Here’s a sneak peek of the Opulent Overlays workshop happening here as we speak. The incomparable Lisa Walton is here today showing us how to incorporate the shapes and curves of intricate ironwork into our textile artwork. This is our progress so far:
We had a great day on Saturday with Laura Macpherson showing us how to do altered books. We had such a good time that it was difficult to leave and that wasn’t because we’d glued our fingers together! The class was supposed to finish at 2.00pm but we didn’t finish until 3.00pm and even then….. There were books with teacups, birds, elephants, Paris, bats and the sea. Laura showed us how to make them our own and showed us lots of different techniques from watercolours to carving to make a unique piece. Thanks Laura for giving us a new addiction!
It was great fun playing with paper, paint, pencils,glue and fabric and we all found inspiration from a range of places although it was quite a challenge for some of us. Just look around you and see how things can ‘speak to you’ whether it’s for an altered book or a quilt or some other challenge! I found these tulips were quite inspiring – they were a gift from Di for Apatchy’s 5th birthday. You can see a wall hanging that June made for the same event on ‘Your Gallery’.
Many of us are looking forward to a retreat at Esk this weekend. Hopefully there will be many pieces completed during our sojourn (well started anyway). It will be like having a holiday…………
Now this leads us nicely into another subject. It’s about time that we have another challenge. This annual event has become something of a tradition at Apatchy and this year is no exception. So…. Announcing the 2013 Apatchy Challenge – here’s the rules:
– the quilt can be any shape but the combined total of all sides should be between 72″ and 160″ (so if you’re making a square item it will be between18″ and 40″ square.)
– any shape is allowable but it must be able to hang from a rod at the challenge prize event (so generally this means a sleeve on the back please)
– the quilt must be hand or machine quilted and bound
– the quilt can be any style and incorporate any technique (appliquéd, pieced, beaded, art quilt or traditional) as long as it fits the theme.
– your entry must be received at Apatchy no later than 22nd November, 2013.
– winners of the Challenge and Viewer’s Choice will be chosen at the Christmas party in early December (actual date to be advised but either 30th November or 7th December) when quilts will be returned to their creators.
and the theme for this year is …………………….
HOLIDAY
………so off we go!
We have a winner for the competition to guess how many bolts there are in store. After several days counting I can now confirm that we have 1,043 bolts. And the person who guessed nearest to this wins a fabric pack including the new “Happy Hour”, which means that if she is faced with a “two wine” block this is the fabric to use! Here’s the prize
And who is the winner……..it is Susan B who guessed 999 so she was only 44 out. Congratulations Susan.
And while we’re congratulating people – big congrats to Bec and her husband Brendan. Their third daughter Alexis Jade arrived on 25th June “at home in the kitchen. Caught by her dad. 3.48kg and 50cm long. All doing well.” Here’s a lovely photo.
Out today at the foundation piecing workshop we’re running with Hiroe Mogi – the expert of all things Japanese. Enjoying seeing the blocks coming together. Here’s some photos:
but wait there’s more:
The trouble with having responsibility for a blog is that if you don’t write anything for over a fortnight people start wondering what you’ve been up to. Of course if they knew that you’d had parents and then grandchildren staying for that time they would know the answer! So here’s a little photographic montage to explain the absence:
First the teenager-in-residence took me to the markets for Mother’s Day – a very pleasant way to spend the day, then the children arrived and we enjoyed baby ‘chino’s, pony rides and the baby animal farm as well as a trip to the City.
The youngest female in the family has been groomed to continue the quilting tradition. She attended classes while she was visiting and was very interested in the whole process. During one class she took some photos with my phone. The pictures she took show a interesting perspective on the class don’t you think!
It’s been an interesting time at Apatchy with classes as well as visitors. Last year we started the ‘Campfire Sessions’ where one of you clever ladies show the rest of us a glimpse into your expertise. A couple of weeks ago the talented Lynette showed some of the group how to go about free motion quilting. Her patience and simple explanations made it fun and there were at least two new converts by the end of the class. Here she is showing Margaret a thing or two while Sharyn gets going on her piece.
We also had two VIP visitors this week. Nicola brought her mother in law (who is visiting from Scotland) to see us and of course the lovely Isla, now 12 weeks old.
And so to this weekend – I had a look around the Mad Quilters’s Gathering. It is always fun to attend a quilt show and see all the lovely fabrics out there. Everyone seems to have slightly different ranges. I said hello to Nikki Tervo and she promised she will come to visit us again soon to show us all her lovely buttons and stitcheries in person so stay tuned!
Also chatted with Tamara from Twilight Retreats. She mentioned that she’d already spoken with some of you about our upcoming retreat so you probably know all the details already. For those who don’t we are looking at the weekend of the 16th August. Those of you who won’t be in class this week please contact me.
Finally today was spent re-arranging and sorting things out after the melee of the past month. The office mess was starting to take over and I was in danger of being buried by paperwork. Don’t you hate having to do all the tidying and so on before you actually get a chance to do some sewing (have I mentioned this before). Usually it’s just annoying but today was quite satisfying. After I’d juggled some papers I used some styrofoam I purloined from a shop to make a sort of design wall and pinned all the blocks we’ve received so far for Trudy’s memorial quilt – the one we’re donating to the Blue Nurses. All blocks have to be by the end of May so not long to go but still time. Not being a very patient person I didn’t want to wait until then plus you have been asking me what the blocks look like so here they are – not trimmed to size (obviously) and just randomly put on the wall (well as random as I can be). Don’t they look lovely? Wouldn’t Trudy be pleased – I think it’s a very happy quilt. What do you think?
Oh and last weekend, when I was in the city, we stopped in at Tiffany’s (live in hope). The release of ‘The Great Gatsby’ movie has obviously been an inspiration for their visual merchandising as you can see here
Have you ever been inspired to make a quilt by a movie? Where does your inspiration come from then?
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….
It was very exciting to welcome three people from the United States to Apatchy over the past week. First we saw Gail and Leonard from Texas. They had come to Brisbane on a cruise and decided to visit us on the only day they had free – thanks guys.
Secondly we met the lovely Martha from Wisconsin. Again Martha had little time in Brisbane but chose to visit our Tuesday morning class. It really is lovely to meet quilters from other countries and find that we all still have so much in common (except for her homeland’s snowy weather which we here in tropical Brisbane can probably live without!) Here’s a photo of Martha and a couple of girls enjoying morning tea. She’s the one second from the right.
And another in the classroom, working hard…
Smoke Signals from a Log Cabin 