Leigh's Quilting Blog

Autumn in South Africa

2011-10-04T05:36:00.000+02:00

Africa is never without vibrant colour contrasts, no matter what the season. The photo below is of yet another fabric landscape I made, my first with a fabric border. Note to self.... learn how to make decent mitred corners on the binding. Practise makes perfect they say....

Fabric Postcards and Landscapes

2011-09-24T12:42:00.001+02:00

After a long break I signed up for another postcard exchange. They are fun to make and even more fun to receive. This postcard came from Ireland.

I also made an autumn landscape yesterday.

Hot Sunny Day

2011-09-12T16:26:00.000+02:00

It's a hot sunny day today - a perfect time for a bit of fabric dyeing fun. The self imposed brief was to dye fun funky colours.....as you can see it didn't quite work out but I'm happy I still have 8 new pieces of fabric to play with.

The first 2 photos are of the fabrica incubating in the dye in the sun.

The end result:

Very Long Time no post......

2011-08-09T19:11:00.001+02:00

It's amazing how life always throws us curved balls to deal with. The latest curved ball in my family's life is taking a while to sort out. We are taking things one day at a time. Needless to say, I have been totally swamped and overwhelmed and haven't had the mental energy to be creative.

We went to the Game Farm last sunday and I managed to take some photos of a group of Aloes. It was a beautiful sunny, albeit cold day.

Preview

On the way up to the Game Farm we saw lots of snow on the Drakensberg Mountains. This photo was taken just outside a town called Escort. The snow is on the mountains in the background.

Creativity and huge learning curves

2011-03-20T16:42:00.000+02:00

As you might have noticed, I haven't spent much time being creative this month - big mistake.....Being creative feeds my soul and helps me face the challenges of the real world.

On a lighter note....

I have completed 3 more exercises for my quilting course. The first photo is of my 2nd attempt at bias binding applique. The first one had too many pointy bits so was correctly deemed substandard. The second photo is my Curved Piecing exercise. This is always fun.

The following photo is of my Drunkard's Path exercise. This has been the most difficult exercise to date. I cut out the template without adding in seam allowances - not a good idea for me. Guessing the seam allowance afterwards was not successful at all. I am going to have another shot at making a template but this time I'll add in the seam allowance to the template

Playing with lines

2011-03-14T06:03:00.000+02:00

Playing with Bias binding or bias strip is fun. The task is to take an image or a line drawing and create a linear design using thin strips of bias binding. I LOVE stain glass windows so.....off to Google Images and the following image caught my eye.

This is the result...It is almost complete - I need to stitch the strips to the backing fabric either by hand or using the blind hem stitch on my machine (Help?). Would you believe it? I don't have any black thread.

Landscape Series

2011-02-28T09:38:00.000+02:00

These fabric landscapes were made as a wedding gift and the theme was burnt orange. It was my first commission (embarrassed blush). I think I am still rather overwhelmed by the fact that people like and want my work hanging on their walls.

The bridal couple own a lodge on the northern coast of Mozambique (I think) and are passionate about the Mozambique coast hence the inspiration was the Mozambique coast. Fortunately I have been to Mozambique twice on holiday now so had many photos to work from.

All the fabric in this photo were hand dyed by me - my first forays into the wonderful world of dyeing my own fabric

In the third photo I used a combination of my own dyed fabric with some Shweshwe (the bright orange) and some other hand dyed fabric I have.

Red and Indigo Shweshwe Rag Quilt

2011-02-26T06:50:00.000+02:00

Rag quilts are fast becoming one of my favorite quilt designs. I love their soft and cuddly look..... I had some log cabin blocks left over from from a log cabin quilt that I am trying to finish. This is the result... I love it....

Fabric Dyeing again

2011-02-24T08:38:00.000+02:00

As I have mentioned before, fabric dyeing is a wonderful excursion into the world of semi-unpredictable creativity. Well, maybe it shouldn't be so unpredictable but it is such fun. I needed some backing fabric to finish off a couple of quilts. Mmmm, when do I find the time to rush off to the shop to buy some backing fabric...wait a moment, I can dye some fabric. Here are the results...

Dark plum fabric for the back of a purple Trip Round the World quilt was first up on the to do list. I had a sample of premixed purple dye. So.... on with the dyeing process.....One thing I learnt is that if you don't mix dye powder properly you get spots of the primary colours that are used to make up the secondary colour - not necessarily a bad thing. The results are a bit like snow dyeing- I love the results.

The next photo shows the blue fabric I dyed. I needed backing for one of my stash busting cot quilts so.. I started with a medium blue and then decided that it was too light so I over-dyed it with a navy blue. This piece of fabric will now serve 2 purposes....backing for the cot quilt as well as a stormy sky for a fabric landscape that was commissioned - that is another story for another day

The last photo is an attempt at dyeing a piece of burnt orange fabric - not a success. It came out too brown. I used 4 parts yellow dye, 4 parts red dye and 1 part black dye powder. Any ideas on how to improve the colour?

Stash Busting

2011-02-18T12:51:00.000+02:00

It's stash busting time!!! I had some fabric left over from when I made a blue cot quilt for a friend... So.. I have put together 2 cot quilt tops from this fabric. The question now is... do I hand dye some backing fabric using Low Immersion Water Dyeing and hope I match the colours or do I go and buy some commercially printed fabric for the backing fabric? Any ideas?

Beginnings of the fruit study

2011-02-06T20:48:00.000+02:00

I have spoken before of my attempts at completing the City and Guilds quilting course. Well, it is taking longer than expected......One of the exercises I had to do was to do a fruit study - first paint a fruit with acrylic paint and then take interpret it using fabric. Well, my painting was a total disaster so I found a photo that my painting was supposed look like and used it as a base for my fabric interpretation. The recommendation was to fray the fabric squares - to make them look softer. What I found is that fraying the fabric also changes the perceived colour of the squares. Obviously the colour did not really change but still.... it was a fascinating experience. I look forward to more challenges along a similar vein.

Shweshwe Postcards

2011-01-30T11:13:00.000+02:00

As I've mentioned before, making Shweshwe landscapes and postcards is a passion.Making these postcards also seem to be working as a "warm up exercise" for more creative quilting. It's interesting. I happened upon this discovery this morning....

Anyway, without further ado, some photos of the latest postcards.....

I love making the postcards with the "yellow sun" in it....

I discovered I can draw

2011-01-27T08:51:00.000+02:00

What an amazing discovery. I have spent my whole life believing that I can't draw a stick man properly. One of my challenges for this year was to gather the courage to take drawing lessons..... Well, after 2 lessons, I discovered that I can actually draw... The first lesson we drew apples and mushrooms. This week I took the following photo along......

The outline of the kitten is done - I am now shading her in. As soon as she is done, I'll post a photo of her.

Finished Trip Around the World

2011-01-24T20:26:00.000+02:00

The latest Trip Around the World quilt is finally finished. This pattern must be one of my all time favorite patterns. It is simple but so effective. I also made a backing for the quilt out of left over fabrics from the top and cross hatched the whole quilt is variegated cotton - again, simple but effective.....

The first photo is of a close up of the cross hatching......

This is the backing - if you have followed my blog for a while you would have noticed that I cannot work in straight lines or blocks.....:LOL

This last photo of the top of the quilt. It looks much neater now that it finished off.....

