Another special guest today at Apatchy with a visit from Hiroe Mogi – the doyenne of all things Japanese. Hiroe brought beautiful quilts with her to inspire us all. We were all impressed with her paper-pieced log cabins – some in triangles – some that featured sashiko and some with raw edge appliqué. A class seemed to be in order so stay tuned for more information.
Here’s our happy group with Hiroe and one of her wonderful creations:
Quite an eventful week here. We had a special visit from Nicola and her lovely mum to introduce us to her beautiful daughter Isla Rose. She is such a bright eyed little baby and so small!
She does look a bit surprised doesn’t she?
The teenager-in-residence went to his first big concert this week.
He has been a big fan of Mr Rose for some time now and was very excited to see the man in person. It reinforced his dream to be a rock star – ah to be 14 again with such preposterous dreams…….which brings me to today. I ummed and ahhed but finally decided to venture off to the Stitches and Craft show. After a battle to find a parking space – that was eventually located in the Southbank car park (due to several shows and a basketball game having taken all the convention centre’s car parks) I finally made it to the show. I really enjoy these events and seeing all the wonderful projects that clever people make. The challenge quilts were exceptional and the projects from the students of textile courses inspiring. I had a chat with Lisa Walton and we planned when we could have her visit Apatchy again. While I was there I also went to the workshop by Gabrielle of Miss Rose and Sister Violet – they of the laces and trims of all things romantic. Gabrielle talked about all the lovely things they use but it wasn’t the pretty fabrics and trims I was inspired by. She talked about the fact that all of us have a creative soul and that when we let it go it sets us free. She talked about how you are in control of your creative life and that you should create things “that make your heart sing”. She talked about how she followed her dreams and how important it is to do that. Maybe the teenager will be a rock star or perhaps not – either way I’m glad he has some dreams to inspire him. Now where’s that thread….
Isn’t it strange that the things we like to do seem to be difficult to start? When I am sewing I am quite happy but there are always other things to do and sometimes I seem to fiddle around until it’s almost too late to start. The past two days have been a classic example of this. I have been hoping for a free weekend for a month now and when I finally have one I managed to find all manner of tasks to do rather than sitting down for a weekend of quilting – and I have two projects ‘on the go’ so there is no excuse. But no Poz E Dogg had a bath, shopping was done, a new book was read from cover to cover. Only a meagre amount of sewing was achieved and now the weekend is over and it went so quickly. Reminds me of ‘The Church’ song ‘Life Speeds Up’. That’s for sure! Do you ever have trouble getting started on something you actually enjoy?
Anyway this one of the current projects – the fabric version of a vintage travel poster that I found in an old diary. I did manage to sew it to the background but still lots of embellishing to do, not to mention the quilting………
The other new thing this week was the fabric range ‘Salt Water’ by Tula Pink. I am really taken by this range – especially the aqua colour theme.
As usual the suppliers do not have the full range to send me but the fabrics above are in stock. They are sufficient to make one of the great cushions in the free pattern. This pattern features combi van cushions (Remember the 60’s?) Definitely have to have one of those. Have a look here for the pattern.
Finally some other ‘new’ news – the lovely Nicole who has been with us on Wednesday evenings (and has the pink and grey sampler quilt in the gallery) has a new baby girl called Isla Rose and weighing in at only 6lb so quite a small bundle. It’s wonderful to have such good news and we all wish Nicola and her family the best. No photo yet but stay tuned.
Yippeeio-ki-yay! I am proud to announce that Apatchy Quilting is a finalist in the 2013 Australian Small Business Champion Awards. This prestigious national program of awards was designed to recognise the achievements of small businesses in the retail, service and manufacturing industries. Small businesses across Australia are invited to submit an entry and the selection of finalists is based on business history, marketing, customer service, community involvement and the highlights of the past twelve months.
I see it as a great opportunity to draw attention to the wonderful pursuit of quilting as well as to Apatchy and also to show that a small quilt shop can be seen as being run professionally and as an elite business . Of course it is because of you all that we have had such wonderful successes and now the pressure’s on to provide even better service in the future!
The winners are to be named at a gala presentation evening in Sydney on 13th April. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me and I’ll keep you posted.
As many of you know I am very keen on art quilts and have indulged in a few creations myself. Currently there is a controversy raging in the quilt world – started when a quilt was displayed at the recent Modern Quilters Convention. This quilt comprised of many blocks – all featuring the ‘F’ word. Blogland has been very busy with those for and against the display/making of this quilt – and the commentary has become quite heated. Naturally this has raised further debate on censorship but I was rather dismayed to read the following on one blog: “the quilting community censors itself in myriad ways on often ludicrous bases: foremost the gangland war between ‘traditional’ and ‘art’ quilters with recent skirmishes from the ‘modern’ sector.” I was surprised to know that I was part of a “gangland war”. I thought we were all just indulging ourselves making beautiful quilts that we could all enjoy. I do hear people say nasty comments at quilt shows and think that it is unnecessary and may be hurtful as the quilter may be standing behind them! I am also impressed that the people who enter the shows are brave enough to enter their quilts and have this criticism. Braver than me that’s for sure. What do you think?
Oh and apparently there is a group called the BadAss Quilters Society who were formed because they thought the quilting world required them to be “quiet, grey haired and a bit frumpy”. I think these girls need a session with us! If you want to read more about this quilt see here http://www.thomasknauersews.com/on-surface-and-substance/
On another note, if you thought the social media was powerful then listen to this – due to the results of a Facebook competition the iron has been deleted from the Monopoly board – it is to be replaced by a cat. Now this gets me really steamed up – why do they mess with things that have been going well for years? I hope there was a pressing reason for the change and they iron out any further problems!
But wait there’s mopre – more beautiful fabric that is – have a look at this range – Lux Metallics by Timeless Treasures – you really have to see it up close as the gold is just so rich. I think the large fabric reminds me of the ‘Metropolis’ movie that Fritz Lang made in 1927 and Giorgio Moroder released again with a soundtrack by rock artists like Freddie Mercury. Here’s the link to the trailer here
Now what can you make with that????
Smoke Signals from a Log Cabin 