Thursday, April 26, 2012

It would appear that the “knave of hearts has stolen some Tarts” …..
though our numbers have dwindled to a regular core of about five, we still manage to have a lovely evening, sharing proposed new projects, giving tips on the thriftiest means to achieve said projects, showing an extensive “show and tell” (pretty good from only six of us present actually), pawing over each other’s books, magazine’s and recent additions to fabric stashes.  Talking about new tools and products, the pros and cons of this thread versus that; we are loving Superior Threads needles and Pilot’s FRIXION pens, a gel pen that disappears when you iron it (must mention they don’t like being left in a hot car), and there were some keen minds ready to investigate the use of Prisma pencils to “shade” fabrics using Esther’s technique.

This particular evening’s conversation ranged from the controversial copyright issue recently settled in the US to how to get “smells” out of books and how to dry books that get wet.
For those wishing to know, Evi our resident librarian suggests popping smelly books in a paper bag and then putting the paper bag along with some kitty litter into a cardboard box for about a week; as for wet books, put them in the freezer (I imagine the frost free type would be best), when the water has crystallized you can fan the pages and the ice crystals mostly blow out, then you leave the book open to air further.  Now I don’t suppose this is for “flooded” books but might do the trick when you (or one of your children) manages to knock over a glass of water on a book.
We even managed to move on to stainless steel soap to get rid of garlic and onion smells from your hands when cooking – Carole suggested that while she loves her stainless steel soap the same effect can be achieved by rubbing your hands on your stainless steel sink.

Hot buy at AQC was a light SET from Trevor The Scissorman now also The Daylight Man – Evi bought a bundle of floor lamp, flip up table lamp and clip-on LED on a flex arm all for $128, apparently last year the price was more and you got less – well done Evi.

We liked Julie Haddrick’s Kokeshi Playtime with full scale appliqué patterns which Emma bought for 12 year old Sarah to undertake (as she is obsessed with all things kokeshi and cherry blossom), we didn’t like the blocks being listed in metric though (haven’t we become creatures of habit?!).
Best book of the evening was Yoyo Bags by Takako Watari – thanks for bringing it along Carole and Evi for investigating its availability.
Here’s a little of what you might expect to see in it:

As for the photos – not Kate’s usual very professional standard but Emma’s little snappy point and shoot; now I did say that there was substantial show and tell, but of course I didn’t photograph it all!  A great deal of the show and tell was of planned projects and purchases from AQC, Esther’s show and tell was from her latest BOM which you can look at here:

 Kate has finally assembled her Anna Bella - a Janet Sansom machine embroidery patterh bought as a kit from Somerset Patchwork. She had done all the machine embroidery, but piecing the Lemoyne Stars was a lion in the path until Bronwyn Van't Hof showed her the way. Thanks Bronwyn.
 


 Jennifer's Oriental 2, which is spectacularly effective. We all admired the Sashiko panels.

Emma very modestly did not include her Easter quilt which was delightfully quirky.
I hope you do not have to wait so long for the next post, but Arrivederci for now!





Friday, April 29, 2011

April 19th, 2011

Almost another fiasco. We arrived without the code, but fortunately someone had Emma's mobile and so we were able to gain access before Emma arrived.

Another small gathering - Esther, Carole, Rose, Emma and Kate. There was plenty to chat about since the previous weekend was AQC. We all enjoyed the quilt exhibition and agreed it was better than last year.

Rose says she is quilted out after a weekend at the Australasian Quilt Convention, followed by Cathy Miller serenading her at the AQA meeting on Monday. It is no wonder she has only done about 15 stitches tonight  - helped along by three cups of coffee.


Rose shows her clamshells - all sewn by hand in record time!



 More of Rose's work - sorry I forget its title.
Emma is still recovering from Matilda's 8th birthday in Paris last night!
Emma's Rainbow Pussycats for Ros's 60th birthday in May - a friendship group project
 
And here is Matilda's Eiffel Tower Birthday cake - what a lucky girl!! 