Schools and Shweshwe pencil bags

2011-01-17T20:57:00.000+02:00

The 2011 academic year is finally upon us.My daughter starts school tomorrow and my one son starts school on Wednesday. My other lad is being home schooled this year so he gets to stay at home for the year. I don't know whether he thinks home schooling is a blessing or a curse :LOL

Anyway.....back to matters at hand. I have been making pencil bags (why is it so difficult to sew a zipper into a pencil bag?) for the kids. It still amazes me that they would rather have goodies made by "MOM" rather than stuff purchased from the shop.

Dyed T-Shirts

2011-01-16T17:28:00.000+02:00

Once a year my kids and I dye t-shirts for ourselves. It has become a family tradition. We normally use Sun Dye so have to wait for a bright sunny day but this time, we used the dye and Low Water Immersion dying technique I used to dye fabric I posted about in an earlier post.

We used purple and yellow dye to dye the first t-shirt and red/pink to dye the 2nd t-shirt. My son added black to his t-shirt but I still need to take photos of his t-shirt.

Conquering the Sketchbook

2011-01-11T06:06:00.000+02:00

I am petrified of drawing or painting in any form...and have now decided to try and conquer this fear. Yesterday while waiting for my daughter to finish her cricket lesson (Yes, my daughter plays cricket.....), I took pencil crayons and tried a bit of scribbling....... My starting point was the colours of the fabric I have recently hand dyed - 3 primary colours - red, blue and yellow, and 3 secondary colours - purple, green and orange.

The first photo is a design of a quilt I want to make...simple but effective.

I love curved flowing lines - they remind me of my Burmese cat's whiskers......

Green Fabric and Words for 2011

2011-01-09T06:57:00.000+02:00

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the Trip Round the World quilt I am doing as a raffle quilt...Well, it is still not finished. I was preparing to pin the 3 layers together so I can quilt it when I discovered that the backing fabric is too small. So....back to the shop we went and bought a wonderful green and yellow fabric. This photo below does not do justice to the fabric.......

The moral of this story is "Patience" and "Perseverance". It is very easy to get frustrated and impatient because things are not happening as fast as I'd like them to.

More fabric dyeing

2011-01-01T10:59:00.000+02:00

Fabric dyeing is rapidly becoming a fascination of mine. Here are some photos of the results.

In this photo the fabric is waiting in front of the washing machine to be washed.

This is a photo of my second attempt - the colours are much better than the first attempt.

The next exercise I had to attempt was to dye pieces of fabric using 2 complementary colours ie Red and Green, Blue and Orange, and Yellow and Purple. I also learnt that the stronger the Soda Ash solution, the brighter the colours. These dyed fabrics are much brighter than the first 2 attempts at dyeing single colours.

This is a photo of the Red and Green fabric. I am battling to mix the dye to make a green other than olive green. It is getting a bit frustrating......

This purple and yellow fabric is quite bright - I wonder where I can use this fabric.....

This orange and blue fabric is also quite bright. You can see the neutral colours appearing where the 2 colours have mixed.

In this last photo I used up all the left over dye..... These fabrics are almost too pretty to use.

My kids and I also dyed some t-shirts. They are still being washed and photographed. My son David has helped a lot with the rinsing out and ironing of the fabric.

Trip Round the World - version 4

2010-12-31T14:02:00.000+02:00

One of my favorite quilt patterns is the "Trip Round the World" pattern. I am making one for my Mom as a raffle quilt for her church. Just for fun, I put together the top and bottom. All I need to do now is pin and quilt the 3 layers together. To pin the layers of the quilt together I need to iron the clean washing - or I can just move it. The washing is on the table that I use to pin quilts together........

The first photo is of the quilt top and the 2nd photo is of the backing.

More Fabric Landscapes - A trade

2010-12-30T11:18:00.000+02:00

A very good friend of mine lives in Germany, and I would love Ann Johnston's book " Color by Accident: Low-Water Immersion Dyeing" so..... As Amazon won't post books to South Africa, I have to make another plan.....I'll leave you to guess the trade......meanwhile a photo of my latest Shweshwe landscape

Forays into Fabric Dyeing

2010-12-26T18:28:00.000+02:00

In past posts I have spoken of the City and Guilds quilting course I am doing (far too slowly at this stage.....). Well, the next step is to learn to dye my own fabrics. What an adventure and huge learning curve. I am supposed to be doing Low Water Immersion Dying. That's not what came out :LOL The colours are too solid. I am pretty impressed with the colours of the dyed fabric though.... (The yellows have come out a bit brown in the photo - I'll take more photos when it stops raining and the sun is out - it could take days :LOL)

So.... round number 2 is "on the boil". This is great fun. The internet is also a wonderful place - what did we do without it? It's so easy to research what went wrong and how to fix it.

Dancing the Happy Dance

2010-12-20T19:03:00.000+02:00

I received wonderful news last week - an art gallery in Durban has offered to exhibit some of my fabric landscapes and fabric postcards as part of the 8th Annual Affordable Art Show at the Artspace Gallery in Durban.. I am so excited that I can' find the words to describe it. In a funny kind of way, this is a nice counter to feeling my work is not quite good enough!

Here are some photos of the work that is being exhibited:

Market Day

2010-12-11T14:49:00.000+02:00

Saturday morning is market day where we stay...... I took my camera along this morning.....

Look at the wonderful hats from Tibet - it is definitely on the list of purchases.It is made from flour sacks or rice sacks - not sure which one.

The remaining photos are works of art from my favorite Zimbabwean artists - everything from a painting to welded metal African animals.... The African Warthog is definitely on the list of purchases.......

Shweshwe Landscape Series

2010-12-09T18:20:00.000+02:00

It would seem I have stumbled on a series.... It would seem that I am developing a passion for making Shweshwe landscapes....You can use exactly the same fabrics in 100's of different ways... No two landscapes are the same. This is the Third in the series....

Shweshwe landscapes

2010-12-02T20:15:00.000+02:00

The end of the school year has sneaked up on us and it's time to make gifts for the teachers who have given so much of their time and energy educating our children. What gifts shall we give? Fortunately, it is fairly simple to whip up a couple of fabric landscapes. I might have mentioned before that the manufacturers of Shweshwe fabric introduced a new range of bright almost luminous colours this year. It's a stunning range. I LOVE working with it and have made the following 2 fabric landscapes as gifts for 2 of the teachers - they are similar but slightly different:

Children's Creativity

2010-11-05T19:28:00.000+02:00

My daughter has a wonderful art teacher at school this year. She is really nurturing the kids' talent. This week the school put on a major art exhibition this week where at least 1 piece of art for every child was exhibited. The first photo is of the entrance to the exhibition. Isn't it beautiful?

The next photo is of my daughter's painting of her new electric guitar. She does Art Club every week and is blossoming.

Fabric Postcard

2010-10-25T09:26:00.000+02:00

The other day a wonderful postcard arrived totally unexpectedly in the post....... On the back it says "Dear Leigh. Lets hope you are now "on the up" like this hot air balloon". It was a wonderful surprise. Thanks Miriam.

The Happy Things Project

2010-10-10T20:26:00.000+02:00

I read the following article by Lynn Krawczyk:
http://fibraartysta.blogspot.com/2010/10/return-of-happy-things-project.html

What a wonderful idea - I have been inspired. It's so good to focus on the positive, happy things in our lives. It is so easy to become bogged down and trapped by the daily grind of life.

