QU Spring Bargello

After doing a Bargello course through Quilt University, I’ve only managed to do the very first (Spring) of the 4 quilts presented in the course and am now in the process of cutting out heaps of petite flower and leaf motifs to decorate the top and bottom border – the only 2 sides too short to cover a double bed. I am really not fond of machine appliqué or then satin stitching around a motif. What can be more boring than having to feed fabric through a machine watching the needle do the same thing over…. and over… and over again? Even blogging about it seemed much more exciting than actually getting on with the job!!

However……………. I do think this might end up looking really nice, that’s now once I actually do get it finished.

Oranje Quilters Guild August 2010 quarterly meeting

I was so fortunate to be invited to speak at our local guild meeting and with such clever ladies around me I knew that I could teach them very little so I used this opportunity to share with them other people’s talents and their incredible creations via the internet.

First up was obviously free-motion quilting, being the nicest part of the quilting experience to me. After discovering the videos on Daystyledesigns there was no stopping me and watching Leah and listening to her calm voice, making everything sound just so easy, my confidence grew. So this was just something I couldn’t keep to myself and needless to say the other ladies were equally impressed by this site and I am sure Leah’s visitor count has already grown in number. Thanks Leah for all the trouble you go through to help all of us right on the other side of the world.

Then after making Scrappy Dee Scrappy Doo I found the books from Alicia’s Attic and just loved all the possibilities one can get when using triangles as a start-off point. I completed 2 quilts from my first book purchase and could then share their website, tools and books with the rest of our guild with the promise of many more quilts from these books to come. After initially only buying 2 books, I have ordered their brand new publication ABC 3-D Tumbling Blocks…. and more and cannot wait for them to send it with the release end August. I will then be the proud owner of no less than 5 of their publications. Will I live long enough to make all the nice things I see??

Tiny Hex from the book
Doubledepity, more serendipity quilts

Tiny Sparkle from the same book

The ladies thanked me (sorry Leah, Marci and the staff at Alicia’s Attic not sharing this with you) with a lovely bottle of wine in the neatest wine bottle cover I’ve ever seen – even with my name personalized on it. How important I feel!!!!

WOW!! How lucky can one get??

July Block - Design challenge

I know the month of July is not quite past yet but with no less than 20 birthdays on my calendar, apart from a broken piggy bank, I could not think of a better theme for this month. With a new group of beginner quilters starting in August I also needed to get slightly ahead of my schedule. Celebrated my own birthday too this morning with a bunch of girlfriends over breakfast and good friends always ensure good events.

June block - Design challenge

With South Africa hosting the Soccer World Cup I had no problem in deciding what to do with my June block and with it being such an historical event it even overshadowed our lovely week at the coast. Hoping to get my July block done soon as I already know what I want to appliqué on it.

Glentana handwork break

So we needed to take yet another break and another endless drive (10 hours to be exact) to the coast. Hubby has lovely friends who kindly allow me to stay in their beach house in exchange for giving it a thorough mid-year cleaning. I decided to take eager helpers along under the pretence we’d spend a week away from home and routine catching up on our handwork.

With us packing winter’s clothes as if we’d be going to the South Pole there was no space left for machines!! So off we went, Marie taking her hubby and 2 boys along. She’s our local PFAFF dealer and we were somewhat scared that her DH might start complaining about her being away from home this much and him having to attend to meals and homework, so we tried to make up for the previous times he was left to do this. Karin, Lianda and I in one car and Marie’s family in another we set off taking occasional breaks until we reached our destination.

Major fun and apart from me, who spent most of my time unpicking the rest all got plenty work done. Unfortunately we did not just work and clean but spent way too much time (not to mention money) shopping but with our GPS not being updated recently we got to see rather interesting parts of all the towns we visited (obviously the older and therefore bad parts). Not that we felt threatened in any way, we shopped as very few can!

Only at the end of a day when Marie and family told us about the glamorous parts of the same town they’ve been to, we realized that something must be wrong for us to end up in all the scaly places. All taken into consideration a trip worth taking again!