Esther is still recovering from AQC and to help her return to normal has a swag of new books, some of them bargains from Lincraft. I was particularly taken with "Beautiful Botanicals" by Deborah Kemball.
Carole is looking forward to Paducah next week, and we are looking forward to a report next week.
Carole continued working on this project. It was begun in a AQC class with Gael Koenders of Patchwork Unlimited. Using intense pencils and fabric medium it is great fun - colouring in and making sure you are within the lines.
 
 Esther helps me hold up my Bedford quilt. It is actually two Bedford kits (thanks to Jennifer Ray for one assembled set) and two extra blocks

Thursday, March 17, 2011

March 15th, 2011

In Kate's absence we had no professional photographer this evening so we have all agreed to return with out show and tell next month!

In Attendance tonight were:

Esther, Carole, Val, Rose, Jennifer, Evi, Emma

Esther showed us her beautiful blocks from her current BOM Hearts Desire - beautiful blocks, abd beautifully made. Vvisit her blog to see them http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/  
Jennifer was particularly taken with the background fabric of the blocks which surround the central block.

Carole has made an amazing piece for the Geelong Guild's 25th Anniversary challenge - silver of course, a portrait of her silver poodle Muffin. Fantastic thread painting surrounded by tiny stippling then a piped frame then silver tiny stippling in the final border - it's sure to be a winner!

Val had a "me too" quilt top she had just completed for a niece's friend's baby after the friend saw the pram quilt Val had made for her niece's child and wanted one too (sorry Val if it's not your niece please correct me).  So of course this child's a bit bigger now and so too is the second edition of the quilt!

Rose had enjoyed a weekend of finishing tops from some time ago, finishing two over this long weekend; one of which was a Robyn Falloon medallion with pieced (maybe Seminole) border from 1999.  Lovely colours and very nice execution - without a photographer this month she promised to bring it back next month and we suggested that maybe next month it will be quilted and she'll be binding it! ;)

Jennifer brought along Oriental 4B (the "me too" copy of her Oriental 4 quilt), 4B is going to live in ? (I think there is still an embargo on this information). Jennifer also had Oriental 5, very  striking panels beautifully set with pieced borders to compliment the colours of the panels.  Apparently Shane doesn't see the need for the Oriental series to be displayed as a collection in their home!  The quilting and harmonious colours in the series we have seen so far really do need to be hung together to fully appreciate them.

Evi our resident librarian brought along magazines for us to peruse and was knitting in delicious different yarns.  She's looking for knitting patterns, but now I can't remember exactly what for.  Sorry Evi, I should have written it down!

Emma brought along the completed Sashiko Tote bag she has been stitching at Tarts in the Under the Australian Sun fabric range; with a pink waratah sashiko stitched on teal background in the feature panel.  Also Christmas Belle's finally all in one piece and pin basted; a Debbie Mumm appliqué and stitchery quilt made from scraps and leftovers from projects Emma made for her daughter from baby blanket backing to smocked dress off cuts and bed quilt leftovers; This has been Emma's ongoing hand sewing project over the last four or so years.  Now moving on to Matilda's Waltz for daughter Matilda as an ongoing stitchery quit hand work project; lots of tiny satin stitch and single thread blanket stitch flowers; with thanks to Sue Lancaster who gave away the patterns when she had finished with them.

Suzan on the Craft Channel 31 program is recommended
 http://www.c31.org.au/program/view/program/suzan-is-craft

Program airs Monday 3pm.  Repeated Tuesday 9am, Saturday 7:30am, Monday
4:30am.  So there should be a time slot in there for everyone!

Glenice has requested Esther speaks at Werribee in September.

Quick, three mins left before I turn into a pumpkin!  Good night.


Thanks to Emma for the report. 

Next month, with luck we will have lots of Show and Tell photos. Kate has been doing a Photography Workshop at NGV, but as it is Landscape Photography, it probably will not improve the Show and Tell photos!