I am going to go out and document the positive happy things in my life. The only difference is that I am going to post once a week (time constraints). So....

Southern African Artisits

2010-10-03T08:52:00.000+02:00

Due to a operation which decompressed my Thoracic Outlet, I am a bit hamstrung at the moment so I thought I'd show photos of some of the work of the artists from Zimbabwe. They live in South Africa, earning a living by selling their paintings.They sell them at the markets and next to the road sometimes. I think their work is amazing. We have now bought 2 paintings from them. If we had more hanging space in our home, I'd buy more. The blue painting was my daughter's choice to hang in her room. She loves anything that is blue.

The above painting is by an artist called Nyika and the one below is by an artist called Lazlie. (I am not sure how in focus this photo is.....)

Basic experiments with colour

2010-09-23T08:28:00.000+02:00

One of the things I am doing is play with colour and mixing primary colours to create secondary colours. It is daunting and challenging but so rewarding....

Here are some photos of my attempts at mixing secondary colours together to allow the neutral colours to form..BTW - the aim of all of these exercises is to learn to dye my own fabric. I am so looking forward to it. I don't want to try without doing all the exercises though.

This is a photo of the red and green complimentary colours:

Blue and Orange is next:

and lastly..... Purple and Yellow

As you can see, my attempts are still rather amateurish. Its a case of the old adage, "Practise makes perfect"

Wow - September already and an essay

2010-09-04T18:06:00.000+02:00

I had to prepare a short essay entitled "The influence of the African Landscape on the colours of African hand dyed fabrics." I find this topic fascinating and thought that I would share a snippet of my research.....

There are two major environmental influences on the use of colours that African hand dyers use to dye their fabrics with – the strong African sun and the colours that can be found in nature.
Sally Scott, a top South African quilt artist has the following to say: “My love of the landscape developed as a child, brought up in rural Zimbabwe. Since moving to the Eastern Cape, I have set out to capture the atmosphere of this province…. [I am] fascinated by the variety of vegetation and the fresh quality of light.

The strong, often harsh, African sun has a major impact on the colours that fabrics are dyed. Glenda from Amafu Fabrics (www.amafu.co.za) explains the influence of the African sun on colour: “I tend to work (her own hand dyed fabrics) in very strong colours but not necessarily bright colours and I think this is where the influence of Africa comes in. Part of this is to do with the very strong sunlight we have here and anything that is pastel tends to die.” The image below shows some of Glenda’s hand dyed fabrics:

This photo also shows the other environmental influence on hand dyed fabric – that of the natural dyes available from the earth – browns, ochre, red and black. Interestingly enough, although nature is full of green, it does not supply any natural green dyes. For example: the colour of the Kalahari Desert sand is red-brown which stains the fabric when you get it on your clothing. The earliest fabric dyers would have used this sand to dye their fabric this particular colour.

Indigo dyed fabric is very popular in Africa. The world’s only source of natural blue

dye comes from the Indigo plant which is mainly found in West Africa, China and Japan. Indigo plants supply hues ranging from the palest sky blue to the deepest midnight blue. Combined with other dyes, indigo dye also makes greens, most purples and non-corrosive blacks.

A popular South African fabric, called SheShwe is dyed using Indigo Dye. The photo below shows an example of Indigo dyed SheShwe fabric.

Odette Tolksdorf, another top South African quilt artist talks about the fact that her “art quilts have often been influenced by the multi-layered African environment.” Her work uses “rich and expressive colour”.

Bibliography
1.    www.amafu.co.za
2.    www.sallyscott.co.za
3.    www.odettetolksdorf.co.za
4.    http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3120/is_1_76/ai_n29065451/
5.    Google Images
6.    Ndebele by Margaret Courtney-Clarke

Landscapes, Dog shows and Trees

2010-08-22T16:43:00.000+02:00

A short while ago I traveled to Bloemfontein (a city more or less in the middle of South Africa) to attend 5 dog shows. For those of you that know me, I do competition obedience with one of my Giant Schnauzers. We traveled over Oliviershoek Pass, through Golden Gate, hugging the border with South Africa and Lesotho and onto Bloemfontein (translated as "Flower Fountain"). On the way we passed the Woodstock Dam. Here it is photographed from the top of Oliviershoek Pass.

It is winter in South Africa so most of the trees have lost their leaves. I really liked the shape of this tree. It was photographed at the school where the dog shows were held.

As an aside, it was so cold on Monday 9 August 2010, that I had to borrow a jacket for Alex. This is a photo of her in her borrowed bright pink jacket.

Life long dream

2010-07-24T21:02:00.000+02:00

I'd love to publish a book with my quilts in. It's a dream that "won't go away". I have an acclaimed author friend who will write an accompanying story to each quilt. Sounds like an amazing concept to me..... why is life so hectic? will I ever get down to it?

Landscape Photos

2010-07-24T08:36:00.000+02:00

As many of you will know, I am passionate about Landscape photography and quilting landscapes. A couple of Sunday mornings ago, I took the Schnauzers, and camera, for a walk. The sun was at the right angle and the reflection of the dead tree is the water is "perfect". I wonder what this will look like as a landscape quilt.....

Images of Sport Quilt Show

2010-07-19T19:49:00.000+02:00

Saturday 10 July was d-day. Our quilts were to be exhibited in a local hall. It's quite exciting for a newbie quilter to have a quilt exhibited. It's also wonderful to see how other people interpreted the same theme. I took photos of most of the quilts. So....without further ado...some photos....

The first one is by Judy Zingel titled "Sport Africa". I LOVE the bright African colours.

My quilt called "We Three" is a bit more subdued. There is a story behind the name. For those that don't know, I have 13 year old triplets, 2 boys and a girl. They always spoke about themselves as "We Three" when they were younger. This quilt is made up of photos of the kids doing their various sports.... I am really proud of them. Btw, it's my daughter that plays cricket....:LOL

There were lots of other quilts but I am not sure of the "ethics" involving posting photos of other people's quilts. I'd rather not tread on any toes.

Quilt Completed

2010-06-25T08:33:00.000+02:00

Woohoo - my quilt for the "Images of Sport" competition is finally completed. What an achievement - one does not realise how long it takes to finish off a quilt. There was a little difficulty in the manufacturing process - makes it sound so formal :LOL - the timing on my sewing machine went out so it had to be serviced before I could continue. But it's done - I am dancing the happy dance this morning. Unfortunately I can't post a photo before the exhibition which is on 10 July 2010.

Frustrations and photos

2010-06-19T02:17:00.000+02:00

When rushing to meet a deadline for a quilt show, my sewing machine's timing went out today (actually it happened last week when sewing the cat quilt samples but I only realised it was a serious problem this afternoon after I had free motion quilted almost half my quilt)......sigh.... I rushed it to the local Bernina dealer and they were absolutely stunning - they got my machine going again in no time but I spent the rest of the afternoon unpicking the free motion quilting I had done. I am sooooo frustrated. Do I just give up on it or do I persevere and get it done? It can still be hung at the show if I get it done before 25 June. But it is now eating into my time to meet work deadlines for the first weekend in July.

On a more positve note, my friend and I are launching a small quilted goods business for cats. We are both AVID Burmese cat lovers and breeders. I made some samples and took them to her last weekend..... For a sneak preview see below...

