Busy as Ants

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Apatchy Kaye

Another busy time for the Apatcheez with the usual classes as well as a trip to Maryborough for the Sunrise Rotary Quilt and Craft Extravaganza.

In order to be ready for the show I had the help of Mum and Dad who arrived just in time to help pack the cupcake liners with 5″ squares.

Have you ever tried to roll up 26 small squares and keep them all uniform? It’s not easy – Dad wanted to know how he could get sacked from the job!

Mum helped me put together this tote – inspired by Bec’s suggestion to add quilted houses at the bottom and made out of the “Out of Town” fabric range – one of several ranges recently delivered (that I haven’t had time to photograph – too busy!).

Pozzie was giving it his all as well…..

When end we arrived in Maryborough we managed to set our stall up in record time. We put it down to pre-planning and the family effort. Apart from Mum and Dad, Luvvy packed up the Paj to the roof and unpacked it all when we arrived plus the teenager-in-residence helped put up the quilts in the backdrop – very useful having a tall son. Here’s Mum ready for action.

Also a big thankyou to Jenne for her hack of the bunting kits resulting in the two baby quilts hanging on the back wall on the right – sorry I forgot to take a close-up – too busy!

The girls up in Maryborough liked the hexie projects we took with us and thanks to Jan we had a sample for each project.

Naturally they were also impressed by our block of the month project Fiesta (thanks Jan again).

It was difficult to get photos of the quilts on display because they were either behind a stall or hanging from the balcony in the Town Hall. Here’s what we saw:

There’s no truth in the rumour that the photos above were taken during peak hour!

This quilt (above) was a machine embroidered quilt and caused a bit of controversy when it won the viewer’s Choice award.

After Maryborough it was back to the big smoke and our usual weekly classes. The Apatcheez managed to finish a few projects and I have added them to the gallery. I’ve added them here as well…just in case you’re too busy to go looking for them!

Jan amazed us by finishing this project in 3 weeks!

Angie designed and made this cushion as a special present

Margaret’s original under the sea project is a winner

Chris finished her very festive project – ho ho ho

Suzanne’s been dabbling with jewellery making

Margaret was also very busy this week and managed to finish her under-the-sea quilt – and very nice it was too. It has been a bit chilly here over the past week and Charlie took advantage of the fact that he didn’t have to sit on a cold floor for a while.

Margaret wasn’t worried though – she said the cat had already taken it for a test drive – perhaps that was the attraction?

More action this week with the beginner’s sampler quilt – so many blocks to sew, so little time…

And of course there are more shows to do this year so we have to keep the samples coming – thanks Mum

Until next time, happy quilting

Kaye

Queen’s birthday weekend

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Apatchy Kaye

Having a lovely time this weekend doing all things quilty. After spending weeks trying to get my new website up and running I put that all aside this weekend.

A free evening on Friday (just me and the muts) inspired me to try to finish one of my UFOs – a souvenir from Strasbourg at Christmas – and indeed I did manage to complete the entire project – a sewing machine cover – by Sunday night.

An early morning call on Saturday to take the teenager-in-residence to soccer meant I was back in time to travel over to Mexico (the south side of Brisbane for those not in the know) to attend the Beenleigh Quilt Show.

These girls know how to put on a show and there was entertainment, lots of quilts, demonstrations, stalls and cake! The theme was military and everyone received one of the poppies when they entered. I tried to take photos of a selection of techniques including piecing, appliqué, stitcheries and so on so hope you enjoy:

How was that for a visual feast? And yet there’s more…

Another early start on Sunday led to breakfast at Woody Point where it was a beautiful day. I took this photo of a windsurfer enjoying the sunshine and the wind of course. Can you see him on the board?

Bugger – just missed him

The Apatcheez were also busy last week and produced quite a few projects which they were happy to share…..

Jan finished her amazing three dimensional project and it caused quite a bit of interest in class. Here are some close-ups…

Margaret wanted to try out printable fabric and turned her trial into this beauty…

Not content with that effort, she also finished bespoke table setting again with cats – is there a series developing I wonder?

But wait there’s more! She also showed us this beauty – what a great design and what great use of novelty fabric.