Friday, February 18, 2011

February 15th, 2011

Jennifer, Val, Esther, Kate, Carole, Emma and Barbara turned up.  

We started with a long and lively discussion about mobile phones and the difficulty of establishing just what the various deals mean! Also, it smacks of smart business practice, when a particular company starts advertising a vastly better deal, but only offers it to existing customers if they demand it. When the boot is on the other foot and they want more money from existing customers they quickly send emails asking for the extra charges to be paid! Another issue discussed was the cost of using mobiles overseas which can be astronomical.

However turning to quilting Esther showed us the Centre Block for her BOM. It is lovely and although the Civil War fabrics are very different from Esther's usual choices they look fabulous.
Esther was recommending Roxanne glue to hold the applique pieces in place.


Emma and Jennifer spent time trying to reconcile our finances and to work out where we stand with Rent, Insurance and VQ membership. There is quite a bit of catching up to do.

Val was working on the finishing touches of a large bag made for and designed by her 51/2 year old granddaughter.

Val was also working on a hexagon bag from precut fabric donated by someone who no longer wanted the hexagons.

Esther is working hard and busy chatting, but also missing Evi as we all were.


Barbara is busy crocheting rugs for her daughters. She is very interested in Esther's new BOM as it would be a good project to take on her long trip later this year.

Carole reported that after 12 months her Tuscany quilt is nearly finished and hopefully will be in Show and Tell next month.

Kate has just started knitting a doll - one of the Ak traditions designs. With three pregnant nieces, it is likely at least one baby will be a girl! The Johnstone collection has a lecture in May about dolls in the Western World starting with Roman examples and I have booked to go as it sounds fascinating.

And now for the Show and Tell:-
Esther's central block for her new BOM, Heart's Desire.
Val's granddaughter's large bag. I love her choice of colours.
Val has almost finished quilting this cot quilt for her niece's baby girl. The niece and her partner found the pattern on the Internet.
Jennifer with Oriental 4, - spot the progress since January. Jennifer also had the very pretty Oriental 5, but I did not focus the camera properly hence no photo yet.
Carole and her Point Lonsdale group are making the Quilt Show BOM 2010. Carole's blocks started off in pinks and purples, but other colours are now starting to creep in.
Barb with one of her crocheted rugs. Her daughters should not lose the rugs if they are all as bright as this.

Monday, January 24, 2011

18th January, 2011

Val, Esther, Evi, Emma, Kate, Jennifer and a late arrival, Barb met in our usual venue. Barb had a good excuse for being late - she had been celebrating her birthday with her family.

Val's Bernina had broken down as she frantically tried to finish two quilts in time for her daughter to take them to Germany. The upside of that was we got to see them in Show and Tell.

It seems that Val is not the only person to have recently had trouble with a new Bernina. I guess like everything else, they don't make them like they used too!

Esther brought some spare copies of various magazines and in "Creating Country Threads Stitchery magazine" Vol 11, No. 1, pp 84-85 the patchwork group featured is Waverley Patchworkers and Jennifer's quilt, Flying Free is prominently featured.

Speaking of Waverley Patchworkers, Jennifer is now the Treasurer and is written up in the January issue of their newsletter.

The same issue also has a nice wedding photo of Desley Regan.
 Val and her smart chenille bag - the panels were from a trading table.
I think this is Val's intricate work.
Luv that cat, Val!
 The first of Val's quilts for Germany
Val's second quilt for Germany - same pattern, but the different colourway has quite a different look.
 Jennifer's Oriental 4.

Emma was busy working on a table runner which the school staff had given her as a Krissy Kringle, but unfortunately I forgot to photograph it.

Bye for now, Happy Sewing!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

December 21st, 2010.

Already we are at the last meeting for the year!

Val, Esther, Evi, Carole, Emma, Kate and Jennifer were present and apologies came from Shelly and Di.