I tried making a rag quilt bag as a microwave wheat bag....It worked rather well, the cats love the rag quilt finish as well....so shall be making a few rag quilts in various shapes and sizes.....

The next photo is of a Crinkly quilt. Cats love cellophane paper so I have stuck crumpled cellophane paper under the top layer in the 4 corner plain blocks and free motion quilted around them.....Still am waiting for feed back from the test cats on this one......

This is my first attempt at a cat sleeping bag. They are the rage at the moment. The inside is made of fleece so it is warm and cuddly. Mine came out too stiff and not floppy enough so it might be converted into a quilted tunnel for the cats to run through - they love these as well...

And finally, a plain flat quilt......needs some toys to be added. These are meant to be fun quilts.... The first photo is of the top and the second photo is of the back of the quilt. I have used the original South African Sheshwe fabric - Three Cats. I love the patterns and designs on the fabric. It comes in 3 colours - indigo, brown and red.

Time has flown away

2010-06-10T06:55:00.000+02:00

Wow, I can't believe it is almost the middle of June already. I think my brain is still in January.... :LOL. Needless to say there has not been much time for quilting...sigh. The triplets (mine) are now officially 13 years old - wow, 3 teenagers in the home, a bit mind blowing to say the least, albeit a positive experience on the whole.

There are several new projects in the pipeline - one which is quilting based, one computer programming and the others are all guitar teaching based.Oh yes, I am also starting a camera course this weekend - the camera and photography as a whole have sadly been rather neglected. Time, you ask? Where does one find the time to do everything? Simple answer - I don't know.....but I'll find it somewhere, somehow....

As everyone knows, the soccer world cup starts in South Africa this week. As a result our regional quilting guild is putting on a show - "Images of Sport" which we are all entering. This quilt has to be completed by 15 June - next week (help).

So..... all I can say is "watch this space" and that I promise to try and be more diligent in updating my blog

Time is still flying away

2010-03-29T21:27:00.000+02:00

This is becoming a mantra (or a weak excuse at that). The reality is that there are just not enough hours in the day to do everything that needs to be done - anyone know how to extend the number of hours in a 24 hour day?

On a more serious note, I went on a road trip to a city (Johannesburg) about 600kms from my home town. I had to take my 2 beautiful Giant Schnauzers to the weekend dog shows and pick up my Burmese kitten from a good friend and bring her home. The Giants excelled at the shows. My little Giant (a contradiction in terms) collected her last point she needed to earn the title "Breed Champion". She was also Reserve Best of Breed on both days. Her litter brother won Best of Breed both days - we kept it in the family - :LOL. My big Giant Schnauzer excelled in her Obedience tests winning her Beginner's Obedience class with 98%. She then went into the Novice class ( a test twice as long and twice as difficult) and failed to qualify by 2.5% without any advanced training. I am really proud of both my Schnauzers......

In places the scenery was awesome - from the Drakensberg mountains through the flat open lands of the Free State to the mine dumps of Egoli (Johannesburg, the city of Gold). The cosmos fields were absolutely stunning - the camera was packed away (am still kicking myself) so I didn't stop and take any photos. I've had to Google for some images of cosmos flower fields.

There are also kilometers and kilometers of electricity pylons running across the landscape. Most people would only see how their ugly gray steel structures pollute the landscape but.... have you noticed how many types there are and how intricate the designs are? Inspiration for a quilt? Aah yes, we are back to that elusive concept, "time to quilt". Maybe....one day soon, there will be photographs of a electricity pylon inspired quilt. "Hope springs eternal"

Time flew away

2010-03-13T17:12:00.000+02:00

Wow, I can't believe I last blogged in January. Time has really flown. I am going through a creative slump - I feel all dead inside so haven't quilted for ages. The hot humid weather has been a contributing factor. Summer is officially over so hopefully I'll be inspired to go back into my studio. Mmmm, this post really sounds like "excuses, excuses and more excuses".....I really miss quilting and the creative boost it brings. Teaching guitar to 25 pupils weekly is very rewarding but draining. By Wednesday evening, I am ready to fall into bed. Maybe the creative itch is being scratched by teaching guitar. Whatever the reasons are, I really hope to be inspired to get back into quilting soon.

Mid week Post

2010-01-27T20:01:00.000+02:00

Life is good but is rushing by at a rate of knots as they say. At the moment, it's all work and no play. My studio feels deserted and I am going through withdrawal symptoms from not being able to quilt. I am really hoping that I will be able to get a moment in my studio this weekend otherwise completing a needlepoint canvas of 2 kittens will have to "scratch the creative itch" :LOL

Christmas postards in January

2010-01-19T19:11:00.000+02:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been more than a month since I last posted. Time flies......It flies so fast that I have only finished making all my Christmas family postcards today. These are simple postcards but came out rather well, even if I have to say so myself......

Long time, no Post

2009-12-12T18:47:00.000+02:00

It's been a long time since I have posted. The creative muse has dried up. Hopefully it is due to the normal end of year chaos.Schools have finally closed and we can settle down to a month's family holiday. I can't believe it is only a "couple" of days until Christmas. Straight after Christmas is New Year and then full steam ahead for 2010. In the meantime, here's to hoping the creative muse returns..... Have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful new year to all who follow this blog.

Spring Fabric Postcard

2009-11-15T18:34:00.000+02:00

I have been making fabric postcards again :LOL. It is fast becoming my favourite occupation. This one is for a South African group I belong to. The theme was "Spring". I cut out the flowers from a piece of Kaffe Fasset fabric I have and "stuck" them on a green background. The free motion quilting is my hearts pattern - "Mom's loving hearts" as my son David calls them. It is the closest I get to quilting leaves at the moment :LOL

Beach Landscape

2009-11-08T13:42:00.000+02:00

I had so much fun creating my fabric postcard called "Construction on Durban Beachfront" that I decided to make a similar miniature landscape.........

This landscape is for sale.

Inspirations and UFO's

2009-11-08T10:44:00.000+02:00

Inspirations and UFO's is a strange title for a blog post. Well, they are the 2 most important things on my mind at the moment.

It's a warm Sunday morning where I stay. We have had sun for 2 days in a row now - absolutely awesome as we stay in the Mist Belt and sun is rare in Spring/Summer. A perfect day to finish another UFO. It's amazing how quickly they accumulate and how they clutter up one's creative life. The trick is not to allow UFO's to happen, I think... Anyone have any ideas on how to prevent UFO's from occuring?

As I walk the creative journey and learn more about design etc, it is amazing how I am starting to find inspiration in the smallest things. For example, T-Shirts with stripes are amazing - the different colours of the stripes, the distance they are from each other, the colour of the background etc. Another example is the shape of trees, I am passionately in love with trees and their shapes. Driving the 200kms to my son's school in the Drakensberg mountains is another inspirational trip. By now, those who follow my blog regularly, are aware that I am in love with the Drakensberg mountains. Every time I make the trip, I see new shapes along the way. Depending on the time of day, the cloud cover, the haze etc,the mountains appear to have different shapes. It is almost impossible to document it all.

Oh well.... time to tackle the UFO

Construction work on Durban beachfront

2009-11-04T06:27:00.000+02:00

My previous post was all about my first painted sky fabric, well, I have sliced it up and have used it to make a fabric postcard. I think it came out rather well if I might say so myself.....

There is a lot of construction work happening on the Durban beachfront at the moment. I suspect this is all for the 2010 World Cup.

