Playful Pods Stencils

It's always very exciting when a new set of stencils is released.
The latest set from the very popular Artistcellar arrived this week and I just couldn't resist having a play.

First I used a few Shiva Paintsticks both as a rubbing and also with a stencil brush with the  stencil

Then I used the fabulous Opulence Embellishment inks

A few more strokes with the paintsticks and paints and then left to dry in the sun.

It only took a few minutes on this beautiful sunny autumn day. Don't the Opulence Inks just glisten?

Then a final wash with some Sun Dyes. Can you see how the oil based paintsticks act a resist and just burst through the water based Sun Dye paints.

The whole process took less than half an hour and now I have a perfect piece of fabric ready for the next project.

Of course you can get all the Stencils and Paints on my website.
Don't forget I have a special offer of a metre of pfd cotton with each order of 5 of any of the paints for this month only. I'll add it to any order.

Slashed

Slashed is another quilt in my book Beautiful Building Block Quilts.

It was made of a single piece of hand dyed cotton sateen

 

Blocks were made up of strips of fabric with inserts of yellow fabric.

They were then cut into strips and pieced in a graduating pattern.

Sometimes all you need is just one favourite piece of fabric.

FRIENDLY GEESE

Friendly Geese is a quilt from my book Beautiful Building Block Quilts

It was made from a pack of Kona Cotton fat quarters. These are a great way to get a variety of colour coordinated solids in useable amounts.

For this quilt I used the Denim Colourway which ranged from white to darkest indigo. I also used a few metres of one of the colours in the set - Marine so it toned in. There are 22 fq in this set but there is nothing stopping you creating your own colour palette of fq (or half the number of 1/2m pieces). It is a great stashbuster quilt. Or of course you can do it in my hand dyed fabrics.

It is a very simple yet striking design using a Flying Geese block. Usually they are stacked on top of each other but I turned them around to make a sort of square in a square block.

There are only two sizes - 4in and 8in finished blocks.

Why the name? Well these geese are facing each other rather than stacked so I thought they were friendlier.

This smaller version is made up with a selection of my hand dyed fabrics and give a softer effect - but just as easy to make. This was made up with a set of my hand dyed half metres and there are many different colourways available on my website.

 

Testing Paints

I have been playing around with the heliotropic (sun printing) characteristics of some of our fabric paints.

I thought that the Paints which have a metallic or opalescent component wouldn't work so well with sun printing and wanted to test them.

First I painted a piece of cotton with Green Sun Dye (Tarragon)
Then I painted over some Sun Pearl, Gold Interference from the Sun Dye Range and Gold Lustre for the Dual Paint Range.

Then I added some leaves and left it to dry in the sun.

Once I peeled off the leaves I could tell that they still created a different but no less effective us print. In fact I think I prefer it as there is additional texture.

Of course I could stop there so added some backing and wadding and quilted it.

Then I thought it needed some more so I tried Bobbin Work for the first time on my Handiquilter - the tension wasn't perfect but of course I didn't look until I finished - I am impatient. But I think it worked quite well and a pleasant diversion for a few hours.

Arabian Night Stencils

We have just received the latest design in the Artistcellar range of Stencils and I love them. 

I have always admired the Islamic designs - especially the stars and have had this photo of a tile design from the V&A in London in my 'definitely have to use this' file

 I had a play around yesterday with just a few Opulence paints on the four designs

 

But I thought they looked a bit bland so I pulled out some primaries in the Sun Dyes and gave them a bit of additional colour

 I think they look much better now. I love the way the Opulence acts a resist and still comes through after a wash of water based paints is applied

All the stencils and paints are available on our website.

BBBQ is HERE!

Well it has finally been released. My first book - Beautiful Building Block Quilts is now available on Amazon which means everyone else has it too. It has been very exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing what people think of it.

 At the recent Stitches and Craft Show in Brisbane I had an exhibition of most of the quilts in the book. Lots of people took the postcards I left in the exhibition so hopefully they are stuck on noticeboards and fridges all over Queensland.
It was great to see them all there and I heard lots of great feedback. I have already had one review on Amazon.

Lisa makes wonderful use of color and shapes. I have made her quilts using hand dyed fabric and batiks. They always turn out gorgeous. This book gives you the knowledge you need to open your mind and be creative. 

