Flowers

It was our fifth wedding anniversary.

Hubby has never, never-not-ever bought me flowers before.

So these are extra special.

Especially because he's not here right now, so arranged them before he went.

Wow.  Five whole years!

I've been experimenting.

I volunteered to make a small wall hanging for my son's primary school.  It will be auctioned off at the Opua Regatta (kinda like a gala day or a fete, held on the Opua Wharf to fund raise for the school) with some other art work.  


Warning! Advert!  Opua Regatta, 25th February, Opua Wharf, stalls, rides, fun and the annual dog swimming race!

So I thought I'd try something new.  I'm sure that when you are making something with an aim and a deadline, you shouldn't experiment.  But hey, I don't call myself The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady for nothing.  I wanted a layer of organza in the shape of various plants on top of my background.  Basically I wanted to applique organza, sounds like fun huh?

I learnt a heap about sewing organza real fast.  I thought I'd share some tips with you to save you some sanity just in case you ever want to experiment.

Organza is slip, slip, slipperty.  Pin the snot out of it.  Use a smaller stitch length and a sharp sewing machine needle (microtex).

You can't mark organza and hope to follow the line (at least not with any markers I tried).  Trace your design onto tissue paper (or Solvy or whatever you have on hand), pin this on top and sew through it.  Then rip away your tissue.  This helps to stop the slipping and sliding too.

Synthetic organza frays like nothing else and it melts too.  So a heat tool is your friend.  I used my soldering iron to slice away the excess organza.  It cut it and sealed the edges all in one, no more fraying, just a distinctive odour - do this in a well-ventilated area.

And lastly, steel wool is better to wipe your soldering iron on than a rag.  Ask my fingers why.

So that's what I learnt about organza today.  I also learnt that shortly my husband is abandoning me for a week to steam a new tug and dredging barge up from the South Island.  I learnt that the Mainfreight delivery man can back a hulking great truck all the way down my 200 metres of driveway after delivering our new bed.  And I learnt that the bed would be staying in it's packaging because said husband is getting home late and can't help me carry old bed out to make room for new bed.

Goodnight!

Onwards and Upwards

Well, I got a disappointing email from the Beneath the Southern Skies convener - my quilt was not picked for the exhibition.  There were 71 entries and 30 were picked so I'm looking forward to seeing the final cut.  Not to worry, I have a place picked out on my wall for my piece "I don't feel lonely".  And I'm moving on to the next quilt!

'Scuse the toes!

This is the start of my next 'art' quilt.  I have a bit of a plan, but not sure how it will develop as I go along.  This is a Nikau frond, painted onto white fabric and I plan to cut it out and applique it.  We'll see how it works!

The front.

The quilting shows best on the back.

I've also been working on this quilt.  It should have been added to my WIP round up the other day, but I totally forgot I had it until I was rummaging around for something else.  The sampler blocks were from my very first quilting class.  Halfway through I decided I hated the colours so remade the blocks I'd done in colours I liked.  Then of course these ones have sat around for seven (!) years.  Now that I've sashed and bordered them I quite like them.  I've got to tie in a few threads and bind it and then it will be off to Quilts for Kids for a little person who really needs it.

School started yesterday and my boy had a great first day back - long may it continue as he isn't known for his attention span in class ;)  We spent our last day of holidays (Monday as it was a public holiday) out in the bay on the boat.  Just stunning weather and all round good fun.

Jeanette DeNicolis Meyer Workshop

Renowned international fabric artist  Jeanette DeNicolis Meyer  is coming to Northland.  She will be teaching a two-day course on designing and collage with translucent fabrics.

Quilt and Collage with Translucent Fabrics

Discover the design and color world that opens up while composing quilts or fabric collages with layers of luscious silk organza and crisp cotton organdy. We will begin by producing a gem-like palette of translucent fabric with easy to use paints and then proceed to the design wall, where new colors and shapes will emerge as the translucent fabrics are layered. We will also produce a technique sampler notebook as we experiment with fusing and a variety of machine and hand-sewn seams to explore the design possibilities different finished edges can provide.

Dates:   March 10th and 11th 2012

Location:   Whangarei, venue to be advised

Cost:   $115.00 per person.  $40.00 non-refundable deposit.  Limited places available.

Contact:   Charlotte Scott  09 404 0644

Brought to you by the combined efforts of Whangarei and Kerikeri Patchwork and Quilting Clubs. 

Jeanette’s website: www.jdmeyer.com

Summer

It's meant to rain today.  It's not, yet, but I thought I'd show some pictures that show the beautiful spell of summer weather we've been having so far.  My thoughts go to those in Australia dealing with floods at the moment.