Fabric Painted Skies

2009-11-01T08:39:00.000+02:00

My first attempt at painting "sky fabric" for my landscape quilts. It was scary to start something new that I have never done before but exhilarating once they it was done. I can't wait to slice it up and make a landscape....watch this space for more photos

Cot Quilts and Roses

2009-10-25T19:35:00.000+02:00

Strange title you may say..... I think I have said this before :LOL.

I have finished the top of the cot quilt that is for a gift for a friend. Her baby is about 3 months old now so I'd better get a move on. The three layers of the quilt are pinned and I am busy machine quilting the quilt. I went on a quilting course last monday so have some fantastic tips to help me quilt easier.

The first photo is supposed to show the dark blue striped background while the 2nd photo shows a close up of the detail. When I have finished the machine quilting, I will post more photos

Now for the Roses.... One of our rose bushes in our garden is flowering and the flowers are stunning, the colour the way the flowers have opened, their arrangement on the bush etc... I just could not resist taking LOTS of photos....... I have posted 2 of them below.

Fabric Postcards

2009-10-18T19:31:00.000+02:00

One of my favourite things is to make and receive fabric postcards from all over the world. Here is a selection of photos of my latest postcards. Needless to say, I owe everyone postcards, and am late again.....sigh. About better planning of my day.....

This postcard is from a friend who lives in Namibia. The theme was Spring as it's spring in the South Hemisphere.

This postcard is from a friend in Ireland. The theme was "The Sea"

This next photo is from a friend in South Africa. She organises the postcard swop I belong to in South Africa.

Sometimes the postage stamps are just as beautiful as the postcards.

The last postcard in this evening's selection is from another friend in South Africa, You guessed it... the theme is "Spring"

My first commission

2009-10-15T16:29:00.000+02:00

I have been commissioned to put together a couple of memory quilts for a family that lost their 8 year old son to cancer last year. Yippee to the commission but not the family's loss. It is so sad. They have taken family photos, memorabilia from the highlights of his short life and pinned them to a backing. It is my job to take the pinned stuff and make a quilt out of it. I suppose it's a case of.....watch this space for photos of the works in progress.

Quilts and Plays

2009-10-05T20:10:00.000+02:00

One of my quilts is being used in a play. It is being carried on and off at the appropriate moment. It is awesome. I am rather excited.The play is called "Gem of the Ocean" by August Wilson. It is being put on by the Durban University of Technology and the University of Kwazulu-Natal.

The Artist's Way

2009-09-30T11:01:00.000+02:00

I am starting to work through the book "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. I have started it a couple of times before but have never got past the first couple of chapters. Life just runs away.....I really like the idea of an Artist's Date once a week where you get to visit an Art Gallery or any other inspiring place. Am looking forward to the challenge.

Frustrations and Mulberry Bushes

2009-09-29T20:12:00.000+02:00

I have just been though a period where I get very despondant and frustrated with where I am going artwise and with life in general. It seems as though my brain decides that the world is going to end tomorrow and I have to be a world famous quilter before then. Sigh....Fortunately it is just a phase and, with the helpof some wonderful friends throughout the world, I come out of the other end fairly unscathed with a new sense of purpose and understanding of myself. Thanks to all my wonderful friends.

I suppose the question that begs to be asked is: "Why does one have to go through emotional turmoil to grow as a person/artist? Can't this insight happen while one is sleeping?" :LOL. I suppose not. BTW, the reference to the mulberry bush in the title of this post is a reference to the fact that one keeps having to go round the same circles of life to learn the lessons of life.

Purple Trip Round the World Quilt

2009-09-26T16:43:00.000+02:00

The "Trip Round The World" pattern must be one of my all time favorite quilting patterns. I have just completed the top of a purple double bed quilt. Actually, almost finished if I decide to put borders on the top. I am really not sure whether I should or not. Any comments would be appreciated. Then I just have to add the batting and the backing and machine quilt the 3 layers. Time, Time where are you? I am sure it is a common lament of many quilters.

The next photo is a close up of the centre of the quilt:

Crab Apples

2009-09-21T12:59:00.000+02:00

In my travels round KZN recently, I saw a Crab Apple tree in blossom trained onto a wire frame against a wall. It was sooooo beautiful. The blossoms were a delicate pink and white. These photographs are my first attempts at putting together an abstract landscape - my impressions of what I saw. Needless to say, the first attempt was not very successful. The background (first photo) is ok but the wheels fell off the bus when I tried to cut curves in brown fabric to represent the tree (2nd photo). All I can say (embarrassed grin) is "watch this space" for the next version. Hopefully it will improve....

Amazing book

2009-09-07T11:09:00.000+02:00

I have just finished reading the book called "A Summer All Her Own" by Roseanne Keller. What a stunning story about a woman who recently lost her husband and the resultant struggle to find herself and her voice as an artist. Well worth the read.

On another note, I am busy re-arranging things at home, trying to find a small corner where I can have a studio - a quiet space without being in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the home.

Nancy Crow Quilting Course

2009-08-30T15:44:00.000+02:00

Back from the quilting course in the Northern Drakensberg, South Africa. What a wonderful experience and a huge learning curve. We learnt about lines, shapes and their proportion to the background - how lines form shapes etc. Much like positive and negative space. It is a design course - certainly the most advanced I have ever done.

We arrived at the conference centre on Sunday afternoon, unpacked and started work bright and early monday morning. Nancy did not say much before sending us off to discover the exciting world of "lines, lines and more lines". Our brief was to produce 18 pieces using different types of lines by 9am the next morning (Tuesday). What a journey of discovery, a bit nerve wracking as well. The following is a photograph of one of my pieces from this task:

The following morning we were tasked with doing a piece 4 feet x 6 feet (1.2m x 1.8) using our chosen colour palette and "lines, lines and more "lines". We had to have the piece completed by 9am Wednesday morning for a critique. (Help). The start of my piece.

This is as far as I got.... still a large amount of work to do.

On Wednesday morning we were tasked with making a sampler with at least 7 different shapes from a "C" curve to a "S" shape to a circle. I have not started this as I took Nancy down to see the Drakensberg Boys Choir perform. What an amazing experience. It was totally worth going to see the boys sing especially as one of my boys is in the school. :LOL

On Thursday morning we woke up to the start of the major work - an 8 foot by 8 foot piece. This is what it looked like when I started work. We had about an hour to put the following frame work together and then start working on the detail.

This photograph shows the final detail of the top right hand quadrant - It's all I managed to do in 2 days. My sewing skills need to be radically improved......

The first thing I need to do tomorrow morning is organise myself a design wall and then I can finish these 2 projects. I can't wait..

For photos of the area that I stayed in see the following blog : http://slicesofafrica.blogspot.com

Quilting Adventure

2009-08-23T08:06:00.000+02:00

I am off on a quilting adventure - a quilting course in the Drakensberg mountains with Nancy Crow. Not sure if I am excited or just plain scared or both. Should be fun and the scenery is beautiful. I hope to come back with stacks of photos.

Yet more Postcards

2009-08-17T10:14:00.000+02:00

Fabric Postcards are wonderful. This is a monochromatic landscape - well supposed to be :LOL of a winter sunset in rural South Africa. Because of all the burning fires, there is a lot of smoke and the sunsets get very red.

