Published for the first time

Fame at last..... Well local fame that is :D. The 2 crazy patch quilts I made for a friend's children (see earlier posts) have been published in a local stitchcraft magazine - I am so proud I am showing off the magazine to the whole world. Here is the article published in the magazine:

String Quilt

I have finally put the string quilt top together, well almost. I ran out of black fabric to do the side borders. Now all I have to do is buy the backing fabric and the batting and finish it off :D





The string quilt blocks have finally been sewn in very crooked rows. Now I have to straighten the rows and find some way of joining the rows together to make a quilt. Any suggestions, anyone.......

Well, I cut my nice square blocks up to make irregular shapes. The trick now is going to be to put all of them together to make a geometrically shaped quilt. I can't wait to see how the quilt turns out........

I am almost finished with the Animals in Log Cabins quilt so have decided to learn a new technique - String quilting. This is awesome - you play with offcuts of material and sew them on a backround fabric. These are my first 3 blocks I did last night. Watch this space for more blocks..........

Shweshwe pants

I made some cargo 3/4 pants from traditional South African fabrics called Shweshwe fabric. I used a big bold pattern for the side pockets and a smaller pattern for the main part of the pants. There are bits of yellow in the main fabric. I made the top pockets out of the main fabric. Retrospectively I should have possibly use the bold pattern for all the pockets. :-) Next time......... (I think I need to take better photos...... or crop them better.......:-)

Playing with lines and shapes

I am doing an online course through the Quilt University called Playing with Lines and Shapes. It is a basic design course and wow, it is stretching the imagination. It is amazing where one ends up after starting with a straight line. I have uploaded a few of the many drawings I did. As I work through the course I'll add photos to this post. All I can say is..... watch this space.....

I have finally managed to convert one of the above sketches into a fabric sample - see below. I am not so sure about how it has turned out. Except I created it as the reverse image of the sketch :LOL

Pretty in Pink

I have finally finished this quilt and it has come out rather well (if you ask me). The girl I gave it to last night would not let it go. She was so pleased with it. It makes the effort all worthwhile.....

This is a close up photo of one of the blocks and sashing showing the trademark hearts that I tend to quilt on all the sashing of the quilts I make.


A quilt for a pretty little girl who loves pink. This quilt is for a friend's daughter. She is 5 years old and is such a cute little girl. I am not a "Pink" person so I really battled making the blocks. The more blocks I had to make the more I thought dark thoughts and gave the blocks black looks.... :LOL. However it is good for one to sometimes make quilts that are not easy to do, using colours that are not one's favourite etc. It stretches one's mind and allows one to conquer difficult challenges which gives one a certain sense of self worth and personal satisfaction which are very important. (ok..... philosophising over for the day....) I sewed the blocks together in conjunction with the "Under the Sea" quilt so putting the top together was a lot easier. Now I have to quilt it........

Under the Sea

I have finally finished this quilt and it looks great. I am posting photos of the whole quilt so you can see the overall effect. It is a traditional quilt using a combination of traditional and non traditional fabrics. What I find interesting is that the blocks look as though they are not straight in the sashing - they are, it is just use of colours that creates the effect. It is actually a study in colour using a traditional vehicle. The fish look as though they are randomly swimming in the blue quilt sea.



The next photo is a close up of a couple of the blocks. You can see the hearts that I have quilted on the sashing. My son David calls them "Mom's loving hearts" and they have become a trademark on all the quilts I make.

The last photo is one a close up of my stipple quilting. (Sorry, this photo is a bit blurred.....) I have finally mastered free motion stipple quilting and am rather proud of myself. Now I can't wait to put the quilt together so I can quilt the top with my free motion foot. :LOL It's amazing how our attitudes change...... At first I was scared of free motion quilting. Now I can't wait to do the quilting.....



More crazy patch fish quilts you ask? Well..... I love the crazy patch design and had some fish material in my stash...... so a friend's little boy has a fish quilt. I guess I enjoy doing traditional designs in between the hectic creative spells. It relaxes my mind and allows me to think of new designs while I am sewing these quilts. I also love the unpredictablility of a crazy patch quilt. There is no way of knowing how the quilts are going to turn out when made up into a quilt. Each block is similar yet different so it is a always a suprise to see what the quilt looks like when it is done. I love the fact that the blocks don't look straight. They look as though they have been randomly placed between the sashing and yet..... every block is square and the same size. How to create chaos out of order....... :LOL. I love it.

Baby Animals Duvet Cover

My first duvet cover..... I made this single bed duvet cover for my eldest son to take with him to boarding school. It turned out really well, even if I say so myself :LOL. I made a black pillowcase and a black sheet to match it. The duvet cover border is a dark cream leopard print which highlights the main print. The back of the cover is black sheeting.

Sewing, sewing and more sewing.......

I am getting quite stressed out about all the sewing I have to do - 5 quilts to finish and duvet covers, sheets and pillow cases etc to make as well as loads of uniforms to mark. My eldest son is off to boarding school next year - it is amazing how much gear he needs for school. Marking uniforms is not fun but it has to be done so I suppose I need to take a deep breath, relax and start at one end and slowly work my way through the pile of stuff that needs doing. I think I am also getting quite anxious about him leaving home and going away to school - he is only 10 years old. Before you ask, why he is going to boarding school so young, he has gained acceptance into one of the best boys' choir schools in the world..... what an awesome opportunity for him. We cannot deny him it but.....the reality is that he is leaving home at 10 years old. I am starting to feel quite sad about it......... About the deep breath etc......

