Friendly Friday - Terry's New Thread

Another week has flown by and it's time for Friendly Friday again!

 Our guest this week is Terry of Terry's New Thread. Terry doesn't live too far away from me so we've actually met in person. I can say she's just as lovely in real life as she is in blog life. 

Terry was recently asked if she was a traditional or modern quilter. She came up with the perfect answer - she's a Fusion Quilter. 

That's my idea of quilting, throw it all in, a bit of the old, something new,  it all works as long as you're having fun. I'll be calling myself a Fusion Quilter if I get asked.

Without further ado it's time for the interview...  

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm an Aussie by choice, I've spent all but the first 6wk of my 41 years of marriage in The Lucky Country.

I have 2 wonderful daughters and 2 wonderful grand children. Born in the USA New England. 

How long have you been quilting?

I started quilting long before rotary cutters. Making about ten quilts over the next 20 years. As one bed quilt wore out it was replaced. All but the first quilt was machine pieced and tied so I guess there is the question of terminology. To me they were quilts.

What enticed you to start quilting?

My father taught me to sew and I had been making my own clothes through most of High School and saving scraps. My  younger brothers both received bow tie quilts which I really liked. Maybe secretly coveted. I studied them working out that they were just squares cut into shapes and sewed back together again. I was in my late teens 18/19 and just did it. We migrated in 1971 and the quilt was packed in the trunk and shipped to Australia.

What do you love about quilting?

Seeing it all come together. I like the journey from fabric and pattern choice (or not) to the finish. Serious quilting began in the 90's with and empty nest, the growth of quilting in Australia and the time stitching gives me to contemplate.

Is there any part of the process that you don't like?

Not real good at binding. If the quilt is completed visually and not needed it might wait hum? Years? Well I have one that has waited at least 3 years and is still waiting.

Do you have a favourite sewing saying or motto?

From my Dad "sewing is following a blueprint" well most of the time except when you wing it.

What model sewing machine do you use?

Bernina 920 a pre computer workhorse that I love.

Bernina 150 newer and it has a nice blanket stitch which I'm learning to use after 12 years of ownership. Can't rush things!!

Do you listen to music while you sew? What is your favourite type or cd?

I listen to A.B.C. 702. Music is very diverse and sometimes I piece consistently enough to follow the book reading or the Boyer Lectures. Not so much recently.

What is your favourite food?

All food is GOOD!!  cookies?

Do you have any furry friends that keep you company while you sew? 

Over the years I have had the pleasure and company of three wonderful cats. I'm thinking it might be time to make a new acquaintance soon.

Tell us about the house block you've made?

I attended the Springwood Quilt Show in 2010. I was gob smacked by a joyous Beatles quilt. Turned out it belonged to Rachael. Blogland gave us the opportunity to become friends. These days I look up at her BlueMts every morning as I make the coffee. The surrounds of the house are an interpretation of the landscape. The house is a reflection of Rachael's joy in color and friends. 

Yay!! I love this fun, friendly, wonky house block set in the Blue Mountains!!!  It's so happy!!! Terry's use of yellow is a wonderful reminder of the Beatles quilt that she had admired.

And here we are in our Bloggy Denim Jackets . TNT and Blue Mountain Daisy - an explosive duo!

Pop over to Terry's blog, Terry's New Thread to see the wonderful Drunkards Path quilt she is working on..

Have a super fun weekend everyone!! 

Starry Hexies

Do you remember The Jetsons?  

I couldn't help but think about the space age family this week, and their home full of amazing gadgets and clever robots, while in my own house... 

Walter the robot vacuum cleaned our floors

Doris dishwasher merrily washed the dishes,

Hans the electric bread maker turned out a beautiful baked loaf,

The Washing Machine ( who doesn't have a name) went round in circles cleaning our clothes for us. 

Mike Rowave warmed up dinner..

The Fridge just stayed cool, hummimg away in the corner

and

My iPhone read me stories and played pod casts to entertain me. 

And while all these lovely appliances where taking care of the house for me, it freed me up to do some Good Old Fashioned hand sewing..

Lots of pieced hexagons for The Springwood Quilt Show 2013 Raffle Quilt.

The committee got together last week and we put all our hexagons together,  they look so wonderful ... skip over to the Springwood Quilt Show blog to have a look. 

By coincidence Barb of Fun With Barb changed her blog header recently, and is using a quilt made with pieced hexagons, here's a link to the post about her wonderful quilt.  

Friendly Friday- Marg from Sunshine? Paradise?

"I'm late, I'm late for a very important date!!!". 

I feel like The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland this week, running around looking at my watch. 

Well, better late than never , so here we are with Friendly Friday!!! Yay!!

This week our quilter extraordinaire ( and crochet carrot creator) is a fellow Aussie, Marg from Sunshine?Paradise?. Her blog is a real journey of sewing exploits, she tells it as it is with progess peeks, mistakes and successes. Marg has some very cute fur babies who get up to funny things, and she makes us jealous with her photos of sunshine because she lives in paradise. 

Hi there Marg, tell us a bit about yourself? 

