Diary Quote

If you don't have a dream, how are you going to make a dream come true?

I must have been good!

Christmas Greetings to all of my blog readers.  My husband and I will have a quiet day to ourselves today.  My daughter and her family travel to spend a week with us tomorrow and my son drops back in on his way home before New Year's Eve.

Santa must have been reading my wishlist as he was very good to me.  Two large cutting mats,  An electric pair of scissors and Red Edge Clamps for my longarm.   It would  help if I gave my husband the contact details of where to buy things earlier so that  his  last minute shopping endeavours are not as hectic. There were a few other sundry things,  I buy myself a gift during the year then give it to my husband to give back to me at Christmas.  I puzzled over a couple of my gifts as I unbagged them - only to remember that yes I bought that. Luckily time helps me to forget what I bought myself!

Our not too subtle hints to each other are starting to work. I know there are a few hints on ebay that my husband would still like for his new toy, so I better get those purchased ready for his birthday.   Will not be a surprise but his new toy ( a 1989 sports car) needs a few new trimmings.

Breakfast croissants are devoured,  coffee almost gone, then its a beer and a sparkly and then doing the prep on the yorkshire puddings to go with the roast beef dinner for our lunch!

Dirranbandi Darling

I was asked by my local quilt shop to design a quilt that could be used to teach piecing techniques to a group of quilters that live near a small  isolated rural community.  As the quilt shop specialises in Reproduction fabrics I chose these for this quilt. I prefer to piece my own quilts in "clear" colours so was not a fan of the "dirty" colours of this top but they have grown on me during this quilt. This quilt will be hanging in Sew Creative Gatton from Thursday. Classes for it will be held in March 2014

The centre applique

Flying Geese and Half Square Triangles

Square in Square

Something New Learnt Everday

The aha moment when you are doing hooked feathers alternating either side and you realise the echo doesn't need to go all the way back to the beginning of the feather.  Only taken half the quilt, so the rest will be easier.

Glide Threads and Magna Glide Bobbins

I have been an Australian Distributor of Glide threads for approaching two years.  It has taken a while but I now have all 196 colours of Glide thread in stock.  Filtec the American company who make the threads keeps adding more colours.  Each time they add new colours I have to purchase 6 cones to bring it out to Australia.   My shelves just have to keep growing.  Now that I have all the 5000m cones for $12 AUD each  I am working on stocking up the Magna Glide Bobbins as well.  These bobbins have a magnetic core so that ou do not need the bobbin brake spring in your bobbin case and they stop the overspin of the bobbin in the case. 

 I have been using these bobbins since I first picked some up a Houston in 2010.  Not exclusively, but when I weighed some empties and did some guesstimating there are about 250 cores in this container. At 120m per core that is close to 30km of thread!

Hot Pink , Neon Green and Black

Well they were the colours of Glide thread I used on this customer quilt.  SO much fun to quilt.  Almost Freehand...I chalked in some of the border marks so I wouldn't get confused with which centres had to be circled to matchup with the corners!   The centre was made of pieced blocks from a panel containg bright pink flowers. I din't get any pictures of it. But you can see the flowers outlined stitched on the back of the quilt.

Pins for Paulene

I took this pin cushion with me to Melbourne for a meeting of longarmers in early August. One of the ladies at the gathering spent some time to completely colour coordinate all the pins in the cushion.  Once I returned home I was extremely busy with my daughters wedding, two quilt shows and the like that it took three months before I got back into quilting and messed up the pin cushion.  
Sorry Paulene but I cannot keep it neat!

A great day at the cricket

Day 3of the Australia verse England test at the Gabba.  Great seats inthe shade all day.  Sea breeze is now kicking in.  Two centuries one half century by Aussie batters and then a declaration.  Perfect we now get to see Australia bowl for an hour too.  Happy early Christmas present for my husband.

Wednesday's work in progress.

We were without power for over two hours yesterday so I didn't get as far as I wanted to with this quilt.  Third quilt of this pattern I have done.  First cream one and my first quilt with a fixed cost.  I am liking it so far....

Just the Beginning

This is my finished top for Sew Creative's challenge. There were 22 finished challenges.  There was also a fantastic presentation of textiles from along The Silk Road thanks to Morag and friends.
Now ago challenge myself further with this top by adding another border so it is large enough to enter into the Queensland Quilt Show 2014.  I am going to get my quilts finished for the show by January so I will not miss out........

Last Round

The outermost round had to again be applique.  Mine are all hand appliqued and I have lots of room to Quilt.....
Now to see if all these unusual shapes will fit together.

Challenge Fifth round

The fifth round had to be English Paper Piecing, again with an outer nothing border.  Mine is obviously not a traditional square quilt!

Challenge Third round

The third round had to be flying geese with an outer nothing border.