Carole entertained us with her hassles updating her kitchen! She found an oven with the same external dimensions as the old one, which was quite a win, but new ovens come with far less accessories (e.g. oven racks) and much to her surprise the old racks did not fit the new oven.

A bigger problem was the hotplates. The new ones are 1 cm smaller all around and the cabinetmaker claimed it would be necessary to make a whole new bench top at vast expense. The alternative a ceramic top was also expensive.


Our next non sewing topic was possums and roses. Carole protects the roses by dousing them in Vaporub every day. As an added insurance she gives the possum an apple a day!

My Problem is I am not good at multi-tasking and if I take photos I forget to record any text, so we will now move onto the pictorial record.

Val, Esther, Evi and Carole concentrate as Emma reads out her Twelve Days of Christmas menu. Twelve courses and 16 guests so it will be quite a party!
Evi, Carole and Emma
Jennifer
Emma's interpretation of Esther's 12 Days of Christmas. Rather than baubles hanging on a quilt tree, they will be set on point in green fabric to make placemats for the feast mentioned above.
Carole is always innovative and showed us these examples of 3D Textile Art. The price differential for the raw materials between New York and Australia was more than 300%!
Val's 5 year old grand daughter is very lucky. These are 2 of the 4 skirts Val has made for her.
Val's I spy. Bought on a trading table, it had a piece missing and was very crooked and uneven. After unpicking and resewing it looks great. I love the panda fabric.
No, it's not Peter Pan. It is the angel appearing to the Shepherds with their flocks. It is Part of Emma's Silhouette Nativity. Emma's inspiration came from the book 'The First Christmas' illustrated by Jan Pienkowski.
Manger scene from the Silhouette Nativity.
Jennifer's Tumbling Teddies for Miss Harmony
Detail of a Juggling Teddy from the Tumbling Teddies Quilt.
Esther has designed a rabbit for next year - the year of the Rabbit on the Chinese Zodiac.

Well, Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year and good health and an industrious and productive sewing time.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

November 16th, 2010

Another little gathering for the Tarts in November; Carole, Jennifer, Barb, Esther and Emma enjoyed the evening together. Thanks to Emma for forwarding the text and to Esther for the photos

While doing a little web surfing Esther discovered a Portuguese video of a lady (with yapping dogs in background) demonstrating how to turn a hexagon into a cute little fabric star of diamonds.  
The very clever Esther, with no Portuguese language, managed to follow the visual instructions and then demonstrated to the Tarts present. We all managed a star of sorts and were very impressed with the results. Much like a funky Suffolk puff (good thing all Emma's siblings are married!). There was general agreement that these were the best use for hexagons, though Esther won a prize bag of rubber stamped hexagons and the stamp and is proceeding to create lovely flowers potentially for a Grandmother's Flower Garden.

Esther and Barb - the crotchety quilters? - no the crocheting quilters have been keeping their hooks busy.  Abe says Esther needs about another metre for him to fit comfortably under her chevron crochet!  Esther's crochet afghan motifs are finished but she has run out of wool before stitching them together!

Emma had the colourque blocks to show. They have all been touched up to match each other's intensity and have had the textile medium applied. There will be a pink & white checkerboard border between the blocks and a graduated checkerboard border around the outside.

Jennifer and Carole were industriously working on projects, but sorry I don't quite know what they were (I would not get a job in telepathy!) Emma was putting final touches on her Christmas anagram wall hanging and auditioning her Christmas silhouette fabrics - Jennifer and Esther have dibs on any ombre leftovers!  Emma's having such fun having drawn up the three huge blocks with the aid of an overhead projector and has already traced the stable scene onto
vliesofix.  She is not sure there will be leftovers, although there might be smaller versions of the same quilt for "Show and Tell" next month at the rate she is going!

Portuguese Fabric Stars
Learning to make the hexagon stars
Completed Scquilty Tart Hexagon Star
Usual industrious group
Zooming in on Carole, Jennifer and Barb
Jennifer
Barb
Emma
Barb and Esther display their Afghans
That's all for November, but don't forget to come in December.