Website design

2009-08-16T17:38:00.000+02:00

I have just finished building my first website for a client and what is more exciting is that I used a photo of the sea that I took in Mozambique for the background. You can see the website at www.pacificchiller.co.za

Shapes and colours - more tales from an infrequent traveler

2009-08-10T09:44:00.000+02:00

Last Saturday, I had to take my daughter to Underberg - a town in the foot hills of the Drakensberg. The winter landscape is awesome. The different shades of brown are amazing. It gives a different shape to the mountains, hills and farmlands than in summer. In summer everything seems to be the same colour green. There is a lot of snow on the mountains - we are having a cold winter this year. This photo shows all the snow on the mountain - It was taken at sunset

There were a lot of bush fires burning. I could not stop to take photos but if you can imagine a round hill with one half brown and the other half black with a red fire line running through the middle of the hill.

The Creative Journey

2009-08-05T08:07:00.000+02:00

Adding to yesterday's post titled "The Journey", my very good friend and author, Elana Bregin, suggested that life is not only a journey but a creative journey. How true....I never thought of it this way before......now, if I could just remember this and learn to take each day as it comes... How much easier life would be.

On another note, I was thinking yesterday that the 2 best things that I have ever bought are my camera and my sewing machine. I am so grateful to have both - they open up such wonderful avenues for being creative. It is awesome to be able to take photos and then use them in my quilting.......

The Journey

2009-08-03T08:46:00.000+02:00

Life is about the journey - the process along the way. Now why is that so difficult to remember......it's about taking each day as it comes and doing the best you can for each day, not worrying about the rest....So simple when you think about it, but so difficult to implement (well, for me at any rate)

My own Fabric Postcards - more

2009-07-27T20:52:00.000+02:00

Making and receiving fabric postcards seems to be becoming a major topic of this blog. I love making them and receiving them, especially from other parts of the world. I have make such wonderful friends throughout the world through quilting, especially exchanging postcards.

The deadline for my first South African postcard exchange is the end of July. I used the trusty photo of the Aloe as the centre of the postcard and did a Crazy Patch design round the photo. I am not sure it looks good - the colours of the crazy patch might overpower the photo....

Memoirs of an infrequent traveller

2009-07-20T08:54:00.000+02:00

We went travelling last weekend - no too far but far enough to satisify my wanderlust (and get some stamps in the kids' passports). We went to Ponta do Ouro in Mozambique. It is about a 5 hour journey north of us to the border between South Africa and Mozambique. Because we don't have a 4 wheel drive vehicle, we had to leave our car at the border and were collected by staff from the resort we stayed at.

On the way to the border, we passed the Pongolapoort dam. It is so big that I only took photos of a tiny corner of the dam - what beautiful colours - there were at least 3 different blues in the water.

The next photo is of the main road from the border to the village of Ponta do Ouro.

Dual lane highway?

The local people are very poor and impoverished.... They mainly live in reed houses. We wondered how they stay dry during the cyclone season. We also discussed how much in our lives is really unnecessary clutter. If one looks at how these people live and how friendly and contented they are - we can do without a lot of "stuff" especially in the modern age of instant gratification and our plastic society.

We stayed at a resort called the Motel Do Mar Beach Resort. The apartments were small but clean and functional. The general air of Ponta do Ouro is one of shabbiness and everything is run down. People have been talking about renovating for years after the war but there is still a long way to go.

This photo is of the carved tree at the entrance to the resort.

I was totally fascinated by the way the trees in the resort are pruned - it looks as though they have a mohican hairstyle

The local craft stall where tourists can buy curios. It was just around the corner from where we stayed. The handcrafts were awesome - amazing woodwork and paintings etc

The kids spent most of their time on the beach. They hired body boards for the day and spent their days in the sea..... We went for long walks on the beach and just relaxed and took about 1000 photos. I even pulled out my new needlepoint work but did not get very far. I saved the knitted for the travelling.

There are a lot of stray dogs (African Village Dogs) who live on the beach. That was heart breaking. I wanted to bring the one puppy home but would not have got the puppy across the border without the necessary documentation.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and I'll go back anyday......

My travels - the advantages of quilting

2009-07-12T14:51:00.000+02:00

This morning I went to the Midlands Meander, had breakfast with a friend and stopped off at Piggly Wiggly (see earlier post) for a cup of their famous cappuccino with chocolate mousse on top. I actually went to borrow a dog cart from a friend and took my baby Schnauzer with for some socialisation. One thing I am noticing is that I am more aware of shapes of "stuff" ie hills, mountains, trees etc as I drive. Learning about Design and Design techniques is teaching me to become more aware of my surroundings. It is awesome - wonderful to see all the Aloes next to the road, the shapes of the mountains, trees and the rivers, dams and waterfalls as I drive. As an aside, the reason for going to Piggly Wiggly was to socialise the baby Schnauzer. :LOL - she did get to look at lots of children playing and making a notice etc and I had a wonderful drink.

Concerning family matters, My son at the choir school was nominated as Chorister and Smiler of the week. I am so proud of him.

My own Fabric Postcards

2009-06-21T09:29:00.000+02:00

Today I am making my fabric postcards and am hoping to post them off tomorrow morning. I can't post any photos yet but as soon as my friends have received them, I will post a photo of them. The first 6 are very similar........so the production line is running. I have discovered that I LOVE making landscapes big or small.

My FIrst Landscape

2009-06-19T15:16:00.000+02:00

I am in the process of making a framed landscape. It is about the size of an A4 page and is a gift for a friend (for her birthday) who loves Africa as much as I do. The African tribal dog in the landscape is a photo of her beloved dog that died from liver complications when she was 2 years old. I took a photo of the dog, printed it on fabric and cut it out. The mountains in the background are the beloved Drakensberg mountains. It's the view from my son Ben's school in the mountains. This mountain is called the Rolls Royce because it looks like a car. I added the Aloe in (again a photo printed onto fabric and cut the aloe out) just for the winter effect. The aloes are in full bloom at the moment. The photo below is the fabric put together - I still have to fuse and stitch the pieces together and then frame it.

Sleeveless Pullovers

2009-06-16T15:46:00.000+02:00

I seem to be posting about everything except quilts these days..... not sure if it is a good thing but anyway..... I finished 2 sleeveless pullovers this week - they were both started last winter but I ran out of time to finish them. Now my whole family wants a sleeveless pullover - they are ideal for keeping chests warm in our climate. It does not really get cold enough to wear jerseys but is too cold to just wear t-shirts. So... it's 2 down, 3 to go. I am almost finished the back of the 3rd sleeveless pullover.

This is David's sleeveless sweater.

My Sleeveless pullover:

Bronchial Pneumonia - Advantages

2009-06-13T08:15:00.000+02:00

An old Sage once said that you should find the good in all circumstances. Well..... below is a photo of the advantages of having to lie in bed for days (it took a long time to see this advantage :LOL) - sorry sometimes my sense of humour pops out......

Fabric Postcards

2009-06-12T08:02:00.000+02:00

The 2nd fabric postcard came in the post yesterday. I am like a child in a toyshop with an unlimited budget. Have a look at the photos - it is so awesome. The butterflies are beautiful. I LOVE it.

Thanks to everyone who is taking the trouble to send postcards to then southern tip of Africa. Yippee......