I have designed a workshop based on the book called Building Block Quilt Design and some are scheduled as follows. Would be great to see some of you there.

Building Block Quilt Design

Quilt design for non designers. Learn how to design simple blocks, create a variety of proportional designs and build them into a striking original quilt design. Based on Lisa Walton book; Beautiful Building Block Quilts; This class can be held as a one or two day class Day 1 Designing your blocks .You will learn how to design your own simple quilt blocks, create a variety of proportional sizes and then build them into a striking improvised design. You will be amazed at how easy it is to create an original contemporary quilt design using simple shapes and colours with endless possibilities. Topics covered include shape, proportion, colour and piecing. Sample blocks are stitched and reviewed. Day 2 ; Building your quilt. Once you have stitched enough blocks in a variety of sizes you will be able to start to play around with the design. You will learn how to put your blocks together in a variety of layouts as well as incorporating the border into the design. How to work around those unexpected problems and turn them into the perfect creative decisions and quilting options will also be discussed. Skill level; Beginner to Intermediate Upcoming Dates Date : 18th May 2013 to 19th May 2013 Location : NSW - Berry Patchwork Quilt Studio Date : 14th October 2013 to 15th Oct 2013 Location : QLD - Patchwork Paradise - Rockhampton Other Information:Contact Margaret for more information

I have signed copies available on my website as well as the usual booksellers. I would love to know what you think of it and any sightings on shelves would be very exciting.

BBBQ Countdown has started!

Beautiful Building Block Quilts (BBBQ) has arrived at C&T offices and tomorrow my copies will be winging their way here. I am so excited so I thought I would share some of the projects with you while we wait.

The cover shot is of my Power of Three quilt

This quilt was started a few years ago as a basic patchwork lesson for some workmates when they admired some of my quilts and wanted to learn the basics.

I showed them how to use the rotary cutter and ruler and we made some basic four patch blocks with a border. I just used random scraps of my hand dyed fabrics.

We only did a couple so when they left I was left with half a dozen boring (well to me anyway) blocks. So I started to play with another size. The original block was 9" so I played around with a 6" one. I enjoyed this process especially working on how to make it proportionally accurate.

Then I got carried away and made a 3" version as well because I thought that I could put two 3" block together next to a 6" one or 3 next to a 9" one.

Then I gathered more fabric and just started to make some blocks. It just grew and grew. When I had enough for a bed I started laying them out randomly and had great fun - it was just like a jigsaw. When I nearly had it square I just needed to make some more 3" one to fill a few holes.

The quilting was done commercially (by Nic Bridges) on a long arm machine with lots of spirals to offset the square nature of the design and I was thrilled when it received a 1st prize at our Sydney Quilt Show.

 

As a bonus project for the book my friend Maggie Gilbert made another single bed version using one of the Kona Cotton FQ Sets and we called it Coco Chocolate because it reminded us of chocolate. A great example of using different tones and shades.

 

I hope this has been of interest and if you would like to order your own signed copy you can do so on the website as well a kit of the hand dyed fabrics. 

Garden Beauty Colourweb

Yesterday I posted some of the samples using Colourweb and saved another for a whole post.

Stephanie Eland in South Australia made this small quilt which she has called Garden Beauty and I really love the variety of techniques she used.

Layering and stitching and beading

Combination of stamping, applique and beading

 Loved the embroidery

And of course some beading to top it off

COLOURWEB PLAY

A few weeks ago I asked for volunteers to try out our new product COLOURWEB and here are some of the resulting pieces. 

The Viking ship above was made by Judy Murdoch

Glenda Dunens made a lovely little bag as well as a little quilt which 'may contain traces of chocolate' as the gold pieces were Ferrero Rocher wrappers.

 Detail of the bag insert

 

Laura felted an iPad mini case and incorporated the Colourweb in the felting process

 Pamela Guilfoyle used a combination of textures and included felt and beads and embroidery and quilting

 

Jane Rundle made a set of five postcards each using a different technique.

This one had a quilted feather design with painted highlights

These 3d flowers have a beaded centre

I know there will be more coming but wanted to share these with you.

What will you do with yours?