still haven't made mine yet.

Mathilda's Market

I have a little bundle of quilts ready for next weekend's market.  I must say, as I wandered around the market last year I was so impressed with all the clever stallholders.  So many beautiful things to buy for babies and children, I felt quite relieved, and so did my purse, that my children are far to big for me to be tempted.

Quilters Companion 2012

In the absence of an actual summer house, I have made this quilt aptly named Summer House.  It is in the current edition of Quilters Companion 2012 Yearbook.  When and if I ever have the summer house, I will be ready with the quilt.  I am always prepared for every eventuality.... even the most unlikely ones.  The summer house I have planned in my head, courtesy of years of trawling through magazines and more recently looking at blogs, is very nearly finished. Now Mr. Tatslotto, I am ready!

The purrfect quilt!

I was recently commissioned to make a quilt for someone with wonderful style and taste and the owner of a very discerning cat!  Here is the result and I think it looks fantastic.  It is colourful and whimsical with little blocks of "Alice" and the "White Rabbit" here and there and a lovely black and white stripe binding benefiting from a "drink of tea".  The quilt is tied in perle thread and I have hand quilted around the flowers and animals.  It was hard to part with this one but I see that Winston has already taken up residence and seems to approve so that makes me happy!

not missing a thing cat!

This very strange cat of ours does not curl up in a ball like most self respecting felines, she likes to sit up straight, watch TV, lean on arms and generally behave not like the others.  

to market to market

I have been busy making little quilts to sell at Mathilda's Market, come and say hi if you go.

Mathilda’s Market

Please come and visit our stall at Mathilda’s Market at the Caulfield Racecourse, Station Street, Caulfield. Free parking all day! on Sunday 27th November, from 9am to 1pm. Entry is free. With plenty of stalls, yummy food and kids’ entertainment on offer,  We really hope to see you there!

sewing not blogging

It has been six weeks since my last blog!  I always feel like sewing, early in the morning when the house is quiet, late at night, same thing.  Also, I regret to say, middle of the night when all the non mothers of babies and non-menopausal women are sleeping.  I am sewing at that time, reading, thinking, watching a movie, having cups of tea.  Everything is so lovely in the middle of the night but you know you will pay the next day.  I am not such a lover of blogging, my own that is.  I always think everyone else has a nicer more interesting one.  I have, as I said, been sewing and have a number of new patterns out one of which is Guinevere shown here.

Eastern Sewing Time

This is the clock in my sewing studio, lovely!

Amanda on a mission

My friend, Amanda, accomplished quilter, cook, mother of 5 and owner of The Regimental Condiment  Company will not rest until everyone who has ever said "hello" to her, has a quilt.  Well not quite, but nearly.  She has made this quilt using one of my patterns Museum Medallion.  Made in Liberty of London fabrics and beautifully hand quilted.   She is an inspiration to me.

new ribbons and kits - better than chocolate

These beautiful ribbons arrived recently at Amitie.  The colours are so bright and there are so many to choose from, these are just a few.  I have also been making new "Mitali" starter kits, never can have enough of those!

rainy crafty day

The Melbourne craft fair is almost upon us and Amitie will be there with a beautiful array of new fabrics and kits.   I am making up a little quilt in some of those fabrics which will be available at the show.

if its Tuesday its Amitie

I teach at Amitie on Tuesdays, a.m., p.m. and evening.  The morning girls are drifting into the afternoon and the evening girls now have them massing on the borders, well if they could get out of dinner and the "we're hungry mum" they would be.   A gorgeous class, lots of wonderful quilts and talent.  Here are a few snippets.

pattern prize and prizing cats off quilts!

Thank you for entering I shall post you all the pattern of your choice.  This new pattern is called "Pagoda" and is in the wonderfully soft Anna Maria Horner voiles and hand quilted in Perle 12.  It is not my usual colour palette, you know, blue, red and grey and brown, and it doesn't go in my house, but I love it.    I think my two ginger cats think they are invisible when they are sitting on it, but I see them and they cannot stay!  

Shop Now Open!

Postage for Australia is working but if you live O/S please email me to find out postage costs.  Click on the circle to enter.

I also have a little competition running over at the Mulgrave Makers Market blog, you can see it here