Does that woman ever sleep? Apparently not. It is always exciting to be around someone who has so much enthusiasm for quilting and wants to make EVERY quilt. I know how she feels.

Speaking of excitement we had a surprise last week when Cathy from Cathquilts Bits n Bobs came to visit. We have been following her sea change on her blog Cath@Home but it was great to hear her stories first hand.

If you want to read about a wonderful crafty lifestyle check out her blogs.

And now to indulge in a little more of my crafty lifestyle. Until next time happy quilting.

Kaye

Winners are Grinners 1, 2, 3

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Apatchy Kaye

So I’ve been AWOL for a couple of weeks but much has been happening. I’ll have to tell you about all that in another post because this one is to let you in on the goss.

The Brookfield Show is on tomorrow and Sunday and if you happen to drive out there for a weekend excursion make sure you check out the building with the needlework and quilt entries.

If you do you will find that the Apatcheez have been victorious! Fortunately we had paparazzi Don in attendance and can bring you some photos live from the venue…

Firstly Chris won two prizes with her wonderful tea cosies. She entered the tea cosy challenge sponsored by Nerada. Can you tell it was sponsored by Nerada?

Next the amazing Lesa won two prizes for her awesome, hand-pieced hexagon marvel – best in her section as well as Best use of Colour.

And finally… Part of the reason for my silence over the past fortnight is because I was finishing this quilt – my entry for last year’s challenge. Bowing to pressure from several people I entered it in the Art/Pictorial section of the show at Brookfield and was very pleased to win first prize!

Go and have a look at the show, not just the Apatcheez creations but also the other beautiful works that you’ll find there. Make sure you wear your winter gear though because it was quite chilly on Thursday night. Not that we cared – we were too busy jumping for joy!

Past and present glory

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Apatchy Kaye

On a whim I decided to jet down to Melbourne for the AQC (Australian Quilt Convention), the bees knees of quilt shows in Australia. I had previously discounted the idea of going on the usual mundane grounds of cost and time. Then Luvvy said “why aren’t you going”? Why indeed I thought. So a few thousand frequent flyer points later and a quick hotel booking on wotif I found myself at the domestic terminal of Brisbane airport at an extremely uncivilised hour.

Following a recommendation I checked in to the Windsor Hotel. This hotel is the last of the 19th century hotels and is soon for renovation so there is a strange air of faded glory and lost regret in the building. I’m almost certain I saw Miss Marple sitting on one of the leather lounges in the foyer.

The hotel is a classic beauty with sweeping staircases and stained glass – the bastion of graciousness of a bygone era. Unfortunately it lives in a time which loves only polished concrete and tempered glass and it will soon be “extensively renovated”. Time passes as it must.

But I digress. The business at hand is the quilt convention and so it was that I made my way up the hill to the Exhibition Building (another architectural masterpiece) to see what architextile masterpieces I could find. And I was not disappointed. I took so many photos that I will have to ration you lest you be overcome. I’ll start today with the ‘True Blue’ entrants for the AQC challenge. Unfortunately I neglected to get all the names of the quilters and their entries and I apologise for that and also for the fact that not all the photos are of the best quality (well the light was bad in some areas and I was working under pressure).

Prepare to be amazed:-

Winner – ‘True Blue Jacko’ Jeannie Henry

Close up of ‘True Blue Jacko’, Jeannie Henry

‘The Fallen’, Neroli Henderson

By Kathy Adams

‘Go Granny Go’, Alison Laurence

‘True Blue Mates’, Yvonne Chapman

‘Fair dinkum Aussie dunny’, Ramona Resurreccion

‘Who Knew’, Debbie Guihof

‘The Big Dry’ Camilla Watson

Close up of ‘The Big Dry’ by Camilla Watson

‘Beginning True’, Sue de Vanny

‘Really True Blue’ Jan Clark

Close up of ‘Really True Blue’ Jan Clark

Told you – more tomorrow

Until then be inspired and happy quilting

Kaye

Festival of Broken Needles

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Apatchy Kaye

Today women in Japan are celebrating Hari-Kuyo: the Festival of Broken Needles. Those who rely on needles for their livelihood come together at shrines to acknowledge their tools and give thanks for the hard work they (the needles) have done during the year. Additionally the women pray that their skills will improve in the next year.

