UFO finished

I have been very lax in updating this blog, though I must confess that I have not been fiddling much. I have been reading lots and I may blog about that later.

I wrote about the quilt top I made from nine-patch blocks which I swapped way back in 1996. I finished off the top recently by adding a couple of borders and sent it off to be quilted. A couple of weeks ago I bound it by machine, so it is finally finished. My only problem now is what to do with it. Here is a photo.

Checking in

I have been very lax in updating this blog, both because of lack of energy and the fact that I have done almost no fibre stuff for weeks.

I did manage to finish off a quilt top I started back in 1996 and it is now with a professional quilter. I promise a photo when I get it back. The quilt started as a nine-patch swap between Scquilters - the Australia-New Zealand online quilting group. There was so much interest that we were broken up into groups according to our favoured colours and I ended up with the mid - to - dark green group. I joined my swap bits up pretty quickly after I got them and produced a top and that is where it has remained for the last 14 years. I decided it needed two more borders and finally finished it off last week. Phew - only 3 more quilt UFOs left. Let's not mention other kinds!

And here's a photo of some fibre related stuff: Amber posing on a cushion next to a stuffed needlepoint tabby.

Scquilters' Retreat Signature Squares

I have finished putting the 80 squares together into a top. I think I am going to use this as a lap quilt for the sofa.

The next task is sandwiching and then quilting. I have found some batik style flannel in my stash, so I am considering using that as a backing. I have some batting that I could use, but I think that, combined with the flannel, may make the quilt too heavy.


I will get some advice from my sewing group tomorrow. I need it - I haven't made a quilt larger than a metre square in years.

80 times 2 equals 160

Last May I participated in the siggy square swap at the SCQuilters Retreat here in Perth. I ended up with 80 squares. Here is a sample of a square (I chose this one because it has minimal information - most have full name, location and often email address of the swapper which would make for privacy problems).

The coloured triangles are actually squares, so the underneath part can be cut off. These triangles, sewn together, make up another square. I have now cut them all off and stitched them together.


All I need to do now is press them and trim to size . . . . They will be approximately 3" squares and I will have 160 of them. I am still thinking about that!

As for the siggy squares, I have chosen a layout and they are spread all over the spare bed. A bit more shuffling and I will be able to sew them together.

Twisted Scarf

I found the pattern for this scarf in the first issue of Thr3fold and started knitting it back in May at the Scquilters Retreat. It is a very simple and intriguing pattern.

I finally finished it a few weeks ago, just before the cold weather finished! The yarn is Noro Silk Garden and my version is knitted on 7mm needles.

It owes its appearance on the blog to Wendy who saw it at the Retreat and enquired about its progress. Thanks, Wendy.

One thing after another

I have been so involved in all sorts of activities (and most of them related to textiles!) that I have been too slack to write in the blog. So this is a kind of catch up.

Following the SCQuilters Retreat I hung the Australia Wide art quilt exhibition at QuiltWest on Tuesday the 20th. I didn't do it alone (Margery Goodall was the artistic director and top row hanger) but it took us quite a long time.

The quilts looked fabulous and it was wonderful to be able to look at them at close quarters. It is impossible to see details on a web image. The range of techniques and materials used was mind blowing. I wish I could afford to buy some of them.


I visited the quilts on Wednesday and Friday, travelling to the Craft Fair by train. The new Mandurah line is so quick and easy - provided you have someone to drop you off at the station so you don't have to find parking. I also spent some time looking at the vendors' stalls. I didn't buy much at all, except for a book about photo imagery on fabric and some wool dyes. I did a hands on workshop on knitting socks with a circular needle and had to buy some sock yarn for that. I just love the way that yarn patterns itself. Otherwise I was very circumspect.

Saturday I went to the Innovative Stitches Group and helped to mount the group textile piece for the exhibition which opens next week. I don't have any pieces in the exhibition because I joined the group only this year, but the work that has been done is stunning.


