Forest Threads Exhibition

This week I went to the Forest Threads Exhibition which is being held at the Box Hill Town Hall in Melbourne.
Australian Quilts in Public Places(AQIPP) is an initiative of AQA (Australian Quilters Association) designed to enhance the public awareness and appreciation of Quilting.
Because 2011 is the International Year of the Forests the theme for the Juried and Judged show was named Forest Threads.

It was a wonderful exhibition and all the quilts were displayed really well. I only took a few photos of some of my very favourites but there were many other quilts that were just as inspiring.

This first photo is a quilt by Les Clarke, named Forest Threads. This is one of the first quilts that you see as you are entering the exhibition and it was hard to photograph because it was in a glass case. Les has used a lot of thread work showing flowers, water, insects and birds in the forest.

The next quilt is by Barbara Bennetts and it is named Diversity. Barbara used elements from many different regions to form a mystical place of her own imagining. I liked this quilts when I was close to it but I didn't appreciate the depth until I was across the room and looked back at the quilt. The photo doesn't do it justice.

The next photo is a quilt named Ashes to Ashes by Noelle Lyon. This was a lovely quilt using layers of sheer fabric to depict the bushfires in the Alpine National Park in 2006. Noelle says that the fire was so hot the trees have not regrown.

The next photo shows Jan Frazer's quilt named Chromatropes.This quilt was exploring the changing light in the forest using many different techniques.

The next picture is of Annettes Bauneis's quilt named Roots and All. Annette was inspired by the flowing Tingle Trees in Western Australia.

The last photo I have to show you is a quilt by Alison Withers called Clearfell. This quilt was made using hand dyed felt and was all about the changing environment in a man made landscape. This quilt was very different from the others in the exhibition and the more I looked at it the more I liked it.

My photos don't really do these quilts justice and I can highly recommend a visit to the exhibiton. It is on until 21st December, so there is still plenty of time to get there if you live in Melbourne.

You can find the details and opening times of the exhibition by clicking Here

Bye for now,
Linda

Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2012

The Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2012 has just begun. Registration is open to everyone from 15th November to 27th December 2011.
The idea is to create a Crazy Quilt block every month for 12 months and share them with everyone in the group if you want. People from all over the world are going to participate and it will be a lot of fun seeing everyone's different blocks.

I have never done a group project like this before but it has come at the right time for me. I am just finishing up two hand work projects, a crazy quilt and an applique quilt. The next quilt that I have in my mind to do is by machine so I will be without any hand work.

I always like to have some hand work for when I am watching TV or going to a sewing/friendship group. Now I will have my Crazy Quilt Journal blocks to sew. I am feeling quite excited by this because I haven't started a new project for over 12 months.

If you are interested in participating look at their website and read all about it.

http://www.cqjp.org

The blocks can be any size from 6" x 6", so it shouldn't be too much work. Maybe you have never done any Crazy Quilting before, this could be the ideal time to give it a go.

Now I just have to decide what my theme will be. I am thinking Christmas, but I have also thought about doing some pale floaty lace type blocks...No, Christmas it is. You don't have to have a theme, that's just the way I do Crazy Quilting.

Bye for now,
Linda

Another Student Quilt

While I was teaching my Crazy about Australia class, Kaye, one of my students from last year dropped by to show us her completed quilt. It's always a great thrill for the class to see a former student's quilt finished.
I have been teaching this class for a few years now and everyone's quilt looks different.

We were all looking closely at her embroidery and colour scheme. It's good to see what little changes Kaye made. I love teaching this class because people usually start out a bit scared and tentative and by the end of the 12 months they have become so confident with colour choices and their embroidery skills increase tremendously.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me that day, so Kaye emailed me a photo.

Thanks Kaye

Bye for now,
Linda

Scottish Dance

My quilt Scottish Dance seems to be appearing a lot lately even though I made it back in 2006. I was inspired to make a Scottish themed quilt after reading the series of books by Diana Gabaldon that are set in Scotland. I thought about how I would design it for at least two years before I started to sew anything.
Everything I thought of just didn't seem right. One day I sat down and wrote a list of all the quilts that I would like to make. It was a long list and I knew that many would never get done. I combined three of the ideas together and was finally happy with my design.
The three ideas were;
A red and green quilt
A quilt with two different coloured backgrounds and
A Scottish Quilt.

I was asked by Quilters Companion Magazine to let them publish the pattern. The pattern appeared in isssue 26 and 27. I have been told that all the back issues are sold out, but I haven't checked to see if that is right.

I have received quite a few emails from people saying how much they love the quilt and many have since made the quilt. I noticed that the quilt made by others are starting to appear in quilt shows and the people must have done a lovely job because they have been winning prizes.

This morning I found that The Quilt Show Blog has featured my quilt as their Quilt of the Day. The Quilt Show is is an Internet TV Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. I have been a member since it first started because I used to love watching Alex Anderson's show Simply Quilts when it used to be on TV.
I love nothing better than having a free afternoon to sit in front of one of their shows while doing some applique or embroidery. My clever husband has connected a computer to our television, so I can watch the shows on TV instead of a computer screen.

Bye for now,
Linda