WHATS NEW

I have given up my job at the shop so that I have more time for designing new quilts and producing new patterns. Friends and fellow quilters were disappointed to find that I had no quilts entered in our 2011 Adelaide exhibition. This was simply because I hadn't had time to finish any. I have also had the honor of being invited to enter the Master Quilter categories in the 2012 Sydney quilt show and so I need time to create quilts for this.
David and I attended the trade market in Melbourne in November which was very inspirational. I was given a lot of helpful advice from stallholders which I will put to good use in expanding my pattern business. Watch my blog to follow my progress in the new year.
Regards Elizabeth.

Dare to Differ Exhibition

I was thrilled to have my little Umbelliferae quilt accepted into the Dare to Differ exhibition which is on display at Gallery M in the Marion Cultural Centre here in South Australia until 23 Oct 2011. Entry is free and it's well worth a visit. I went to the opening night with a group of friends and we had a wonderful time, in addition to seeing all the interesting and creative quilts we had a nice meal whilst listening to live music by two entertainers who sang in beautiful harmony.
Here at last is a photo of my Umbelliferae quilt.
Regards Elizabeth.

NEW block of the month Spring Evening

Finally I have almost finished my new block of the month design depicting a spring evening in Japan. It is a 9 month program and will soon be available exclusively from Patchwork by Sea. The Kanji Characters on the quilt mean 'spring evening' hence the name.
Regards Elizabeth.

Quilt Encounter

last week I had a wonderful time at quilt encounter catching up with old friends and doing two very exciting workshops. The first was 'Handbags' with Olga Walters, which was a very freeing class by an entertaining teacher with a lovely relaxed anything goes approach, she made the class so much fun and we used different and interesting techniques. I was very pleased with my effort.
The second workshop was two days with Jacqui Karl making 'Layered Leaves'. Jacqui is from New Zealand and it was very enjoyable to hear the familiar accent and mannerisms of my home country. Her workshop was very interesting teaching several different ways to make 3D leaves using some techniques I had not tried up till now. Again I was very pleased with the results.
Regards Elizabeth.

A workshop with Mariya Waters

Mariya's workshop at The Sewing Sanctuary was very inspiring and I learnt some very exciting new techniques. I enjoyed it so much that I continued with the project when I went on a weekend retreat with friends immediately following the workshop. I have almost finished the project and will certainly use the technique in future quilts. Mariya gave us some very useful tips as well and I am looking forward to her return visit next year.
Next on my agenda which I am also very much looking forward to is a few days at Quilt encounter to learn some more new techniques.
Regards Elizabeth.

Trip to Sydney

I have just returned from a wonderful few days in Sydney which nearly didn't happen because of the ash cloud. I missed the first day of the quilt show and the awards ceremony because of it and arrived Wednesday evening so was able to attend the exhibition on the Thursday. I had a lovely time looking at all the beautiful quilts, some of them were simply stunning. It was such a thrill to be awarded two 2nd places with my entries "Baby Rose of Sharon" in the miniature category and "Fantasy Seed Pods" in the Art Quilt category. You will find photos of both these quilts already on my blog. I had an enjoyable few days with friends at the show and also sightseeing around Sydney with beautiful fine days adding to our enjoyment. On Friday evening I attended the dinner put on by the NSW Guild and had a lovely time catching up with friends from past quilting occasions and meeting new people. Now it's time to come back down to earth and get back into work routine.
Regards Elizabeth.

umbelliferae

This is the name of my latest small wall hanging. It is based on the queen Anne's lace flower from the umbelliferae plant family. Umbelliferae are plants with stalks nearly equal in length springing from a common centre and together forming a flat or curved surface, for example parsley fennel, and dill. I had a lovely piece of fabric from McKenna Ryan's range with these flower heads on it and was inspired to develop my quilt on this theme with this fabric as the background. I have embellished it with interesting things like macrame rope, hessian, embroidery and jig-saw puzzles. I will show you a photo when it is finished.
Regards Elizabeth