Source: Wikipedia

Traditionally seamstresses, embroiderers and the like take a day off from their work and bring their bent and broken needles and pins to their temple or shrine. As they pay their respects (which is similar to a memorial service), they stick the needles and pins into a block of tofu. The soft tofu is supposed to soothe the needles after their year of hard labour.

While here in Australia we don’t tend to attribute inanimate objects with a ‘spirit’ (apart from Bernie Bernina and Jerry Janome of course) we can appreciate that we should look after our equipment and I would certainly welcome some intervention that would improve my skills! I have been given some lovely scissors and other ‘crafty’ gifts over the years that I really appreciate and try to look after. This Christmas, while we were in Strasbourg (which has the white stork as its symbol), Luvvy gave me this delightful needle case which I treasure.

In fact I have already used it – and I have crossed one project off my UFO list! Hooray! I did find, and others agreed, that the mere action of writing down the UFO’s made them somehow more manageable. Anyway like you I have vowed to make this the year of finishing as many as I can. Number 1 off the list is this wall hanging I made with the ‘Perfectly Perched’ fabric range.

It was rather larger than I expected and was difficult to photograph. The image above was made with me perfectly perched on a chair above it. Obviously I wobbled a tad. In fact, this piece ended up being nothing like I had initially envisaged but that’s what often happens – our projects take on a life of their own – maybe there IS something to this idea that inanimate objects possess a spirit after all.

What about you? Do you have a much-loved or highly valued item in your sewing space?

Happy Quilting

Kaye

And the winner is……..

Posted on November 23, 2014 by Apatchy Kaye

A great day yesterday after our annual Challenge Quilt competition and Christmas event. We had a record number of entries with 16 clever ladies going with the theme ‘Music’ and creating wonderful projects. Because the scope of the entries was wide open we had a wide range of exhibits and techniques.

Suzanne’s winning entry

The winner of the day was Suzanne with her amazing creation called “Bad Moon Rising” after the Creedence Clearwater Revival song. Not only was her piece filled with all manner of visual allusions to the song but she had LED lights lighting the alley but also had an MP3 player with the song playing. One person who looked at it said “is that really coming from there?” And yes it was!

The runner-up was Margaret with her musical cat table runner. Apparently Margaret’s husband suggested the design so he was in the good books. Here’s their joint effort-

Margaret’s musical table runner

Since this competition was such a broad scope we decided one judge would be hard-pressed to determine the winner. So we came up with the perfect system – let the people decide! So it was viewers’ choice that determined both the runner-up and winner.

Here are the other entries:

Chris’ bird song quilt

Sue’s musical score

Angie’s homage to Michael Jackson

Bev’s Sashiko meets song

Cathy’s “Madame Butterfly meets Liberace”

Debbie’s abstract guitar canvas

Elaine’s wonderfully colourful instrument quilt

Bec said that “even at dawn the laugh of the kookaburra is music to my soul”

Stephanie produced this sumptuously embroidered treble clef

Jan cleverly made a beautiful stitchery and some squares into a wonderful file book cover

Julia was inspired by Mozart for her beautiful piece

Lesa thought outside the box and created “My Green Tambourine” with a matching bag – a child of the 60’s indeed

Sharyn’s creation reflected her love of Mozart and his ‘Moonlight Sonata’

Speaking of ‘outside the box’ June’s purple people eater definitely ticked the creative box

I talked about some of the trials and tribulations of my own creation and the fact I had decided to have it quilted by a professional. Here is the top so far:

My Top 40

The other important event was the drawing of the raffle of our collaborative quilt ‘Flowers for Trudy’ (won by Susan Seeney). We were very happy to welcome members of Trudy’s family Arnold, Julie, Thomas and Anna to witness the event. Julia from Bluecare drew the winning ticket and was happy to accept a cheque for an amazing $972.20. (sorry I don’t have a photo yet). I was so pleased to be involved with this and really glad when we added the ticket sales and found we had raised so much for such a worthy group of people. Well done Bluecare and well done Apatchy people!

Can you have too many quilts in one weekend – no way!

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Apatchy Kaye

I thought you might like to see some more photos from last week’s craft show at Laidley:

There really was some beautiful work at the show – aren’t the people of Laidley and nearby clever?

