Busy Time

We have been so busy getting ready for the Australian Quilt Convention - Setup day of 13th April might seem a long way away to you but it is only just around the corner for us. Everything has to be ready for shipping in about two weeks and there is still a lot to be done.

I have spent the last week making some more samples of our fabulous new products.

I am also working very hard on some quilts for my Houston Exhibition. I have to create 3 or 4 quilts and they will be displayed with some of my student quilts. There are some amazing quilts underway. I am working on quilts influenced by Orvieto, Barcelona and Venice and using a combination of techniques including Thermofax Printing

and Stamping

 

A long way to go but as I am away teaching for many weeks this year I need to have work that I can do on the road as well as in the brief periods I will be home. Should be a fun year.

Otherwise engaged

I have been a little busy preparing for a few deadlines as well as the AQC which opens on Thursday in Melbourne.

We have sent a record number of tubs of fabric and threads and goodies on the pallet and have another car load still to go this week.

Everything also needs to go straight to Perth for the Quilt and Craft Show in a few weeks time so we really needed to have everything for at least two shows sent so it has really been an incredible few weeks of work.

Some numbers which you might find interesting

• Since June we have dyed/painted/cut/packed over 3000m of fabrics!
• Each piece of fabric gets handled at least 10 (sometimes 14) times by the time it is cut/dyed/washed/cut/packed.
• We have gone through 3 printers worth of toners as well as having bulk printing done commercially.
• Peter has been dyeing about 50m of fabric a day and I have been painting about 20
• I have given up counting the number of FUSIBLES we have fused/cut/bagged but I know it is lots!
  

In my spare time I have been quilting a double bed size quilt which is now, thankfully, finished, finished three quilts for the show and writing patterns for them.

Now I know why I am tired but really really looking forward to going to Melbourne and seeing lots of friends and quilts and all the new goodies.

I will be updating the website with all the new goodies as soon as I can for those of you who can't make it to Melbourne.

Back from Melbourne

We are just back from the AQC in Melbourne. I loved it but didn't have access to blog so that is why I have been so quiet for a week.

The AQC was held in the restored Exhibition Building and it had to be the most beautiful building I have spent time in for ages.

We spent a day wandering the streets of Melbourne where the alleyways tend to be art galleries

and the art Galleries are full of magic. I was thrilled to be able to go to the Rosalie Gasgione exhibition. I have always loved her work and to see it en masse was pure joy.

I taught an Aurora Workshop on Monday and all the ladies really seemed to enjoy themselves so it was a great end to the week in Melbourne.

Busy Week and a Giveaway

We have been very busy packing up everything for our first show of the year - the Australasian Quilt Convention. We love this show as it is for dedicated quilters and there is such a buzz for all four days. Please come and say hi if you are at the Show.

We had so much new stuff to pack and are very excited to see if it hits the right note with quilters.

Our house now looks bereft as nearly every room had stuff in it - now it just looks unkempt. I think a good vacuum and dust would not go astray.

Having emptied everything out always makes us look at what is left and Peter has spent the last hour shredding years of paperwork that has lain dormant for far too long. I have relabelled pattern shelves and thrown out stuff which made me cringe to look at it so I feel refreshed.

I have also started Module 5 of my City & Guilds which is always exciting. This one is on Form and here are some examples I have found around our house today.
There are 12 images on this mosaic.

I will give a metre of my hand dyed fabric to the first person who can guess all 12.
GOOD LUCK

New Fabrics

We recently purchased a lot of textured cottons which just cried out to be overdyed. So 35m later we now have a wonderful collection of hand dyed textured fabrics. I really enjoyed doing this and seeing the results so I will be on the lookout for more opportunities.

These are destined for the Australian Quilt Convention (AQC) which is our next big show in February. A lot of dyeing to be done before then - 500m delivered this week and that will only be one of many orders I suspect. Here are some of them. Aren't they yummy?



If you are doing workshops at the AQC and have your requirements list and need anything specific - just contact me. I am sure we can help.

In answer to the question - Yes they are very soft - they are indian cottons - sold as patchwork fabric but much nicer now than when they were just off white. Some have been stitched through in patterns which stayed white - must have been polyester thread but look really good.

Wet Welcome

We arrived home from Melbourne pretty exhausted. My class went really well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I think enjoyed the slower more relaxing pace of a busy few days.


This afternoon we had a wonderful thunderstorm complete with hail. I don't think has rained for a while a our garden was pretty dry but this made up for it. We live just under the yellow (very heavy) patch near Sydney airport .



The gutters had trouble coping and the street completely flooded and there were whirlpools around the drains.