BTW - a head's up to everyone who is expecting postcards from the Southern Tip of Africa, they are in the process of being made - watch your postboxes. I hope the Post Office does not send them overland by ox cart though :LOL

Aloes and more Aloes

2009-06-11T19:11:00.000+02:00

It's winter here in South Africa and the Aloes are flowering. They must be my favourite plants. They come in all shapes and sizes....... I think I should print them on fabric and cut them out to stick on a landscape......now, just to gather some energy to try... maybe tomorrow morning

Completed UFO's

2009-06-01T07:18:00.000+02:00

I have 2 completed UFO's, Yippee, well almost..... The top of the memory quilt is together - just have to pin, quilt and bind it.

The Needlepoint called Morning Glow is finally completed and framed. This has been the most intricate needlepoint canvas I have ever worked on.

My First Fabric Postcard

2009-05-31T08:10:00.000+02:00

On Friday afternoon, my first fabric postcard ever arrived in the post. Yippee. It's beautiful. I LOVE it. It is of the Canola fields new Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. See photo below.... It's a real postcard made out of fabric and sent to me with a postage stamp on through the normal post. Things don't happen like this in Africa. It's amazing.....

UFO Day again

2009-05-23T18:52:00.000+02:00

The monthly UFO day has come around again - my time does fly. I have almost finished all my strips for the memory quilt - am just short 4 photos. This morning I cut the fabric, soaked it in the Inkjet Set Solution, hung it up to dry, am ironing the freezer paper to it and will be printing soon, Yay..... I am also busy with a brightly coloured sampler of a few photos of my kids. I LOVE working with bright fabrics. I will be printing all the photos onto the fabrics this evening.

Chameleon

2009-05-16T14:09:00.000+02:00

I saw a chameleon the other day......what a wonderful experience. They are like "hen's teeth" due to the destruction of their natural habitat. The local people are also very superstitious and believe that seeing a chameleon will bring bad luck so they kill them if they can.

Landscape Quilting workshop

2009-05-13T07:15:00.000+02:00

I have been at a Valerie Hearder landscaping workshop for the last 2 days. It was awesome, so stimulating, yet relaxing. I learnt so much - new ways of matching fabrics and looking at fabrics through new eyes to produce the most amazing landscapes. The photos below are of the 2 completed landscapes - one is still in progress

Easter Saturday Travels

2009-04-11T16:26:00.007+02:00

This morning we went up to the Midlands Meander - about 100kms from where we stay......It was a good break - went to the Groundcover Leather Company to collect a pair of shoes that were resoled and I bought a medium leather body bag. Have finally decided I am old enough to have a handbag :LOL

The scenery is absolutely stunning as you meander through the area - mostly sand roads so one you can't drive fast anyway. I saw the most stunning small waterfall underneath a low bridge.....South Africa has the most wonderful scenery.

After all the shopping and driving..... we stopped off for lunch at the Piggly Wiggly Farm Stall. They make the best Cappuchino in the whole of South Africa if not the whole world. It has real chocolate mousse on top. No wonder they won the best Cappuchino in South Africa award a couple of years ago. Scrumptous....

New Beginnings - New Opportunities

2009-04-08T07:19:00.000+02:00

My contract with a corporate company came to an end at the end of March and due to personal circumstances, I decided not to renew the contract. The last couple of days were very stressful but today...... I am feeling as free as a bird, ready for new challenges and new opportunities....time to quilt... Watch this space - I have been saying that for a long time. While change is often very difficult and painful, it is sometimes necessary to move on with one's life....

Block for Friendship quilt

2009-03-30T11:46:00.002+02:00

I finally quilted again yesterday - yay - something simple. A friend of my sister's asked her to make a block for her friendship quilt so I did a string pieced block. I LOVE string piecing... See photo below..

Pink is out

2009-03-24T13:31:00.002+02:00

Pink is out... it is too garish. Normal is back... Yippee. I have not blogged for ages or quilted for that matter. Been busy with kids and kids' issues...and job changes......The rest is better left unsaid. However, my fingers are itching to quilt.... am hoping to get back into quilting soon. This weekend is another UFO day. What a wonderful opportunity to get quilting again.

The new camera is AWESOME. Iam really looking forward to taking some photos of landscapes and posting them here.

Camera and Pink Blogs

2009-02-12T07:12:00.004+02:00

My new baby Nikon SLR camera arrived home yesterday afternoon. I am so excited. Hopefully I'll get a chance before the weekend to take some photos. We had to charge the battery for a long time last night - the first charge :-). If I have to be honest, I don't have a clue how to use a SLR camera but will go for lessons..... I am so excited about being able to take some really cool pictures. Yes, I know you can take cool pictures with a compact digital camera but still.......

Now I just need to build a design wall and then I'll be able to take awesome photos of my quilts - quilts you say, at the moment, more like quilt pieces......Am hoping to rectify that next weekend :D

I don't know why I changed the colour scheme of my blog to pink yesterday - maybe I was in a pink mood :LOL. It won't last long - will change it to something else soon.

Time flies when you are having fun

2009-02-11T11:23:00.003+02:00

Wow, it's 10 Feb already. Life is rushing by at a very fast pace. The feeling of "Slow down World. I want to catch up" comes to mind :LOL. Isn't there a popular song with this theme?

Life is passing by in a blur of computer programming, guitar lessons, Orthodontist appointments, training dogs in the rain, kids etc. Hey, Quilting was not mentioned in the above blur...... Sad - I will really have to do something about the lack of quilting......It is soul destroying. I am, however, progressing on my Needlepoint work. Sitting in the Orthodontist's rooms waiting provides the perfect opportunity to do handwork.

The wonderful news is that I am considering a new camera - a Nikon D60 SLR camera. I have never had my own camera in my life so am very excited.. so look forward to some fantastic photos on the blog. I just have to remember to take it with me everywhere I go :LOL

Oh yes....my other Burmese is due to give birth to her kittens from about 22 Feb. That's in less than 2 weeks time. She is starting to get quite fat and move slowly. She can no longer jump onto the kitchen counter to get to her food.

Teeth Extractions, Orange Challenges, UFO days etc

2009-01-29T07:34:00.003+02:00

Thankfully, the last parent evening at my kids' schools is over - 3 kids in 3 different schools makes for interesting times - now life can take on a resemblance of normalcy (:LOL - what's normal?) The next big challenge is to get my one son through his teeth extractions on Saturday - he needs 4 out - the baby molars and the adult teeth underneath them. He is having it done under General Anaesthetic. He will be off school for about 3 to 4 days. I'm told there is going to be a LOT of swelling afterwards.

Then..... it's time to get back to the quilting again. On Sunday there is special UFO sewing day. Yay - I can't wait. Being "forced" to quilt is such fun. I have also joined the Orange Project Challenge - need to photograph a pile of Orange fabrics and post them. I LOVE orange and all the values and hues around orange.

Added to all of the above fun, I am started to teach guitar lessons in the afternoons to kids. Life works in circles. It is amazing. I started my post school career as a music student, worked as a professional musician in a military band for a number of years, moved away from music, had kids, became a computer programmer both through necessity and interest in the subject. Now I seem to be moving back to music again. Need to prepare some guitar lessons for next week :LOL

UFO Day and Memory Quilts

2009-01-24T12:21:00.007+02:00

Today is the first UFO day and I am finishing the memory quilt for a friend who teaches David (my Aspergers lad) dog training. It started out as being a wall hanging but there are too many photos - I am just making up all the photos into blocks - log cabin blocks with a twist. and then the blocks into strips. Who knows how big it will end up :-) Having great fun and that's what counts.