Venda Mats Print

I went shopping for fabric on last saturday morning and, guess what I found....... some ethnic African fabric. The print is called Venda Mats and the pattern is taken from the traditional mats that the Venda people make in the north of South Africa. Awesome colours...... It is difficult to find traditional African fabric made by the local African people in South Africa. Most fabrics are made in China these days. But, if you hunt for long enough, you will find it....... In Durban, South Africa and probably many other major cities in South Africa, there are 2 worlds. The first world city with it's western style shopping malls and then traditional Africa with the small shops and street markets etc. It is in the traditional African part of Durban that I must go to find the real African fabrics. I plan to go between Christmas and New Year - am on leave. I cannot wait..... The other way to find traditional African fabrics is to travel and visit countries like Ghana, Northern Mozambique, Kenya etc. I have itchy feet......but, alas, am constrained by the reality of being mom to triplets and needing to feed, clothe and educate them :D

Saluki Puppy

The wonderful news is that my badly injured saluki puppy, Elef (see post, "Ode to a Dead daisy" for details) is well on her way to a full recovery. The vet changed the bandages last friday and was very happy with the way the wounds are healing. There is now very little chance of her losing her leg. What wonderful news........ Maybe I should now design and put together a quilt that celebrates her "return to life"...... :D

Ode to a Dead Daisy

I am having a rough time at the moment. Last week was very difficult and this morning my gorgeous Saluki puppy was hurt on the beach. Some sharp object slashed her leg open cutting on of the branches of the main artery that runs down her leg. The blood pumped out of her leg. By using a tournique we managed to stop most of the bleeding. My husband carried her to the point where we could drive the car. He ran and collected the car and we rushed her off to the emergency vet. He stitched her up but was worried that the pressure of the stitches on the main artery would reduce blood flow to her leg and she could lose her leg. So we collected her late this afternoon, all looked well and 1 hour later took her back to the vet. The leg was bleeding heavily again. The vet re-operated to tie of the artery. So now there is a greater chance of her losing her leg. And I am devastated. I feel awful - a bit like this photo below. I will convert this photo into a piece of art and post it ....... watch this space.




The photo below is the beginning of the applique interpretation of the above picture. It is an pretty accurate representation. What I really want to do is move in a more abstract direction but I have no idea how to get there. Does anyone have any ideas? My puppy is so much better. She is bandaged and sedated to keep her quiet but she is alive and home. The rest I can cope with.




The three upright green leaves symbolise hope. As for the tea cup instead of a flower pot...... well, maybe poking a bit of fun at life and my emotional state, who knows. The tea cup just happened (LOL).


This is a photo of my puppy Elef Neshikot with all her bandaged legs. Her name means 1000 Kisses in Hebrew and she certainly lives up to her name. She is such an affectionate puppy. She comes from the Negev Desert in Israel and her mother was gifted to the breeder by the Bediouns in the Negev Desert. If you'd like to view more photos of her and her parents and family etc go to the website www.ruahmidbar.co.il. She is part of the "E" litter.

Jo's Purple Cats

Purple Cats you ask......well my 10 year old daughter, Jo seems to be as absorbed by quilting as I am. She also loves cats and the colours in the purple range so...... we have purple cats.

Animals in Log Cabins

The top of my quilt is finally done!! Now I have to add the backing and quilt all the layers together.

These 3 blocks belong to my latest wall hanging. I have to make 2 more blocks - one with a lion and one with a Gnu and then it is time to put the bits and pieces together. This quilt has the advantage of the finished product being any size - the more animal log cabin blocks, the bigger the quilt. I am making a wall hanging as a sample but, as they say, "the world's your oyster". It can be made as big or as small as the creator's imagination (and the number of different animals you can think of......). Watch this space........

David's quilt

This is my very first quilt I made (am still working on the photo so bear with me). It is the product of a quilting course which taught all the basic techniques eg Log Cabin, Flying Geese etc. Again I used Africa and African animals as inspiration but did not use the South African Fabrics. I had a lot of fun with this quilt - choosing colours and mixing them all up.

Sunshine Quilt

This is my Sunshine Quilt. I used the Trip Round the World pattern and arranged the colours according to the colours of the rainbow. The result is a happy, laughing, sunny quilt. The yellows stand out and create an awesome effect as well as blending in with the rest of the colours - yet another bright colourful quilt. This quilt was donated to my children's school to auction off as fundraising for the school.

Ben's Fish Quilt

My Son Ben has a Marine Fish Tank so I made him a Crazy Patch quilt using fish prints in the centre of each block. I love working with bright colours.I used yellow sashing to separate the crazy patch blocks to give the quilt more space and light. Needless to say he loves it and will be taking it with him to boarding school next year.

African Animals Wall Hanging

I am a child of Africa, LOVE Africa and am inspired by Africa. This is the first in the range of wall hangings/quilts created with an African theme. I am fortunate to be able to purchase fabrics made in South Africa that encapsulate the feel of Africa. This quilt was made as a gift for a friend in Romania.