Time out for piecing

It has been a long while since I posted.  Queensland Quilt Show has been and gone.  Very long tiring week but I received many positive comments which helped alleviate the disheartening occurrences of a quilt being stolen, and an ungrateful prize recipient writing thankyous to a sponsor but saying it was a useless prize......... Grrrr
Been able to get back onto my machine and have postedany photos to my Facebook page Busy Quilting.  So much easier to do that straight from the phone.
Am now giving myself thus afternoon to piece together a challenge quilt for Sew Creative.  I must have it finished by Saturday.  All the pieces are sewn, now just to put them all together. 
Centre medallion and the first nothing border.

Quilt Show Countdown

While the other three members of our State Quilt Show committee spent today waiting for quilt stands and marking the show floor, I was able to pack the car ready for my first 260km round trip to the show tomorrow.  Quilts, sponsor prizes and the trolley set to go.
I then had time to vacuum the house....... My friends know I hate doing that.  But there are no quilts or show papers lying around, so now I can relax when I get home each evening.  I can hope my husband will have dinner ready when I get in about7.30pm each night.

Toowoomba Quilt Show

Carnival of Flowers is a great time to visit Toowoomba Not only do all the gardens look wonderful, but the Toowoomba Quilters Club also put on their annual Quilt Show.  Being a member I spend quite a few days at it.  Hanging the quilts then demonstrating or white gloving.  This is their fourth year in the Salo Centre and the exhibition just keep getting better. 
I must admit my input with insider knowledge of how Queensland Quilters Inc hang their show helps!

Back into Quilting

I have been able to get back into quilting, after being away fromit for four weeks.  It has become my sanity saver from the organisation of our State Quilt Show.  I was lucky  enough to do a couple of quick semi customs before I started into a large "Rose of Sharon" quilt that the owner wanted crosshatching and feathered wreaths on.






 Sometimes it helps to have the right tools.  My crosshatch rulers were designed by another APQS machine owner and made by her husband. WhenI ordered them from the US the postage was thesame for two sets so I have a spare set if an APQS owner desires to do crosshatching.

I have tried various tools to help with stitching around the outside of applique but found I kept coming back to using my finger.  So I found an old soft leather thimble I had made, it did a great job and lived on the laser post between uses.









This was a large quilt and I cannot get a full shot even on my bed so just some snippets.  Quilted with Cairo Quilt a Cotton Thread.

Spring has Sprung - the grass ain't ris!

Our Dry Summer ( Spring) has definitely arrived.  In the last three weeks I have gone from Flannelette pyjamas, bedsocks and 3 blanket wool doona with quilt - to light cotton 3/4 pj's, 1 alpaca blanket and quilt.

Plus I have rearranged the wardrobe for the change in seasons.  All the long sleeved to the back and the sleeveless and short sleeved to the front.  Boots are away, sandals will come out soon too.  Now to finish washing the winter woolies and pack them away for another eight months.

Could use some rain, as with the heat, the grass and gardens are looking thirsty. Shall I empty the tanks on them in preparation for some fresh rainwater?

Boots, Lace and a Wedding Dress

My daughter's wedding was held last weekend without any problems. Trying to pacify a 15 week old who was starving while mum was having photos taken, was the worst happening.

Spending time with my family and friends, feeding them in the evening after the wedding, with a BBQ and the next morning with Fresh Waffles and Bacon, from an Apartment. No troubles.

 This small pocket in the hem of my daughter's dress was made with the lace from my own wedding dress. She asked for one of her dad's blue hankies to put in the pocket.  It fell out as the bridal party walked from the apartment to the restaurant we were having the ceremony and reception at. Her husband found it, when he left the reception to go vote!
 I  used the three buttons from my wedding dress on the back of her dress.

For something blue I sewed a Bluebird of happiness to her hanging loop.  This bluebird was purchased while I was an exchange student in the US forty years ago.

I decided to put silver seed beads on the scalloped lace edge of the bodice. Glad I didn't put them around the hemline too.

My daughter and I had found a lovely country setting for her photos last time I was visiting so by the end of the day the hem of her dress was very dirty, not only from the dusty road but also from the way they photographer chose to pose some photos.




I love this one.

I Quilt

Must be getting philosophical with the approach of my daughter's wedding.

Either that or my Pure and Applied Mathematics from years ago is coming back to me!

Thread Choices

I have been reading Gina Perkes  book "Mastering the Art of Longarm Quilting" during my tea breaks from my Grandson.
Great book and in chapter devoted to "Gotta Love Thread" she state that it is not necessary to match top and bobbin threads.  I haven't been for quite a while so it is good to have this confirmed.
 She then goes on to say that she likes Light Grey, Medium Gray, off-white, tan, medium brown, taupe and black as her bobbin colours.  "These colors accommodate and blend nicely with just about any color".
Further on she says that she uses a fantastic product called Magna-glide bobbins.

