Quilt and craft fair debrief

Had a great time as always but didn't buy as much.  The fabrics were lovely as usual and if I had seen a bali pop I liked then I might have been tempted but fat quarters are so expensive here compared to US prices so I much prefer to internet shop.
However I did support local a bit - I bought some lovely varigated threads in cute lolly like mixed packs of mini spools for accent hand quilting around applique etc.  I also bought a triangular ruler and a drunkards path template.
I attended two workshops which were interesting.  One on how to use jelly rolls, which gave me some good ideas about sewing strips together for a string quilt type finish and also about separating strips into light, medium and dark, both of which I knew in theory but it was a good refresher.  The second one was on quilt as you go techniques which I would like to try at some stage but think it may need practice!
The quilt exhibition as always was lovely, my favourite probably being a 1930s repro quilt with a gorgeously sunny yellow background.  Not the most technical but it made me happy just looking at it.
So inspired to start cutting again - have had a bit of a break but have some plans now and some definite projects other than my hand quilted hexagons...

Quilt and Craft Show

I am making my annual pilgrimage to the Quilt and Craft Show tomorrow.  Really looking forward to it!  I have my eye on a couple of workshops, hope to get some cool cottons for hand quilting and maybe find a nifty gadget or two.
Material isn't high on my priority list this year.  I have quite the stash already and need to use some of it up!  That being said, if there is something so unusual, so amazing...then I might have to get it. :)
I will also be interested to see the quilt display, I love what people come up with, it really is an art form.
Watch out for a show round up sometime over the weekend...

Linking things together

Blogger has some cool toys for seeing who is reading my modest little blog.  I am very excited that lots of you come from the USA!  How international and as I consider the whole modern quilting movement in the States to be very exciting I feel just a little bit honoured.

Anyway, enough blushing.  If any of you out there want to find me on Facebook (don't even think about Twitter!) I am here:
https://www.facebook.com/JemimaQuilts
Feel free to like me and share with others.  I am keen to be in touch with other quilters as I find you guys so inspiring.

Balinese Wedding Quilt

 This is the latest quilt to have been kept under wraps until it was gifted last weekend...  It is a rather cute rectangle in square design using a luscious jelly roll (or rather Bali pop) of batik fabrics.  I am becoming rather fond of batiks and appreciating their saturation and design.  At a distance they give this beautiful watercolour effect while up close they are a riot of pattern and colour. 

Anyway, this particular quilt was for a good friend of mine who got married on the weekend.  She is an Indonesian teacher and loves Bali and Indonesia, so this was (I hope) an appropriate gift!

It is a good large lap quilt size and generous enough for two to snuggle under.

 The little applique hearts, also in batik, scattered over the quilt make it just that little more romantic. :)  Thanks to my teacher Trish, who suggested adding the touch of hand quilting around the hearts.  This won't be the last time I do that - it really adds another dimension and personalises it even more.  I am really getting into the hand quilting at the moment - ironic as I took up quilting to find a craft where I didn't need to hand sew!

The binding is the same chatreuse found in flashes in the quilt - I couldn't get enough of the "pop" it produces so had to use it for the binding.  The back is a real indigo blue/purple with what almost look like little silvery stars on it.  Also appropriate if you know my husband and I...

Themed Quilts

Every year Swancon (the Perth Science Fiction convention) is held at Easter.  Every year there is an art show and this year for the first time I decided to enter it!  I don't consider myself much of an artist (although I was in an art exhibition at uni, which was a laugh) and I entered this one in the spirit of things with a couple of themed quilts. 
The first one is a bit of a laugh and was great fun to make - square in square with the central spaceship material being 3D!  That's right 3D!  And it really worked.  Looked more hologram like to my eyes but there was a definite effect.  The glasses made the wilder patterned material jump out too.  Whoa! :)

The second one was a Manga/anime themed improvisational quilted wallhanging which I called "Thunderblossom" after the main character.  I love the rich gold metallic which is throughout each of the materials in this one.

It's on its side here but you get the idea...
Anyway they have now both gone to good homes, where I hope they will be loved and enjoyed.

K's quilt

Another gift given and received and so another quilt to blog about. :)

 This is a "string" quilt of lap quilt proportions (48" x 56") made for my sister in law for her 40th birthday.  She loves pink and green together so I took the pinks and greens from the "Ruby" line of fabric plus a pop of aqua and a fresh Kona white and put them together using this as inspiration.  I didn't paper piece it however as I don't do paper piecing, stubborn person that I am.  Instead I centred the string strips either side of the white to create 8" finished blocks and set them to create this lattice effect.  All that pink and green reminded me of a climbing rose so the lattice seemed to fit nicely.

I bound it with a pink on pink hummingbird print that can also be seen on the back and which went perfectly with the pink on the front.  Most of the back is the green gingham.
So that's my first ever string quilt.  It isn't my last, there is already a finished small quilt top using the aqua and grey from the same ruby line waiting to be basted and quilted.  More of that anon hopefully. :)

A new year

Which will hopefully bring more sewing and more projects to write about!  So many of my 2011 projects have been gifts so there has been a bit of a time delay in blogging about them.  Hopefully there will be more creations which aren't secrets this year so I can put them up sooner.  Anyhoo, here are some small scale projects I made as Christmas presents for the in laws this year.  Each one involves a part of a layer cake cut into 5" finished squares.  Nothing too technical but pretty sweet I think.  I bound them all in the same yellow and white dot material, which gave them an interesting harmony together.
Not the best photos as they were taken inside but here is the table runner/chair throw:

 It was backed in a dusty pink cotton, nice and simple and quilted in the ditch longways and with double lines shortways.
This is the small square quilt - good for a baby, a small tablecloth, for the park...

 It's from the same layercake as the first one but as you can see I have separated out the pinks, blues and greens from the yellows, reds and teals.  This one is backed with a bright teal polycotton for harder wear and washing.  It is quilted more heavily too with a not quite random double track pattern in both directions.  I'm really enjoying experimenting with straight line quilting.

Finally the set of six placemats (clashing beautifully with our doona cover).  Different layercake from which I chose the blues and yellows (there is only the brown slices left now as I used the pink ones in this quilt.  These are backed with an apple green and white spot material.  I quilted these on the diagonal so each little square is marked with a cross.