Sunday I made a small effort to tidy the house after all the comings and goings, then went back to the Convention Centre to pull down the exhibition. This was a VERY much faster job than the hanging of them.

Monday I packed up the quilts and sent them back to NSW, then stitched out a cross stitch design that I had digitised. This one worked well.



Tuesday I did another 4D workshop with Pam. This one was on wildflowers and I am quite pleased with the result. I am thinking about using this technique to embellish some photo printed fabric . . .


Wednesday and today I did a breadmaking demonstration for Helen's kindy class. They also made butter from cream and they just loved eating the fresh bread and butter. They also had a visit from Farmer Mick - a wonderful experience for them.

Scquilters' Retreat

Scquilters (Southern Cross Quilters) is an online quilting group that was formed in 1994. Its members are all Australians or New Zealanders or expats with strong connections to these countries. I have been a member since 1995.

The 2008 Scquilters' Retreat started today. There is one held every year, each time in a different state, sometimes even in a different country (there has been one in New Zealand). The first one was held in 1998, and some of the people present at this one have gone to all of them. This is my second - I went to the other one held in Perth in 2002.

It is being held at the Broadwater Pagoda Resort Hotel. I don't think the staff know what has hit them. There are 126 attendees - all women, and the noise level is pretty high. Most are staying in the hotel or at the associated apartments a couple of hundred metres down the road.

I am sharing with another woman. We had booked one of the cheapest rooms. Annabell registered last night, and because I wasn't coming till this afternoon, offered a bed to someone else whose plans had changed. Turned out that the room wasn't a double with twin beds as requested, but one with a double bed, so a rollout bed had to be brought in. Annabell complained about the messed up booking with the result that she was upgraded.

We now have an apartment with twin beds, a kitchenette, a laundry and a spa bath - all at the original price. It certainly pays to complain if you are dissatisfied!

A later addition:
Here is a picture taken on the Saturday night. The lady second from right and not wearing a tiara is Wendy Pang who founded the group.

Various bits finished and started

The first textile group I ever joined met today as we do on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month. When we started (nearly 20 years ago) we were all quilters. Now we bring all sorts of things along to our fortnightly gatherings. Today there were some hexagon balls being made by Fairlie and Helen, a beautiful William Morris inspired quilt being hand quilted by Sheila, Lois knitting a sock from yarn she had spun herself, Marianne doing intricate cross stitch and me signing siggy squares for the Scquilters Retreat which happens in May. The other members were unable to attend for various reasons - mostly to do with travelling or family demands.

I finished the squares and was given a round of applause. I had constructed 80 (there are supposedly 78 swappers). I messed up one today and tried to wash out the error. The pen I was using proved to be indelible, but the stamped images disappeared. I need to heat set at least one square and test again. I don't think there will be many people who will wash the squares or the quilt they make from them, but it is always a possibility. So, apart from that, siggy squares finished.

Lois gave me a magazine with a knitted Moebius scarf featuring buttonholes. Time to revisit this technique. I bought a 120cm long circular needle last year in Portland. Tonight I have cast on 210 stitches ready for the difficult first row. I will tackle that tomorrow.

I learned a lot today

This morning I went to computer club at Bestway. The lesson was on using QuickFonts to make applique letters and thanks to my experiments on Monday I was right up there in following the method. Learned a couple of new things as well, including how to get rid of a font you have made and no longer want, and some sources for free fonts. There was some great show and tell too.

Then I went to Teena's and had lunch at her cafe. There were 5 0r 6 Scquilters there as a result of an offer that Bobbie made on the list. She gave a demonstration on the Wondercut rulers, showing how easy they are to use and what different and great results you can get. Now I have no excuse not to make the quilt I have been promising my daughter these last four or five years. The design we selected is based on half-square triangles and I was procrastinating. I made a queen size quilt using these triangles made the conventional way. All that precision sewing and trimming - ugh. I feel much happier about them now. I have had the fabric for the quilt for ages - a selection of Klimt designs in golds, reds and browns. I just hope she still likes them.