Houston - Power of the Machine

As I walked around the International Quilt Festival I marvelled at the intricacy of the work that the quilters have achieved, clearly masters of the machine.

First and second place in the Merit Quilting sponsored by Bernina caught my eye for obvious reasons, first place Super Star by Marilyn Badger really shone with it's pops of green and blue, and up close the detail in the quilting was way beyond anything I have ever attempted!

and second place Five Bar Blues by Diane Loomis, attracted my attention with it's simple piecing, but intricate quilting.

But what about this beauty, Fiesta Mexico by Karen Kay Buckley and Renae Haddadin

This quilt won the Master Award for Innovative Artistry sponsored by Maywood Studios (a prize of $5000)

Check out the machine embroidery on Adventure Awaits by Sue McCarty. My eldest son is a big Lord of the Rings fan...so I wanted to show him how it translated onto a quilt!

Of course it is always quilts with pink or red that catch my eye...

 Apple Blossom Dance by Maggie Weiss

Leaf like Life by Dalia Eliraz

La Serrenata by Ann Horton

Digitised embroidery, and hand long stitch...lovely

Last but not least there was lots of great quilts from the Modern Quilt Guild on display, this one is Building Bridges by Jacquie Gering....make sure you pop over to their web site to see all of their quilts that were at the exhibit.

I could go on with these example of machine quilting...but I will stop now :) 

Houston and back again

OMG what a trip! So many quilts, so much fabric, so much walking! Prepare for a big blog post :)

It's hard to know how to start describing the International Quilt Festival at Houston. As my first trip all I wanted to do was soak up the atmosphere, but there is so much to take in. Mum and I went every day for four days and we still didn't see everything!

First of all the halls are huge, and there are so many people, so all you can do is look at what is right in front of you, that way you don't bump into anyone :)

Here's what the food hall looks like at lunch time! This was only half of the hall, there was that many people again to the right of me.

On the last day after the tour buses had left I wander around just taking photos of how big the halls where! This first shot is of the hall is where all the quilts were, and the second photo is where all the retail stores where...the lights on the dark ceiling give you an idea of how deep the halls are!

Apparently 60,000 people visited over the four days the show was opened.

Enough of fact and figures! How about the quilts!

Wow....some of the quilts were...wow

Of course there was the Best of Show America, Let it Shine by Sherri Reynolds, my photos really don't do it justice....there are better photos over at Dutchbaby, and for the really curious there is a 5 minute youtube video to watch of Sherri Reynolds being interviewed, this also has some great close ups of the quilt.

There are thousands of Swarovski crystals that have been used, the words of the Gettysburg address quilted around the centre star...

Check out the back... it was all done a 20 year old domestic machine....impressive!!

A list and photos of all the winning quilts can be found over at the International Quilt Association website.

There was such a great variety of quilts, but I am a real sucker for quilts done by Japanese quilters, mainly because their eye for colour is so different, and the level of detail in their hand work is incredible....one of my favourite quilts that had the most impressive hand work was The Twelve Days  of Christmas by Osami Gonohe, who won Third prize for innovative applique.

Aren't those little Santa's so cute?

 Busy elves....

The little white dots above the rooftops that look like snow are french knots...

I spent quite a lot time looking at this and it still kills me that the quilt is hand appliqued, and hand quilted!

One of my favourite quilts from the show that has a more modern feel to it is Majestic Tulips by Chizuko Kojima.

I love the use of the velvet and satin which makes parts of the quilt glow...

The colour palate is interesting....and again the quilt is hand appliqued and quilted.

In fact I don't normally do brown (actually not at all) but I did buy some yardage of the brown text print above....who knows maybe I will make a brown quilt!

And yes I acquired some other fabric...all I will say about that is...I bought my husband a new suitcase at Macy's which I was able to fill for the return trip. I will put together another couple of posts over the next week with some of my other photos.

Up, Up and away

Guess what? Today, Mum and I are flying to the U.S. for the quilt festival in Houston...

But first we have 9 days in New York....so exciting...it's my first trip to the U.S., the woolies have been dusted off .... Mrs Billings' triangles cut...and reading glasses purchased, as sewing all those little hexagons has strained my eyes!

