Houston Workshop Update

I have had an update on numbers from IQA about my classes at Quilt Festival so I can prepare all the bits and pieces and was very pleased to hear that they are filling well.
So I thought I would give a quick rundown on them in case you are planning on going to Houston this year.

Threads to Dye For -(#479 and #818) - 3 hour class learning the basics of dyeing threads using Procion dyes. Some recent student blog links
The threads above were Erica's resulting threads and fabrics

Machine Sewing Techniques (#530) - this is actually a variation on my very popular Breaking the Drought Workshop. We experiment with machine embroidery, couching, bobbin work, applique and play around with lots of those buttons on sewing machines you never touch. Then we put our embellished fabrics into a small quilt.

Crystallisation - #723 - this workshop is nearly full and is such fun. We play around with a variety of fabrics including ones you might have always avoided like silks and velvets. A simple but complex looking piecing technique turns these fabrics into an original art quilt.  This little sample was created using hand painted and stamped fabrics was pieced using this technique and then quilted.

 
And last but not least - I am giving a talk called A Jewelled Year (#458) which is all about the wonderful opportunity the Jewel Pearce Patterson Scholarship has given me as well as the Exhibition which I am so excited about.

If you are interested but want to know more - please feel free to email me or leave a comment here. I am so looking forward to my first Houston teaching experience.

Orvieto Quilt Finished

This is the quilted top once the freezer paper was removed and here is the back. The Handiquilter Sweet 16 made it all so easy. It was hard to stop
I then tested a few paints and discharge products on samples but decided against the discharge and decided a transparent paint would be best (but not too diluted). I used Prochem Profab paints with a transparent base and a touch of the opalescent base.

 

I painted it first with a pale brown but it was too pale so did it again with a darker green. 

However layering the two layers really negated the transparency so it now is more opaque. It was lovely sitting out in the garden painting for a few hours.

 So here it is finished and I really like it.

 It will be on display at my Textured Treasures Exhibition in Houston.

More Student Work

 

Mary in Geraldton in Western Australia has completed her Breaking the Drought quilt but has done it in cool blues and greens. Such a great quilt isn't it?

If you are going to Houston this year - this project is the workshop that is called Machine Sewing Techniques and is Class No 530 on 4th November

More Student Work

 Danielle in Bundaberg completed her Aurora and Luscious Landscape quilts really quickly.

Heidi made her own version after our Breaking the Drought Workshop

This is the workshop that I am teaching in Houston which has been renamed Machine Sewing Techniques (Class 530) on Friday 4th November.

 This is Joy from Geraldton's Cutout Magic quilt - isn't the quilting terrific too.

Awesome Aurifil

 

I am so thrilled that Aurifil have offered to sponsor my Exhibition at the Houston Quilt Festival for my Jewel Pearce Patterson Award.

 They have even offered to supply sample packs of threads to my students in my Houston Workshops.

For a thread junkie like me - this is a dream come true and I can't wait to experiment with the gorgeous colours and types of threads in my exhibition quilts.

If you want to buy Aurifil Threads in Australia - check out Jenny Scott's site at Always Quilting for the full range and brilliant thread knowledge too.

Blogging Gap

Naughty me - can't believe I have gone a week without blogging. That is the curse of Facebook I think. I post a lot there and sometimes neglect the blog.

It's not as if I haven't been busy - I have. I am working on a major quilt which has to be a bit multi-functional for me. I plan to enter it into the Sydney Quilt Show, be part of my Houston Exhibition and also my final City and Guilds project. So can't show you yet but suffice to say that it is something very different for me but does have a gradation of 18 shades and hexagons. I am very pleased at how it is coming along but it has a way to go yet.

My news this week is that I have been accepted as a tutor to Houston this year.
I will be teaching my Breaking the Drought quilt project (above) which is all about learning to use some of those features on your machine that you have but never use.

Crystallisation

and Threads to Dye For

so I will be very busy but there is still time for me to do a few workshops myself earlier in the week which will be great..

I have also been asked to teach in Vermont which I really hope happens as I have never been to the East Coast of the US. I will have some time before I need to be in Houston so if you are in a guild or have a store and are interested in having me visit for a workshop please contact me.