I live in Queensland Australia. I moved here 13 years ago. I'm originally from Melbourne and I've been lucky enough to live in lots of beautiful places, including New Zealand and Singapore. I learnt to sew at school, and quite often sewed my own clothes. Living In NZ I found it cheaper to make my clothes than to buy them. When I lived in Singapore I bought my first really good sewing machine, an electronic Pfaff and I learnt how to draft clothing patterns, which was very helpful for when I was living in NZ. 

How long have you been quilting?

I started quilting about 10 years ago. My daughter went to school across the road from a quilting shop owned by Lynette Anderson.  I loved her whimsical patterns and the girls that worked there were so helpful in getting me started. It was hard to find nice modern fabric back then and after making a couple of quilts I decided quilting wasn't really my thing. 

What enticed you to start quilting? 

I was drawn back into quilting in 2010 after finding lots and lots of fabulous blogs that offered simple and very helpful tutorials. I loved seeing all the amazing fabrics that were now available, and thus was born my ever expanding stash and a need to use some of it before it took over my house.

What do you love about quilting?

Oh my most favourite thing of all about quilting, is the fabric. I love looking at and fondling my fabric. I love the process of choosing which fabrics to use in a project. I could do that all day every day.

Is there any part of the process that you don't like?

Hmmm, I don't like basting, although using basting spray has made the task a little less horrible. I'm also not that great with the actual quilting part. I tend to forget about the quilting when I'm making a quilt, so when I've finished a quilt top it can take me months to decide how to quilt it.

Do you have a favourite sewing saying or motto? 

Measure twice, cut once.  

What model sewing machine do you use?

I have a Janome Horizon, and I love it.   I miss the ITD on my Pfaff but the Janome is a fantastic machine.

Do you listen to music while you sew? What is your favourite type or cd?

I do listen to music. I have a good selection on my iPad. Having a teenage daughter I get to listen to a lot of contemporary music. On my iPad you will find anything from LMFAO, The Black Keys, Gotye  through to Jamiroquai, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Tears For Fears, Simple Minds and Michael Buble. (I'm still kind of a disco chick reliving the 80s, musically at least.)  At the moment I really like listening to some of David Guetta's tracks.

What is your favourite food?

Chocolate without a doubt!

I'm lucky enough to live in an area that has beautiful fresh ingredients and access to lots of international ingredients too. (except for some particularly yummy stuff from the USA)  I love to cook Thai, Greek or Italian.  We have some great local restaurants too, so I can choose from Indian, Thai, Italian, French, Mexican or contemporary Australian. In a nutshell, I love food!

Do you have any furry friends that keep you company while you sew? 

Oh yes I have three furry friends. Two cats, Bailey and Lulu and a dog, a Lhasa Apso named Karma. The cats are especially helpful at testing out the quilts while I'm trying to hand sew the binding.

Tell us about the house block you've made?

I wanted to try making a paper pieced house. I spent a long time, a very long time searching for THE pattern, I finally found this one and it's by Leila at Where The Orchids Grow.  I loved looking through my stash to find some fabrics that I thought would have a meaning for Rachael and would represent me too. I had too put some Sis Boom in and although I didn't have any blue daisy fabric, the fabric for the house was blue and looked like little daisies. I wanted lots of bright colour in the block and I just had to have hearts on the chimneys, a "yellow brick road" front path and a red front door. I couldn't do a house without including fussy cut prints in the windows. I was over the moon when I found the fabric in my stash that had a girl with dark hair. Rachael's having a fun time in her house, so much fun that the painting is doing a happy dance too!

Marg, This house is so Brilliant!!! So many fabulous details!!! I love the Rachaeldaisy in the window, and if the window was bigger it would show you partying with me too. The hearts in the chimneys are just sooo cute!!

Marg has very exciting news this week - she sold her house ( her real life house), Yay!! so pop over to her blog Sunshine? Paradise? to congratulate her!! Maybe when things settle down a bit she'll get on with this wonderful Starflower quilt...

Wishing everyone a super fun weekend!!!

Friendly Friday- Sujata of The Root Connection

Happy Friday everyone!! Woohoo, doing the Friday dance!!! This week I'm so happy to feature Sujata of The Root Connection. Sujata is one of those people who makes me so thankful I discovered blogging. She inspires me and makes me smile. For those of you who know Sujata you'll enjoy getting to know her better and those who haven't seen her amazing quilts you're in for a treat!!!

Tell us a bit about yourself? 

Originally from India, I moved to the United States in 1986. I have always loved textiles. Growing up in such a diverse country has left quite an influence on me. I love any kind of crafts and any thing hand-made.  

How long have you been quilting? 

I took my first quilting class in 1992  but got addicted to the hobby after moving to Seattle in 1998.

What enticed you to start quilting?

Nothing glamorous... I am afraid.
I don't know if it was limited bank balance or cooler Seattle weather and the need of cozy covers.
Whether it was lots of leftover fabrics from my previous doll making hobby or a challenge to myself if I could sew a bed size quilt.
Or a visit to the local library with a friend and browsing through the books on quilting.
I honestly can not think of just one single incident that triggered the process.

What do you love about quilting?