Last week I tried really hard to get my vintage holiday quilt finished...but with getting ready for the big trip I just couldn't get it done...but so this isn't a quilt free post I thought I would share progress...

Finally pushed through my fabric paralysis and selected a little Denyse Schmidt print for the sashing and border...

As you can see it almost done, only the top and bottom borders to go...they will have to wait now...till I get back from Houston...oh so exciting...talk to you in November :)

Vintage Holiday Quilt-a-long Blocks Done

Whoop whoop...finally finished the blocks from the Vintage Holiday quilt-a-long, I did two blocks in August then got distracted...the pieces for the remaining 10 blocks were cut out months ago.....plus the pieces for the Blogger's Block of the Month....it was driving me crazy with all these little piles of triangles and squares...and do you think I could remember the order of the blocks :( Note to self don't get over organised!

They are all quite cute!

Now I have gone into fabric paralysis over the sashing...hope to emerging from that soon!

However the decision on the outer border has been decided...see the pretty floral in the last photo...that's it!

Off to agonise over the sashing!

Something a bit crazy

Last weekend I did a workshop! A two day workshop, on a completely fabulous quilt....but for me it is something of a crazy project....this will be what they call a "slow boiler"... apparently the average elapsed time for completion is 12 months!

The Mrs Billing's Coverlet, you can find the original quilt online at Britain's York Quilt Museum and Gallery, and the pattern was drafted by Karen Styles (Somerset Patchwork and Quilting, Melbourne). Darwin Patchworkers and Quilters bought her to Darwin specially for the workshops.

This quilt will be made from Denyse Schmidt fabrics, of which I have many, including the new Chicopee range.

Day 1 was spent choosing fabrics and cutting out little triangles, and sewing them together by hand.

Day 2 was spent choosing more fabrics, and making up hexagons! Yikes...tiny little 5/8" hexagons and little diamonds ! The only sewing I got done was stitching the little diamonds together in the center

It is looking very fetching I think!

Eventually the centre will look like this

I am going to do all the borders on the machine, with the obvious exception of the hexagons. I am not sure whether I am committed to do the whole quilt, it is 94"x 94", and apparently there is over 6000 pieces....starting to get the crazy part now? I would like to do the first hexagon border, so we will see how I feel about the rest of the quilt then!

Despite feeling a bit intimidated by the complexity of the quilt, the templates and instructions for the quilt are easy to use, and of course with Karen's tutelage over the two days makes you think anything is possible!

If you get an opportunity to do one of Karen's workshops go do it...go and challenge yourself, you will be surprised how a good technique can make a "complex" pattern easier!

Karen has just blogged about her visit to the Territory...check it out here!

Blogger's BOM The Big Catchup

Here we go....twelve blocks from the Blogger's BOM are all done...they are quite pretty!

Block 7 Cluck Cluck Sew

Block 8 Mrs Schmenkman

Block 9 Cabbage Quilts

Block 10 Pam Kitty Morning

These last two are my favourites, not sure if that's because they are the last two, or just because I got to use all of my favourite red prints!

Block 11 Bumble Beans

Block 12 Amy's Creative Side

And of course last but not least the "all together now" shot...not sure how to set these, but I will wait for the final post from Jackie over at Canton Village to decide.

Should I try and incorporate these seven blocks from my red and white folly earlier in the year?

They are all different sizes, so it would be an interesting challenge!!

Sunburst Orange Fun

Back to my fun I blogged about last month with my Sunburst template, I decided to run up another two blocks after the first one went so well.

The second block was very snazzy with the pink and orange stripe...really love that stripe :)

Check out the funky toile with the skeletons...sorry I can't remember the name of the fabric :( but I did get it from FabricWorm

The third block has a funky vibe as well, with the Flea Market yellow floral and the strobing black and white spikes...did a bit of "auditioning" for my center...the floral wasn't quite right...

But the orange with the yellow spot was better...

These three blocks will make a great table runner...

Or maybe one of those outdoor banners?

Just joking about the outdoor banner thing...I think I will put on narrow border and bind it a black pin stripe and a table runner it will be!

Look out real soon for a big catch up on my Blogger's block of the month!