Latest Work

I had to do a challenge with a fairly average piece of Marimekko fabric and at the same time decided to enter the NSW Quilters Guild Calendar Competition so this killed two birds so to speak.

First I covered the piece with gold organza and heavily quilted it with square & rectangular spirals. After cutting away some of the shapes to expose the original fabric I thought it was interesting but lacked something (focus, interest, theme, wow factor - all of the above!).



So then I attacked it with the rotary cutter - a scary move and no rulers involved which accounts for the lack of accurate angles but I like it like that. I then placed some of these shapes onto a piece of rich green Thai silk which set off the gold.



Then the shapes were satin stitched onto the silk with orange thread which caused quite a few ripples in the silk. More quilting flattened it out. Still needed something so some additional orange silk shapes and of course beads finished it off.

Redemption

I have a friend (kt) who has an inspirational shrine in her home.
On our travels we look for interesting additions for it.
This treasure was found in the Los Angeles Public Library and I hope she likes it.

Textures on Tour

I took far too many photos but there was so much to capture for memories - there has to be a quilt in there somewhere. Here is a selection.

It was Fall (Autumn to me) but there were beautiful colours everywhere.

These flowers must have been created in a prehistoric time

This looks like something a dinosaur may have left behind after dinner
More bark (but no bite)


Of course the wonderful Gingko leaves have inspired many quilts

Houston Quilt Festival

There were many highlights to our trip but for the artist in me, there can be nothing to compare with the sensory overload of the International Quilt Festival in Houston.
This was my 4th visit and the 3rd where I have been a finalist in the IQA show. This is a rare photo of me (photos are my personal nemesis and after 5 weeks of indulging - or is that over-indulging - in American food- say no more!) in front of my quilt 'The Eyes Have It'
Just noticed that my clothes match the quilt. When I first found my quilt - not an easy task amongst hundreds or is it thousands of others - there was a lady taking a picture of it. That gave me a great thrill to think that someone actually wanted to remember it too!




















Of course I did take far too many photos of quilts too but can't post them without the owners permission so thought I would just give you a taste of the enormous size and space this show contains.

This is a shot from the first floor of the Convention Centre showing about 2 aisles of the vendor area,There are 20 aisles just like these. This was taken before the show opened one morning so imagine it full of eager quilters! There are about 800 classes held over the Festival - I took about 4 and went to some lectures as well so you can see my days were very full
















This is a view from one point in the Quilt Show area. It was late Sunday afternoon so the crowds had subsided but it should give you some idea of the size and layout. Again - this is only one tiny section - you could turn 360 degrees and still see quilts and exhibitions in every direction. Even on Sunday after 5 days of looking and exploring I kept finding new exhibitions. I think I saw them all but might have missed something - surely not!















I elected to collect my quilt after the show rather than have it posted and went to get it only two hours after the doors closed to avoid the queue. This id the site that greeted me - so amazing to see how much had been done in such a short period of time.
Houston over for another year but the inspirations and friendships formed and consolidated only serve to reinforce a wonderful community.

Some more memories

The Hearst Castle at San Simeon was the ultimate in excess and obsession. This is the external pool and the internal one is even more spectactular









New York New York was my favourite casino/hotel complex in Las Vegas - I loved the architecture and the attempt to make it look like the New York skyline









This was our hotel room at the Pine Rose Inn near Yosemite - note the jacuzzi to the left. The room also has a stairway going nowhere which had three quilts draped over the bannister. The selling point was that you could sit in the jacuzzi and watch tv which of course you couldn't hear over the water jets. It also took an hour to fill enough to cover the jets but the breakfast was wonderful.







They were doing a controlled burn in the Mariposa Grove in Yosemite - home of the Giant Sequoias - the setting sunlight through the smoke was beautiful








Yosemite takes your breath away with its size and beauty