Everything!
I love oddly mixed colors, all sorts textures and prints and to be able to work with fabric as if they were paints and my design wall was canvas.

I am amazed at the art of knitting and weaving. Yards and yards of strings and thread can be made in to a garment is quite impressive to me. I think quilting is sort of the same thing, only in reverse. To take hundreds of pieces and fragments of all sorts of fabrics and sew them in one piece in an artistic way is so entertaining. It never gets old!

I also love the fact that quilts document our lives as we make them. Whether it is labeled or not, we all know exactly what was happening in our lives when we were working on that quilt. It is fascinating to me that I look at some of my quilts and get transported back in time within seconds. Sad moments, happy times it does not really matter, they all gets stitched into it.  May be that's why I love hand quilting too. It calms me down and soothes my soul.

Is there any part of the process that you don't like?

I bet you have heard this before. I don't like basting at all!

Do you have a favourite sewing saying or motto?

Perfection is so over rated.  

What model sewing machine do you use?

I am currently using a Viking Mega Quilter. It only has one stitch. It works  great.
I also have a 730 Bernina in a box.. Still brand new and waiting for it's turn to be loved.. One of these days it will see the light of day. 

Do you listen to music while you sew? What is your favourite type or cd?

I listen to TV and make sure that the world is doing alright while I am sewing at the kitchen table. For some reason, my sewing machine and music systems don't get along in the sewing room. LOL!
I like it quiet if I am working on a design wall. I find it less distracting. 

What is your favorite food?

Spicy Indian food, of course! I also love fruits. They are my chocolate :)

Do you have any furry friends that keep you company while you sew? 

I  have several bird feeders and the birds keep me entertained with their chirping and singing. While the squirrels and chipmunks always keep things interesting.

Tell us about the house block you've made? 

When I selected the fabrics, I was thinking of your exuberant personality I have come to love. I always imagine fire works and beautiful paintings all around you. The garden outside your door must always bloom with happy energy. I knew somehow I was going to say all that in this block. I hope you like it.

Thank You Sujata!! I love this block!!! It so alive with movement and colour. The river running in front of the house is reflecting the wonderful colours in the sky. As soon as Gbf saw it he said there were fireworks in the sky! And how welcoming is the polka dot door, it's all so much fun!!

Go and visit Sujata's blog The Root Connection, there is the sweetest post about a frog in her garden at the moment. Basket Full Of Scraps is another blog Sujata started for quilters to share their scrappy projects, It's always worth a visit. I just hope we get to sew with our bags of scraps in real life one day!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Hunters Hill Quilter's Show 2012

This was a welcome sight on a cold windy day... The colourful patchwork welcome at the The Hunters Hill Quilters Biennaual Show. 

I didn't take a lot of photos, there was just so much to see and enjoy, but here are just a few quilts that caught my eye.

Stars Among the Strips by Marie Grove.

Oak Leaves and Tulips by Beryl Roche is a copy of an 1880's quilt from the book 'Four Blocks' by Linda Carlson. Beryl made it without wadding, creating a lovely coverlet suitable for warm evenings.

Periwinkle Confetti by Heather Watts (quilted by Nic Bridges) was wonderful. Great use of colour and occasional popping fussy cuts.

It was HUGE at 94x 104 inches.

I loved the quilted circles in Ohio Meadow by Judy Simpson 

Jenny Stitt's Don't Change the Yellow was inspired by a Victorian quilt shown on Barbara Brackman's blog. 

A highlight of the Hunters Hill Quilters show is the Wagga Room. For those of you that don't know Waggas are an Aussie quilt that working men such as shearers and drovers would use. Big enough for 1 person and small enough to carry in their travelling jobs. They were often made with jute wheat bags, old clothing, woollen scraps roughly sewn together. These were hard wearing quilts for hard wearing times. The Waggas made by the Hunters Hill Quilters are wonderful simple designs with old blankets and woollen off cuts, old furnishing fabrics etc.

This was a favourite... made by Jess Wheelahan .

And finally here is the Best in Show.... Chrysanthemum II by Caroline Davis. 

In her own words " The border came first - Japanese kimono cotton fabric, then I created the centre to compliment with more kimono silks and cottons. The inspiration was the fabric"

A captivating quilt, the more you look, the more you see!! I'm sorry the photos don't do it justice.

Here is Kathy Doughty's Uzbek Patches. such wonderful play with pattern and the shot cottons. It's hard to see but the dense perle hand quilting add so much texture to this beautiful quilt. The pattern is in her book Making Quilts -The Promise Of Joy. 

And here are more quilts from the book on the Material Obsession stand. It was like an exotic bazaar of colourful treasures. Fabric heaven!! You can see how popular it was!!

I couldn't take the the whole stand home so I selected these few yummy bits to add to my stash. How beautiful is the red bird fabric, it looks like a watercolour. The bird is giving the fun Echino car fabric a funny look. Love those big Reece Scannell Spots and shot cottons.

This is the bundle of wool scraps we bought from the Wagga room. A wooly pile of wonderful!! 

Thanks Hunters Hill Quilters for an inspiring show!! I look forward to the next show, just wish I didn't have to wait 2 years...

For more photos from the show check out the Material Obsession website here.