So off I went to "the shop"
Magna Glide Classics  L size 132yds of 60 wt polyester threads
Light Grey
Lead Grey
Cream
Light Tan
Black



Maybe I need to ask Filtec to look at getting a Taupe  and  Medium Brown colour in Classics as well.

My Daughter's Wedding Dress

 I have taken a few days off from quilting to work on making my daughter's wedding dress.

Found that if I raised my machine to its highest point, then I could use the 60" cutting mat on my back table to cut all 43 pieces out.

The frame itself then came in very handy as a clothes horse.

I can now say that after three days of sewing I have the whole dress in one piece, the last seams are only basted in case I have to do some major changes.  Now I can take it on a 1500km  road trip to my daughter's this week for a fitting.

Then once I get back home put in a zip, finish the bodice edges, hem the lining, the dress and the overdress.

Then I can start on my outfit and also a top for the granddaughter with some of the leftovers.

Still doable  - just a bit more difficult since my grandson will come back with me so my daughter can finish her wedding preparations without four year old tantrums.

APQS are giving away another longarm machine.

The Great APQS Longarm Giveaway 

Have you dreamed of owning an APQS longarm quilting machine? What about a longarm machine with an automated quilting system? Here’s your chance at both!

APQS is giving away a Lucey longarm machine equipped with Quilt Path, our computerized quilting system. This is our biggest giveaway yet with a value of $21,900!!!

And that’s not all! Every month, one lucky entrant will receive an APQS Quilting Gift Basket full of thread, patterns and other great APQS goodies.

We will select a grand prize winner at random during the week of Dec. 16, 2013. The winner will be notified via phone. Enter once a day for your chance to win.

There is no purchase necessary to enter or participate. Registration period ends at 11:59 a.m. CST on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013.

Must be 18 years of age to win.

If you would like a chance to win this then head over to www.apqs.com

Pandemonium Completed

After four days and almost 1500m of thread there is one very happy quilt owner in Gatton this evening.

As I have to make my daughter's wedding dress I delivered it this afternoon.  I did not  count all the circles and I didn't ask the owner how many there were.  I will find out when it hangs at our State Quilt Show in two months.


I need to get a longer rod for this wall if I am going to take photos of finished quilts on it. This quilt was 90" x 90" and larger than my rod and longer than my wall.

The owner took 9 months and 1 week to piece and applique this beauty.  After all that time a quilt she no longer wanted to see again, is being petted, loved and admired all over again.

Congratulations GC it was a huge task but I enjoyed the challenge.

Pandemonium Day 3

Another 70 blocks completed and I can now see the end of the quilt.  I have rolled the quilt all the way on and quilted the last row even, so I could make sure everything was keeping straight.  The owner keeps checking on Facebook and says it is looking good so that is what really counts.

So 28 blocks to finish on Wednesday.  Which means I am starting to sew my daughter's wedding dress on Thursday.   That gives me just under three weeks to get it finished, and her quilt, and my own skirt...... Doable.  :)

Mini Pumpkin Choc Chip Muffins

Found this recipe on a US quilter's blog, so had to change up the ingredients to suit Australian cooking.

Pumpkin Choc Chip Muffins

125gms softened butter and ¾ cup sugar , creamed together.

Add 2 eggs add mix.

Add 450grams cooked mashed pumpkin, cool and drain off extra liquid.  Mix thoroughly.

Add 1 ¾ cups SR flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp cloves (all ground).

Then ¾ cup choc chips.

Spray mini muffin tins and bake at 170 °C for 15 minutes.

The quilters on my bus trip  to the V&A quilt exhibition certainly enjoyed them.

Pandemonium Day Two

64 blocks completed today.  That takes me close to 40% of it quilted.  It will now be three days until I  get back to it.

This was the largest block for today before I quilted it.  Forgot to take a pic with my camera before I rolled it on.
If  I could work out how to get photos from my phone to the computer it would be handy.

This was the second largest block for today. It has 133 quilted circles on it,  Was even brave enough that I videoed myself with my  phone and posted it on my facebook page.
Love the Glide feature of my machine and the Bliss wheels too.  One hand quilting while I was videoing.

Pick Up Sticks?

They look a bit like pick up sticks,  but really they are the cut offs from a birthday present my Father in Law gave me over 7 years ago.

It would be nice to think that this blank wall would be filled before I get back from a quick trip to Melbourne with

more thread racks.  This will take the total on the walls to close to 400 cones or King Spools.

No direct sunlight gets to this corner of my room, plus I keep them all stored in cellophane bags to stop the dust.  I love looking at all the different choices  of colour I have.

Pandemonium Day One

Day one of Kim McLeans Pandemonium quilt for a customer.  This quilt is 90"x90" largest background area is about 6square inches.  Lots of teeny tiny applique.  Bright colours from the same customer who did Flowerpots.  40 blocks quilted, have no idea how many more to do.