The first 3 photos are the strips and blocks that I completed before today.

The next 2 photos are what I did today. It's slow but rewarding work. Because I am designing the quilt as I go, I need to make one block at a time and join it to the next block. Each strip has to be sewn, trimmed and ironed flat before I can move onto the next strip.

Note the cat on the last photo. This is my pregnant Lilac Burmese cat. She has taken to sleeping on our bed all the time. She might even choose to give birth to her kittens on our bed - could be interesting :LOL

I am having such fun I think I will sew some more :LOL

I REALLY need to build a design wall - taking photos flat on the bed standing on a chair does not make good photos......

Saluki Platform

2009-01-20T11:15:00.003+02:00

My DB Saluki loves standing on high furniture and sleeping on the back of the couch. My husband caught her on the table with all the computers on. :LOL It's not a brilliant photo - was taken with a cell phone camera.

UFO days, Start of School, Empty Nests and things....

2009-01-19T11:23:00.002+02:00

The first UFO day is this coming saturday. I am so looking forward to it. I wonder what I should work on.......where to start. Lots of photos are forthcoming - the blog will no longer look so plain :LOL. I miss the bright photos on my blog.

The eldest son was dropped off at his boarding school yesterday afternoon to start the school year today. The house is so quiet. I miss his singing and cheerful "noise". The other 2 kids start school tomorrow and wednesday respectively. They are in day school so need to be dropped off every morning and collected every afternoon. The daughter will be playing sport most afternoons of the week all afternoon so life will soon be back to it's usual hectic self. Life with triplets is certainly interesting. It is actually awesome watching each child grow and develop into the best he/she can be. I love watching it. Maybe there is a series of quilts in that :LOL

All the baby kittens are sold. The last 2 are being collected this weekend. The house will really be empty then, until the next litter of kittens is born - should be last week in Feb - can't wait.

Hectic, Hectic, Hectic

2009-01-16T06:13:00.002+02:00

The summer holidays are over and the new school year starts next week. Each child is in a different school so I have 3 starting dates..... Life is rather busy at the moment - buying school requirements, working etc. I haven't posted any photos of quilts for a long time........ sad but true. Oh well.....will get back to it as soon as kids have settled down in their new classes. This time of the year is particularly difficult for my Asperger's lad - new class, new teacher, new everything. The school has even changed the uniform :LOL

As an aside, I am finding Dena Crain's Ladders and Crystals course very challenging but very stimulating and rewarding. Maybe that's why there are no quilts to be photographed :LOL

Have a wonderful day

Crystals and Ladders

2009-01-09T21:22:00.000+02:00

I have started a design course through Quilt University with Dena Crain called Crystals and Ladders. Wow, it is really challenging me. I have to draw designs with a pencil and paper - Everytime I am called upon to draw, I have a panic attack and run away. This time I am determined to overcome this fear and master the challenge. It is really scary......

World Visitors

2009-01-06T07:03:00.003+02:00

I add the NeoCounter and am totally stunned and amazed by the visitors to my blog from around the world. This is one of the awesome things about blogging - you get visitors from all around the world. Just think - I live on the Southern tip of Africa (well, more South East coast) and I have friends from all over the world. Mind blowing........ I can't wait to visit my blog every morning to see how many new countries have been added to my blog.

Late New Year's Resolution...

2009-01-03T06:25:00.002+02:00

Oh yes... the bit I forgot was that I need to finish all the UFO's that have been accumulating over the last 2 years.....Wonder if I'll ever get there. I also have a couple of needlepoints to finish as well. It is going to be a wonderfully hectic year.

New Year's Resolution

2009-01-01T19:45:00.001+02:00

Happy New Year to everyone who follows this blog. May it be a creative, fun filled, loving and sucessful year for all of us.

I have been thinking about where my quilting is going (or rather not going)..... and have decided that this is the year for learning as much as I can about quilt design and techniques from as many teachers as possible. Some of the best ways to learn is to take courses through the Online Quilt University and Ruth Blanchet's Academy of Quilting. I have just started Dena Crain's "Ladders and Crystals" course and then onto a "Getting Started with Quilt Art" course with Ruth Blanchet's Academy of Quilting.

The best news of all is that Nancy Crow is coming to South Africa in August - am busy collecting the stash now so I have enough fabric to take with to the course. Valerie Hearder is also coming to Durban in May so... there are awesome opportunities to learn so much this year. I am so excited I can't wait....... To use the old cliche...."Watch this space"

David's Completed Needlepoint

2008-12-04T20:49:00.000+02:00

I am so proud of my lad David's latest creation. He made this as a gift for his school teacher. When he completed it, we had it framed and here it is.......

Game Farm

2008-11-24T11:03:00.001+02:00

We went to visit friends who stay on a Game Farm a couple of sundays ago and went for a game drive. We saw a 5 metre long African Rock Python. It was gliding across the road. What an amazing sight.

Notice how thick the python's body is.....

Apart from all the usual game, we saw a 1 week old giraffe calf. What a beautiful sight. The mother hides to give birth to her calf and then about 1 week later brings her calf out and introduces it to the rest of the herd. We watched the introductions yesterday afternoon - a sight to behold. David took all the photos.

Storm

2008-11-18T07:42:00.000+02:00

We had a tornado like storm last friday afternoon. We are very fortunate. A big tree on our verge fell onto our perimeter fence, destroying the gate in the process. It fell at 45 degrees to our house otherwise we would have lost part of our house. The dogs didn't even go out through the broken gate. It was too fast for me. I was at the shops, knew that a storm was on the way. By the time I realised that there might be a problem, the storm was almost over. Some people in our district lost their houses. They were flattened totally by the wind etc. Sad too lose everything.

These are some of the photos......

African Elephant

2008-11-10T10:09:00.000+02:00

It's been a long time since I have quilted and written about my quilts. I have just started working on a new wall hanging - an African Elephant in Silhoutte on top of a crazy patch/log cabin backround standing under a Baobab tree. The backround will represent the green bush/grass, blue sky and yellow sun. I'll post photos as I go. Am looking forward to seeing how it turns out......

Vaulting - Balance in motion

2008-07-29T07:32:00.000+02:00

My youngest son has taken up vaulting - gymnastics on horseback - more photo opportunities....... The children first practice the routine on a barrel before they move onto the back of the horse.There is a quilt in here somewhere.... :D

Salukis, Salukis and more Salukis

2008-07-04T18:45:00.000+02:00

I have finally got round to make a photo quilt for a friend of mine..... She breeds Salukis and is passionate about them. I am going to "immortilize" them in fabric for her. Below is a sneak preview of the photos I'll be using. As always, I am going to use fabrics from the Amafu range. I just love the colour range that Amafu produces. The fabric that I am going to print the photos on is already on the line drip drying. Tomorrow I will attempt to print the photos onto the fabric....

And this is what the photos look like transfered onto fabric:

There is a trick to getting photos printed onto fabric......It takes about 30 hours and if the backing paper is longer than the fabric or vise versa, then the fabric folds and gets stuck in the printer..... but I am learning.....I think this quilt is going to look awesome but then I am biased..... :D. I can't wait to cut the photos out and add fabric to them - Crazy Patch here I come........

At long last, I have started putting the quilt together..... These are photos of the fabric blocks.....