A car came through while we were watching - probably a bit too fast but who can resist a big puddle?

Managed to get my entry for the Sydney Quilt Show in the mail today and tomorrow we get all our stuff back from Melbourne so a day of carrying and unpacking. Then to start dyeing again to fill orders.

Melbourne & AQC Day 1

Another early start today as the AQC had a preview for delegates before the show opened and it was a wonderful way for them to check out everything before the general public came in and they had to go to class. Certainly a very happy bunch of ladies and many familiar faces. I was especially thrilled when some of last years customers brought in their completed projects with our fabrics. We sell so much fabric and it goes out into the world and we never see it again so this is alway a wonderful moment.


On the way to the tram stop (a novelty to me) we pass a vacant block of land which used to be a nursery I presume. It has a wonderful fence which was obviously created especially for it but now looks a bit lost. At least it has been retained which show appreciation for the work of street art.





There is also a little laneway which has some painted street art. Melbourne is quite famous for this type of laneway art so I will try and find more.

Tonight we are dragging our tired bodies back into the city to see Spamalot which I am really looking forward to.

AQC 2008

We got up well before dawn to catch an early flight to Melbourne today for the Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC). Unfortunately we got to the venue well before they were ready to let us in - lovely cup of honeydew tea - ok it smelt better than it tasted but we live and learn.
Once inside we were dismayed to only find one of our two pallets had arrived. Of course the missing one was the one with the ladders and tables and starting bits and pieces so a small wait until its mate was found. Finally a couple of hours after arrival it was found so we started.

Didn't take too long this time (about 4 hours) so we must be getting into the swing of it.

I also got to attend the Tutor Briefing as I am teaching my beading workshop. It was fun to play with the big kids - they are an impressive group of tutors which I was honoured to be a part of.
Some others weren't quite as fast as us - a long night ahead for some.

AQC Update

Here are some of the Egyptian embroideries brought out for the AQC by Jenny Bowker. The two Egyptian gentlemen shown in the previous post are proving to be the hit of the show. Watching the speedy needle creating the most amazing designs are keeping viewers mesmorised. I think they are astounded at the interest shown in their work.

The first one below is the one I bought and I can't wait to get it home

These ones are based on door designs and are meant to be hung over doors



Traditional designs taken from tombs


We loved these ones too


The quilt show downstairs is also providing popular with tACTile group pieces definitely my favourite.

This is just a taste but go their website for more on this talented group of Australian Art Quilters





Dinner on the banks of the Yarra with quilting friends topped off and exhausting but great day

Long Day

Pleasant flight this morning down to Melbourne and met by Peter at the airport followed by a painless drive into the Convention Centre. As organised our pallet was waiting for us in front of our booth. Always daunting being faced with 4 metres of blank wall and two tables and a pallet load of boxes.

We spent about an hour and a half pinning up quilts and then got told we were in the wrong spot. They had put our banner on the wrong wall. So we had to take it all down and put it up again next door.

Of course there is always chaos on the floor for hours

Suddenly it all seems to come together and we are quite pleased with it.

A drawcard at the AQC this year is the visit by Jenny Bowker and two of her special people from the Cairo souk. They are tent makers and have brought a collection of wonderful embroideries. I thought I would let them (and us) set up before I looked at them closely. I had seen some on Jenny's blog and was interested in purchasing one. Well I am glad that I popped over before we were finished. There had already been a rush on them and the ones I was interested in were already sold. Luckily there were still some left for me to buy so I am happy. This is Achmed the tentmaker and his nephew who is here to help and as he speaks English quite well he can explain and translate. I am hoping to spend more time looking over the next few days.

Countdown to AQC

All the boxes are shipped and the car is loaded with everything we have forgotton. I think every piece of fabric we have dyed in the last few months is about to arrive in Melbourne for the Australasian Quilt Convention AQC.

This is just some of the boxes mid way through packing.


Flying out in the morning and then the day will be spent setting up. This is always a fun time seeing the results of a lot of work come together. I think I will try and do a few photos of the setup depending on the chaos.

The difference in a small business like ours is that our main product - the fabric - is created from scratch by us. We have calculated that every piece of hand dyed fabric is handled at least 10 times
Measured , cut, presoaked , dyed , rinsed, washed , hung out to dry, brought inside, folded, cut, packed.

No wonder we are exhausted. Even the bead mixes have to be created like mixing a salad.

My friend Rhonda stayed a few weeks ago and we even roped her into folding fabrics. She posted some photos on her blog of our clothes line on an average day. She does amazing work and I am really lucky to have some of her pieces. I am gathering a rather nice collection of work by textile artists. I might show you some of them soon. They give me great pleasure daily.