Now not content with three days of peach blossoms and craft we decided to drive out to Samford on Sunday to check out their quilt show! We weren’t disappointed as we found wonderful quilts including miniature marvels from Lorraine Sheane-Smith. This lady’s work is truly amazing. I thought you might like to visit the show now albeit virtually. Prepare for a photo-fest…….

I’m sure you must be impressed. We certainly were. We also caught up with some old friends. Some of you may remember two delightful beginners from a couple of years ago. Tash and Joanne were both making baby quilts for their first babies and hurried to finish in time. They brought their babies to visit and then we have’t seen them for a while. Quite a while as it turned out. Those babies (Angelina and Asher) are now 3 years old and now have a brother and sister (Charles and Evie) respectively. How did that time go so fast? Just goes to show – life is short – quilt faster! Another reason to get all those UFO projects finished.

I believe there is another show in Toowoomba this weekend. Now should I do the laundry, work on my challenge quilt or nip up to Toowoomba tomorrow???

Laidley leaps into Spring

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Apatchy Kaye

Jan and I are having a great time at the Spring Festival in Laidley. You can find us at the Uniting Church at the quilt show. Just follow the queue for strawberries and ice cream but be warned they are addictive. And so are the peach blossoms and the home-made cakes and, well you get the general idea.

As always the good folk of Laidley have done a sterling job and the show is a real hit. Come and see us tomorrow and stay for the street parade. Rather than me tell you about it any more here’s some photos:

We brought the ‘Flowers for Trudy’ quilt as you can see and everyone has been very impressed and we have sold more tickets which is wonderful although it’s sad to think we may only have it with us for another couple of months.

Jan’s been busy doing demos:

And the tablerunner Mum made was a big hit:

Oh and did I mention the food?

It’s the last day tomorrow so we look forward to seeing you.

Blue is the new black

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Apatchy Kaye

Tiffany Blue actually. Let me go back a little – contrary to popular belief I have been rather busy lately behind the scenes. One of the things I have worked on is re-vamping the blog. As I am somewhat technologically-challenged this has probably taken me longer than it would someone who knew what they were about. But c’est la vie. Apart from the alteration in the header and the addition of the beautiful shade of blue in the background I have also changed the galleries to show each photo rather than a slideshow. There are so many images on the site now that the slideshow was taking way to long to find what you wanted. Hopefully this way is easier for you.

I have also added ‘widgets’ to the bottom of each post that will enable you to share posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more. Not only that but the sidebar on the right under ‘Search’ you can find another link to my own Pinterest page.

This Pinterest page started some time ago and includes lots of quilting-related boards as well as others for Paris (of course) and other places and things that interest me. One board that might interest you is the Pincushion board. This board is filled with ideas that may help you with your Secret Santa challenge. Let me know how you go.

“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come”

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Apatchy Kaye

Thanks Shakespeare. Well maybe not too many wrinkles but definitely with the rest. So it’s that time of year again when there are birthdays galore at Apatchy. Mine was a few weeks past but this week we have the wonderful Jan’s on Sunday (a day she shares with a few others such as Joananne and Susan) and then there’s Mum’s on Wednesday – she will be visiting us and so we can celebrate her special day together – 84 candles this year. Last but not least Apatchy Quilting is 6 years old this year. This means we’ve beaten the statistic that says most small businesses fail within 5 years. Not only are we not failing we are going from one success to the next. To celebrate we’re having an event – here’s a clue

This week only – we’re having a birthday sale – 20% off EVERYTHING (except classes and the sale table). Oh and an additional 10% for those clever people who are in our Geronimo Club. As usual Jan will be running the Tuesday and Wednesday classes and I will be around after Wednesday too so give me a call if you can’t make it for the classes. And for those who live far away – just mention BIRTHDAY in your order and you too will receive the discount.

Smoke Signals from a Log Cabin

Apatchy Quilting's Blog

Category Archives: Events

Busy as Ants

Queen’s birthday weekend

Winners are Grinners 1, 2, 3

Past and present glory

Festival of Broken Needles

And the winner is……..

Can you have too many quilts in one weekend – no way!

Laidley leaps into Spring

Blue is the new black

“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come”

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